Italy

Alright everyone, calm down. Its recap time. It has taken me awhile but here are Italy pictures. There are a lot, so it took a few different times of individually loading each one. Take a look at Kelly's blog which is linked at the right for more detailed re-tellings of these events.

Day One:Charlotte making the pumpkin pie...mm it was so delicious. We ate it for breakfast one day.
The turkey creating quite a spectacle in the fridge.
My lovely accommodation for the holiday. That was my bed in the middle there. It's a mattress called Jaren.
Kelly's desk/my closet.
Neptune in Piazza Maggiore.

Day Two:
The cappuccino I got at such a nice coffee bar. They even made it California style-haha.
On the way to the fresh market.
Meat?
Fruit? Veg?
Fish? (head and tail included)
Our Thanksgiving Day agenda.
The bird still had a few feathers.
All dressed up for the oven.
Pork roast!
The final product, after almost 6 hours of cooking.
The girls and the Italian roomies.
Alessandro carving the bird.
We had all the Thanksgiving necessities and more.
Buffet line.
Chilling after filling ourselves with food.
Chatting in the kitchen-must have been something funny.
Kelly, Alessandro, Guido and I.

Day Three:
On the water taxi, Kelly read Charlotte and I the self guided tour.
Beautiful architecture and the classic gondolas.
On the grand canal.
The church and the Palace.
Some crazy guy getting attacked by pigeons and loving it.
The Dodges Palace.



Mysterious alleyways gave a certain charm to the city.
Cute little restaurants all along the walk.
Venice is known for its masks and blown glass.



Day Four:
A church on Via dell' Indipendenza Kelly and I ducked into on our way home.
Stairs made for horses!


Out to dinner for Andrew's birthday. I was so amazed by and absorbed into eating the huge friendship bowl of pasta that was put in front of us, I didn't take a photo of it.
Group picture of some of us after dinner, before the dancing.
Neptune has a cool shadow.
Hanging out in Piazza Maggoire before saying farewell to the guys.

And back on the plane before I know it to England!

Bologna

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!! I love you all and wish I could see you on this day of thanks. Hope you all have a lovely time feasting with your friends and family.
I'll post pictures soon of my adventures here in Italy. Perhaps the biggest adventure so far has been this morning-preparing THE TURKEY. haha. Incredible amusing.
Alright, gotta get ready for tonight!!

Remember Remember the 5th of November

Last night we had a lovely dinner cooked by Rachel. Afterwards we walked to Hyde Park for the Bonfire night. It was so exciting to see the streets and the park full of people all bundled up to watch the fireworks. On the way we passed some houses who were doing their very own bonfires in their front yards. The fireworks were already going off by the time we made it out of the flat and it felt like Disney magic seeing the sky light up behind the buildings I walk by everyday. We also saw some fire twirlers and went to the fair. At the fair we rode the "dodge-ems" or bumper cars and ate some "candy floss" or cotton candy. Here are some pictures :

Penny for the Guy?

Bex's mom came to visit this weekend and it was so wonderful. Bex had warned us before that she was very enthusiastic and had been talking about taking us all out to dinner for about a month now. She and her boyfriend Gary arrived Saturday morning bringing with them all sorts of goodies. When she walked in the door she gave Rachel and I big hugs (Jamie went home for the weekend) and brought us each a dozen roses. It felt so good to have a mom hug again!
After we ate some lunch, they went to check into their hotel and Rachel and I stayed in the flat doing some work. A bit later we got text messages from Bex: "champagne in the flat in 20 minutes!"
We had a little pre-dinner glass of bubbly and chatted in the kitchen. Then we all squeezed into the Bug (Baxter) and drove into Headingley for our 6:30 dinner reservation.
We ate at a Greek restaurant called the Olive Tree and it was soooo good. We were treated to a three course meal-I had a trio of dips and pita bread, spanakopita (a spinach and feta filo pastry miracle, mmm) and berry covered cheesecake for dessert. It was definitely the best meal I've had so far.
Bex's mom was truly amazing. She kept thanking us for indulging her! It was sweet to see mother and daughter reunited but at the same time, I kept feeling little pangs of sadness. Everyone in the flat has been able to see their families now...Christmas will be very welcomed.
Sunday they came back and drove us to the big grocery store that's much too far for us to walk. We all did our shopping and appreciated the luxury of not taking the bus or carrying all our bags up the hill. Then they treated us to another meal at a restaurant called the Arc. This place had the coolest looking burgers-artfully stacked full, held together by a skewer placed next to a cute little bucket of chips, all on top of individual wooden cutting boards. This was the most American meal I've had, and while the rest of the group sat in awe at the size, I was thinking to myself, wow this is normal size in America.
After lunch, we all had to say farewell but not before it was insisted that we come visit Bex during Christmas break (I may just take her up on that offer).
Although university life is fun and crazy, it is always lovely to spend time with people other than students, especially those who really care about you.

Tonight is Guy Fawkes or bonfire night! Fireworks have been set off all week here and there but tonight is the official celebration. We are going to Hyde Park to watch the fireworks at 7. I asked Rachel last night if we should bring blankets to sit on and she laughed at me. Apparently thats just an American thing...

Hope everyone is well! Miss you!