TRAVELOGUE.jesswrites.com

I’m done with the semester! I finished my last exam this morning. It feels great. But at the same time it’s really starting to hit me that this whole experience is pretty much over. My roommate Diana is leaving today… in about an hour. Katie leaves tomorrow. All my other roommates leave on Saturday morning. I’m going to miss my roommates so much.

On the bright side, Emily gets here today. (Nikki’s friend from GVSU) She’s the one who’s traveling around with Nik and I for the next two weeks. So we have two days to show her around Rome, and the weather is suppose to be hot and sunny! Then we leave for Barcelona on Saturday evening. I’m really excited for our trip! I’m actually nearly packed now. I did all my laundry for the trip yesterday and the storage company is coming to pick up my luggage tomorrow morning. One my stuff is gone, it’s really going to feel like the end. I can’t believe this.

But I still have two weeks left… so pray for us to have a safe trip without too many complications! I’ll try to keep you guys updated from internet cafes as much as I can. I don’t know yet if I’ll be able to post pictures… we’ll see.

Oh, by the way… I finally made it to Tivoli! Which, for those of you who don’t know, is a town about 20 miles from Rome known as The Beverly Hills of Rome. There are two huge palaces (villas) there from like 500+ years ago with huge garden complexes. We went to Villa d’Este, which is supposively the prettier one. I posted a few pictures from there.

I love you all, and see you in TWO WEEKS!!!

P.S. HAPPY GRADUATION ALLISON!!! AND HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM!!! XOXO

First of all, I’m DONE WITH CLASSES!!! All I have left now is 3 exams and my semester will offically be over. Sad, but exciting at the same time.

Second… we are no longer going to Nice and Monaco in the south of France. Train tickets were too expensive and we would have to spend nearly two days just on trains to and from Nice. It wasn’t worth it to us. So now we are spending two extra days in Barcelona, and an extra day in Paris. I’m kinda bummed, but I’m sure this will work out for the best since we won’t be so rushed now. Plus we’ll have a little extra cash as well.

Our end of the semester photography exhibit was tonight. It went well.

All of the girls are gonna go out tonight and celebrate the end of classes.

Hopefully I’ll get to Tivoli this weekend…

So, I’m now in my last week of school. Exams start this Saturday. (Crazy, right?? Why on the weekend?!?) But anyway… after today, I have 11 days left in Rome. This semester went by really really fast. I always knew that it would, but now that I’m actually at the end, I’m realizing it even more. But that’s okay because I’m ready to move on. I’ve seen everything in Rome that I wanted to see…. multiple times, actually. I’ve made some amazing friends, had once in a lifetime experiences, and learned a little bit more about myself along the way. I’ll be sad to see it all come to an end because I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better semester abroad. But I am really excited to see a few new places during our two week Eurotrip after exams. And then I’m even more excited to see my family and friends back in Michigan, because I really truly miss everyone. And then, of course, I’m excited for little things like my mom’s potato salad, Taco Bell, driving, English, the US dollar (cuz the Euros getting really expensive), and TV. It’s funny what being abroad makes you miss. I hardly even watch tv when I am home…. haha.

As long as I don’t fail my finals, I will have managed to pass all my classes. (Not that I expected not to or anything.. but passing is always a small sort of accomplishment for me.) But I’m going to have to do a lot of studying for Italian and my Roman Monuments exams. The others will be a piece of cake. (Oh, that’s another thing I miss… cake.)

Okay, well I have nothing else interesting to say right now. Hope you are all enjoying nice springtime weather.
xoxo,
Jess

I spent the entire past weekend in Rome. Tuesday was Italy’s liberty day so we got it off from school. We had a really good time visiting all of our favorite places in the city. We ate way too much gelato, went to Villa Borghese for a boat ride, got cappuccino at Rome’s number one rated coffee house, took pictures of the Collosseum at night, and went to one of the Roman beaches for a day.

I have to keep myself busy here because I’m starting to get kind of antsy in Rome… I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I’m homesick… just ready to be done. I’m very excited to travel around for the last two weeks with Nikki and Emily. We have so much great stuff planned and it’s going to be the trip of a lifetime. However, Rome is getting so jam packed with tourists now that everything is starting to get on my nerves. I’m going to miss my roommates so much once we leave, though. They have become some of my closest friends.

But anyways, the beach was pretty cool. We didn’t get the sunniest day for it… but it was really warm so it was still nice to lay in the sand. We had to pay 5 euro to get into this beach complex thing, but it was worth it because it had beach volleyball courts, a pool, food, bathrooms, etc. Kind of like a resort except without a hotel.

Also, this weekend a watermane broke on our block. We had no water for more than a day and it was pretty inconvienent. We couldn’t flush our toilets, take showers, brush our teeth without bottled water, cook, was dishes, etc. We were all pretty patient about it though. I think we have gotten used to Italy being inconvenient so things like that don’t phase as much anymore. Luckily it was fixed before Tuesday, though, because they wouldn’t have worked on a holiday!

Ok, well I have class in a few minutes so I’m going to run. We’re hopefully going to go to Tivoli Gardens tomorrow and if we do, I’ll have new pictures to post.

Love to all,

jess

Katie, Lauren, Amanda, and I had an amazing weekend in southern Italy. Amanda went with her mom and stayed in a nice hotel, so we didn’t see as much of her. But the other three of us stayed in a little cabin at a camp ground in Sorrento. The campground had a beautiful view of the city. Sorrento is a very cute, charming town on the coast. There is great food, beautiful views, and easy access to other places on the coast of southern Italy. We spent the first day (Friday) walking around the town. Katie and Lauren got their hair cut. We checked into the campground, and then later met up with Amanda and her mom for a delcious dinner at one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in Italy.

On Saturday we got up very early and took a trip to the island of Capri which was sponsored by our campground. The boat picked us up at 8:30 am, gave us a tour from the boat around Capri, and then dropped us off at a small marina to explore the island for 6 hours. The boat ride was really fun because we got to see the island from the water. As soon as we were dropped off we went to this little cabana-like smoothie place and soaked up the sun in lounge chairs. It was fabulous. Then we took a bus into the city centre to explore the shops, grab some lunch, and take pictures at the lookout point. After a few hours of that, we went right back to the marina and ordered cocktails from the smoothie place and layed out for another 2 hours. That was my favorite place on the island. We got back to our campground around 6:00… took a nap… and then went into Sorrento for dinner. We went back to the same restaurant because it was so yummy the night before. They waiters liked us so much that they gave us free dessert!

The morning after that (Sunday) we got up early again to check out and then take a bus to the Amalfi Coast. It took an hour and a half to get there, but it was the most incredible bus ride of my life. The views were absolutely amazing. You will see in my pictures when I post them. The water was so blue. We were literally driving up and down a mountain and very close the the edge of the cliffs. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but so beautiful that I didn’t mind. I gave me digital camera a workout. Once we got to Amalfi, we went straight to the beach and layed ou in the sun for 3 hours. I got really tan… I would have stayed out even longer, but Katie and Lauren were getting burnt. We went to lunch and had wonderful Capri Salad at a restaraunt right on the beach. Afterwards, we went walking around the town and browsed through shops. Of course, since it was so hot, we got gelato and then sat on the stairs at the duomo while we ate it. I was a wonderful day at the beach. We didn’t want to leave at all. But at 4:00, we caught a bus back to Sorrento, got on a train to Naples, and then caught another train back to Rome.

Southern Italy is by far my favorite place that I’ve been to since I’ve been here. The towns were just so quaint and charming, that it was impossible not to love them. Capri and Amalfi reminded me a lot of the Greek Islands… maybe even prettier, actually. But either way, I’m very glad we were able to go down there. That was my last trip in Italy. After I go to Germany this weekend, I will be in Rome for an entire month before I come back home.

Much love to all,

Jess

I’ve had the most amazing week and I think it has a lot to do with the hot sunny weather. I already wrote about the zoo, and the trip to Ostia Antica. Then on Wednesday night Amanda and I were suppose to meet in Piazza del Popolo to do night time photography with our class. But Amanda read that we were suppose to meet there at 20:00 and thought 10:00… and we were two hours too late when we got there. But while we were looking for our class, we did see the President of Arabia strolling through the piazza. Then we were passing by a movie theater and just decided to go see the Constant Gardener since it was starting at 10:30… we didn’t end up getting home until almost 2:00 am because there weren’t any buses running that late and we had to walk home most of the way. But it wasn’t fine because it was a nice night. I had class the next day, and then we all went out that night which was really fun. I like going out in Rome.

On Friday morning Amanda and I slept in late, got up and worked out, and then I randomly decided that I really wanted a haircut. Amanda refused to cut it for me so we walked over to a little salon near our apartment and I got it cut there. The hairstylist didn’t understand any English so when I said I wanted him to cut off about 4 inches, but not to cut my layers because I was trying to grow them out… he didn’t understand and instead cut all of my hair 4 inches, including my layers… so so much for growing them out because now they are shorter than ever. BUT, it looks good so I’m not worried about it. It’s nice to have shorter hair for the warm weather. Later that evening I went to the Pantheon to meet a lady from Grand Valley, Nikki, and Jaci for a dinner that was meant to check up on us. It was nice… I always like a free meal, too. Afterwards I went to Liza’s to meet up with the rest of my roommates for Liza’s 21st birthday celebrations. We were there for a couple hours before we ventured out and walked all over the entire city… like 5 miles. We went to several different bars and clubs and met tons of people from JCU… it was such a fun night. I met a guy from Mt. Pleasant who goes to my school and we talked for a long time about Michigan sports.

Saturday morning I woke everyone up so we could go on a picnic in Villa Borghese!! We bought tons of bread, cheese, and snacks, and went to the park wearing skirts and flip flops. I love Villa Borghese because it’s so pretty and relaxing, and we got a beautiful day for our picnic. We met up with Lauren and Lauren when we got there, and we all ate and layed out for about 4 hours. It was so nice. I took lots of pictures and video. When we got back to our apartment it was starting to get dark, and we all just stayed in and watched movies for the rest of the night.

On Sunday afternoon after sleeping in really late, Amanda and I went to the Trevi Fountain to take pictures, and then went and sat on the Spanish Steps for a couple hours to do homework and read. We met some people there and they told us that it was the one year anniversary of John Paul II’s death and that there was a huge memorial with at least 100,000 people going on at St. Peters in the Vatican. We weren’t actually going to go until we took a run bus home and ended up at the Vatican anyway… and the ceremony was going to be starting in 20 minutes, so we just stayed. It ended up being a great experience. There were thousands of people and everyone was given a colored candle… which were all lit and looked gorgeous because the whole Vatican was filled with colored lights. A choir sang beautiful songs in Italian, there were several speakers (and I understood a lot of what they were saying) and then the Pope came out and spoke and blessed the people. The service was broadcasting on TV all over the world, so maybe some of you saw parts of it? I’m so glad we ended up going.

Now it’s Monday, and I’ve been sitting outside in the sun for the past three hours and I’m fried. Well… more browned to a crisp. Either way, it’s gorgeous out and I’m trying to spend as much time outside as possible.

There’s some new pictures up. Check them out if you want!
Love til later,
Jess

The weather has been wonderful this week… like, in the 70s and sunny. I’ve been wearing skirts, tank tops, and flip flops. It’s marvelous.

Yesterday I went to the ancient city Ostia Antica with my Ancient Rome and It’s Monuments class. It was pretty neat… reminded me a lot of Pompei, actually… minus all the volcanic ash. I had to give an oral report on the Forum Baths… which is one of the bath complexes in Ostia Antica that they used back in like 300 BC when no one had baths in their own houses. But the complex was actually pretty cool… it had a sunbathing room, a sauna room, cold baths, hot baths, and a big courtyard for recreation. (Look how good of a student I am!) It was a nice day to go, too… a little overcast in the morning, but warm.

And today, Nikki and I went to the zoo!!!! It was a blast. The zoo is in Villa Borghese so we got to walk through the park on our way there. It was a perfect day, sunny and warm, so we probably got a suntan while walking around. The zoo was very pretty and it had all the animals I wanted to see except penguins. And there were tons of little Italian children there on fieldtrips and they were adorable. I snapped some pictures when their teachers/parents weren’t looking. I couldn’t help myself because you all know about my softspot for little children. But anyway, it was a fabulous day. And tonight I am going to Piazza del Popolo at 10:00 pm with my photography class to take night photos. I hope the sky is clear!

Much love to all,
Jess

I have one more class until I am officially on spring break. I leave on Saturday to go to the Greek Island of Rhodes with three of my friends. I can’t wait to lay out in the warm sun, and go on walks down the beach…

But in the meantime, I finally put up pictures of the park by Monte Verde that I went to with my photography class a few weeks ago. It was beautiful… a smaller version of Villa Borghese. I hope you enjoy them!

But anyway, I’m going to take hundreds of pictures in Greece and I will be sure to post a lot of them as soon as I get back!!

Love from Italy,

Jess

I had a wonderful week!! Troy got here on the 5th and I spent the majority of the day picking him up from the airport. It was great to see him after like 7 weeks or so. He was really jetlagged so we didn’t do much except hang out with my roommates when we got back to my apartment. It was suppose to rain everyday he was in Italy, but it never rained at all! However, we didn’t know that so when it was sunny out on Monday morning I took him to see all the outdoor Roman sites… it was quite the day of sightseeing. I don’t even want to list all the places we went. Tuesday I had midterms all day long so Troy had to fend for himself for the day, but he said that he had a good time wandering around Rome.

That evening we went out to celebrate my midterms being over and Troy being on spring break… it was an interesting night. I’ll leave it at that. haha.

Wednesday we slept in and then spent most of the day at the Vatican going through the museum, the Sastine Chapel, into the basilica, etc. Then I took Troy to trastevere to show him my school and walk around. We met up with Amanda there and went to get gelato and ended up at a really cute photography cafe, and then sat at a fountain for awhile. Then we went back home and I made taco soup for everyone which was a great change from pasta all the time. =)

We took a night train to Milan that was suppose to leave from Rome at 12:47, but was over an hour delayed. We arrived to Milan at 10 am on Thursday. We weren’t able to check into our hotel until around 2:00 so we dropped off our bags, and then went to get some lunch. Our hotel was really nice. A very welcome change from hostels. We actually just relaxed in our rooms until dinner. We found a mexican restaurant that was very close to the concert venue, and we ate there. Yummy! Then we went to the concert which was absolutely and wonderfully amazing. I love Jack Johnson. It was general admission and the venue was pretty small, so I was able to get up to the very front and center and was only 10 or 15 feet from Jack!! I got some great pictures and video footage.

We went back to the hotel after the concert because we all had sore feet. Nikki and I watched a movie before going to sleep in our amazing king size bed. The next morning we got up just in time for the free American buffet breakfast that our hotel offered, and then slowly got ourselves around for a day in Milan. I really wasn’t up for a ton of sightseeing so all we did was go up into the Duomo for a little while, and then spent the rest of the day shopping and wandering around. I LOVE Milan. And the fact that we had sunny warm weather was a big plus too. It was just so relaxing and less chaotic then Rome. We all met up back at the hotel, rested, and then went to get dinner and drinks at Corso Como. It was too expensive for us to stay long, so we were back at the hotel again by about midnight. I didn’t mind though because I seriously loved our hotel.

On Saturday we got up again just in time for a wonderful breakfast, and then took showers and packed up so we could check out by noon. We were sad to leave. But our train didn’t depart until 3:00 so we had a couple of hours to kill. Nikki wanted to return some of her purchases from the day before so we ended up back at the shopping district before making our way to central station. Troy said goodbye to Chrissi, and then we got on the train to go back to Rome. We introduced Troy to our tradition of snacks and cheap wine, which made the trip all the more enjoyable. The 6+ hours flew by and we were back in Rome before I knew it.

The next morning we had to get up at 6:00 am to get Troy to the airport in time for his flight. I only went as far as the train station, because he took an express train to the airport from there. After I got back to my apartment, I really didn’t do anything for the rest of the day besides sleep and watch movies. I watched Pride and Prejudice (Troy bought the dvd for me) four times this weekend and I’m still not sick of it.

But anyway, that was my week in a nutshell… I won’t be able to post all of my pictures today because I have homework to do, but I’ll be putting them up slowly today, tomorrow, and Wednesday.

Nikki, Jaci, and I are getting really excited for our spring break trip to Greece this weekend!! We’re hoping the weather will be nice and warm. So far we’ve lucked out with good weather for all of our trips, so hopefully the good luck continues.

I hope everyone is doing great. I’ll try to update while I’m in Greece, if not before. I love you all!

XOXO,

Jess

Spring has sprung, and with the constantly changing weather, I’ve gotten a horrible cold. It’s really too bad, too, because the weather is gorgeous. I want to be out doing things, but I also want to get better quickly because Troy’s coming this weekend and I don’t want to be sick while he’s here.

Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, and Wednesday was the first day of lent… so the Vatican area (where I live) has been crazy lately… there are people everyone. I can only imagine what Easter Sunday is going to be like.

We’ve had a lot of drama in our apartment this past week… it’s starting to settle down now, but this week hasn’t been one of the best. I’m just glad for a weekend of rest before midterms, Troy being here, and a long weekend in Milan!

Hopefully by the next time I post, I’ll be feeling better and have a lot more fun news to write about.