Last Thursday, since Charlie and I didn't have our opera class, and there were construction workers in our house all day, we decided to go to the Public Gardens. We just hung out there for a few hours and people-watched: Charlie played guitar, I watched the dogs fight each other. Then we ate really good salads at this little cafe and listened to the conversations of the old Italian men nearby. We went over to Matt's for dinner that night...a good conclusion to a very relaxing day.

Friday, Alex, Matt, and I went to a salon down the street to get haircuts. The woman I had gave me a mini faux-hawk...I am liking it. Now I have euro hair right before I go back to the US. That night, Emily, Roshni, and Elizabeth had everyone over to their apartment for a potluck. The food was delicious, and they even had a sundae bar for dessert.

Saturday was (thankfully) the last day the construction workers woke us up at 7:45 AM. They left the place kind of a mess, but at least they finished it all up. That night Alex and I stopped by Mexicali (a very close and very cheap aperitivo place) for one last time before going out.

I have had two midterms already: my art one on Monday and my Italian yesterday. They went well. I have my last one (theatre) in about an hour, so this is probably going to be my last day at IES. Tomorrow I am singing at the final concert before the farewell dinner. And then it is officially summer for me.

Last night our professoressa had the whole Italian class over for dinner at her home. She lives in a ridiculous penthouse apartment (her husband is so loaded she chooses to work for fun), with two floors. The top is a garden terrace overlooking the entire skyline of Milan. We ate dinner up there and talked about our semester, and her husband played piano for us. She was a really fun teacher, and she makes killer food.

So, there are four days left here. It's already sad, but these last days are going to be great. Now that school is done, we can get around the city and do the things we need to do before saying our good-byes. A lot of IES kids are leaving on Friday...I am glad I will have an extra two days to do all that stuff.

I'm not going to get all schmaltzy, but I think I honestly have had some of the best times of my life so far in Italy, especially in Milan. Good people, good culture, good times. I can't wait to come back.

The next time I write, I will be back in the states.

Looking down on Vernazza from the hiking trail

Monterosso of Cinque Terre

Today I had an "Italy-is-testing-my-patience" kind of morning. I woke up at 7:30 to the sound of pounding and grinding. Upon entering the kitchen, I find 3 routy Italian men with power tools literally tearing our entire kitchen apart. I then remembered I was told two days ago that "workers would be stopping by to fix some small electrical things around the apartment". Apparently, they failed to inform me they would be REWIRING the entire apartment, one room at a time. Unable to use the water, I threw on clothes and left for IES. I don't know why they couldn't have waited a week and a half until half of the roommates in the apartment move out. I'm kinda pissed.

In other news, the IES day trip to Cinque Terre on Friday was great. There were 80 kids who decided to go, so it was kind of an overwhelming group, similar to the orientation experience in the beginning. But after my friends and I split off, it was really fun. We took a ferry ride from La Spezia to the farthest village down the coast, Monterosso. There, we bought wine and laid on the beach for a bit before the hike began. At 3, we hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza (the hardest of the four hikes). We ate some amazing food when we got to Vernazza, and then eventually took the bus back to Milan. It was an excellent mini-adventure.

Megan Buckingham stayed at our apartment last Wednesday and Thursday nights, and I got to show her around Milan before she flew back to the US. And Virginia, a friend from Mac who I stayed with in Florence in February, stayed last night. She is heading back to the states tomorrow. Showing people around Milan has made me realize how well I know the city. Just recently, the different areas have really solidified into my mind and I can quickly get pretty much anywhere I need to. It's too bad that this has happened just before I leave.

I have finished all of my papers for the semester and now all I have left are my finals. I have one each day next Monday through Wednesday, and then I am singing on the IES recital on Thursday afternoon before the Farewell Dinner.

Last night I went to Casablanca, a club that has free night for international students on Tuesdays. It's really close to our apartment and a lot of IES kids usually go. It was probably the last time I will go there, since next Tuesday night I will be studying.

Our goal is to live it up in Milan as much as possible these last 10 days. I will let you know how that is going...

I went to see Tosca at La Scala last Wednesday night, and I got a better seat than when I went to Figaro. Standing, I could see the entire stage. The set was incredible and so were the two leads. Actually seeing a production there explains why the most expensive seats are upwards of 300 euro. I am going to try to get to a few more shows there before I have to leave.

I had my last voice lesson with Patrizia on Thursday. She left over the weekend for a two-month stay in Belgium where she will be playing Mimi in La Boheme. She was really excited about the role, but she was sad to leave her students, I think. I always get a little sad about parting with voice teachers, and she definitely did a lot for me. Even though I am done with my lessons, I still have a performance the last week here. I need to figure out exactly what I am doing for that.

The weekend was pretty low-key. We mostly stayed in and made our own party. I think everyone was still exhausted from traveling over our three week break. I was still a little sick from it, too, but now that is clearing up.

Now that finals are drawing nearer, I have quite a bit of work to do. I spent most of the days this weekend working on my final paper for my opera independent study. Basically, I had to analyze the entire score of The Marriage of Figaro and discuss its historical significance. I will admit, it was fun (I know I'm a dork.) but now I have all of the music constantly playing through my head.

Charlie's parents were in town to visit this last week, too. They are typically "Minnesota Nice". They told me that I should come over this summer when I am in the cities for a barbeque at their house (They live about 4 blocks from Mac). It was fun having them around, even though it was kind of weird to be in the presence of parents again.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) Megan Buckingham is coming to Milan to stay with me for a couple days. She just finished up her abroad in Barcelona and is traveling around before returning to the US. I'm excited to show her around my hood.

I am going the Cinque Terre, a set of five hiking villages along the coast, on Friday with an IES-sponsored day trip (we don't have classes). I think that will officially be the last traveling I do in Italy.

I need to make a list of things I still need to do in Milan before I leave. I still haven't see The Last Supper, and there are a ton of other things I must see/do. I actually cannot believe I am leaving here in less than three weeks. I can't think about it right now.

A body preserved by volcanic ash from 72 AD at Pompeii

At the ruins of Pompeii

With my big lemon on the beach of Positano

Looking down on Positano

Tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain in Rome

Some of St. Peter's Basilica

Inside the Coliseum

Beaches of Cefalu in Sicily

On Easter Sunday, I took a train from Milan to Napoli to meet up with Lindsay, Nicole, Mike, and Ryan in Sorrento. Unfortunately, the regional trains weren't running due to the holiday, so once I arrived in Napoli, I had no way to get to Sorrento. However, there were 4 other American study abroad students on my train to Napoli, and they were randomly looking to get to Sorrento as well, so we split a 90-minute cab ride. It wasn't too expensive in the end.

After a full day of travel, I met up with the guys and we had a big Easter dinner at a small restaurant in Sorrento. Then, Lindsay and Nicole made an Easter egg hunt for us in their hotel room. They had bought all of this wine and chocolate for it...it was really funny.

The next day, we went to the ancient ruins of Pompeii, a civilization that was soaked in volcanic ash in 72 AD. So many artifacts are preserved really well there (including bodies). This was the only day we had crappy weather on the whole trip. After we spent about 5 hours there, we took the train into Napoli for dinner. The city is kind of scary: a lot of crime, trash, and people in poverty. We agreed that it was probably a good thing that we only spent an evening there.

On Tuesday, we went further down into the Amalfi coast to the beach towns of Positano and Amalfi. This was one of the most amazing parts of the trip, in my opinion. The bus ride there was crazy: there is one small road that makes a lot of hairpin turns around cliffs that hang at least 1000 feet over the ocean. The view was amazing. I ate the biggest lemon I had ever seen on the beach in Positano.

I can't even begin to describe the beauty of these towns. Before the 1950s, a lot of 20th century writers from America came here to write, including Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams. These places were sleepy fishing villages that became well known as artist hang outs. Now, while the tourism industry has increased, they have retained most of their natural beauty.

We left for Rome early on Wednesday morning. Since we had only three days here, we had to make the most out of the sightseeing. So, the next three days were packed. The first day we walked around a bit and saw the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. On Thursday, we had a "pious" day. We spent about 5 hours in the Vatican museum, which culminates in the Sistine Chapel. Then, we went to the top of the cupola of St. Peter's Basilica (the largest church on earth) and then looked around the inside of it. I am pretty sure it is the coolest church I have ever seen. Inside, they have the old Pope's body on display and also Michelangelo's Pieta behind bulletproof glass.

On Friday, we did the ancient Roman Forum on Palatine Hill and then we went into the Coliseum. It's hard to describe what it's like to see the exact spot where Julius Caesar was burned and where gladiators fought to the death. All in all, it was neat.

We had tickets for Friday night for a 12 hour boat to Sicily from Rome. For the cheap amount we paid, we all thought it was going to be basically a train on water. However, it was a cruise ship. A casino, two restaurants, cafes, lounges, everything: a good way to spend 12 hours.

We arrived in Palermo early on Saturday morning and found our way to the train station by a man with a horse and buggy. We took the train to the small resort town of Cefalu, where we spent the last three days of our vacation. The four of us met up with two other IES students, Anne and Amy, and the six of us got an apartment to rent for three days, right on the beach. We were able to cook there too, so it made the trip quite cheap.

The last three days were great. After the craziness of Rome, it was nice to have time to lay on the beach and walk around the town. Sicilians are so nice: they want to help you with everything. The pace there is even slower than it is in mainland Italy. All the stores close for 4 hours in the afternoon so everyone can take a nap or go to the beach. I am so glad I managed to get down there and see how they live.

Yesterday morning we flew from Palermo to Milan. It has been quite a long time since we have had school. Now is the time to dig into the major papers and projects. I think I am starting to get a little sick, so hopefully that will clear up soon.

On the terrace of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection

A shot of the Grand Canal with the Chiesa Santa Maria Salute in the background

St. Mark's Cathedral

These are just a few pics from my second trip to Venice. It takes a long time to load these up so I will just have to show you more when I get back.

Holding my "winnings" outside of the world's most famous casino, The Monte Carlo (I'm not sure why this pic is so small)

The Royal Palace of Monaco

View of Nice's harbor from the Parc de Chateau


Wowsa. It's going to be a little tough recounting all of my spring break adventures from the last three weeks in the blog. I will give it a try though. I got to see a lot of amazing things, so it's hard to process in retrospect. Taking almost every form of transportation possible (including a horse and buggy in Palermo), I saw A LOT of Italy and even some of France. And I got one heckova tan.

I'll try to do this chronologically...



Nice, France was quite tropical. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. They have a great park there up on a cliff called the Parc de Chateau, and the Matisse museum was really cool. Even though it was only a 5 hour train ride from Milan, it was interesting to see how different the French are from Italians. They seem to be much less simpathetic to those who speak English and not French.

Monaco, about a twenty minute train ride from Nice, was an incredible daytrip. It was almost too perfect, slightly eerie even. It's basically a more tropical, classier Los Vegas. Everything in this principality on this huge cliff was man-made. And they name everything after Princess Grace Kelly. I have never before seen so many signs of money in one place.

Venice: the Sequel was really fun as well. Even though there were still tons of tourists here this time, too (probably because of the Easter holiday). Hitting the hardcore tourist circuit, the list of seen sights included:

St. Mark's Cathedral
Island of Murano
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection (INCREDIBLE modern art museum where Mac friend Lily is an intern)
Chiesa Santa Maria Salute
Doge's Palace

I still love Venice, despite the crowds. It's history is fascinating and the town is like no other in the world. And if you find the right side streets, it's unexplainably charming.

The Italian elections are today and tomorrow. It's getting pretty heated around here. It's definitely a good idea to have national elections over two days, though (especially on a Sunday), because more people can vote.

This week has been full of interesting events, but I don't really have time to write about them at the moment. Some highlights were seeing a Dario Fo play (a very famous Italian actor and playwright), hearing Schoenberg and Brahms at the Verdi symphony, and seeing Boy George dj at a club last night.

It's great to finally be on spring break, even though the whole semester still kind of seems like a vacation. Tomorrow I am heading to Nice, and then Thursday I'm off to Venice. I'm not sure I am going to be able to write much for the next couple weeks, just because of all of the traveling, but I promise I will write a ton when I get back. I will take a lot of pics, too!

(L-R): Roshni, Me, Alex, Sohta, Matt, and Charlie at our dinner party

Stage set-up for the Italian TRL Awards in Piazza Duomo

Inside the Galleria (first "mall" ever!) at sunset

Duomo at sunset (behind scaffolding)

Entrance of Castello Sforzesco

I'm not quite sure why the Milanese insist on wearing their winter coats when it's 65 degrees F out. I came to school today in a layered t-shirt, and on the way I got very odd looks. Hopefully I won't have to wear my twelve pound winter coat when it's 80.

I finally solidified plans for the second part of my spring break. I am going to meet Mike, Lindsay, and Nichole in Naples on the 16th of April, and then we are going to spend 1 night on the Amalfi coast, see Pompeii the next day, go to Rome for the next 3-4 days, and then spend the last three days on Sicily. We started by buying our plane ticket from Sicily to Milan on the 25th. So, it's just a matter of working backwards.

Last Thursday night I went to the Verdi Symphony again. The night had a Spanish theme: they played selections from the opera Carmen, Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsokov, etc. It was really cool.

On Friday, Charlie and I had a dinner party for a few people at our place. We made lasagna for the first time, and it actually turned out alright. We also had salad and actual American cookies. We found the mix for it at the grocery store (for the equivalent of about $7), and they were definitely worth it. We try to do a big dinner party once a month because they are actually a cheap alternative to going out. After, we rented the movie White Noise, probably one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

Saturday, I went to the Castello Sforzesco with Charlie and Alex. They have a bunch of municipal museums inside that are free for the hour before they close. We saw the Ancient Egypt exhibit which housed many interesting artifacts. AND I saw my first mummy! After, we walked around the city a bit and discovered they were setting up for the Italian TRL Awards for MTV in the piazza of the Duomo. We decided we had to come back to see some of the actual show later that night.

Saturday night was Notte Bianca (White Night), an all-night party that Milan has when spring arrives. To celebrate, the metro and stores stay open until 5 AM. So, we decided to go back to the TRL awards that night at about 11, and it was packed when we got there. We moved up toward the stage a bit and saw a few performances. It was really interesting to see how Italian MTV works. The rest of the night was kind of a messy blur. Mostly, because after these performances, so many people had shown up at the Duomo that we could hardly get through the crowd. The five of us got split up and I got stuck in an area where people weren't moving and some were starting to get smashed. It was actually really scary. After about 45 minutes, I got out of the mess, and I decided to walk to a less crowded metro stop. The metro was still insanely packed. We couldn't get ahold of each other by cells either because we were all down waiting for the metro at different locations. So, by the time we all got back to my place, we were cranky.

For the last two weeks, my voice teacher was out of town because she was doing an opera in Florence. Yesterday was my first lesson back, which was a little scary because I had to learn two pieces in that time. She warmed me up to a high C (crazy), and she was pretty happy with the progress I had made while she was gone. She gave me some intense breathing exercises that she wants me to do "from today until the rest of my life". The routine is supposed to take a half hour and is meant to train my muscles more because I am "still a bit lazy" when it comes to technique.

I must be off because I have yet to do some research for a presentation I have to give this afternoon. Hope you like the pics in this post!

I am now done with my three midterms. I had my Contemporary Italian Art History one Monday morning, History of Italian Theatre on Monday afternoon, and my Italian test yesterday. They weren't bad at all, just a lot of writing for the first two. Yesterday before Italian, however, I was hurrying to the metro in the rain and I slipped on the disgusting subway stairs in front of about five people. It was quite embarrassing. So my left side got kind of filthy and my right hand somehow got all cut up from my umbrella. I then had to pay 60 cents in the metro station to wash up in the restroom. And I ended up bleeding on my Italian test a bit. Ah well.

Friday we tried to get into an Irish pub called Murphy's Law for St. Patrick's Day. It was so packed though that we physically couldn't get inside. We ended up going to another place instead. Francesco and Giuseppe tell me that the holiday isn't a big deal here. Apparently, Italians consider it "another American holiday where they can justify getting ridiculously drunk in search of their Irish ancestry".

Saturday Alex, Sohta, and I went to an aperitivo at a place called Rew in the St. Agostino area. We had been studying before that so we decided to take a break. Charlie went to London this weekend: he said he had a really good time. It'd be nice to get up there, but I don't think it's going to happen on this trip.

Also, on Saturday I did a little shopping and I bought sunglasses. Real Italian Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. Yes, they were a little pricey, but they were one of the few things I wanted to get while I was here, so I don't feel guilty. And now I look like a real Italian.

By the way, the Geleteria Borsieri opened a few weeks ago, and it is incredible. It is right across from our apartment and they have great, cheap gelato. It took me a week or two to exercise restraint, but now I'm down to one or two a week.

I am actually starting to get a little worried about my living situation for next year. I know I want to live off campus (ESPECIALLY after this semester), and the one person I know I'm living with for sure (Rebecca) is in China on study abroad. And the internet in China blocks all American internet sites, so that means that I am the one who has to be searching Craigslist for 2 bedroom apartments etc etc. Which is fine, but I'm getting a little concerned since most Mac kids are securing housing for next year around this time.

I know I promised more pics this week, but I didn't follow through. It was kind of a lower key week with studying for midterms and stuff, so I will definitely get some up for next week.