Carnivale & Rome!!

Well..I’ve been on the move! Two weeks ago I attended the Italy version of Mardi Gras..they call it “Carnivale” It’s basically this couple week celebration different weekend in February in all different spots across Italy. We decided to attend the one in Veregio, Italy. Vereigo is a beach town about 2.5 hours from Florence. We took a bus there and then went to lunch at an AMAZING restaurant. Maybe the best food/service I’ve had in Italy yet. They just kept bringing course after course and were so fast. They were feeding a hundred of us and to them it seemed like no big deal. The first thing I noticed about this place was that instead of having wine on the table they had COKE! HaHa. Very unexpected. We were all actually really excited because soda is extremely expensive in Italy..the same and sometimes more than alcohol! Haven’t quite figured out why yet. I was so excited, yet for some reason never drank any and only had water. It’s almost like I got so used to not having soda I didn’t want it. Anyways, enough about our meal. After our meal we headed off to Carnivale. At this point we were all in food commas and not even in the mood to go. I was not excited at all and decided I may have over anticipated the fun of this “carnivale.” We ended up getting off the bus in Veregio and had about an hour until the parade started. It turns out Veregio is a beach town right on the coast. Suddenly we stepped onto a beach and I sunk my feet into the Mediterranean. Man, did that feel good. Next thing I know I look up to my right and in the distance can see gorgeous mountains with snow on them. All I could think was: “How many times in your life can you stand on a beach, look up, and see mountains with snow on them?” That’s when I knew it was going to be a good day. That combined with the blazing sunshine. (Which we haven’t had a lot here in Italy) Turns out..when all was said and done, it was the BEST parade I’ve ever been too. At carnival basically everyone dresses up in costumes (Kind of like Halloween) or masks, and everyone throws confetti around (and I mean everyone) and sprays silly string on each other. I’m talking from ages 1 month old to 90 years old. That’s what made it the best. I feel like the US doesn’t have anything like that. Everyone enjoyed themselves..all ages. The parade is made up of the best floats I’ve ever seen in any parade. They all have a certain meaning (political, social..etc) They often make fun of politicians. They even included Bush is one of the floats getting roasted in a pan. Lol. They (as you can imagine with his foreign popularity) had a float with a fake Barack Obama wishing him “good luck” HaHa. The whole thing was just a pretty great experience and I’m really, really glad I went.
This past weekend we went to Rome Thursday-Sunday. I know that everyone thinks of Rome as just a bit city filled with tons of people, that isn’t that beautiful..but the truth is…I think it has some of the most amazing places to visit in Italy. In just 3.5 days I saw SO MUCH. Not only did I see so much, but so much of it was really interesting. In the off season of tourism in Italy, as it is now..it really isn’t that crowded. When I was there I saw the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, The Vatican, St. Peter’s Bisilica, The Sistine Chapel, The Coleseum, and many other random places. I also got to hang out with my friend Kara who is studying abroad in Rome. She loves it there. I really like it, but I don’t think I’d like being in such a big city. I actually was anxious to get back to the comfort of Florence, by the end of the trip. The last night in my Rome my friends and I went on the “Spanish Steps Pub Crawl.” This was basically a bunch of students going from bar to bar. All of the bars were differently themed, such as there being an Irish Pub, a Scottish Pub, and the “jail bar.” The Jail Bar was the most creative of the three. The bartenders were actually dressed up in black and white jail suits and they were “behind bars” which made it seem like they were in jail. HaHa.
Oh and here is what I decided on for a travel itinerary:
March 5-8th: Prague
March 12th-15th: Somewhere with Mom and Meg when they are here!:) Probably Tuscany or Venice, Italy
March 27th-29th: Still deciding if I’m going to do Dublin, Ireland this weekend or not
April 3rd-12th: Spring Break! I am going to Switzerland to visit my friend Lindsay who is from Babson and studying abroad there. We are staying in Switzerland for a few days then going to Barcelona, then from there Lindsay is coming back to Italy with me for a few days before she heads back to Switzerland.
April 16th-19th: Munich, Germany Mini Oktoberfest!
April 24th-26th: Lake Como, Italy
May 1st-May 3rd: Last weekend in Florence!!
May 7th: HOME!

When I break it down like this it seems pretty quick huh? HaHa. In fact, in a week, I’ll be half way done this journey! Oh and all of those trips are going to be by bus or train except Ireland and Possibly Switzerland to Barcelona….so wish me luck! Hahaha. You all know I hate to fly and this way I’ll hopefully get to see more of Europe as I’m traveling. Does anyone have an advice for traveling around Europe by train or bus? Feel free to throw it out there to me….:)

Alright, Well I actually have a lot of work I need to get done, since I was a slacker in Rome all weekend. I’m so glad everyone has Skype now by the way. It’s so nice to talk to all of you!

PS: I don’t go back and proofread these because I’m usually in a rush and just typing in a mad rampage as I’m remembering the details of everything I’ve been up too..so sorry if there are errors/typos..(I know that bothers some people tremendously..cough Bud…cough Bud…) ;)