Beginning of Marina di Pietrasanta

Well it’s the end of day two in this beautiful coastal town of Marina di Pietrasanta. It was a long day yesterday with the early flight and then over a five-hour bus ride, but we made it! And man was it worth it, it’s beautiful. We’re staying at Hotel Eden Park. There are mountains behind us and the sea in front of us. Most of us have balconies and that’s probably the best part of the rooms. They’re small and not too great but the location is totally worth it, and honestly I don’t think I’ll be spending much time in there anyways. I’m living with two girls that are going to be in my apartment in Florence (which has 9 girls…) but one of them I hit it off with and she’s cool. My other roomier is 29, so there’s quite the age barrier there and not much in common, but she’s nice.

This view and this roomie (excuse the squintyness of the eyes)

Yesterday when we arrived we hung out and walked a little but the only thing I had on my mind was a nap, I was exhausted. I unpacked a little and then took a nap. Then it was time for dinner and I was not prepared for it. The woman who cooks is the owner of the hotel and she personally does all the cooking with a little help. She wakes up and goes and picks the fruits, veggies and everything else that she should need. She’s amazing; I’ve never had food like this. Last night we had bread, pesto pasta, then some type of veggie dish, salad, followed by stuffed zucchini and pork wrapped in bacon…UNREAL All my friends and family who know me know I’m a picky eater, but I’m trying everything, and even liking it!! After we went out for some gelato near the pier as a huge group, we stuck out to say the least. Walking in such a big group causes so much attention on us. I had nutella gelato and bochi (not sure how to spell it), which was hazelnut and little bits. After that we came back to the hotel and got ready to go out. We had some white wine on the balcony a bunch of us girls. Wine is so cheap here and it’s not even “cheap wine”, it’s good wine but just cheap. It’s awesome. We then went out to the bar next to our hotel and it was so much fun. I went on a walk around the town with a friend in the rain… ;) That night we had a HUGE storm, I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard thunder as loud last night, it was CRAZY.

THIS

This morning we woke up and had orientation and for almost two hours, it was miserable and a lot of info at once. We then had a little time off before we went to the beach club on the water for lunch, which was soo good, and there were more courses. I don’t know if I’ll get used to it all, whom am I kidding, I love it! After that we went to the beach which was nice but it didn’t last too long because we had to register with the police. After that we had free time to do whatever, Gabby, Alyssa and me walked down to the pier and went out on it and watched some people surf. I guess since the sea is a sea and not an ocean there typically aren’t waves, but they were pretty big today and the red flags were up, meaning that you can’t swim. Then came dinner! Tonight we had gnocchi, pasta with a tomato sauce, then a dish I’m not sure what it was, but it was delicious, spinach, corn, and a salad, ALSO some type of meat, which was very thin, and the best pizza I’ve ever had. I can’t even begin to tell you all how hard it is not to stuff my face each course because there’s always more coming.

Just a lil taste of my life right now :)

We’re just hanging out for the rest of the night and I’m going to bed super early because we have our Italian class tomorrow from 9 to 1, I don’t think I can sit that long but I know we have a break or two. I can’t believe that summer is technically over because we start classes tomorrow but it’s exciting. I really only know how to say hello and thank you so it will be nice to finally learn some Italian.

You sound like you're from Londoooonn

     Well here I am in some of my last hours in London, I leave the hotel at 3:30 in the morning on Saturday. It's been a long few days, I can't even really begin to describe how happy I am that I am here and with the people I am with. I've already made some good friends and that will grow with time. The flight over wasn't too bad, and because we flew British Airways I was able to have my first "legal" drink on the way over, white one of course (that shouldn't surprise those who know me). When we arrived at Heathrow we were shuttled to the hotel on a coach bus and lucky us arrived in the morning in the thick of rush hour, YIPPEE, kidding. It took us over an hour to get to our hotel in one of the burbs in London, it was pretty miserable. 

     When we got to the hotel we were told check in wasn't till 4 and that we had the afternoon to do whatever. Of course all of us just wanted to shower and nap but we couldn't. We had 6 plus hours till check in so we ventured around the city. And when I mean city I mean massive city, I truly had no idea how big London really was. The girls from SMC hooked up with some from Quinnipac and we had a great time despite the rain. We attempted to go to the history museum but there was a huggggee line so we disregarded that idea and went to some random museum and I soon grew bored so me and another girl just walked up and down a few blocks around the area till the meeting time came. We took the tube back and forth around the city, and lets just say I am not a city girl at all. I'm lucky that some of the girls with me could figure it out, to me it's gibberish. My highlight of the day was seeing "platform 9 and three quarters" from HP. I really wanted to get my picture with it but the line was too long to wait so I had to deal with a random girl instead of me going to Hogwarts. :( 

Platform 9 and 3 Quarters !

     Later on in the night I met up with Mike for dinner and we went to a local pub. I was so happy to see my brother and especially in London! It was great to see him and hear about how training over in London is going, despite most of the time I have no idea what he is actually saying but I can catch on a little. That night a huge group of us went out for our first night out of many, we started off at a pub and ended up at a club, but since it was still "early" according to locals and a weeknight we ended up being some of the only people there. It was awesome though, we all had a great time dancing and laughing away. We called it a night around 2 maybe? I'm not sure because I haven't had my phone, not gonna lie. It's nice, I only get wifi when I'm at the hotel and then I use it to contact my parents and best friend and not much more. 

Brother and sister in London

     This morning we woke up early for breakfast which was your typical hotel breakfast, I had a croissant and some bomb jam. Then we went on a bus tour of London seeing all different sights like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, a bank which was Gringotts in Harry Potter and alot of other sights. I personally loved seeing all the different places where HP was filmed etc. It was a good tour but I wish that our double decker tour bus was an open top. I saw where the royal family has their money, they even have their own ATM in the palace so they don't have to use the one that others use and can access it whenever, casual.... Apparently Coutts is very selective and you need something like 100,000 or 100 millin pounds in cash on top of your savings on hand to open up an account, that's crazy! 

Coutts; The Royal Families Bank

SMC, QU and HPU do the Buckingham Palace aka my future home 

SMC and the Buckingham Palace

    I'm back at the hotel just hanging out going to take a nap soon and then meet up with a few girls later on to hang out and go out to dinner. I'm passing on going out tonight due to my recent lack of sleep. I think I went something like sleeping 9 hours if that in over 3 days due to time change and then just trying to get in alot in the little time I am here. I can't believe this time tomorrow I will be on the coast of Italy legit living the dream for two weeks!!! 

Take One

As I sit here writing my first blog post ever, I’m at work taking the scenery and people in on my second to last day of work up here in Maine. It’s crazy to think that 3 months ago I was wishing away summer because I was so excited to “hop across the pond” to Italy. I thought that the three months I spend in Maine would never end, I was wrong, I don’t want my summer to end but I could not be more thrilled to start my adventure. Once school ended, I went home to Massachusetts for a month and I could not get out of there fast enough to come to Maine for my 20^th summer here. Fun fact about myself, I’m 20 years old, and have never spent a summer in my hometown. Instead, I go to Maine on Long Lake and work at the causeway that is at the head of the lake, right in the heart of where most of the action takes place.

            It is strange to think that I would be heading back to Vermont in a couple of weeks and exploring the tracks, mountains and all of the other naturey places I spend my time at. This fall I’ll be venturing to the vineyards of Italy, mountains of Switzerland and other places far and between. I never thought that my study abroad would take me to Europe, but little did I know I would be spending almost 3 and half months in Florence, Italy. I wanted some place in Africa to go along with my anthropology/sociology course that I'm going down but instead I chose Italy. I’m excited, but of course I’m nervous. I’ve never been to Italy before, let alone Europe and I don’t speak any Italian. That however, will soon change when I head to the coast of Italy for my two-week orientation, which there I’ll take Italian, and a cultural course.

            One of the most exciting parts about studying abroad for me is the photography class I will be taking. I have just started trying to get into photography but I don’t know much and truly there is probably no better place to learn than Italy, one of the most art influential places I can think of. I can’t even being to imagine the things and places I’m going to be seeing and photographing. I don’t want to be just some girl with an expensive camera, I truly want to learn and live it.

         As I sign off, I'm five days closer to being girl on a never ending and NEW adventure....

You really can't beat a job where you can sit in the window, take in your surroundings and work on your tan....

"Willo Life"

Naples, Maine on the causeway

Photo credit: Laura Jordan