Our biggest trip this semester was a long weekend in Italy.  We were beyond excited to escape the cold of London for the warmth of Rome followed by Venice.  We figured that since Ashley is undeniably Italian and I have taken two years of Italian we would fit in perfectly, and we did.

Just after jumping off the plane we set our sights on the Piazza San Pietro.  Here’s the thing, we found the walls of the Vatican and could make the decision to go left or right and in true Ashley and Kassandra form we chose the correct direction at first but second-guessed ourselves and went the wrong way.  By the time we realized this there was no turning back so we walked almost the entire circumference of Vatican City, which is two miles.

The Piazza San Pietro it was amazing.  St. Peter’s Basilica was beautiful and the square itself was breathtaking.  It was here that we stumbled upon a frumpy, angry looking pigeon.  We giggled at his disheveled feathers and snapped a couple of photos.  Just as we were walking away a giant white “eagle” (as Ashley called it) swooped down and began to attack our pigeon.  I screamed.  Ashley stared in shock.  An Italian woman stepped in.  When we came back later our pigeon friend was gone but there was a pile of feathers.

We were very lucky this trip to be able to stay in a hotel in Rome instead of a hostel.  Arriving looking rather mangy after a long day of travel and running around Rome we were instantly out of place at the swanky hotel but we didn’t care one bit!  After getting our key and with the promise of a warm comfy bed, we practically ran to our room.  The room was lovely, kooky, and confusing – basically how everything was in Italy.  It took us about five minutes to figure out that you had to put the room key in a slot by the door to get the lights to turn on.  Who would have known that right away?

The afternoon was very warm but it had gotten colder very quickly leaving our poor toes frozen.  We looked forward to putting our feet in a warm bath in the hotel room but no such luck as there was no bathtub.  There was, however, a bidet with a plug at the bottom.  You can guess what happened next.

Our second day in Rome we speed dated the city.  Starting off at The Vatican again we ventured to see the Sistine Chapel.  The problem with this was that in order to get to the Sistine Chapel we were led through a myriad of random rooms that were not properly explained and boring anyway.  When we finally arrived in the Sistine Chapel we were both disappointed.  I can’t really explain why, but it just wasn’t what we had expected and what the 257 rooms leading up to it built it up to be.

After the Sistine Chapel we grabbed a bite to eat at a little café right outside of the Colosseum!  It was incredible and so was the food.  Ashley had a pizza and I had a sandwich that was just a pizza folded in half.  Yummy.

As night was beginning to fall we ran over to the Trevi Fountain to throw in a coin.  Legend has it that if you throw a coin in you will always return to Rome.  We both did so I wonder when we will be back?

We quickly walked by the Roman Forum and the Pantheon.  Remember, I said that we speed dated Rome because we didn’t have much time.

The Piazza Navona was our next stop.  By then it was night so all of the local street vendors had set up and the square was buzzing with people and street performers. This was one of our favorite places in all of Rome.

Our final stop in Rome was the Spanish Steps where we grabbed a giant gelato and ate it on the steps.  It was a great way to say goodbye to the city.

The next morning we arrived at the airport at 7.35 for our 7.30 flight to Venice…I blame the public transportation and not the fact that we may have overslept just a smidge.  Luckily we found out that our flight had been delayed five hours so we hadn’t missed it!  Unfortunately this meant that we would arrive in Venice a little after 2pm.

We jumped off the plane in Venice and hopped on a bus to take us to the center of the city.  The bus was filled with people from our plane and one old Italian man who just yelled gibberish in Italian the whole time.  Most of what he said that I could understand didn’t make any sense at all, but there was one sentence that I wish I hadn’t understood.  Roughly translated the man (leaning towards me) yelled, “Indiana, you understand”.  I froze in fear.

After seeing the sights in Venice, Ashley and I decided (in fear of missing our flight back to London) to just go to the airport and try to catch an earlier flight back or just wait there.  There was no earlier flight.  This meant 17 hours in Marco Polo.

We almost went crazy, but we didn’t miss our flight back to London!

Ciao Italia, fino al nostro prossimo incontro!

[K]

Ireland, as it is the home of some of my ancestors, is a magical land. Now I thought the stereotype of tiny leprechauns doing cheery jigs was a lie, but I think there just might be some truth to it. The very first encounter I had with Ireland was just after I had gotten off the plane as I am standing in line for immigration. I approach the widow to find a small white haired old man with a pointed nose and a toothy smile. “Business or pleasure?” he asks. I reply, “Pleasure.” He leans in, looks me straight in the eye, cocks his head to the side, and says, “Well you’ve come to right place!!”

Stamp, stamp- welcome to Ireland.

We flew into Cork and had reservations at a hostel called Aaron’s International House. Upon arrival we find a friendly women and her lazy little puppy! She welcomes us into her bed and breakfast style hostel and dotes over us for a while making sure we are comfortable and acquainted with the area. She hands us a skeleton key and leads us to our room. We were enchanted! This women was so lovely that we almost didn’t mind that the places was negative thirty degrees at night… almost. It really was a lovely place to stay, minus the unfortunate cold, and she even insisted that we not bring her our dirty sheets. She said, “This is our holiday! No need to fuss.” And we believed her.

With the help of our mother hen, we caught the bus up to Blarney Castle from Cork and spent most of the day getting the gift of the gab! The castle itself was rather uneventful. It mostly consisted of rocks with rather unhelpful plaques. The real story, however, is that the top! Here is where you kiss the Blarney Stone and gain the gift of eloquence. Being that it was the middle of winter, there really wasn’t much of a crowd. We took our time climbing to the top and lingered taking pictures before smooching the stone. Of course, this is no easy task. You have to lie on your back on the floor, slide headfirst over a large hole, and bend backwards down towards the Blarney Stone! Luckily, there is one man there specifically to hold you so you don’t hyperventilate and one man there specifically to take pictures of you in the compromising position. Pictures, I might add, which I proudly own. That’s right, Blarney Castle suckered me into not only buying a large picture of myself but also a t-shirt proving I kissed the stone. Well, you only gain the gift of gab once right?! Right. So you better watch out, if you thought I talked a lot before I went to Europe you are going to be in for a big surprise now!!

The next morning, having awoken wearing every item of clothing I had packed and still shivering, Kass and I set off to Dublin! Now we might have gained the gift of eloquence, but we didn’t gain the gift of timing.  Apparently, the Dublin bus only leaves on the even hours and it takes a total of four and a half to arrive at your location. We arrived in Dublin with only two hours to spare until our flight back to London. Not exactly ideal, but we made the most of it!  We ventured off onto the Kassandra and Ashley Walking Tour of Dublin. Not having a map, this was a short trip. We did, however, stumble upon a huge Christmas lights display, an exceptionally tall knitting needle, a statue of Kass’s friend Jimmy, and the Dublin Post Office!!

The Post Office still had bullet holes in the columns from the Easter Rising, hey that’s historical! And inside there was a large (slightly creepy) mechanical manger scene, hey that’s….. weird! Most importantly, we mailed letters to Santa. There was a large box especially for this purpose and we were not ashamed to push small children aside to get our wishes in first. A handsome Italian man popped out of nowhere and provided us with an envelope, so I’m pretty sure it was all meant to be. Of course, the Kassandra and Ashley Walking Tours Corporation can not guarantee that an Italian man will be provided, but we go to every length to ensure an envelope.

Not bad for a blind stroll in Dublin!!

Ireland proved itself again with a charming goodbye! Kass and I sat next to an endearing Irish/British man on the plan to London. He was very sweet and even woke me up because he was afraid I would hit my head when we landed. “Oh sorry, just wanted you to know we’d be landing soon. Didn’t want you to startle.”

Thank you Ireland, you provided everything but the red balloon.

[A]

Thanksgiving is the great American holiday consisting of The Macy’s Parade, football, and turkey.  Let me tell you what Ashley and I experienced this Thanksgiving:  confused looks, lots of questions, and a “traditional” Thanksgiving dinner.

It never crossed my mind that most people in London would not know what Thanksgiving is and it wasn’t like they just didn’t know the exact details of the history-they genuinely had no idea what it was at all.  My professor actually asked me if Americans drop turkeys out of airplanes.  I laughed until I realized he was serious.  In my class (yes, I had to go to class on Thanksgiving) all of the British students bombarded my fellow American students and myself with every question imaginable about every detail of Thanksgiving.  It was all very bizarre.

Our wonderful study abroad program foresaw that us Americans would be a little homesick on Turkey Day and organized a “traditional” American Thanksgiving dinner for us at a restaurant in London.  Having never been to a restaurant for Thanksgiving and enticed by the idea of a free hearty meal Ashley and I were pumped.

We were a little confused when we arrived and the whole area reserved for us was decorated with a Christmas theme but we went with it.  At every place there was a Christmas Cracker!  Basically this a cardboard tube that’s tied on each end and you have to pull each end (with the help of a friend) to get your goodies.  Inside each was a paper crown (because why not?), a joke, and a toy.  I got a tiny deck of cards in mine and Ashley got…a plastic shoe horn.  We were as perplexed as you.

Now down to the important business, the meal.  Appetizer:  goat’s cheese and Portobello mushroom on toasted brioche.  Traditional American Thanksgiving?  No.  Tasty?  Yes.  For our main course we, of course, chose turkey with all the trimmings.  What arrived on my plate was unlike any turkey I have ever seen before.  I’m not even sure how to explain it.  I guess the best way to describe it is that it was like a turkey log with the stuffing rolled inside it.  It was weird.  Ashley and I were both equally shocked and horrified to find that there were no mashed potatoes.  It cannot be a traditional Thanksgiving dinner without mashed potatoes!  Clearly, someone missed the memo on this.  Dessert was pumpkin pie, which would have been good if the pie didn’t have an odd film over the top of it.  The chef clearly gave it a valiant effort but it is probably best if he leaves the cooking of Thanksgiving dishes to the Americans because his “traditional” American Thanksgiving was far from it.

In the end, I don’t think there was any way that this Thanksgiving was going to feel like normal for either of us.  We were away from our families for a major holiday and every family has their own traditions – Ashley and her family sing grace very loudly and my family eats on the couch while watching football – so there was no way that eating in a restaurant for Thanksgiving with a room full of strangers was going to feel like home.  There was nothing particularly terrible about our Thanksgiving, it was just different and that is certainly not a bad thing.  We had fun experiencing the English take on our holiday and for once, Ashley and I got to spend Thanksgiving together.

[K]