ciao italy...

ciao blog.

i don't think i'll ever be somewhere this awesome
and i don't think i'll have enough time to blog in normal life
so, i'm signing off with this post:

we had our last hoorah on thursday night

here's our whole group
(notice the cam jersey we gave cinzia..."she's our hero!")

we cooked a gooood southern meal for all of our teachers
thanksgiving in july.
we were so happy.
you would have thought we hadn't eaten in months.
i woke up this morning with a stomach ache.
it was awesome.

tonight is my last night with kp as my roomie
we laughed a lot
and learned a lot
(sniffle)

the train explosion survivors
laura & carolina

we all pitched in to get cinzia a refrigerator for her birthday
she wants us to come sign it tonight
leaving my mark in italy

we all live in auburn
so we don't have to say goodbye
phew

but i will have to say goodbye to my little villa!
it was so good to us, kp
creatures & all

perfect little town
i'll miss it

but i can't wait to see these guys!


here's what i'm most excited about in the USA:

1. family & friends
2. chicken
3. not looking foreign
4. ice
5. reading signs



ciao ciao ciaooooo

gaudi gaudi gaudi

thursday afternoon we went to mary lou and marco's for a pool partayyy

& dinner

amy, melissa, and leslie

cool pool

it was so pretty!

here is the view from the roof of my villa
i feel like i might miss this

dinaaaaa!

dogs are peeks best friends

ok on to the good stuff

barcelona

we ate at hardrock cafe 

(terrible, we know. we miss america, ok??)

i love bbq

epic red

with a hamburger backdrop

then we shopped around at zara

super excited that there was a "home" section

except that means "men's" in catalan (barcelona language)

bummer

barcelona is funky

they just put cool things on their buildings

and it looks awesome

see what i mean??

walked down la rambla to the aquarium

we found a barcelona bench!

it's an adapted form of the barcelona chair

ps- it's margaret anne's twenty first birthday in this picture, woooooo!

and here we have the aquarium picture

pink

such a rebel

kate had a handheld gps

"back in my day.." leslie, amy, kaitlin you finish that phrase because i'm not qualified

gaudi's house!!

casa batllo

there are no straight lines in this house

i loved every part about it

back yard

crafty mosaics everywhere

natural lighting

he paid attention to every detail

even the handrails and window knobs

and here it is by night!

we ate dinner at this awesome place

called the beefshop

check out this bowl

and the best fried rice i've ever eaten

time out (chuckle)

kaitlin and i have matching watches

apparently they're the new thing

so, when these become popular, remember us

.*~*kaitlin & lauren forever*~*.

gelato

in the shape of a flower!!

street vendor

he's so cute

abby, back me up here

saturday morning we went to the beach!

it was a perfect day

there were a lot of topless women

it's a cultural thing

so i'm not posting pictures

then we went to the sagrada familia

been under construction since 1882

anddd won't be completed until 2025

when i'm thirty five years old

inside

ceiling

had to

we love gaudi

look at how different the materials look

that's what you get for taking centuries to build one church

reds love gaudi, too

reds also love to rollerblade

with red pigtails

and purple socks

sunday we went to the gaudi park!

basically any cool thing in the entire city was designed by gaudi

the park had such a pretty view of the whole city

perfect end to a funky trip

peace love barcelona

ciao a tutti

dramatic post

i thought i was going to die.

looking back, i don't think i was in that much danger...

but when you hear an engine accelerating and don't feel the train moving

then you see smoke and sparks and the lights start popping

and the italians start freaking out and running to the front of the train

you panic slightly

i was scared, but i was excited about being with jesus forever if that train exploded

i guess i'll hang around here until He's really ready to take me

tuesday we went to the american cemetery & memorial in anzio

front entrance

there are over 7,861 american ww2 soldiers buried here

which accounts for only 35% of the men who died trying to liberate rome

nostalgia is building up

haven't seen the homeland in over 80 days

dear madalyn, maybe you could recite the constitution to me with your "we the people" skills when i get home

this chapel lists the names of soldiers who were never found 

3,095 missing

many headstones were unidentified

 next we went to the cost for the afternoon
the same beach that the american troops landed

wednesday night mary lou taught us how to cook a south african dish

it's called...bobotie

ground beef + rice + almonds + bananas + cucumbers + peppers + raisins + jam + coconut + a lot of other things

surprisingly, it's so good.

wednesday night we went to a ballet at the caracalla baths

(the ancient thermal bath ruins in rome)

 cool venue, eh?

the italians say, "termal bats" 

we saw swan lake
it was beautiful

we also saw this one of a kind jacket there

why. why. why.

that's all for now!

barcelona coming soon...

ciao