The Dam

Amsterdam was outrageous. It's not like that surprised me, really. Any place that could have captured my brother's heart the way it did must be pretty unique. And I knew it was going to be crazy. I knew pot and prostitution were legal. I knew that there were more bikes than cars. I knew that they ate mayonnaise on their french fries. I knew it attracted people like Matty Evans. What I didn't know was that it was so freakin' pretty! My mind was absolutely blown by how adorable the little houses lining the winding canals were-- despite the absolutely frigid weekend my 12 friends and I chose to visit the Netherlands...
Yep, my 12 friends. We were 13 girls strong all weekend long (well, despite Bear being sick. Sorry, Bear.) and we did a very good job of rallying the troops. No one died. No one even fell in a canal! But we did have a lot of fun. It was an absolute dream to meet up with so many friendly faces. Katie and Carolyn (as previously mentioned in Christmas break blogs) came from Leister, England along with a Pittsburgher friend named Heather. Two friends came from Leon, Spain. Quirky came from Bamberg, Germany. And seven girls came from Italy (winners!) bringing the grand total to 13! We were the last of the group to arrive at around 7 o'clock on Friday night, and we almost immediately proceeded to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It was my first (and probably last) Hard Rock experience, and it didn't shed any light on my ever-present question of why the hell Europeans love it so much...They wear those t-shirts like it's their job. I don't get it.
Quirk made dinner more interesting by telling our extremely obnoxious waiter that it was Katie's birthday, so she had to stand on the booth while everyone sang to her. Pretty hilarious seeing as how I've heard Katie described as being "painfully shy"... after dinner we walked down the touristy street with all the bars. (I'm calling it that because I actually have no idea what it's called. Woops.) and did some dancing and drinking, but mostly catching up and laughing at people.
We woke up the next day and headed to this really cute little bagel place we discovered right by our hostel. Again, it's hard to be discreet when the entry of your group means the instant doubling of the population of any restaurant...So we took over the two biggest tables in the place, all demanded to pay separately, accidentally tried to steal some cream cheese and immediately made ourselves the enemy of Bagels and Beans. (Too bad we went back 3 more times...) Our agenda for the day was to take pictures on the I Amsterdam sign, visit the Anne Frank House and see the Red Light District. We decided not too be too ambitious, seeing as how moving in such a large group was a huge pain in the first place. The I Amsterdam experience obviously took us close to an hour for everyone to get the pictures we wanted without weirdos in them. This is not to mention the fiasco of people climbing up on letters and not being able to get down...Having a tall friend came in handy more than once. I don't understand why every big city doesn't have one of those. It's pretty much the simplest idea in the world and everyone loves it! I mean, I know I had a good time and so did the group of strange Italian men who were trying to crash all of our pictures.
Our chosen form of transportation was a hop-on-hop-off canal cruise that was actually really cool. We got to see the city from a different angle--and it was heated. The Anne Frank House was depressing, obviously, and actually very different that I expected. We made the realization after our tour, though, that most kids were fascinated by the Holocaust and lots of depressing things. So in the end we were reassured that none of us were morbid freaks when we were little; kids are just strange. It reminded me of my obsession with the sinking of the Titanic when I was younger, and how bizarre that was. Mom, why didn't that concern you? Va bene.
Our next stop was the Red Light District. Let's just say our trip was brief. I didn't imagine that anything could quiet that group down that quickly. We were so uncomfortable it was ridiculous. Nothing was alleviated by the crazy woman with the sign yelling: "You think you find in the Red Light District? That ain't love. Jesus is the only true love." Making us all feel like we were participating in this nonsense. Sorry ma'am, we're just awkward college students trying to creep ourselves out. Everyone was just sort of looking at the ground while they walked until someone got up the courage to make an awkward joke about the "lazy one who's just slouching in her chair texting. She's not even trying." But really, it became obvious very quickly that we didn't have any future prostitutes in the group. We went during the middle of the afternoon to ensure that we got to see the "B team". I think we were all too scared of what Varsity might be like...
Afterward we decided it would be best to get back on our canal cruise and hang out for a while. We asked the conductor if it was okay to bring food onto the boat. His response, "You can bring bread. But no potatoes." Well, that's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. To be respectful we decided to snack on tortilla chips and Dutch beer. That's a good compromise, right? After the love boat stopped, we returned to the hostel to get ready for the pub crawl that we'd decided to partake in that night. Crawl doesn't begin to describe how slowly this process moved. We decided the only way to make it fun would be to conduct ourselves like complete imbeciles. So we all donned the "free t-shirt" (which is actually the most embarrassing thing ever. I hope Lils never sees me wearing it) and danced the night away in our army of girls. It was as absurd as anyone would imagine, and obviously ended at a fast food restaurant. As all good nights do.
The next day everyone but Quirk, Jenna Bear and I left. It was sad to see so many friends leave. I don't know when I'm going to see a lot of them again. I hope I don't have to wait until September :( But the four of us had a lovely day at the Van Gogh museum and wandering around the city. I really really enjoyed the Van Gogh museum. What a weird dude, but I am a huge fan of his art. The gift shop may or may not have been one of my favorite parts, though. They had the most ridiculous things! I wonder if Vince knew when he was painting that his art would one day be on t-shirts, plates and umbrellas. Because I bet he had no idea that someone would make an eraser in the shape of his head...
We spent the rest of Sunday wandering around the city with some of Quirk's German friends who were very fun and friendly. One of her friends is actually coming to Holy Cross next year to work as a Foreign Language Assistant, and promised to have schnitzel night every Sunday at the FLA house. So, maybe I won't actually ever lose my study abroad body... :( Our trip back to Firenze was long and complicated (as usual), but it's wonderful to be home!Still without shampoo. Bummer.
But the weather is lovely, and Kristen and Jenna's families are coming to visit--which means some fun meals in my future. As for now, I almost strangled a horrible boy named Enrico at CCD today. 11-year-old boys are annoying enough in English, it doesn't improve the situation at all to have them yelling things I don't actually understand. I pretty sure I've developed from the weird foreign girl who's too old to be sitting with the kids to the mean foreign girl who just yells "Ragazzi, basta!"
Everything else is just wonderful. No trips planned for now. Just sitting here anxiously awaiting March Madness and Carnevale. La vita e bella.
A dopo, amici. Vi voglio bene e mi mancate. Baci.

The motherland

--This post would be best enjoyed while listening to this song in the background. Jus'sayin'--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3V-oXwCWL4

Immediately upon her arrival in Galway to study this fall, my good friend Audrey informed me that she thought I'd chosen the wrong study abroad site. "Lauren, the pub is your natural environment. I'm not kidding."
I had no idea how serious she was until this (extended) weekend. I mean, I wouldn't say I'd rather be ANYWHERE in the world but Florence, but Ireland was an absolutely unreal.
As usual, we chose the most difficult way possible to arrive on the Emerald Isle--including a 3:30 AM bus to Pisa for a flight that departed at 7:30...BUT good news! When we arrived at the airport instead of the usual process of jumping on some sketchy bus and not actually knowing where we're going we were greeted by none other than the lovely Laura McLoughlin! For those of you who don't know Laura and I were roommates in the Art Institute of Chicago dorms for the summer of 2009. Going in to the experience complete strangers, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we got along very well and that magical summer was filled with a lot of amazing memories, a lot of conversations about Irish slang, and a lot of absolutely absurd shenanegins. But on that fateful day in August when we were forced to say our goodbyes I reminded her that I'd be studying in Florence my junior year and she could absolutely count on a visit. (Whether she wanted one or not). And without further ado, there I was. Standing bright-eyed and bushy tailed outside of the Dublin airport at 9 AM ready to jump on her! Her wonderful family let us stay in their lovely home, and we spent the day driving around the countryside outside of the city while Laura and I caught up in the front seat and Bear and Jenna squealed at sheep and rolling hills from the back.
I won't lie, I was preoccupied all day during our city tour preparing mentally for our trip to Copper's. A little background: I spent that entire summer in Chicago listening to my friends Emma, Fiona, Laura and Barry (all Irish natives) recount absurd stories about the crazy nights they spent at one of Dublin's most famous (for good reason) pubs. And I COULD NOT WAIT to experience it for myself. Saturday night I finally got my hand stamped :) and got to recreate this hilarious 18-month old picture from Laura and my last night in Chicago! (I was obviously much more serious about the original...)

We started the night at Fi's apartment and got a chance to meet some of Laura's friends from school, who were all wonderful and very friendy. As is always the default conversation, Adair, Jenna and I just laughed at funny words they use for things. In our defense, they call a pickle a girken. That's up there with "gute fahrt", guys. And you claim to be speaking English...
The next day was spent driving "cross-country" to Galway. Yep, that took 3 hours. Even off of the major freeway you're surrounded by beautiful green fields and adorable little sheepies with black faces--I was obsessed. Laura was staying with another friend in Galway, so she dropped us off at our friends' apartments and we were happily united with Emily and Audrey! We went out to dinner on Sunday night at a great Irish restaurant where we enjoyed the local dishes. On the up side: there's still one country making portions too big for me to eat! This shepherd's pie was seriously out of control. Oh, and you're going to serve "chips" (fries) on the side of it? Someone on the Atkins diet would last approximately 3 seconds in Ireland. I'm just sayin'.
After dinner we went to a pub that played live traditional Irish music. Annnd the love only grows stronger. Just a bunch of drunk people with their arms around each other screaming and dancing to happy music. Just my idea of heaven. No big deal. And it's all topped off with SuperMacs. Fast food Mecca. We were there on a Sunday, but Budsey said on a normal night SuperMacs takes on a club-like environment--bouncers and all--when kids stumble in to get their greasy fix on after the pubs close. Best chicken nuggets in my liiiife.
The next morning (afternoon?) when we got up, we spent the day wandering around Galway. Which actually takes about 15 minutes, I guess. But it was Valentine's Day so we decided to do some jewelry shopping (for ourselves...) and I finally got a Claddagh ring [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claddagh_ring]- from the original makers! The old ladies working in the store were so cute and friendly. On second thought, everyone we met in Ireland was cute and friendly. I have never been so comfortable in a place I'd never been before. Just made me so happy!
That afternoon we were Dublin-bound once again, and because Laura has about as good a sense of direction as I do, we took the scenic route. It was great, though, because we didn't have any obligations so we could take our time driving through the country, and enjoying the coast. We also got a chance to see some funny little villages and some thatched-roof houses. We got back to Dublin in time for dinner. We obviously chose a really authentic Mexican restaurant for our romantic Valentine's Day dinner. I think we figured Mexican was the least romantic kind of food. Well, we still didn't escape the desperately in love Irish couples holding hands across the table and googling at each other. Whatever, my chimichanga exceeded expectations (which were disturbingly low, as I'm sure you can imagine). Tuesday we did a good job of showing ourselves around Dublin a little bit more. Finally giving Laura a break and letting her rest at home, Jenna and I did our best to recall what we'd learned on Saturday to Audrey-who was visiting Dublin for the first time. It was hilarious for Dublin to feel like a big city, but after spending time in Galway and those little villages it really did feel like a metropolis. It was raining pretty seriously on Tuesday, which is fine--we needed to get the full Irish experience, but it made wandering around a little less fun. So we took refuge in the Guinness storehouse for a fun and educational experience. Personally, I think it tastes like burnt cookies. I apologize to anyone who is a strong supporter. But, learning about the fun history and culture of the beer, I have a new-found appreciation for it. Though I still doubt I'll ever order a pint of it. Except for the free one at the end of the tour :) obviously.

After taking pictures outside of Christ Church because we arrived 15 minutes after it closed--unfortunately also missing out on "Foxy Friars Coffee Shop"..., we enjoyed a lovely dinner at a little Irish restaurant, bid our farewells to Budsey and sent our Galway girl on her way. Bear, Jenna and I had an early night because our flight was at 6:30 the next morning, but it was spent looking back through pictures and listening to me rant about how much I love Ireland. And how fascinated I am by beer, pagans, and the Protestant-Catholic tension, and the potato famine, and basically how that island is a hub for everything I'm passionate about...
My only issue for my next two days in Florence is the fact that when I got in the shower yesterday (in the bathroom that only I use..) my shampoo was gone. Like, totally gone. And I'm too awkward to ask what happened to it. Why do I keep coming home to showering issues?! It's not like showering is my strong suit in the first place. I don't need obstacles!
In addition to my Guinness rugby and my Claddagh ring, I got a pretty solid cough as a souvenir from the motherland, so I've been in bed since I got home from school 6 hours ago... but I'm just gearing up for our next adventure...
Mi mancate, and vi voglio benissimo ragazzi!
Oh, and BUON CUMPLEANNO, BABBO! Love and miss you!

Svizterland!

Annnnd so it continues...
Interlaken was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Fa reals. It's an amazing little city fit snugly between two lakes (inter= in between, laken=lakes...wish it hadn't taken me multiple days to figure that one out...) surrounded by the Swiss Alps. Famous for its extreme sports scene and unreal landscape, it definitely didn't disappoint. For the first time, my travel buddies and I decided to participate in one of the jillions of pre-planned trips offered for college kids in Florence. Not gonna lie, it was a nice break to not be in charge of finding transportation, lodging and keeping ourselves busy all day. Unfortunately, transportation was in the form of an 8 hour bus ride departing from Firenze at 7:00 on Thursday night. Fortunately, those of you who know me (which is most of you, I hope..) know that I am a pseudo-narcoleptic with the impressive quality of falling asleep in any setting in a matter of seconds. So the bus ride wasn't actually a problem for me at all--except that arriving in Interlaken at 3 AM disturbed me from my coma... Whatever, though. We checked into our hostel with the prospect of a guided snowshoeing trip in the morning!
Personally, I was picturing myself mid-blizzard with wooden tennis rackets strapped to my feet trudging through knee-high snow past log cabins with my Saint Bernard on some sort of search and rescue mission. Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but that's the image "snowshoeing" conjures in my mind. However, Jenna, Adair and I woke up, donned our "sporty gear" and waited outside our hostel to be picked up by our guide. He showed up to inform us that of the 200+ students who were there that weekend, we were the ONLY three to sign up for snowshoeing that day. Uhh other than making us feel like total weirdos, we were a little disappointed. UNTIL he told us that he could switch us to tomorrow's session, and we could change our paragliding trip to that afternoon! So now instead of having 24 hours to pump myself up to jump off of a mountain with a parachute and a weird Swiss man strapped to my back, I only had two!

Paragliding was absolutely unreal. I imagined that it was going to be pretty complicated--I mean, it seems like it should be, right? I should need a lawyer present or have to sign something in blood or partake in some sort of training session before I run off the side of a mountain, shouldn't I? Nope. Just me and my man Kusi Berger (again, note: German is hilarious. How is a person's last name Berger?!) We got outfitted in our super hot/ feminine boots and fireman pants, put on our giant backpack/seats, proved that we could run 10 steps and we were off!
The three of us were on an absolute high as we wandered around Interlaken for the rest of the afternoon. I think approximately every 5 minutes someone said "What are our lives?!" which is a daily phrase, but felt even more appropriate as we reflected on soaring through the air in the Swiss Alps...
That night most of the kids in the group met up at this goofy "metro bar" connected to the hostel with some of the meanest bouncers I've yet to encounter. Sassy giant Swiss men who demanded ID and that we check our coats. DEMANDED. I was wearing a puffy vest and the man made me check it, for goodness' sakes. When I tried to explain that my puffy vest was not, in fact, a coat but an essential part of my outfit he gave me the "talk to the hand" hand and reassured me, "this does not interest me." Alright, sass.
The next day I psyched myself up for my Balto-esque snowshoeing adventure again--to some avail this time. Because some Swiss couple had signed up for it also, and we only needed 5 people to make a group. In conclusion, of the 200+ aforementioned students we were the only three interested in snowshoeing. Well they're all dummies, because it was an absolute blast. Along with our silly Swiss couple--Andrea and her boyfriend (who liked her way more than she liked him)--and our guide Ronnie we set off on our trek. I'm sure you've already figured that snow shoes aren't wooden tennis rackets. They're the same idea, but more steel and stuff. Bummer.

They're pretty sweet though and easy to use. As Ronnie so eloquently put it "Just walk like you shit your pants." Oh, that's cute. But we had a lot of fun and got some absolutely unreal views of the mountains, city and lakes. To get back down the mountain we took these crazy extreme sleds and I suffered some heckling from my friends for this being my first sledding experience :(

Ronnie also informed us that this was the same course we would be taking when we came back for Night Sledding that evening. So we were obviously professionals by that point. It was actually really really scary at points--we were moving much more quickly than I anticipated.
We spent our time off going to a coffee shop in Interlaken that served American bagels. I had no idea I missed bagels as much as I do. They were so delicious. I could have eaten like 6 of them (mostly thanks to my infinite abyss of a stomach that Italy has created...) but decided to save space for the cheese fondue dinner provided after night sledding.
Night sledding was ridiculous. As I said we were on the same extreme sleds going down this ridiculous course in absolute pitch black--the only light we had was the glowsticks we each had on our backs. It was a trip, and Adair Jenna and I were at our peak weirdness as we whizzed past each other down the mountain talking about the Lion King sky and how everyone looked like little bugs. Toward the end there was like a 12 person pile-up (no one was injured)--it was hilarious. The dinner afterward was in a funny little traditional Swiss restaurant, that apparently looked "straight out of Heidi". Not having seen Heidi, I can't attest to that, but I'll take peoples' word for it. We sat with this funny kid from New Hampshire who worked for the company that organized the trip and thought it was funny to make fun of Holy Cross. He obviously didn't understand that Jenna, Adair and I react to insults toward HC in the same manner that we would react to a direct attack on our families...I think we scared him a little bit, actually. It was a good time, though.
We returned to metro bar that night. The bouncers, who are obviously bipolar, were very friendly and we had a lot of fun. When we woke up the next morning it was unfortunately Sunday, and our Swiss adventure had come to an end. The best part about all of these absurd experiences is that when you're going home, you're going home to Florence! It's like a win-win situation. We obviously snagged another bagel before getting back on the bus for our 8 hour trip back to Italia in order to get home in time for the Superbowl.
So here I am back with the Rizzis, currently still unshowered because there's no towel in my bathroom and I'm too awkward to ask for one...sitting on my bed eating my weight in the Swiss chocolate I bought this weekend. You probably think I'm kidding. I'm not.
Vi amo e mi mancate.
Baci!