This weekend was Thanksgiving and although they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Italy, our school is American so they gave us a long weekend. I went on a trip to the Alps right near the spot where Italy meets Switzerland and France. Around 40 students representing 3 study abroad schools went on this trip so I met a lot of really cool people from all over the world!! I had a nice, relaxing weekend which reenergized me to get through the last two weeks of classes. We went sledding, ice skating, built a snow fort and a snow man, and I made my first real snow angel ever (I decided not to go skiing because I didn’t really want to humiliate myself by face-planting on the mountain). Oh did I mention that it snowed all weekend so that by the time I left the snow was up to my knees!!! Since I am from Florida everyone got a kick out of my reaction to that much snow and all of the mountains. The village we stayed in was a quaint little Alpine village that could have been packed up and put right into a Disney movie (it helped that at the ice rink they were playing Disney soundtracks). We had a Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday that was very good despite the fact that we were all freezing and the food for the rest of the weekend (which was provided by the hostel and the company that sponsored the trip) was really good. I had so much fun and met so many new people that I really hope to stay in contact with even after this whole adventure is over (Oh my gosh… that is only 16 days away!!!). Right now I can’t wait to get home and see my family and friends (and earn a little extra cash!!!) but I know that I want to return someday with my family so that I can show them all of the amazing things that I saw and experienced while I studied here. I really missed not having Thanksgiving dinner with my family and watching the Macy’s parade and the endless football games that follow but since I had to give those things up, this weekend was a very good substitute.

The Alps for Thanksgiving

Funny part... that car was dug out of the snow the night before

Barricades to stop Avalanches

Playing in the snow

Look Mom... I'm a snow angel!!!

Our Huge Snow Man!!!

The snow fort

The Alpine mountains are so pretty when they are coved in snow!!

The beauty of a restaurant and bar attatched to a skating rink...eat and then skate!!!

We stayed in the little town of Cervinia, Italy.

Posted by Toni Recca at 5:59 AM | Permalink

Ashley and I decided to take a trip this weekend to get our minds off our schoolwork. We decided that everyone must see Venice at least once in their lives so that is where we went. It was definitely an adventure as our trips usually are. The funny travel stories begin on the train where some Italian guy decided that, even though there were four empty seats on the other side of the aisle, he wanted to sit on top of Ashley (Euro Trip moment???). He sat there for almost three hours holding his newspaper in front of him but actually peering over Ashley’s shoulder and reading the book that she was reading. He then proceeded to engage us in a conversation about proper business marketing techniques (thrilling…riveting…really)!!! We finally got to Venice and even though it was late in the day we went exploring and found all of the wonderful things that make Venice such a great place to visit. It is truly a city you could be content getting lost in. When we got lost we did a lot of shopping. We bought some typical Venetian treats and Venetian masks for family and friends back home. There are no cars allowed in Venice so all transportation is by boat which made getting from one place to another a very interesting experience however, they have water taxis and buses, which made life a little easier. We passed by a theater while trying to find our way back to Piazza San Marco (where we had to catch the bus back to the hostel). We went inside and discovered that it was a dinner theater and was relatively inexpensive because of the student discount we received. We bought our tickets, went back to the hostel to put our bags down (lots of shopping= I am so broke!!!) and change for the show. The dinner was seven courses and they had actors that went around socializing with the people. The show was awesome and we learned a lot about Carnivale which is a Venetian festival used to get rid of all the meat in the town before the beginning of Lent. The next day we had to leave really early in order to get back to Rome and get some work done for that week’s classes but despite the fact that it was a short visit to Venice it was a very good experience and I would love to go back someday.

The bridge of Sighs...Lots of canals mean lots of foot bridges and every one of them is artistic and beautiful...even the ones leading to prisons.

The Campanile

Gondola that had just dropped off its passengers who were taking a romantic Gondola ride by moonlight

Gondolas are "moored" in the Bacino Orseolo

Best Western Venice style...every room overlooks a canal!!

Gondola with its passengers going under one of the many bridges of Venice

Basilica and Piazza di San Marco

Waiting for the water bus in the floating bus stop... that's right even the bus stops are on water

and there's the water bus

A Venetian snack for the train home

Posted by Toni Recca at 5:49 AM | Permalink

Ashley’s (my roommate this year and last) parents came to visit from New York and she wanted to show them the sites so they invited Megan (my other roommate and sorority sister) and I to tag along to visit the Vatican museums and Saint Peter’s with them. So at 9 in the morning in the pouring rain we waited in line for 2 hours only to have a couple from Spain cut in front of us and make up this vast story about how they were with the man in front of them who proceeded to prove them wrong, saying he was backpacking through Europe alone and was from Canada. Once inside, I was definitely caught off guard by what is held in the Vatican Museums. I thought it was going to be a lot of religious relics and information on the Popes and the Swiss Guard and actually it was none of that. You don’t realize how much the Catholic Church has had throughout history until you visit these museums. There is and entire section devoted solely to carvings of animals!! There were courtyards and even a tennis court and playground that we were told was there for the enjoyment of the Swiss Guard (I didn’t even know they lived at the Vatican). We stopped in the Sistine Chapel and looked up in awe at the ceiling which is considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the world!! Then we went to Saint Peter’s Basilica and the fact that I was inside the Vatican really hit me. I was standing in front of the very place where Saint Peter, the founder of the Catholic Church, is buried. This was something I will never be able to fathom or replace. It was a solemn place of prayer, a place of so much devotion to God and to that religion which so many hold dear, a place of enormous history!!! The feeling you get when you are inside is absolutely indescribeable. The only thing I truly regret about the whole experience is that we toured on our own and now looking back at it, it would have been interesting to have a tour guide to tell us all about the things we were seeing and experiencing.

Il Vaticano e La Basilica di San Pietro

The Sphere with Sphere in the Courtyard of the Pigna

An ornately decorated gallery of the Vatican museums

I wouldn't mind taking a bath in that!!!

A mural of Italia Nuova

Spiral Staircase which gradually turns from a ramp to steps

Strapping Swiss Guard

The altar over the place where St. Peter is buried inside La Basilica di San Pietro

Marble engraved with ALL of Popes recorded back to Saint Peter

Posted by Toni Recca at 4:04 PM | Permalink

This weekend was a long weekend for celebrating All Saints Day which is apparently a huge holiday in Italy as well as a holy day of obligation. I took this amazing opportunity to visit the land of my forefathers- Sicilia (my great-grandparents on my father’s side where originally from Palermo and Messina in Sicily)!!! It was possibly the best experience of my life and not for any of the obvious reasons. All of our planes were delayed, the weather was horrible, and everything we wanted to see was really spread apart and, therefore, required hours on a bus. In spite of all of this, I had the time of my life!!! I saw an active volcano and a house that was buried in its lava flow. I saw the ruins of temples to the various Roman gods (Hercules, Jupiter, etc.). I visited the most beautiful beach I have ever seen and I visited a quaint seaside fishing village. The best part of the weekend, though, was meeting the people that went on the trip with me. It was a little uncomfortable at first because I really didn’t know any of them before hand but we really formed some very good friendships by the end of the trip. I realized that to really enjoy myself on any trip, whether it is in the States or in a different country, it is better not to expect anything and it is necessary that you “roll with the punches� as my mom so sagely advises. That is when you are yourself and that is when you are going to have the most fun. I guess the same can be said of any new experience. It is better to stay true to who you are but sometimes just a little bit of flexibility and understanding make that experience ten times better. I had a great time in Sicily and I can’t wait to visit again with my Mom and Dad someday- it will happen!!!

So I'm really hoping these people had insurance...this happened in the last eruption which was about 5 years ago!!!

A Caldera which is another word for crater found about 7,000 meters up...I played in a volcano crater!!!

The powerful yet beautiful Mount Etna located just outside the city of Catania

Sara, Amy, and I inside the massive crater

Me inside the Grecian Theater in a beach town called Taormina

One of the Temples at Agrugiento

A fisherman's boat in Syracusa

All of us gathered for four course dinners every night and buffet breakfasts every morning.

Waiting for a plane... so goes the life of the jetset!!!

Posted by Toni Recca at 4:36 PM | Permalink