Spring Break-Part 1

So I decided that I would split up my spring break adventure into two parts because there is a lot to tell, and I find myself with less and less free time in order to write these posts. This first part I am going to talk about the beginning of my trip. Our spring break trip technically started on the cuisine trip to Parma. The day after we came back from the trip, we woke up very early and headed to the airport to leave for London. For the first part of the trip, it was Shannon, Nico, Nick and me. We got to the airport early in the morning and checked in at the counter (I FINALLY had my passport stamped when we left/arrived at London. When traveling within the EU, they usually don't stamp it). Nick and I shared a large suitcase and brought our own carry-ons. We were going to be gone for a while so it was the best idea. The flight took a couple of hours and once we finally reached the airport, we went through customs and, like every other time during this trip, they felt the need to give me a hard time. The lady at the London-Gatwick airport was not very nice. She kept asking me why I was there, for how long, to show her my ticket home, asking me why I was leaving from Dublin and not London and basically just not making it easy for me to enter the United Kingdom. After a good 5 minutes or so, she finally (angrily) stamped my passport and we headed towards the train. Right before, we had to experience the very brutal task of taking money out at the current exchange rate. This part of the trip was NOT so much fun. I am not sure if you are aware how high the exchange rate is from the dollar to the pound but if you take out 200 pound, it is about $334. Also known as CRAZY. So, after this miniature stab in the heart we boarded the train and headed into the city. Once we arrived at a station closer in the city, we then asked for directions to our hostel and hopped on "the tube" (what they call their metro, also known by this symbol, http://londonunderground.ws/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/london_underground_logo.jpg) Our hostel was located in an area off the metro station South Kensington and near Hyde Park. The moment we stepped out of the metro, we walked through the best smelling neighborhood I have ever been in in my entire life. The smell of crepes and other desserts hit us first, shortly followed by the smell of delicious, fried pub food. It was incredible. In Milan, you mostly have the smell of pollution and stiff air, so getting out into this new clean environment was a very nice relief. So we started walking to the hostel and, of course, like the smart college students that we are, we walked the wrong way and had to turn around and head the other direction. Our hostel was very cool and the people who worked there were very helpful. So, thanks to Shannon, we were able to see so much in such a short amount of time. She made an itinerary that was very thorough and we followed it thoroughly during the 3 days that we were in London. So after we were checked in to our hostel, we set out to do some exploring. We headed into the center of town with one major goal in mind-to find Chipotle. For those of you who don't know, Chipotle is a restaurant that has amazingly delicous burritos and other mexican food and because you can't get it anywhere in Italy, this was our first mission. We eventually found the place and devoured this beautiful taste of home. Feeling extremely satisfied and 5 pounds heavier, we made our way through Picadilly Circus and into the center of the city. Picadillly Circus is basically a famous junction in the city that has a lot of shopping and entertainment. We walked through the area and through a very nice park (I don't remember the name) and onward towards some of the more "major" attractions. We finally came to our first real "tourist attraction", which was Westminster Abbey. This is a massive church and is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. We took the tour inside and it was a very cool place. (Nothing like the duomos here in Italy) Many famous people throughout history are buried here such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Another great part was that Westminster is right across the way from Big Ben and Parliament so there were many a good photo opportunity. Of course, along the way, we saw many of the traditional things that one expects to see in London, such as the double-decker buses, phone booths and the guards who refuse to smile, move or acknowledge anything else going on around them. We walked a little further across one of the bridges to go check out the London Eye. (A giant Ferris wheel on the banks of the River Thames) After this part of our trip, we headed back towards our hostel in order to get jackets (it cooled down a bit) and regroup for the night. We walked back down through Picadilly and ate dinner at a chinese buffet (it wasn't too bad). We bought some beer and wine and headed back to the hostel to hang out. People were sitting in the common area and we were talking with everybody, playing pool and it was really fun. Not too much happened after that, so we just got ready for day #2. April 2nd was the day we arrived and the following day (April 3rd) was my birthday. I didn't really care about what we did, I was just happy to be in London on my birthday. So we followed Shannon's wonderfully thorough itinerary and started marking things off the list. We left from our hostel in the morning and started walking towards Buckingham. (Of course, going the wrong way again) But, the one positive was stopping at a place called EAT to eat. I had an amazingly delicious hoison duck wrap with cucumbers. (I would eat three more before leaving London) We eventually hopped on a bus and turned around toward the Palace. You were not allowed to go into the Palace except during the summer months because the Queen is there. Although we did not head in the right direction, it did give us a chance to see many different gardens, buildings and monuments along the way. Once we made it to Buckingham Palace, we took a tour of the stables and all of the carriages that the Royal Family has used throughout the history of the Monarch.  The horses that pull the carriages were there and even the cars in which the Royal Family are driven. It was a pretty interesting exhibit because they are some of the things that are not normally seen as close as we had the opportunities to see them. We then made our way through the city on a very long walking tour. We stopped to take pictures at many fountains, monuments, buildings and other landmarks that were photo-worthy. We crossed the city to the Millennium Bridge and the made our way back towards the area that our hostel was at. So, there was really only one thing that I wanted for my birthday and that was a traditional fish and chips dinner. Luckily, there was a great pub near our hostel that we took refuge (from the pouring, London rain) in. We ordered a couple of beers and I scanned over the many options of fish and chips until I found the perfect one. Like a ray of sunshine during this rainy hour, there it read-"The Codfather". This wonderful idea of a dinner was to have a massive piece of cod, sitting atop a bed of french fries, accompanied by onions, peas, four thick slices of bread and tartar and curry sauces. I was in heaven. I attacked this dish with much vigor and went home feeling about 5 pounds heavier and 5 times happier. The next day we woke up early and went back to Buckingham, although this time we were going to see the changing of the guard. It was a pretty cool procession and the entire park was filled with tourists and admirers. We were on a pretty tight schedule so we made our way through the park and back to the metro station in order to continue our last-day adventures. We made a quick stop at Somerset House, which is an important arts and culture center in the city and then finally off to explore the Tower of London. At the Tower of London, we saw so many different things. There were different exhibits in each of the towers that talked about the history of the Tower and different uses that each of the towers had. You can check out a lot of the different information here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London) but while we were there, we also had the opportunity to see the crown jewels. The crown jewels were really cool to look at. The monarchy has so much incredible wealth it is a little crazy. There were all kinds of crowns, robes, plates, robes and other items that had been used or worn by the Royal Family. From the Tower, we headed towards our final stop on our London trip. We went to the very famous department store, Harrods, and had high tea. The department store was filled with all kinds of luxury brands and floors filled with different kinds of gourmet food markets. On the top floor of the store there was a very nice, sophisticated resstaurant where we had our tea. We split two different types of teas (I had my favorite, Rooibos Chai) and then there was a little tree-type tray filled with incredible little sandwiches and desserts. Each sandwich was more delicious than the last and the desserts were so rich. We spent a bit of time there before heading back to our hostel and packing everything up before catching the train. To hear about the night train/ferry ride, you will have to read part 2 of the spring break adventure (whenever I write that!)
Luke

Parma- Cuisine Trip

I am basically a week behind in these posts right now, so I am writing about the cuisine trip from last weekend. We traveled south to visit a few different cities and experience the culture and cuisine of a different region of Italy. We left on a Friday (March 30th) and hopped on a bus to go to our first stop, Cremona. In Cremona, we had a tour of another Duomo (I have seen way too many of those) and then we had a really cool visit to a violin shop. Cremona is one of the most famous places for making violins in the world. We heard from a luthier (person who makes string instruments) about the long and complicated process that goes into making a violin and had the chance to see all of the stages of the process. We also took a small tour of a historic theater. After the stop in Cremona, we headed to our main destination-Parma. We arrived at our hotel, checked in to our rooms (they were quite nice) and then took a small tour of the city. We saw, of course, another Duomo and then a Baptisery. We then came back to the hostel to hang out for a bit before going to dinner. Dinner was at a place downtown that had incredible food. For the appetizers, we had plates filled with different kinds of meat, such as prosciutto, and along with that we had a type of fried pastry that I have always known as sopaipillas (http://www.eatnewmexican.com/2011/08/sopaipillas/). I am not sure what the Italian name for this type of food is, but for when I saw them, I was so excited. My father has been making the best sopaipillas for years and we only have the chance to eat them on certain occasions. For our first course we had a parmesan cheese risotto and butternut squash ravioli and for the second course we had a very delicious stewed beef. Dessert, of course, was tiramisu. The wine was also flowing that night. Everybody was having a great time. It was really fun going on a trip with a lot of people from our program. We went out that night after dinner and had a few drinks and sampled a little bit of the nighttime scene in Parma. It was interesting because there is a pretty big college there, so a lot of people our age were out and about. The following day, we spent some time in Parma, before heading off to a place called Mantova (Mantua in English). This city was very basic, mostly occupied by a big castle as the main attraction. We took a tour through the whole place and there was some really beautiful art, statues and gardens. Afterwards, we had some free time so a couple of us walked down to the waterside of a nearby lake and sat around at a little bar for a while. We then boarded the bus, heading for dinner, and ended up getting lost and losing about an hour or so. Once we finally made it to the restaurant, we were bombarded with another massive dinner. The type of meal was very similar to the restaurant in Parma (as is tradition within the whole region). The plates of meat and baskets of the sopaipilla-esqe pastries were first. There was another course with some kind of crab dish (delicious) and mushroom risotto. The third course was, again, a stewed beef (although this one was better than the night before) and some kind of pork chops. Dessert was some kind of cake. Pretty tasty, but not my favorite. We then left to go back to the hotel, before going out for the night. We hung out at the quad of the local college for a while. The next day we took a trip to a Parmegiano-Reggiano factory. I am sure many, if not all of you, have heard of this cheese. What you probably don't know is how they make/store it. It was a really interesting experience (and you can bet a very smelly one) to see this process. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HREBsvlKaI) They have cheese there that has been aging for years and they come in 40 kilo wheels. (about 88 pounds) We sampled a very large amount of cheese and some people bought blocks to take back to Milan. After the cheese factory, we boarded the bus and headed off to a town named Castell'Arquato. This was our last stop before coming home. We split into two groups once we arrived and one group went to a wine-tasting, while the other took a tour of the town/castle. My group was the first to do the wine-tasting. We sampled 3 different wines and each received a massive plate of meat and bread. It was a lot of fun, although wine is not my favorite choice of drink. The tour was also very fun because the tower that we visited had incredible views of the whole valley. Once we returned to the area where we sampled wine, some girl from the other group had passed out. She was fine, just didn't eat enough that day. We then all boarded the bus and finally headed home after an incredibly fun and magnificently delicous weekend. Now, for my spring break adventures, I might have to break them up into seperate posts. Needless to say, there is a lot to tell.

Luke

Roma

This past weekend I, along with two friends (Nico and Shannon), went to Rome for a few days. We also met up with our friend Todd while we were there. (He was there visiting a friend and his girlfriend was flying in too) We took the overnight train on Thursday night, saving some money on a flight. Well, this was an adventure. The train left at about 11:30 PM and arrived in Rome at 7ish. This was a nightmare. There were no beds, and about 6 people in every little car. There were hordes of Middle Eastern men that were standing/sitting in the hallways who were trying to sneak free rides on the train. Every time the police would check for tickets, they would all run off the train, down some cars and then jump back on. They talked, joked, played music and kept all of us up and annoyed for a good 7 hours or so. I maybe had an hour of sleep throughout the whole ride. I just listened to music and sat there. Once we finally arrived in Rome, we went down into the metro to look at a map and find our bearings. We got directions from somenody in the metro and went to try and find the girls' hostel. (I was staying in a different place because I didn't decide I was going on this trip until after the girls had already booked everything. I stayed with Todd in a hostel the first night and by myself in another hostel the second night) We took the metro, walked a little bit and eventually found the place. The problem was that there was a problem with the pipes and so nobody could stay there. The girls had to move to a different hostel that was all the way across the city. It wasn't that big of a deal, just a hassle. They checked in and we put our stuff away. We then walked around for a little bit and ran into Todd. He and I went to check into our hostel shortly after that. The rest of the first day was spent walking around and seeing many things. This trip was very much so one of sightseeing. I don't think I have ever walked so much in a short amount of time. We saw the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the monument for Vittorio Emanuele II and a couple of very nice Plazas. That night I went to stay in a hostel that I had booked for myself and it was awesome. I had my own room and a massive, comfortable bed. It was a little expensive but so worth it for that night of peaceful, undisturbed sleep.

The second day that we were there we woke up and met at a very interesting basilica that was situated in downtown Rome. We then walked a lot through the city to make it to the Trevi Fountain, where we also decided to pick up a nice gelato. From the Fountain, we then walked to the Spanish Steps. We took many pictures from the top of the steps. The rest of the afternoon we spent in the Vatican Museum, touring through hundreds of artifacts, gazing at the Sistine Chapel ceiling and taking many more pictures. Afterwards, we walked around St. Peter's Square for a bit and then walked around a lot more of the city.

The third day, we woke up early and headed to St. Peter's Basilica in order to check it out and tour the top. It was an incredible view of the Square and of the city and it happened to be an absolutely beautiful day. We were leaving in the afternoon so we did not have a whole lot of time to accomplish a lot, but we still did the best we could. We walked to the Borghese park and decided that we would rent a surrey (http://www.google.it/imgres?q=surrey+bikes&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GGNI_enUS447US448&biw=745&bih=668&tbm=isch&tbnid=WhpvZ5ZefBHeMM:&imgrefurl=http://www.surreycompany.com/surrey.htm&docid=UFudRq2TlJv1FM&imgurl=http://www.surreycompany.com/images/DSC00683.JPG&w=247&h=262&ei=gJx4T-rtI9DUsgbsm9CtBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=112&vpy=145&dur=113&hovh=209&hovw=197&tx=126&ty=107&sig=108811358009964459993&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=137&start=0&ndsp=9&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0) and ride it around the park for an hour. It was so much fun (and it felt great driving again, even if it didn't have a motor!). We then came back and got the girls' stuff from their hostel and headed towards the train station. We decided to hit a church on the way out and it was very nice. We then parted ways and came back to this lovely city. This past week we went on a cuisine and culture trip but that post will come later. Also, during this spring break, a couple of friends and I are going to London and Ireland. It's a great way to spend my birthday too!

Luke

My "Sensational" Weekend

So, this past weekend was one of the craziest experiences of my entire life. A lot of us from the program had planned this trip a very long time ago. It was one of our first priorities. The goal for this trip was to go to Sensation White http://www.sensation.com/belgium. This concert took place in a small town, about an hour outside of Brussels, called Hasselt. (In Belgium) There was very little to do in this small town, but they did have a massive arena to house everybody that would attend the concert. (20,000 people ended up going to Sensation) Our flight landed on Friday night in Charleroi and so we had to take a taxi ride. (There were seven of us) The taxi ride was a very funny start to a very fun and interesting weekend. Our taxi driver was a very interesting man, driving us to Hasselt at an average speed of 90 miles an hour or so. It might have been even higher, except that he decided to stop at a gas station to have a smoke and talk to some other taxi friends. We decided this was a good opportunity to try some Belgian beer. We bought a six pack and hung out in the car until the taxi driver was ready to get us to our hotel. Once we arrived in Hasselt, we checked in to the Holiday Inn Express-Hasselt. Now, the only person who wasn't the "nicest person I have ever met" in this entire town, just happened to work the front desk at our hotel. We were planning to have more people stay in our room, but we only booked a twin. The manager was not very nice and wouldn't let all of us stay there. After some debating, some people ended up getting a room across the street for Friday and then on Saturday they would be able to stay with us. (Nobody in the hotel would be worrying about where people were staying) So after we figured everything out on Friday, 5 of us guys left to go get something to eat. The only place that happened to be open was a little place called Hasselt Fried Chicken. It was absolutely delicious. The owner was very nice to us and kept the place open late so that could finish our meal. Afterwards, we headed down the street to a little bar to get a beer. We asked the bartended what his favorite beer was and he served us this beer that was voted the world's best beer in 2010. I can see why. This was probably the best beer I have ever had. It was delicious. The best part about it was that each of us had one beer and there were 5 of us, and the total cost was only 14 euro. In Milan, each beer would average about 5 euro each. Another example of how everybody in Belgium is extremely nice, a man at the bar bought us a round so we decided to stay and have one more before turning in for the night. The next day we decided that we would do something more interesting than just sitting around all day, waiting for Sensation. The event did not take place until 9:00 PM (we ended up going around 10:30 PM) A couple of us decided to board a bus and go to the Netherlands for a few hours. Before we boarded the bus, we ate a burger at a little sandwich shop across the street from the station. The burger had "cocktail" sauce on it, which sounds strange, but was one of the best burgers I have ever had. This sauce was not normal cocktail sauce, but I am very curious as to find out just what kind of sauce it is. We rode the bus for an hour until we reached the town of Maastricht. The busride was very interesting, on account of a man who was very intoxicated, to the point where we stopped on a street and he urinated on some old man's mailbox. Poor old man. The Netherlands is another great and friendly place. The little town square was filled with people walking around, eating food from all over the world and enjoying the day. There were tulips everywhere (but no wooden shoes that I saw). The weather was a little typical of what we imagined it would be-a little rainy, gloomy and about 50 degrees. It was still very nice and we enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon before, what would be, one of the craziest nights I have ever known. So we arrived back in Hasselt after another long busride and hung out in the hotel for a while. At this point, more and more people were showing up to the city and our hotel, many of them dressed in all white. We had many people in our room, spending the last couple of hours before the party. Everybody was so excited for the night and there were so many people from our program there. The time for us to leave for the concert was finally upon us and we all headed out in a giant herd of IES students. I was wearing a white button-up shirt, tucked into a pair of white jeans and white shoes. The outfit actually ended up being pretty cheap. (The pants and the shoes are still there. They were beyond the point of return) We arrived at Sensation, walked in and were immediately blown away. There was a giant lotus-shaped stage were the DJ's were set up that would rise and fall with the music. There were giant light-up balls on the ceiling that would also rise and fall and the lights would do all kinds of things. At times, you would get the feeling that the floor was rising with the way that everything would move up and down. We danced, along with 20,000 other people from about 10:30 to about 6:30 in the morning. After everything was done, we walked back to the hotel and passed out for maybe an hour or so. We then woke up and spent the day in Hasselt. We ate some Belgian waffles and waited for our taxi to the airport and then waited at the airport for our plane. (That is where we also bought some chocolate) The rest of the trip was spent trying to come home, falling in and out of sleep on buses, trains and finally,once reaching home, passed out. I am still trying to catch up on some sleep from the weekend, but it was so worth it. I have not been great at keeping up with the blog lately, but I promise I will try a little better. Midterm week was crazy (I will write another post about that) and I am heading to Rome tomorrow with two lovely ladies (I will right about that too). Now, time for some sleep.

Luke

This Past Week

Life here just keeps on rolling and it is never a dull time. For my first class of the week (Italian 350) we went to a theater to see a concert. The performers were a group of middle-aged men singing Beatles songs and other music from the 60's and 70's. We had the chance to go because the lead singer/guitar player was one of the people that works in our program's office. His name is Walter and he is awesome. (http://www.waltermuto.it/public/) It was a really fun concert because the rest of the audience was filled with Italian middle school kids that knew every word to all of these English songs. On Tuesday I went on aonther field trip to the house of Alessandro Manzoni. Manzoni was a very famous author in Italian history and is credited with being one of the true founders of the modern Italian language. His house has been turned into a museum and is located in the center of the city. It was a very interesting place to visit and more interesting to have a tour in Italian. (Not much room for tuning out) I would have had to go back to the house on Wednesday for a different class but my professor told me that I wouldn't have to go again. (free class period!) I instead walked around the Duomo square and did a little shopping. It was the end of fashion week and there was still a lot of activity in the fashion district. (Not to mention gorgeous women walking all over the place) Last night I stayed in because my throat has been feeling a bit scratchy the last couple of days. It has been so incredibly nice out the last few days. Today we decided to walk around the town and do a little shopping. We went to a big store that had all of the big brands in it. (It is called the Rinascente) We were all wearing shorts and tshirts with sunglasses. The Italians were staring at us all day long because they are still wearing jackets and scarves. One of the highlights of the day was when we went into the Gucci store. They had just opened this store about a week ago, so they were "celebrating". They served us glasses of champagne while we looked around. We all felt quite rich. This weekend is a longer break than usual so I plan and getting a lot of things done. We have a couple of trips coming up in the near future so those will be pretty awesome. I put up a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Luke

A Glorious Reunion

Sorry it has been so long, but it has been hard to find extra time here. But, here I am back at updating. Last weekend I went to Florence to meet up with my friend, Ted, from Bowdoin. (He is studying in Orvieto, which is a city about halways between Rome and Florence. I rode the faster train, which is more expensive, but it was worth it. (You can get there in about half of the time) Once I got there, I walked around for a while, exploring the city on my own. (Ted missed his first train and did not arrive until about an hour after I did) I walked around the historic district at first and into the commercial section as well. Florence is a very nice city. It is great to look at and there is always a lot going on. The reason why I didn't want to study there was because it is like a little America. There are so many American students studying there and almost everybody speaks English. You are not exactly getting the "Italian experience". It was an amazing place to visit though. So when Ted finally came to the city, we went to our hostel to check-in and see where we would be staying. It was no ordinary hostel. It was in an apartment building with random rooms that you could rent. (It was very cheap though) It was a very nice and safe place though so no worries. We then went out to get a kebab and walk around the town. Our hostel was in a great place in the city. It was near all of the historic district buildings and the more "commercial" area. It was already getting a little late so we didn' really do much that night except walk around and get acquainted with the area in which we were staying. On Saturday, we walked up (basically) a mountain to go visit a fort/the famous Boboli gardens. We walked all through the gardens, saw the museum that they had there and a roman gate. We then proceeded to head back to our hostel (after getting another kebab, of course) and decided to go check out the duomo in the city. The duomo in Florence is a lot bigger/nicer-looking than the one here in Milan. Ted and I walked up to the top (many, many stairs). The view from the top of the duomo was incredible. We were one of the last groups up there so we were lucky enough to have some of the light of the day still left. We could see the entire city and the landscape. It was awesome. For dinner, we went to this incredible restaurant called Il Latini (http://www.illatini.com/) It was high on the list of "things to do/see in Milan". It was one of the best meals I have ever had. It was a very unique place because they sat you/your group at a table with other random people. It would have been very interesting but the two chinese girls that sat next to us spoke NO english. Also, there were no menus at this restaurant. They have set courses that they are going to serve and you can pick between certain 1st plates and 2nd plates. The appetizers that they served were prosciutto, brushetta, and anchovies (not my favorite). They also had bread and very large bottles of chianti. For my first course I had a Pappardelle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappardelle) dish with wild boar. For my second course I had grilled rabbit. The portions at this place were incredible. They gave me the entire leg of the rabbit. I basically ate 1/4 of a rabbit. Ted had some ravioli for his 1st course and a steak for his second. This was the largest steak I had ever seen in real life. It was actually 2 inches thick (at least). We ate until we could eat no more and then they brought out some dessert wine and biscotti on the house. It was incredible. That night we went out to a club called Space. The next morning we both got on our trains and went back to our cities. It was a really fun weekend and I am glad that I got to see somebody from Bowdoin. News in Milan for right now? FASHION WEEK.

Luke

Past Posts

So, life here has just been rolling along. Unfortunately, I had to change my class schedule around a little bit. Two of my classes (communication and management of fashion and luxury companies) were not "liberal enough" for Bowdoin, so I switched out of the communication class into a sociology class and I just added another history class to my schedule. Now I am taking six classes, which is going to be rough. I don't really mind, though, because life here is too good. I have been working hard the last couple of days trying to send a lot of emails and looking for something to do this summer. We are still cooking some great meals in our apartment and saving a lot of money doing so. The other day we had some rabbit that was absolutely delicious. (PS, rabbit kidney tastes just like sausage. It's pretty good) Yesterday for my literature class we walked around the city, but through an area that is near my apartment and also where I have never walked through. This neighborhood was probably one of the richest I have ever seen. Every single person that walked by was either a lady wearing a really nice fur coat, or a man wearing a nice suit. They all just looked like they were loaded. That's where I want to live. (If I could ever afford it) ----------This post was written a long time ago, but I never finished it ------------- The week of midterms was definitely very hectic. I am taking six midterms, therefore I have 6 classes. Over the weekend, and during some of the week, there were two people visiting. That didn't help the studying, but we definitely had time for some fun. So, on Monday, I had my Italian final. Tuesday, I had my Fashion final and my Sociology final. Also, with Sociology, I had to give a presentation. (I hate presentations, but it went very well) On Wednesday, I had two more finals-Literature and History of Fascism. Finally, on Thursday, I finished off my "hell week" with another History final. It was a very long week, filled with only a few hours of sleep. I slept so well on Thursday night. It was glorious. Other than that, life has been the usual of going to class, drinking cappuccinos, eating panini, making meals (turkey and chicken burgers are classic) and spending time surveying the area of Milan. As I said earlier, I am heading to Rome tonight and I will report back at the beginning of next week.

Luke