Spring breakkkkkkk!!!!! This is going to be such an exciting fun-filled week. Taylor, Kaylie and I are headed to Rome first and then Taylor and I are off to two other amazing countries.  Rome exceeded my low expectations. I never really had Rome on my list of places to visit but Taylor convinced me to go. Anyway, honestly, I know I said that I could see myself living in Milan but for the amount of time I was there (maybe 4 hours) I don’t think I could say that. On the other hand, Rome was amazing and I could definitely see myself living there.

Friday: 

We arrived Thursday night and thought it would be best to watch Lizzie McGuire. Duh. Early Friday morning we waited in line for about 45 minutes to buy a ticket that included the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We did the Colosseum which was very cool but kinda underwhelming. We then walked over to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill which was beautiful. If we knew we would have bought sandwiches and ate outside. Shortly after we made our way to the metro to travel to the Spanish Steps. Of course, we bought the unlimited subway pass but the subway did not work at ALL THE TOP TOURIST LOCATIONS. When in Rome. So we got off at Flamino station and walked towards the steps. We stopped at lunch at a ticket restaurant which was great. Love a free panini. Along the way we stopped at one of the oldest coffee houses in Rome, Antico Cafe Greco. Then we stopped on the Steps. We soaked up some vitamin D and then headed to the Borghese Gardens. It was a beautiful view of the city. It also gave me Central Park vibes. At this point, Taylor had to use the restroom so we roamed the park for about 30 minutes until we came across one. We had to buy something, or so we thought, in order to use the bathroom. So I paid 3:50 for Gelato. THAT IS ILLEGAL. I have never paid that much ever. Turns out the restroom was .50 cents. Of course! Anyway, we made our way back down the steps toward the Trevi Fountain. Walking past I saw the cutest boy chilling reading a boy. Guys read books? What. Of course, I didn’t have the courage to say anything and just my luck he probably does not speak English. Then walking toward the Fountain, where we ran into Kate, Laura, Amanda and Hannah. When in Rome. The Trevi Fountain area looks significantly bigger in movies. There were a million people but we squeezed our way to throw that coin. Also, as I am walking up the steps to leave the area some women legit grabs my hand so I could help her down. Like ew. Where is the sanitizer at? Thought she was going to steal my rings but don't worry mom she didn't!

At this point, we want a smoothie bowl and we walk about 20 minutes away. Very good. Then we look at each other like what should we do next so we made our way to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Then, got more food. We stopped at an Italian restaurant. Go figure. I ordered grilled veggies and the pasta known in Rome, cacio e pepe. Cultured. Then we headed back to the Airbnb to hang and bond before Kaylie headed back for Elon. 

Saturday: 

Taylor and I sleep in sorta late and made our way to Vatican City. It is amazing how it is just its own little city in the midst of Rome. Once we got off the metro we literally were constantly getting verbally attacked. Is that a word? Well, it is now. Everyone was just trying to sell us stuff left and right. We stopped for burgers at Ago e Lillo. Very overpriced but delicious. Then we made our way towards the Vatican Museum. We purchased our tickets in advance online. We opted for the guided tour. The highlights include the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and access to St. Peters Basilica. During the tour, we learned about Michelangelo's Last Judgement and Raphael's School of Athens. It was so educational. I would have never known what I was looking at if it was not for the tour. 

After the Vatican, we made our way to the keyhole view of Rome. On our way, we stopped at Termini metro stop to visit Mercado Centrale. We enjoyed a bite of sushi and gelato. Then we continued on the subway to our stop, Circo Massimo. We made our way up a hill to some beautiful views of the city. There was a legit line for the keyhole so we opted to not wait. Then, we taxied to the area of Trastevere where we met Kate, Laura, Hannah and Amanda for dinner. We walked around the cute town. By far my favorite place. There were just good vibes as James, my brother would say. We ate at Pimms Good. So delicious and many locals were there too. By the time we left dinner the streets were packed with so many young people. If we didn’t have an early flight I definitely would have liked to enjoy the ambiance. 

Now, we are headed to Nice, France. 

Tips:

• Rome is possible to do in TWO DAYS
• Use the subway system but make sure your stops are working 
• Taxi > Uber 
• Wake up for the Colosseum and wait on line for cheaper tickets (12 euros) 
• Buy the guided tour for the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel and access to St. Peters Bascilica for 33 euros. If you want to be adventurous you can book the dome which is only about 3 euros more but only if you have the stamina to walk up the steps. I have heard nothing but great things. 

Friday: Milan

This Friday AEF took us to Milan. I always felt like this city was going to be more my speed and it definitely was. I could 100 percent see myself working there someday. I don’t think the fam would be too happy but ciao! Anyway, once we arrived we took the train to the Duomo. It was beautiful. It is very gothic compared to the Florence Duomo. Then we walked through the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II where we saw all the expensive stores. One day I want to invest in a Hermes bag. Then, I stopped at Matta Caffe for the best jelly croissant I have yet to have. 

With our group, we made our way to the Sforza Castle. This is the location of Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini sculpture that he worked on before he died. Of course, I had the pleasure of hanging with my homies: Will, Sam, Noah, Katie, Kate and Kevin. Man, I love them. After that tour, we headed to La Scala, a famous opera theater. The only reason we went there was because of our Core Capstone class. Then, it was finally lunch but it is like 2:00 PM. We were all starving. Of course, Will wanted to get lunch together because it's me, come on. Who wouldn't! So Will, Kate, Noah, Kevin and I grabbed lunch at Hosteria Della Musica. Kate and I shared a pizza and Milanese risotto. The restaurant had a nice ambiance. During lunch, we decided that I should have a charcuterie party and indeed that happened. When I am rich someday I am going to host so many parties. Be on the lookout for parties in my Millpoint apartment next year.  

After lunch, we made our way back to Florence. We came back around 7:00 PM and Kate and I rushed to the store to get all the necessities for the party. Thank god for the vouchers. We bought four kinds of cheese, jam, bread, sliced meats and wine! Oh, we also made pasta too! Only a few people showed but we devoured everything and danced to middle school songs while doing it. 

Saturday: Cinque Terre

I spent the day in Cinque Terre! I was originally going to go alone but a friend, Orlando from AEF joined me! Honestly, doing a day trip by myself low-key would have been miserable. I am way too extroverted to be alone for that long. Shout out to everyone who puts up with me. I am very aware that I can be high maintenance. My dad always makes that clear. Okay back to my day. So, of course, I don’t book the tickets from Santa Maria Novella train station (closest to me) and don’t realize it until I arrive at the station. Mind you that I woke up at 6:30 AM for this journey to begin. So now I am apologizing to Orlando but of course, he is groovy with it all. 

So the next train is 9:53 AM. We sit in Shake Cafe for two hours where Orlando has the pleasure of hearing my life story. It may as well be stapled to my forehead. Then, we finally arrive on the train and it is going to be a three-hour journey. The conductor tells us that our tickets are not validated for the train. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I just got robbed. Can I catch a break? No. So we had to fork up 18 euros for the train. But we finally arrived around 1:00 PM. We got off at Vernazza and hiked for about an hour and a half. It was such an amazing experience. Certainly rough but well worth it. Everyone was amazing on the trail. There were people way older than us who made us look weak. Once we arrived in Monterosso, I was ready to plop in the sand. Indeed I did. I napped for about an hour and then off we traveled to Manarola where we enjoyed dinner and the sunset. We ate at Marina Piccola. I ate spaghetti with clams and muscles. The restaurant overlooked the water. It was perfect. Then we got gelato and took more photos! Around 7:00 PM, we made our way towards the train station but I found this adorable store and picked up jeans and a gift for my dad. Then off we went! I was greeted at the apartment by one of best friends, Kaylie. So glad she could make it to Florence for spring break! 

Sunday: 

I studied. Believe it or not, I actually have work here! 


Tips: 

• Book your train tickets out of Santa Maria Novella train station

• If you are not crazy about hiking all of Cinque Terre, you can easily visit in one day

• Climb the Duomo in Milan if you have time

After spending the week with Abby visiting, I was off to my next adventure to Amsterdam to visit my cousin MJ and her friend Doris. Ever since I read Anne Frank in high school it has always been on my bucket list to go. And yes, I have a bucket list at 20. So glad I was able to make time for a visit!

Friday

This weekends journey started with two flights to Amsterdam. I left Florence around 10:30 AM and arrived around 5:30 PM. I wish I just splurged on the direct flight because I could have seen and done so much more. After we all arrived at the airport we ubered to the B&B.  This place was so cute and part of a relatively new part of the city. It was built above the water. Our hosts provided us with a guide on how to get around and different restaurant where locals eat.

This night we at an Asian restaurant. It was so good to get some sushi and Japanese egg noodles. After, we walked back in the blustering wind over two canals back to the villa.

Saturday

This was an early morning. I dressed for the cold windy and rainy weather. We walked over the two canals in the neighborhood and ate at a local Dutch bakery, De Bakkersfiets. The smell of the bread, when you walked in was so overwhelming and yummy. I ordered a pastrami sandwich and tea and had some of Doris's fresh orange juice. Shortly after we caught the tram into the Central Station.  On the tram, there was an actual person giving out tickets. Like what! Imagine someone getting a salary to sit on a tram all day giving out tickets to those who need. I am still trying to figure out why it is not electronic. Once we arrived we took another tram to Anne Frank Museum. We arrived too early so we stopped at a shopping mall because the weather was so crazy. Since I mentioned this was on my bucket list, when we were shopping Doris bought me a little bucket list journal which was so sweet.

Once we arrived at Anne Frank with our prepaid tickets, we went right in. It was very educational and worth it. The original bookcase that covered the hiding place was still there. In casing, they also had her journal with her beautiful script handwriting. America really needs to step up and start teaching cursive again. After the museum, we stopped for a bite at the grocery store and sat outside on some stairs and people watched. MJ nudges Doris and I and says, "look at this guy" and we were too late to even look but we hear the man go, "shut the f*** up." We were hysterical and peed a little. It was a had to be there moment but put it in the blog anyway! After lunch, we decided to go to the Museum of Prostitution near the Red Light District. The museum was educational but I think that we all could have done without it and would have preferred a walking tour. As we walked down some streets there were a few women but they don't give us any attention. They just look at you. But when a man walks near they start doing their thing. As we walked we did not see as many women as I thought but I guess the weekends are busy for them!

After that experience, we were ready for a drink. Of all the places we stopped at the New York Film Academy Cafe. Then we did an hour canal tour. Very cool and would recommend to anyone visiting. You get to see so many different areas of the city. We later took the tram back toward the villa and enjoyed eggplant parm and salad at an Italian restaurant. Believe or not, I am not sick of Italian yet.

Sunday

We slept in and enjoyed a local Dutch breakfast cooked by our hosts. They had prepared meats and cheeses, fruits and fresh warm local bread. Everything was amazing.  They also cooked MJ and I a hard-boiled egg with a sorta runny middle where we had to crack it at the top in order to open it. It was great having the opportunity to interact with locals and learn about their food and culture.

In the future, I will certainly be coming back to do the Red Light District tour, Pancake House, Heineken Experience, Tulip Fields and visit cute areas outside the city.


Tips:

• Book Anne Frank House tickets in advance 
• Don't be afraid to stay in the outside area of the city because the tram is accessible and inexpensive
• Eat lots of gouda cheese
• Visit during the spring because you will see tulips everywhere! 

Friday 

This is one of the first trips where the adventure began on a Friday morning. AEF paid for us to go to Naples for the weekend. Once we arrived it was literally like 34th Street/Time Square vibes. There were so many people and it was very dirty. We walked from the train station to the Luna Hotel. Would not be my personal first choice but AEF paid for it!

After we left the hotel we went to get Napoli’s famous pizza! We ate outside at Tote e Peppino. I ordered a personal pie with ham and mushrooms for only 6 euros. Super filling and delicious! It is much more inexpensive here than it is in Florence. After lunch, we got gelato of course! Dark chocolate and coffee flavors! Then we started our adventure of walking around the city. We walked to the Santa Chiara and saw beautiful mosaic tiled walls surrounding a garden. Then we went to the Cappella Sansevero which featured the Veiled Christ. Shortly after we walked back to the hotel to get ready for our opera show at the Teatro Di San Carlo.

We took the subway or metro as they call it to the area of Spacca Napoli. It was a totally different vibe. Much cleaner and closer to the water. We received our ticket and discovered we did not have seats, we had boxes. There were other people in the box but I was fortunate to be near the front where I could see the stage. The orchestra was amazing. I wish I could appreciate the opera but it is hard when you don’t know what the women is singing. After making it through two songs, most of us met at the bar and decided it would be best for us to get dinner. We walked along the water and found a pier with a ton of options. We ate at Transatlantico. Shanley, Taylor, Katie and I ate dinner. I ordered ricotta spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) and some tiramisu. We ordered white wine too because that is what you drink with seafood. Cultured. The bread for the table was sourdough which was a pleasant surprise but I have noticed that it seems to be a thing in Napoli. Although a little chilly it was nice sitting outside on the water! 

Saturday

Woke up around 7:00 AM and ate the hotel breakfast. Breakfast in Italy consists of meats, cheese, croissants and cappuccinos. I ate a croissant and cereal. Then off for the day. We took a bus Castel Nuovo. Outside the castle were tons of palm trees.  After we hopped on the bus to go back to Piazza Plebscito. We heard from a man who spoke about the mafia which was interesting. It was an hour and a half and at that point, we were all tired and hungry. After, Kate, Amanda, Hannah and Laura and I ate at Cavoli Nostri. I got a vegetarian taco. Then I wanted to try a sfogliatella or lobster tail but it was not good. Very upsetting. I think I could have got a better one at Riester’s bakery at home. 

Shortly after we made our way to the underground caves. Nothing to rave about but historically it was interesting to learn about. We walked through very thin ally ways. For dinner, AEF was paying and Annie and I split a caprese and sausage pizza! Had a small bottle of wine as well. The bottle literally had 14.7% alcohol. I had the pleasure of sitting next to my homies, Andrew, Will and Shanley! 

Sunday

Sunday, we woke up early to go to Pompeii. We had a guided tour with a man who has given tours to Bradley Cooper and Meryl Streep! So amazing. There were like other people walking taking pictures of him which was so funny. Pompeii was really nothing other I have ever seen. I never realized that it was a city until I learn about it. Mount Vesuvius is literally in their backyard. We also viewed dead bodies covered in ash which was so fascinating. After Pompeii, Kevin, Tony and Hana and I grabbed pizza in Spacca Napoli. Nothing to rave about. Then we went to an amazing gelato place, Casa Infante. I got a biscotti flavor and coffee. I literally asked for what they recommended and the women gave me seven flavors. I already gave a great review on TripAdvisor! 

Once we head back to the train I quickly realize that I no longer have my Airpods. Then, I realize a gash in my backpack. It was stolen. So I tell my mom and then she goes, "where is your passport?" Gone. Thanks, Naples! 

Tips: 

• Be sure to have your eyes on your belongings 
• Stay in a safe area 
• Don’t walk alone at night 
• Eat loads of pizza
• Be careful when crossing the streets. Confidence is key. They will stop for you. 
• If you have time, visit the other areas of Naples