sunshine & pink. GREECE

Hi everyone!

sooo much traveling

Goodness me! Everything is winding down so quickly, so of course I've gotten behind again. Over Easter, all of my roommates and I went on a Grecian adventure to the island of Corfu. It was so nice to have a trip all together, especially since it was our last trip of the semester. It was a loooooooong trip there, but definitely worth it once we finally made it to Greece. Here's the account of our time! :

Thursday morning at 8am we left the apartment to meet Bus2Alps (the program that we were traveling through) at Termini. Bus2Alps was taking 2 groups this weekend - one from Rome and one from Florence. So there was a HUGE group of people waiting at Termini, probably around 200 people. I was really tired, so I grabbed a coffee and some snacks for the bus ride. When I got back to my bags, someone called my name. I turned around and it was COURTNEY KUGEL - my roommate from Miami 1st semester of freshman year!! It was sooo crazy to see her! She was studying in Barcalona, but her semester ended a couple weeks before so she had just been traveling around with friends. I couldn't believe it!

ciao, italia!
on the ferry to greece

We checked in with Bus2Alps then headed out of Termini towards the buses. All the roomies and a bunch of our friends (we knew lots of people going on the trip from John Cabot and API) sat on the same bus together which was nice. The bus trip was 5 hours long (ugh) to the port for our ferry. We watched a couple movies which was good to keep us all entertained, and a stop for lunch. We got to the ferry in the early afternoon and boarded for our 14 hour overnight ferry ride. YUCK. Our beds? Airplane-like seating. We all put our bags and pillows on our "beds" and then explored the ferry. It was a cruise-like ferry with shops, restaurants, and even a dance floor and bar! We made some drinks to celebrate our travels and sat outside on the top deck for a few hours. It was such a sunny and pretty day!

view from our room

A few hours later we headed inside, and had some fun in the bars and club. We met some guys and taught them how to play Thumper - a favorite from high school. It was one of the girls on the trip's birthday, so we celebrated and danced the night away! After a few hours we headed back to sleep. I attempted the chair for a few hours, falling asleep to the playlist Zach made me, but that failed miserably. It was SO HOT in there and a headache was already coming on, so I went outside in the middle of the night and lay down on the ship's deck. There was no one else out there, so I'm sure I looked silly, but at least it cooled me off! It got too cold outside very quickly, so I went back inside but stuck to the floor as opposed to the chair - WAYY more comfy.

At 6am, a loudspeaker came on announcing breakfast. Ugh. No thanks. We all woke up anyways and headed upstairs to line up for the second ferry ride. We wanted to be sure that we got on the first one, so we wanted to be the first ones off of the boat in order to get it. We fell asleep waiting to get out, and woke up to a lady screaming in half Greek half English "THE PORT, THE PORT WE ARE HERE WAKE UP"!! Quite the morning of wake-ups.

We made our way to the final legs of the trip - 1.5 hour ferry, then a 30 minute bus ride to our hotel. YAY FINALLY WE MADE IT! 27 hours later. We got our rooms (I was with Debbie and Ashley), changed into our bathing suits, and headed straight for the beach. Our hotel was so cute! It's called the "Pink Palace" and is all painted bright pink. The rooms were really nice and we had a gorgeous view of the ocean. Magnifico.

a bunch of JCU/API girls at dinner!

The beach was gorgeous! It was rocky near the top, but sand and beautiful water everywhere else. There was a nice beach bar with really yummy food, too. Mmmm. We stayed on the beach allll day long, 2pm-6pm. I got a Greek Salad which was soooo yummy. I missed Feta cheese too much!!! I was sad when I asked for a milkshake (they had a sign for them) and they said they weren't in season. WHAT?? Lame. Being in the sun and on the beach made me miss Miami so so much! I can't wait to be tan again nonstop next year - especially with a pool right out of Raphi, Courtney, and my back door:)

Friday night we got ready for the night, then went to Happy Hour before dinner. We had some drinks then headed up to dinner. It was soooo good! Greek salad, chicken, potatoes, soup...mmmm yum. After dinner we went back downstairs to the bar/club area and danced the night away. It was a blast! Tara somehow ended up with the hotel's dog in her room, and had to call reception because it passed out on her floor and wouldn't budge haha. Crazy crazy. It was also really nice that everything was on site - the Pink Palace had their own personal restaurant, beach, dance club, bar, etc. so we never had to worry about transportation. A perfect relaxing and fun last trip together!

the roomies in our pink togas!

Saturday we got up early to hit the beach. Kaylie, Debbie, and some of our other friends went on a kayaking trip, but Tara, Ashley, and I decided to just soak up some rays and relax all day. And that's exactly what we did. It was a gorgeous day once again, we had the perfect weather! I spent the day napping, reading the Bhagavad Gita, and relaxing. We jumped in the water a couple times, but it was pretty chilly! For lunch I got the pita wrap with chicken. Once again, incredible. I miss Greek food already! Hopefully I won't miss the Greek Festival in Richmond this summer.

Saturday night was the Pink Palace Pink Toga Party. Oooh lala! We all got our pink sheets and the front desk and then headed to our rooms for some fashion designing. It was so fun! Everyone made their togas differently, but we all looked quite cute:) We took lots of pictures, had a yummy dinner, then danced the night away again. It was Kaylie's birthday at midnight, so we told the DJ and he played some special songs for her (I'm sure you can guess..). Wee! There was dancing, plate smashing, and ouzo galore.

Sunday we spent the morning on the beach once again. I got the Greek Plate for lunch, then headed to the market down the beach to stock up on snacks for our 27 hour trek home. It was Easter, yay!! (ps I hope you all had a fabulous Easter, I missed being with you!!). I headed back up to the hotel around 2 to shower and pack, then we checked out at 4. By 4:30/5 we were on the road for the long travel home. We took the same transportation, but this time no dance club on the boat for Kelsey. I slept as much as I could (I gave up on the airplane chair again and took to the floor), then read and rested the rest of Monday on the ferry. We got off around 2pm, then had our bus ride back to Rome. Finally we made it back, and got a good nights sleep in Roma after a long, fun, and relaxing weekend in the Greek sunshine.

kayakers heading out to sea

I definitely want to go back to Greece again to visit all the sites, and check out Athens and Santorini, but this was exactly what I needed after all my crazy, planned out travels of the past few months. Now I'm rested and rejuvinated for the last 9 days in Rome! AHH. I can't believe the next trip I go on will be to America. Insanity.

This week I've been working on my art, preparing for the exhibition that is tonight. Raphi is coming to visit (YAY!!) from today through Monday, so that'll make the days fly by even faster! I'm excited that she's coming 1)to see her duhh but 2) because I'll be able to visit all my favorite sites, restaurants, etc one last time before leaving.

Happy belated Easter! I can't believe I'll be home soooo soon ah! Missing you all tons and sending love and light always.

nonstop art-ing

Hello all!

This week's been pretty nonstop with classes ending soon. Our art exhibition is next Thursday, we don't have school Monday, and our last day of classes is Wednesday! SO I've been in the art studio for 6+ (usually closer to 8) hours every day as busy as a bee so that I can get all my work done before Greece. I won't have any time to finish things up next week since we get back late Monday night, I have class all day Tuesday, then only a few hours to work in the morning on Wednesday! AH. So it's been a week full of paint-filled clothes and chemical-smelling hands.

final - not the full effect because of the
lighting, but you get an idea

The week's kind of blurred together because I've been either painting, fresco-ing, or printing pictures every day haha. So I'll try and remember highlights, but this post will be short and sweet:) I finished my portrait of India! I mean...painting real life things aren't my FAVORITE - I'm more of an abstract kind of girl, and quite a messy artist so abstract fits more than the straight-edges and fine-lined realistic form. Every day this week I've come home COVERED in paint head to toe. I really don't know how it happens. All my teachers make fun of me for it. They've started not telling me that I have paint all over my face before I leave, so I get home and realize it's on my nose, forehead, chin, cheeks - you name it. Hooooowwwwww does that happen??? Whatever, it's just my style:)

detial of west lodge!

The painting looks good, I think! I did it in my more rough-edged and thick-painted style, and my professor commented that it worked for me which was good. I think it's more of a based-on-India thing than actually India (yes, that's an excuse for being terrible at realistic stuff haha). BUT it's at CMS on the athletics field with West Lodge in the background, and she's wearing Buff clothes! Her little yellow tutu. Perfecto. In portraits, it's important to put the figure in a setting that describes them and gives the viewer an idea of who they are. I thought this was perfect:) Painting it made me miss camp so much though, I listened to camp songs all 7 hours of the painting process! I can't wait to be back at cms this summer with the loves of my life <3

Photography has been going really well. Serafino offered to pay to print pictures for people, but when I showed him my photos that I self-printed, he told me that I was too good to get them printed at a store. SO he assigned me 8 more pictures to print before the exhibition next week. AH! I love printing, so it wasn't awful that he's getting me to do it, it's just lots and lots and LOTS more time. I finished up all the pictures today (Serafino even gave me special shiny paper to use) after a total of about 11 hours of working in the dark room this week. SUCCESS! Maybe some day I'll get this stinky smell of developer and fixer chemicals off my hands. I'm excited about my pictures, though, and I printed lots of extras to make cool mixed media pieces when I get home. Yippee! Note: the photographs on the blog are ones that I scanned into the computer and photoshopped (most are from Morocco and Turkey) - I haven't scanned in the ones that I've printed this week yet.

The fresco is officially COMPLETE as of liiiiike 4 hours ago. So. Exciting. A semester of work all came down to this. (I forgot to take a picture of the final thing, but I'll put it up next week). I completed the sky today, did the top of the big tree, and worked on touch-ups using egg tempura paint. It was really cool to learn to paint with tempura because I've learned all about that type of paint in my art history classes, but never was exactly sure how (or why) people painted with it/made it. It's made from the yokes of eggs, although you can use the eggwhites if it is a delicate color (like whites, lighter or pastel-y colors, etc.). Mixing the yoke, water, and dry paint and voila! You get tempura. We did touch ups with this kind of paint because the egg-y parts make it thicker so that the paint actually stays on the wall. Since you're supposed to paint frescos while they're still wet (hence the meaning of fresco = "fresh"), just water mixed with paint wouldn't do the trick. The egg fixes it all! So I finished up everything today - for fresco, painting, AND photo! It was a productive 8 hours there today.

The mornings I've been doing longer yoga and meditation practices since I had been slacking with all my travels and visitors. It feels really good to be back in the regular routine. That's something I'm really looking forward to about coming home - the schedule and dedication to my practice. There are more and more things that I'm excited about coming home for...I can't believe it's almost 2 weeks now! I'm definitely ready to be back. I've missed everyone too too much!! I'm looking forward to my last couple of weeks though.

Last night, all the roomies sat down together and made a list of things we wanted to do before we left Rome. We crossed off one thing yesterday - group piercing in the Eternal City! Haha we found a clean/polite/very friendly place right near school so we went for it. I got a little stud in my nose (although I wanted a hoop - they didn't have them there so I'll have to switch it out when I get home) and two other roomies got piercings also (another nose and a part of the ear - I can never remember what it's called). Before the piercing excursion, though, we got pizza at an incredible place around the block from John Cabot called Dar Poeta. Mmmmm Mmmmm. Their motto: "We are neither thin and crispy nor thick and softy". Haha aka PERFECTO. (pictures to come!)

Soooo that's about it for this week! I'm excited tonight because GLEE was new last night (for the first time in tooooo long) so I'm gonna watch a little glee and pack for Greece! We're leaving at 8am tomorrow and be back around 7pm on Monday evening. I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing Easter weekend soaking up the sun on the Greek island of Corfu:)

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter filled with love, friends, and family. Know that you have my love from across the ocean! <3

tuscany, then palm sunday with the nuns!

Ciao ciao ciao

Claudia, Mara, and my wall! (I'm the center)
All that's left for me is the sky!

I hope you've all had a great weekend:) Wednesday went well, I worked some more on my fresco and it's almost finished! I'm planning on finishing it up either Monday or Wednesday of this week so I can do touch-ups before our art exhibition at the end of the month. On Thursday, I worked in the art studio aaaaallllllllllllllll dayyyyyyy. I printed lots of pictures to prepare for our exam (pretty much a portfolio and an artist statement) and worked a little bit on my portrait for painting.

I headed home to wash up before dinner, then took a bus with Debbie and Ashley over to Le Fate for a roomie dinner. It was so great to hangout with all of my roommates again. I feel like it's been so long since we've all hungout because we've had lots of visitors and traveling the past month or so. The bus ride took FOREVER because of all the traffic coming in for holy week and the Beatification of John  Paul that is right afterwards. Plus the bus driver got a little lost due to all the traffic. It was okay, because we caught up with each other and got serenaded by an Australian tour group dinner every Disney song imaginable..that was fine with me!

the roomsters spa-ing it out

Le Fate has an awesome student menu - 10 euro for bruschetta, homemade pesto gnocchi, a pitcher of wine, and dessert. Yum yum yum. We had some great conversations (figuring out how to make pancakes here in Rome, finding Chex for puppy chow ... looks like we're missing American food!) It was wonderful wonderful.

Friday was our Tuscany overnight with API (the program I'm studying through)! We had to leave our apartment at 6:15 in the morning. AH. Too early. After 3 hours on the bus and a nice watching of Tangled later, we arrived at the Thermal Baths at Fontverde Spa. It was definitely my favorite part of the trip. There were huge pools of thermal water with mineral in them that were sooooo good for your body. You could sit under a waterfall and it would massage your legs/back/neck..whatever you put under the fall. Soooo lovely. It was the most relaxing thing ever. And my skin is STILL so soft from it!! We were only supposed to stay in for 15 - 30 minutes, but I was in waaay longer than that. Afterwards I took a nice hot shower, had a fruit smoothie, and drank some of the thermal water from a fountain. It helps cure liver problems and helps with digestion. Sam and I hung out a lot and caught up which was gooood!

BEST BREAD EVER

After the spa, we headed to our hotel in Chianciano Terme, a small town in Tuscany. There wasn't too much there, it was just a good place to chill out. We dropped our stuff off really quick, then got back on the bus for a local product and wine tasting at Fattoria Pulcini (a famous winery in Tuscany). We were all really hungry and the local food was INCREDIBLE. They had this amazing home made raisin bread that had cinnamon sugar melted on top - kind of like Panera's cinnamon crunch bagel but WAY BETTER. I probably ate a whole loaf of it all together haha. I asked about buying some so I could freeze it and bring it home for you all to try, but they said they made it as a special occasion for our group and didn't sell it. Dangit. The wine was great, and I bought a couple bottles to take home to remind me of my lovely Italian life:)

just being a vampire

We took a mini tour of the winery, then left for Montepulciano. This is where they filmed the part of New Moon that's in Italy (the Twilight vampire series that's so popular)!! They book says it's in Volterra, but the actual filming was done in Montepulciano. We looked around an underground cellar there in the little city, then wandered aimlessly around until we met at the meeting point when it was time to go. The meeting point was conveniently where the main part of Twilight was filmed, so we took some silly vampire pictures in front of the door haha.

It was sooooo cold, so once everyone (finally) made it to the meeting point, we hurried back onto the bus and went back to the hotel for dinner. We had some traditional Tuscania pasta (called Pici), chicken, and salad. It was pretty good, not my favorite meal but definitely worth it because it was free! For desert we got some sort of almondy cake/pudding thing.

kaylie turning tara into a vampire

After dinner we had a little bit of free time before an optional viewing of "Under the Tuscan Sun". There was nothing else to do in Chianciano Term plus we were exhausted from being up since the break of dawn, so Debbie (my roommate in the hotel) and I headed to the movie early to get good seats. OH I forgot to tell you! Our hotel hadn't changed decor since the 1970s. It was so funny. It was like a time machine back to the 70s hahaha. Interestingggg. Anyways, we got front row seats for the movie, which was really cool to see because it was filmed in lots of places we'd visited! Rome, Florence, Montepulciano, etc. I can't wait to go home and re-watch all the Italian movies so I can say "I've been there!!" and know EXACTLY where they are!

After the movie we passed out for the night. We had to be up early to pack up and head to Siena for a few hours. It was about an hour away, so I sat with Ashley and we talked and reminisced about how our time in Rome has flown by. I can't believe there's less than 3 weeks until I will be home! So crazy. In Siena we had a guided tour and then freetime. I really loved this city. It was so quaint and cute and really stone-y...they had all kinds of cool stones all around haha. The buildings were made so differently than in Rome! Kaylie pointed out that every city is so exciting to visit because they're all SO DIFFERENT. True dat.

the roomies minus tara!

At the end of the tour, we went to a little family-run restaurant that API recommended for lunch. It was realllyyyy yummy! We had a big group for lunch - Kaylie, Debbie, Ashley, Tara, me, Katie, Sam, and Kate. We all tried some homemade pasta. I tried ravioli with butter and sage sauce. Mmmmm. We had a few hours to kill and Sam and I had seen a cute looking piercing place while we were on the tour. I've been thinking about getting my nose pierced (don't worry parents - it actually comes out without leaving a mark, unlike tattoos!). We thought we'd wander over and just see what the prices were and if it was a sterile place. Our idea caused quite the excitement at the lunch table...by the end of lunch we'd convinced 3 of my 4 roommates to get something pierced too! Now, only to re-find the shop. Putting all our brains together, we somehow made our way back to the store without getting lost. Insanity! It was meant to be! Until we walked up to the door and it had closed 10 minutes earlier. Oh well, it's a sign I suppose.

"New Moon" tower

Excitement gone, we walked back across Siena to our meeting point to head home. The trip was loooong, but it was okay because we watched Ice Age and then BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!!!!! (Guess which one I was more excited about?) It had been sooo long since I'd seen Beauty and the Beast, so I was absolutely ecstatic to watch it. It ended perfectly, just as we were pulling into Rome. Now I'll have those songs stuck in my head for weeks! Since we got home around 7 it was still light out so we walked the 30 minutes home. It was so great to be all together again, it just made me so happy! Saturday night I did a lot of research for my big paper due in Art History and went to bed early so I could be productive on Sunday. And boy, was I!

Saturday night when I got home, I had an email from our nun friends that we went to dinner with when Dave, Becky, and my mom were here. They told me that they found an extra ticket to Palm Sunday for me! Yay! The only condition: I'd have to be at their house at 7:45 the next morning. Yikes. I decided it was totally worth it and a once in a lifetime experience, so I finished researching for the night and went to bed. I woke up early early to do a little yoga and meditation, then scrambled to make it to the nuns' house on time. I got there at 7:45am exactly and called them to let them know I was there. They were running a little behind, so they buzzed me in and let me sit and listen as they did their morning prayers. It was really special to see the sisters praying together for such a special day. Palm Sunday is the beginning of the Holy Week for them, so it was a big day!

After the prayers, we headed out. They just finished renovating their apartment so they apologized for the mess (I didn't notice any) and told me about all their visiting sisters that were coming in for Holy Week as we headed to St. Peter's Square. There were SOOOO many people there! I love Palm Sunday. It's definitely my favorite Christian holiday beside Christmas (of course:)!!). People were selling palm leaves on the street, but the sisters hurried me along to the back entrance of the Vatican so we could sneak through the crowd. The Swiss Guards just smiled as we walked by, no questions asked. How cool! I met one of the Vatican policemen who was super nice (though only spoke Italian), then we made our way to our seats.

On the way, a tiny little old nun came up to the sisters and greeted them. They talked to her in Italian, then introduced me as their American friend. She lit up like a lightbulb and gave me a big hug and kiss, and said something in Italian with lots of emotion. I thanked her and smiled big, then we continued on our way. Sister Raphaella told me that she said, "Take your bright smile back to the United States youth there, they need that light". It was really touching. Sisters Raphaella and Judith told me that she was an extremely high up nun who was very enlightened and known for being kind and big hearted. I was really happy I met her today.

so many people in the square!!

Our seats were incredible - up on top of the steps of St. Peter's about 9 rows back. We could see everything! It was still early (about 8:15 when we found our seats), and the square was already filling up quickly. The front half of the square had seats that required tickets and the back half was left open for people to pass by and watch if they pleased (but no seats). As the service went on, the back half continued to fill up until there was almost no room at all! It was a long mass, about 3 hours in total - ending at 12:15 - but we got there at 8:15 so it was a very long morning! I got a lot of sun, so now I'll have a funky looking tan for Greece this weekend. Oh well, at least Greece will fix it! It was really cool to see the Pope so up close, and especially to attend the service with the sisters. They answered all my questions (I was clueless since I'm not Catholic) and gave me a booklet in English that I could follow along with all the readings to. Definitely a worthwhile and unforgettable experience.

crowds out the wazoo

After the Palm Sunday mass, I headed straight to the library at school to WRITE MY PAPER. My goal was to finish all my research and write the entire paper today (dream big, right?). One of my friends from the class, Kate, was there, so we sat together and researched away. I had done a lot the night before, so I was pretty set. After a little over 4 hours I had finished the paper, bibliography, and image sheet! YAY!! That was the last schoolwork I had before exams (well, besides art stuff but that's fun for me!)!! Now I just had to get through my art history exam, but that's in 2 and a half weeks so I had time to kill. Perfecto.

So it was a very successful weekend! Tonight I'm going to work on my painting a little bit (I brought it home so I could get more done), and tomorrow my goal is to try and finish up my fresco before yoga. I don't have to plan yoga since I'm just using last week's lesson plan, so that's good! I hope they like the class - I'm really excited about it.

Well, that's all for now! I MISS YOU ALL LOTS AND LOTS. Can't believe I'll be home sooner than soon!

Love love love and light :)

Nearing the End

Hello all!

I can't believe we only have two weeks of classes left. Twenty-five days from now I'll be in Richmond, Virginia for the first time in 4 months! It's been a pretty exhausting week after nonstop visitors and traveling. I definitely miss everything, but it's nice to have some down time in these last few weeks in Roma! This weekend I'm only going to Tuscany for one night, so it'll be a quieter next 2 weeks travel-wise. School-wise, it's getting to the end so I have lots of finishing up to do with projects, pieces of work, and papers.

view of the basilica from a vatican window!

Monday morning I got up at the break of dawn (actually, pre-break of dawn) to get back into my yoga routine. All the craziness recently has gotten me off track, which I HATE! I've only been doing a few minutes of yoga or meditation when I can fit it in, so I've made a goal for myself to get back in the swing of things for the last month. I finished the 2 hour practice around 7:30, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then headed over to the Vatican Museum. Dave and Becky are patrons of the Vatican, so they emailed and asked if we could get a tour of the museum early morning.

Our tour was at 8am inside the museum. We got these special pin thingys so that we wouldn't have to wait in the line that was already forming outside the museum. I met my mom, Becky, and Dave with the tour guide, and we were on our way. We got into this ginormous elevator - literally it was a small room. It was as big as liiike a nice sized bathroom I would say (I'm trying to think of a comparison haha), with benches all around for you to sit and rest on the way to your floor haha. We took a seat, rode up one floor, then started the walk down the long hallway to the Sistine Chapel.

the last judgement

I was so excited because I hadn't been to the Chapel yet!! The lines were always too long, and it costs money..I knew when my parents visited they would pay so I was holding out haha. Also, since we were going soooo early in the morning it wouldn't be too crowded. We walked down the hall while the guide told us about all the paintings and artwork along the way. So neat!! At the end of the hallway, we walked into the Sistine Chapel. It was stunning. There were only about 5 or 6 other people in the room, so we could see EVERYTHING. We walked over to a side bench and took a seat, staring in awe at everything around us while the guide told us some cool stories about the chapel, different meanings behind the frescos, etc. It was so neat!! My favorite thing that I learned that I didn't know before was that in the Last Judgement (the big fresco in front of the altar), there are no women in hell (the bottom right of the piece). This is because Michelangelo believed that Love was the epitomy of heaven and goodness, and maternal love was the ultimate love. Therefore...no women in hell! Niceeee.

something i discovered while looking up -
"god created the sun and the MOON"
(if you will)

Our guide went to make a phone call about the next area we were touring and left us to stare at the ceiling. We looked around for about 20 or 30 minutes, moving around the room and pointing out new things that popped out. It was gorgeous. As the time passed, more and more people started piling into the room. By the time we left, it was getting pretty packed! I'm SO excited because Dave and Becky left me a patron pin so that I can come back to the Vatican Museum (including the Sistine Chapel) for free whenever I want! And I get to skip the lines and just walk right in!! My mom told me I have to come every morning at 8am...I don't know if I'll be able to handle THAT haha but I'm definitely going to take advantage of this awesome opportunity.

We left the Sistine Chapel and walked through different parts of the museum. We got to see sooo many cool things! Lots of works by Raphael since he painted a good portion of the Vatican, including his famoous School of Athens ( Philosophy) - one of my all-time favorite frescos. After touring that part of the museum, we headed to a little cafe outside in the courtyard where we met some other tour people who were going to take us on a tour of the restorations of ceramics and sculptures in the Vatican Museum laboratories! So cool. We sat down for some coffee and got to talking, and by the time I checked my watch it was getting close to yoga-class time, so I had to go. One of the guides shuffled me and my mom through the sculpture part of the museum so that I could see some things (like Lacoon and Sons!!!!), but I had to rush out and didn't get to do the restoration part of the tour :( Oh well, my mom took lots of cool pictures, you'll have to ask her about it!

I left the Vatican and headed back to my apartment. On the way, I stopped and picked up my rolls of film I got developed (the accidental color ones from Morocco and Turkey) so I'd be ready for photography after yoga. I ran by the market to pick out some fresh fruit, veggies, and mozerella, dropped it off at home, then was off to yoga!

I had an exciting class planned about Ayurveda that would lead up to Sirsasana (headstand), and I got to the gym early so I could warm up some. Sam was already there, so we were playing around like we usually do before class trying different inversions. After awhile I looked at the clock and it was time to start class, but Sam was still the only one there! We decided to just keep playing with different poses and catching up since it had been awhile since we had talked, which was fine with me - it just means I won't have to plan next week's class! I had a really nice time with Sam. It's always good to re-connect with people, especially if they have a lot of the same interests as you. It keeps your thoughts and actions in motion in a positive way when you're able to share stories and experiences that others may not relate to (ooooh the life of a yogini). So that was really nice and rejuvinating:)

I left a little earlier than usual to get to photography early. I had 2 rolls of black and white film I needed to develop, as well as the 2 color rolls I wanted to scan into the computer. Serafino was chaotic as usual, so I developed with Mary and Jess most of class. Near the end of class, Serafino got his thoughts together and taught me how to use the new and improved scanner he just bought. He was excited to see how my pictures would turn out, so he kept checking in and helping me. I ended up staying late because I was learning so much! He taught me a bunch of photoshop tricks that I'm going to work on later this week with my new pictures.

pretty roma!

Unfortunately, I was supposed to meet my mom at my apartment around 5, but I left my phone at the apartment! I didn't get home until 5:40 or so, and my mom wasn't there. I figured she hadn't left yet since she hadn't talked to me. I checked my phone and saw some missed calls from Dave, so I called him back. My mom was missing! They said they dropped her off near the apartment about 20 or 30 mins ago. Uh oh. I got my things together and right as I was about to go look for her, our doorbell rang. She had gotten dropped at the wrong Metro stop (one past mine) and didn't recognize anything, but ended up finding degli Scipioni (my street) and somehow made her way to my apartment. Perfect! We packed up all my stuff that I was sending home with her in a big duffel bag, then headed to her hotel.

They were staying in a new hotel for Monday night, and it was GORGEOUS. It's called Hotel Eden - the second oldest hotel in Rome (built in 1889...100 years older than me!). We walked into their room and it was THREE STORIES HIGH (yes, just THEIR room!)!!!! They had the lower level with Dave and Becky's bed and the HUMUNGO bathroom (full bath, separate shower, and separate room for the toilet), then there was a spiral staircase to the second level where a little study was with my mom's bed, THEN you go up the spiral staircase to the third floor where you open the door to a private terrace!! Haha it was crazy crazy. My mom and I took some pictures on the terrace, then we headed out to their last dinner in Roma.

I was practically still full from Sicily, but we went to a really cool place near their hotel called San Marco. We ordered a few pastas, a plain pizza, and some rice balls to share. It was soooo good. They're known for their pizza, which was definitely the best of the best (and we only got a margherita pizza). They told me about their cool experience in the restoration labs and archives (they had an archives tour that afternoon while I was in photo class). Apparently the tour guide pulled out a random document from a random drawer in the archives to give them an example of something, and it was the death warrent that the Pope sent out for Martin Luther - pretty much one of the most important document in history (that was so important in the Reformation). CRAZY!!! Their stories from their tours are so cool - definitely ask them about it.

For dessert we split some panna cotta, gelato, and tiramisu with strawberries. Mmmmm:) I was a happy camper. We grabbed a cab back to the hotel, said our goodbyes (miss you already mommy!), then I grabbed a taxi back to my apartment. I hopped in the taxi and was surprised that 1) the taxi driver was a woman and 2) she had a British accent. I asked her where she was from and got her complete life story - London, fell in love in Rome, kids, divorce, etc etc etc. I probably said 8 words the whole cab ride while she talked nonstop. She was excited because I was the same age as her daughter and my mom was the same age as she was haha. KEWL. She dropped me at my apartment and got out of the cab to give me a big hug, said some blessing thing that I didn't really understand (her accent got to me), then gave me her card in case I need a taxi again. Haha quite an interesting experience.

I got to bed around 1 (insomnia has been kicking in recently), then woke up Tuesday early for yoga (bringing back that dedication!) and class. We met at Piazza del Popolo, where we were supposed to meet last week before it got cancelled. We went ALL OVER today to make up for our class last week - started in Popolo, then Spanish Steps, Trevi, then took a 30 min bus to Janiculo Hill. The class was extra long (about an hour longer) to make up for last week - next week's will be too. We ended our class right around where I went to dinner with Dad, Zach, and India one night, called Antico Arco (do you guys remember??). How neat! The view during the daytime was just as beautiful as the evening/night.

After class, I walked home the same way the Zach and I walked home that night after dinner. It made me miss him, boo! But the view was incredible, and it was such a gorgeous day. I was listening to my new "yoga sunshine" playlist, smiling away as I strolled back to the apartment. I wasn't going to painting today because we're doing portraits (I'm doing one of India!), so I asked him if I could do this week's on my own time since my registration for Miami fall semester was smack in the middle of class time.

I got home and registered for my classes WITH NO PROBLEMS FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! I switched my major (for the 5th time, yes) to art - I was most recently a double major of art and PR - with a minor in Educational Psychology...I don't remember if I wrote about that or not. This way I'll enjoy all of my classes a lot more, and I'll be able to graduate in a year! That's one semester early (since I took a semester off), which is pretty impressive considering I've switched things around so much haha. I have to take 2 summer classes (that are both 1 week long all day in May but count as 3 credits - so worth it) but other than that I'm all on track. Yay!

antico arco restaurant!

After registering, I went to Piazza Navona to sketch some for my art history class. We have a visual analysis due of the 4 rivers statue, so I planted down in front of it and started drawing. A group of kids touring (probably 4th graders) gathered around and quietly watched while I drew, they were so cute. The longer the stayed there, the closer they got haha. After a few minutes, one was even resting on my shoulder to check out the sketch! ilovekids. SINS. They waved goodbye when they left, which made my day. Cutie patootie Italian kiddies.

The rest of the day I forced myself to do some work. I worked on my visual analysis paper for the sketch, and started looking up some info for my other big paper due. I don't know how I'm going to get back into school-mode in Miami with the close-to-zero work I have here, but I'll find a way.

All in all, a great start to the week of recouperation! Love and miss you all dearly and dearly.

PS my camera's still sandy and not completely working from Morocco BUT I'll work on getting it fixed ASAP so that these posts will have more pictures next time :)

quick week review, and SICILY!!

Ciao a tutti! Once again, it’s been a long and crazy week. Apologies as always for the late update. From now on, I will be in Rome (besides a night trip to Tuscany and a long weekend trip to Greece), so the updates will be more frequent, I promise!

Quick overview of the beginning of the week:

MONDAY: I was feeling a little better (finally), but had an appointment at the American clinic so I decided it would be best to go and get checked out. My mom went with me. It was a great clinic, good to know for the next month in case anything else happens! The doctor said that I was at the end of a minor case of E. Coli. He said it was pretty typical to catch something like this after a trip to Morocco. He gave me some intense meds that I have been taking and feel almost all back to normal now (a week later). I get tired very easily, but other than that no tummy aches! YAY! I had to skip photography because of the appointment, so I emailed my professor and he told me that he cancelled class anyway because he had a stomach virus as well. Perfecto!

Sophia, my mom, Toni, Silvana, Michele and I at Le Fate

My mom and I walked around Trastevere some, picked up my meds, visited San Francisco a Ripa with the Healeys (Dave and Becky are visiting with my mom this week!) and got to see some relics which was interesting, then went out to dinner at Le Fate. This is a famous restaurant in Rome with traditional Roman food. Mmm. We met Dave’s relatives there who we would be staying with in Sicily the next weekend! Silvana, Toni, (the parents) and Sophia (the sister) were visiting Michele (the son) who is studying in Rome. I’d tried to meet up with him a few times but he’s in Medical School and is very busy with his studies. It was a fabulous dinner! I had to be careful what I ate because I was still recovering, but Silvana didn’t understand (she only speaks Italian) and kept feeding me more and more and more. It was wonderful - a peek at what our weekend in Sicily would be like! I went back to my apartment that evening and caught up on some sleep.

Dinner with the nuns!

TUESDAY: My big class day! I headed to Piazza del Popolo for my on-site. The whole class was there on time, but our professor was nowhere to be found. After 30 minutes, someone called her to see what the deal was. She was so surprised that we were all there - “Didn’t you see the message?? Class is cancelled today!” Apparently she wrote something online or on-campus, but no one in the class saw it! Oops! That freed up my morning a lot. I went back to the apartment, made a little lunch, then rested and washed a bunch of clothes. 

At 2:15 I headed to painting class to finish up the figure painting. After class, my mom met me at my apartment and we hung out for awhile. The internet wasn’t working well at the hotel, so she got to check her email which was good. That night for dinner, we walked to a restaurant near my apartment to meet Dave, Becky, and some nuns that they knew who worked at the Vatican. Cool! I was excited because I’d never met a nun. I didn’t really know what to expect. It was so neat because the 3 nuns that we met were really cool and so open, interesting, and just normal people. They had stories of their travels all over the world, we listened to when and why they decided to become sisters, and learned a lot about their lifestyle. It was so interesting. They invited me to go to Palm Sunday with them at the Vatican if they could find an extra ticket for me, which would be such an amazing experience!! They also want me to come over to teach them yoga haha. They asked, “can we wear our habits?” I told them I could work around that. I hope it works out, that would be an interesting story to tell:) I slept at the hotel that night since Wednesday my only class wasn’t until 2:15.

WEDNESDAY: The visitors headed to Florence for the day and left me with the key to the hotel. Magnifico! I slept in, meditated, ran some on the treadmill downstairs, sat in the sauna, took a nice long hot shower, and did a great yoga practice. By the time I finished pampering myself, it was almost time for class! I headed to fresco and worked on my wall. We’re in the final stages now, so it’s pretty much a race to finish our walls in time. Wednesday we worked on our columns. I only have to do my main centerpiece (which should take about 3 classes), then I’ll be all done! After class, I went back to the apartment and packed up for Sicily. I had a nice and quiet night at the apartment. It was good to be back. I miss Rome when I’m away for so long! But Thursday I would be off again. Oooh the life of a European...

practically a swiss guard...

THURSDAY: I met my mom at St. Peter’s for a Scavi tour - a special tour that they have a very very limited number of tickets for. Dave had talked to the nuns that we went to dinner with and they squeezed us into the tour with some tickets they found. The Scavi tour takes you down under the Vatican to view the excavations they are doing there. It was really fascinating. There were pagan and Christian graves from 2000 years ago!! We also saw St. Peter’s tomb, which was neat. After the tour, I took my mom to Old Bridge (a must-do in Rome), then we headed over to the art building so that I could show her where I do all my work! She got to see my fresco, photo lab, and paintings. It was fun! We walked to the Pantheon afterwards for an outdoor lunch with a view. It was a great afternoon:) We ate up then headed back to her hotel to get ready for Sicily!

SICILY!

homemade meatballs with my
favorite sicilian dessert
in the background

Toni picked us up at the airport and took us straight to his and Silvana’s house for a lovely dinner. OH MY GOODNESS. This weekend was like a food marathon. You literally can’t say no to them because they get offended and just dump more food on your plate. At the same time, it’s absolutely delicious so you just stuff yourself full and deal with it haha. This is what I learned after that first night. We arrived and there were 2 huge plates of cheese on the table, with Toni’s home made olives. I was starving, so we ate alot of that. Silvana brought out literally the best lasagna I have ever tasted in my entire life. It was so rich, and so sweet, and so perfecto! I was stuffed after that because we thought that was all that there was. Nope.

Next came plates full of freshly made meatballs, and after THAT desert! AH!! How do these people stay skinny?? It was all absolutely amazing. We finished dinner, then Toni and Silvana took us to their guest apartments. They had one apartment for Becky and Dave and another for me and my mom, but they wanted to be all together. Silvana and Toni wouldn’t let that happen (Sicilians are very stubborn and offer us sooo much!), so after they left my mom and I snuck back downstairs to stay in the extra room in Dave and Becky’s apartment haha. Toni and Silvana weren’t too happy when they found out, but they slowly accepted it:)

the whole crew with rosalio di cannola in Monreale

Friday we spent the day traveling around Sicily. In the morning, Silvana and Toni took us all to Monreale. This was a beautiful little mountain town where the famous Sicilian church is located. Toni explained everything to me and my mom, while Dave and Becky walked around taking lots of pictures. Dave was excited because he just wrote a book about Sicily and there was a sculpture in the church that he referenced. It was really beautiful! My mom and I climbed up to the top of the church for a gorgeous view of the coast. 


Afterwards, we headed to Palermo for a nice (small) lunch - we were still full from last night! We went to a restaurant that Dave had actually seen on a show on Food Network because they were famous for their spleen and lungs (no thank you!) called Antica Focacceria San Francesco. We had panelle, crocche. I stuck with a caprese salad and eggplant. They ordered us some cannolis for dessert. The sweets here are TO DIE FOR, especially they ones with ricotta cheese. Yum yum yum.

my mom and i with the cooker of the spleen and lungs!
EW.

I was pretty exhausted from the day, so Toni drove Dave and I back to the apartment to rest up while the moms went shopping some more. They shopped ALL DAY LONG, and finally met us back at our room a few hours later. For dinner, we went to Toni and Silvana’s again. We told them that we can’t eat as much every meal because our tummies would explode, so tonight we just had 4 courses (“just”...really??).


It was really amazing, though. Silvana is an excellent cook. We had the cheeses, bread, and olives again, then Silvana brought out homemade linguini with clams. It was incredible. We got the recipe from her so when I get home I can make you all a traditional Sicilian meal! After dinner was dessert again, and some fresh fruit. Mmmm. A few other relatives stopped by to chat, so we got back to the apartment around 1am and slept very well after all our food!

silvana's yummy pasta!

Saturday was a more relaxing day. We went to a small town in the morning for the moms to finish their platter shopping (they were looking for nice Sicilian plates to take home). I took a bunch of pictures at the fountain outside, and tried lots of fresh veggies that Silvana picked up at a market there. Afterwards, Silvana drove my mom and I to Scopello to see the famous cliffs - that's where they've filmed lots of movies (like the part in Ocean's 12) and it was magnificent. We took some photos there, then were on our way to the traditional Sicilian meal in the mountains of Sicily. It was about an hour drive, and we were literally in the middle of nowhere. Dave, Becky, my mom, and Toni were in one car, and I went with Silvana, Sergio, and Maria (more of Dave's relatives). Their car was all English speaking, while mine was only Italian! AH! I was practically fluent by the time we got to the restaurant haha. It's hard to SPEAK the language for me, but I can understand most of what they say. They just speak so fast!

yoga in segesta

We got the restaurant and ate and ate and ate. It was probably around a 20 course meal - and we skipped the first course! SO. MUCH. FOOD. It was amazing, but I definitely had to pace myself. I'm not going to need to eat for the rest of the month!! Let's see..we had eggplant, zucchini, pork, quail egg, sheep, meatballs, potatoes, ribs, artichokes, califlower, snails, tomatoes, bread, olives, stuffed mushrooms, proscuitto, kabobs, AND SO MUCH MORE. I can't even remember everything. It was all fantastic, but I really couldn't move afterwards. We were there for over 3 hours, just eating nonstop. Whenever I said "no thanks", Silvana or Toni would yell "MANGA MANGA MANGA!!!!" (eat, eat, eat!!!). Haha oh goodness. We told them for dinner we didn't want anything at all!

silvana tried yoga
on the beach

My mom and I visited Segesta after lunch with Tony and Silvana, while everyone else headed home. Segesta is a beautiful place in Sicily where there are 2000 year old temples and amphitheaters that you can walk around and explore. It was gorgeous! Toni and Silvana were exhausted after lunch, so they pointed us in the right direction and  took a nice long nap in the car. My mom and I walked up to the temple and looked around, then took a bus to the amphitheater. It was a beautiful day, with the flowers such gorgeous colors and the weather perfecto - I even got a little sunburnt! I did some yoga in the 2000 year old architecture, we talked and walked, and then headed back down on the bus (it was only about 2 miles). Silvana took us to the beach and we walked along the water, picking up pretty shells and sea glass:) 

dinner at maria and sergio's

We went back to the apartment and didn't have too much time before we were picked up once again and on our way. It's funny because we would just get shuttled around without ever knowing where we were going! It was great to not have to worry about anything and just go with the flow. Tony and Silvana took us up to Sergio and Maria's mountain house for dinner. Dinner?? After our 4 hour lunch?? AH. They promised it wouldn't be too much food (as they always said), then brought out a couple huge pizzas and oodles and oodles of Sicilian desserts - cannoli, sfincia san giuseppe, cassata siciliana, cassatelle...SO GREAT. Once again, I was stuffed. Even after their "small" meal! We sat around after dinner and Tony brought out his guitar for some singing. We sang some traditional Sicilian songs, then they moved on to Beatles, "New York, New York", and "We are the Champions" haha - the only American songs they knew! It was lots of fun:)

sicily with my momma :)

Sunday was a relaxing day in Castellamare (where we were staying). Dave, Becky, and my mom woke up early to go to mass at Dave's family church, but I slept in some which was nice! I woke up around 10:30 and did a nice, long, much needed yoga and meditation practice for a couple hours. By the time I got out of the shower, the parents were all home from church. We ate a big 3 hour long lunch (again) at the restaurant next to our apartment. Dave treated the whole Buffa family that showed up - about 20 people! It was lots of fun to meet some new people in Dave's family. It was crazy - there were tons of people all around me speaking THREE different languages! Since Italian is so close to Spanish, Becky was talking to one girl in Spanish (she's fluent), then Tony was talking to us in English with a couple other relatives, and the rest were speaking Italian or Sicilian! It was so chaotic - the Italian way:) We ate and ate once again. Lots of seafood today because we were right beside the bay. Mmmmm:)

Afterwards we packed up and headed to Tony and Silvana's one more time to print out our boarding passes for the flight back to Roma. We get in laaaate tonight, then have a special tour of the Vatican archives and restoration projects at 8am (ah so early!) - it'll definitely be worth the early wake-up though. The Healeys and my mom leave Tuesday morning, so I have one more day with them. I'm excited for photo tomorrow to develop my Morocco, Turkey, and Sicily pictures!!

Turkey Turkey!

PICTURES ADDED! :)

Off to Turkey! Unfortunately, I was still not feeling well on Thursday morning. I tried to narrow down what it might be. #1: undercooked meat (since I’ve been cooking chicken and red meat for dinner a few nights). #2: red meat in general (my stomach doesn’t respond well to it anyways - but usually not this bad at all!). #3: I picked up a virus in Morocco. Hmm. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if it goes away.

hagia sophia!

I felt miserable during the whole metro/train/plane ride. Luckily I slept most of the plane so that helped some. It’s the weirdest sickness - awful cramps (it feels like I’m having contractions like giving birth or something) that make me keel over and forget to breath, really dizzy, a fever that comes and goes, and other tummy-related issues. Ugh. I made it to Turkey fine, though, and after searching for a little while I found my mommy!! It was so good to see her!! I feel terrible that I have to be sick for our weekend trip together, but it’s also nice to have her here to take care of me:) She’s the best mom ever!

We made it to the hotel via taxi fine. It’s right by all the tourist attractions which is really nice. We were greeted by Mustafa and Fatih, two really wonderful Turkish men. Mustafa owns the hotel and doesn’t speak quite as good English as Fatih (who is younger and seems to be in charge of the front desk). They helped us unload everything, pointed us in the direction of a pharmacy and a place to get soup, and gave us some good ideas about what to do while we are here.

We moved into the hotel room, and I rested for a little while. The cramps were really bad on Thursday, so I couldn’t do much at all. My mom and I walked up to a restaurant nearby to get some plain food that I could keep down and help to settle my tummy. We found a nice place up the block from us near the Grand Bizarre. Everything looked so wonderful, if only I could eat more! My appetite is almost non-existant, but I tried what I could. We got some lentil soup, veggies, hummus, fresh bread, and tea. Mmmm!

After lunch we mozied around a little bit, making our way to the pharmacy. Luckily the man spoke English and he gave me some medicine that we hoped would help. We walked by the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and so many other amazing buildings. Even the little houses and stores are so cool here - bright colors, ancient stones, or aged wood. It’s really a magnificent city. I couldn’t wait to bring my big camera out to get some good shots!

We headed back to the hotel because I was feeling pretty rough. The rest of the day we spent sleeping, resting, and attempting to recouperate in our hotel. Later in the evening we watched “The Tourist” with Johnny Depp (my mom’s favorite), then got to bed nice and early.

Friday I STILL wasn’t feeling good. Oh no! Jada texted me asking my symptoms, and she told me that she had the same thing. Uh oh. That means I probably picked it up in Morocco somewhere. We researched a little bit and figured out I have all the symptoms of E. Coli. Eeeek!! I sure hope that’s not the case. A lot of my symptoms are hard to prescribe because they’re typical of a lot of viruses. To be safe, I emailed API in Rome and asked if they could give me recommendations for doctors in Rome so that I could go when I get home on Monday. We figured out that it’s definitely a virus (and not food poisoning) since it’s been 3 days now. On Monday I’m planning on getting some bloodwork done to check for everything. It’s no fun being sick when I’m in such a beautiful city!

inside the blue mosque

I decided that whether I was sitting in the hotel room or wandering the streets of Istanbul, my stomach would hurt. SO after a yummy breakfast on our hotel’s rooftop terrace of fruit, cereal, bread, olives, eggs, and tea (if only I could eat some of it), my mom and I headed out. We asked if there were bananas at breakfast since those might help my tummy, and they said no. A few minutes later, though, Mustafa brought us out some! He must have bought some just for me and cut them up. How sweeeeet! We were the last ones at breakfast, so Mustafa took us outside to see the great view, and explained some stuff for us. We told him we were planning on walking around and checking out a few mosques, and he said it was his day off so he would love to go with us and show us around. Perfect! We headed out with our new friend.

Mustafa took us all around, explaining different parts of the city. In one fountain that they were restoring he said that instead of water, it used to have cherry juice coming out of it! It was free for everyone to drink. Yummm. We walked around, took lots of pictures, and then went inside the Blue Mosque. It was absolutely beautiful. The tiles and decorations inside were stunning. We got there right around prayer time so we had to be quick, but there was so much to see! The Arabic writing was everywhere, just like in Morocco. SO PRETTY. We had to take off our shoes, and I was wearing leggings and a big shirt, so they made me wear this long skirt thingy. My style doesn’t fly with the Turks, I suppose:)

my momma and i in front of the blue mosque!

After visiting the mosque, we walked through the Grand Bizarre with Mustafa. IT WAS SO HUGE. If he hadn’t been there with us, we definitely would have gotten lost. There was so much to see and to buy..we are definitely going back there. We did make one purchase though. My mom just got her new house on Strawberry Street, and she has a carriage house out back with a great balcony. She told me she wanted to get some hanging lights to put out there, so I had to spill a secret: I bought her hanging lights from Morocco to put out there!! Haha oh well, she was still excited even if it’s not a surprise. The ones I got for her were very Moroccan and fairly small, so we decided to get some Turkish ones, too, because they would look great together. After searching for awhile, we found a good shop with lots of choices. Too MANY choices! We stayed for about an hour trying to figure out what colors, size, and designs we liked best. After we figured it out, the man who owned the shop put it all together for us and wrapped it up. Luckily there was a chair in there, so I got to sit down and rest for awhile. My stomach was starting to act up again, so we headed back to the hotel.

On the way we stopped in a nice restaurant to try and get some food down again. Mustafa wasn’t hungry, so he took our lights back to the hotel for us. I ate some plain rice and soup, and my mom shared the rice and got a veggie dish. We finished it off with tea. Yum! It was getting colder (apparently the mornings here are warmer than the afternoons), so we got back to the hotel and warmed up. It was nice to rest for awhile again. BOO TUMMY PROBLEMS. We hung out in the hotel for awhile, and heard back from Jada (who went to Morocco with me and was having the same symptoms). She went to the doctor in America and was diagnosed with a mild E. Coli. I set up an appointment in Rome with an Internal Medicine Doctor for Monday, so hopefully that will take care of everything.

Around 6:30 we headed to see the Whirling Dervishes - a famous Turkish religious tradition. We got lost on the way there, but saw lots of cool sites and eventually made it. We ended up being 10 minutes late (somehow it took us over an hour to walk to a place 20 minutes away), so my mom and I sat in separate seats. It was really neat to see this age-old tradition. Some Dervishes played instruments and chanted. while 5 literally whirled around in circles for 30 minutes. The spinning didn’t help my stomach haha, I had to close my eyes for a little while. The ceremony is an 800 year old tradition of turning towards the truth to grow through love, and in finding the truth, arrive at the “Perfect”. Very cool.

We started the walk home (much shorter than the walk there), but not before stopping in a bakery called Hafiz Mustafa. They were so nice! My mom and I bought lots of chocolates, baklava, cookies, etc. for later then were on our way. We also got Mustafa a little treat for taking us around (because the box had his name on it). Back at the hotel, we watched a movie then went to sleep.

Friday was our spice tour! We woke up, got a yummy breakfast, then headed toward the spice market to meet our guide, Selin (later she told us she was named after Celine Dion haha). Once again, we got a little lost along the way but made it there fine - and even a little earlier! We’ve learned to give ourselves plenty of time for looking around haha. My stomach wasn’t cramping as severely or as often this morning, so that was a good sign! I was hoping to be able to try all the great Turkish foods and spices on our tour.

There were 2 other families on the tour with us, one from Canada and the other originally from San Fransisco but living for a few months currently in Madrid. Once everyone was there, we headed into the market. Selin was great. She explained all the foods we passed, got us samples of everything, and made sure we had time to buy everything we wanted. It was a really really wonderful experience. We went through spice, seafood, olive, pickle, linen, and SO many more stores, trying everything we saw! My mom and I got some great gifts and presents for ourselves:). After spending a few hours on the European side, we headed over to the Asian side of Istanbul on a ferry. It was my first time in Asia - a new continent for me!! It looks like it was a 3 continent week for me - Africa last weekend, Europe this week, and Asia for lunch on Friday. Perfect!

pig head. YUCK.

We hit up some more stores on the Asian side, then settled into a nice restaurant in the Asian spice market for a genuine Turkish lunch. Selin ordered all her favorites for us, and we chatted and ate. Unfortunately, half way through lunch my stomach started acting up again so I had to stop eating. At least I got to try a lot this morning! The pain was getting pretty severe again after lunch, so we headed back on the ferry and Selin tried to get us to go to the American hospital nearby. We considered it, but I wanted to rest before doing anything else (we’d been out from 10am - 5pm and my body wasn’t able to handle that) before making any decisions. We said our goodbyes then grabbed a taxi home.

We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel, as my stomach pains slowly got worse. We hung out, I slept for a few hours, then we watched a movie together in bed. The VCU game was airing in the US at 6pm yall’s time, so we stayed up until 1am getting ready to watch the game. It was near impossible to find streaming online, and after a failed attempt at an iphone application of live march madness streaming, we asked Ahmed at the front desk. He found us a website and let us use his computer to watch some. I was too exhausted and starting to feel worse, so I tried to sleep while my mom messed with the computer. Unfortunately, the internet kept cutting in and out until it was gone completely and wouldn’t let us log on. She gave up around 2:30 in the morning, and went to bed.

I barely slept at all that night. My cramps were as bad as Thursday - the worst day by far. They kept waking me up from the pain. I’m counting the days to be back in Rome so that I could go to the doctor and get some medicine to make it stop! We slept in a little bit, and woke up to Martha Young calling us on the telephone. She is a friend we know living in Turkey, who took a bus to Istanbul to see us on Sunday! My mom made plans to meet up with her, then she hopped in the shower. I could barely move from exhaustion and the cramping. The front desk called to let us know they extended breakfast for us if we were interested in getting some, so we felt bad and headed upstairs for food.

me, mustafa, and martha!

Martha met us at the hotel and sat with us while we finished breakfast. I didn’t have the energy to go out yet, so I decided to rest for a couple hours in the hotel and then meet them later for the Hagia Sophia. Martha and my mom went on their way. I showered up at the hotel and then tried to get some more rest. At 2, my mom and Martha came back to check up on me. I was still struggling, but didn't want to spend my last day in bed. We headed out and about!

Martha has many friends in Istanbul, so we got the full tour and hospitality. Her one good friend Mustafa (a common name here) owns the cafe right in front of the Hagia Sophia! A perfect location. We stopped there first, got some tea, caught up, skyped with her husband Ken (who is back in Virginia - Martha is living here for a year teaching English in the government), tried some fresh squeezed pomegranate juice mixed with a splash of orange juice (almost up to par with the blood red oj YUM!), then went into a couple of Mustafa's stores. I found some cool pants, and my mom got some great pillow cases for her new house. Next stop: the Hagia Sophia!

inside the hagia sophia

It was gorgeous. We spent lots of time just getting lost in the amazing building. It was built with so many different materials and mediums of art. Absolutely beautiful. I brought my big black and white camera, and my mom took so many pictures on her digital one that her camera died! It was really wonderful. Afterwards, we headed to the Cistern - an underground reservoir. Very neat. The lighting made all the columns look gorgeous. It was a good day of exploring! We met Mustafa afterwards at a neat hookah restaurant. Underneath the restaurant they discovered an entire castle buried deep in the ground that they are excavating now. We walked down there and took a look. The ancient stones and arches from hundreds and hundreds of years ago (built in 300 AD) were still in tact and were really fantastic.

Martha had to catch her bus back to her town in Turkey - about a 6 hour bus ride. We said our goodbyes, then my mom and I wandered around a little bit more for some last minute shopping. We were very successful in our endeavors! My stomach was cramping, but I hung in there since I slept so much this morning. We came back around 9:30, packed everything up, then went to bed to get some rest for our early early flight (we leave the hotel at 4:45 am. AH.)

What a perfect weekend! Istanbul is a truly amazing city. I know I always say this, but I definitely recommend it to you travelers out there. I hope to come back some day to experience the night life - I hear it's awesome! I wish my stomach had cooperated, but it was still an extremely successful weekend of traveling, as always:)