A lot of people were interested in having a lake trip on one of the free days during the program. One girl, Melina, organized the whole thing. About 50 of us split a shuttle bus that took us to Bolsena (about 30 minutes from Orvieto) and had a lake day. People were interested in renting kayaks and paddle boards and what not, so our Italian coordinators had us dropped off at this yacht club where we could rent all those and more!
The beaches were kind of sandy and kind of rocky, I don't really know how to describe it, but it was nice because it came off my feet really easily, unlike actual sand.
I spent most of the time just tanning in the overcast weather, eating some popcorn and drinking some coca-cola provided by Brandi. The water was a great temperature, but the breeze was much colder so I never spent too much time in the water.
During our time at the lake we had some visitors join us, I was only freaking out a little bit...
I didn't bring my camera with me so I do not have very many pictures at all, and the ones I do have I do not appear in. So enjoy a picture of Aaren and Brandi, and a picture of JT the programs bee keeper who is afraid of all bugs.
I didn't have any breakfast that day because I was expecting to eat lunch in Bolsena. Well the yacht club we were at was on the exact opposite side of the lake as the city, so there was no food besides the snacks at the bar. When we got back to Orvieto I thought I was going to pass out from starvation, so a group of us immediately went to go find food. I brought a bucket of pretzels with me to make sure I didn't die along the way. We decided we wanted to go to our favorite pizza place, but when we got there (at 4) they said they were closed from 4-6!!! And literally every other restaurant (with the exception of cafes) was closed until 6 as well. This boggled my mind because siestas are usually from 1-4... I have no idea what the rule is now. Anyway, since I was dying we decided to go to a cafe to get a snack while we waited for the restaurant to open. People joined us along the way and then the restaurant finally opened, and I was able to satisfy my stomach.
After eating we went to an art show that was being put on by some other students from some other school in America. They had some really awesome pieces, but this one was my favorite:
Afterwards we came back home and I went straight to sleep because we all had an early morning the next day
Saturday June 13
Saturday and Sunday was our two day field trip to either Venice or Pompeii, me and my roomies were headed to Venice! What time did we have to meet at the busses you might ask? 5:30 AM. So that means I woke up at 4:45 AM, rolled out of bed, packed up my stuff and headed for the busses. It's a little less than a 6 hour drive from Orvieto to Venice so everyone took full advantage of sleeping on the bus ride. We stopped for breakfast at the road side stop, and I had a delicious chocolate muffin, I can't believe I am saying this but it was seriously better than the chocolate costco muffins!
Eventually we arrived close to Venice and our bus driver dropped us off to start our day. I don't know if you all know this but Venice is called the floating city. Why? Well because it's literally an island and the only form of transportation is a form of boat (ferry, gondala, etc.). So when we arrived on the outside of the cit we had to ride a ferry into the city, I was pumped because I love boats and I sat in the back of the boat with some great views.
Gondalas for days
I think he may have been trying to do a peace sign... so close
Our first stop was in St Marcs Basilica square to eat some lunch. We got some pizza, which was surprisingly doughy, but the restaurant was really hot so it was kind of hard to enjoy it. The wifi didn't work so well either, but luckily all you AZ people were sleeping so I wouldn't have anyone to talk to anyway.
After lunch we walked around, did a little shopping, and got Brandi some gelato because she wasn't feeling very well. Gelato is a cure all.
Floating arm in the floating city!
Our next stop was to ride the ferry to a park where a portion of All The World's Future was at. The art in this exhibition was very interesting and abstract. There were some things that I could wrap my head around and then there were some that made no sense at all. Art is a crazy thing, I wish I had the perception that a lot these artists have.
You can't tell but we are sitting on a couch in the shape of lips, hence the kissy faces
The garden of Eden
Danielle chilling in the cool artsy cafe
An inoperable ride. It was very hot that day so I really wanted to ride it.
We sat down for awhile to cool down and use some wifi, and I went super stalker mode to try and collect photos for my final project for my digital photography class. I ended up getting flipped off hahah
After spending the day at the exhibition we hopped back on the ferry boat, then back on the bus to drive to a neighboring town in the middle of nowhere, where our hotel was located. I was separated from my roommates in the room situations, but it ended up working out well because they were both pretty sick, so I didn't have to catch it. And I was rooming with this other journalism student, Paige, who is really chill.
We had dinner at the hotel provided for us. The first course was a delicious lasagna, second course was some weird turkey slices, green beans and yummy baby potatoes, then dessert was this cheesecake textured thing that had the taste of ice cream, it was really good.
After dinner everyone was very bummed because 1: there was no bar or club outside the hotel 2: Alba told the bartenders not to serve any of the students alcohol. Not a fun night for the drinkers. Then there were people like me who were only bummed because the wifi sucked in my room, and the screw in my glasses came loose, so that was a bummer.
Sunday June 14
There was an awfully annoying wake up call in the morning that forced me to wake up, get ready and then eat some of the weird hotel breakfast.
When we left the hotel it was only sprinkling, but by the time we got back to Venice it was DOWN POURING with thundering and lightning strikes all around. A lot of people were not prepared for rain so Alba had to buy a ton of colorful ponchos for everyone.
Ready for the super fun ferry boat ride with Kim!
With the raging storms around me I was not too excited to get on the ferry boat, but all is well I remain alive and it was quite the adventure. I also brought my camera along because I still needed more photos for my photojournalism class... it was a risk with all the rain, but the camera is still alive as well.
Brandi was especially not thrilled to be on the boat with her sickness
We spent the second day at another exhibit for All The Worlds Future. I would have preferred to explore this day, than go to another exhibit, but oh well whatre you gonna do. There were some cool stuff here too, much more that I did not get
After walking through this exhibit the roomies and I went to lunch, did some window shopping, and of course got some gelato.
And it was necessary to take windy pictures on one of the many bridges
Then we rode the ferry boat back to the busses, this time we had front row seats, so obviously selfies were necessary
And my roommates are cuties
We finally got back to the bus and started our journey back to Orvieto. I unfortunately had to pee 92% of the time during the drive so that was interesting. I also went through my entire itunes on my phone before we even got home. A very interesting bus ride.
When we got back everyone went out to celebrate peoples birthdays but I wasn't feeling it so I just stayed in and relaxed. Except in the kitchen there was a sound that sounded like someone was scraping food off of a plate so now I am convinced there is a mouse in the house.... not a fun thought when you are home by yourself let me tell ya.
Monday June 15
Another day to take advantage of sleeping in. I probably got out of bed around 11 just because I thought I was going to die if I didn't eat something asap. No worries, still not dead.
Brandi and I went out for a little bit to go to the market and to a few other stores, she was successful in finding souvenirs for some people, I was successful for even leaving the house.
We came back and she took a nap before we went to class. When it was time to go I attempted to wake her up, but she is quite the heavy sleeper. Here is how it went:
1: At 1:30 I went in her room and told her that she needed to wake up, she actually said "okay"
2: At 1:40 she was still not awake, so I go in and shake her a little bit
3: I pull the blankets off of her
4: I lay on top of her for a solid 30 seconds
5: Pat her head around
6: Went into the kitchen to get advice from Danielle, she suggested water
7: Put some water on my fingers then touched Brandi's face
8: Poured a little bit of water on her forehead
9: Go to Danielle for more advice, she suggests loud music
10: I blast Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding
11: Danielle comes in and we talk to figure out what to do
12: I continue to play music
13: Brandi finally wakes up
We were even early to class. What a fun adventure
Class was class...
I went and explored a little to collect some photographs, ate a salami panini and then worked on my final project for my photojournalism class.
Then we all went out for some pizza and some gelato.
Lots of people are going out tonight, I am not feeling too spiffy but Brandi had strict commands from Aaren to drag me out tonight, so I guess I am going out tonight.... probably only for a little bit though lets be real.
This is the last week of field trips for the program. On Wednesday we are going to the Tarot Gardens and on Friday we are going to Florence (which I am the most excited about).
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