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Italian Vacation
Bologna, Italy
Well I finally made it to Italy. It is so beautiful here. Here is a little recap of what has happened so far. We arrived in Rome on Saturday. I was a beautiful day. Really hot. We took a train from the airport to the city. This was very hectic, because I had to carry two huge bags on and off the train. The trains aren't that big inside, so you almost have to sit on top of your bags. Once we got to Rome we tried to call some hotels to stay the night. All were booked. A Korean man appproached me and my friend, Zena (she's Korean) and asked if we needed a place to stay. We were really nervous because we didn't know who this guy was. But he said he knew of a Korean Bed and Breakfast that had room for the night. Finally we said okay. He took us there on the bus.. Another nightmare with my luggage. At the bus stop, a boy pinched my butt. I turned around to yell at him and then I realized I didn't have the italian words to really tell him off!!! Very frustrating!!
We got to the Bed and Breakfast and it was pretty nice. The owner and his girlfriend were really nice. That night we went out to eat with the Korean guy (Jake), who turned out to really be an opera singer. I stayed up late in the kitchen with these Korean friends.. None of them really spoke English, but somehow we communicated. Jake kept saying that I was a mystery, becuase they don't have alot of black american women over here. They kept syaing,"your eyes are so big", "your hands are so big".. I felt like I was being examined, but it was really cute and funny to me!!! Jake sang opera for us into the wee hours of the morning. It was very surreal.
The next day we went to the Collosseum. It was AMAZING!!!. We had a tour and took a lot of pictures. We also went to ancient Rome, where the city first started. This was very nice too, except my allergies were acting up a little. This was all we were able to do because we had to catch the train.
We took a train from Rome to Bologna and that has been the best part of my trip so far. The landscape is so beautiful here. Everywhere you look is like a picture or a movie. It is really breathtaking.
When we got to Bologna on Sunday, the weather was beautiful. We took a taxi to our apartment and got settled in. We had dinner with everyone from the study abroad program and then crashed.
Since I have been here, I have been doing a lot of eating and some shopping. I don't think it is possible to gain weight here, because you walk so much. We walk to school each morning which takes about a half an hour. We walk all over the city during the day. It started raining a couple days ago. We all had to go buy sweaters because none of us thought to really bring warm clothes. One girl only brought sandals, so she was really upset with the weather. Today the there is no rain but it is really cold!!!
The people here are pretty nice,, however some of the people just hate it when you can't speak Italian, especially the women. The women here are not very friendly overall. People here are much more rude than in America. There aren't very many, "excuse me's", said here. People crowd you in the lines and generally there is little to no customer service. It has been an adjustment, because I can't stand rude people, but what can I do. I am in their country. Besides the nice people make up for the rude ones!!! Its frustrating because I can't say what I want to say in Italian and most don't understand my English. I definately prefer America in this regard.
The food here is GREAT!!! I had some amazing lasagna and gnocchi. Everything tastes good here!!! The gelato is great too!! In Rome I went to a gelateria that was over 100 years old. It was so yummy.
I have been feeling sick with a cold the past couple days. I am hoping that it will pass soon. With the weather changing it is hard to get better.
Another little note on the men here: I really thought there were going to be alot of handsome and aggressive men here...but I haven't seen them. Maybe they are hiding! Most men here aren't as aggressive as I thought. No whistles or touching like I thought there would be, which is nice!!!
Tomorrow we go to Florence for the weekend. I have heard that the shopping is amazing there. The city is supposed to be really beautiful.
I have taken alot of pictures, but my camera is out of batteries so I can't load the right now. Hopefully by this afternoon I will be able to load them.
Stay tuned...my Italian adventure continues......
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