6/8 - 6/14

Weekly update.
Monday – Thursday was a light week because prior to my Dublin trip, I had 2 exams and homework due (which I did well on). So every day after class I would explore Florence. Still can’t get over how amazing a city this is and I am still stunned every time I walk past the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio. Jess is leaving June 17th so we did dinner two times this week knowing her last couple days would be hectic. The first dinner was a little Italian restaurant on a side street far from the tourist shops. They gave us their house wine, with fresh bread and their homemade olive oil with pepper and spices in it. We then ordered caprese which I devowered. Jess had been to this restaurant a few times so I had her pick out two meals and we would split them, what a good decision. I couldn’t tell you the names of the dishes we ordered but wow were they good. Best dinner I have had so far in Italy, hands down. The second night we went out, she took me to this little restaurant which seemed pretty upscale but they only sold three types of pizza. The pizza’s were 8 euro a piece and about 10-12 inch pies. I ordered a margarita pizza which was delicious, best pizza in Florence.. it was just so fresh. I’m sad that I hadn’t though earlier to ask Jess where the best places to eat in town were.
Friday was a light day as well, I woke up late and then just walked the town again with Jess and Ashley (Jess’s roommate). We climbed the Florence Bell Tower which is right next to the Duomo and about 2-4 stories shorter. It was 400+ steps but the view was definitely worth it. Words cannot describe how beautiful Florence is and nor can my pictures. You can’t comprehend what you are seeing because you are gazing on hundreds of years of history and architecture you have never seen. Truly breathe taking and an eye opener for me.
After a fun night out on the town I caught a train for Venice at 1030. I got into Venice around 2ish and couldn’t believe my eyes as I walked out of the train station. Movies, pictures, photos, nothing does Venice justice (I know I keep saying that but I am beginning to understand why people travel so much!). Walking through the city I just couldn’t believe I was there and how it was possible to build such a city. I will tell you that after walking 10 minutes I began to get annoyed at how narrow the streets were. I went with a friend so we headed directly toward San Marco square but stopped for lunch along the way. Marco square was really cool but I couldn’t believe the sight of the city along the coast. I feel like I just stopped and starred for twenty minutes before I was forced into a water taxi ride. The taxi ride was really cool because I just kept thinking that for locals it must be an everyday event.
Then we walked the city a little more until we checked into our hotel and got ready for dinner. We walked around in circles before finding the perfect restaurant right on the water. The view was fantastic and the food was even better. I ordered Sea Bass, which I did not know it would come out as the entire fish and not a fillet, but it was one of the best fish dish I have ever had. We had a couple of bottles of wine and neither one of us could believe the view and that we were in Venice so we sat there for three hours loving our lives.
Right after dinner I called and met up with Joe and other kids in our school who were there on a class trip. We all hung out and then ventured the streets of Venice at night. The streets at night are creepy and empty, very very strange. Some of the kids were highly intoxicated and attempted to “borrow” a gondola but were quickly informed that they would have no ore. The night was a success, no one got arrested.
Sunday morning I just wanted to roam the town and go into gift shops so it was a very relaxed morning into the afternoon before we headed home for Firenze. Amazing city and one I feel is very romantic. I plan on returning to Venice with my wife someday and that is why I did not go on a gondola… I wanted to wait for my wife.
Ciao!

Dublin

We (me and my 4 other roomates) arrived in Dublin around 8 pm and decided to jump on a bus looking for our hostel. mind you, we had no map and just knew it was somewhere in the city. So after a lot of bickering on the bus we had like 2 people explain directions to us in a detailed fashion. we then got lost again and decided a taxi will do.
.. the hostel (issac's hostel).. well um... i am a hotel guy and don't think hostels are safe for your health and in general are good places. we had a 10 by 10 room with just 3 bunk beds and had a crazy roomate. our roomate was like 50, prob homeless and def an alcoholic.
once we locked our stuff up, we finally headed out to 'temple bar' ( an area in dublin with pub after pub). It was awesome! we decided to pub hop and just got a guinness in everyone. great night and irish people are way way way more friendlier than italians. I also wanted to point out that Irish women are prettier than they are given credit for, although you do see a lot of heavy set women.
once we returned back to our hostel, our drunken roomate was sleeping so we weren't to bugged out. BUT then out of no where about an hour later he jolted us all awake by jumping out of bed and running for the door. He couldn't get the door open and we were all freaking out because he had no clue what was going on.. then we found out. He then began peeing himself and turned on the light looking for the trash can while getting it all over the floor. After realizing we were all scared and looking at him he headed for the door and then to make things crazier some guy darted in as our nut roomate walked out claiming we were in his room. So we all kicked him out and then after a lot of laughs our roomate came back and acted like nothing happened. Needless to say, none of us really slept after that.
But today was awesome and we went to the guinness factory and the jameson old distillery. I loved the guinness factory and I poured my own guinness and am not a certified pourer. At the jameson factory, Joe got selected to taste test whiskey's which was pretty cool... he was the only person to pick Jack Daniel's over Jameson, ha. After a long day, we checked into our new hostel where we would be staying for friday and saturday night. The new hostel was called youth irish international or something along those lines. So we expected to have young roomates, but we wound up with 2 guys in their 50's and a crazy french guy (this was still an upgrade from our previous roomate). This hostel was a lot nicer and was in an old church which put me at ease. The weird thing about Ireland is that even when it is 9 or 10 oclock at night, the sun is still out. So when we went out to pub crawl it was a bit weird. We decided to pub crawl again friday night and at the end we found a pub called quays. Let me give you a back drop of irish pubs from my experience. No matter what pub you go to, there are tons of older people. It is not like in America where you go to a bar or club and you hang out with college aged kids, every pub has a ton of older people getting smashed. So... the reason we liked quay's was because it seemed to have a younger crowd.
No crazy hostel story for friday night, just a good nights rest.

After getting up at 10 to catch our free breakfast we all decided to go to the Howth cliffs which sounded like a great idea. After stepping outside, I wasn't excited. We had gotten 2 days of sunshine in Ireland and now it turned to a typical rainny gray irish day. But we got train tickets for Howth and went. Once we got there the rain picked up so we did what the irish would do... we posted up at a pub and waited it out. After a good 2 hours as the rain slowed we headed for the pier because we were told we would see hundreds of seals. As we were walking to the pier, the rain picked up and so did the wind. Once we reached the pier and were next to water it seemed to be like a hurricane. But being dumb we decided to continue and get to the end of the pier. These winds were fierce and I'm talking like they were pushing us over. So after getting about halfway to the end I turned back .. and this was also due to seeing a wave break on the pier about 50 feet ahead of us. ..Soon after my roomates turned back and that was the end of our trip. It was just a miserable day and we were advised by locals not to go up to the cliff's. So we headed back to Dublin.
After a warm shower we decided to have a fun last night and picked up a few guinness to have before we went out. Once out we went straight to Quays and posted up. About 6 girls from our Florence program also went to Dublin for the weekend and we ran into them so they stayed to drink with us. It was the best night I had in Dublin and everyone was having a great time. We all took a shot of Jameson with a guinness just to say we did so in ireland. One of my roomates drank a bit too much and asked the bartender "do you have guinness on tap"... the bartenders response was "yes your in ireland you stupid american." haha

Then on Sunday we had some time to kill before our flight so we went to the Dublin Zoo. It was a huge zoo and a good time since I haven't been to a zoo in years. We also watched the seal feeding and I thought about Lauren and here training animals.

We then flew from dublin to pisa and then had to take a bus back to florence... that was a 10 hour day of travel so I am whipped and I hope this all makes sense.

cinque terre, calcio game.. birthday

Crazy week! I did a ton this week and need to stop leaving it all to one e-mail.

Classes are going well and my Italian is going better now that I have stopped pronouncing it like Spanish. Today, I had to walk around the republica square (famous spot next to the dumomo) and interview people in Italian.. pretty cool. My Rome class is pretty dull but I'll get by. On Thursday after a long 4 days of class a group of us went to a bar and began our weekend at 4, it was an excellent choice.

We decided to go to Cinque Terre on Sabato (saturday) and last minute friday night we decided it would be a good idea to go and sleep on the beach. So with 20 minutes to spare we (my roomates and I and the girls who live above us) darted for the train station. We made it on time and stood outside the train we thought it was for 10 minutes debating if it was the right train. We asked a bunch of people, who did not speak english, and all they kept saying was where the final destination was and wouldn't tell us where it intersected. So we didn't get on and 2 minutes later found out that was our train. So we decided to wait for the next one which was a 50 minute wait. After waiting about 45 minutes we began to worry because the train never pulled in and wasn't on the board with all the times. So we once again started asking people what train we take and stumbled upon the only woman who spoke english. She informed us that our train was late and would be there in 10 minutes BUT the connecting train wouldn't be in until 330 in the morning. So after wasting 2 hours of our night we decided it was best to go home and just leave in the morning.

So after a 2 hour train ride on Saturday morning, we finally got to the first town in Cinque Terre around 1030 am. I didn't know what to expect but once I heard it was the coastal path I thought it would be very relaxing. Boy was I wrong. It starts off fun and relaxing with great views but by the time you get the the 3rd town you realize you are hiking up mountains and are on paths no bigger than a foot with a 40 foot drop. To make matters worse, the group of guys I went with wanted to get to the beach so bad we ran, and I mean ran, from the 4th town to the 5th town which is the most dangerous pathway. It normally takes people 1.5 -2 hours... we made it there in about 45 minutes.
The towns themselves were amazing though. Each was different than the previous one and they all were so unique. Pictures can't do any of the pictures justice, just an amazing site to see as well as an accomplishment once you walk from the first to the fifth town.

After a long day of hiking, everyone decided to go out. I was a bit banged up (dehydrated from the sun) and only stayed out for about 20-30 minutes before returning home. My roomates on the other hand got into a brawl with about 30 british people and after realizing they couldn't win the fight they ran. I wish I could have been there but fortunate I didn't break my nose like one of my roomates. People in Europe really don't like Americans.

So on Sunday 3 of my roomates and I had tickets to the calcio (soccer) game. It was the last game of the season for florence and it was against Milan (they are one of the best teams in the world and have David Beckham and Rohindino), the tickets sold it in about a day and we were about the only Americans to get tickets. The game was insane! I'm talking crazier than a PSU football game. The fans are absolutely nut and are never quiet. They all have flags and constantly wave them as they whistle when the other team has the ball and cheer when their team has it. The away fans were caged in because if they weren't, there would have been a riot. I felt like I was watching a country play a country, they have so much passion/loyalty for their teams. Our seats weren't that great but we could see the entire feild and we got to watch Beckham play. Florence lost 2-0 but it was so fun to watch, much faster and more exciting than USA soccer.

This week I have my birthday, 2 exams and a trip to Dublin (thurs-sun). Should be the best week yet.. I'll keep you posted.
Hope all is well in States.


wrote that a good 3 days ago and here is another update (if you want a more detailed one of my birthday just ask)

June 2nd, 2009
Before my class yesterday me and the roomate grabbed 2 beers and just drank and walked around the town. Then for my Italian class we went to a restaurant and their was free house wine. 3 girls in my class got me a gift that consisted of a pink carrier thing, a wooden snake and a picture of a naked girl (all items they found around their house...you had to have been there it was pretty funny). Then right after class at 4 my entire class went to a pub with me and everyone bought me drinks.. it was a good start.
Then at night we hit up my favorite club, twice, and they had a special: 10 euro all you can drink. SO I had a really good night and didn't get arrested and I'm alive so I couldn't have asked for more.

Firenze

Ciao!

A lot has happened to me and my first week in Italy has been pretty hectic. So here is all of it in a nut shell.

I have been so busy adjusting and enjoying exploring. I have gone all around Florence and can't get enough. Everything here is so different and exciting. I live with 5 people, 3 UCONN kids and Joe (my buddy from PSU) and I. The UCONN kids are so cool, we all get along real well. Its just a blast here. Everyone lives in apartments scattered around town and all the places are pretty similar. We are on a ground floor and have a sick porch where we eat all of our meals and hang out.

I am taking Italian 1 and History of Rome. Both classes are so interesting and I am so eager to learn Italian. When I get back to PSU I am going to take Italian now instead of Spanish. You never appreciate a language until you travel and are thrown into the culture. Fun little fact, everyday on the way to my school I walk by the Duomo which is just amazing. I can't believe I am living here and I am taking nothing for granted.

We have been exploring during the days (and I have a friend Jess from FSU who was in Florence all of 2008 and is back for this summer so she is showing me the city and explaining all the history. It is so neat). Food here is so fresh, I can't get enough of it. CAPRESE IS AMAZING!!!!

All of my roomates and I have nicknames. We call them Phelps and Louis and Clark. Phelps cause he looks like him and Louis and Clark because they are always off on an adventure or lost ha. Joe is Richard Simmons (don't really know why) and I'm Lucky. Then we have these guys who live close to us, 7 guys, that we normally go out with and hit up the town with at night. The girls who live directly above us are from UCONN and are so nice. They made us all dinner one night, like a family dinner, and they are like our closest girl friends. The girl Krista, the one I road the double bike with is so cool and speaks Italian so she helps me and my roomate Phelps in our Italian class.

The clubs here that we go to are crazy like out of a movie. This one club, Space, is straight up out of a movie. You walk in and there is a huge bar with a huge fish tank under it and like stadium seating on the side. Then on the second floor its a crazy dance floor that I can't explain I'll have to take a picture and they have like another floor where you can go and dance and be seen over everyone (prob doesn't make sense, I'll take a pic). We went to a club called Yap, which was really nice. Sick bar, crazy dance floor with kids who like go there and break dance and battle, very cool BUT so expensive and I kinda got in a fight because they tried to over charge me because I was American. I called the women a gypsy and don't think I'll ever go back ha. AND don't think it was just me picking a fight because everyone else there who was in the program all got played as well.


My school is real cool, it is like an old building where a rich family used to live and our classrooms are just like in their rooms (I'll have to take pictures).
Everyone is so nice who works for the program and I always joke around with the receptionists and they all know me.

On Wed and Thurs, I was sick like a dog with the FLU! It was so rough being sick and going to class but I bought meds here and they seem to be working. And what is cool here is you can buy prescription drugs here without a prescription, so you get good stuff .

Friday my roomates and I and our like close friends went to Pisa (through the school). The leaning tower of Pisa is amazing, honestly something you need to see to truly appreciate how special it is. We also went through some churches... they had amazing art work, just amazing.

After Pisa we went to a small town called Lucca. Lucca is real cool because it has a high wall that goes around the city. That is where we rented bikes and we went around the whole city on them which took like 30 minutes. The views were so nice and it was a fun time. I was going to ride the double bike with Joe but he got scared so Krista jumped on. I was popping wheely's and she was freaking out haha.

So my week has been exploring, sick, and trip. I'm sorry I haven’t updated sooner and that it is all over the place... I just used an e-mail I sent family for this. I will update it sooner and give better details from here on out.

Third Times A Charm

After a lot of thought... a commucations arts & science degree just isn't enough for me. So I decided to switch it up one more time and have entered into telecommunication (I hope this one sticks).

Now about the trip abroad. Well, nothing seems to be sticking and once more we changed up the itinerary. Now it looks like it is going to be Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Bulgaria. Lot more going on but I'm not going to go into much detail until the plans are set in stone.

Lastly, my week has been pretty crazy so I wanted to throw in a few pictures. The first one is a daylong party I went to at a frat. My Irish side came out and well I went down a slip in slide in all my clothes. The second picture is when I went to a field hockey formal, which was a great time.




-Jay G.

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." -Gandhi.

Every Journey takes some turns.
That being said, my journey through college has taken quite a bit. Since attending Penn State, the majors I have been in or interested in include: accounting, marketing, telecommunications, economics, energy business & finance, crim law and justice and philosophy. So as you can see, I enjoy many things and put simply... I like to dabble. However, we all know dabbling in college is not allowed by your second semester of sophomore year. So like all, I had to finally pick a major to study. My major is now... Communications of Arts & Science - Organizational Option (business) and I have a minor in Legal Environment of Business.
Never thought I would wind up in this major but it interests me and will prepare me for my future plans of getting and MBA or going to Law school. I have thought a long time about becoming some sort of agent (sport or celebrity) so I decided I'll make that my goal.

Now that my major is settled let me tell you about my plans after Italy (preliminary itinerary). As I said before I am going with Mike Donch, Tzoni and Andy (both from Bulgaria). So after weeks of discussion (Mike trying to take us all over Europe) we have decided definitely on Amsterdam, Prague and Bulgaria.


I had a calendar to make it easy but Michael decided to send me these texts:
"What r u doin putting our itinerary on web son!" - Michael
"It's ill!" - me
"Thats not the point man.. I dnt like peple knowin what were doin. Haven't you seen taken?! I dnt wana get kidnapped or some shit.. its just uncomfortable." - Michael

It just shows how much movies influence our daily lives and how Michael is afraid to travel through Europe with 4+ guys. Ha.

So to honor his request, I have taken out the dates of our trip. So if you would like the calendar and date (and aren't planning on doing something to Michael and the rest of us), I will gladly send you it.

My summer abroad program ends on June 28th so I decided the best way to celebrate is to fly to Amsterdam... I heard it is a relaxing place to visit. Tzoni will also be going to Amsterdam on the 28th to meet me but we still aren't sure if Andy will make it. Then depending when we want to leave, Tzoni and I will catch a plane to Prague where we will meet up with Mike and most likely Andy. We plan on Staying in Prague until mid week and then take a flight to Bourgas (a city in Bulgaria along the Black Sea). The flight will be an early morning one and we all plan to party the night before, so it will be my first time traveling not sober... hope it goes smoothly.
Once in Bulgaria we plan to hit up the coast of the Black Sea and enjoy the beaches and clubs. Our last trip will be the hardest where we will take a 6-8 hour bus ride from the far east of Bulgaria to Sofia (Bulgaria's capital). We choose to go to Sofia because Tzoni has family there and it will be nice to have a free place to stay and relax a bit before leaving to come home mid July.
That plane ride home is not looking to fun... Guess if I have extra cash I could boose considering I'll be 21 (my 21st is June 2nd, I'll be in Italy, and I won't have my first legal drink in America a month later).

- Jay G.

"The core of man's spirit comes from new experiences."
- Christopher McCandless.

Florence Italy Official!

Ciao,

It's official! I will be studying abroad this summer, 2009, starting May 15th. My abroad program ends June 28th but 3 of my close friends, Mike, Tzoni and Andy, and myself have decided to travel through Europe for a few weeks making my return date somewhere between July 10th-15th. Trip of a lifetime.


As far as my abroad program, I have signed up for The Roman Empire: Civilization and Legacy (In this program I will spend a weekend traveling to Rome), The History & Culture of Food (In this program I get to go around to winery's and taste their wine), Contemporary Italy: Culture and Society and Italian 101. Unfortunately the program only picks 2 of my 4 choices and those are my classes.

Now as for June 28th - departure, my friends and I have all decided to visit Amsterdam, Prague and Lastly Bulgaria. We all wanted to visit Amsterdam because we are young college students and would like to see the vibrant and diverse nightlife.
We decided to go to Bulgaria because my friends, Tzoni and Andy, are natives to the western European country. They really want Mike and I to see their homeland and show us a good time in Sophia and on the beaches along the Black Sea! Prague was thrown into our trip because Andy insists it is the best place to club in the entire world.

Gonna be a wild time, stay tuned.

-Jay G.

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe." - Anatole France.