Ciao, Keli

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[ciaokeli]

D.W.I.-"Driving While Italian"

Here's a little something I learned in my 3.5 months in Florence...

parking is never an issue. Why? Because it seems you can park wherever and however one's little heart desired. The entire semester I snapped photos of cars parked on sidewalks, in the middle of streets, and even clearly hitting others with no visible consequences. It seems a number of my photos are lost in the thousands I took this semester, but I wanted to share that one.

And yes, that van is blocking that stores entrance. No, it wasn't the store owner's. And it stayed there for about 20 minutes.

CAVOLO!

[ciaokeli]

Ciao, Firenze-12.14.14

Wow.

100 days in Firenze have come to an end and this has by far been one of the best experiences of my life. I have come to love this city and the people with whom I have joyously spent all these days.

The past few days have been all about spending time with these incredible people that I love and saying goodbye to the city I have come to call home (& of course, the food; the famous bistecca alla fiorentina, the last Gusta pizza, my favorite gelato.)

3.5 Months, 6 counties, and 19 cities later...I am back home in Indiana.

ITALY:

Florence

Vernazza

Manarola

Monterosso

Corniglia

Riomaggiore

Pisa

Pompeii

Positano

Capri

Sorrento

Monteculpiano

Munich, GERMANY

GREECE:

Athens

Santorini

Mykonos

Interlaken, SWITZERLAND

London, ENGLAND

Paris, FRANCE

Back to where it all began, #IUin Florence, Italy.

Ciao, Firenze.

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Paris, France-12.04.14

Paris is always a good idea.

Finally. It is no secret that I have longed to visit Paris since I started learning French in the 7th grade. About a decade later, it definitely did not disappoint.

I went with two girls from my program, Emily and Lilly, but I stayed on my own. The first night, I ventured out into my neighborhood to explore and find dinner. I had Chipotle. Disgusting, I know, that my first Parisian dinner was at an American cult fast food place (one that I don't even like), but whatever.

    *Sidenote: it is strange to say Spanish words in French, i.e. 'guacamole'

The next morning, we ventured out on our quest to the Palace of Versailles. One that included 3 American girls and a complex Parisian metro system. It took some time, but we made it. And got in for free with our Italian student VISAs! We were met at the entrance with the golden gates and proceeded inside to find the most lavish and glamorous decor. I was captivated by the Hall of Mirrors. I will say that the French know how to do luxury. Each and every room was dripping in rich velvets, lace, and gold.

After the palace tour, we were ready for lunch. So, we stopped into Angelina's (renowned pastry shop). We all order the French onion soup--or is it just onion soup? Definitely the best I have ever had. 

After lunch, we explored the outside grounds and gardens of the Palace. The labyrinth-like garden maze was an incredible sight in itself, but with the cold, December temperatures, we decided to head out. But not before grabbing some Laduree macaroons!

After being surrounded by all things fabulous all day, we ended it by going into the original Christian Louboutin store. After waiting in line for about an hour (apparently there was word of his visiting his store that day), we went inside and shopped. Both Emily and Lilly bought their first pairs of Louboutins! I demonstrated very serious Keli self-control because we all know how I feel about shopping.

The next morning, I met up with Karli, a friend from high school who is now an au pair in Paris, and her 3 friends Annie, Shelby, and Kieran for brunch at Angelina's. There, we had the famous hot chocolate which is an incredibly rich, decadent, and thick chocolate and omelets.

We then ventured out to to different Chanel stores (this trip tested me y'all). Then, the Musee d'Orsay. Wow. After a semester in Florence, it was incredible to see the architectural marvel that housed so many legendary works of art, including those of one of my favorites, Vincent van Gogh. The museum was incredible, (again--for free with my Italian student VISA).

Afterwards, we ventured across the city and got some amazing photos for my IU photo series. Both Annie and Shelby are IU Hoosiers, too!

When we got to the Trocadero spot, which is a famous spot for landing the perfect photo with the Eiffel Tower, we were met with a surprise. The area had been occupied by a #BlackLivesMatter die in to protest police brutality against African-Americans in the U.S. All the way in Paris. I was overwhelmed with happiness that the world is watching and sees our pain. To be across the world and be blessed enough to bear witness to such international strength and compassion...there are no words.

After the protest, we went to the Champs Elysees to take part in the Christmas markets. These markets were the biggest I had seen across Europe; they went on for miles. There, I partaked in a new favorite of mine, hot mulled wine. Yum! Must make some this winter. I also had a salmon baguette for dinner, authentic French champagne, and bought some scented soaps from Marseilles--strawberry, cinnamon orange, and passion fruit! Then, we watched the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle. Incredible. Shelby and Kieran showed me to some of their favorite pubs and bars. In order to get to one, we had to cross in front of Notre Dame as the bells rang and a Christmas tree lit up in front. We grabbed dinner for the night, and I went back to my hotel after an amazing and exhausting day in Paris.

And the final #IUin ...Paris.

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Boboli Gardens-11.22.14

"And if you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." 

                                              Keli in Wonderland

With our time in Florence quickly winding down (officially 14 days left), and our actual weekends in the city are few to none, we were behind on accomplishing our touristy checklist. Boboli Gardens was obviously a must do.

On a cloudy, misting Saturday morning, we set off across the Arno river and into the backyard of the Pitti Palace. We were met with an extremely vast area filled with Tuscan gold buildings and trimmed shrubbery. Not to mention the rolling hills. (Had I known before hand, I would have opted for tennis shoes instead of leather boots.) We definitely had no idea that Boboli was such a spacious area! Throughout the day, we explored through 5.4 miles worth of ivy vines, elaborate fountains, and hidden pathways. It seemed that every destination had four passages to getting there.

That's the way I like my adventures.

After 5.4 miles, we reward ourselves with amazing Gusta Pizza because it is EATaly after all.

[ciaokeli]

London, England-11.14.14

34 hours in London...

To say my London trip was quick would be an understatement. But I tried to experience as much of this giant city as I could in the little time I had.

Friday began with a 24 hour transportation strike across Italy. This is probably the 7th strike that has occurred in the 2.5 months I've been here, and the 3rd one that personally affected my travel plans. While they don't usually kill our plans, they do heavily back them up. So after needing to be at the Pisa airport an extra 3 hours early, a 45 minute shuttle that turned into 2 hour standstill traffic, Italian passport controllers who held up customs for an hour, and a 1.5 hour UK Border entry, a 1 hour bus ride to London from Standstead, and a quick 10 minute Tube (London Metro) ride, we arrived at our hostel. And exhausted and hungry from our travels, we grabbed ciders and pub food from the hostel pub/bar before bed.

The next morning, we woke up at 7am and headed out to begin our day. We bought tickets to a city bus tour, "hop on, hop off" bus, so that we could squeeze in all of London, while still see the parts we wanted. First stop was Platform 9 3/4, a Harry Potter fan staple, at King Cross train station. While I never really jumped aboard the Harry Potter fanatic train, it was a pretty cool thing to check out. Throughout the day, we explored other landmarks like Buckingham Palace (aka my future home), Big Ben, the Tower of London, the London Eye,  Picadilly's Circus, and Harrod's luxury department store.

    *Sidenote: at the Tower of London, there was an exhibition for the 100th year anniversary of World War I where there were 888,246 ceramic red poppies installed in the castle's moat to honor each British solider fatality, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. We were there on the last day to see them before volunteers removed them all.

Never did I imagine London to be such an enormous city, so I know I have to go back when I have more time. That night, we explored some of the Christmas markets around the London Eye. We ate dutch pancakes with nutella, shopped for ugly Christmas sweaters, and tasted English toffee vodka. Very cool market.

Then, we returned to our hostel and got in a short nap before needing to head back to the Standsted Airport at 4am for our flight back to Florence.

Cheers, ole chap! #IUin London, England.

Ciao,

  Keli

[ciaokeli]

Interlaken, Switzerland-11.06.14

Whoops, it's been awhile since a blog post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been traveling!

I booked Interlaken to celebrate the 21st birthday of a girl in my program, Sara, as a huge girls' trip. The Swiss Alps, chocolate, and spa treatments...but Switzerland turned out to be one of my new favorite places.

Thursday night, we headed out on our 8.5 hour bus ride. Traveling up and down the curvy Swiss Alps in a giant charter bus at 2am is actually an incredibly cool thing...

After checking into Balmer's Hostel and being greeted with chocolate, the oldest private hostel in Interlaken, we rested up for an adventurous first day. The next morning, everyone split up for their own adventures, while some went hiking the Alps (not Keli) or skydiving or paragliding, I decided to travel up to the top of the Swiss Alps (9,000 feet high) by train, bus, and four gondolas. (To my family reading this: I avoided jumping out of planes, free base jumping out of trees, etc. for you all. You're welcome.)

After 1.5 hours of transportation, we found ourselves standing on a giant, clear ledge 9,000 feet in the air. We were so high up that birds were actually flying beneath us. Strange to say the least. But the views were incredible. Absolutely incredible. There's something about being up in extremely high altitude: the temperature drops, the air gets crisper, and the sense of solitude while overlooking everyone and everything below...

After retreating back to the bottom of the Alps, we had dinner and went out for a pub crawl for Sara's 21st. Lots of fun, especially the Latin bar where we danced salsa, bachata, samba, and more.

The next day, we did some tourist shopping. Of course, I got my magnet. And might I just say, tis the cutest magnet in all of Switzerland, one of a kind. That afternoon, we did a free walking tour of the city, led by Melanie. We got to explore the historical buildings as well as city center of Interlaken. My favorite part was ditching the group for 10 minutes and testing out the glacier-cold blue lake water. That night, we just hung around the hostel next to the fire.

The last day, we wanted to go to the lakes in Interlaken. Turns out, they were about 45 minutes away and the unreliable buses decided to never pick us up from the bus stop. So instead, we went into town and got hot chocolate and bought some chocolate and Swiss candy to take back with us to Florence.

Of course, #IUin Interlaken, Switzerland.

Switzerland, I shall definitely return.

Ciao,

  Keli

[ciaokeli]

Mykonos, Greece-10.20.14

We arrived to Mykonos to the picturesque island we had imagined Greece to be. Relatively small and all-white buildings stacked against the cliffs and a harbor by the name of Little Venice.

In Mykonos, we stayed in Mama's Townhouses in Mykonos Town, which were private hostel apartments run by a very nice German lady. Too bad she met us post-ferry.

We ventured out for dinner and were lucky when we got the only non-reservation table available at M-eating, the #1 restaurant in Mykonos according to TripAdvisor. Absolutely amazing food including tomato soup, mushrooms, chicken "sushi" and veal rib-eye.

The next day we rented ATVs to freely explore the island and all of its most popular beaches. ATVing was lots of fun, especially when the gigantic hills made it that much more difficult. First stop was Super Paradise beach where we were met with a calm beach with an amazing view and crystal clear waters. After relaxing there for a few hours, we went off to Paradise beach, the party beach. Off season? Not so much, but gorgeous nonetheless. Then, we took the ATVs to our last stop of the night, dinner at Nikos Gallop, a restaurant in another town that features old sail boats for dinner tables. Again, awesome food, especially my giant seashell filled bowl of seafood linguine. And Greek ouzo shots, on the house! And of course, nutella & strawberry crepes for dessert, our Mykonos staple.

We spent the last day getting lost in Mykonos. Literally. Turns out, those charming little streets take you alllllll over the island. We finished off buying some souvenirs--or magnets for me.

   *Sidenote: A LOT of time in Greece was me magnet shopping for my weird collection. I got 7 in total. Yeah...I have a problem.

As tradition, #IUin Mykonos, Greece.

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Santorini, Greece-10.17.14

Four Girls, Three Hostels, Two Islands, One Big Fat GRΣΣK Wedding...

Ahhhhhh, fall break. As previously mentioned, I retreated to Greece for my week off where I met up with my friend Amy, from my Barcelona study abroad last year, Kaitlin, and Ashley. First island: Santorini!

We arrived via plane from Athens late night and took a taxi to our hostel, Villa Manos.

    *Sidenote: Villa Manos is hardly a hostel if you ask me! It was a gorgeous Greek architecture with a large pool and bar. But its best feature? The husband and wife owners. The front desk is run by an amazingly sweet woman named Poppy and she even gifted us a bottle of Greek wine when we checked out!

When we discovered that our hostel was so close to the main town of Santorini, Fira, we tried walking to grab dinner. Mistake simply based on the fact that we were almost run over 4 times walking on the side of the roads, so we hopped on the island bus (for literally a 1minute 12second ride) into town. There, we randomly selected a taverna restaurant to feed our achingly empty bellies and *cue Hallelujahs* 🙌 it was delicious.

   *Another sidenote: I went to Greece solely for the views and wholeheartedly believed I would starve the entire trip because I'd never had Greek food that I liked. This trip turned me into a major believer.

We ordered the majority of the menu including tzatziki, domatokeftedes, moussaka, etc. Yum, yum, yum...

The next day, we hopped on the island bus to take us to Kamari beach where we laid out, swam in the Aegean Sea, and explored the town. That night, Poppy recommended an amazing restaurant next to the Atlantis Hotel for an incredible sunset dinner. The food and views certainly did not disappoint.

After sunset, we returned to the hostel and bar for a nightcap and went to the closing night of Two Brothers bar and Koo Klub.

Sunday, we ventured out to Oia (pronounced: ee-yah), for the iconic views of Santorini that we had been lusting after. We spent the entire day shopping through the town boutiques and getting lost in the countless alleyways taking photos. It was a pretty calm day until we sat down at an outdoor restaurant and a stray cat peed allllll over Amy's purse/work bag...we were told multiple times that is good luck, but so far, nada.

Strange omen, in Oia, we witnessed a wedding photoshoot on top of the Grecian rooftops. And that night, we celebrated our last night in Santorini with a wedding.

Fast forward to the next morning, there were extreme winds (35-45mph) around the island and we weren't sure if our ferry to Mykonos was even going to be running since they were all cancelled the day before, but it was. And that's the day we learned to never get on a 3 hour ferry with extreme winds again. Let's just say, they were passing out barf bags to 250 people like suburban neighborhoods pass out candy on Halloween...

                                             -to be continued-

#IUin Santorini, Greece

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Athens, Santorini & Mykonos, Greece-10.17.14

Midterms Week is over. Goodbye, shall not miss you.

But I am overdue for some sun and relaxation, so I am off to Greece for fall break! I will be updating and blogging when I return to Florence.

Until then...

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Italian Cooking Class-10.07.14

Tonight, there was a cooking class program offered by CAPA that I attended.

On the menu: ragu Toscana with fresh pasta, yogurt gelato with strawberries, and tiramisu.

We took the class through Dado's Kitchen with chef Riccardo Pinzani. Upon arrival, we were handed plastic aprons and sous chef hats, but I'll spare myself the embarrassment of posting those pictures. We started with the ragu because it takes the longest to prepare and cook. Italian ragu is similar to French bolognese with a few minor changes. We began chopping carrots, celery, and white onions, added some extra virgin olive oil and let the vegetables simmer. Then, we added the spicy sausage and beef. After letting that cook until brown, add a dry red wine, like Chianti.

While the ragu stewed, we started the gelato, which had a very simple recipe: sugar, yogurt, and heavy cream. Unfortunately, at home, I lack the restaurant-grade gelato machine. We started the tiramisu next, with easy ingredients like sugar, separated egg yolks and whites, marscapone, lady fingers, chocolate powder, and sweetened coffee. Tiramisu turns out to be very easy to make...a bit too easy. I hope all my friends and family love tiramisu because I'll be making plenty!

   *Did you know tiramisu means "pull me up" in English?

The fresh pasta took some work. We had to mix eggs and flour to get a pasta dough, then knead it for about 10-15 minutes. After kneading and rolling, it went into a pasta machine that flattened it. We, then, cut it into a pappardelle pasta, then dropped it into salted boiling water.

The entire process was quite simple and very authentic Italian!

Buon Appetito!

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Munich, Germany (Oktoberfest)-10.03.14

Prost! This past weekend I attended the world's largest funfair, Oktoberfest in Munich. It was my first time in Germany, and it definitely did not disappoint. After an eight hour bus ride, we arrived at Jaeger's Hostel. Hands down, best hostel so far. There were ten of us per room with our own bathroom and real wifi. We quickly headed out to find dirndls and lederhosen. Luckily, since it was the last weekend, most of it was on sale. We went back to the hostel and headed out.

We were surrounded by thousands of people dressed up in the traditional garb of Oktoberfest and went into our first beer tent, Hofbrahaus, which is the most popular. Boy, did it show. Inside, it was absolutely packed. Each table is pushed together and the thousands of people inside sit back to back. Literally. And I use the term beer "tent" loosely. The "tents" are actually enormous warehouses. Once we settled into a table, the beer started flowing. Each beer stein holds about 1 litre, or 4 beers, of very strong beer. Each beer tent serves their own lager and food recipes. And as someone who does not like beer, I was not complaining--that says a lot. The entire atmosphere of the tent was festive, especially when everyone stood up on the tables to belt out "Sweet Caroline," who knew Germans love that song?? After the brews, we headed outside for the rides. I did not know that Oktoberfest had fair games and rides. We decided to ride the giant Olympic roller coaster that features five loops one after another. That was the conclusion of Day 1.

Day 2 was more hectic, but even more fun. We woke up at 6:30am, essential to get to the best beer tents early and get a spot to sit. No seat? No beer. Hofbrahaus was completely insanity and after standing in their line for 1.5 hours, we found out our line led to a false entrance. So, we went to their competitor: Augustiner, which was the best decision. We walk in to a much more homey environment. The whole tent was green with strung up lights hanging from the ceilings. And everyone wasn't packed in like sardines, however the majority of the tables were reserved. After scouting out tables for 30 minutes, we found an empty one that we shared with another group. After some small talk, we found out that they are IU undergrads and now IU Maruer Law students (Hi, Kimmie and Mandy)!! We found fellow Hoosiers by complete coincidence. (Yes, I love my school and its alumni.) An hour later, there was an Australian girl next to us who we chatted up, look down at her necklace and boom: it was the state of Indiana. Turns out, she studied in Indiana last year and fell in love with it. We spent the rest of the day with them at the beer tents. Augustiner beer, turns out, I like even more than the first. We ate tons of German food: pretzels with special mustard dipping sauce, the house chicken, and potato soup. Yum! When we went outside to the fair, I got separated from my group. While standing at our meeting spot, I was approached by two guys who asked if I go to IU. Obviously, I answered yes and found out that they are current students as well and had recognized me (!!; Hey, Silas and Hiten!) in the middle of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Four thousand miles from home and I realize I'm surrounded by IU family.

Day 3 was Oktoberfest-free. Instead, we wanted to do something more educational and went to the Dachau Concentration Camp that was used during the Holocaust as a prison for Jews, anti-Nazis, Polish, etc. It was truly humbling. To walk around the same grounds and stand in the bunkers that housed thousands was heart breaking. It is important to always remember that we are first human beings and to treat each other with dignity and respect, but to also protect and stand up for the injustice that surrounds us.

*On the drive back from Munich, we drove through the countryside of Germany, Austria, and Italy. These views were insanely gorgeous, yeah, the hills were alive.

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Pisa-09.28.14

The beauty of studying abroad in Florence, Italy? Being able to take pretty cool day trips. On this particular day, it was Pisa. Pisa is a mandatory visit for all study abroad students in Italy, a right of passage one could say. So please, do excuse and enjoy the cliche tourist photos that are to come.

From Florence, some friends (Taylor, Nicole, Rachel, and Jordan) and I hopped on an eight euro train to Pisa from Santa Maria Novella train station. After about an hour or so, we arrived. Now, I'm sure I'm not the first and certainly won't be the last to say this but...who knew Pisa had more than just the Leaning Tower?! Obviously, I knew it was a city, but I never pictured it as it is. It really reminds me of a little Florence. To reach the tower, it's a bit of a walk over a river and through the shopping district and city center of Pisa. But then, boom.

We were met with the complete building and were delighted to see about a hundred people casually lounging in the leaning shade the tower gives from the sun. We sat for a bit and then headed to take photos.

Of course, we all took photos for each other, but the real daunting task came when we needed a group shot. So, we scouted out a nice American couple and asked for a photo. The results are hilariously disastrous. I mean really...when has anyone ever taken a Leaning Tower of Pisa picture like this?

Dear stranger American lady, in case you ever see this, typically the falling tower goes in front of the people holding it up. This was photo #3 by the way.

Of course, I had to take my traditional #IUin Pisa picture.

             *Super Hoosier saves the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

After taking tons of pictures in the blazing sun, we had to treat ourselves to some gelato! We stumbled into this adorable gelateria called Bellamia that had crunchy crepes: fresh hot, Nutelled-stuffed crepes folded and filled with two kinds of gelato, chocolate chips, and drizzled with more chocolate.

And on that note...

Ciao,

  Keli

[ciaokeli]

Chianti-09.26.14

Under the Tuscan Sun

Our program, CAPA, scheduled a wine education and appreciation class in the gorgeous Chianti region of Tuscany. Early Friday, my roommates and I met up with the rest of the attendees and took an hour bus ride outside of Florence. There, we first hiked (Keli was tricked--again), up the Tuscan roads to reach Montefiorale, a town within Tuscany with quite a back story. We were left to explore the town for about 30 minutes in order to find the childhood home of Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian navigator after which "America" received its name. Since the town is located on the very top, the views of the Tuscan hills.

After our own explorations, it was wine time. We took a short bus ride to Castello Verrazzano, which has been an active winery for over 1,000 years and through multiple wars. There, we received our wine education. Our guide explained the careful and meticulous process that goes into every bottle of verified Chianti, dessert wine, olive oil, and balsamic.

*Side note: The process of wine is extremely rigorous and quality is of upmost importance. Their Vino Santo or holy wine all together is a four year process with growing, harvesting, drying, pressing, aging in barrels, and bottling. The result is an extremely sweet golden wine with a high alcohol content that is fit for the Pope himself. In Italy, dessert wine is paired with biscotti and sipped from a small tumbler, much like a shot glass. This winery, also, produces balsamic vinegar which is a ten year long process, I'm not even going to go into that--ain't nobody got time.

Of course I bought some wine to bring home with me at the end--I am an official wine appreciator now after all...

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

The Amalfi Coast: 09.19.14

This weekend was easily some of the best days of my life. Specifically Positano, Italy, but I'll get to that in a minute.

Again, I booked my trip through Bus2Alps, after meeting up at the Santa Maria Novella train station on Thursday night, we loaded up a double-decker bus for what turns out to be an eight hour bus ride. (We thought it was a five hour ride so, imagine our surprise.) At 4am, we arrived in Sorrento, a cute beach town in southern Italy. We stayed at the Seven Hostel, which was very nice, even had a rooftop bar. Two hours later, at 6am, we were on a ferry to head to Capri.

On Capri, we went into the Blue Grotto, which is a tiny, tiny, cave where the blue water reflects off the bright white sand underneath and sunlight causes a glowing appearance. We paid 12 euro to go in and 5 euro to swim in it (a bit of a rip-off, but hey it's all about the experience). After being dunked in, I remembered how extremely salty the Mediterranean is. Caution: do not swallow the water. After the Blue Grotto, we returned to the boat and went on a (crazy) boat ride where we also saw the Green Grotto and White Grottos. We also sailed under the legendary Lover's Rock. After docking, there was an optional hike or tram ride to reach the next town. (Again, Keli don't do hikes). There, we explored the town of Capri, tried limoncello, and enjoyed the shopping. And the seafood, obviously. I had spaghetti alla frutta di mare with mussels and clams. Then, we took a topless taxi back down to the bottom of the island. A topless taxi, by the way, is a normal expanded car with its hood torn off that takes you on the craziest drive ever down the curvy streets of Capri while being sung stereotypical Italian songs. Oh, a tourist's paradise. That night, was one of my roommate's 21st birthday! We celebrated Ellen by dressing up and going out to a nice dinner in town and went to a beer garden afterwards.

On Saturday, we went to Positano, which was about an hour bus ride from Sorrento. (We missed Beyonce and Jay Z by 1.5 weeks, by the way [depression]). Then when we were dropped off at a random point on the massive cliff, we had to hike down (Keli had no choice) for about 45mins to get to the beach. But the views, were fantastic. When we finally reached the bottom, we were giving free reign over the beach. We, obviously, spent the first hour recovering from the down hill spiral of a hike. Then, 17 of us rented two boats and went to see Positano from the sea. Easily, the best decision I've made thus far. The views from the water were even more incredible and the random stops we took to all swim and party together in the water made it even better. We were taken to private beaches and blocked off in the water to enjoy the ocean. Unfortunately, the boat ride had to end and we went back to beach to finish off our relaxing day. Then, back to the bus and Sorrento we went. That night, we stayed in the hostel and hung out on their dance floors and bar.

On Sunday, we checked out of the hostel and took buses to Pompeii. For those who don't know, the city of Pompeii was destroyed in 79 A.D. when Mount Vesuvius erupted and covered the town in waves of detrimental soot and ash. It is typically referred to as "The City Stuck in Time" because the way the ash covered everything, it essentially preserved everything from the buildings to the towns people who were mummified. It was actually very different from how I thought it was going to look. The entire city was basically open for us to roam and explore the homes and gain insight into the lives of those lost. Things I didn't know about Pompeii: it was previously believed that everyone mostly died from the ash inhalation, where most died from the extreme heat that plagued the city (around 475 degrees F); they were an advanced people that even had businesses with marketing puns ("Vesuvium" was the name of a wine shop, a combination of Vesuvius and vium which meant wine); and the people practiced an immense amount of eroticism and phallic worship. The frescoes that were featured on the walls and ceilings of the homes were incredibly detailed and creative. Some homes even had intricate tiling and marble. However, walking around this dead museum gave a bit of an eerie feeling, like we were disrupting the final resting places of thousands. Overall, it was very memorable.

Clearly, my weekend in the Amalfi coast was action packed. And I cannot wait to come back. Look out Positano, I'm coming for you.

#IUin Positano

#IUin Capri

Ciao,

   Keli

[ciaokeli]

Cinque Terre, Italy: 09.14.2014

After the years of Pinterest-inspired dreaming, I have finally visited Cinque Terre. And yes, it is just as beautiful as the pictures make it seem.

In order to get there, I booked through Bus2Alps as a day trip. Cinque Terre translates to "Five Lands" in English, based on the five cities that compose it: Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Monterosso. To get from town to town, we took a train and there were optional hikes. I took the train because Keli don't do hikes. With each town came the treasure in it all, the seafood. It's no secret that I am a supporter of fresh frutta di mare. On Vernazza, I had a seafood cone of crab balls--which were basically crab stuffed hush puppies drizzled with fresh lemon. Absolutely delicious.

We ended the day on the beach, the way any trip should. The water is a glowing blue that only enhanced the backgrounds of giant cliffs. After hours of playing in the water and plenty of photo shoots with my IU flag, in what has become tradition ( #IUin Cinque Terre), we headed back for another week in Firenze. Ciao, Cinque Terre.

Ciao,

    Keli

[ciaokeli]

Piazza Michelangelo- 09.07.2014

On Sunday we went for what we thought was going to be a 30 minute walk, but was actually an intense 7 mile hike up one of Florence's steepest hills to reach Piazza Michelangelo. There were a couple of stops throughout the hike, including one where I got to eat fig picked straight from the branch, but none measured up to the views of Piazza Michelangelo. Two hours later, wIth very little water and sweltering 85 degree heat, we made it. And we were not disappointed with the view that we had very much so earned.

The view of the Duomo was spectacular and the entire horizon was filled with the city of Florence. And after conquering such a feat, we marked our territory for Indiana Univerisity.

Ciao,

       Keli

[ciaokeli]

Throughout my Florence study abroad, I will be doing my #IUin across my destinations! I will be taking my IU flag everywhere I go and documenting my travels on the flag to take a piece a piece of IU with me.

Ciao,

    Keli