Ode to Taylor Swift: It's a love story, baby just say yes!

Ciao all of my blog readers! That is pretty much the extent of my Italian speaking capabilities, well I know a few more phrases, but not much more! I arrived in Italy yesterday after two plane rides. I had my first experience ordering food in the Rome airport, let's just say the lady gave me the "Diet Coke Eye" for apparently being a complete moron in her mind. If you don't know what the "Diet Coke Eye" is, here is a little back story, one time a friend and I were at Denny's and the waitress came by and asked my friend if she would like a refill on her coffee, she gladly took the refill and the waitress just walked straight past me not acknowledging my existence or the mere fact that I WAS OUT OF DIET COKE! If you know me you know the strong passionate feelings I have toward this bubbly aspartame filled beverage. Anyway, I proceeded to get heated, first I started rapidly blinking and my face tensed up into an extremely displeased glare. And that my folks is when the "Diet Coke Eye" was born, affectionately dubbed this by my good friend. Back to the Italian lady glaring at me, she totally went through the progression of the "Diet Coke Eye" glare and I am pretty sure she uttered "you stupid retard" under her breathe as she pointed me to the appropriate counter to order. Apparently the Italian word for what I call the "Diet Coke Eye" is Malocchio. Its exact English translation is "evil eye." I found this first cultural experience very enlightening, never piss off the sandwich lady!

After arriving in Verona, my final destination for the next three days at least, I ran into my next cultural experience, it was 3 pm and I went on a search for a bottle of water and maybe a snack. I walked up and down the street looking for somewhere to pop in, disgruntled and dehydrated I ambled back to my hotel with no luck in my plight for hydration. I asked the front desk if they knew where I could go and she just chuckled and said nothing is open for several more hours, but she could find me some water here. *insert should've had a V8 thump on the head*, duh 3 pm is in the middle of nap time in Italy, everything was closed because everyone had gone home for the afternoon. Nice to know they embrace naps here! I ended up just hanging around the hotel until dinner time and then went next door for my first pasta dish in Italy. The adorable waiter who looked like he could have been one of my great uncles interpreted my broken Italian/English order and then brought me over a basket of bread. I was so excited I hadn't eaten in forever, but no one else in the place was touching their bread. I didn't care at that point sp I dug in, I would have died if I had waited any longer. My pasta came out and OH MY GOSH IT BLEW MY MIND! It was a tomato, Eggplant, and cheese sauce. I followed this up with a hot chocolate cake another mind blowing food experience! As I sat and watched everyone else eating I definitely could see myself and my other Italian family members in all of these people. They all had gorgeous thick hair and olive skin, they all wave their hands wildly when they speak...even on the cell phone. I also noticed the adorable old ladies walking outside had the same determined gate that I share with my grandma and mom. Overhearing conversations I definitely understand why my grandma is so feisty, it must be an Italian woman thing, they seem to be very passionate speakers whether passionately happy or displeased.

Today I spent the day wandering around Verona and I went to Juliet's house. I left her a note and signed it with my name and some of my closest single lady friends, I wrote"Juliet, where is Prince Charming?"-simple enough question right? Seeing the house was pretty cool especially since I have recently seen it in the movie "Letters to Juliet." I then wandered through the town square and walked into every designer shop in the town. Italian's definitely like fine shopping....I am beginning to think my shopping problem might just be in my genetics. I also had my first Italian pizza. It was DELICIOUS! Followed that up with some pastries I bought at a bakery. I just sat in the square on the edge of the fountain enjoying my pastry and enjoying the sun shine. This I must say has gotta be the good life! It was so nice to just enjoy the atmosphere and the food and not need to be entertained. What a wonderful first day!

Ciao!

A whole lota London life:)

Well hello cyber space it has been quite awhile since I have written you!

Many things have happened in London town since our last meeting, I went to a town called Sheffield for a weekend and that ended up turning into a trip to Edinburgh as well! I love random Scottish travels! My friend and I spent a night in Sheffield and had a nice time at a proper English pub. Let's just say I made friends with the many ciders this particular pub provided. We spent the next day driving through the Peak District which is basically a national park that has amazing cliffs and a smatterings of forest between large open rolling hills. The views were absolutely breath taking and the terrifying winding roads were as well. We stopped in this adorable village, Bakewell, which is famous for this tart that was originally from there. Fancy that, Bakewell bakes tarts! The tarts were pretty fabulous, the almond flour they use to make them is what make it special.

We then took a train ride to Edinburgh that same day and had a lovely evening at a pub until these creepy guys bought us a drink. I always thought I wanted attention like that, but really creepy drunk guys who can barely keep an intelligible conversation is neither attractive or flattering. Thanks Creepy Paul and Creepy Steve for ruining the pub for us!

We spent the rest of the weekend wandering around Edinburgh, went to the castle and the Royal Mile as well as a whiskey distillery. We then went and saw Eat, Pray, Love at the cinema. Although it was not completely like the book, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I read Eat, Pray, Love on the way to London and it is a truly inspirational book of healing, adventure, and of course eating, praying, and loving! The book itself has inspired me to pursue my love of writing and continue experiencing new things at every turn in my life. It may not be a literary masterpiece worthy of Shakespeare or Austen, but it has an extremely powerful message that can speak to anyone that has ever experienced a rut in life.

Two weeks ago I got invited to go with friends to a really famous club, Roof Garden. Sir Richard Branson owns it and apparently a lot of famous people frequent it, including Victoria Beckham and even Prince Harry. Although it was rumored that Vicky was suppose to be there, I was unable to spot here. The place was really pretty and flashy and definitely filled with people who have a lot of money. We weren't complete VIP guests so we actually had to pay for our drinks, and that was like 12 pounds a drink. Holy Hell that is 21 American dollars a pop! Luckily some slimy rich guy bought my friends and I a bottle of wine to share. Despite the place being quite beautiful, it wasn't exactly a place I would hang out at every night. I like my friends down to earth, my beverages cheap, and I like my friends to not have eating disorders. I'm just saying, I am really easy to please! It was an experience nonetheless, and I had a 4 am Golden Arches run after the fact! Clearly, I do not have an eating disorder!

This past week has been kind of bittersweet in many ways. My good friend from Belgium came to visit and we had a wonderful time exploring London and completely losing ourselves in the city. It was sweet because she got to come but bitter because she had to leave!:( This week has also been bitter because the first friend I ever made in London had to go back home. I am really happy she gets to see her family and be home, but I definitely miss her. We went to see Wicked for one of our last outings together and it was even more incredible than I remember. Well I am finishing up the term and I will be off to Italy this Thursday!

Cheers!