Hello again, its been a busy few days since the last post but it's been some of the best ones because Briana arrived safe and sound on thursday morning! We've been enjoying all the shopping everywhere we go, and both got a little bit of sun on our shoulders today in Capri.
I had lots of fun showing Briana all my favorite spots on Ischia, the day went by too fast! I took her to Sant Angelo and Lacco Ameno, and treated her to dinner at the hostel restaurant. You would think after all my stories about how long meals take she would have known what to expect, but I guess I didn't explain it well enough! I thought she was going to fall asleep under the table like one of the dogs...but Lorenzo made me a pesto pizza which was amazing, so I enjoyed the last meal there!
Friday was an early morning heading off to Capri at 8am, and we were a little overwhelmed when we got to our hotel and they served us welcome champagne and walked us up to our room. They were very apologetic that we only had a view of the rock wall behind the hotel, but you get what you pay for! (Even this view was very VERY pricey for us). We explored most of the town and the designer shopping that we couldn't afford, and walked around one edge of the island, down many many stairs (Briana complained alot, until we discovered that it was a circle path and we didn't have to walk back up!) and saw lots of rock caves that looked like they would make perfect homes for dragons! Briana was still a little jetlagged and I've got a super sore throat and cough so we went back to the lovely hotel and went to bed very early, after watching some news (we've decided we're not very good italians but we'll make great senior citizens!)
After almost 12 hours of sleep, we were up bright and early this morning and I dragged Briana off on another walk to Villa Jovis, where Emperor Tiberius had a summer home. We decided we needed to see some of the coast, so took a boat tour around the island. We stopped at the blue grotto, and it's just too painful to describe here how they would bring rowboats to our bigger boat and take people into the grotto 4 at a time (for an additional 12 euro)....we skipped that part, was too touristy for us, and sat in the sun on the boat. Once that hour-long ordeal was over, the rest of the trip around the island was lovely with great views, different than what we'd seen from on the island. We headed back to the hotel with a gelato and a cone of cherries, then caught the ferry into naples. We trekked up to our hotel (i impressed Briana with my map reading skillz) and found the McDonalds next door! We couldnt afford food on Capri, so we were both pretty hungry by this point!
We've just come back from some naples shopping after dinner, where I introduced briana to my favorite Italian store, Carpisa. It's where i bought my wallet, and i pretty much buy something everytime i go in. I think she liked it too, judging from the big lime green carpisa shopping bag next to me! Time for bed now before an early train to Rome.
Miss everybody lots! can't wait to show some pictures when we're back!
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Saturday, May 29, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Almost worked!
Making Panzerotto
Aragonese Castle
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Last try
Temple of Jupiter in Pompeii with Vesuvius in the background
Amalfi
Sorry for any sideways pictures, Briana didn't cover that in her blogging lesson!
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Pictures, attempt 2
There isn't too many of me, those ones are on Courtney's camera!
Festival in Lacco Ameno
Negombo spa
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Monday, May 24, 2010
Time flies when you're having fun!
Eeep! how has my 3 weeks gone by so fast??? only 2 more days of classes left (they moved our Thursday morning class to Wednesday afternoon so people can make it to Rome for flights easier) I'm still trying to decide what things I have to show Briana when she comes, there is just so many beautiful places here!
We made it to Amalfi on Sunday, and it was worth every penny! Our boat left at 8 am, dropped some people off in Capri, then took us over to the mainland. There was a tour guide pointing stuff out along the way, but she definitely talked (and told jokes) in italian and german more than english. The coastline was so pretty (I'll post some pics when Courtney gets up, don't want to disturb her), and it was about 11:30 when we got to Amalfi. We had 2 hours to explore before we went to Positano, which was a little farther up the coast. It was pretty too, but everything was really expensive and the town was a little too small to entertain us for 2 hours! It was 6:30 before we got back, so we were all pretty tired, even after napping on the return boat trip.
Somehow I ended up being the only one to get all their assignments done on Saturday, so I had for 10:30 onwards yesterday to lounge around and make everyone jealous! I spent a couple hours up on the terrace, then went to the beach with some of the non-pharmacy students and swam for the first time while I was here! Unfortunately, I managed to burn myself (similarly to how I did in Dominican...) but it's faded nicely this morning!
We had our last cooking class last night, and it was the best one yet! They taught us to make gnocci (pasta made from potatoes), pesto, AND tiramisu! They make it all seem so easy....but I think the pesto sauce is definitely doable, I'm planning to plant some basil when I get home! After dinner (around 10:30....I don't know how I'll go back to a normal eating schedule!) Lorenzo was chatting with us and telling a few of us about how they name their pizzas. Each one is named after a family member or friend who's asked for a new type of pizza. He told us that I we suggested one, he would name it after us, so I immediately suggested a pesto pizza, and he loved the idea! He said he'd name it the Kristina pizza (My name doesn't quite exist in italian...way to go mom and dad :p) and that it would definitely be on the menu when pharmacy students come next year! I'm planning to take Briana to their restaurant for dinner on Thursday, so I might ask him to try it out then!
Anyways, time for my breakfast of nutella and white bread while I get ready for our presentation this morning! I'll post pics shortly! Miss you all!
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We made it to Amalfi on Sunday, and it was worth every penny! Our boat left at 8 am, dropped some people off in Capri, then took us over to the mainland. There was a tour guide pointing stuff out along the way, but she definitely talked (and told jokes) in italian and german more than english. The coastline was so pretty (I'll post some pics when Courtney gets up, don't want to disturb her), and it was about 11:30 when we got to Amalfi. We had 2 hours to explore before we went to Positano, which was a little farther up the coast. It was pretty too, but everything was really expensive and the town was a little too small to entertain us for 2 hours! It was 6:30 before we got back, so we were all pretty tired, even after napping on the return boat trip.
Somehow I ended up being the only one to get all their assignments done on Saturday, so I had for 10:30 onwards yesterday to lounge around and make everyone jealous! I spent a couple hours up on the terrace, then went to the beach with some of the non-pharmacy students and swam for the first time while I was here! Unfortunately, I managed to burn myself (similarly to how I did in Dominican...) but it's faded nicely this morning!
We had our last cooking class last night, and it was the best one yet! They taught us to make gnocci (pasta made from potatoes), pesto, AND tiramisu! They make it all seem so easy....but I think the pesto sauce is definitely doable, I'm planning to plant some basil when I get home! After dinner (around 10:30....I don't know how I'll go back to a normal eating schedule!) Lorenzo was chatting with us and telling a few of us about how they name their pizzas. Each one is named after a family member or friend who's asked for a new type of pizza. He told us that I we suggested one, he would name it after us, so I immediately suggested a pesto pizza, and he loved the idea! He said he'd name it the Kristina pizza (My name doesn't quite exist in italian...way to go mom and dad :p) and that it would definitely be on the menu when pharmacy students come next year! I'm planning to take Briana to their restaurant for dinner on Thursday, so I might ask him to try it out then!
Anyways, time for my breakfast of nutella and white bread while I get ready for our presentation this morning! I'll post pics shortly! Miss you all!
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Saturday, May 22, 2010
And I thought homework was hard in Edmonton....
It always seems like the days left for homework are the sunniest ones! Assignments came fast at the end of the week, and we'd already planned an adventure to Herculaneum and Pompeii for Thursday and Friday, so today has been work, work, work! At least I could sit up on the terrace in the sun. I'm getting pretty close to done now, so hopefully I can enjoy my boat trip to Amalfi and Positiano tomorrow.
The highlight of Wednesday - we finally got the pesto pasta for dinner! It was so delish, I'm definitely going to order it tonight! Its a real treat to get to order your favorite meal of the week of the menu on the weekends, and the family restaurant is one of the most delicious and affordable places we've been.
I won't bore you all with the details of our school thing on Thursday, but I will say that it finished early so we were off to the Circumvesuviana train and Herculaneum much earlier than expected! The train station was a little rough, lots of grafitti but the trains ran often and it only cost Courtney, Susan, and I about 15 euro round trip. I have to say, if you only have time to visit one place, pick Herculaneum over Pompeii! Lots of our classmates went to Pompeii last weekend, so we've been hearing how amazing it was all week. Herculaneum just had so much more of the impressive painting and tilework intact, and wasn't as overwhelming as Pompeii. Pompeii was also super busy, so that might have had something to do with it. We stayed overnight in Pompeii, and had the most amazing sleep at our bed and breakfast. Huge room with 3 beds and a giant bathroom...AND the shower had a door!!! (Our current shower at the hostel is just a showerhead in the corner of the bathroom, you just huddle up against the wall and try not to get your towel wet on the back of the door...) It was called Il Bassotto, which must translate to the dachshund, cause all of there logos had a weiner dog on them, nd there was even a live one that visited our room!
After Friday morning in Pompeii, we went back to Naples and Ischia Porto for some more shopping, and a delicious meal of chicken mcnuggets (we were craving normal food, and couldn't eat more pizza) and I was exhausted by the time we got back. hopefully the boat trip tomorrow makes up for my lack of activity today!
Only 5 more days until my little sister gets to come join m on my lovely italian island! CAN'T WAIT!!!
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The highlight of Wednesday - we finally got the pesto pasta for dinner! It was so delish, I'm definitely going to order it tonight! Its a real treat to get to order your favorite meal of the week of the menu on the weekends, and the family restaurant is one of the most delicious and affordable places we've been.
I won't bore you all with the details of our school thing on Thursday, but I will say that it finished early so we were off to the Circumvesuviana train and Herculaneum much earlier than expected! The train station was a little rough, lots of grafitti but the trains ran often and it only cost Courtney, Susan, and I about 15 euro round trip. I have to say, if you only have time to visit one place, pick Herculaneum over Pompeii! Lots of our classmates went to Pompeii last weekend, so we've been hearing how amazing it was all week. Herculaneum just had so much more of the impressive painting and tilework intact, and wasn't as overwhelming as Pompeii. Pompeii was also super busy, so that might have had something to do with it. We stayed overnight in Pompeii, and had the most amazing sleep at our bed and breakfast. Huge room with 3 beds and a giant bathroom...AND the shower had a door!!! (Our current shower at the hostel is just a showerhead in the corner of the bathroom, you just huddle up against the wall and try not to get your towel wet on the back of the door...) It was called Il Bassotto, which must translate to the dachshund, cause all of there logos had a weiner dog on them, nd there was even a live one that visited our room!
After Friday morning in Pompeii, we went back to Naples and Ischia Porto for some more shopping, and a delicious meal of chicken mcnuggets (we were craving normal food, and couldn't eat more pizza) and I was exhausted by the time we got back. hopefully the boat trip tomorrow makes up for my lack of activity today!
Only 5 more days until my little sister gets to come join m on my lovely italian island! CAN'T WAIT!!!
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
An Adventure to the Aragonese Castle
Hello everybody! The Internet has been out at our hostel since Sunday evening, but I finally gave in and brought courtney's iPhone over to our classroom to try to do an update. It's tricky to type on, so I hope the spelling isn't too bad. After a rainy, cool day on Sunday, the last 2 days have been sunny and beautiful! Classes have been interesting this week, learning about some of the external factors that dictate what food can be produced in a country. We watched a movie about jamaica and how dairy farmers there were put out of business due to the import of powdered milk. It's all a little depressing, makes you feel like the banks control the world. Anyways, we're doing an assignment where we figure out the origin of all the ingredients in our food, so it should be interesting. Tomorrow we're going into Naples to work with the Italian pharmacy students.
When I talked to Mom and Dad on Sunday, I realized I hadn't explained who Lorenzo was very well! The hostel we're staying at is run by the Colella family, and they have 3 sons (Guiseppe, Amerigo, and Lorenzo) who each run one of the 3 hotels/hostels they own. There is a restaurant at the main hotel where they give us dinner for free on Sunday-thursday, and the food is just amazing. Every Monday night we have cooking lessons there, and yesterday they taught us to make panzerotto (a deep friend potato croquette with cheese and ham), pizza dough, and homemade pasta. It all seems like such simple food to make, and Lorenzo's pizza is probably the best we've ever had. I've got my fingers crossed that we're going to learn to make their amazing pesto sauce next week!
Yesterday Courtney and I went off to explore Ischia Porto and the Aragones Castle right after class. We decided to splurge on the 10 euro to go into the castle, and spent a couple hours exploring it. We both decided that the torture chamber alone was worth the money, there were some pretty creative machines in there. They also had both male and female chastity belts on display, I'd never realized there was a male version! It was an amazing day, and I should have some good pictures. We stayed there for dinner, playing the odds that we hadn't had fish for dinner at the restaurant in a while and that it would probably be on the menu. Boy, did we guess right! Apparently they had deep fried anchovies, so we definitly made the right decision!
Guess I better do some homework, sorry for the lack of e-mails!
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When I talked to Mom and Dad on Sunday, I realized I hadn't explained who Lorenzo was very well! The hostel we're staying at is run by the Colella family, and they have 3 sons (Guiseppe, Amerigo, and Lorenzo) who each run one of the 3 hotels/hostels they own. There is a restaurant at the main hotel where they give us dinner for free on Sunday-thursday, and the food is just amazing. Every Monday night we have cooking lessons there, and yesterday they taught us to make panzerotto (a deep friend potato croquette with cheese and ham), pizza dough, and homemade pasta. It all seems like such simple food to make, and Lorenzo's pizza is probably the best we've ever had. I've got my fingers crossed that we're going to learn to make their amazing pesto sauce next week!
Yesterday Courtney and I went off to explore Ischia Porto and the Aragones Castle right after class. We decided to splurge on the 10 euro to go into the castle, and spent a couple hours exploring it. We both decided that the torture chamber alone was worth the money, there were some pretty creative machines in there. They also had both male and female chastity belts on display, I'd never realized there was a male version! It was an amazing day, and I should have some good pictures. We stayed there for dinner, playing the odds that we hadn't had fish for dinner at the restaurant in a while and that it would probably be on the menu. Boy, did we guess right! Apparently they had deep fried anchovies, so we definitly made the right decision!
Guess I better do some homework, sorry for the lack of e-mails!
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Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Queens of Epomeo!
I had my first true italian Tiramisu last night, and it was the most amazing I've ever tasted. I guess I've never had Victor Bongo's tiramisu, but i'm pretty sure Lorenzo's would beat it! Courtney and I shared pizza and pesto pasta, which was also so amazing. It was weird to be able to order off the menu at the family restaurant, usually they just serve us all as a group (which would be why I tried swordfish) but it was an amazing meal. It takes forever to eat a meal though! We got to the restaurant at nine, after Lorenzo finally picked us up, and it was midnight before we were done our food and ready to go! At least we didn't have to getup early today.
Mmmm breakfast cake! time to go snag some!
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Friday, May 14, 2010
A uncomfortable fish-uation....
Courtney and I have been doing lots of exploring, we've been to most of the towns on the island but the one we went to the first day is definitly our favorite. It's called Lacco Amena, I'm going to try to post apicture of the "mushroom rock" that it's famous far. We're planning to go back there this afternoon, they have a music festival on with some very pretty lights up all over the streets. We also went to Sant Angelo, which is a very tiny little town right on the edge of the sea, and had the best margherita pizza so far. We're planning a trip back just for the pizza! We going to wait for a while though, they're repaving the road down to it so you get fresh asphalt stuck to your shoes when you walk it. We also went to Cassiamicola, but it is not as nice as either of the other 2.
Yesterday was our big adventure into Naples for the tour of the University and Hospital Pharmacy. We had to catch the ferry at 7, so it was a very very early morning. The male italian pharmacy students were very excited to see us, they especially liked one girl named Nichole and we're bringing her coffee and treats. After the tour they took us to the compounding lab and we had to make some senna capsules, which wasn't as bad as we thought is was going to be. They set us free after that, and we have fri-sun to do whatever we want to. Courtney and I poked around in Naples for the afternoon and did some shopping, I used my birthday money from mom and dad to buy a nice blue leather wallet from the "turtle store" that we've been to at least 4 times already! Trying to post a picture of it too! Then we managed to find the cheaper/slower ferry back to the main port on Ischia....it was a bit of work, but it's amazing what I'll do to save 8 euro! We found a restaurant there and had our first dinner on our own. My spaghetti was good, but just not as good as what we get some nights at our hostel!
Speaking of food....the fish-uation. After trying the swordfish and only eating a bite, Courtney and I decided we were done with fish. Then for the main course on Tuesday night....they bring out just a fish on a plate....still with the head, tail, eyes, everything! We said we weren't hungry, cause there wasn't a chance of us eating it! We feel so bad not eating food they give us, they are such a nice family and really treat us well....but we just can't eat anymore fish!
And updating the gelato flavors....I tried peach, coconut, wildberry yogurt, and hazelnut in the last 2 days! the coconut and peach were amazing, and so was the berry one....
Anyways, I think it's time to try to find the natural hotsprings and spend the day soaking our tired bodies....poor little feetsies have done sooo much walking, I'm very glad I invested in some good shoes!
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Monday, May 10, 2010
Buongiorno à Italia!
Ciao! Mi chiamo Kristin. Ho ventiquattro anni. Io studio farmacia!
That is what i've learned so far from our Italian language classes, plus conjugating a few verbs, but our teacher is really good and easy to learn from even though he speaks no english. We've had 2 classes so far, but have our last one today. Class doesn't start until 1 today, everything closes from 1:30-4:30 (for siesta!) so our teachers thought it would be nice for us to have some mornings to go to more of the shops. We're going into Naples on Thursday and touring the university and hospital.
I think I've walked more in the last 3 days than in the last 6 months! Courtney and I walked to the next town over, called Lacco Amena, the first day to explore and shop. It took us 4 hours to get there and back (including shopping and gelato time). We're planning to do a tour from Forio on Sunday which goes over to the mainland and stops in Amalfi and Positano, and maybe go to the natural hotsprings one day too.
The food so far is interesting....the fresh fruit from the market and gelato is amazing, but some of our dinners have been not so enjoyable. Luckily, the first course is always pasta so I can easily fill up on that. We had swordfish the first night, I gave it a chance but just don't like seafood that much! I think they fed us veal and peas last night, but I'm not really sure! I'm just very afraid they're going to serve us rabbit....apparently they have "rabbit pits" where they "farm" rabbits, I'm staying as far away from them as possible!
We're trying as many different gelato flavors as we can, so far I've had banana, stratiatella (cookies and cream), tiramisu, and nocitiella (nutella flavour).
Mmmm bonuses of getting up early: Hot shower and fresh fruit salad (which dissappeared quicky!). Thanks for all the e-mails and I'll post again soon!
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That is what i've learned so far from our Italian language classes, plus conjugating a few verbs, but our teacher is really good and easy to learn from even though he speaks no english. We've had 2 classes so far, but have our last one today. Class doesn't start until 1 today, everything closes from 1:30-4:30 (for siesta!) so our teachers thought it would be nice for us to have some mornings to go to more of the shops. We're going into Naples on Thursday and touring the university and hospital.
I think I've walked more in the last 3 days than in the last 6 months! Courtney and I walked to the next town over, called Lacco Amena, the first day to explore and shop. It took us 4 hours to get there and back (including shopping and gelato time). We're planning to do a tour from Forio on Sunday which goes over to the mainland and stops in Amalfi and Positano, and maybe go to the natural hotsprings one day too.
The food so far is interesting....the fresh fruit from the market and gelato is amazing, but some of our dinners have been not so enjoyable. Luckily, the first course is always pasta so I can easily fill up on that. We had swordfish the first night, I gave it a chance but just don't like seafood that much! I think they fed us veal and peas last night, but I'm not really sure! I'm just very afraid they're going to serve us rabbit....apparently they have "rabbit pits" where they "farm" rabbits, I'm staying as far away from them as possible!
We're trying as many different gelato flavors as we can, so far I've had banana, stratiatella (cookies and cream), tiramisu, and nocitiella (nutella flavour).
Mmmm bonuses of getting up early: Hot shower and fresh fruit salad (which dissappeared quicky!). Thanks for all the e-mails and I'll post again soon!
MSN Dating: Find someone special. Start now. Start now!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Hello from Forio!
After what feels like days of traveling, I'm finally settled into my hostel in Forio! The night/day in the London airport seemed to go on forever, and we were pretty happy to be in a real bed in Naples last night. Courtney, Susan, Jenn, and I spent the morning exploring Naples (which doesn't seem to be as dirty everywhere as people think - we found some pretty fancy places. The best part was the 1000+ spinning bikes set up in the square in front of a huge church.....we figured it must be a fundraiser or something, but it was very odd! We met most of the other people in our class at the ferry terminal, and our instructors were waiting to lead us through the twisty streets to our hostel. It is VERY nice, and Courtney and I managed to get a double room all to ourselves. She and I went out exploring this afternoon and oh my goodness I'm going to spend WAY too much money in Europe! Everything is so nice and different and pretty cheap now that we're out of the big city (Briana - I will have a shopping tour planned for the afternoon you get here).
We're waiting for dinner here, I guess this is what they mean by Italy time - they told us it was supposed to be at 7:30,and it's 8:12 now.... Courtney and I found a yummy gelato and pastry shop that we've decided we have to go to everyday andtry something different, so thats the after-dinner plan. Hopefully I should be able to post often while i'm in Forio, assuming I get used to this gel keyboard! Thanks for the e-mails and birthday wishes!
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We're waiting for dinner here, I guess this is what they mean by Italy time - they told us it was supposed to be at 7:30,and it's 8:12 now.... Courtney and I found a yummy gelato and pastry shop that we've decided we have to go to everyday andtry something different, so thats the after-dinner plan. Hopefully I should be able to post often while i'm in Forio, assuming I get used to this gel keyboard! Thanks for the e-mails and birthday wishes!
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Friday, May 7, 2010
and she's off
This is Briana posting on behalf of Kristin. Kristin left from Calgary yesterday to London, and emailed me this afternoon to let me know she has checked in safely to her hostel in Naples. Tomorrow morning she will be taking a ferry to the island of Ischia, which will be her home for the next 3 weeks. Hopefully we'll have a post from Kristin in the next couple of days! 11 more work days until I leave to go join her in Italy!
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