In the sun of Italia

June 14, 2009

Instead of staying in Capri, we are staying in the upper part of the Island Anacapri. We are staying a beautiful hotel! The hotel is an older hotel and has been on the island for a long time. Today I had amazing time. My mom and I went out on a private boat and saw the whole island. We cruised around for 2 hours and saw some grotto's ( caves) They were beautiful! The water was see through blue, and you could see coral on the rocks. At one point my mom and I jumped into the sea and swam through the cave. It was an amazing experience! The stay has been very relaxing here and I don't want to leave! The wine is great and the food is amazing! After here I'm heading to Sicily!

June 15, 2009

This morning my mom and I took the chair lift to view all of the island. What a beautiful site! Today we walked down to a beach near a lighthouse. Lied out on the rocks with the sea water hitting them. Had lunch at a nice lighthouse restaurant near our lying area.

June 18, 2009

Sicily is a little bit of a disappointment. I thought it would be nicer, but I found it to be a little sketchy. There was not that much beauty compare to everywhere I have been. While staying in Sicily my mom and I decided to rent a car for the 3 days. We drove in madness! People drove fast, out of lanes, and with honking horns! We barley made it out alive! We drove to a park with some pretty waterfalls on our 2nd day, then drove around trying to find a beach with just getting lost. We finally turned the car back around to make it back and on the way pulled over and found a beach. The water was very clear and very cold!

The very last day there we went beach hoping. At one beach we lied out on the pebbles and soaked up the sun. We even had a chinese lady give us a massage on the beach. Afterwards we went out on another private boat and enjoyed listening to Italian music and looking out at the beautiful sea!

From Switzerland to the ocean

June 10, 2009

Well switzerland was amazing. I did a lot of hiking and saw a lot of beauty! I went paragliding off the mountain and flew in the air for 20 mins. Now I'm in the beauty of Greece! The weather is hot and the sunset is beautiful! My mom and I are staying in a beautiful hotel off the cliffs of Santorini. You look out the window and see the sea and little buildings on the edge of the cliff with the sun facing you! Amazing! I feel like I am on my honeymoon or something.

Yesterday my mom and I walked down the 1,000 steps to the bottom of the sea and had a sail on this pirate looking boat. We saw the volcano and hiked it. Then went to the hot springs. I jumped off the boat into the cold water....wasn't very hot. After the swim we ate on the boat and had Greek wine and watched the famous sunset at Oia.

June 11, 2009

Today was crazy! It was our last day in Santorini, so we rented a car. I got tired of waiting on my mom so I caught the bus and went to the Red Sea. Not much of red, they had red rocks, but that's it. Then finally my mom came to find me, while I hiked for an hour looking for a bus. She finally found me and drove around looking for nice beaches. We drove most of the day being lost. But we did drive pretty much of the whole island and saw some nice beaches. Leaving the Island to Athens, Greece!

June 12, 2009

Athens, is ummm not that pretty. Nothing like the islands. The history was nice but that's it. I'm only here for today and leave tomorrow back to my 2nd home Italia!!! I'm flying to Naples and take the boat to Capri. I've been to Capri, and can't wait to be there again. Very beautiful island.

Switzerland

I'm here in lovely switzerland in Lauterbrunnen. I'm down in a valley surrounded by mountains and green fields with sheep and cattle. This place is by far the most beautiful place i've been to in the world (out of the 13 countries I've been to). For the people who know me, they know that I have a passion for the outdoors and a love for hiking. So this place is a piece of heaven for me.

Yesterday is when my mom and I arrived in Switzerland from Paris. We traveled by train, and it took about 5 hours to get here. The train ride was quite an adventure, madness, and stressful. The reason because my mom broke her rips before she came to Europe to see me... therefore I have to carry her luggage plus mine. While doing this yesterday, we had to get on and off different trains plus find our train....so finally my body couldn't take the weight or stress from the 180 pound suitcases ( I'm not lying about the weight) and I pulled my back out. And from living in Europe I have learned that there is no such thing as a "southern gentleman". It took awhile for my mom to realize this.

But now I'm here in Switzerland away from the crazy city life and can come apart of nature. With my stubbornness and my mothers stupidity, we are going hiking today....even if I have a pulled out back and her with a broken rip. Maybe we will both get such a high from this beauty and forget our pain :) Okay well off to explore. Much love to you all!

Amore, Ash

Spring Break; Part 1

Ciao tutto! Spring has begun! YAY!!! So far I have been to Monaco and parts of the west of Italy. I went to Monaco, Monte Carlo alone. I went for three days to just get out of Milan and enjoy the beach. The begging was already at a ruff start. I got onto the bus to get me to the metro, and it stopped at the middle of the route because there was a race going on in the city. So I had to walk/run for 30  min to get to the metro (taking me 10 min to finally know where I was) 2 hours later I finally end at my final designation, il treno, the train. My seats were by three men, whom all looked sketchy. Now off to Monaco...a four hour trip.

Getting off the train, arrived at Monte Carlo, I stepped off thinking "okay, I got this, I've reached it this far on my own, I can do this!" Looking around not knowing how to even exit the station, going up and back down the stairs, I finally walk out into the warm ocean breeze. First thing I see is the ocean looking back at me and cliffs surrounding me everywhere. BEAUTIFUL!!! I walk up this very very steep hill with my bags, thinking "okay, so the hotel is just a 1 min walk, to the left....I think". Walking, sweating, breathing hard, I finally reach the top. YAY. Too bad I had know idea where I was. Yes, I was LOST. So i decided It was best to just get a taxi. I thought to myself "Hmmmm, my 2 years of French from high school could be really helpful right now. Too bad I made a D, both times". I walked up to the taxi, and the first thing out of my mouth was "mmmm, uhhhhh, mmmm". The man, in English, says to me "where do you need to go"? ahhh hahah, yay he knows some English! I get into the BMW "taxi" and he takes me back down the hill I hiked, and took a right, and there was my hotel. So yay, I spent 10 euros for him to take me back to where I was.

It was a Sunday night, and nothing was open. So after I settled into my room, I went to a "bar" to get some dinner. Sitting alone, eating chicken pizza, and enjoying a glass of wine....I notice these group of business men conversing in French, and then all of the sudden one starts speaking in English. So naturally, I listen, and this blonde hair man, slight 40's, with a nice blue shirt and slacks, starts getting mad at one of the men. I hear him say "Tell me the Truthz, with a French accent (reason for the "Z" at the end) He says to him, you owe me money, and he starts getting into this heated conversation. Through all of this, they are drinking their beer, and seem to be pretty plastered. They finish, and get up to leave....The blonde hair man, walks my way, pulls the chair at my table, and sits.

A Glimpse of Hell

Hola!!! Okay so it is March 28th 2009, and I am in Barcelona, Spain. I arrived here on Thursday March 26th 2009. There is a group of us here: Brian and Jessica ( 19 and 21, a couple from Calif., Amanda (21 from NY). We arrived to our hostel at 12 at midnight. Now let me set up the scene:
Walking in the Hostel Star and Moon, we all saw a bunch of guys dressed in dresses and wearing make-up and bras stuffed, inside the lobby area. My first reaction was, "This is not a good sign". We talked to the two men working at the hostel, checking in ( one younger man who spoke some English, and one older man, about late early 5o´s who spoke no English). I was paying for my hostel, which came to a total of 50 euros for three nights, the bedroom was an 8 bedroom, and i noticed as I was paying, that the yonger Spanish guy had this loooong pinky nail. And I´m guessing you all know what that means.... We found out we had to pay for exrta sheets (if wanted) and blankets. We asked does this mean the sheets are not clean??? The guy just starting smiling and laughing. We said, so is this a no...the man stops laughing and said ¨"no, they are clean" with a smirk. As the rest are paying for the rooms, this Italian guy, that was with the group who were dressed in dresses and wearing make up...came up to me and started speaking Italian, I just said sorry dont understand, then he said something about inglese (english)...then looks at me with this straight blank face and says ¨Animal" I turned to Amanda, and said " what is going on"? then 5 mins later he comes back and by, stops, and looks at me and says " Smalllll Animal"....and hops off like a kangaroo. I begin to just laugh, and believe that Im in hell.
We all walk up to our room.... there are 8 bunk beds, and looks like camp. The sheets on the bed are all inside out ( hmmm so this is how they clean the sheets).
We then decide to go get something to eat before we went to bed... as we walked to the lobby area, the older Spanish man who works at the Hostel, was in the bathroom sniffing and rubbing his nose, sooooo pretty sure he was doing coke.....As we walked out into the streets, there were a bunch of drunks out, men trying to sell stuff on the streets...one man asked¨"oooo would you like some sexy beer" It really was like walking the streets of Hell!!!
We finally get back to our nasty room and go to bed around 3 am. I did not trust the sheets at all!!! So I slept in my jeans, jacket, and shoes. In the middle of the night, I hear the door open of our room... I thought maybe it was one of the girls. The next morning, I found out by my roommates, that it was the old spanish guy. He just walked into our room, went into the bathroom, walked around the room and left!!! At this point I said this is it for me!!! I can´t believe that the guy just walks into the room in the middle of the night! I mean that is just creepy!!!! So that was when I decided that staying in a hostel run by crack heads, sleeping in clothes, and crazy guest, that i was going to just get a hotel on my own.
So that day, the group of us explored the city. It was much different in the day than at night. The city was very beautiful! the sun was shinning and it was nice and warm. We walked everywhere that day. We walked through this beautiful park... as we walked through it, there were these group of older womean dressed in white doing this type of slow yoga movements....I´m not sure what they were doing, but I felt like I was on drugs, and was trippin. Then we came across a group of young kids running and playing in the park....they were like little demons....they were all hitting and punching each other, throwing sand at each other....and they were like only 5 years old. I was very amused.
Finally the crazy day came to an end... I found a hotel to stay at for 80 euros for Friday night, and found another one for 5o euros the other 2 nights I´m here. I dedcided not to go out with the group, becuase I really did not have the money too and the nights in Spain really scare me! I walked into my hotel and checked in, and the guy working at the desk was about my age and fairly good looking. He asked me if I was going to party and and told him no. He then said, " you go for drinks then, with me"? I just laughed....and he said why you laugh. I then went outside to buy me a bottle of wine and some candy...got back to the hotel and went to my room...and realized that i needed a bottle opener....went downstairs and asked the guy if he knew where i could get one, he turned around and reached in the drawer and had a opener in his hand. He then went up to my room and opened it for me,....sooo that was my night. It was very uhhh interesting 2 days in Barcelona.
I am now waiting for all of my hung over friends to get up and go sight seeing again today. So hope you guys enjoyed my crazy story. Becuase i sure know I laugh about it every time I think about it. Miss you all! Amore- ASh

Italian Hair Salon

Okay..Allora...soooo my roots were getting pretty bad and decided to go to get some highlights. I walked around trying to find a hair salon, and one that spoke some english and not very expensive. I Finally came across this place called David Louis Jeans, which none spoke english (except a little). Walked in with no appointment (which was nice) and told them I needed highlights. He said okay... and took me to the chair. Let me just say they do highlights a lot different in Italy than in the U.S....He took a comb with the coloring on it, and barely streaked my hair with it. I was like WHAT IS GOING ON?! Then he did not even leave the coloring on for long... he washed it out and then wrapped plastic wrap around the top of my head. This italian woman came up to me and started saying "everything OK". Then started to spray "fiore" wash on my hair....flower wash, as she called it. I was like hmmmmm at this point. Then I started to hear the man say something that sounded like orange, this was not a good thing to hear.  Finally everything was done, and went upstairs to dry my hair. The Italian woman brought me coffee and gelato, which i found very nice of her!.... Then i got brave and decided to tell them to trim my bangs...the lady used a razor that you use to buzz guys hair... I found this to be a interesting approach. So end of story.... My hair looks pretty much the same, a little red in it, and still have my roots. All of this cost me 60 euros, which is the cheapest I have seen in Milan.

Living the luxury, but not so luxury life

 Ciao ciao! Today I woke up to LOUD hammering, LOUD drilling, and crying baby all next to my room, at 7 am! So had a nice headache ha. Then we have 3 extra people staying at my apartments right now, soooo we have madness. We have no hot water, I have not had a shower in three days... Hmmmm but I am in Italy! Can't have it all right :)

Today I did have someone be very kind... I was carrying three heavy bags of groceries and this older man said something to me in Italian, and i was like uhhh... and then he grabbed my bag... I was like "no no no, I have it" and he just started to talk a little in english and Italian and walked with my bag all the way to my apartment, then i said thanks, and he said your welcome and kept on walking. I was very thankful, and he wasn't creepy at all.

I have exams all this week, sooo thats what I'm doing now blaaaahhh. So got to get to studying! Ciaoooooo!

Amore *Ash*