Budapest

I just got back from a quick weekend in Budapest! We left Thursday night after I got out of class, and returned late Saturday night. Going to Budapest was kind of a spur of the moment type thing, since I was never really planning on going. However, the opportunity came up, so I took it! Turns out Budapest is a very cool city - and the best part is that it is CHEAP! 218 HUF= $1. It was quite a nice change from how expensive the Euro is, and especially how expensive the English pound is. 

When we first arrived in Budapest, it was around midnight since out flight was delayed out of Rome. When we arrived, we were expecting our car to be waiting for us, which it was...but we were greeted by a man who looked quasi-homeless and spoke no English, which was equally funny and scary. It turned out to be fine, and we got to our hostel at about 1am. The next day, we just decided to walk around, and we ended walking a TON, which is fine because we saw a lot. My favorite part of the day was seeing St. Stephen's Basilica. It was absolutely gorgeous and if you ever go to Budapest - I highly recommend you go see it whether or not you are Catholic. Around lunch time, we stumbled upon this festival which happened to be going on when we were there. It was tons of food stands with authentic Hungarian food, hot wine (which is famous in Budapest), and homemade chocolates, among other things. I got cabbage stuffed pork, and sausage with mustard and a huge slice of homemade sourdough for 2200 HUF, which is about $10. Great deal!

Next, we continued to walk through Budapest, we ended the night by eating at Hummus Bar (delicious), and by stopping by a few cool ruins bars, which are famous in Europe. We didn't stay long since they were so crowded and we couldn't find a table. We ended the night at a small wine cafe, which was very relaxed and a great way to end our night. 

Saturday morning we woke up and walked around a little more, and then headed to the baths. Apparently Budapest is known for its baths, and they were very cool! It was like a giant palace with tons of pools and saunas, all with warm water. It was very relaxing, and I even got a massage! I was very anxious before, because I had never gotten one before, but they are AWESOME! 

After spending a few hours there, we headed back to the hostel and waited for our car to pick us up, and then back to Rome we went, just in time to study for midterms (BOO). 

I think I will survive though! Plus, only 4 days and I get to spend a week in France!

Ciao!

View of Budapest from the bridge

Alter at the Basilica of St. Stephen

Part of my delicious meal - cabbage stuffed with pork

A section of the baths we went to

Part of the festival

Back from a quick weekend in London! I am very tired, but it was definitely worth it and I got to see just about everything that I wanted to! We had a quick flight from Rome to Stansted Airport, which is about an hour outside the city. We then took the  Stansted Express, which is a nice WiFi enabled version of the Amtrak, into the city.

The first thing that we did was go straight to Chipotle and get food. It was soooo good, and the manager liked us so much and she gave us buy one get one coupons, and told us all of the cool markets to go see and what other stuff to do in London. People in London are very very nice, which is something that I didn't expect at all. 

We then checked into our hostel, which was a "traditional" hostel. I am definitely not a big fan. There were some weirdos in my room which I shared with 8 other guys who I didnt know. Some kid was reading me his birth certificate aloud to me, which was bizarre...haha. The whole hostel thing is just weird and I don't plan on staying at one like that again (hopefully). 

The first night that we got there some of us broke off and went to the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, which were both cool. The mummies were cool as well as a lot of the artifacts from Ancient Rome, which I have been learning a lot about in the past couple of weeks. 

Saturday started at 8am, and we saw almost everything you could see in one day. We bought the London Pass, which was 39 pounds, which translates to about $60-65 (The dollar to pound exchange rate is even worse than the dollar to the euro). The London Pass is a great investment since it is like paying the admission fee for different sites around London ahead of time, and you get them at a discounted rate. We took the Tube everywhere, which is the equivalent of the El (except cleaner). We started at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, then headed to Shakespeare's Globe. The Globe was kind of a disappointment since it was all rebuilt and it isn't even the right location. But it was cool to see and hear about what theater was like back in the day of Shakespeare. Next we crossed the Millennium Bridge to go to St. Paul's Cathedral, which I believe is the main cathedral of the Church of England. It is where Charles and Diana were married.

Next we saw Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace, which were all very cool to see.

Now I need to start studying for my tests this week and catch up on some sleep!

Ciao

Joe

Mummy at the British Museum

Exhibit in the right foyer of the Victoria & Albert Museum

The crown jewels at the Tower of London. This belonged to the Queen Mum.

Me posing with the Tower Bridge

Big Ben 

Buckingham Palace

Platform 9 3/4 - from Harry Potter at Kings Cross Station

The escalators at Harrods 

Amsterdam

What a weekend! I just got back from Amsterdam earlier this afternoon. It was an awesome trip and Amsterdam is completely different from what I expected. It all started last week when I decided last minute to book my flight there since a lot of people I knew were going. I figured why not since it was some place I had never been.

We left at about 10 am from Rome, and arrived around noon at Eindhoven, which is an airport almost 2.5 hours from Amsterdam. At the time I bought my tickets, I had absolutely no idea that we were that far away. We bought bus tickets at the airport, and 3.5 hours later we were in Amsterdam. The snow really slowed us down. Once we got there, everything was great! We ate burgers at a place called Los Toros, and let me tell you, that burger was AWESOME after 3.5 weeks of nothing but pasta, although I am definitely not complaining since I love Italian food (however, there is not a lot of food options other than Italian in Rome). After that we checked into our hostel which was in the Red Light District, which is actually a great area to stay. We were right next door to lots of restaurants, pubs, and other similar establishments.

The city is actually very clean and all of the people we met were super nice. It is a great city and I would definitely love to come back some day.

Most of the trip, we just hung out, ate, and explored the city. It was very cool just to chill for a couple of days. We did get a good amount of sightseeing in, however. We visited the Van Gogh Museum, which was cool to see some of the original paintings of one of the most famous artists to have ever lived. We also went to the Anne Frank House, and actually walked through the rooms where her and her family hid from the Nazi's. It was an amazing experience and it was cool to be somewhere that I have been learning about my whole life.

We also went to the Heineken experience, which was the coolest tour I have ever been on. Lots of interactive stuff, and lots of free beer! Definitely a must do if you are ever in Amsterdam.

It was a great first trip of the semester! Next stop: London!

Part of the scenery in Amsterdam...so much more beautiful in person 

The building where Anne Frank & her family hid from the Nazi's in WWII

Traditional Dutch Meal- Potatoes and carrots with gravy and a meatball. So filling and delicious!

Saying "cheers" after our beer tasting lesson at the Heineken Experience

This place has over 100 different types of pancakes! So delicious. I had the Greek Pancakes, which was basically like a giant gyro.

Well the past 24 hours have been pretty crazy and I am surprised that I am even awake to write a blog post right now! I wanted to write one though right away because just a few hours ago I attended a Papal Audience, and whether you're Catholic or not, it is something you need to go to at least once. It is cool to see people from all over the world all there in one place to celebrate one thing. It is just really cool, and that is all that I can really say about it.

It is different than I thought it would be. I thought we would all be in St. Peter's Square and the Pope would come out onto some balcony and then wave to and bless the crowd. Instead, it was in an auditorium like room which had secret service type people (not surprisingly) scattered throughout. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the Pope to come out, and different countries had different things they would chant out in anticipation. It was very cool to experience.

We had pretty good seats, and we were pretty much as close as you could get without being in the reserved section. It was very cool to see everything up close. The group of my friends I came with were the first ones there. The night before some of us decided to go downtown Rome and celebrate a few of our friends birthdays, and we seemed to have lost track of time, and before we knew it, it was 5:30am and we headed back to campus to get out tickets and headed straight down to the Vatican, and we got into line right away. It is probably a good thing that I didn't go to sleep because I probably never would have woken back up!

But finally we got into the "auditorium" as I call it around 8:30, and then finally at 10:30 Pope Benedict came out. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half, and it consisted of different Cardinals saying some prayers in their native languages as well as Pope Benedict speaking in every language that was spoken by all the people in the room. It was very cool. He sat in his chair most of the time and he actually seems very fragile in person.  Finally, he blessed everyone, and then took some pictures with the Cardinals, and went back through his little door.

This was an experience I will definitely not forget! Enjoy the pictures!

Our ticket

Rosie & Devin worn out from a long night....

I am finally back in Rome after a great-but long weekend along the Amalfi Coast. I saw some awesome places, ate some even better food (way too much), and made some good memories. We left early Friday morning and headed for la Reggia de Caserta, which is a beautiful Italian palace. Next we went to the Grand Hotel Vanvitelli for lunch. It was delicious, and we had chicken and cooked vegetables, which was a nice change from pasta, although the pasta here is delicious, obviously!

Next we checked into our hotel, and just explored for a few hours. Then we had a HUGE dinner at the hotel. It was delicious. That night we went to a disco, which was a lot of fun! 

The next day we woke up and went to a buffalo farm where they made their own leather goods and tried some fresh mozzarella, which was DELICIOUS! We also went to the site of some Greek temples, which was interesting, but our tour guide talked forever and ever, and we took twice as long as every other group, which was funny and annoying at the same time. 

We then had a huge lunch that never seemed to end. Lots of meats, mozzarella, pasta, and pizza. It was even complete with some interesting cultural entertainment...

We went then and explored Agropoli, which is a beautiful city up on a hill. We all saw an awesome sunset there. 

Then it was back to the hotel for another huge dinner and a lot of wine. The wine here is so good and so cheap...which is a good thing, always ;)

That night I just went with some people and explored the city, and the next day we went and saw a lemon farm, and finally got back around 9pm

It was a good weekend, but if feels good to be back in Rome!

One of the many beautifully painted ceilings at la Reggia de Caserta

One of the Greek temples

Part of the Buffalo Farm

My mozzarella sample

Beautiful sunset in Agropoli

The lemon farm we toured

It has been an exhausting couple of days of sightseeing! Saturday we went to the Coliseum and to the Roman Forum, which was crazy to see in person after learning about it since I was a child! It is an incredible feeling to be standing in these places which have truly stood the test of time. The way back to campus was a different story. The school bussed us downtown to sightsee, but we had to find our way back on our own. Well, let's just say that the public transportation in Chicago is a lot better than it is here. After being helped by some 15 year old Italians, we made our way back to campus. 

Today (Sunday), we went to Tivoli, and saw the Villa d'Estate. To be honest, I'm not sure whose house it was, but it was very old and big, and had some awesome gardens with some amazing fountains that were all powered by water pressure alone. It was very cool to think that someone lived there at one time. 

For lunch, all 200 or so JFRC students went to this "hole in the wall" restaurant, which turned out not to be such a hole in the wall. Basically the whole restaurant was a giant cave filled with passages that kept leading to more rooms, which are believed to be Ancient Roman Baths. The owner told us the whole story which made the whole dining experience that much better.

Tomorrow classes begin, which in some ways I am looking forward to. I like having a routine!

Until next time!

 The Roman Forum

 The Coliseum

 One of the many fountains at Villa d'Estate in Tivoli, Italy

The restaurant that we ate at in Tivoli. 

Getting settled

Today is my second day in Rome, and I am still working on getting settled. Luckily, I slept on the plane over here so I am not too jet-lagged! I haven't seen a lot of the city yet, other than the neighborhood in which I am living in, which is called Monte Mario. I live at the Hotel Zone, which is nice and modern, other than the fact that it is about a 15-20 minute walk to campus. We have our own bathroom and there is free breakfast every morning, which is nice! All of the students have been busy with a lot of paperwork and informational meetings, so everyone is still adjusting.
I have only ate here in the cafeteria, which they call "mensa", and the food has been really good, but I hear that I will get sick of it after a while. This weekend and next weekend there are some school trips planned to the Coliseum and some small cities throughout Italy, which I am excited for. I will be able to post some pictures then and have some pictures of the neighborhood.
Right now though, it is 8:00 PM, or 20.00, which is how they tell time here. I am still getting used to that and I have to think every time I want to know what time it is. I am off now to explore the city for the night, and then more meetings tomorrow!

Ciao!