ataleoftwosuites-blog

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Travel Weekend: Anne and Rachel

Day 1:Pompeii /Pre Day 1 Travel

We took a train late in the night to Naples. We got in sometime around 11PM. Checked in to our AirBnB and promptly crashed. Next morning took a train to Pompeii and spent the day there. First saw a very pretty church in modern Pompeii before heading to the ruins.

Highlights:

ridiculously cool ruins. Its incredible to think people lived and walked the streets we were roaming.

Discovering that humanity has always written salacious graffiti. A very naughty Pompeii resident wrote a note in greek that has been preserved.

Walking through the halls of a secret society for Dionysus and pleasure rituals.

Walking the oldest amphitheater of the Roman world and picturing the brawl that forced it to close for 10 years

Drinkable water fountains throughout the city. A lovely surprise on a hot hot day.

Eating delicious pizza rolls for 1 euro that we had grabbed at a bakery outside the ruins.

Lowlights

hot. So so so hot. Thought we would melt.

By the end, rather exhausted. An exhaustion that sank into our bones and lasted the whole weekend.

Ambivalent

had an extra three hours to visit a museum we were too tired to go to. On plus side, sat by a fountain in modern Pompeii and planned wild adventures for next year.

After returning to Naples, we showered (so so wonderful to shower) and then skyped you, lovely Andie! Anne misses you and Rachel was so happy to hear your voice again. Then slept like the dead.

Day 2: Naples

Campagnia (the region of Naples and Amalfi Coast) is Rachel's people. We went to Christmas Street where they make nativity scenes all year round. Wandered the street looking st all the shops and saw strange red curly peppers everywhere. And I mean everywhere. So while Anne had her first Italian cappuccino, we googled what these strange things were. They are called coronetti (spelling?) and they are a good luck talisman. Anne had the brilliant idea to search for xmas earrings for Rachel and so Rachel ended up buying two coronetti to make into earrings. All in all, it was lovely to experience xmas in July.

Wandered around and ended up ducking in a store, just to look. Came out with three lovely dresses between us. All 90% off, because it was a super outlet. We were very pleased. Then we hopped on a bus to Atrani.

Arrived in Atrani and checked into our AirBnB. The guy running it is studying tourism and recommended some places for us to go. So at 5:00PM we set out for a hike, and entirely reasonable decision. Took a path up and saw lots of abandoned paper factory buildings and look lots and lots of photos. It was rather eerie. Then we couldnt find where the trail continued. We were sure it had to. So we found a nice sheer cliff face and decided this must be the trail. It was not the trail. After climbing up and up and up and still finding no trail, we made the mature decision to turn around. At which point we realized we had basically just crawled up a cliff. Should have realized it earlier when we needed both our hands and feet to climb, so we had to carry our water bottles in our mouths. We preceded to slide down the cliff back to where the trail actually was, very elegantly of course. Don't let the head to toe layer of dirt fool you, it was a smoothly executed decent. Wandered around a bit more trying to find a trail, and then decided to just head back.

On our way back we found a very aesthetic wall and decided to take ridiculous photos. Something about the contrast of the dirty, sweaty girls and the lovely vine covered wall was amusing. Took fake modeling photos and then continued down. Stopped just in time, because not thirty seconds later a young man turned the corner and asked if this was the way to the hike. We were already embarrassed because it is a very easy hike, and we are covered in dirt. But imagine if he had come as we were taking photos. Quite embarrassing.

Went back to the AirBnB to shower and then put our new pretty dresses and headed to dinner. Ate at this cute local family owned restaurant. The owner was super kind and showed us how to eat the shrimp in our pasta. It is not our fault we have never seen shrimp that large. Also at the end of our meal she came over with a plate of five tiny cookies and told us they were on the house! It was all very cute and welcoming and kind. While were eating we had been hearing live music from outside, so we went to investigate. We found people, mostly children, dancing in the little piazza to the live music. We joined of course, and it was most fun. Then we grabbed gelato and ate it out by the water. We ended up wading in the ocean and Anne attempted to skip rocks. Unfortunately they were all rather too round and rather to large, especially the random pieces of giant tiles she would launch at the ocean. Then we laid on beach chairs til midnight, although it felt much later, and then went back to go to bed.

Day 3: Atrani or Close Encounters of the Animal Kind

Got up early to early to walk the Path of the Gods. Took a bus to Bomerano where we ate breakfast before setting out. Understood very quickly why it was called the Path of the Gods. We were at or above cloud height for most of the hike. Stunning panoramic views the entire way. It was breathtaking. Literally. The height of the sheer cliff dropoff was enough to take your break away. On said trail we encountered all the animals. We saw goats at the beginning. Then we ran into a loose horse who was wandering and munching. He let us pet him a little which was nice of him. Then we came across a small dog just out and about by himself. Finally we saw not one, not two, but seven cats. It was a bit like being in a menagerie.

Finished the hike, and made some poor choices. Namely choosing to walk down 1,200 stairs to town rather than taking the bus. By the midway point our calves were burning and knees hurt. By the end we could feel nothing in our legs but shooting pain. Then we had to walk to the ferry. Thank god for the chocolate cookies we had the foresight to buy that morning. Without them, we would still be on those stairs. Once on the ferry, we both kept falling asleep. We were, how do you say, dead girls walking. Got back to the AirBnB, showered, ate, and napped for two hours. Both of us completely out. We had intended to go to a lagoon to swim, but that was not possible. We could barely walk. Between Pompeii and those stairs, our bodies had reached their limit. Hung out at the AirBnB until dinner. Fixed up both of our class schedules and figured out trains and busses to get back to Naples for Sunday.

Dinner was at a lovely restaurant right off the beach. They were also very kind. Brought us free limoncello drinks at the beginning with the bread. It seems to be something the restaurant just does. The drinks were very good. And very orange, curiously enough. Not really sure what was in them. Anne nearly dies of happiness with her seafood pasta, and Rachel decided to get the lemon pasta to go with her lemon colored dress. It really is wonderful being in an area known for their lemons.

After dinner, we stood along the pier and basked in the glow of the full moon, before searching out gelato. Ate the gelato up on the hill with a wonderful view of the ocean.

Then bed, because we were still very very tired.

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Florence and Rome

Hello friends!!!

So it’s been forever since I’ve written one of these. Sorry about that!

Alright where to begin. Classes have started. I’m actually really enjoying coding (most of the time, sometimes it makes me want to smash my face into the keyboard…) and we’ve done a ton already. Makes sense since we have class for four hours Monday through Thursday. It’s a lot. However, I freaking love the teacher. His sense of humor is snarky and dry (aka exactly like mine). It’s wonderful. I am the only one who finds his jokes and dry comments funny though. He’s just such a lovely person: super helpful, funny, he calls us ‘Jimmies’ (his name is Jim) and its adorable. He’s started giving people wacky nicknames and my new goal for summer is to earn one.

We went to Rome this weekend and that was an Experience. Let’s do the negatives and then the positives of what made this a capital ‘E’ Experience. For starters, corralling 35 college kids who are always, ALWAYS, late it just impossible. It takes us forever to get anywhere, and I feel awful for the five teachers attempting to shepherd us from historical landmark to historical landmark. We were there for three days and walked from 9-5 every day. My feet no longer feel like they are attached to my body. Also, to add to the Experience, the metro went on strike Friday, which happened to be our biggest-distance-to-travel-from-point-to-point day. We walked over ten miles all over the city that day, as well as spent hours standing in museums and churches. To heighten that Experience, Rome is somewhere between the temperature of the surface of the sun and hell. And humid. So, so, so painfully humid. Every day ended with us tired and sticky and just blech. Then the things we say. Lots of beautiful churches that we were herded through at top speeds only to stop and spend twenty minutes in front of one spot and then speed by the rest of it. Same with the museums. We were in the Borghese gallery for two hours. One hour in front of two separate art pieces, and one hour to explore the entire rest of the museum. How generous of them.

I will be going back to Rome by myself sometime, because we went, we saw, and we skipped the inside of the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Vatican Museum, the Spanish Steps, St Peter’s Basilica, and the City Hall. You might ask, But Rachel, that is everything one might want to see in Rome, and you friend would be correct. We went to a lot of old churches that weren’t super interesting on their own and a contemporary art museum that I could definitely have skipped. Like really, really not my thing. We also stopped some places just to talk about architecture. You might think we did this in the Pantheon or when we were in front of the Colosseum. Wrong! We wandered to the outskirts of Rome to talk about a building that was built for an Olympic games and is now a concert hall and restaurant. Very exciting…

Now, the cherry on top, the best of the best, it’s the HOTEL!!!! Definitely was a palace at one point and was converted. It’s absolutely beautiful and completely useless for anything other than nice photos. My room had no hot water and was unable to receive the wifi signal. And when I mean no hot water, I mean my showers weren’t freezing, but they were definitely colder than lukewarm. We spoke to the front desk about both and were given a vague ‘it’s a really old building????’ answer. It was lovely.

Ok, so now the good things. We did get to see the Pantheon, and the architecture teacher didn’t drone on and on in his quiet, little monotone voice so that was awesome! Pantheon plus no architecture lecture. My friend group tried to find the gelato place my parents both told me to go to because it was the best they had in Rome, but I don’t think we ever found it. The place we went to was nice, but probably no memorable enough for my parents to tell me about that specific place from 13 years ago. Will search again when I go back to Rome. We saw the outside of the Colosseum, even if we didn’t go in for some odd reason. The teachers also just didn’t warn us, so I nearly had a heart attack when we turned the corner and suddenly the skyline was filled with the Colosseum.

Then, the Borghese Gallery. First, some backstory. Let’s go back 13 years, to when Rachel was seven, tiny, and just as nerdy as she is now. Her parents had just returned from Italy, a trip they did not bring her on, which she was very angry about, in her little seven-year-old way. Her mom sat her down with a photo album though, and told her about everything, and how she had to go when she was older. Rachel fell in love with this fascinating place called Italy that was filled with ice cream, art, and pasta. It kinda sounded like heaven to her. And Mom spent forever telling her about one thing in particular: the statue of Apollo and Daphne by Bernini. How beautiful it was, how much she would love it. Little Rachel decided that moment that she would see that statue someday. She dreamed about that statue for years, always telling herself she would see it. Now, fast-forward and its present day. Much taller Rachel is tired and about to listen to one of the classmates she doesn’t like drone on and on about a work of art. She grabs a museum map in French as a souvenir though, (they were out of the English ones) and she is casually perusing it. Suddenly, she sees it. La Chambre d’Appolin e Dafne. Cue heart stopping, lung emptying shock.

So somehow I hadn’t realized that statue was in that museum and that we were going that day. I kinda freaked out a little bit. One of the presentations was actually on that statue, and I immediately decided I was going to tune out everything they said and just experience. I was kinda bummed that the first time I got to see the statue I had been dreaming about for 13 years would be shared with other people. I wanted it to be something for me. What if I didn’t like it and was crushed? What if it was just okay? What if I burst into tears because it was everything I had been dreaming of? (I may have been feeling a smidge dramatic). But off we went, a giant horde of college students. And then we were there. And the statue was beautiful. And I may have teared up a little and stopped paying attention to everything around me. And my friend may have asked if I was alright because I was looking at it with eyes the size of saucers. I was not alright, in case you were wondering.

We went and looked at another Bernini statue, just as incredible afterwards, and then we were set loose in the museum. I immediately went back to the Apollo and Daphne. My luck was actually in my favor, because the room was empty. I spent a good five minutes with just me and that statue. It was wonderful and magical and I don’t know who Bernini made his sacrifices to for that kind of talent, but I want to know. Then I wandered the museum for a little, and discovered something horrible. When you have just seen the most beautiful work of art ever created by man, every other work of art looks meh. So I circled the museum and saw everything, and then went back to the statue. Then down to the gift shop, because I wanted a bookmark or something to remember that exact day. Its not often that you pull a Rapunzel and complete a dream. There were no bookmarks, but there were this beautiful pair of earrings. Three leaves hanging in a row and the perfect reminder of that stature, with Daphne’s fingers ending in exquisitely thin marble leaves.

Another wonderful thing from that day (it was such a good day in the end, despite the metro closures and intense walking) was that one of my friends here had an hour long conversation with me about books while people were shopping. And then people came to fetch us because they were ready to go, and they got absorbed into the book conversation. It was magical and exactly the kind of bonding I like to experience. Long story short, I recommended Illuminae to someone who loves science fiction, and was told by the original friend that he was coming to me for all his book recommendations from now on. One of the best compliments I have received, beside the one guy who told me he liked my fashion sense. That was pretty flattering. Especially since I was trying out my new really dark purple lipstick. But that’s a different story. Anyways, that whole thing was really fun, and then at dinner that night we were laughing so hard and much that my cheek was starting to cramp. We had to walk an hour back to the hotel that night, which was less than ideal, but since it was also one in the morning, we had a very deep and interesting conversation on the way back.

Last positive thing of the Rome trip: the contemporary museum that wasn’t really my thing. So I was pretty freaking exhausted as was Amanda, so we were basically hopping from bench to bench pretending to look at art and just chatting. Which was pretty nice in itself. And then, we ran into the others from our group. But this happened when we were inside this weird house installation thing with a window and center room with a hallway. We were in the hallway, and looking into the center room. I did not know you could get into the center room, but you definitely could, because Ethan suddenly popped into the window and scared the living daylights out of Seulgee and I. That boy could have played Puck in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the amount of mischief he gets up to. But the next exhibit ended up being this weird interactive hodgepodge of stuff and we ran around like five year olds playing on the museum exhibits. Then we saw a really odd dancing tree and projection performance art piece, and then we went for food (because by this point we were starving).

Now I am back in Florence, and I never thought I would be so glad to be in my tiny apartment kitchen. Nor did I think I would have missed Florence’s brand of summer heat. Because no matter how hot and humid it is here, it’s nothing compared to Rome. Absolutely nothing. Also, hot water was really nice! I missed having warm showers. I think that concludes this ridiculously long blog post. I would say I’m going to try to post more frequently, but our midterm reviews are coming up, so that would probably be a lie. Love you guys and hope you are having an absolute blast in Spain still!!!

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Elba Day 3, 4, and 5

Elba Day 3: Tuesday morning we had class at the hotel until 11:20, and then we walked down to the market to find food words. I thought we were going to a supermarket, but instead we ended up along the shore, where a giant open air farmers market had sprung up overnight. It was incredible. There were stalls selling produce, jewelry, clothing, shoes, meat, and purses. Class ended early and I spent awhile wandering the market. I ended up at a little clothing stall, where I fell in love with this red dress with large pink roses on it and a sweetheart neckline. The man who owned the store said Bonjour to me, rather than Buongiourno, continuing the trend of Italians thinking Im French. He told me they had a changing room, which I was thrilled about. Except their changing room was in the back of a van. Definitely one of the more sketchy experiences of this trip, trying on a dress in the back of a van with a blanket as a partition. The dress was worth it though, and I ended up buying it. The rest of Tuesday afternoon was spent by myself. Other people took a taxi to a beach, but I didn't feel like going so far away. Instead, I spent most of the day up on the cliffs overlooking the sea reading and writing. It was really nice. I lost track of time while up there and ended up staying there for three hours. Needless to say I am much much tanner than I started off. A lot tanner. For dinner, my apartment hosted a potluck with ten people. There was a ton of food and a lot of wine, which I had to skip. We sat around eating at talking for hours. It was really fun. Some people got a little tipsy, and I was a little worried about the hangovers they were bound to have in class the next day. It did not seem like it would be pleasant. Then cleanup of the kitchen real quick, and bed around midnight. Elba Day 4: After class in the morning, to which many of the tipsy people were late to (poor things), we took a bus tour of the island. Three hours looking at beautiful beaches and scenery. We also saw Monte Cristo island, which reminded me that I need to download that book to read, so that my mom doesn't have a heart attack. The island looked beautiful, the top of the hills shrouded in mist from a distance. However, I was on the left side of the bus and all the interesting things were on the right, so all my photos have a beautiful frame made of bus seats and people's arms holding phones. They are really museum worthy photos. We stopped in Portoferraio of an hour, the largest town on the island. I went with a couple of people to a Votophone store to get an Italian sim card. One of the worst decisions of my life. Lets talk about the people I went with, shall we call them Sandy and Mandy. Sandy cannot seem to function on her own and Mandy is the rudest person I have ever met. We went with our program coordinator. When we found the store they both didnt want to talk first so I went up to the counter. I wanted to get a sim card fast so that I could go look at the Medicee fort. So ai immediately start speaking in French. Oops. The guy says 'English please' to me. Im in the middle of getting my sim card when Sandy and Mandy join me at the counter. Mandy immediately begins trying to ask the guy questions, and ignores our program coordinator when she tells her several times to wait her turn. I finally get my sim card, have our coordinator help me put it in, and Im off. I look at the fort and the beautiful views from the wall. These are actually really nice photos. But back to the phone store. I found out from a friend later that Mandy and Sandy only got worse. My friend went to try and put more data on her plan. Mandy and Sandy are still in the store. Sandy has managed to break her phone because she just shoved the sim card in without putting it in the little case thing. She then blames my friend for having told her to do it. My friend had not told her this. Mandy is complaining about how slow and incompetent the man is to my friend. In front of him. In english, a language he speaks rather well. The phone store guy is not happy. Mandy begins banging Sandy's phone on the counter trying to get the card out. This is when our coordinator comes back into the store. She is not happy. The phone ends up having to be left with the guy to be fixed because Sandy is an imbecile who broke her own phone. By now its time to meet at the bus. When Mandy and Sandy get on, they immediately regale me with tales of the phone store guy's incompetence and how HE broke Sandy's phone. From what they were saying, I thought they had ended up in a different store, because they man they described didn't match the nice man who helped me. And now the bus. We leave thirty minutes late, and as soon as we drive away, we realize that two students are missing. We turn around. We wait at the bus stop for awhile, and then our coordinator and one of the Italian teachers get off the bus to wait for the two girls. They will take a cab back. Just as we are pulling away, they show up. One hour after we were supposed to meet to leave. So we get back late, our teachers and coordinator go to a bar to drink, where we see them later. They look unhappy. We get back after the supermarket had closed, so we have to go out to dinner, and we have no way to get lunch for the next day. We were supposed to be back earlier. Thankfully, I got pizza and had leftovers, so that became lunch for Thursday. We all sit around and complain about some of the people in our program. We are all at the end of our patience with certain people. After dinner, we all head back to our apartments. I do some Italian studying for the test Friday and then go to bed. Elba Day 5: Class in the morning. We meet early, as our program coordinator requested. She gives us a speech about being late and how unacceptable that is. Some very good points. Made to all the people who were actually there. The ones who are always on time. The ones who don't need to hear it. Class was good though. I'm on good terms with the Italian teacher. She also knows French, which helps since I accidentally slip French words in between the Italian ones a lot. Then lunch of pizza. Still hungry though, but we don't have any food and the store doesn't open until 4 PM. Really wish people hadn't been late yesterday. Then I would have food. Its hard not to hold a grudge. I really dislike being hungry. We meet back at the hotel for our very first Renaissance art history lesson. Our teacher is very no nonsense and strict. Some people who are regularly late are not going to do well. She will just leave without you. There is a final paper of 4,000-5,000 words. I think I'm going to be editing a lot of people's essays. We get to choose our own topic though, and I'm thinking of looking at Bernini's statue of Apollo and Daphne. That would be amazing if I could do that. After class a group of us wandered around shopping and eating gelato before running to the grocery store. We are all studying tonight for the Italian language test Friday morning (tomorrow). We had some apartment bonding after I accidentally broke a glass and we ran around trying to find a broom and dustpan. Curse my clumsiness. O well.

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Elba Travel and Day 1 and 2

Elba Day 1 + Travel We stayed the night in a ridiculously nice hotel in Florence. And I mean ridiculously nice. 15 ft ceilings, two double beds, an entry area/closet and a bathroom. My roommate was Amanda. Super nice girl. She will be in my apartment in Florence later, so it was nice to meet her a little early. Woke up at 8:00 (sob) and got breakfast at the hotel. Again it was pastries and fruit juice and lots of really nice coffee. Ran into Finn from our program and had breakfast with him and Amanda. Then we met Courtney in the lobby with all our bags. The ones going to Elba were put in the hotel storage room while we walked the big bags over to the SRISA studio for storing until we got back. This is the point when I realized I am a very prepared person. Some people hadn't even considered having their smaller bag be just for Elba. Others had repacked after arriving in Florence. A couple of girls ended up bringing both their suitcases because they needed stuff from both. After dropping off the bags, we all walked to the train station to catch a bus to the coast. I felt less prepared after that. Everyone had rolling suitcases. I had a very heavy duffle that has left bruises on my arm from carrying it around an empty airport and then several Italian cities while I traveled to Elba. The bus to Elba was two hours. Then we took an hour long ferry to Elba, and then a 30 minute bus to the town we are staying in. Once there we all were taken to our apartments. My apartment was the last. We sat waiting on the side of the street for a very long time, before someone came to let us into the apartment and give us keys. I was super tired from traveling, and hadn't napped on any of the busses. I have discovered that I am a bad traveler. I should take more naps on the go, but I just don't. Which leads to a tired and cranky Rachel. My apartment on Elba is me, Amanda again, and a girl named Jessica. Jessica is a rising sophomore and had to get special permission to come to Florence this summer. Very fancy. I went out to dinner with Amanda and a bunch of her friends. A lot of them are in my apartment in Florence and its nice to get to know them. I also know Tiffany from studio classes. We ended up at this janky restaurant. Strikes against this restaurant include: - 1 drunk waitress - Being forced to change our order so that most of us were ordering the same thing, because otherwise it would take too long (according to the drunk waitress) - Food was really, really salty - Also possibly not actually good? (Amanda and I both had stomachaches later that night) - Food just didn't taste good in general - Bread was so hard it could carve diamonds That about covers it. It made for an, um, interesting meal. Afterwards we all got gelato. The gelato saved the night, as it was really, really good. And the owner was super friendly. We all then walked back to Rachel and Tiffany's apartment and watched Rick and Morty for a little. Not my favorite show. I don't really find it funny or clever or entertaining, but it was nice hanging out with people. Amanda and I walked back to our apartment at 10:30 ish and got ready for bed. We are rooming together again. Threw our sheets on the bed and then showered. The bed is two twin mattresses on one queen-ish sized frame. Very strange. She showered first, which proved to be a sad thing. Our water heater only has enough water for one warm shower. Mine was lukewarm at best for maybe two minutes, and then colder than the arctic. I did some funky bending yoga go ensure that only my hair was in the water when I had to rinse it and not my body. Elba Day 2 Woke up the next morning at 7:30. Yick. Class started at 9 at a hotel up the road, but we had been told by Courtney to come early if we wanted to eat breakfast. The store hadn't been open the day before so none of us had food. The hotel did not have breakfast. Or food of any kind. I sat through 4 hours of Italian language class on an empty stomach. I was very sad. After class I got lunch with the same people from before at a little cafe. Much better than the restaurant from last night. Soft bread. Sober waitress. We got to order whatever we wanted. It was wonderful. After lunch we went back to our apartments for a little. Then to the grocery store as soon as it opened again after lunch. Which happened at 4. People here just seem to eat really late. Except breakfast. That happens early. So between breakfast and lunch I guess you just starve. At the store I got eggs for breakfast and then basic sandwich materials for lunch. Pasta with pesto sauce for dinner. It felt very adult. Then we went walking down along the shore. I spent awhile sitting on top of some rocks and just watching the waves. It was very calming and everything my little introvert heart needed. I am feeling a teeny bit overwhelmed by the lack of silence/privacy. I'm used to an awful lot of alone time. We wandered down along the shore and got gelato. We had some the night before, and I had gotten strawberry. I felt more adventurous this time and got lemon with candied pear. I think this is the greatest thing I have ever eaten. Ever. It was absolutely amazing. After we walked backed to our apartments for dinner. So it's been determined that I am the mom friend in this group. Or Amanda and me are. This is because people weren't sure what to do for dinner and were talking about just eating bread. We were trying to figure out if we could feed them all. Mom friends. Dinner ended up being just my apartment. We made pasta with pesto sauce. It was good, but we forgot to buy anything to put in the pasta, so it was just carbs and oil essentially. Oops. We were all exhausted, so we headed to bed right after dinner.

[ataleoftwosuites-blog]

Some Vignettes From Madrid

Hi Rachel!! Sorry your travels were rough. We’re bad and haven’t written yet so please enjoy some short stories from our first week here (Anne and I switch off writing): 

One of our first days here exploring the city we found the cutest little cafe called Abonavida. (You’ll have to tell us if this is Italian because it sounds like it) They had the best iced tea I’ve ever had in my life. Massive too. I had one called Night in Havana and Anne had Spring in Kyoto. (As you can probably tell this cafe wasn’t the cheapest lol) It was on a little side street with no cars and tables outside. Someone asked us in Spanish if they could have one of our chairs, so they must have thought we were Spanish (just go with it :) and we felt proud. We want to go back!! Nearby we also found a gluten free bakery and had some macarons. My mother would be so proud. 

Hey Rachel, Anne here! I am interrupting Andie to tell you about the food, because it is all so delicious and makes me want to live here forever a little bit. First of all, our host parents (Maribel and Javi, they are indescribably wonderful) took us to a chocolateria our first full day (jealous?). But this isn’t a normal chocolate shop, no no. You go there to eat full cups of melted chocolate (not American hot chocolate, literally just pure liquid chocolate) that you dip churros in. Andie couldn’t eat the churros cuz gluten, so I had to take one for the team. Oh well. After insisting that we drink every last drop of this nectar of the gods (while delicious, it is quite a lot to drink as it has the consistency of, well, melted chocolate----think fondue), Javi and Maribel informed us that we were the first students they’ve ever had to finish the full cup. I don’t know how exactly we are supposed to feel about this, but I guess I’ll take it as something to be proud of? 

Still me, more on food: I just want to give you a brief run down of the other dishes we’ve gotten to try here: huevos rotos (a fried egg over fries and ham, delicious), pate (duck liver), conejo (rabbit, and rabbit liver), mussels, anchovies, two delicious soups, a Spanish tortilla (made of potato and zucchini), and croquetas (a fried roll filled with mashed potatoes and some kind of meat, although there are other variations). We also eat a ton of bread here; you would love it. 

I finally wrested the computer back from Anne. I just want to insert a note about the chocolate story. Wtf is wrong with all those other students Maribel and Javi have had before???? Anyway now I’m going to tell you about one of the most awkward experiences of my life. A preface (actually a couple prefaces) 1. We’re not allowed to drink alcohol while here. 2. Maribel loves wine and we/I drink it every night basically. 3. One of our two professors is friends with Maribel and Javi. 4. Anne is nervous about putting things on the internet so we’re going to call this professor Alejandro and say he’s from Sevilla. So what happened is Javi invited him over to watch a Real Madrid soccer game and have dinner. Long story short we drank wine with our professor. But it’s ok because Maribel said (and he agreed) that it was Alejandro from Sevilla not Alejandro from WashU. Ay ay ay. 

Thank you Andie, I appreciated the attempted anonymity. Anywayyyyy, I have another fun story for ya. We like to people watch (in a get to know a new place kind of way, not a creepy kind of way), so today we took a stroll through a lovely park near our house (it’s massive and we haven’t seen all of it yet, but we plan to) and sat on a bench to chat (en español, por supuesto) and take in the sights. The bench was on the side of a giant sidewalk type deal (street size, but for pedestrians/bikes/roller blades), and there were tons of people. A few minutes after we sat down, these three boys approached us, and what I took to be the ring leader asked us if they could sit/talk with us for a few minutes (at least we think that’s what he said). We both immediately said no very politely, because we have grown used to getting approached by people trying to sell things/ask for money, but as they were walking away, Andie asked me if they were hitting on us. That thought hadn’t occurred to me, but it’s a definite possibility considering they weren’t carrying anything to sell and we’re flippin’ gorgeous. So now we are going to say we got hit on by a Spanish boy, even though he was like sixteen and we’re not totally sure that’s what happened. 

Ok so what Anne was supposed to say was that we WERE FOR SURE hit on by spanish boys of indeterminate (I think he was older) age. And that’s what we’re telling everyone else so don’t spill the beans. I’m checking it off my bucket list. One last story which is not a story so much as a description of last night. We went out on the town with new friends (aren’t you proud of us?) First we went to this really vibey bar that was on a roof of a building looking out over Madrid. It was really expensive and also 100x too cool for us (don’t tell Anne I said that) but it was definitely worth the experience once. If you want pics please text because I did not put them on fb lol. There a bunch of people from our program met us and we played Never Have I Ever, but whenever someone ran out of fingers they had to be in the hot seat and then got 5 more fingers. It was crazy fun and Anne and I really like a lot of people in the group. After that we went to another bar and all split a bunch of pitchers of sangria. I may or may not have gotten a little tipsy. (what? I only had a mojito and 5 glasses of Sangria) But it was a great night and it made me excited also for when we can all go out together in the states. (also literally no one ever cards us here which is strange. the bouncer at the door of the rooftop bar did look at us very suspiciously though) 

More stories to come. Love from Madrid. <3 

-Anne and Andie 

[ataleoftwosuites-blog]

Florence Day 1 + Traveling

Hello Anne and Andie! So I'm in Florence. Survived three plan trips, a taxi ride, and a day in Italy completely alone. Its been rough at points. Here's a breakdown of what I've done Travel Day: I did not sleep on the plane. They said we should and I tried, I really tried. I started to fall asleep, me head fell, I jerked awake, and then was alarmingly awake. I was not happy about that. So I watched movies on the plane. I watched, Moan, Belle, and snippets of what my neighbor was watching. I kept becoming absorbed in their movie while I was trying to sleep. It had subtitles so I was super easy to watch without having the sound. The first one was a lovely movie set in India about a woman working through childhood issues of abandonment with a therapist. A feel good movie. The next one was about a cricket player from India. His girlfriend died, so less feel good. He did propose to a girl later in the movie though, so he found happiness. Also what guts. He proposed over the phone. Who does that? They served food on the plane. Like a lot of food. Dinner and breakfast, only five hours apart. I was not hungry for breakfast. Then my next flight, Munich to Frankfurt. I tried to get on the wrong plane, because apparently German flights are listed by time, not location. Which is totally now confusing. (Insert sarcastic face here) Anyway I made it to my real flight, which was thankfully after the one I tried to board. It was a thirty minute flight, super strange. But the in-flight snack was a chocolate bar. I was ecstatic. Then I had about three and a half hours in Frankfurt before my flight to Florence. I sat by a window, watched the rain, and read a book. It was very calming after my hectic day. I did have to keep checking the Frankfurt website though to see what gate my flight was at. They didn't assign it a gate until about an hour before hand which was stressful. The next plane was tiny. So little that it had to have those wheeled stairs because it couldn't reach the gate. Which might have been more exciting if it wasn't pouring rain while we boarded. This was made up for by the in-flight snack, which was some kind of apple bread cake thing. German flights really do feed you better than American ones. We landed in Florence an hour and a half later. By this point I was exhausted. I hadn't slept for 24 hours now, and I still had to make it to the hotel. I got my bags thankfully, so no lost luggage. Then I stood waiting where I thought you got a taxis. That was not where you got a taxi. It had a sign, so its not like I'm stupid. You actually stood in line for a taxi around the corner. I almost burst into tears at the line. I just wanted to get to my hotel, put down my bags, and shower. I didn't think that was too much to ask. I finally get a taxis and start towards my hotel. I chat a little with my cab driver. She asked how old I am, and seemed surprised when I said twenty. Sigh. Even Italians think I'm younger than I am. She drops me off at the hotel address and off she goes. Leaving me to wander the street trying to figure out how to get in my building, which is locked. I eventually ask a passing Italian woman, who points me toward the hotel, which is a separate building from where I am staying. I finally check in, and make it back across the street with my suitcase to my room. I shower and then stay in my hotel room until I go to bed. I skipped dinner like the bad person I am. It was just too much adventuring for one day. Florence Day 1: I get up at 8:30 (sob!) and check out of my hotel. I get complementary breakfast of pastries, which was delicious. Then I leave my luggage with them and head out to the Musee de San Marco, which is just down the street. I buy a ticket after a little difficulty. She was speaking very rapid Italian before she asked if English was better. She asked where I was from and was surprised I was from America. Apparently I look very French. I don't know if its the hair, or my blue top with shoulder cutouts, but I guess its a positive thing? Not really sure. She also asks how old I am. Italians seem very concerned that I am too young to be running around alone. I spent three hours in the gallery, which had a bunch of frescoes and paintings from the sixteenth century. I went to lunch at a nice little pizza and pasta place. I accidentally said hello to the waitress instead of chiao. Oopsies. I tried to make up for it the rest of the meal by saying gratzi a lot. However I also kept accidentally slipping into French, so I guess it was a wash. Afterwards I found the hotel I was going to meet my class at and THEN grabbed my suitcase and lugged it there. Good thing too since I ended up walking up and down the street looking for it. The hotel was on the other side of the street. I am definitely still tired. Now I'm sitting in a very nice hotel room with a very nice view. I leave for Elba tomorrow, where I will start Italian language courses. I hope you guys are having fun!