Italy 2018

What a fast two weeks it has been! Joe left this afternoon to return to the US, and I have one last week to travel and explore, before I too, return home from my wild 6 month Europe adventure. Wednesday, Joe and I left Innsbruck. We took a bus back to Munich, where we caught a train that would take us to Dresden, Germany. Dresden is known for being one of the cities that was completely destroyed during WWII. As we were on the train to Dresden, our train was delayed for over an hour. It was bizarre. I guessed that someone had jumped in front of the train like they do in Italy, but Joe just laughed at me like I was crazy. Come to find out, some construction workers in Dresden found a live bomb from WWII and had spent the morning disarming the bomb. It was crazy! It’s weird to think that not all the bombs from the war have been found yet, and it’s pretty common to find them throughout Germany. After finally making it to our airbnb, we set out to explore our little neighborhood and find ...

People always say that Paris is a good idea. I can’t agree more. The first time I visited Paris this semester, I completely fell in love with the city and didn’t think it could get any better. Then it did. On Wednesday morning, my amazing boyfriend Joe landed in Paris. It has been a long time coming, and I am over-the-moon excited to spend the next two weeks traveling and exploring Europe together. I met him at the airport, and we started our grand ole adventure. After taking the train from the airport to the city center, and settling into our Airbnb, Joe and I set out to explore Paris. Our first stop was to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful!   We walked around inside and saw the famous stained glass windows and ornate architecture. It was gorgeous!   They also happened to be having the Fete du Pain (Bread Party), where they were making fresh baguettes in the Cathedral square. Of course we stopped by for a quick snack before walking to the...

It was such a bittersweet week in Reggio. I finished finals, packed up all my stuff, and left my new friends that had become family. Every night seemed to be the "last dinner at the pasta place" or the "last Italian gelato". We had to get as much of Italy as we could in our final hours. Friday night after all of our finals were over, we had our end of program dinner. All 40 of us sat down at one long table to have our last traditional Italian meal. It was delicious and filled with laughter and fun stories about the past semester. I really am going to miss all of these people. They are all so sweet and so kind, that it's hard to say goodbye knowing I will probably never see them again. On Saturday morning, Emily, Christina, Ciara, Lauren, and I all went for our "last coffee date" in Reggio. We went to our favorite cafe where they make the best croissants. We walked around Reggio one last time before saying goodbye. We even signed the graffiti tunnel...

Well... the time has come, this is my last week here in Reggio Emilia. It is bitter sweet to see this semester come to an end. I am ready for classes to be done and for summer to come, but I am not ready to say goodbye to my home away from home. Reggio has brought me so much happiness with new friendships and adventures and it is going to be hard to say goodbye. Luckily I have 5 more days full of finals and "dates" with some of my favorite people, before it's on to the next adventure. This weekend, I again chose to stay in the Emilia Romagna Region. On Friday, Emily and I made one of our favorite meals. We made Italian nachos... ok, I know what you're thinking. What are Italian nachos and why is this a thing? Well a few weeks into the semester, Emily and I were really craving nachos, so we went to the store to buy chips and all the makings for some bomb nachos. The problem was that we couldn't really find any cheese that would melt and be good on our chips, so w...

What an unusual weird week it has been. I have been finishing classes, prepping for finals, and soaking up the last little bits of Italy before my program is over. So here's a quick little recap of my week, and I promise there is a lot more exciting adventures to come.... just maybe not this week. ;) After our class last Monday, Christina and I left for a short little adventure to Florence to do some shopping. Christina's sister Hannah is studying abroad in Florence this semester, so we took a late afternoon train to Florence and met up with Hannah for dinner in Florence. We had dinner at this traditional Florentine restaurant that was super cool. We got to try the famous Florentine steak! The Florentine steak is known for being a delicacy and a particularly thick cut of beef from a specific Italian cow, that is grilled for 4 minutes in total, so it was super rare. I know... a little specific for a steak, but I was so good! It is also super expensive, so when we told the wa...