So the Euro Chocolate Festival takes place in Perugia, about 20 minutes away from our villa, so we all took the train to go stuff our faces with delicious European chocolate. What we were not prepared for was the icy wind and freezing temperatures! I might be exaggerating a little bit, but it was pretty darn cold. Even the experience of eating a nutella filled panini couldn't warm me up. We had to go find a cheap hoodie, and after that were able to enjoy things much much more! It was the first day of the festival, so it was extremely crowded. People get a little pushy and cranky when it comes to getting their chocolate! I bought my Mom some milk chocolate from a Perugian company's booth, and my roommates and I may had ended up eating it...sorry Mom! All in all, I'd say the festival was exhausting, but a success. It was also Mark and Rhett's last day with us, so Ellen, Ben, and Jase put on a recital, and we all spent time together, playing "the Vegetable Game" and having a few Swedish beers, courtesy of Johan's awesome parents! If you have ever wanted to make your teachers laugh, I would highly recommend teaching them "the Vegetable Game." It was a very fun night, and the perfect way to send our teachers off. :)

A Hard Day's Night

Okay so i am very very behind with my blogging, which is no one's fault but my own. I'd like to partially blame it on how much fun I have been having and the fact that i am constantly seeing new art and wonderful things like that, but the truth is that I have just gotten behind. Rome was exhausting but wonderful. The city was very dirty and filled with cigarette smoke, but also filled with art around every corner and Iìm with wonderful people. The Bernini sculptures just blew my mind, and i'm pretty sure that all other art is ruined for me, except maybe Botticelli, who painted "The Birth of Venus" and "Primavera." Coincidentally, I got to see those paintings today. One thing that especially amazed me about seeing Bernini's works is that he intended for them to only be seen from the front, but the entire sculpture is shown the same level of intricate, perfectionist style of detail and care. These works make me ashamed of things that people create today. Definitely got lost on my way back to the hotel, nearly had a panic attack because there were literally hundreds and hundreds of tourists packing the streets and I was lost! Seeing different styles of churches nas been really neat, and seeing ancient tombs inside of the churches is even more interesting. Florence has been much more exhausting than Rome, but not because we have been busier. In fact, we have been able to rest much more, and there is not nearly the amount of walking that was required in Rome. Florence seems to be much more centralized. I think we are all realizing how tired we are simply because we finally got a chance to stop, so our bodies and minds were able to process and somewhat decompress.

"My candle burns at both ends [...]" -Henry David Thoreau

All You Need is Love

Something I have realized while in Italy is how much of a difference it makes and how much one's outlook is affected by the people he or she is surrounded by. Looking at photos, or remembering events that have happened, places we have been to, and new things we have tried, I realize that I would not have enjoyed everything and have been having such a wonderful time as I have been. The art, architecture, scenery, culture and food has been incredible, but experiencing it with different people or alone wouldn't have been nearly as wonderful. While this trip is worth all of the hard work and effort it has taken, there are certainly times when we all get frustrated, or tired, it's really the people that help me (or whoever it is) to get through it.  Visiting the Vatican would not have been nearly the same had I not been with three other people who were all as excited to spell out "POPE" with our bodies as I was. Seeing the statues at the Capitoli Mueso would not have been quite the same without people who put up with me yelling "Narrrrnia!" when I saw the sculptures of fauns and centaurs. Not that all I have been doing is acting like a thirteen year old while I have been here, but the people who are here are just flat out wonderful, and have inspired me to grow and helped me to overcome many of the difficulties on this trip. I hope I have been able to do the same for them, and I am very much looking forward to the remainder of our time in Italy together. 

"It is not what you do, it is who you do it with."

That Means A Lot

So the first night we spend at the villa, we all fall asleep watching "Momma Mia." Everything is pretty normal. Then I wake up in the early early morning, unable to move my head due to a searing pain in the left side of my neck, shooting up into my skull. I've never experienced this before, so I tried to fall back asleep, hoping it would go away. A few hours later, when it had only gotten worse, I was starting to get really scared. I whispered, "Melissa! Wake up I can't move my head!" Melissa, being a true best friend, whisper/yells across the room to Maggie, "Wake up, Marianne can't move her neck!" then proceeded to go back to sleep. Well, my neck only got worse as the day wore on, and I spent the majority of the day in bed, trying not to move. The next day, Rosella Vasta, one of the children of the owners of the Villa, Rhett, Melissa and I went to a physical therapist that Rosella had found through her friend. The lady was very young and spoke little English, so communicating with her was done mainly through Rosella, and using charades! She gave me about a 45 minute massage with lemon scented oil, which was just absolutely wonderful. Rosella made me wear her own scarf, and I found out how sweet and wonderful she is. She also happens to be a very recognized artist, and told us about some of her recent projects. This experience meant a lot to me. It showed me how people that you don't even know can be extremely caring, and make all the difference in the world. Rosella still asks about my neck whenever I see her, and everyone on the trip was very  helpful and caring, especially Megs, Melissa, Maggie and the teachers. Melissa and Maggie even helped me get dressed at one point. That's true bonding!

"If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair." -Samuel Johnson

And Your Bird Can Sing

We just arrived to the Villa, and it is beautiful! amazing. spacious.country. It's much more what I imagined Italy being like. There are rolling hills, trees, a CASTLE right outside, and our rooms are amazing. The villa has been here since the 1800's. It started out as a small chapel, and was added on to over the years. We met a nice guy on the train, he graduated from a school somewhere in Europe and is in the wine business. Dinner tonight was wonderful! A four course meal: bread, wine, pasta, beef and peas and a lemon cake for dessert. There is a chocolate festival this weekend in Perugia, I'm afraid to even think about how much chocolate I'll be eating! The family here are called the Vasto's, they seem very nice and very artistically talented already! I can't wait to take pictures of this beautiful place :) Our manager, or helper for the time we are here, is named Roberto. His English is excellent and he seems very nice. I think that we are going to Perugia tomorrow for a wine tasting event, I can't wait to explore!

And So It Goes

So I am finally updating my blog! I feel really conceited writing about myself, and I also tried to blog the other day and managed to delete an hour of writing. So here I am, finally updating everything so that I don't forget it all.
Traveling Day:
The trip here was a breeze compared to what I thought it would be. My first flight was awful, because Meg and I had both gotten about two hours of sleep, and I had an aisle seat on the plane, so I was falling asleep but had nowhere to put my head! My layover was in New York City. I've never been to New York City, but unfortunately I didn't get to see anything besides the airport. I read a little, slept a little, then got on my second and final flight. The flight was delayed, which worried me a little bit, because I had plans to meet Megs at the airport at a certain time. I figured she would be able to figure it out though (which she did.) I was SO lucky to have two seats to myself at the very back of the airplane, and the dinner was delicious. I ate, put my ipod in, sketched for a little bit, then went to sleep. Piece of cake!
Meg's bag had ben broken by the airlines, so that put a damper on our traveling quite a bit. The man selling train tickets thought we were too daft to understand how to buy two tickets, which was very funny. The graffiti littering the walls all the way to Termini, the rude people on the bus, and walking around trying to find out hotel for over two hours had us both in terrible moods. We found a "Harry Potter" sized room and were able to have a decent dinner, after which we were both much much happier! We found Dawson's Creek in Italian, unpacked a little bit, and passed out. pure exhaustion.

She's Leaving Home

So I've just created the blog that I'll be using while I'm in Italy. Meg and I are leaving in seven days to drive to Seattle, where we both fly out to Italy on the 22nd. Currently I'm feeling very excited, but also very anxious and stressed out, especially about money. I'm just hoping everything will fall into place. I guess it's mostly just stressful because I don't know what to expect once I get over there. I'm going to start packing today, and making a list of everything I need. I figure if I start sooner rather than later, I'm less likely to forget things. Wish me luck!