Magical MysteryTour

Famous folks
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So I have decided that since I am so far behind in writing that I will run a brief and intense summary of the past few weekends and then write a blog on my overall experience here in Italy.  If you would like a more intense explanation of any of the following don’t hesitate to ask, all of these times were great I am just running out of time to write.  The quick rundown is as follows…

Hiking and picnicking in Spoleto with Anna and Liz where we ran among olive trees, climbed a mountain and crossed a giant Roman aqueduct.  Great views, awesome nature time, and good company.

mountain views
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Next came another weekend in Perugia with market going and mini-adventures. The market was huge this weekend because of a Halloween festival and we wandered around ate great food and looked at everything from live animals to neon underwear! This was the same week that we had a giant Halloween party with full costumes, of course. I was a pirate along with Liz while other friends showed up as road kill, soccer players, knights, ballerinas and “your mom.”

The following weekend I went into Rome on Friday because the family was arriving the next day. I wandered Rome on my own checking out the major sites which included a stunning sunset stroll of Palatine Hill. I also managed to run into a movie set in front of the Coliseum with the famous faces of Hayden Christenson and Rachel Bilson.

Me and the bro in Sorrento
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Mom, Dad and Hamlin arrived the next morning and we spent a whirlwind week seeing all the greatness of Italy. It was really fun to have them in town and show them everything that I have been doing. There was also a new and interesting family dynamic seeing as I was the one in charge because no one else spoke any Italian or knew what was going on in this country. It is weird to me all the little things that I have picked up or become used to that are so foreign to other people. With the family I saw Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Assisi, Florence and Perugia. They hit all the major sites in a short amount of time which was very impressive. Dad even tried to speak a little Italian this time around, I guess it just rolls of the tongue a little better than French.

Last weekend I went to Venice with my friends Sarah and Liz. We explored the whole of this creepy little city which is very reminiscent of Epcot…or perhaps that should be the other way around. Venice is a gorgeous city but it doesn’t really exist outside of tourism so it has an interesting vibe and flow to it. The canals however were gorgeous, the Basilica of San Marco was filled with awesome mosaics and weird Catholic relics, and the Guggenheim Museum over there had one of the best Modern Art collections that I have seen.

Finally this brings me up to speed with this weekend and the end of classes. I finished classes on Thursday and decided to spend this weekend in Perugia since all of us were studying for exams and hanging out for the last time. We threw a massive Christmas party on Friday night so I spent most of the day Friday making decorations and preparing the apartment for people. The party ended up having forty to fifty people and was a huge hit. We had a blast and people came in their Christmas best…I personally wore reindeer antlers. Top prize goes to anyone who can guess which reindeer I was on the first try…only three people got it the whole night, so good luck! The rest of this weekend was spent attempting to do work but not really succeeding and just laying low with friends. I think I actually did fewer productive things this weekend that I have all semester but it was well worth it.

I am now headed into exam week and am going to start throwing out clothes and packing soon. I am not really looking forward to this part, mostly because it requires cleaning up my room, but also because it means the end really is upon us. My final blog will appear soon with my overall thoughts about the experience as well as with things I have learned in my time here.