Bagpipes! And Kilts! And Haggis! Oh My!

Let me start off with, I LOVED SCOTLAND.  I loved Scotland so much in fact that I was seriously considering not leaving.  I am sure that work would understand, I mean, what isn't to love about Scotland?  Honestly, I fell in love with the country the instant I stepped off the plane, and it was probably the most difficult place to leave.

Secondly, I was slightly stressed because I wanted this to be an amazing trip for my sister and her friend but I am - well - lets say "directionally challenged"  Maps and I have never gotten all that along.  Our First day we settled into our hostel before going out and exploring, because of the strict liquor laws  in the UK most hostels in the center wouldn't allow under 18's stay in their dorms so we were located a little less central than I would have liked but it wasn't that bad.  We arrived pretty late and ironically the only thing that was open as 2am was - a Mcdonalds.  I shame ate a whopper and fries.  Who am I?  I don't eat McD's.  Period.  I am not going to lie, I did some experimentation in college but who doesn't in college.

It Comes in Pints?

 Yes...  Yes it does....  but more on that later.  I had finally arrived in Ireland.  It was around 6pm by the time I had checked in, and settled.  AND THEN I SAW KELLY!  I was so excited. I didn't let go of her....  Literally we had the most wonderful bear hug since when Robin came home from her semester abroad.  Well actually I didn't let go until dinner.  It was great to hang out with her and her Galway roommies.  It is sincerely fantastic to see people who know who I am and just be myself.  I was on top of the moon.  We sat and chitchatted for a while, our gossip quickly lost interest for the little ones and they ran off to get ice cream.  I find it strange that "little" is 17 I don't feel old, but five minutes ago I was 17 and starting the best summer ever, before I left for Italy.

Home Again

Florence - I mean why not.  I had to show Florence to someone new so it was like I was exploring it all over again through the eyes of someone new!  We first got to Florence late at night, we were tired from all the travel and hauling luggage up hills(that was me) so we collapsed in our apartment and didn't move.  Liz had the time to upload all here pictures, and I had time to look back at all the emails I had missed over the weekend.  I am giving in to any preconceived notions about myself- I am addicted to the internet.  Anyway, Monday I had to be at work, and I worked through Wednesday then Liz and I were going to Scotland with her friend Anna! Monday night after work we walked around the city and looked in all the store windows, Liz decided that she wanted everything as a souvenir, so we had to narrow it down a bit.  What was nice was we got amazing leather jackets together, she got shoes and so on.  It was more nice to just walk around with her and talk.  I missed that so much, we used to be together all the time before I went to college and she went to high school.  It was a great catch up.

Re-united at last in Rome!

Rome - a romantic city full of beautiful monument, wonderful sites and amazing food right?  Wrong.  I have now been to Rome three times, and not to be a downer but it tops my list of worst Italian cities I visited just under Pisola (probably the best- worst getting lost story ever) and Naples.  Now I gave it multiple tries, I did a day trip there with school, I went for four days with my mom and now last weekend, and I think I can safely say, Rome is not for me.  Now I am sure that it could be all fine and well for other people, but here is why I would just be really ok with not going back.

Such Great Heights

A question you may ask yourself about my blog is, why are there music videos in all the posts? Well let me tell you. My plan is to include my song I am listening to/is my favorite/is my new jam when I published each post that way when I look back I can create a playlist that can bring me back to that moment. I am a huge fan of music, and while my list of favorites is diverse (Techno, folk, rave, pop, techno, rock, techno, alternative) I am going to try and make a well rounded playlist that can really bring this year together nicely. 

So this weekend I went on a very interesting trip. I got to see three of Italy most famous foods, and how they are created: Parmigiana cheese, Balsamic de Modena and Prosciutto de Parma.  If I do say so myself it was quiet a gastronomical adventure.  The first stop we did was in Parma to a small cheese factory and I got to see exactly what goes into making Parmigiano cheese, which is surprisingly not alot: milk, whey, salt.  It was really cool.  Basically all true Parmigiano factories are open all year long with no days off because the cows never stop needing to be milked.  The cows are milked each morning and the beginnings of the cheese is made by the afternoon.

So Happy Making

I don't even know where to start.... There is just so much I have to say, and there are so many little off shoots on a main story - like an episode of How I Met Your Mother, just bare with me and you can hear an unbelievable story.

Firstly I was so excited to be going on this trip, Cinque Terre was on my list of places that I really wanted to go to. Cinque Terre for those of you who don't know is a set of five small cities interconnected by a foot path and train system. Cinque Terre literally means "five lands", and is a protected historic land mark by the Italian government. Each Town has its own individual flavor to it, although each four towns are located on the cliff's of the Mediterranean and one town is more inward. Chronologically we went through Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia,Vernazza, and finally Monterosso al Mare. Our hostel was in Riomaggiore, and was by far the best choice of towns to stay in. Riomaggiore is on one end of the chain of towns, so we we able to start our hike and go in one direction for the whole day - although I use "one direction" loosely. The hike was unbelievable tough, but now that you have some idea of what Cinque terre is I will start from the beginning.
So I have work on Fridays and the girls I was traveling with didn't have plans on Friday so I was going to join up later in the day after work. I am not going to lie I was a little nervous taking the train alone, I have had a couple disastrous experiences with taking the train alone , and this would be my first time since my return taking the train. Thankfully this was nothing like the first time, using all my knowledge of trains I had acquired and timetables I was fine!

If I Ever Leave This World Alive

There are many things I could say about the majority of September, but travel was not among those words.  I have been trying to decide life plans and what I am doing with myself, I have work(which is PHENOMENAL by the way) but what else.  I am here in this fantastic city with none of my usual vices: my crafts, sewing machines and the nearest AC Moore is 4014 miles.  Yeah I googled it.  So now what?  I need a project.  Its not that I don't have things that I could do, I am an expert time waster, I in fact have whole folders devoted to the most inane and useless websites you could find.  Its not even like I spend hours on TFLN or postsecret, no these website are much worse.  Alas, I need focus or a direction of my personal life that I have yet to find.  I have very little athletic skill(See hand eye coordination) so joining some sports team here is out of the question, I like baking but baking does no favors for me and thus forces me to run jog awkwardly canter around the city.  My attempts at running have been vividly compared to that of a baby dinosaur and a horse stuck in the mud.  So that rules picking up some kind of cross country.  I bought a basil plant, and aptly named him Phillip, but he is already shedding all his leaves.  I hope he will survive the month I have grown quite fond of him.

Iron and Wine

 Let me start off by saying I have been trying - unsuccessfully - to write this post for some time. This is attempt three, starting from scratch, to get my thoughts on paper.. Er... Internet.
This morning was my adult morning. I sat down with my cup of tea and started doing finances, figuring out budgets and all that stuff. It was an interesting feeling

Saturday, we took a trip to Castello di Verrazzano, Verrazzano means the family of the wild boars of the forest. On the way there I saw two girls, they looked in their late twenties in dresses that I wouldn't wear to Hattaz at 2 am. It was such a juxtaposition, the girls dressed up in their club gear, walking down a country road with one house every five miles. They were hitchhiking their way to who knows where. I was shocked, I didn't know a) that people still hitchhiked and b) that hookers came out in the day. I kinda figured it was like the whole vampire thing, they only come out at night, they sparkle (their shoes, bags, dresses shirts everything is sequins and glitter) and their skin is cold (from standing on the corner all night). It kinda blew my mind to see them out in the day light.