I LOVE SWITZERLAND

Ciao a tutti!

It's been awhile. The past 2 weeks have been a complete whirl- last time I updated, I was about to head off to Zurigo, and once I got back, I had threemidtermsjustlikethisohmygoshaaaaahhhh and then I immediately darted off to Parigi. Midterms were not so bad. But anyway, to the funner parts.. speaking of fun, the Euro:USD conversion rate is AMAZING in our favor.. 1.24 today. That sure beats the 1.55 that was the first month of this fall. So yeah! Switzerland.

So on Thursday evening, Jacqueline and I went to Termini with stuffed backpacks and stomachs awaiting the chocolate and cheese that is Svizzera. We hadn't ordered cuchette, beds, for this train ride. It's expensive to do that. But we ended up getting SO lucky and being the only 2 people in our 6-person carozza ....so we put down all the seats and had FREE beds. Best part- no one could open the doors to come in..mmmm so we slept very well on that overnighter. We got to Milano after like 8 hours (this train stopped a lot) and saw the early morning Milanese rays of light.. and some other stuff. Like neon palm trees. In Milano. (?) Milano is the Washington of Italia. Not the Las Vegas.

We caught our connecting train to Zurgio HB (sooo excited at this point). This train ride was the most beautiful ride EVER EVER EVER because it took us through the northern Italian Alps and into the heart of the Swiss Alps, which lie in the very center of the range. GORGEOUS. These mountains are the most beautiful in the world, I am totally convinced. Tons of sheep and goats dotted the perfect green landscape and the Italian stucco and terra cotta houses started to morph into Swiss chalets gradually. Hills rolled into spiky whitish-blue mountains and I was in HEAVEN. Look on fbook for those pictures.. Jacqueline has some I will steal. I was too busy being enthralled with the views to take good pictures (for the first time in my LIFE).

So we get to Zurigo, then we catch the train to Richterswil, where Franz lives. Franz just won Pastry Chef of the Year, and as I later find out, is the HEAD JUDGE of all those Food Network chocolate sculpture/marzipan/sugar art competitions. No big. He and I discussed chocolate extensively and he is just really cool. His family is great, too. We stayed with them in their house on LAKE ZURICH. Beautiful. Stunning. Alps are in the background, PS. He pretty much drove us around in the Alps all weekend, stopping for dessert breaks at rando cafés, church visits, dinner-buying adventures at real-life Swiss cheese shops, and a gingerbread factory. We also visited Luzern, a Swiss town that was too picturesque for words. Kinda touristy, but then again, that was after living with a real Swiss family in a residential Swiss town for a few days.
On Saturday Franz took us to Mt. Rigi. Mt. Rigi is a mountain in the Alps. Mount Rigi is very tall. We took a cable car up the mountain, which provided me with some of the most memorable and BEAUTIFUL views I've ever experienced in my life. Seriously. We stayed on top of the mountain for awhile and drank rum tea (Jacqueline and Franz) and espresso (me). The view was just so incredibly beautiful. I still can't get over it. The pictures I posted were from the cable car.. not even from the top. Gorgeous.


Franz and his wife Gaby fed us so well. There's something to be said for staying with a pastry chef when you go to Switzerland- usually it involves a pound bar of the (!!!) official best chocolate in the world (voted by the international chocolate committee-whatever it's called).. meals of the best cheeses in the entire world, sparkling sweet wines, dried meats, fruit breads, grain breads that melt in your mouth, and cherry liquor. Oh yea, and mont blancs and napoleans and other assorted pastries. You know. Go to Switzerland- if for anything, go for the views. It is truly spectacular.... mmm. And delicious. :) I've never eaten better cheese, not even here in Italia. Apparently cows are subsidized by the Swiss government better than children are. Hm....

che bello

I LOVE SWITZERLAND.

Bella Notte

Rome by night is absolutely beautiful. On Sunday I was out at dusk with my camera and took a few shots of Roma as it transformed from fiercely white marble and jagged tufa to softly glowing, silent structures standing more stately than anything ever. Gorgeous. Roma at night is absolutely breathtaking, totally different from daytime. Both are awesome and beautiful, but somehow Roma by night sparkles and glows.. totally different. Vediamo un po'


il Palatino....



piazza San Pietro, aka St. Peter's Square

Ponte Umberto..
This week is full of italiano and art histories for me because on Thursday I leave for Zurich! And then I get back Sunday night and have to be ready for 3 midterms on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. Then on Wednesday night I leave for Paris. AAAHH. So much to do, so much to see, and so much to do! Ciaociao-

delle cose

I live here. Wow. So here's a list of things I did this week:

Monday: went to class with a terrible hangover from a Sunday wine festival

Tuesday: got an A+ on a theology paper graded by the English-speaking secretary of state for the Vatican..... haven't seen an A+ since Walsh, haha.

Wednesday: saw the pope, booked some train tickets, studied for my first midterm

Thursday: took my history midterm (joke?), went to the Hard Rock Cafe for someone's birthday (blasphemy, but somehow that bacon cheeseburger was one of the best things I've ever eaten? probably because it wasn't a noodle)

Today: saw a LOT of Berninis and Caravaggios, hung out in the Villa Borghese gardens and was approached by an italiano creepster while reading my book.

other important events: discovery of an al forno pizzeria napoletana with really cheap really good pizza, eating of very much gelato from Millennium and Giolitti [new flavors conquered-- nocciola, crema al limone, uva-fragola, creme caramel, cocomero, millennium, biscotto]

wine festival..

Sooo the rest of this weekend was awesome.

On Saturday Jessie and I made our way to Ostia Antica- basically it's an ancient city. Most of it is in ruins, but for the mostpart it's pretty intact (due to it being an old port city an hour outside of Roma herself). It's also off the beaten path.. meaning that very few tourists bother to leave the Colosseo or Foro to visit it. Jess and I were there all afternoon climbing on ancient buildings, walls, and an amazingly intact amphitheater with PERFECT acoustics (I could hear her whispering even when I was sitting in the nosebleed section). We took tons of pictures- she told me that her dad went in the pit of the Colosseo when he was our age, and now if you try that you're shot by the italian militia. So we speculate that in 20+ years no one will be allowed to treat Ostia Antica as a playground like we did. I had SO MUCH FUN jumping and climbing everything- we saw ancient Roman baths, a wrestling arena, pipes meant for taking the hot water underneath the tiles of the steam rooms, a palazzo, and so many columns. AWESOME.

Part 3 of my amazing weekend started at the one Ukie church in Roma-- Santi Sergio e Bacci. Seriously I felt like I was back in Kyiv, as all the Roman Ukrainians are prosto z Ukrainy. I loved it and it made me miss Ukraina that much more. But so yea, FINALLY got to hear ukrainska mova for a solid 1.5 hours.
Weekend of Amazing continued with yesterday's wine festival in Marino, Italy. Um. So the train to Marino resembled the B line of the Metro= CROWDED. Standing room only. And it was mostly italiani.. we get to Marino and to the Sagra dell'uva (wine fest) and it turns out to be the cutest little Italian town ever. Apparently the stars of this show are the town's white wine, i panini con porchetta (pork sandwiches), and ciambelle (kind of like paska, actually). And the italiani each have a liter of wine in their hands. So we decide to do the same. The only thing I can liken the experience to was an Italian Oktoberfest, with wine instead of beer. Everyone in the entire town was drinking themselves to oblivion. The thing is, Italians do not do the drunk thing. It goes against their la bella figura mentality, that appearance is everything.
On the train ride home we met a bunch of American guys and made friends with them. I checked out the contents of my purse: the phone numbers of not one, but two italiani (Fabio and Gaia) and a pencil that did not come with me to Marino. I still feel sick. But it was so worth it. You're only young and insane once, right?

so che nelle fiave..

Ciao a tutti!

I've been pushing it with the wandering. It's gotten to the point where I get out of class at 12ish (on M/W) and I wander.. and wander.. and explore.. and shop.. and take pictures.. and the next thing I realize, it's getting dark. (note: these classes that let out at 12 are on-sites.. meaning that technically I walk around the city from approximately 9,00 to dark). The blisters on my feet resemble Hell Hike pixuri.

Things I've learned this week:

-the youngest-looking Giolitti scooper knows my face
-so does the head waiter at Miscellanea. that's why Jessie, Caroline, Alysse, I, and Nicole were under the effects of 4ish bottles of fragolina last Thursday
-caffé is my new fave gelato flavor (only at Giolitti)
-the illegal pashmina scarf sellers at the Colosseo are really easily haggled with, hence my new scarf collection
-between Wednesday and Thursday, 3 caribinieri hit on me (militia policemen) oh good
-shopping fever has hit me. crap.
-Napoli is THE place to buy boots (mmmm of the black suede variety)


My roommates are in Perugia and Venice (2 different groups) and I'm in Roma. That's because this weekend was supposed to be Oktoberfest, but because of some Italian train difficulty, it fell through (BUT has been rescheduled!!! all is good). So this weekend has been daytrip weekend. Yesterday Alysse and I went to Napoli for the day to 1) go shopping 2) eat the world-famous pizza 3) shop some more. Success!

Adventures in Campania:

We got fabulous pairs of black suede boots (hers with fringe, mine with 2.3-3 inch heels and really cool strappy ties all the way around), and I bought another scarf, a turquoise necklace and a coral necklace. And we bought matching wooden bracelets. The gelato at Gay-Odin was ..incredible. This place is famed for having over 12 flavors of chocolate gelato. We went twice. First combo: cioccolato fondente//caffé, and second combo: cioccolato bianco//ricotta e pera. The ricotta e pera (ricotta and pear) was kind of amazing-I've never even seen that flavor before! We had pizza at Gino Sorbillo.... so pizza was invented in Napoli. The pizza here was unbelievable, the best pizza I have ever tasted, ever. Ever. The thing about pizza napolitana is that the crust is unreal- it's so soft. Even though it's been through a brick oven and has all the same toppings as those you'd find elsewhere in Italia, it maintains this soft, breadsticklike quality and a perfectly smoky flavor without being super crunchy or overly crumbly. It's a little crispy- but not enough to crack or disintegrate. So. amazing. It was one of my top few food experiences of my life.
And on the train ride back to Roma, our compartment-mates were two middle-aged women who were so freaking motherly that they FED us, a middle-aged man with the HUGEST biceps I've ever seen (turns out he is a caribiniero-- the militia police force that hit on me 3 times this week? yup.), and a guy around our age named Giovanni who. was. GORGEOUS. He was one of the top five best looking guys in this entire country. AND he asked for our numbers/emails. haha. I love Italia.