Week Update

Hey guys, so I am off to Venice this weekend. The program provides 2 trips for our group, this one and one in April around southern Italy. We leave tomorrow at 6am so its an early night for most of us! We are stopping in Sirimone and Verona to see specific sites before we get to Venice tomorrow evening. We are in Venice all of Saturday and leave early enough Sunday morning to spend time in Vicenza on the way back.

This week was fairly uneventful. We are all starting to get in the swing of things now with classes and such so its seems like things are beginning to normalize. In the town of Riva, this week is a huge celebration for Beato Manfredo, a man of the local church who is said to have changed stone to bread in the community's time of need. For this week, they take out his body (yea...his body) and put it on display in the church. It is super weird to see, the skeleton is black and it is dressed in religious robes and jewels and he is literally about 4 ft. tall! Unfortunately, the bells have been ringing all the time around this place so its been a bit annoying when we are sleeping.

I will be back Sunday so I will update (most likely) on Monday. Love Love

Trip to Monaco - Saturday

(Continuation of previous Monaco Trip - Friday)

Saturday: We woke up fairly early on Saturday to get our day started. Our hostel was really nice (it was voted the best in all of France), and they even provided a complimentary breakfast. We ate fast and the whole group (our group of 5 and the 9 other who stayed around Nice on Friday night) got a shuttle from the hostel into downtown Nice area. We walked/shopped around “Old Town” and caught a bus to Monte Carlo after enjoying a delicious three cheese Panini.

The bus dropped us off at the Casino in Monte Carlo and it was obvious why it is considered such a swanky place. Every other car was a Mazarati, Bently or Roles Royce and you couldn’t even get in the main casino without paying 10 Euros! (as if I wasn’t going to end up giving them all my money anyways haha). We decided to forgo that and went to the cheep, easily accessibly casino nearby to check it out. I played Roulette and only ended up losing 5 Euro…which by my standards is a success!! Then we walked down to the harbor and checked out all the yachts and stopped for happy hour to people watch. After that we went up to visit the Castle of Monte Carlo. It was really amazing: on a hill, beautiful views and full of super important royalty! We didn’t see any of them though. From there, our big group split up into smaller, more manageable groups. Most of the people went to the Circus, some went back to Nice and 4 of us planned to eat dinner and hang out until the others got out of the circus around 11:30. The way the bus system worked from Monte Carlo to Nice, you either left at midnight or 4:30 am. Since we figured we are only in Europe once, we opted for the 4:30 bus.

We went to a bar called Stars & Bars, which could not be more American! We ordered chicken fingers and potato skins…talk about authentic hahaha We were there until 3 others from the circus met us around midnight. We stayed there for a little and then moved on to another dance/night club for the rest of the night and had a blast! The bus ride home was a bit rough and the 2 hour “nap” until we had to wake up to catch the train was even worse. We went to the Ventimiglia stop and had about 3 hours until our train back to Milano left. We hung out in a cafe for a bit and then walked around the little town and by the water. Finally we got on the train and passed out for most of the way home. We made it back around 8:30 to the Villa and needless to say were pooped so it was and early night. I had an amazing time and strongly suggest visiting Monaco!!! I don't have much planned this week but am headed to Venice this weekend. Ill update soon! Love Love

Trip to Monaco- Friday

Friday: We left early Friday morning at 6:45 from the nearby train station in Riva. The trip got off to a semi-rocky start when two of the boys mixed 6:45 and 7:45 and missed the train (from which we all had to be together to get the group rate ticket we bought). We rode to Milan, Italy and then transferred to another train to Ventimiglia, Italy, a small town on the border of France. That train took 4 hours but luckily we had a compartment train where all of us could spread out and sleep most of the way. When we got to Ventimiglia, we transferred one last time to a regional train and rode into Nice, France. We finally got to our hostel around 4pm (yea…a LONG day of traveling) and my group of 5 girls got ready to go to the International du Cirque in Monte Carlo!!! We got there about an hour before it started because they had all the animals outside for people to look at. There were cages of lions and horses and a tank for seals! It was sooo cool to see them up close like that with only a little cage in between – that would never happen in the states! We also spent our time eating crepe and cotton candy in preparation for the show!!

Once we got in, we realized why our tickets were the last ones to get sold/were so cheap. We were in the back with a big light structure in front of us haha BUT, luckily the next section was not filled up so we moved once the circus started. We found out later that section was reserved for the performers who wanted to watch the show after they did their part! By the end of the show we were sitting with dancers and trapeze artists! The show was really neat. I was expecting more of a Cirque de Soleil type show but it was really just like a traditional Ringling Brother’s & Barnem and Baileys but different acts worldwide compete to be featured in the show. Some of my favorites were the elephants, an act with seals (which I have never seen before), and a crazy Russian trapeze act.

We had to leave about 15 min early in order to catch the last bus back to Nice (about 30 min from Monte Carlo) and started our treck home…which really took forever! We were quite cold and outside waiting for trams/shuttles etc. but finally made it back around 2. It was stressful trying to navigate a place I have never been before, but we were successful so maybe we should give ourselves more credit! (Monte Carlo/Nice SATURDAY Continued on Next post)

My First week

Well the first week of classes are done! Since two of my classes are History, it seems like there may be a lot of reading but the theater part of it has been really fun so far. At least I am not expected to be very good at it haha This past Tuesday a group of us went to Lugano, which is a 10-15 minute train ride from Riva. It is soooo cool though! Its very city-like and pretty pricy but it is neat to see the people and just walk around for a bit. There is also another Virginia Tech study abroad group that stays in Lugano, so we met up with a few of them at a bar for dinner and drinks.

I didn't do much on Wednesday, mostly just hung around the Villa after classes were over, I did take some pictures around the city. Above is the view from the balcony in our Villa, pretty cool huh? Our classes run later on Mon/Wed, but on Tues/Thurs we get out at noon. Today a few of us rode bikes to another train station in Mendrizio to get Swiss 1/2 Passes, which give you half off your fare for any train you take in Switzerland. It was quite and adventure. We didn't have great directions and its been a while since I rode a bike AND I have barely ever road anything other than a beach cruzer, so needless to say, the beginning of the ride was a bit sketchy.

Tomorrow we head off to Monaco!!! There are about 15 of us who planned this trip around a circus festival that happens in the month of January. Every weekend of Jan. in Monte Carlo there is a really popular performance of the worlds best circus performers, like the best acts world-wide. We couldn't get tickets all together, so half are seeing the show on Friday night (me) and the rest are seeing it on Sat. We are staying in a Hostel in Nice - It is supposed to be the best hostel in France so I am sure we will be spoiled and think they are all supposed to look like that haha On Saturday, we plan on staying around Nice or possibly going into Monte Carlo again to check out the main Casino if we don't get to it on Friday (it is the Casino from James Bond, Casino Royal). It is a super glitzy and expensive place so I am sure we wont be able to afford too much while there, but that doesn't mean I wont put $20 on black!!!!

I wont be able to update while I am away, but I will definitely tell you all about my trip! Love Love

Milano on Monday

On Monday, I went to Milano, Italy for the day. As I mentioned before, our entire group was split in two so we switched trips. Milano was so cool! We went to the Sforeszco Castle (pictured above) first and then made our way down to the main piazzia with the Duomo (pic) surrounded by a ton of high end shops. The Duomo was ridiculous! We paid 5 Euro to go to the top by stairs (haha trying to save money because the elevator cost more) so by the time we got up there, it took a while to catch our breath and notice anything! But once we did, it was amazing. They let you up onto the roof of it and you can see out over all of Milano. After that we went to the "Golden Square" which is where the couture shops are. BUT, to stay exclusive, they make it look like there isn't even a shop there. They are normal looking buildings that have only a single doorbell and nameplate so in order to get in, you must have an appointment. Closer to the Duomo are more of the stores we recognize like Louis Vuitton, Versace, Prada...you know, my usual shopping places. We were pretty rushed the entire day to get through the city (which kind of stinks) so we didn't do much shopping, but I guess that gives me a reason to go back :-)

Today we have started classes. I have my History classes on Tuesday/Thursday and my Theater and Italian classes on Monday/Wednesday. On Tues/Thurs we are done with classes at noon and on Mon/Wed we went at around 2, so there is alot of free time we have during the day. But, hopefully these classes won't get in the way of my fun! haha Hope all is well, Love Love

I made it!!

Sorry I did not update sooner, but for you all wondering, I made it to Switzerland safe and sound. The flight was miserable and the airline lost one of my bags and had to send it the next day but once we finally got to Riva I didn't even really care! When we first got here we had lunch and moved in. I am in an apartment, a 30 second walk from the main Villa. About 15 people stay in the villa (that is where we have classes/eat) and the rest are in apartments around the city. The pictures above are from my apartment, isn't it cute!!! There are 7 of us in there, 3 rooms with 2 girls in 2 of them and 3 in the other. I am rooming with just one other girl, Kate. On Saturday we mostly had orientations all day which were not very much fun but I was so jet lagged that I doubt anything would have kept my attention (I am now 6 hours ahead of you guys). Today we went to Bellizona, the capital of Cantone Ticino, where Riva is. The Cantone's are like our states but there is also a main Switzerland capital, Bern. It was sooo beautiful! As you can see, it is right in front of the Alps and has three castles still standing from the 14th Century! We explored there all day with a tour guide that works with our program. The entire group (about 30 ppl) split up and the other half of the kids went to Milano, where my group will go tomorrow. P.S. It is Men's Fashion Week there...awesome!!! Love Love

Packing!!!

Hey guys! Well here it is, my blog, and yes I came up with that catchy title all by myself :-)
I am all packed up! My entourage of suitcases includes a big rolling bag, medium rolling bag a book bag and a massive "purse"...hopefully I don't need to get anywhere fast! I leave tomorrow for Dulles Airport around 10am but my flight to Heathrow, London does not leave until 5:45pm. We have a few hour layover in London and then fly into Milan, Italy. Once there, we take a 1.5ish hour bus ride to Riva San Vitale, Switzerland!! So as you can see, I have quite a trek ahead of me! I will probably not be posting anything for a bit but I hope you will check back and see what I am up to this semester! Love you all!!