carnie carnival

this was his first time on a ferris wheel.

i know, right?  i can't believe he's never been on a ferris wheel! (ha.)

"pretend it's your first time on a ferris wheel!... oh wait..."

...shoe?

we decided to document this experience before we.. he got motion sickness on this beauty:

all in all, I'd say the carnival experience was a 9.3 on a scale of 1 to Juno if you know what I mean.

Roma day II

(Roman numerals... {in the title}...did you catch that?... ha)

Are you sick of pictures yet?  We are only on day 3 of 40, people.... yikes.  I think I am sick of pictures (not really).  I may have to spread these out! 


So. This day was spent studying (Hooray!  First official study abroad day!) Ancient Rome.

The Arch of Titus is what I did my report on.  It will get its own post later on.

One and only jump shot!

Giving my report... which I got an A on!  Woot!

Inside the Colosseum.. Sorry it's blurry.  This is also the day my camera decided to have a freak out and die.  Yes.  My camera died not even a week into SA. 

Chelsie and I  inside the Colosseum.  That place is huge!

My cute roommates Aspen and Linda and I ..I miss them!  We had some fun times.    Sorry guys!! (hahah. inside joke)

The Column of Trajan.

Me, Dev, Brookie Cookie and Cody trying to figure out where to go next

the nicest people!

 ***

Seriously.  People are so nice!  Check out this sweet post by Belinda Olsen of Belinda Olsen Photography.  I did some wedding dress illustrations for her a few months ago.  I'm so glad she photographed them, because I never remember to document my work!  Thanks so much, Belinda! 

***

Roma! May 4

On the steps of the Capital building.  Erica looks super excited.  Aah. Love her!

Colosseum!  We came off of the metro and BAM it was right there.  Just chillin' in the middle of the city.. no big deal.  It was incredible.  Still can't believe I was there.

The stunning Arch of Constantine

Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain (Yes, this is the fountain on Lizzie McGuire...)

Roman Holiday, anyone?..

Capital

Nope, not Caesars Palace in Vegas... this is the real deal.

Me, Megan F, Kylie, Kenz, and Megan M

Brooke and I in front of the Spanish Steps!

After I posed like this I found out the peace sign is offensive in Italy... (?!) Whoops!  Ha.  Didn't do that again.

PS this is the one and only day I got ready the entire trip.

When they say drinking fountain, they mean it literally!

Jordz in Venice

I found Jordan in a mural in Venice... 

Uncanny, really...

you might remember Jordan from

here
 or
here
or
here
 
he's kind of popular on this blog.... 

Italia: first impressions of Roma

so happy not to be flying anymore!  Well... some of us are happier than others.... (hah. Ashley!)

I had been awake for 24+ hours at this point... it is impossible to sleep on the plane.

 I flew from Chicago to Rome, and fell asleep for what seemed like a really long time.  I woke up and decided to check the little tv in the aisle to see how much longer the flight was... I thought maybe 2 hours?

Looked up anxiously and the screen pops up

Duration:  6.5 hours!

SIX and a half HOURS?!... I wanted to die.  Obviously I didn't die, but needless to say it was a very very long flight. 

Broccoli trees!  Everywhere!

We spotted the LDS missionaries leaving McDonald's in Roma!  Ha

this is the view from our hotel of Rome.  See St. Peter's Basilica (the Vatican)?

funny looking toilets... also notice the adapter plugged into the wall! That was fun to get used to....

the view of the bathroom from my bed.. You can see the blow dryer in the bathroom (the thing that looks like a mounted vacuum!)

We were lucky to be able to see St Peter's Basilica from our hotel room.  (the Vatican).  It was so beautiful!

Another view from our hotel.  We were so lucky to be on the top floor--we had our own terrace!

first Roma sunset!  Bellisima!

ciao!

remember me?

I used to blog all the time!  I've been m.i.a. the last 2 months--but I'm back!  I don't have a lot of time for blogging all about my adventures quite yet, but I thought I'd let y'all know that I'm home safely and that I have many many stories about Italy, Paris, and New York!  It was the trip of a lifetime and loved [almost] every minute of it! 

Feels good to be back!