FINAL BLOG POST

1.       How have you changed as a person after studying abroad?

Of course! In more than one way. I feel more capable of being able to explore the world confidently and without any fears of the unknown territories. If I was able to survive 4 months living in a whole other country I am more than able to make it through anything I face in life.

2.       What self-discovery surprised you?

I wasnt AS open minded as I thought! Living out of your comfort zone will really reveal the kind of person you are. After a couple weeks in Italy, I realized how much my perception of certain things had to change if I wanted to make this trip the best I possibly could! 1 thing I did was STOPPED comparing Rome to the US, its impossible to compare. 2nd thing I did was just tried to understand why things were the way they were in Rome, stopped judging.

3.       If you took courses in your major; how has studying abroad impacted your understanding of your major?

There wasn't much of an impact I felt. It was still an American school.

4.       Single greatest benefit of studying abroad?

The feeling of not being scared of traveing to places I've never been and knowing I can find my way around.

5.       How did your life goals change?

My bucketlist for certain things defintely has gotten longer! So many places to go and see

6.       What was your favorite experience?

When my family flew over and visited me! We went to Paris and spent the rest of the time in Rome. Not many people I know can say that they've been to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

7.       Any advice for future participants?

Plan aheaddddd! Go on as many trips as you possibly can!

8.       Would you study abroad again?   Why?

Yes!!! This experience was probably the best thing I've ever experienced in my life. Their memories I will always be able to have.

BITTER SWEET!!

ITS OFFICIAL! ONLY 5 days left in Rome! Time has truly flew by! I cannot believe that I honestly am going back to the states soon! Bitter sweet I'd say. If I had the chance to travel abroad again, I'd do it in a heartbeat! Being in Europe has made my passion for traveling much stronger! I now feel that I can honestly go anywhere in the world and make it. The lessons I've learned while studying abroad are ones I can take back with me and be able to use them. You never know what you miss until your away from your comfort zone for such a long period but I'm proud to say I was never homesick! Its not until recently where my feelings for home have developed and I can honestly say its because I know I'm leaving soon. One thing I wish I did while I was here was travel more hahaha! 10 different places was not enough! Well wish me luck with my finals, UNTIL NEXT TIME!

PICS PIC AND MORE PICS

WINE TASTING IN SANTORINI, GREECE

TOGA PART IN CORFU, GREECE

EATING LUNCH BY THE PANTHEON, ROME, ITALY

EATING LUNCH ON THE BLACK SAND BEACH IN SANTORINI

THE PANTHEON IN ATHENS, GREECE

TEMPLE OF ZEUS ATHENS, GREECE

PARIS, FRANCE

EIFFEL TOWER PARIS, FRANCE

TREVI FOUNTAIN, ROME, ITALY

COLOSSEUM ROME, ITALY

CHURROS IN BARCELONA, SPAIN

BARCELONA, SPAIN

CARNIVAL IN VENICE 

CARNIVAL IN VENICE

NIGHTLIFE IN ROME

So were college students! We spend the week in school and when Thursdays get here, were ready to go out! Here are some places that a lot of AUR and other study abroad students go to: Studio 18, DJ BAR, ON THE ROCKS, COYOTE, GILDA, LA MASION, DRUNKEN SHIP, SLOPPY SAMS and SCHOLARS PUB. A lot of these places have facebook pages so you can find them online and see what specials they are having that night! 

TRAVEL TIPS

USE BUS2ALPS to travel around places that you don’t feel you are able to get around easily but want to go! That’s what I did! I knew I wanted to go Venice but would need some help getting there and that’s what BUS2ALPS was there for. Different places in Europe can be pretty tricky to get around and not just that but tricky to find hotels and modes of transportation. BUS2ALPS is a group of tour guides that essentially plan a trip out for you! Sean, Jenny, Erin, and Alex were the best tour guides ever! They are super nice and very funny. If you have them you’ll have a blast. They know you are a college student so they try the best and cheapest places for you to go. GUARANTEED fun!  You get to choose out of multiple locations that you want to go to and they’ll get you there. DEFINITELY plan all your trips early! You’ll get the best prices for hotels and airlines. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF TRAVELING! START SAVING NOW for your trips. Also, travel light!! You tend to walk a lot when you travel so lugging a huge suitcase will get annoying, real quick! Carry on size is perfect for 10 days belive it or not! A bookbag is perfect for the weekends. Don’t belive me? You’ll see!! TILL NEXT TIME

AMALFI COAST

So before finals I decided to take a weekend off from Rome and go to the amalfi coast of Italy. The amalfi coast consists of capri, pasetano, Sorrento, and Pompeii! Basically we went to 4 different beaches over the weakened. My favorite place by far was Capri! Capri was sooooooo beautiful! I finally was able to eat alfredo pasta! Believe it or not, alfredo sauce is NOT popular in Rome at all! All red sauces… In capri we shopped, ate and did a chair lift to the highest peak in Capri. Capri was so captivating that I definitely would love to buy a vacation house there, that’s how beautiful it was there. Very small but it had everything. The weather that weakened was sunny and HOT! Left the amalfi coast with the best tan ever!  Well UNTIL NEXT TIME

PARIS

AHHHHHH! That is all I have to say about PARIS! I never have fell in love with place like I did with Paris. Everything anyone has ever said about Paris is completely true. ITS BEAUTIFUL, MAGICAL, CAPTIVATING just a land of amazingness honestly. The best part of the trip is being able to share this experience with my mom and little sister. They flew out for a week to visit so we all went to Paris and spent the rest in Rome. In Paris we of course visited everyyyy tourist attraction, the arc de triumphe, notre dame cathedral and of course the EIFFEL TOWER!!!!! We actually waited in line for about 3 hours to go to the top of the Eiffel tower!! I would do it all over in a heartbeat! This is a place EVERYONEEE needs to go to! I cannot wait to go back and every chance you get, eat their pastries! 

Greece Island Hopping!

FINALLYYYY! SPRING BREAK IS HERE! 10 days to hop the islands of Greece, why not? So for spring break we decided to team up with BUS2ALPS and head out to Greece! The Greece island hopping trip included going to Corfu, Athens and then Santorini! First stop Corfu! First of all we were picked up by a huge PINK bus, so cute! We took fairies to get to the island of Corfu. From there we stayed at the Pink Palace hostel. It literally was pink hahaha I loved it! First day there we were able to walk to the beach and just lay out and enjoy some relaxation time! It felt so good to lay out in the sun and trust me I needed the tanning time, I was so pale haha! That night the hotel threw a huge TOGA PARTY where everyone on the trip wore pink togas. They served us dinner and then we danced the night awayyyy J The next day me and my roommates went ATV riding around the island! My first time ever being on an ATV, I was so nervous! After my first initial shock of driving around on the windy roads I turned into a huge speed demon haha my need for speed was uncontrollable. If you ever go to corfu, DEFINTELY do the atv riding. After Corfu we went to Athens!  Me and my roommates decided to do the same bus tour we did in Barcelona but in Athens. We were able to see literally everything Athens had to offer in ONE DAY! The temple of Zeus, the acropolis, the pantheon EVERYTHING! That night the BUS2ALPS crew took us to this restaurant where we got a 3 course meal and unlimited wine for only 15 EUROS!  Food in Greece was amazingggggggggggg! It was definitely in my top 5! The final stop was Santorini! Santorini is this little island where all the white buildings and blue roofs are found that you see when you google image Greece! Santorini was sooo beautiful! Everything was very clean and serene! Here we were able to go the black and red sand beaches where the water was so clear! The weather that day was the best we had to. If you want to go to Greece I’d definitely say go with BUS2ALPS because they really did help you get around these little islands easily compared to if you were going to do it on your own. WELL TILL NEXT TIME!

BARCELONA, SPAIN

HOLAAAA BARCELONA, SPAIN! I was so happy to finally go to spain! Spain was definitely one of the top places on my list and I can officially say I’ve gone J I was mostly excited to finally be able to understand the people around me because I speak and understand Spanish fully. Besides that I was superrr excited to eat Hispanic food and that I did! First thing I ate were churrossss! My god, can you say YUM! If you have never had one you MUST try them. They are so delicious. These are of the trips and me and my roommates planned on our own. During this week friends from home came and visited for their spring break, pretty cool to be able to share this experience with friends from home.  The hostel we stayed in was awesome! The people there were very helpful (URBANY HOSTEL)! They let us know where to go and what to see. First of all, BARCELONA IS BEAUTIFUL and soooo clean and modern compared to Rome. How crazy is it that just a couple of miles away is a place so different! Barcelona was pretty easy to get around and it had one of the easiest metro systems ever. We took the metro to this area called Catlyuana I believe, which is basically a hugeee downtown area.  While we were there we took a tour bus, WHICH BY THE WAY is the best way to see EVERYTHING  a city has to offer. It only cost 22 or 25 euros and you are able to hop on and hop off the bus however many times you want at different destinations. So during the day we went site seeing and at night we went out! So fun fact if you’re ever going to Barcelona, their night life doesn’t START till 1:00 AM!  CRAZY right? Barcelona was amazing, next time I visit spain I’m definitely trying for Madrid! I’d recommend going during hotter whether though. WELL UNTIL NEXT TIME!

VENICE

CARNEVALE DI VENEZIA 2012! I officially can say I went to Venice now and it was amazingggggg! We went  during the carnival so everyone was dressed in elaborate costumes that ranged from avatars, cats, queens and kings! To join in all the festivities I bought one of those cool masks that a whole bunch of feathers and glitter all over them.  Mines of course was black and gold! REPRESENTING THE STEELERs all the way in Venice babyyy J I would definitely recommend anyone to go to Venice! I planned my trip with a group called BUS2ALPS. It’s a group of tour guides that basically arrange transportation and even hostel/hotels stays all around Europe. My Venice trip was only one day, which as all you needdddd, so BUS2ALPS arranged my transportation there. Once we got there, we were basically free to do whatever we wanted. In Venice I definitely say make sure you go to St.Marks square! Its huge and beautiful and so many little shops are around there. DO NOT buy any souvenirs when your inside, buy them at the end of the day, the vendors start putting everything at lower prices and you’ll definitely get more for your EURO. Basically in Venice we walked around, took a whole bunch of pictures, ate amazingggg food (try seafood) and joined in the Carnival festivities.  I would say the CARNEVALE season would probably be the best time to go because Venice is pretty small. WELL UNTIL NEXT TIME!

ROME!!

Rome is amazing! Surprisingly enough its really easy to get around! We were able to find all the tourist attractions by foot and by bus! The coliseum, pantheon, the trevi fountain, Spanish steps, the Vatican, piazza novana, THE STEELERS BAR, and etc, is all very close to each other. The food is soo yummy! They really are probably the best place you can get pasta. Spaghetti alla bolegnese is probably my favorite. Its just spaghetti with meat sauce, buts its sooo good! The sauce is fresh and the best part of the meal. Bars here are actually cafes where you can buy food to go like pizza, tabacchi are places where you can buy stamps, cigarettes and bus tickets for the tram and buses and besides that everything else is pretty self-explanatory. Be ready to have your personal space essentially violated. Italians are use to having to be crammed on public transportation and places that its pretty much normal to them. That’s probably the worst part about being here besides their transportation. In the states everyone has their space boundaries, just have to get use to it I guess. The transportation is easy but sometimes annoying. Busses and trams can frequently run one day but the next day it can take forever! Besides those two things, you can definitely fall in love with this place! UNTIL NEXT TIME!

WEEK ONE!

CAN YOU SAY WOW! I wasn't expecting for Rome to be so different from what I imagined! But of course I mean that in a good way. Many things are miniature sized over here; small cars, small products, small stores! Hahaha I've never actually been as tall as a fridge before but now I have been SERIOUSLY! Well my first week in Rome has been great! I've done a lot of shopping especially for food. I'm not sure why but I love going to the super markets out here! I've actually found  HEINZ KETCHUP here, thought that was pretty neat.

So when I was told you would do a lot of walking here, THEY WERE NOTTTT LYING! I live on via Pascarella and the walk to school is crazyyy! Thank god for the tram and buses, which by the way are not as bad some may say! They are pretty consistent only thing is that people like to crowd by the doors instead of MOVINGGG towards the free'd up areas.

Besides shoppingggg I've been doing alot of cooking which I'm loving :) Also the downtown of Rome is AMAZINGGG! The shopping strips are so crowded and lively! You can find so many things on sale, "saldi" out here.

Italians, are crazyyy drivers! They park whichever way they can fit their smart cars seriously haha! They speak really fast but my spanish has been really getting me by thank god!


Till next time

THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR TRAVELING!!!

SO i just bought the most comfy boots by far! can't wait to walk around in them in ROME! 18 days left till my departure day and I'm definitely feeling anxious! I'm just praying that everything goes smoothly. Only thing I'm worried about is this whole packing thing? I HATE PACKING! I'll let yins know how that goes for me next time!

PEACE AND MUCH LOVE,
   Nathalie :)