Last Week in Rome

My last week in Rome went by quickly, a little too quickly. We spent a big portion of the week studying for finals and taking tests. I was able to get a quick break and go and visit The Mouth of Truth. It became more famous after Audrey Hepburn's movie Roman Holiday and since I grew up watching that movie it was something I always wanted to see for myself. The church it is located in also has Hadrian's Crypt.

The Mouth of Truth

One night for dinner we went to dinner at La Sacrestia which is rated the 18th best restaurant in Rome. They brought us all foccacia and then I had bruschetta and pasta. After that we stopped and got some gelato at the place with 150 flavors one last time. 

Then CEA hosted a farewell dinner at Ham Holy Burger for hamburgers with an Italian twist. Everything was delicious and some of the students sang Christmas carols in the restaurant. It was hard to say goodbye to professors and staff that we have worked with for the past 6 weeks.

Our farewell dinner with our Theology Professor Lori King

After a big day of finals we decided to have one final outing to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon with a walk down Via del Corso to look at the Christmas lights.

On Friday, the day before I flew to Ireland, several of us took a break from packing and had our Scavi Tour of the necropolis beneath St. Peter's Basilica. I can now say that I have visited all three levels of the basilica plus climbed the dome. It was an amazing tour and its the only way to see fragments of St. Peter's bones. Our tour guide was incredible and since they only let in about 10-15 tour groups a day we had been waiting a long time for our tour. If you are visiting Rome schedule this tour and do it in advance! As we were leaving our tour we saw the christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Vatican. There were carolers and other entertainers at the celebration. After our tour we had to stop one last time at our favorite pizza place and Old Bridge gelato shop right by the Vatican. As we were headed back to our apartments we ran into our Theology professor making me think that Rome is a much smaller city than I thought. It was fun to see her one last time before we headed home.

The Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Vatican

After some tearful goodbyes we flew out to Ireland. We spent our first night eating Bangers and Mash in The Porterhouse Pub and then seeing the christmas lights on Grafton Street.

The next morning we had a full day bus tour of Ireland that took us to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive through the countryside was beautiful and it was amazing to me how green everything was coming from living in big cities with no green. We visited 11 counties, seeing about a third of Ireland in one day. We stopped at Dunguire Castle and Bunratty Castle, we stopped in Doolin for a great lunch of seafood chowder, and spent some time hiking around the Cliffs of Moher. Despite the wind and the constant weather changes it was one of the most beautiful places I have seen on this trip, and a great way to end my time abroad. After a long day we came back and stopped in one last pub called Devitts.

The Cliffs of Moher

Reverse culture shock has hit me in full form and I don't know exactly what to do. Not only does my body not understand what time it is or when to be hungry, I really don't understand having my phone anymore. I was used to not having a TV or a cell phone so these things are a big adjustment for me. Also, coming back to everyone speaking English has been huge.

Despite being gone for so long, it feels like I never left. For those of you that have studied abroad you will probably understand that last part. Time flew by and it was the experience of a lifetime. I loved the Greco-Roman program and would highly recommend it to anyone interested!

For those of you that haven't so far take a look at our group blog: http://beyondcsbsju.wordpress.com/

And continue to check out my photos on facebook, soon I will be posting some more to my photography blog: http://melissabradleyphotography.blogspot.com/

Week 6 in Rome

Only one more week left in Rome and it is finals time. The actual study part of study abroad is incredibly difficult. We all think it should be just called "Abroad" and there should not be finals.

First off, arm update: I have full range of motion back in my arm and can do most everything I want to now. It is still slightly sore from time to time and I am working on getting my strength back in it but overall my recovery went very well! Yay!

This past week has been crazy busy! We started out with class in the Roman Forum with our history professor who is probably my favorite professor over my entire study abroad experience. His name is Jan and he has appeared on the history channel so you can watch him there! After the Roman Forum we all visited the Colosseum which has been on my to-do list this entire trip. It was such a cool experience and such a big part of history that we always see pictures of but you wonder if you will ever be there in person. This whole trip has been full of those experiences but the Colosseum was one of the best ones for me.

hanging out at the Colosseum

Tuesday morning we climbed St. Peter's Dome and had an amazing view of Vatican City and Rome. It was a little windy and a little rainy but still so much fun! That night we attended the Opera. We saw Simon Boccanegra and we had private box seats on the highest level. It was really cool to sit in a box at the Opera, however, the box seats do have a slightly limited viewing range depending on what angle you are sitting at. Keep that in mind all future opera goers:)

view from the top of St. Peters

On Thursday we toured some catacombs with our Theology professor and then we had our first final in Art History and I am glad it is over with! That night we attended the ballet and saw a modern rendition of The Nutcracker. It was the strangest rendition I have seen but it was still very cool to see an Italian ballet.

The next morning we traveled to Ostia Antica with our history professor and had a walking tour of the old city. It was once a thriving port city back in Ancient times that eventually died out and it is full of ruins similar to Pompeii but not quite as big. After our lovely day trip we came back and had our group Christmas party. We exchanged our final secret santa gifts and then handed out trip awards. This past week we all voted for 2 awards per person on the trip (one serious and one funny). I was awarded Best Photography and Most likely to post something to Facebook. We also had another big potluck dinner with potato pancakes, pasta, ham and cheese roll ups, brownies, cookies, and fruit salad! It was delicious!

Loading up our plates at the Christmas party

Yesterday some of us did some last minute shopping and visited the Christmas market of Piazza Navona. There are many Christmas/holiday markets all over Rome right now equipped with Santa's, sweet treats, street performers, and booths of hats/scarves, and holiday decorations. It was almost more like a mini-carnival than just a regular market. Then we went to the Roma v Firenze soccer game. It was probably one of my favorite experiences my entire time spent in Italy. The fans are crazy and although it is an open air stadium it was packed last night. The energy of the crowd was amazing and everyone was dressed in some sort of Roma gear. Our seats were right behind the goal and we were surrounded by fans cheering and waving flags and singing songs. Every time a goal was scored the entire crowd went crazy. It was definitely a must-do activity while in Italy! The final score was 4-2 and Roma won! Such a fun night with a great group of people!

At the Roma game!

It is very bittersweet that this journey is coming to an end. I am so thankful for my family for making this possible and the great group of people I have met because of this program. I couldn't have asked for a better group and a better experience abroad.

I will be home one week from tomorrow. How time flies when you're having fun!

My 5th week in Rome

Every week continues to get busier and busier and we haven't had a chance to sit down. Rome is so exciting and the city never stops moving!

We started out Monday morning by visiting the Vatican Museum and seeing the Sistine Chapel, which was incredible to see in person! That night we visited St. Paul Outside the Wall. The next morning we had our last art history class at the Borghese Gallery where we saw from beautiful Titian's and Caravaggio's. For our theology class we climbed the Holy Stairs (Scala Santa) on our knees that led to Pontius Pilate and that Jesus stood on during the Passion on the way to his trial. It was a very moving experience! From there we toured St. John Lateran and saw the obelisk. From there we saw a 5th century baptistry, and then toured Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Santa Croce had many famous relics including pieces of the cross, nails, and thorns of the crown Jesus wore as he was crucified. I love how are classes take us to such important pieces of history!

St. Paul Outside the Wall

After that, a small group of us decided to try and get to the Basilica of St. Peter for a free guided tour that is offered by American's in the seminary. It was pouring rain this past week and we ended up running in the rain, puddle jumping and all to get to the tour in time but we had just missed it:( We decided we deserved a treat after our little Roman adventure so we stopped for pizza and gelato by the Vatican. The pizza in italy is amazing and I tried potato pesto pizza which was delicious and then had cookies and caramel gelato. Yummy!

Potato Pesto Pizza and a rice croquette

The next day we visited Santa Maria Maggiore thus hitting all four major basilica's in one week! This basilica had a relic of a piece of Jesus's crib. From there we tried one more time to hit the free tour of St. Peter's and we made it just in time, after running once more from the metro station to the basilica. I have run more times to the Vatican than I have walked. However, much of the basilica was blocked off for the Papal event so our tour was cut short, luckily, I have visited St. Peter's several times so this wasn't too disappointing.

Then Friday night we had a big potluck dinner at our apartment with the entire group of 30 plus our directors. Each apartment brought a different dish to share and we played games all night long. Since our time here is running short we are happy we can make time for these "family dinners". our group has gotten so close over the past 4 months and it will be strange not to see everyone every single day.

hanging out at the potluck dinner

On Saturday we visited Subiaco. The drive there was one of the prettiest I have been on yet, through the hill towns of Italy. Subiaco is known for St. Benedict and without him we would not have the College of Saint Benedict and my life would be completely different. We started our day at the first monastery he ever built called St. Scholastica, which was named after his sister. There was a large bell tower and many old frescos. The church itself seemed relatively new and was all white with huge archways. From there we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the monastery restaurant and by doing so avoided the pouring rain that came through the mountains. After that we toured the Shrine in the cave where St. Benedict lived and wrote the rule of Saint Benedict for 3 years. It was beautiful full of frescos and an altar with marble from Nero's Villa who badly persecuted the Christians. We got to sit and pray in the cave of Saint Benedict and it was another amazing experience. The view from the monastery was beautiful and it made me never want to leave. The mountains overlooked a river and the towns in the valley and by the time our tour finished the clouds had moved so low some were floating in front of the mountains. It was so magical!

Subiaco

Yesterday we visited the Capuchin Crypt. It is where skeletons are artfully displayed. It is rather hard to explain so I will just attach a picture.

kindof creepy

Overall this past week has been the week of Churches and I loved it! Only 2 weeks left abroad, time flies when you're having fun!

Pizza and gelato/Florence/Birthday

Sorry for the delay in posting! Things have been pretty busy here in Rome/Florence.

Last week we finally had our much anticipated pizza and gelato crawl. I tried 4 different kinds of pizza and 3 different gelato flavors. It was absolutely delicious!

I also got to visit the Pantheon last week which had been on my to-do list for awhile!

The major event of this past week was our trip to Florence with our art history professor Paulo. He is quite an interesting guy and he led us around the Uffizi gallery, Bargello Museum, and several walking tours of the city.

Our weekend started out with the Uffizi gallery and then a Thanksgiving dinner at our hotel. For lunch I showed some of the girls my favorite panini spot and we got some delicious gelato from Perche No! We then took some silly photos in front of the Duomo before heading back to the hotel for Thanksgiving dinner. At dinner each apartment had to come up with a skit to perform for the group. The boys combined to do one big skit. They did a dating game and had our funniest male professors be interviewed by different girls on our program. It was incredibly funny and everyone had a great time!

The next day we toured the Bargello and had a walking tour of the city. During our lunch break I climbed to the top of the Duomo. It was the most beautiful view I have ever had of the city and of the surrounding hill towns. After that we had fun shopping at the leather market of San Lorenzo before our walking tour of the city. That night I was able to meet up with my friend Paige, who is studying abroad in Florence for the entire year. We went out to dinner and I had a delicious pesto pasta and for dessert we went to her favorite gelato shop. I also got to see where she lived and she gave me a little tour of the city and where her classes are. It is very fun to see a familiar face from home, especially around the holidays. We are all starting to get a little homesick but we can't believe how little time we have left! After that we climbed up to Piazza Michelangelo with the group and played games and took pictures. We got to see the city all lit up at night. After that Paige took us to one of the secret bakeries of Florence, delicious!

Gelato with the girls at Perche No!

The top of the Duomo

The next day we got to visit the famous David of Michelangelo. Let me tell you it is so much more beautiful in person than it is in pictures! I think all the girls fell in love a little bit. Then we toured the Medici Chapel, which wrapped up our classes for the weekend. After that we did some shopping in the leather market and I stopped at the farmer's market where I ran into Paige! After that some of us visited the Boboli Gardens of the Pitti Palace. They were absolutely gorgeous and reminded me of Pride and Prejudice with the view over the Tuscan countryside. That night we celebrated the 3 birthdays of this weekend by going out to dinner and getting gelato. We had a great night and of course took one last trip to the secret bakery.

The Pitti Palace

Our last day we were free to spend it as we please and it started with a birthday morning coffee at the Rivoire cafe. It was the best cappuccino I have had in Italy. After that we watched the Florence marathon for a little bit and then we came across the carousel. It was so much fun to ride the carousel and watch the marathon! From there we did some more last minute shopping at the leather market, got one last panini and gelato, and then got some hot chocolate at the Lindt store. We spent our last hour sitting outside the Duomo drinking hot chocolate. European hot chocolate is very different from American hot chocolate. Here, no matter where you order it, it is drinking melted chocolate. It is delicious and rich, those are the two best words I can use to describe it.

The 21 year old riding the carousel

When we got back home we finished my birthday by watching How to Train your Dragon, an excellent movie for those of you who have not watched it. It was the perfect weekend spent with a great group of people!

Roma/Assisi/Siena

Another week has flown by here in Rome and it is crazy to think I only have 4 weeks left of the study abroad experience. This week in Rome we went to the International Film Festival in Rome. On Monday night I viewed 3 short films and on Tuesday night we went to the premier of Twilight. On Monday night there were some italian film stars on the red carpet and on Tuesday night we made it out onto the red carpet. It was so much fun!

Through our school here in Rome they organized a volunteer opportunity at a soup kitchen for us. I served bread and fruit for 2 hours and it was an amazing experience.

On Thursday we visited several churches with our theology teacher and met a monk from SJU who is completing his doctorate over here. That night we headed to the vatican and the castle to see everything lit up at night and of course, take some more pictures.

On Friday we spent the day in Assisi with our theology professor. Assisi is the home of St. Francis and St. Claire and we spent the day hiking the hills, and visiting the sites. We walked past fields of olive trees which they were harvesting and we even picked a few of our own. Then we had a picnic lunch on the hill by the castle and then climbed the towers for an amazing view. After that we saw where St. Francis was buried and had a formal tour of the cathedral. It was a wonderful day and a beautiful city I hope to go back to some day! We couldn't have asked for better weather or a more beautiful view!

On Saturday a small group of us travelled to Siena for the day. We had a relaxing and wonderful time shopping and sitting in the Piazza del Campo. Then we toured the duomo and several of us climbed the tower for the 360 degree view of Siena and the surrounding hill towns of Tuscany. While we were on the top of the tower a photo shoot was happening with some dancers that was really cool to see. We also saw a hot air balloon and now going on a hot air balloon ride over Tuscany is on my bucket list. Then we went through the museum and saw the arm that baptized Christ. After exploring the city we headed to our wine tasting class. We spent two hours tasting 6 different wines from the Tuscany region, learning about how to purchase the best wine, how to properly taste olive oil, eating cheese, bread, and dark chocolate, and learning about how they harvest/make the wine. It was the highlight of everyones day and our teacher was excellent! If you are ever in Siena go to the Tuscan Wine School:) After the wine tasting we had just enough time for dinner at a restaurant (Guido) that was filled with pictures of the famous people that had visited and their autographs. It was fun to look at the pictures while enjoying our delicious risotto with a pumpkin cream and gorgonzola sauce.

We are all so excited to spend Thanksgiving in Florence this weekend. Keep checking facebook for more pictures!

Roma/Pompeii/Sorrento/Naples

Time in Rome is already flying by! We are so busy the weeks are starting to merge together and it is time for a long update.

This past week in Rome we had our first class walking tours with our History and Art History professors. We saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Mussolini's residence, and many other historical buildings and Piazza's.

For our theology class we toured San Clemente church and I have to say it was one of my favorite churches in Europe so far. We had a wonderful tour guide with an Irish accent who is in the monastery there. He gave us a lovely tour of both the church and what is underneath it. It turns out that the church was actually built on top of another church that was built on top of a house. The house was for a very rich family at the time because they had running water. There will still frescos on the walls of the original church from the 10th and 11th centuries. My favorite part was looking at the beautiful mosaic work behind the altar while listening to his story of how he entered the monastery.

Later that day we went out to dinner with one of my roommates family who were in town visiting. I had a wonderful pizza with gorgonzola and rucola. From there we walked to the Pantheon and then a gelato shop with 150 flavors. I tried kit kat, chocolate raspberry, and chocolate coconut. From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain and made our wishes. While we were there a couple who had just gotten married were taking some wedding photos:) After that we walked to the top of the Spanish Steps and enjoyed the view.

This past weekend was excellent! We traveled to Pompeii, Sorrento, and Naples. We started our journey in Pompeii and although our original tour guide wasn't able to make it we were able to find another guide and got a wonderful tour of Pompeii. We walked into the gladiators quarters where they trained and resided. Then we saw two theaters. Along the walls leading into the larger theater you can see carvings that people did on the walls while they got bored waiting to get into the theater. There were gladiators and horses and people. From there we walked along a smaller street with shops and homes. Many of the residents lived in the shops where they worked so there are not many plain homes.We saw the baths both male and female that were fully equipped with hot and cold running water. After that we toured the brothel/the most visited place in Pompeii and walked past what they called a "Happy House" or a smaller brothel that could charge expensive prices. After that we went to the forum, basilica, and then an aristocratic residence with the first ever "Beware of the dog" sign done in mosaic on the front entrance. Along the way we saw preserved bodies and frescos that had been left at the sight. I loved Pompeii, it was great to see what I studied when I was younger in person. That has been happening a lot on this trip and is one of the reasons I love Europe.

From Pompeii we drove to Sorrento famous for their lemons and lemoncello. We spent the night watching a soccer match, shopping, and wandering the historic city center. I tried some lemoncello, and wonderful lemon candies. We were served a fancy meal at our hotel where it just so happened that the Sorrento soccer team was staying for the night. Sorrento was a lovely city that I hope to go back to some day.

The next day we traveled to Naples where we toured the archeological building that has many artifacts from Pompeii. The mosaics were lovely and it we saw many sculptures we have been studying during our time in Greece and Italy. They have a special room at the museum that you are only allowed into if you are 18 or older. In Pompeii they used an image of a phallus to ward away evil. Those objects are kept in a separate room. After we completed our tour we stepped out into the city of Naples. I have to say...it's not a pretty city, probably one of the dirtiest I have ever been to. However, we did have some excellent pizza and a cannoli. We also got to shop along the street where everyone buys their Christmas nativity scenes and Christmas decorations.

It was a wonderful and busy weekend.

Last night I attended some short films at the International Rome Film Festival and tonight I am going to the red carpet premier of Twilight. It should be a blast!

Venice/Murano

This weekend we took a little group excursion to Venice. We took the train and arrived in Venice and Friday evening. We spent Friday night exploring the island, had a little dinner, and then headed to our hostel for the evening called "Camping Jolly Plus".

Saturday was wonderful! We spent the day souvenir shopping, finding hidden canals, drinking coffee, and seeing the sights. We basically spent the entire weekend eating carbs: croissants, pizza, pasta, etc.

In the afternoon a small group of us traveled to the island of Murano which is known for glass blowing. We stepped off the ferry and into a glass blowing demonstration. We watched him make a vase, while another man explained different glass blowing techniques and how they add colors. It was very interesting from there we did some shopping and I found a beautiful blue and white vase that reminds me of the ocean. After a little bartering I bought it and sent it home to the states. I can't wait to see it when I get home! After that we saw shop after shop filled with beautiful glass pieces: chandeliers, vases, platters, cups, wine bottle stoppers, animal figurines, etc. In different small palazzos on the island there were huge glass sculptures. It was just beautiful.

The best part of Venice and Murano is that it is all about the exploring. Venice is filled with canals, gondolas, and hidden streets. Rick Steve, who write many guidebooks for Europe, encourages getting lost in Venice and that is exactly what we did!

The most interesting things about Venice:

• most of the dogs are dressed up in some fashion: jumpsuits, raincoats, dresses, etc
• the roads are canals and therefore the ambulances are small boats
• even when you are lost, you can always find your way back to the main squares
• the gondolas are beautiful, but incredibly expensive
• the canals are perfectly picturesque
• everyone wears scarves and leather boots
• the masks for the festival are crazy and everywhere!

A Week with my Family

For fall break my wonderful family came out to visit me! My dad met me in Athens and he tried a gyro and some fresh fruit from the farmers market and some treats from my favorite bakery. We met my mom and my sister in Paris. We were staying at an apartment a block away from Notre Dame. I finally got to see Notre Dame at night which was very cool.

The next morning we went to visit my dad's friend who lives in Orleans and he and his wife took us to tour several castles in southern France. We visited Chambord and Chenonceux. Unfortunately it was raining but it added a medieval feel to the castle visits. The castles were gorgeous and the grass was so green. The unfortunate part of Athens is that hardly anything is green so I got pretty excited arriving to fall weather in France and seeing trees and green grass in southern france.

Chenonceux Castle

After a wonderful day with my father's friend in southern France we headed back up to Paris. We walked along the Champs Elysees and I got to see the Arc de Triomphe again. I also stopped in the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore and ran into an old friend from high school who happened to be study abroad in France for the semester! It's a small world after all:)

After one last dinner in Paris we headed out to Florence. We ran into quite a few problems at the airport with our flight and ended up spending about 10 hours waiting at the airport. We arrived in Florence pretty late the next day so we waited to start our Florence adventures until the following morning. Our apartment in Florence was amazing and very close to everything we wanted to see. We toured the Santa Maria and Duomo, and found a wonderful street art vendor who I purchased several sketches from. After that we tried out some recommended food places from my friend who previously studied abroad in Florence. We ate at this delicious panini place and tried gelato from three different stores. We learned about the differences between real and fake gelato. The stores with the big mountains of gelato are fake because they make the gelato with too much air, also, the gelato flavor should only last for 10 seconds in your mouth! Otherwise it is made with extra added flavors. For dinner we ate at a delicious pizza place that more locals eat at and it was the best pizza I have had! We also toured the Pitti Palace and saw tons of beautiful artwork. After taking my art history class in Greece I could point out the differences between Greek and Roman artwork. It was fun to be able to apply what I learned in class to what we were seeing! I also ran into my friend Nikki who is also on the program with me but was touring with her family. We didn't know we were going to be in Florence on the same day so I had another small world moment:) We also window shopped down Palazzo Vecchio.

The next day we went to tour Sante Croce and saw where Michelangelo, Enrico Fermi, and Galileo were buried. Then we went to the Leather School of Florence which is actually attached to the church. Many movie stars buy their leather there and their pictures line the walls. I also got to watch them imprint gold leaf onto the leather which was very cool. After shopping there we continued walking around and shopping in Florence. The city is a beautiful place and it is so much fun to see all the different Palazzo's and crowds of people around the statues and fountains. After a lovely day of shopping and relaxing we head to Palazzo Michelangelo to watch the sunset and enjoy some live music. Then, we ate at a small restaurant and tried some delicious appetizers and pizza's.

Santa Maria and Duomo

The next morning my family dropped me off in Rome at my new apartment but not before trying another Italian restaurant.

This weekend has been an orientation weekend for me with lots of walking tours and meeting some of my professors. We had an Italian crash course to get us started and enjoyed a guided walking tour of some of Rome's center city highlights.

Trevi Fountain

This morning we attended the Papal Mass. It was the only one occurring while we were in Rome and I felt like an Italian experience I could not miss. We caught the bus at 5:30 am and got dropped off right in front of the Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica. We were some of the first in line and had to deal with some aggressive nun's (beware, they will push you and run in order to see the Pope). We also ran into a student from St. Thomas who was in the seminary program in Rome. He filled us in on how to get the best seats. I almost got shut into the side of the Vatican when I tried to use the rest room. The nice guard outside told me to go right in but the guards inside wanted to shut the doors so as I was walking out of the bathroom they were shutting the big gates and I ran out just in time. The mass was 2 hours and mostly in Latin. I was probably 3 feet or less from the Pope when he came down the aisle. The basilica was beautiful and the choir singers were amazing. It was a very cool Rome experience that I will always remember.

That is all for now!

Check out our group blog: http://beyondcsbsju.wordpress.com/

Things I love about Greece

1. The people: The people in Greece are some of the friendliest and most welcoming people I have ever met. Many of the local vendors such as at our favorite bakery and at the gyro shop we like to go to were very sad to see us leave and like to talk to us when we come to visit.

2. The food: Fried cheese topped with greek honey and sesame seeds, baklava, moussaka, stuffed peppers, souvlaki, gyros, greek yogurt, greek honey, fresh produce, desserts and more desserts, greek salad, feta cheese, greek coffee, and many other dishes we tried but we had no idea what we were eating. It was all delicious!

3. Our professors: Our professors made the greek experience for me. Whether it was our language and culture professor deciding to take us to coffee after class, or Ann (our art history professor) telling us everything she knows about each piece of art and place we travel, or Robert ( our british ancient greek history professor) muttering very dry british humor under his breath during lecture, or Father Stefanos (our theology professor) answering any questions we asked him.

4. The weather: Despite the incredibly hot temperatures, it was sunny and blue skies almost the entire time we were there. It only rained twice while we were there!

5. The local bakery: It has the most wonderful chocolate cake on the planet.

6. The islands: Greek islands are fabulous, what else can I say...

7. The fact that essentially everything we needed was within walking distance. It was great exercise and nice to be outdoors.

8. Our apartment balcony: We ate sometimes multiple times per day outside on the balcony and with the wonderful cool breeze at night it was easy to spend hours out there.

9. The school staff: Everyone at DIKEMES was very welcoming and helpful. After my injury they were very helpful with doctors and bringing me anything I needed. I appreciate all of their help.

10. My CSBSJU group: We have all gotten to know each other so well on this trip and I can't wait to see everyone again in Rome:) See you all in one week!


Greece is a wonderful country and I hope to go back and visit again someday! It is hard to believe that I  am transferring to Rome and that my study abroad experience is already halfway done. Time is flying by and I love every minute of it!

Update Time

I am healing much faster than I expected! The stitches came out on Monday and they did some more scans on my arm and told me I may only need the sling for another 2 weeks! Everyone on my trip has been so helpful and looking out for me. I am lucky to have such a great group:)

This coming week will be our final in Greece and I can't believe how quickly time has gone by! I am sad to be leaving Greece but very excited to start a new adventure in Rome. For my week break I will be traveling with my family through southern France and Florence. It will be nice to see them and to have a little break after finals.

Sorry for the short update but I am still working on typing one-handed. Hope all is well back home!

Santorini

Santorini is a beautiful island that I would love to go back to someday! I felt like I was in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with the donkeys, white houses, and beautiful sunsets. I even tried a seafood salad with octopus in it!

However, as some of you may know I had a small sleep walking accident. On our first night in Santorini I slept walk and fell. Luckily, I only had to get some stitches in my chin and lip and I have a hairline fracture in my left arm. I am incredibly lucky and know God was watching over me. I am blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people who have been helping me with anything I could need or want!

Keep me in your prayers!

I love Greece:)

I am absolutely in love with Greece and it is going to be so difficult to leave Greece in just a few weeks!

I know it has been a little while since I updated so I will try to include as much as possible. Since we are settling more into a routine here it is becoming harder not to miss home a bit, but luckily they keep us quite busy. Everyone said I could sleep when I got home and I didn't believe them until now.

Last week one of my roommates and I decided to walk to the acropolis and parthenon. We can see it everyday but we had not actually gone up to the top and the view around sunset is fabulous! Unfortunately, we got their a little too close to closing time so we didn't get to spend much time at the top. However, this week for our history class we hiked up to the top again and learned about the different structures.

Last week we also did a little bit a touristy shopping in Plaka, which is essentially a tourist haven. All of the girls bought matching greek tank tops that we wore this past weekend when we ran at the olympic stadium:)

This past weekend we had a 3 day excursion with our art history professor. Our first stop was at the Corinth Canal and from there we headed to Mycenae where we learned about the residence where Agamemnon would have lived and been killed by his wife in the bathroom. The view was all mountains which is another reason why I love Greece. You are never too far from a view of the ocean or the mountains and driving along the coast with the mountains on one side of the bus and the ocean on the other is amazing. After touring Mycenae and stopping for a quick lunch that the local bakery provided we headed on to Epidaurus where we had lecture in the beautiful Ancient Theater. One of the best part about the Greco-Roman program is that a lot of your classes take place outside of the classroom. From there we headed to Nauplio which was the first capital of Greece. It is a beautiful coastal village with fortresses high on the mountains and a beautiful pier to walk along. We wished we could have spent more than one night! After eating dinner at the hotel we went to a great italian gelato place that only uses fresh fruits and makes all of their gelato on site. From there we walked to the end of the pier and stargazed.

Nauplio Pier

The next morning we headed to Olympia bright and early where we spent the rest of our weekend. We toured all of the ruins at ancient olympia and saw the famous Temple of Zeus and the original olympic stadium where we had to have a race. Some of the guys in our group chose to run barefoot like they did back at the original olympic games. We also saw many other ruins of temples, and the large hotel, and some roman baths. That night we hung out by the pool at our hotel and then wandered into town for late night dessert and shopping.

After our race at the stadium

The next morning we went back and visited the museum that houses some amazing statues and pediments. It was very cool to see how much was preserved and how well they were preserved. If I had been touring the ruins on my own/the museum I would have been very bored by the end but touring with our professor was great! She is deeply invested in art history and knows so much about all of the different artifacts and ruins that she never runs out of things to say.

After our museum tour we headed back to Athens and began our next school week. This past week of school has been very busy with papers and our final language exam so we are very excited to be heading to Santorini this weekend!

For our final Greek Language and Culture class we were able to interview a greek woman about her viewpoints on culture and the Greek family. It was surprising how much of what she said is what is described in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The perfect quote from the movie to describe her opinion was "The man may be the head, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head any way she wants."

Some of us also took a Greek cooking class through the school this week and prepared a delicious meal! It was a lot of fun and now we have the recipe to bring home with us and try making again.

Our delicious meal

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Week 2 in Greece

Time is flying by here and we all can't believe we only have one month left in wonderful Athens!

This week we started our art history course. For that class we have one class a week as lecture and the other we spend in a museum. Our professor acts as our guide through the museum and we stop at the different pieces of artwork and quickly jot down notes while she tells us everything about the piece. It is really interesting but so much information to process.

For our language and culture class this week we got to take a walking tour of the city and then toured the Parliment building. While at the Parliment building a guide explained their government system in Greece and some of the history of Greece's government.

We met our ancient history professor this week and he is British which makes everything better. He has a very dry sense of humor which I enjoy. For his class part is lecture in the classroom and the rest is visiting the different monuments combined with lecture. We hiked to the top of a "small hill" which was much higher than we thought because we could see all of Athens from it including some islands. It was a beautiful view that I would love to go back and see because unfortunately, I didn't have my camera.

On Thursday evening this week we went to a play of Odysseus. Luckily the play was in English so we were able to understand it!

After a long week we spent the weekend on a greek island named Aegina, which is known for it's pistachios. It is a beautiful island only an hour and 20 minutes from Athens. After getting up extra early to make it to the farmers market we caught the metro to the port and then caught a ferry to Aegina. Once we arrived on the island we found our hotel which was right along the water and across from some great restaurants. The first day for lunch I got a wonderful greek salad with fresh feta cheese and some bread. We got to watch the ocean and enjoy our lunch. After lunch we split up and went to a couple different beaches. My group found a great free beach with a wonderful view of a smaller uninhabited island. A little greek girl who was 4 years old and swimming with her mom came up to us and started trying to talk to us. She was adorable and luckily her mom spoke some English so we were able to communicate. She talked about some of the prettier places on the island to visit and about her other favorite places in Greece. The little girl did learn how to say "Bye", so she had a lot of fun waving and saying goodbye to us. After a long afternoon lounging at the beach we went back to the hotel to clean up and then out to find some dinner. We found a great little restaurant with comfy chairs and a large menu. I ordered the chicken souvlaki but some people got great omelets and crepes. The owner even gave us free watermelon which was some of the best watermelon I have ever had! From there we walked to a little gelato cafe and tried some Ferrero chocolate gelato.

For our second day on the island we headed up to the Temple of Aphaia which is one of the coolest ruins I have seen so far with an amazing view. We took lots of pictures and walked through the museum before catching the bumpy bus ride back down the mountain. On the way we passed either the largest church in Greece or the second largest. After touring the Temple we went to lunch. I ordered seafood risotto and it was the best meal I have had yet! From there we toured the other much more ruined ruins and the wind really picked up. It was storming in Athens and you could see the dark clouds rolling in so we headed back to the hotel. We were told that the ferries were having problems docking and that we may be stranded on the island for a bit longer so we chose to kill some time and go get gelato. I tried the pistachio and it was the best pistachio flavored gelato I have ever had!

Luckily, the ferry was able to land but the water was so high and the waves crashing over the dock that we were walking through water to get onto the ferry and they were all herding us trying to make us get on faster so they could leave without getting stuck! The boat ride was a little rocky but luckily we made it safely back to Athens.

After an exhausting day we all tried to recover a little bit before meeting up to listen to the Tommie/Johnnie game. It was a lot of fun and we couldn't miss out on the football game! We even had our own halftime show performed by some of the mens chorus members singing the johnnie fight song!

This morning we attended Greek Orthodox mass for theology class. It was the first time I have seen rain in Athens. It down poured on and off today and the thunder was so loud it shook the apartment.

Luckily, it cleared up by tonight so we could have a girls night out! We all went to an outdoor cinema that had an amazing view of the acropolis. I got to eat popcorn and we watched To Rome with Love! It was a great way to end the week!

First Week in Greece

I can't believe my first full week in Greece is already over! This week was jam packed with events including orientation, a scavenger hunt, a visit to the American Embassy, a greek dancing lesson, meeting other CYA students, the President's dinner, a trip to the beach, a taverna dinner, a weekend excursion to Meteora, and classes.

Needless to say we are all exhausted and trying to find time to sleep!

Classes began on monday and we are all finding the greek language to be a bit of a struggle. Not only do some of the letters sound nothing like they look but our professor likes to move along quickly! We also had theology, and our music and culture class. Our schedule was a bit messed up this past week because the other CYA students were just starting to arrive so not all of our professors were even here yet. This coming week we will start our art history class, and our History of Greece class in addition to the ones we are already taking. Some days of classes are incredibly long but the nice part is that the school is very close to our apartments and that they serve you a big lunch (meaning one less meal we all have to make/pay for). The staff at our school so far have been incredibly nice and helpful!

We ran into a few blips with our apartment once we got here including drain problems, a beeping smoke detector, a cockroach, some blinds that wouldn't open, a power failure, etc. I am happy to say that those problems are now (for the most part) fixed!

On Wednesday night we had a welcome speech from the President along with some Greek dancing lessons. After some fun dancing lessons we headed to a local taverna where the food was never ending. We had greek salads, fried cheese, fresh bread, little ham and cheese rolls, mushrooms, meatballs, chicken or turkey and fries, and fresh fruit. Most of the food we didn't know what it was or what to call it so my descriptions don't really match up entirely but it was all yummy!

On Thursday evening we had the formal President's dinner at his home outside of Athens. He invited all of the CYA students which was nice because it was one of the first opportunities we have really had to meet the other students. All CSB/SJU students have classes together separate from the other CYA students so we really haven't had a chance to meet them. There were lots of students from Notre Dame, Union College, Middlebury, and all over the US.

Eating dinner in the President's backyard!

My favorite part of this week was probably our weekend excursion to Meteora. It was about a 5 and 1/2 hour bus ride to get to the monasteries. It is a gorgeous place that I highly recommend anyone who comes to Greece visits. There are quite a few monasteries up on cliffs that overlook the entire city. This weekend we toured 4 of those monasteries. Some have gorgeous churches filled with paintings and nice museums. Others had much better views than others! Overall it was a very fun trip and nice to be away from the city for awhile. We found a small little pizza place for dinner, and enjoyed ice cream from a local bakery in town. It is a fairly touristy town and we were surprised how nice our hotel was! They even had TV's in the room which is a pretty foreign thing to us right now. After our dinner we decided to go back and watch some of the parolympics together. It was really nice to relax and get to bed early for a change.

One of the monasteries in Meteora.

Some other things I have noticed about greece so far:

• There is lots of graffiti everywhere.
• There are lots of stray cats and dogs wandering the city, however, not all of them look unhealthy. Around many apartment buildings you will see little bowls with water set outside and some food. The entire city takes care of these animals together.
• Many greek citizens know a little English and are very friendly and helpful!
• It is very windy here, and the sidewalks are awful so most people walk in the street.
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way and many streets don't have official crosswalks so you have to learn to be good at jaywalking.

If you haven't seen I have tried to keep updating my photos on facebook I tend to do a better job updating those than I have been blogging so keep looking at those! Keep checking back for more updates and I hope to skype with more of you soon!!!