THE SWISS ALPS

I spent this weekend in the Swiss Alps! This was such a beautiful place! I left Rome on Thursday night and woke up 12 hours later in SWITZERLAND!! That is the part that amazes me the most, I can leave Rome and then in a hop, skip and a jump I will be in another country!

our hostel: Balmer's

The Swiss Alps

Friday morning my roommates and I went paragliding. We were 4000 feet up in the air looking over the town of Interlaken! This was the most amazing experience ever and so worth it! 

4000 ft up in the air

At night we went to the only bar in town that was right at our hostel! It was called metro bar and it was so fun!

The swiss alps was by far my favorite trip so far! I loved being there and it was an amazing experience! I can now say that I have seen the SWISS ALPS!!! 

This weekend I will be in PARIS! Cant the Eiffel tower top this past weekend?!?! I'll let you knoww!

Ciao

WHEN IN ROME!!

HELLO ALL!  i have been super busy and have not had time to update you on my adventures! I have so much to catch you up on! In the beginning of February I visited an Italian winery and the Vatican!

I went to the winery on the 12th it was about and hour and a half north of the city. We met with Serggio, the wine maker and saw where he harvested 100 acres of grapes every year. We were able to taste 12 of Serggio's wine, go into his wine cellar and see how the entire process of making wine is done.

where the wine is stored

Serggio giving us samples of wine

Me and my roommates spent Sunday at the Vatican! We were able to see the Pope address the public and go inside the see the Saint Peters Basilica. 

The Vatican 

Saint Peter's Square

The Pope addressing the public

Inside Saint Peter's Basilica 

My next update is Switzerland!! 

Under the TUSCAN Sun

Sorry I have not been able to update recently, I have been super busy with school and group projects. But this past weekend we went with our program to Tuscany! On friday morning we all got on 2 buses and traveled to the lovely countryside. We drove about 2 hours and stopped in a town called Viterbo. We were able to explore and shop for a few hours and then had to meet back with our group to keep traveling. My roommates and I decided to do some shopping and then sit down for a long lunch! I didn't find anything to buy but we had the best lunch since I have been here. I had pasta with clams in a red sauce. It was absolutely amazing! 

After our delicious lunch we got on the bus to continue traveling. We all fell asleep on the ride and woke up in the beautiful countryside. We stayed at a residence where all 80 students were put in apartments. They were so cute and cozy; we were in for a traditional italian weekend of RELAXING!!! Dinner was served in a church that was no longer used. We had 4 course meals everynight; an appitizer, pasta, meat and dessert. Throughout the weekend we were able to enjoy the thermal baths that were right at our residence. These baths are basically a giant pool that is heated by volcanic soil underneath. 

The countryside

Our Residence

Thermal baths

On saturday we were up early to go explore the towns of Sovana and Pitigliano. Sovana is the smallest town in tuscany where only 100 people live and the town is placed on one street. Pitigliano was a town that had 4,000 residents. 

Thats about it for my weekend. I'm having trouble posting pictures because internet in Italy does not work as well as internet in the US. So I will post more tuscany pictures soon! 

Tomorrow is wine tasting and Roma vs Napoli soccer game! Another exiting weekend abroad I guess I will fit in some homework too! :)

MILAN AND VERONA!!

This past weekend my roommates and i hopped on a plane and flew north to MILAN!!! When we got there it was much colder than Rome but that wasn't going to stop us! We found our hostel checked in and went on our way shopping and to see the doumo. Shopping in Milan was very expensive but it was such a neat experience. Wandering around town and window shopping was so much fun! When we got to the center of town we saw the doumo. It was amazing and so beautiful! It amazes me that something that big and beautiful was built so many years ago and is still standing in the middle of town. 

streets of Milan

We decided to climb to the top of the doumo! 250 steps was a piece of cake compared to climbing to the top of the leaning tower of pisa! The views from the top where incredible!

doumo in Milan

view from the top!

On Saturday we left Milan and took at 2 hour train east to Verona! The city of Romeo and Juliet! Verona was absolutely beautiful! We went to see Juliet's balcony and just roamed around the town!

Statue of Juliet

you have to write your name on the wall for good luck!

Where's my Romeo??

people come from all over the world to write their name on the wall!

Our trip this weekend was great! Verona is my favorite city that I have visited so far! We ended with a 8 hour train ride back to Rome. This weekend we are heading to the beautiful town of Tuscany!