The photos are of Cinque Terre

This past week hasn't been incredibly eventful, but we did go to Rome for a night to celebrate Cory's birthday this past Thursday. Cory is one of the three cities people that I mentioned in my last post, so now that whole group is in Rome. It was a lot of fun, just getting to see the rest of the group and meet new people as well. Getting locked out of the apartment that we were going to stay at for about half an hour wasn't too great, but other than that I had an incredible time.

Then on Saturday Cory came back to Tuscania to visit, and we had a frisbee playing reunion, which was something we had all felt deprived of since the three cities people left.

On Sunday we took a day trip with the API students to Assissi and Perugia. It was really cool to see such a famous church being used. I really wish I knew more about the history of the place, because I definitely would've appreciated it more, but it was still really awesome. Perugia was really neat as well, but we just went in order to go to the chocolate festival. It was incredible, there were stands selling every type of chocolate you could possibly imagine (except with peanut butter, because I don't think peanut butter exists in Italy). I bought a cup of cioccolata fondente calda (dark hot chocolate). However, it's not like hot chocolate in the states. I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but hot chocolate here is like drinking a melted hershey's bar. It's so rich. My friend Rich always refers to it as diabetes in a cup, and I'm inclined to agree with him. But anyway, also at this chocolate festival were these tents with gates around them with people making these 5 ft cubes into sculptures on this 3 ft. high platform. Then there were these people inside the gates who would pick up all the chocolate carvings and put them in plastic bags and give them to people in the audience. They gave first priority to children, but I waited for about half an hour or 45 minutes and finally got a bag of Perugina chocolate shavings. It was so crowded, though, and some people were kind of rude a pushy. It definitely would've been a lot more fun if it there weren't so many people there. I guess it is understandable, though. This city is pretty famous for it's chocolate, and it would only make sense that a bazilllion people would want to go.

Midterms started on Monday, so we've been rushing around trying to get art projects finished and everything. It's been a little stressful, but I'm so glad that I'm taking 3 art classes and only had one midterm that I actually needed to study for (which would be Italian). Our cooking class final is this evening, and I'm making a mocha creme roll, which I'm really excited about. I made it before at home, and it was just delicious, so I figured why not try it again.

I also realized that I need to register for classes back in Kutztown on the 30th, but I've been having trouble getting in contact with my advisor, and I also realized that 2 of the classes that I absolutely have to take this coming semester are either not offered or are not listed in the online course catalog. So that should be fun.

On Saturday we leave for our Fall break trip, which will include Paris, Amsterdam, and Prague, in that order. I'm really excited about all three, but I wish we could have more time in each place. Maybe cramming it all into one week wasn't such a good idea, but we'll see. I'm sure it will be great no matter what.

The photos above are from Lake Bolsena, The grape picking, painting class, Rome (colosseum), and Venice at night,.

So much has been going on since the last time I posted, so I'm going to try to keep it brief.

The Friday after I posted, the Three Cities students left, so now there are only seven of us. Maybe we should call ourselves the magnificent seven, since we are pretty awesome peopple. Haha, ok, maybe not, but seven's a good nmber, I guess. I do miss the larger group, though, the people were a lot of fun, and it just isn't the same without them.

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before we went and visited Rome. We did the student/tourist thing, got a hostel, and went to see the sights. The Vatican was by far my favorite part, because we took a tour and learned so much about the place. It's incredible how much famous artwork is in that one place! Our tour guide was very interesting, and it made me think, "hm, this could be a really incredible summer job." So who knows, maybe this summer I'll be somewhere giving tours and talking about artwork. Of course, the Sistine Chapel was so incredible to see, even though it was terribly crowded. We also saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Colloseum, Pantheon, and many other things. Saint Peter's was also really cool.

Then we had a week of school. Blah. Classes are cool, but I'm starting to get loaded down with homework, and it's not so fun. But my homework is to go and sketch and paint the city, so I guess I shouldn't complain (although I still will).

This past weekend we left Saturday morning for Cinque Terre, and hiked 3/4 of it Saturday, and finished the hike on Sunday. What a workout! I haven't been running as much as I should be, but I thought I was in decent shape until Saturday! That much hiking kicked my butt! But it was definitely worth it. The views of the cities and the sea were gorgeous. On Sunday as soon as we were done with our hike we took a swim in the sea at the last town. The water was surprisingly not too frigid, and it was quite an enjoyable time. I wish we could have spent more than two days there, but I'll take what I can get. Maybe someday I'll be able to return for a more extended period of time.

Overall, I'm still having a wonderful time. Every once in a while I miss things like peanut butter and my friends and family, but for the most part I'm in love with this place. I've decided that when I am rich from my super-high-paying teaching job, I will buy a summer home here and live here over the summer. I guess maybe that's a little delusional, but who knows, haha.