Spring Break

I have no idea where to begin. It has been over a month since I last updated this web log. At any other point in my life, a month would be simple to summarize in a couple hundred words. Here, life experiences sweep over me constantly. It is hard to hold it all back long enough to take a breath and remember everything you've seen and done, but that is what I will try to do starting now.

So, where did I leave off?

Well, there was a trip to Salzburg, Austria back in the middle of March. Salzburg was so lovely, but sadly at the we visited it at the wrong time of the year. It was trapped in that mucky end of winter time, but still the pictures turned out pretty impressive.


Here is the view of the entire town from the wonderful modern art museum at the top of a hill.


Here is the interior of the art museum. Some how, when we got there, we happened to stumble upon the hour of free admission. This made my day.


Here I am with my friend Lirra at the top of the hill. It was quite the hike up there, but more than worth it.


Here is Mozart. Well, of course this isn't actually Mozart. He happened to have been born in Salzburg, and the town has since made him a symbol of tourism. You can buy Mozart chocolates, booze in violin shaped bottles, t-shirts and perfume. This gets very overwhelming after you learn that Mozart didn't even enjoy living in Salzburg. He moved to Vienna for his adulthood and never came back.

You can see more pictures from my trip to Salzburg here.

After Salzburg a lot of time was spent on my final exams and then preparing for my 2 week vacation. The easiest decision I ever made was deciding to travel to Italy for this break. I have wanted to see Italy my entire life. I don't know if it was the influence of my last name, all the pasta my parents fed me as a child or my father's stories. . . but I have definitely dreamed of this trip my entire life. I planned all of it on my own over the internet using my guidebooks, and then shared these plans with friends who ended up meeting me along the way.


It all started with a train ride through the alps. This train ride was endless, but I brought a bunch of cheese sandwiches and an Italian phrase book to entertain me. The views from my window were the most enchanting part of the entire trip. As the alps grew and sank, the conductors and train stops gradually changed from German to Italian.


I arrived on my own in Milan and took a taxi to where I was staying that night. Milan only has one youth hostel in the entire city, and it was completely booked for the weekend. So I found myself instead at the lovely Hotel Verona Milan One Star Hotel. Everything was shut down for easter weekend, so the street initially looked much more daunting than it actually proved to be.


The next day, I headed off to Milan's very impressive cathedral. It is the 4th largest in the entire world, and in sits in a large open plaza covered in pigeons.


I attended easter services inside the cathedral. The smoke you see in the air was leftover from their midnight mass the night before. The entire room smelled a bit like hickory.




After service, I climbed a million stairs to the top of the cathedral. The top was covered with the intricate and detailed spires. You could see so much of Milan from up here, I adored it.

Then, after two amazing contemporary art museums and some pizza, I met with my friend Kate, who is also studying with me in Regensburg, and her friend Erin, who studies in Milan, and we all walked along the most fashionable street in the city.


This is one of the many silly window displays we walked past. I can't believe anyone, no matter how much money they have, would ever consider spending 1,000 Euros on a purse! What a joke!

The next morning Kate and I jumped on a train to Finale Ligure. I don't know where to begin describing what a great time I had there. Instead of trying to quickly summarize how wonderful it was, I will instead copy the e-mail I sent to my parents the night I arrived there.

Dear Mom and Dad,

oh, mother! It is amazing here! Oh, I am so spoiled, you have no idea how lovely it is here. After such a nice train ride, Kate and I arrived in Forte Ligure. The beaches were packed with fashionable italians eating gelatto (ice cream). We worked our way through them all and followed the distant image of the castle on the hill. After SO MANY steps, we found our way to the top. This was difficult to do because all we wanted to do was explore the shops we were walking past and stop to take pictures.

IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL, I cannot wait to show you pictures. We checked in and walked down to the beach area for gelatto. We ate our ice cream right on the beach, reveled in my complete genius for finding this place, and felt really content. Then, out to dinner where we ordered wine and I ate the local pasta specialty: a basil based pesto with potatoes and green beans on pasta. It is amazing. I may attempt to buy this pesto for you all and mail it home. Then what did Kate and I do after dinner? More gelatto, of course!

Such a great day. The castle is the best deal in the entire world. It is so well kept, clean and beautiful. I am no longer clutching my purse to my chest and avoiding eye contact with the world. It is very very nice. We are going to say here tomorrow and then wonder to different areas the next few days- tuscany. france, it is all around the corner. Thrilling. I hope this inspires dad to get on top of those plane tickets : ).

Love,
Andrea

Yes, you could say I was a little enthusiastic about the entire experience.


Here is the castle in which the youth hostel was located.


This was the view from the top of the castle.


These are all the steps one must climb to make it to the top.


This is the beach.


This is the fortress in the nearby town. We hiked all the way to the top one day!


Here is a picture I sneakily took at the train station. I love old Italians.

You can see more pictures of Finale Ligure here.

My friend Kate and I stayed in this wonderful town at this wonderful youth hostel for 4 nights. One day was spent exploring Finale Ligure, the next was spent in Genova and the day after that was spent in Cinque Terra.


Genova was the largest city near Finale Ligure.


Kate and I posed in front of this fountain while a friendly Italian man took our picture.


This is the funny zebra like cathedral in Genova.


Here is the "Holy Grail" stored under the cathedral.


Here I am on top of a very, very large boat.

You can see more pictures of Genova here.

...and now I am going to leave for class! I will catch back up in a few days with the second half of my trip: the Cinque Terra, Rome and Berlin!!!