Munich

Germany was everything I thought it would be and I mean that in a really good way. I had high expectations after talking to my dad, my friend Teresa and seeing movies. It was by far one of my favorite weekends. I ended up going with my friends from Indiana. There were about ten of us which I usually I would think is too many people to travel with, but it was the perfect amount for the atmosphere in Munich! We took an overnight bus from Florence to Munich (about 8 hours) and arrived in Munich around 4am.

After sleeping for a few hours, we began the day with a bike tour of the city. I have been wanting to do a bike tour somewhere and finally had the opportunity. It is such a beautiful city and the architecture is very different then that of Italy. There is also so much history behind it because of the WWII which was interesting. It was great to start the trip knowing more about Munich. On the bike tour, we also made one very important stop to the Chinesischer Turm, the Chinese Beer Garden. The beer garden had food, beer and outdoor tables. The weather was perfect which only added to the already great experience. I had my first official German meal here. Wish I knew exactly what it was but it was some kind of sausage and delicious potatoes :) and of course, a German beer!

Alex, Me, Gina & Jenna ready to ride!

At the English Gardens

Chinese beer garden

First full German meal

We also stopped at a place nearby where people river surf. Very cool! Here's a video of it:

At night we went to Fruhlinsfest, Munich's famous spring beer festival. This place was so much fun! There were huge tents full of people from all over, food, rides and beer.

These are so heavy - how does she carry that many?!

My friend from high school, Teresa has a lot of family in Germany because her mom was born there. She arranged for me to meet up with her cousin, Till, who lives in Munich. Two of my friends and I spent the day with him which was so much fun. He was really nice and we got to see a lot! 

First, we went to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany. This was very sad, but important to see.

Memorial built outside the museum

It was hard to transition from such a place but we had lunch after. We went to a beer garden outside the Schleissheim Palace then took a walk in the gardens there. So beautiful! I loved it! 

Chelsea, Rachel, me

Chelsea, Till, me

Later that night, we said bye to Till and met up with the rest of the group to go to the famous Hofbrauhaus. The atmosphere was so much fun here! Germans were singing and chanting and there was a German band playing. 

Rachel, Alex and me at the Hofbrauhaus!

The next morning we left Munich but had one last amazing stop before we returned to Florence - Neuschwanstein Castle. This was the inspiration for the Walt Disney Castle and the resemblance is pretty obvious! We hiked a very scenic route to the top. Near the castle was a huge bridge stretching between two mountains. From the bridge, you could see a small river and waterfall right below. 

The weekend went by too fast now I only have 10 days left in Florence. The countdown begins!

 

Campomaggiore - Back to my roots!

Although I haven't kept up with my blogging, I'm doing this post right away because it's an important one! I was lucky to spend this long weekend meeting and spending time with my Italian relatives in the south. My mom was born in Campomaggiore, a very small town in the mountains of Basilicata and moved to Chicago when she was 6. The most amazing thing to me is how my grandparents adjusted to the move because Campomaggiore is worlds away from Chicago. I was completely shocked how different the two cities are. I had heard so many stories from my parents, uncles and nonna about what it was like there. Turns out the beauty of the town and the people is pretty indescribable and I'm so happy I got to experience it for myself. The weekend was full of new introductions, a lot of laughs and of course an unimaginable amount of delicious food!

My mom and I left Florence early Thursday morning to begin the 7 hour journey to the south. Even though I could have flown back to the states in this amount of time, it wasn't that bad. Pasquale, my cousin Laura's dad picked us up from the station and we spent the night with their family in another town just outside of Potenza. Laura had to come a day later but I finally got to meet her sister Erica. They live in the valley and she took us to see the views from the mountains around her house. It was so beautiful!!

The next morning, we left for Campomaggiore! I had never experienced anything like that drive. Snaking through those huge mountains made me feel so small! I've riden through the mountains on the Almalfi Coast but these seemed much bigger and the constant turning made it feel like I was on a ride. 

The town itself is so cute! It's very small, beautiful and peaceful and the mountain air is so clean! My mom and I walked around and she showed me the house she grew up in! So crazy to see you! Everywhere we walked, we got invited in for a coffee and to stop and chat.

 

The first night we had dinner with the Digilio's then we saw the people of the town act out the Passion of the Christ by the church. It was actually really impressive!! After that, I met another cousin, Pierino, and we all went to Fatoria del Conte, a restaurant in the town. I loved the atmosphere of the place and everyone there seemed to know each other and were friends. I learned some real Campomaggiorese dialect :) Pierino wrote them down for me! The spellings are how they should be pronounced.

o Pccninn - little boy

a Pccnen - little girl
Uagnastredd - older girl (about my age)
Uaglion - older guy
Mammarann - nonna
Tattarann - nonno

Saturday morning we took a walk and stopped at Fatoria del Conte again. The restaurant has a barn with horses and dogs used for hunting. The owners son, Donato showed me around! He is the cutest kid ever! He's only eight years old but seems like an adult. After that, we visited my great-aunt, Antoniette, in Tricarico. I don't remember meeting her because I was too young, so it was really nice to stop and talk for awhile. 

Next stop was to Carmela and Roberto's farm nearby. I was amazed that almost everything they ate came from what they have grown or raised themselves. I was lucky to eat some of it too and it was all delicious :) During the day, we hiked up to the caves in the moutains on their land. I had sooo much fun doing this! There was no straight path leading up there so we used sticks to create our own. It was a very interesting hiking experience! The views at the top were amazing. The caves were also really cool because there were ruins of houses and fossillized seashells since it used to be under water! 

We spent Easter with a lot of the family I had met during the week! It was so much fun! My uncle Mario said that I'd be surprised when I went to Campomaggiore because the food and smells are identical to what my nonna makes in the US. Very true! I couldn't believe it! 

The next day my mom, Pasquale, Laura, Erica and I went to Matera. The city is close to Campomaggiore and has an ancient part where the houses were made from rock. This is also where the Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson was filmed. We spent the day there, it was very cool to see! 

I left early the next morning to go back to Florence. I already miss it and will absolutely jump on any excuse to go back. Hopefully in the summer too when there is more people. I also want to go back to do the Vollo dell'Angelo, the largest zipline in Europe. Sounds like my kind of thing :) Tonight I'm leaving for Munich which I'm really looking forward to...it's my last big trip. Time has flown by! I'll be back in the US in about 2 weeks. 

I have way too many pictures to post on here but my facebook album that should be available for everyone! Hope this works!!

ROMA

Last weekend, we had an inclusive trip through my program to Rome! I was so excited to finally go the city I've heard so much about. I wish we had more time to spend there. As I said about every other place I've been so far, I'd like to go back. I threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain so if the legend is true, I will be back. There was so much to see and I tried to fit in as much as possible. We left Friday morning and stopped in Tivoli, a small town near Rome. We explored the city for a few hours, anticipating Rome! Pictures from Tivoli...

Elisa, Alyssa, Haley, me, Andrea

We got to Rome late in the day, just in time to take a nap and get ready for dinner. Dinner was provided by our program at Pizzeria Callisto. We all had individual pizzas! Sooo good :)

The next day was a very busy one! We had a guided tour of the Colosseum, Foro, Palatino, Pantheon and the Fontana di Trevi. Everything was so amazing to see! We also had some free time so a few of us went to see the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Museum. Absoutely amazing. We stayed there for nearly an hour just looking at everything. I wish I had more time to explore the rest of the museum but it was already so late in the day and we had to leave to get ready for dinner. I'm a little disappointed because I didn't get to see the inside of the Vatican but I still filled my day with a lot of amazing things!

The Colosseum 

Foro and Palatino  

Tomb of Julius Ceasar

 
 Fontana di Trevi 

Throwing a coin in! Missing half the fountain in the picture...

Rainy day in Rome :(

Just hanging out at the fountain at night

The Pantheon

The Vatican 

For dinner, we went with the program to La Scaletta and we were served pasta, veal and a dessert. All very tasty! Even though it was a little cold, we sat outside. It was a perfect Italian setting! At night, we hung out on the Spanish Steps and enjoyed the view. 

The next day we got lunch at a small pizzeria near our hotel and headed back to Florence! I was sad to leave Rome but how could I complain since I was returning to another amazing city! Tomorrow I leave for Barcelona to see my friends! I'm so excited! I'm a little nervous because this is the first time I'll be leaving Italy and I'm flying and doing it on my own. This will really test my skills! 

Ciao! or Adios!