Oh! Dov'e Romeo?

Monday after my Italian class my friend text me and told me to meet her at the train station.  When we got there she told me we were going to Verona for a day trip!  What a wonderful surprise.  After a little trouble shooting with the trains we finally made our way to the fair city of Verona.  Only an hour and a half train ride and we made great time, arriving a little after 12 and we had such a hoot on the train….saw an Amadeus Mozart doppelganger.  No joke, check out the video bellow.  We could not stop laughing and everyone was looking at us but it was nice to laugh so hard it hurt.  I haven’t done that in a while.

We went ahead and purchased our train tickets back.  We chose the 5:55 so we had almost six hours to explore the city.  Ashley had a list of a few things to see:  the arena, casa di Giulietta, casa di Romeo, the square and a famous bridge but we also had some free time to explore the city.  We stopped on the walk into the city center so I could buy my traditional post cards and key chains.  I’m up to five from Italy and two from France now!  One from Amsterdam that Shena got for me as well.  The walk from the train station to the center of the city only took 15 minutes and when you arrive you are immediately greeted by the arena!  Like a little coliseum.  We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant facing the arena – La Costa in Bra and we both ordered whole pizzas.  And yes I finished it all :]  Mine had mozzarella, brie cheese and salami.  It wasn’t hard to eat the whole thing it was sooooooo delicious.  The cheese is always what gets me when it comes to pizza. 

After lunch we began our journey around the city.  We stopped first at Casa di Giulietta.  It was amazing to see the balcony, the original cobblestone, the love locks and finally the statue of Giulietta.  It is good luck if you touch the cleanest part of the statue – which at the moment is her breast so don’t question the photo.  We wrote letters to her as well.  The love locks were a little expensive but you are supposed to write your name and the name of your beloved on it and she will guard them.  It was a little bittersweet thinking about Bradey.  Mostly made me realize not only how much I love him but how much I love all the people in my life.  We tried to go to casa di Romeo next but unfortunately it was closed but we got to see the outside at the very least.  We walked around the square, the outskirts of the city to see the mountain views, across the bridges, to see the ruins and just generally everywhere.  The city air is so crisp and clean and the scenery is absolutely breath taking.  I love Florence but Verona gives a person the room to live.  We also stopped in a German bakery and a candy store.  Yes I got a bag full of candy – all sour!  It was nice to have on the train ride home.  It was a wonderful day trip and Ashley lifted my spirits. 

Today I had class – Italian and Photography.  I got my first quiz in Italian back.  55 out of 60.   I would have gotten a 57 but he didn’t count two of my answers because of spelling errors, sono not sonno.  But I was pretty proud of myself.  I developed more of my film in photography and we received our midterm projects and the format of the test.  I don’t think either will be too difficult. 

I also received some interesting news!  I am one of ten undergraduates at ISU to be selected for a summer research grant.  What does that mean?  I will get a stipend of $3000 along with $500 to buy supplies to create art over the summer for ISU.  We will participate in a show and auction for charity.  There aren’t many details at the moment but more will be coming soon.  I was so shocked when I received the email. All I could do was sit and stare at the computer screen dumbfounded.  Finally I had to call my dad.  Needless to say my parents were very proud and so am I.  This is a great opportunity and I am so excited to participate!