The End

So I've now been back in the wonderful USA for a solid week, and it's time to wrap up the loose ends of my amazing semester abroad. The last few weeks were a whirlwind, consumed mostly with schoolwork and studying for finals (yes, classes were hard - or at least significantly harder than I expected). One of the highlights of those days was the boys cooking us breakfast for dinner, complete with strada, french toast, funky-colored hash browns, and homemade maple syrup - thanks so much guys! Finals came and went, and we prepared to say goodbye to the friends we had spent the past four months living, cooking, studying, traveling, and essentially "growing up" with. (Fortunately it's not too long of a goodbye - see you all back at school in the fall!) We were all excited to pack and head home to America after a long semester away from home, until we got a frantic group email about our flight home being cancelled due to the Little Volcano That Could (not stop erupting). After a few hours of sheer panic - I really wanted to go home - the ND travel agency really came through, and got us all on flights out the next day. So we spent an extra precious day in the Eternal City, seeing the sights, tossing our goodbye coins in the Trevi, and even trying and failing to get tickets to a Roma soccer game after having travelled all the way to the Olympic Stadium. The flight home was an eleven-hour adventure over the Arctic Circle (who would have thought I'd ever see Greenland?) to avoid the ash cloud, and landing at O'Hare was a joy.

This semester was truly a roller-coaster ride filled with new experience, new friendships, gaining life skills, homesickness, learning how to live on my own, and truly starting (just starting) to feel like an adult who might be able to make it in the big world after all in one year. Although there were certainly more times that I can count that I missed Notre Dame and home beyond words, I am truly confident that this experience has changed me for the better. If I had stayed in my comfort zone in South Bend for this past semester, I know I would have regretted missing an amazing opportunity to see the world, and most importantly, see who I am as a person and who I want to be.

So to wrap it up, I have to say thank you to everyone for reading, but especially thank you to my parents for giving me....









I know how lucky I am, both to have seen and experienced everything that I have this semester, and also to be able to come back to two wonderful homes - my casa and Notre Dame, which I just got back from visiting and fell in love with all over again. This is my last post, at least in the area of travel-related posts. I might keep this up and running for personal blogging, so if you're ever bored on the world wide web, check back with me!

Amalfi Coast Tour!

Three weeks ago, my parents came to Rome, and along with my friend Cara, we took a guided driving tour along the Amalfi Coast, one of the most beautiful drives in the world, in the South of Italy.  Our driver Mauriano was fabulous and the trip was absolutely unforgettable!  The first day, we were all picked up in Rome and we immediately headed south, where we made our first stop in Naples.  I've heard only terrible things about Naples, and some of those things were certainly justified based on what I saw, but Mauriano also showed us the beautiful, historic parts of the city as well.  Of course, what I was most excited for was the pizza!! Naples is the birthplace of pizza, and words cannot describe how amazing Neapolitan pizza is!  Then we headed to Pompeii - I had already visited with my high school group, but I honestly appreciated it so much more this time around.  My parents had a great time - my Dad especially loved being creepy and pretending to be a living statue.  Afterwards we drove to our hotel in Sorrento and had dinner overlooking the water.  As we were walking back through town, we came upon a party in the main piazza, with free desserts for everyone - naturally we jumped on that and got back to the hotel feeling very full :)

Bay of Naples

mmm, pizza! (margherita, veggie, and sausage with broccoli - all so delicious!)

Pompeii

The second day we headed out for our tour of the actual Amalfi Coast - the road that connects many southern towns along the coast, and although it is only about 50 km (if I remember correctly), the road has 1200 curves! Needless to say, that was the reason my mom insisted we hire a driver - no offense, Dad :).  Mauriano brought us to a mozzarella factory in the town where the cheese was invented, and I've never tasted cheese so delicious (yes, this includes my American cheese folded in fours).  We stopped in the beautiful town of Positano, where my Italian teacher in high school had always told us to go on our honeymoons, and now I see why!  We stopped in Amalfi as well, and then in Ravello, both of which were beautiful - I wish words could do these towns justice, but I'm just not that blessed of a writer (I'll be happy to show you more pictures when I come home!).  Then we got a great surprise on our way back to our hotel - Mauriano took us to his farm where he lives with 30 of his extended family.  They were so welcoming and friendly and quintessentially Italian.  His mother gave my mom an Easter gift that she had made herself, and his wife brought us homemade limoncello.  We met his sons, nephews, brothers, and felt so welcomed - I could definitely get used to that lifestyle!

Mom, Dad, and I, with Mauriano!

two peas in a pod - I love you Mom!

Positano - all of the churches along the coast had domes that were covered in ceramic tiles - so beautiful!

Dad, Mom, me, and Cara - overlooking Positano!

in Ravello

I love these flowers!

For our last day, we were dropped off at the ferry port in Sorrento, and took the boat to the island of Capri.  We took a bus up to the town of Anacapri, which sits at the very top of the island, and strolled along by the port for awhile.  Although the weather wasn't great, we had a good day and by the time we arrived back in Rome, I was so sad to see Mauriano leave.  He was such a wonderful guide, and I learned so much from him over the course of three days.  I'm so lucky to have such amazing parents to have taken me on this incredible trip - I can't wait to see you guys soon!

Capri

More exciting updates to come soon, including: finals week and my current battle with the Icelandic volcano.  

Baci, 

Katie

Dear Readers

I'm still alive, in case you were wondering.  It's finals week, but in 36 hours I will be a free woman, and in 4-ish days I'll be home!  There is already a post in the work for my Amalfi Coast trip, and I'll update you on my exciting finals adventures.  If that doesn't keep you checking back every day for the new posts, I don't know what will.

Short story: Today I wore my ND sweatshirt to school, and as I was walking down the street outside the university, a man walked past me and started singing, "Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame...".  Of course, being completely oblivious, I didn't realize it until he had passed me by, at which point I whipped around to see if he was still addressing me, which of course he wasn't.  I don't know if he was American, Italian, or whatever - that complete stranger blended back into the tiny streets of Rome, but he left me with a huge smile.  It made my day, and reminded me how much I love Notre Dame.  I'll be back on my beautiful campus in 9 days!

I was riding the bus home at twilight today after one of my finals and I was so struck (again) by just how beautiful Rome is.  There's so many little nooks and crannies I'll never get to see - it's huge and every little part of it has so much history.  Rome just celebrated her 2761st birthday - incredible!  There's just not really a comparison in the US.  I've been so lucky to call this place my home for four months.  And to my real home: get ready, here I come!

J'adore Paris!

Paris in the spring certainly did not disappoint!  The weather was beautiful, the city was blooming, and the sites were spectacular :)  I traveled with my friend Anne, and we had a great "romantic" weekend spending so much time together!

On Friday, after a grueling 7 a.m. flight, we arrived in sunny Paris and immediately figured out the city's incredibly extensive and traveler-friendly metro system.  Since we couldn't check into our hotel for a few hours, we walked around the area of Montmartre for awhile, and climbed the hill in the area - the highest point in Paris and home to the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart?) basilica and some great views.  We hung out on the steps of the hill for a while, singing along to a guitar player with hundreds of people from literally all over the world.  It was so fun, so European!  We checked-in and then explored the Arc de Triomphe (a bit premature, Napoleon?) and then waited in line to climb the Eiffel Tour!  We decided to tough it out (and save some cash) and headed for the stairs rather than the elevator.  It all seemed like a great idea until my fear of heights set in, so we only made it to the first level, with poor Anne practically holding my hand the whole way.  However, the views were spectacular and unforgettable.

Sacre Coeur

singing on the steps

the statue sang along...

Arc de Triomphe

climbing the tower (after I stopped shaking!)

Saturday, we decided to make a trip to Versailles.  Upon arriving at the palace, all I have to say is that it's easy to understand why the French revolted during the Revolution - the chateau is ornate beyond belief, and every surface possible seemed to be dripping in gold.  My favorite part was certainly the hall of mirrors, and it was so fascinating to see the bedrooms where Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette lived and entertained.  After we took the train back to Paris, we strolled along beautiful gardens on the Champs Elysees, and then packed a picnic dinner of baguettes with salami and cheese, strawberries, and cookies, all for under 7 euro from the market!  We took our dinner to the Eiffel, where we met Cara and her roommates and waited for the light show, which was so amazing! It was probably one of the most memorable parts of the trip!  We had dinner #2 in a nearby Chinese restaurant, where we were hilariously stalked by eager Asian tourists photographing our dinner, and then grabbed a bottle of champagne to celebrate a wonderful weekend!

Versailles

hall of mirrors

Cara and I

light show!

Sunday, we went to mass at (where else?) Notre Dame!  Gothic churches are usually not my style, but ND was beautiful, from the massive stained glass windows to the impressive chandeliers.  We stumbled upon the holocaust memorial, which was incredibly moving.  It's always strange and powerful to remember how the actions of a few changed the history of an entire continent forever.  After lunch at Subway (!), Anne and I headed to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and ... not much else.  We were exhausted from a trip, and museums are not completely our thing, plus the Louvre was just so overwhelming.  We hit up a few souvenir shops, grabbed our bags, and headed back to the airport, saying Au Revoir to a spectacular city!

The Louvre

All in all, I can't believe I once considered not visiting Paris while in Europe!  I can't recommend it highly enough, and it was truly an unforgettable experience for me!

Buona Pasqua!

Probably one of the staples of studying in Europe in the spring semester is going to Rome for Easter Mass at the Vatican.  Since I'm lucky enough to actually be studying here, I got to enjoy the mass Notre Dame invasion of Rome and see some friends, without being burdened by the stress of traveling on an incredibly touristy and rainy weekend.  Although mass in St. Peter's square was certainly unforgettable, the fact that it downpoured literally the entire time that we were there (and we were there for about four hours total) put a bit of a damper on the day (high point: they had a marching band!).  By the end, after I was soaking wet and freezing cold, with a battered umbrella that had literally been used as a sword to fight through the crowds, I was missing my small familiar Easter mass at MSW and brunch with my family.  However, we brought some of our ND friends back to our apartment and some of my roommates cooked a simple but delicious brunch for them.  It was good to see some of my band friends!

The Thursday before, Cara took me out to dinner at Tony's in Trastevere for a late birthday present with some of her roommates.  The food (penne alla vodka) was so delicious and the atmosphere (sitting at tables outside at night watching people pack through the small ancient streets) was awesome.  Thanks again, girl!  I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, afraid to venture into the mob of tourists that started overtaking Rome on Easter and have been lingering ever since.  I can't complain too much though, I'm still basically a tourist myself! 

battling the elements

Papal blessing

piccolos on Easter!

Spring Break 2: Eating Our Way Through Istanbul

Back to spring break posts!

After returning from Sicily, Anne, Laura, and I took a one-day breather in Rome, and then headed to Istanbul, Turkey for the rest of our spring break.  Istanbul was beautiful, crazy, eye-opening, impossible to navigate (where are the street signs? nowhere), overwhelming, and definitely a culture shock.  Turkey is such a unique mix of Europe and Asia, and additionally is a predominantly Muslim nation (although not in an overtly religious sense).  Since we were there for five days, I'll try to give the cliff notes version of our trip:

Day 1: Flew into the airport on the Asian side of the city and arrived to a forebodingly cloudy sky.  We were immediately stricken by the sheer number of mosques we could see as our plane landed - so many spires pointing skyward.  I still maintain that they seem a bit sinister-looking, especially compared to the church steeples and domes that I'm used to in the US and Rome, but I guess that's just culture shock for me.  We took an hour-and-a-half shuttle through impenetrable nighttime traffic and arrived at our very fun and friendly hostel, where we were greeted with a free glass of wine and a delicious lamb kebab.  Seriously, we tried multiple kebabs throughout our trip (eating cheaply, yay!), and the hostel topped them all.  Who knew?

Day 2: Major tourist day.  Woken up at 5 am by the call to prayer - "We're not in Kansas anymore...", but it was something I would definitely get used to by the end of the trip.  First we visited the Topkapi Palace, which was home to the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire.  It houses precious jewels, and irreplaceable artifacts such as the sword of David, rod of Moses, arm of St. John the Baptist (I think?), and multiple items belonging to the prophet Muhammad.  We also toured the Harem, which is filled with immaculate rooms, and is where the Sultans and princes would live with their family and concubines.  Next stop was the Blue Mosque (or Sultanahmet Mosque), which is the predominant mosque in the city.  We slipped off our shoes, put on our headscarves, and walked through the beautiful building, lit up with chandeliers.  Our final tourist stop for the day was the Basilica Cisterns, an ancient underground water source whose significance escapes me right now...BUT it was still really cool.  We had a free dinner at the hostel, and I tried Turkey's traditional drink - a licorice-flavored alcohol called Raki.  Since I'm such a licorice fan (save me those black jelly beans), I figured I'd love it, but it was so-so.  The hostel manager then recommended us his favorite dessert place in town (Cigdem Pastanesi), and I had my first taste of baklava, and let me tell you, I'm hooked, and I've craved it every day since we got back.  Throughout our time in Turkey, Anne and I became infamous as "the baklava girls".

Topkapi palace

Hagia Sofia, a church-turned-Mosque-turned-museum

Blue Mosque

Basilica Cisterns

Day 3: Bosphorus cruise.  We boarded a city ferry for a cruise down the Bosphorus river, which dumped us off on the Asian side (three continents down, four to go!).  Once there, we played in some ruins of a castle at the top of the hill (I feel like climbing to the top of hill was a significant spring break theme), and headed back to complete the 90-minute return trip.  It was a bit blustery that day, and the trip on the ferry was a little long, but there were some spectacular views of Istanbul, which is absolutely massive.

view from the ferry

ruins at the top of the hill

the three of us, overlooking where the Bosphorus empties into the Black Sea

Anne's artsy photo of me

panorama of the view from the ruins - I love my camera!

Day 4: We hit the Grand Bazaar, which is a covered bazaar with thousands (ok, maybe it was hundreds, but it certainly felt like thousands!) of stands selling everything imaginable, from souvenirs, to carpets (of course), beautiful lanterns, and so much more.  There was also a smaller outdoor bazaar closer to our hostel that we explored as well.  Everyone came away with some goodies, including Turkish Delights, which pretty much sums up our eating habits for the entire trip.  In an ill-fated attempt to find one of the only churches in Istanbul to attend Palm Sunday mass (on Saturday night), we ended up in Taksim, one of the more modern areas of the city, which bustled with activity and is lit up with Christmas lights strung between buildings on the crowded streets - literally Christmas lights, complete Santa and Christmas trees, very weird in a Muslim city but fun.  We ended up finding the church but missing mass, eating dinner overlooking the main street, and getting pretty lost as we tried to find our way home.  I was certainly relieved to find the tram finally, and of course, we once again rewarded ourselves with baklava (for probably the fourth time in as many days)!

Day 5: Spent eight hours in the Istanbul airport, thanks to a completely incompetent airline and their incredibly rude staff.  Since when can you just move a flight back half a day and not provide any notice?  Anyway, let's not dwell on that.  Let's just happy to say I was glad to come back home to Rome, which finally seems so much like home (and when Italy seems efficient, you know something's really wrong with where you are...).  It's really a shame that it's taken me this long to feel this comfortable and utterly blissful here, but I am, and I plan on making the most out of my last month here.

Anyway, Turkey was certainly an interesting trip, and one that I know that I'll never forget.  Italy is home though, and I'm very happy with that.  It's also nice not to get catcalls here from every single male on the street - I feel like the only reason Turkish men learned English was to make passing comments at American girls like ourselves.  No harm done, but 4.5 days of that was probably just enough.  It's good to be back! 

I'm heading to Paris in a few hours - our taxi arrives at 4:30 a.m. and flying at terrible hours is just something that I'm used to now.  Actually it's the last flight trip I'll be taking until my flight home - can't believe it's that close now!  My parents are coming on Tuesday and we're all going to the Amalfi Coast next weekend - I'm SO excited :)  Unfortunately, I have a ton of schoolwork that week, and it's sure to be stressful, but I can't wait!

Next post will be Easter, which will come when I get back from Paris.  I can't wait to be caught up with these blogs so I can think in a logical chronological order again!

XOXO

Katie

P.S. It's been a super exciting week for me for two reasons: 1) I received and accepted an internship with Catholic Relief Services as a legislative advocacy intern! And the best part is that it's in Chicago! I loved being in a new place last summer, but after a semester abroad, all I want is to be home! 2) An awesome political science professor at Notre Dame accepted my proposal for a senior honors thesis, and she's going to be my advisor for the project!  So I'll be doing an original research project next year, culminating in a 40-ish page thesis - yikes! But I'm really excited about my topic and about the opportunities it can give me post-grad.  Cheers to a great week!