Basically...Cinque Terre!

Riomaggiore--the 1st Village of Cinque Terre

Ciao all! My apologies for not writing in a bit, I had hoped to blog earlier in the week but classes went crazy in the homework side of things, which put that idea to rest for a bit. Hope all is well wherever you are.


Cinque Terre (where I went this past weekend) was absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever been to. The five villages that make up the area are breathtaking, tucked away in the coastline mountains, almost unaware of their profound beauty. Due to heavy rain Friday we were unable to hike between the villages on Saturday, since most of the trails were too dangerous to attempt, but regardless it was an amazing day. The weather could not have been more perfect-almost the entire day was void of any clouds in the sky. Not only were the views amazing, but it was so nice to bond with the other students in my program. We tend to get stuck in a rut of only seeing/hanging out with our apartment-mates, and kids in our classes, that we don't really get to know everyone else. It was great to have the time to make experiences with new people, and have stories we can laugh about when we run into one another in the halls at school.

View at the end of Via Dell'Amore (Lane of Lovers) between
the first two villages. The locks symbolize the eternal
love of the couples who place them there and throw
the key into the ocean. So romantic!

Now that classes and travel are finally getting underway, it feels like the weeks go by too fast! Of course, I look forward to every weekend, as anyone does, but I don't want my time in Rome to go by so quickly! I just realized that I have been in Rome, officially, for more than 4 weeks. Four weeks! That number astounds me. The first week I was here, it seemed like an eternity, encountering new expriences every time I stepped out of the apartment. Now, looking back, I absolutely cannot believe that I have already been here for a month! I don't want to think about how fast that means the coming months will, considering I still have not even started my internship; I have not even hit my busy schedule yet. It's just best not to think about those kind of things right now.

Every day I feel a little stronger in my Italian, trying more and more to speak in class and with my ISC. They are my best audience--if I can't speak with them, I will be forever useless when it comes to locals who don't want to be patient with me. It's all I really want--to be able to understand and take part in conversations with TRUE Italians. Here's hoping!

Lately, I've noticed that the traffic here in Rome has become almost unbearable--as the Romans come home from summer holiday the city is almost overcome by cars and people, not to mention tourists. But today hit an all-time high. I was walking home from class (I absolutely LOVE my new route-so quick!) and was walking on the sidewalk next to the river. All of a sudden, five Vespas come roaring toward me--ON the sidewalk! They had gotten so fed up with the bumper-to-bumper traffic, with the traffic police manually switching the lights from red to greeen (so they can be sure that ambulances can get through the overwhelming traffic jams) that they decided to skip the line! It was crazy, pedestrians were hugging the wall as close as they could to avoid being hit. Definitely something I can't see myself experiencing in Virginia, let alone Vermont.

Tomorrow is extremely exciting (albeit amazingly busy) because my Dad and Debbie fly into Rome! They are visiting Italy as a part of their 10 year wedding anniversary, and moved up their trip to coincide with my semester abroad. We are visiting Florence together this weekend, which I am definitely looking forward to. Considering I moved in alone, it will be nice to share with them my home for the semester, and then experience something completely new and extraordinary.

That is all for now, will blog soon I promise!

Buona notte as always