Ciao a tutti,
2 economics papers and 1 art history exam later and midterms are over! YAY
Just wanted to give you a heads up of my whereabouts for the next 10 days:
London-->Paris-->Milan-->Venice
Pretty amazing fall break, huh?
Get excited for beautiful pictures and great memories when I get back next Sunday!
I will be traveling to London and Paris with my roomie Alyssa to visit friends from home. Then, we will travel to Paris to visit more friends. From Paris, I will meet up with Meredith (roomie from home) and we will travel to Milan and Venice together.
I am beyond excited!
Ciao!
Melissa
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Cioccolato-yum!
Eurochocolate 2011 started this past week in Perugia! It's a built-in midterms study survival kit in the center of town!
http://www.eurochocolate.com/perugia2011/
Pictures and thoughts to come soon!
Ciao!
Melissa
http://www.eurochocolate.com/perugia2011/
Pictures and thoughts to come soon!
Ciao!
Melissa
Monday, October 10, 2011
Amanda Knox is free!
Not only am I studying abroad in Peruga, Italy and experiencing so much culture, I got to witness one of the most exciting court cases, in my opinion, of my generation: Amanda Knox is free!
As you read earlier in my blog, I was interviewed by The Today Show with Lester Holt and sat in on part of the trial. Well, after several weeks, the interview finally aired! I'm sure many of you who follow my blog also received my mom's email to just about the entire family and circle of friends! Here is the video!
Pretty cool, huh? I got to be on national TV while studying internationally!
Last Monday, I witnessed history as I stood outside the courthouse, with pretty much the entire city of Perugia. My friends and I found a perfect spot to wait for the verdict of Amanda Knox. We stationed ourselves right by the front door of the courthouse, near the barricades where the reporters entered and where all the cameras were set up. Perfect viewing spot! We saw all the reporters file into the courthouse when the verdict was ready. We had a perfect shot of the cluster of microphones where the lawyers, families, etc would come and speak. The time at which the verdict was to be read kept getting postponed, but we stuck it out because we wanted to be there for this monumental event! What was going to happen to this American student? We kept thinking that she could be any of us! We waited anxiously.
Finally, the verdict was announced. I was shaking leading up to it being read and once it was read, I started crying. No joke-I got more emotional than I thought I was going to be! The city went crazy as you can imagine because some people were thrilled while others were angry. My friends were trying to move to another area of the streets and some Italian men yelled out to them, "Hey Americans, f*** you!" I hate to put that in my blog, but I just wanted to highlight the extremes of emotions that was cast over Perugia. That scared all of us! I didn't know how people were going to treat us American students after this ordeal was over and done with. So far, it hasn't affected us, which is great! There was definitely tension running through the streets that night.
I took a bunch of pictures and became one of the paparazzi. I got up close and personal to one of Amanda's lawyers. Literally, while camera crew from new stations were interviewing and videoing her lawyer, I was standing right in the shuffle of them snapping away picture of him!
After hanging around a little bit after the verdict had been read and the family had left, my friends and I decided it was probably a safe idea to get back to our apartment. We didn't know if there would be riots in the streets. It was quite the commotion! Perugia was truly alive that night! There has been such a negative light cast upon this city, but hopefully now that Amanda is back home and the trial is more or less over, the world will look to Perugia for it's many other specialties, like the jazz festival and the chocolate festival that is coming up!
As you read earlier in my blog, I was interviewed by The Today Show with Lester Holt and sat in on part of the trial. Well, after several weeks, the interview finally aired! I'm sure many of you who follow my blog also received my mom's email to just about the entire family and circle of friends! Here is the video!
Pretty cool, huh? I got to be on national TV while studying internationally!
Last Monday, I witnessed history as I stood outside the courthouse, with pretty much the entire city of Perugia. My friends and I found a perfect spot to wait for the verdict of Amanda Knox. We stationed ourselves right by the front door of the courthouse, near the barricades where the reporters entered and where all the cameras were set up. Perfect viewing spot! We saw all the reporters file into the courthouse when the verdict was ready. We had a perfect shot of the cluster of microphones where the lawyers, families, etc would come and speak. The time at which the verdict was to be read kept getting postponed, but we stuck it out because we wanted to be there for this monumental event! What was going to happen to this American student? We kept thinking that she could be any of us! We waited anxiously.
Finally, the verdict was announced. I was shaking leading up to it being read and once it was read, I started crying. No joke-I got more emotional than I thought I was going to be! The city went crazy as you can imagine because some people were thrilled while others were angry. My friends were trying to move to another area of the streets and some Italian men yelled out to them, "Hey Americans, f*** you!" I hate to put that in my blog, but I just wanted to highlight the extremes of emotions that was cast over Perugia. That scared all of us! I didn't know how people were going to treat us American students after this ordeal was over and done with. So far, it hasn't affected us, which is great! There was definitely tension running through the streets that night.
I took a bunch of pictures and became one of the paparazzi. I got up close and personal to one of Amanda's lawyers. Literally, while camera crew from new stations were interviewing and videoing her lawyer, I was standing right in the shuffle of them snapping away picture of him!
After hanging around a little bit after the verdict had been read and the family had left, my friends and I decided it was probably a safe idea to get back to our apartment. We didn't know if there would be riots in the streets. It was quite the commotion! Perugia was truly alive that night! There has been such a negative light cast upon this city, but hopefully now that Amanda is back home and the trial is more or less over, the world will look to Perugia for it's many other specialties, like the jazz festival and the chocolate festival that is coming up!
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| Reports waiting to get let into the courthouse |
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| Amanda Knox and her boyfriend escorted into the courthouse |
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| Protestor who pushed us out of the way to yell into his megaphone-scared us to death! |
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| The verdict! |
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| Amanda's sister (in back, father, step-mom, half-sister) releasing statement from the Knox family |
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| Family embrace |
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| Amanda's lawyer |
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| Told you-I'm one of the reporters! |
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| CNN reporter |
Ciao!
MelissaPosing in Pisa
In addition to my last post about Cinque Terre, I also went to Pisa on the way home! Not much to do in this city besides strike a pose...check it out!
Ciao!
Melissa
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| There it is!! |
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| I'm working it... |
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| Up close and personal with the Leaning Tower of Pisa |
Melissa
Cinque Terre
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Cinque Terre and hike through it's 5 main towns. My friend Alex and I started at the top, Monterosso, and worked our way down through the towns, ending in Riomaggiore. The nature of Cinque Terre is beyond beautiful and I want to show you through my many pictures from my trip. I will try and explain what I saw and what it looked like, but I think you all would get a much better appreciation of such a place through my amazing photos!
Let me begin by saying that the sea water throughout Cinque Terre was the most gorgeous color turquoise I ever seen! I did not know that water could be such a true blue color. Also, the water is crystal clear-you can see for meters below the surface.
FYI! The order in which we proceeded through the towns are as follows: Monterosso-Vernazza-Corniglia-Manarola-Riomaggiore. We hiked for 1hr 30mins to Vernazza, another 1hr 30mins to Corniglia, Corniglia to Manarola was closed so we took the train to Manarola, and then hiked 30mins to Riomaggiore. In total, we hiked for 3hr 30mins! The hike to Riomaggiore is less of a hike and more of a stroll along a boardwalk. It is called Via Dell'Amore, or "Lovers Walk". Along this walk there are locks, bows, ties, etc that symbolize lovers who have made this walk together. Very romantic!
I am so proud of myself-I had a weekend full of adventures. I camped the first night, hiked all day Saturday, and swam in the sea again! Quite the experience!
Ciao!
Melissa
Let me begin by saying that the sea water throughout Cinque Terre was the most gorgeous color turquoise I ever seen! I did not know that water could be such a true blue color. Also, the water is crystal clear-you can see for meters below the surface.
FYI! The order in which we proceeded through the towns are as follows: Monterosso-Vernazza-Corniglia-Manarola-Riomaggiore. We hiked for 1hr 30mins to Vernazza, another 1hr 30mins to Corniglia, Corniglia to Manarola was closed so we took the train to Manarola, and then hiked 30mins to Riomaggiore. In total, we hiked for 3hr 30mins! The hike to Riomaggiore is less of a hike and more of a stroll along a boardwalk. It is called Via Dell'Amore, or "Lovers Walk". Along this walk there are locks, bows, ties, etc that symbolize lovers who have made this walk together. Very romantic!
I am so proud of myself-I had a weekend full of adventures. I camped the first night, hiked all day Saturday, and swam in the sea again! Quite the experience!
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| Camping La Sfinge |
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| Scrimp Scampi-quite a surprise when my dish was brought over to me! |
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| Sunset in La Spezia |
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| Monterosso |
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| Turquoise water |
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| One of the tiny trails we had to walk through... |
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| SO MANY STAIRS! |
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| Alex & I |
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| Lots of agriculture |
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| Vernazza |
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| Cactus |
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| Via dell'Amore |
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| Via dell'Amore |
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| I was feeling artsy... |
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| Sunset in Riomaggiore |
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| Riomaggiore |
Ciao!
Melissa
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