Alla Fine..

My last day Carissa and I went to Luxembourg for...Her hubby Austin had to work, boo...I really, really loved Luxembourg. I have no idea who this statue is of, but I always have to take silly statue pictures. That's also Carissa's thumb in the corner...oops.

We also went to the Notre Dame Cathedral...the front of the cathedral was hard to get a picture of because of all the scaffolding, and we went in a side door, so I didn't bother with picture of the whole cathedral. I thought this was a cool picture of the spires with the fluffy clouds in the background..

The inside was beautiful too, as with most cathedrals in Europe. It was made in 1613 and began as a Jesuit church...it is now a Roman Catholic church. This is a view looking down to the altar.

A stained glass window of the three kings meeting Baby Jesus. I thought it was a really beautiful picture..

This is the Grand Duke's Palace...for some reason a lot of people call it Disneyland. I can kind of see it with the spires...but I don't know. The two small blue box looking things at the far end of the picture are where the guards stand.

This building front was all mosaic, I thought it was really cool...

Street scene in Luxembourg...

The weather was starting to get rainy so Carissa and I stopped for lunch. We had hawaiian toast (which isn't ever actually plain toast)...it was toast, ham, and swiss cheese, and french fries of course! I also asked for white wine and it was served to me in that brown bottle that looked like beer. I was slightly skeptical, but it was actually really good wine!

After lunch the weather continued to go downhill, so we decided to check out the Casemates du Bock. They are a series of underground tunnels and crypts that you can explore it..it was so cool! They were built as an underground line of defense for a castle that was built by Count Siegfried in 963..that was when Luxembourg really began to develop. They are still considered one of the best defense networks for a castle ever...

Exploring!

This is right at the beginning of the trail to go through all the tunnels, I was peeking over what looked like a crypt...

Each little section was lettered off and you could read about that room or hall. I was playing guide in this picture...

There were a lot of tunnels and ledges and steps and other precarious footing situations..Carissa had some issues picking up her feet lol...I think she turned her ankle twice =/

We got back in the evening around 18:30 and just had a relaxing evening at home. We watched at least 3 New Girl episodes, then Austin and Carissa headed to bed around 9:30. Austin had work the next day, and Carissa and I had to get up at 4am to leave for the airport at 4:30. I decided to stay up and watch the second Sherlock Holmes, as well as work on some homework for my online class. I was definitely in denial about leaving...I didn't even start packing until 1 am and didn't make it to bed until after 2! After a couple hour nap, I was up again to head to the airport. We watched a beautiful sunrise on the way there...I loved the windmills in this picture, they are all over Germany..

I left Frankfurt at 7:30 to fly to London Heathrow. I was praying to the Lord that my suitcase wasn't overweight to go back...at Carissa's it weighed in at 53 lbs so I stuffed some things in my carry on and hoped for the best. I didn't have any issues though! I got to London and had to go through a heck of a lot of security. I made it to my gate about 30 minutes before boarding, and of course made friends with some military guys that were heading back to the states for a week long assignment (and yes, of course a few of them were attractive, and no wedding rings, I checked). They were all enlisted Air Force guys stationed at Lakenheath in England (where Ness was stationed). We had a good chat about the military and travels and all of that, then didn't sit near each other on the plane. They were good company before the flight though :) The 8 hour flight actually went by really easily. Everyone closed their shades and they dimmed the lights, so I watched a couple movies (This Means War and 21 Jump Street) and took a nap. When I woke up, there was only a little over an hour left! It really went well. This is a picture of the Chicago coastline on Lake Michigan...it looks like Florida!

I had less than 2 hours before my flight to Indy, so I got this bright orange express pass that allowed me to skip all the lines...customs, security, luggage check, everything! It made it super easy to get through everything. It worked out well for me, because I was trying to sneak through customs with 2 bottles of alcohol when I'm underage...but I made it! To clarify, one was a bottle of Carlsburg beer for Dad for his birthday, and the other was a bottle of wine. The second flight was a little puddle jumper to Indy, and when I got on and went to my seat, it was broken and had a "do not occupy" strap across it, so that was cool. I had to wait out in the gangway until they sorted it out, and I finally got on the flight.That is a picture of my broken seat...cool story bro.

I actually landed twenty minutes early, so by the time I got my luggage and went outside, I had to wait 5 minutes for Dad to get there. He was there right on time, and we headed back to New Castle. I planned it to come back on his birthday, and I am really glad I didn't miss it. We had Ming's for dinner and I got a 32 oz Dr Pepper from McDonalds. I will have to admit, it was a great first meal back. I got to hang out with my sis Emily and see my family. Dad and I stayed up to watch Thor, and I went to bed around 12:30 (27 hours of being up) and slept in until 11am today. It was glorious. Today I went to McDonalds for a sweet tea, Taco Bell for a quesadilla, and Walmart for who knows what. It was a very American day.

I can't believe my Italian adventure is over! It is truly a bittersweet feeling. I am really happy to see my family again- I definitely had been missing them. But honestly, I could have stayed over there for the rest of the summer easily. I loved Italy and Germany, and just Europe in general. I work hard to play hard, and I had simply ran out of money! It was time to head home when my bank account hit $0! I am already making plans for returning, hopefully to live with my sister in Germany next summer and intern at Ramstein AFB- how cool would that be?! For all my friends I met through CIMBA, thank you. I had an incredible time studying abroad, but more than the experiences I will remember all the amazing relationships I made. Unaiza-I miss our shared looks about our British professor and patching you up on that first day...instant best friends. I promise I will come to WV! Jeff...we're getting married, so I won't get too sentimental about our time at CIMBA ;) To Ashley, Emily, Janani and Abbey...thanks for so many wonderful memories. We bonded so much in those few days before the program. Em- I can't wait to roadtrip and see you and Maddie in September! And the Iowa people + me will be headed to Kansas in October! A CIMBA reunion will have to happen. There are a thousand and one things I could say about the last 5 weeks of my life. They were full of laughter, late nights, reading, papers, wine & pizza. I made more memories than I can keep track of, so thank goodness I blogged! The perfect ending to a perfect journey would be this...

La Dolce Vita.

Ciao tutti,

Ellie

Oh ya know, just headed to France for the day..

After our river cruise on the Rhine on Saturday, we decided to head to France on Sunday. Apparently in Germany it is extremely hard to find things open on Sundays, so we decided to try our luck by heading to Metz, France. The weather was beautiful, and we walked around the city some before sitting down to eat in the city square.

Ummm...Men's cruising bar??

Look at the grass on top of this arc...I thought it was cool! Plus, look at the beautiful weather...

Then we went to this restaurant...I think it was called the butcher in french lol. Austin and I decided to test our adventurous side...that is a picture of a marrow bone. They keep the marrow and make some sort of stuffing which you eat out. Yeah, my stomach is churning just writing about it...it was pretty disgusting. But hey, now I can say I have tried marrow...bleck.

As always, I have to take pictures of my meals. Best burgers and fries of my life...minus having to pay for ketchup. What is that?!

Even though Italian gelatto was out of the question, I got a DELICIOUS chocolate mousse...yummmm..

The city square in Metz had this really big fountain that I thought was pretty cool...side note, look at the two couples making out on top. I thought the Italians were bad...guess the Germans are too!

I was also slightly fascinating with doors in Metz...

Although I think this one was my favorite..

This cathedral, Saint Etienne, is the third largest in France...it was a beautiful gothic church built in 1552. It's really well known for its stained glass, which I found incredible. Sorry dad, your stained glass window in the old house doesn't compare.. Carissa and Austin in front of Saint Etienne :)

Looking up towards the back of the cathedral

Looking to the right of the altar

Just like with all of Europe, freaking expensive cars are EVERYWHERE. This is a Bentley...

After our day in Metz, we decided to make it back in time to go see Avengers at a German theater that plays English movies every Sunday. It was great! Reggie was waiting for us when we got home...that dog always has a toy in his mouth!

After our great day in France, we decided to plan for my last day (sad face). Austin had to work, so Carissa and I decided to drive to Luxembourg for a day trip. The next and last blog will be about that...my journey is almost over! Ciao!

Journey to Germany!

After doing both my finals and rushing to the airport, I made my train from Bassano to Padova and hopped on the train to the Munich. I didn't realize that I had to have a reservation for a car, so I slept for the first half an hour on the train in a little jump seat in the aisle...it was awful. This precious old German couple with their grandson took pity on me and invited me into their car for the rest of the trip...the grandma spoke a little English, and they were so warm and welcoming. The first picture is of the grandson and grandpa, with the mountains of Northern Italy in the background.

After being on the train for 3 hours (about halfway through our 6+ hour trip), we passed through Innsbruck, Austria. Some girls from my English class went there on a long weekend, so I had to snap a picture as we were passing through. What beautiful mountains...

The precious German couple ended up being on my next connection too, and they took me under their wing.  The next train was only 3 hours, and they got off about halfway through. We had a 8 seat section to ourselves, but instead of sleeping, I was studious and caught up on my reading for my Ivy class. I got to the next station at midnight, and was on a regional train to a station near Carissa's. Since it was the local train, there were all sorts of loud drunks and young kids. I got on the train, and hadn't realized that I sat myself in the middle of 6 German twenty-somethings...oh boy. Five minutes into the train ride, with them all staring at me, one of them finally says, "where are your pants?" I looked down and realized that I was the only one on the train wearing shorts. I was like uh..... "I'm an American?" and they laughed and were like oh well..
"what do you think about german beer?" And i was like..."actually i hate beer.." and they were like oh... "what about german boys?" and I was like. well, i'm not sure lol. My first German experience... I got in a little after one, and Austin was there waiting..reggie and Carissa were napping in the car. We got home after two, and headed to bed close to three. The next day we slept in (until 10:30- it was glorious!) and headed to cruise the Rhine on a ferry...not before we got stuck in a stau (traffic jam). Everyone was getting out and looking around, so I snapped a pic.

We had just boarded the ferry, and came across this castle in the middle of the river! I don't know the name, but I got a postcard with all the castle's names, so I will figure it out...

Yep, just chillin in the middle of the Rhine....

We cruised on down and saw the German flag. When we went past, they played the German anthem...pretty cool.

We got off at Bahn (I think?) and we were going to hike to a castle...but our bellies got the best of us. I had a hot dog and french fries, and it was DELICIOUS.

Carissa and I with the coast in the background. There are over 100+ castles on this stretch...

Still no clue what it is, just pretty :)

Me, Austin and Carissa! The only group picture of the trip...

After that we went to Ramstein because Austin was craving icecream...I saw this ridiculous chair and had to get a picture. Joy, can we have this in our apartment PLEASE?!

We got back to Carissa's at dusk and I took a picture of her view. She is situated on top of a hill, and I guess on New Years, all the houses down below shot off fireworks and it was a breathtaking sight. Wish I would have been there!

We decided to go to Metz, France the next day, and all headed to bed...my weekend is a third of the way over! Until tomorrow... Gute Nacht!

Arrivederci Italy :(

The last week of CIMBA started off with a bang with Monday- Funday at the sports bar...Emily was an RA with me (blonde) and Maddie was our honorary RA (she was with us constantly, so she might as well been one). We were the sports bar patrons for sure.

Maddie, Me and Jacob (South Carolina boy)

Phil! He was part of a group of guys that we accidentally ran into the first weekend at Cinque Terre...been best buds ever since!

Sunset over campus...it was like Paderno was saying goodbye =/

Tuesday night was the formal dinner...jokingly called the CIMBA Prom. Everyone broke out their cocktail dresses and ties for the affair. It was held at a hotel called Fiore about 45 minutes away. We started with antipasti (appetizers) and wine out on a terrace, then headed inside for the next 23834829 courses. The picture below is of my other girls... Rebekah, Unaiza, Lauren and Caroline (thanks to Unaiza for lending me her dress!)

This is me and my future husband Jeff. Doesn't this look like a high school homecoming picture?? Yep, we're pretty much adorable. He is staying after 7 weeks to travel- I'm so jealous!

After being stuffed from the appetizers, we actually had to start eating. We started with a risotto that had peas in it (the only time I like peas I might add)..it was delicious!

After that we had another type of pasta that I devoured...hence no picture. Below this was my first real meat of Italy...minus salami on pizzas. It was INCREDIBLE.

Me and my MASSIVE food baby...I blame Italy.

But I mean, if they're going to set THAT in front of me....I guess I will choke it down. Best dessert ever. It was similar to a cheesecake with all sorts of fresh fruits on top. Yum!

This is one of my professors, Dominic Standish. He is British (hence why I love him so much), he married an Italian, lives in Italy, and has been teaching with CIMBA for 14 years. He was my professor for my Intercultural Communications class, which Unaiza and I are both in.

You can tell I started getting sad about leaving when I took a picture of a typical CIMBA meal. Everyone complains about the food, but really it wasn't too bad...if you like to overdose on carbs EVERY SINGLE DAY. But hey, its Italian food, you're in Italy...so to everyone complaining- I say get over it! This was actually one of our better meals...pasta with pesto, a roll (always) and their buttered potatoes, which I LOVE.

Wednesday night was another sports bar night, but somehow I didn't take any pictures...finals started Thursday afternoon, so I think people were starting to study already. I had both my finals Friday, so I thought it would be okay to go out one last time :) Thursday night was the faculty dinner, and it was at this beautiful house-turned-restaurant about 15 minutes away overlooking the hills. A lot of people do turn their houses into restaurants on the weekends (its called an agriturismo (sp?)) The views were great!

Front of the agriturismo..I am going to miss all of the landscaping. Regardless if a person has a tiny shack or a big house, everyone takes pride in their yard. This is Emily being silly...

RA group! Ashley, Abbey, Me, Emily, Maroo & Janani

I know I take endless amounts of food pictures, but in Italy I truly fell in love with the food. I had the best meal of Italy at this place...it started with risotto with fungi (which are mushrooms). I picked those out, and the flavor was phenomenal.  

Once again, the pasta after the risotto didn't make it into my camera card. It was so delicious it disappeared rather quickly! Below is a picture of the meats though...YUM. I had a chicken wing, a sausage and two ribs. The white thing is like this cornmeal type of...well I'm not sure. I think its called a panino? hmm....good all the same.

And of course, dessert! This was a strawberry something or other...I did like the dessert at the formal dinner better, but this was a pretty close second!

This is my other professor, Emily Allen. She is actually a professor at Purdue! She taught Italian Journeys here at CIMBA, which was similar to a travel writing class. I really, really enjoyed her in class, and I know I will be stopping by her office to catch up this fall. CIMBA gives you the very unique opportunity to really know your professor- especially as an RA!

Friday was a blur...Emily and Dominic actually allowed me to start each of my finals early to make sure I would catch the train to get to my sister. I started Emily's final at 7:30 am (after going to bed at 3:30...studying and packing-bleck). I got done by 8:45am, then headed to my room to get all my stuff together so I could check out. I checked out, started my Comm final at 9:30, got done at 11:20, then caught my 11:30am taxi to the train station...that's how close I was cutting it! On one hand, it sucked not being able to really say goodbye to anyone on Friday, but at the same time it is kind of good. I honestly think if I would have said goodbye to everyone I would have been a blubbering mess. My best best girl Unaiza waved to me while my taxi was pulling away, and that was enough to make me tear up. She had both my classes with me, so we were together 6+ hours a day every day, then traveled together the last weekend. I will miss her so much!

There are a thousand and one things I could say about this experience...for one, anyone that is debating studying abroad- DO IT. You will absolutely not regret it. For CIMBA specifically, I really enjoyed myself. The campus was great, and I actually liked the small town atmosphere...it made getting away on the weekends even more enjoyable. The other RAs and the staff were great, and the teachers were the best I have had in my college experience hands down. I joked with the office staff that I may look into coming back for the Spring 2013 semester as a "Super RA"...like the head of the RAs basically. I am really, really debating it. Anyways, I am now in Germany, so my next blog will be about my travels here (and do I have stories...) and my first day with my sister and Austin! 

Arrivederci Italy...it really was "La Dolce Vita"