ciao bella, amore mio

So after we missed our train to Florence because we were a bit confused by the train schedule, I managed to talk a very sweet guy at trenitalia into giving me first class tickets on a later train... :) even though we didn't even get to use them because we got stuck in the aisle of the train along with many other people. Once we got into Florence, we took the evening to explore the city and see the famed Duomo, so beautiful! We walked through a street market with tons of clothes, purses, and jewelry...I wish that we had these in Omaha! And of course we treated ourselves to some more amazing pasta. We met the cutest American kid on the steps of the Duomo. He was studying Italian, only 16 and traveling all by himself! My friends and I talked with him for about an hour and he was just the sweetest thing. We had the most awkward moment when we told him we were going out for some gelato and no one invited him, and literally a minute after we left him we all felt so bad about it so we went back to tell him to come with us and we saw that he was getting gelato already...by himself. It was so depressing and we felt so guilty...Karma did come back to get us, though. We went to get our own gelato, and we randomly pick a place. My friend Sarah picks the biggest cone thinking it will be 5 or 6 Euro...it was 10 Euro! But the cute Italian boy serving us made up for the price :)

The next day we walked around the city, went to see the David (which was so impressive, I was so taken aback), Piazza della Signoria, walked along some of the famous bridges in Florence including Ponte Vecchio, and finally got to see the most breathtaking view from the top of city in Piazzale Michelangelo. We also saw some of the locks of love, which I absolutely love seeing! Especially in Italy, it's so romantic. We went out that night and just walked around, where I happened to run into a Spanish family sitting on the steps of Santa Croce and chatted with them for about half hour about Spain...oh the things that wine does to you. Some Greek women tried to steal my map from me in the street, but one of my friends was nice enough to run after her and retrieve it- that's true friendship. By the end of the night we were really craving some food but we could not find a single place! Except for one who tried to pawn off some old old pizza for maybe 10 Euros- no thanks :)

Then it's off to Rome!

Benvenuto!! Est estazione centrale?!

Italy was definitely one of my most favorite parts of my trip. Even though it started out kind of terribly...waiting in the Amsterdam airport forever because my flight was delayed was terrible. I had only planned one night in Milan, so by the time I got into town and to my hostel -9:30 PM- I only got to see a little bit of Milan, which was so disappointing...although I did get to talk to a very attractive Italian man on my bus who I tried to ask directions from in Italian to (and it worked!! even if he did speak Italian back to me and I just had to pretend to understand...). I thought I might find a friend who would want to walk around with me in the hostel, but my roommate was Japanese and only spoke Japanese...  But I treated myself to some gelato and all was better. My next day in Italy I spent in Verona, the cutest town with all of the Romeo and Juliet statues and history...those of you who have seen the movie "Letters to Juliet" know what I am talking about! Of course, my camera died that day so I have no pictures, but it was so amazing. Everyone who goes to Italy should stop there, its just adorable.

I spent one night in Venice by myself, exploring the canals and eating gelato (again...this becomes a recurring theme in Italy) and it was absolutely beautiful. Venice was kind of a surprise city for me. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it ended up being my favorite city of Italy. I met some of my friends from the Sevilla study abroad program and we traveled Italy together. Our first night in Venice we walked along the canals and went to the center of the city, Piazza San Margarita, where people were drinking bottles of wine and just enjoying the beauty of the city. It was perfect weather and so easy to just spend some time relaxing with friends.

The next day we did the "church" tour of Venice, stopping to see all the churches. Le Basilica di San Marco and the plaza was was really impressive, even if there were a ton of people there! Not to mention the pigeons...I've never seen so many in my life! This woman was standing in the middle of the pigeons and letting them walk all over her...she probably had about 25 pigeons on her. I didn't know whether to laugh or be disgusted. We went on a little gondola ride across the big canal and I felt so Italian (although in retrospect it was sooo touristy). We walked on this street that was soo tempting with its amazing shops...I basically had to tear myself away!

Then we had the most amazing last night in Venice...we ate at the best restaurant (Taverno San Trovaso, by one of the bigger canals that runs through the city. I had gnocchi for the first time ever and it was so delicious, just to die for. Then we went to the Piazza San Margarita for the night again with some bottles of wine and met some amazing people there that night...I was lucky enough to see the Basilica San Marco at dawn and the sun rising over the canal. :)

Unfortunately, we would get confused at the train station and miss our train...but that's for another post!!


thank you to my friend Angelique for some of the pictures of Venice, you are the best photographer and fashionista ever!

high heels are a girl's best friend.

So I know it has been a long delay, but we have been so busy this week, and of course enjoying our last weekend before we go back to class. I made a really great find this past week in one of my favorite boutiques in Omaha, beyourself. They just had their huge annual tent sale and I was able to find this fabulous pair of high heel shoes. Anyone that knows me knows that I love my high heels (or schlampeschuhe as they have come to be called! haha) so I was so happy to find some discounted to only $15! Also found a beautiful necklace to go with my pale peach shirt that I bought at H&M in Sevilla.

I couldn't resist wearing them out together this weekend!!

The worst thing happened this weekend, though...trying to enjoy my last Saturday night before class, my car gets broken into at the bar and all my things inside stolen, including my purse and Gina's purse. :( Luckily, someone found my purse in a street nearby and called my house and none of my credit cards had been stolen. Only the cash and some other things in my purse...now I just have to fix the crushed windows of my car.

But to make up for it, I had the yummiest breakfast today! Latte macchiato with this delicious mushroom & oregano omelette. Played it with a little Taylor Swift, and my morning was complete. :)

Excited to start my last -for now- first day of school on Wednesday! Heidi started today...I tried not to rub it in or anything (maybe...).

Playlist of the moment: Running

Always upbeat music with a steady rhythm, it helps to keep me going when I get tired. I could always use suggestions for new music please :)

Jet Lag- Simple Plan feat. Natasha Bedingfield
Teeth- Lady Gaga
Super Bass- Nicki Minaj (yes, out forever but I am still loving it!)
Gucci Gucci- Kreayshawn
I Just Wanna Party- Yelawolf
Best Love Song- T-Pain
Love You Like a Love Song- Selena Gomez & the Scene (don't judge.)
Rumour Has It- Adele
The Edge of Glory- Lady Gaga
Danza Kuduro- Don Omar & Lucenzo (reminds me of Sevilla...)
Loca- Shakira
You Make Me Feel...- Cobra Starship feat. Sabi
Moves like Jagger- Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera

Cheers to the end of the summer and beginning of what is going to be an amazing fall!

sex, drugs, and alcohol, also known as amsterdam.

The first stop on my trip after Heidi went back home after Sevilla was Amsterdam for three days. When I walked off of the plane, I was so nervous to be by myself in a country where I knew not one word of their language (Dutch, which I swear I never mixed up with Danish...). But all the signs were also written in English, and as I came to find out, almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English so I didn't really have much to be worried about. My hostel turned out to be in a perfect location- only a 10 minute walk from the main train station and about 5 minutes from the center. There was so much to see in Amsterdam- the Anne Frank house, the canals, the Red Light District, all of the marijuana cafes, so many amazing museums, the yummiest cheese factory with free samples of all the delicious cheeses, this beautiful garden...I'm not sure I can name it all!

The Red Light District is seriously a stunner, though. The prostitutes in the windows is definitely one of those "culture shock" moments, especially when you see the ones that look so young (the legal age is 18) and some of them are so very, very old. There were absolutely tons of British and Australians there, especially men in bachelor parties...they apparently keep Dutch prostitution in business (70% of the women's clients come from England...and they say Americans are sex-crazed). The best was the hero themed Australian bachelor party, who all kept yelling that they were going to "save" the women. The sex clubs like the infamous Pink Elephant are kind of outrageous, they are everywhere and there is absolutely no shame for people to go in and watch, even though I was kind of embarassed even looking at the clubs from the outside- must've been the American in me. :)

The "cafes" are also something to see because of the openness of using marijuana and hash. It is actually illegal to advertise that you sell marijuana, but you know which places have it because they decorate the outside of the cafe in red, gold, and green. They also provide a place to smoke, usually upstairs. There was also a marijuana museum with some really interesting history, who knew that it was so important?

The best part of Amsterdam was definitely just walking along the canals and experiencing the city...there is no other place like it. The buildings lean outward and to the side, really kind of funny, and they are charged taxes on houses by the width of the house so some of them are so super skinny! And there were so many bicycles. The streets are crowded with them! Although they do say the number of bikes stolen a year is tremendous (hm, I feel like I've heard of that happening before...American friends, you know who you are!! :) )

There were a few protests while I was there, which I followed with another American girl I met in my hostel. Still not sure what exactly they were protesting, but there were signs of Hitler, people were dressed in crazy costumes, singing, dancing (in Dutch and English)...so, basically super entertaining.

I thought that maybe I decided to stay too long in Amsterdam beforehand- I kind of just went on a whim, but it was the perfect amount of time for me. So beautiful and so much more than just what it's famous for. Even though my time ended a little on the bad side (my flight was delayed 7 hours..really? Yes. Fabulous...love you Ryanair), it was by far one of the most unique cities in Europe.