Ciao, Hola, Bonjour, Chairete, Hello! A combination of all the greetings I have used since my last blog post! Over the last few weeks, I’ve visited new countries and old friends, and learned about so many exciting cultures. My roommate Ali and I traveled to Milan, Naples and Capri during one of our first weekends in Italy and instantly became great friends with many places we wanted to see together. Before I knew it, almost every weekend of this semester was already full of travel plans. We decided to stay in Italy for the first couple of weekends to explore the whole country and get a better feel for the culture, but after our Valentine’s weekend in Bari, Ostuni and Polignano a Mare, we decided to branch out to other countries!

We started off in London, a place I know and love from visiting there a few years ago. It was absolutely wonderful to go back and get to show her around and explore new places in the city that I also hadn’t been to before. While we did this all in the biggest windstorm they have had in 30 years, it was another great trip to my favorite city in the world. We are so excited to be going back once the semester is over to stay for a few weeks.

The next weekend, my friend Josh from Mizzou who is studying in France this semester came to visit me in Roma! We decided to take a few day trips outside of Rome since he’s been here before, so we ended up going to Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and a wine tour in Tuscany. The biggest takeaway is that the limoncello is good, but I much prefer the wine.

The next two weekends after that, I visited two of my high school friends in Ireland and Florence. My weekend in Cork, Ireland, with Ali was so jam-packed with adventures and breathtaking scenery. We started off by going to the Blarney Castle where I kissed the stone that gives you the Gift of the Gab, and then took day trips to Dublin and the Cliffs of Moher. Seeing my face printed into a Guinness beer was pretty cool, but the Cliffs were definitely my favorite thing to see! In Florence, my friend Amber and I ate at a lot of the famous restaurants there, and the weather was absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait for our next trip together to Venice this upcoming weekend.

The last two weeks’ destinations have probably been some of my favorite this whole semester. I went to Lyon, France, to visit Josh and Marc from Mizzou, and I completely fell in love with the city when I stepped out of the metro. After exploring Lyon for a few days, we all took the train to Paris, where we saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour, took a cruise on the Seine River and went to Disneyland Paris. I was honestly so sad to leave that I planned another trip to go back in a couple of weeks!

Most recently was spring break. My roommates and I have been looking forward to this week since January. We all decided to go to Santorini, Greece, and yes, it did live up to its romantic, beautiful destination reputation! It was such a nice, relaxing week spent in our hot tub, on Catamaran cruises and horseback riding on the beach. Now time to get back into school mode. See you soon!