Melanieniemann's Blog

Not Miss List

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:58:14 +0000

having to buy water/ the awful smell of our street/ carrying camera equipment/ getting hassled to go on a pub crawl/ Barrett making fun of me/ crowded busses/ crowded trains/ waiting in lines/ long plane rides/ cobble stone/ dirty feet/ PDA

As you can see my Miss list is much longer than Not Miss… I can’t wait to come back

Miss List

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:56:57 +0000

pizza by the pound/ Andrea Consoly (our cooking instructor)/ Dominico (Capri boyfriend)/ the Isle of Capri/ Faro Beach/ public water fountains/ night time street performers/ Italian MTV/ wine with every meal/ waking Barrett and Rico up/ rooming with Lindsay/ Jan’s camera/ dancing Josh/ dinner with Rico and Lindsay/ Zach (our grad assistant)/ Valentina (his sudo girlfriend)/ Ultimate Frisbee at the park/ On The Rocks (a bar in Trestevere)/ Aldo (the dog at Due Chiconi)/ real Italian food/ public transportation/ Zach’s friends/ our hotel room/ Lee’s crazy stories/ Laurel’s leather jacket/ going to the place Ceaser was killed every day/ the Popes’ Blessing/ Sunday Mass in Italian/ Gelato/ the Coliseum/ the Vatican/ Florence/ climbing Mount Vesuvius/ Ferry rides

Basically everything about Italy

Frisbee at the Beach

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:53:01 +0000

Today was my last day in Rome and thank God I got my stuff done because I got to go out with Zach to the beach! It ended up just being the 2 of us but it was cool… like I said before he is really growing on me. The first thing we did was play Frisbee in the water and I learned how to do a graceful dive for the Frisbee! I had a blast and he asked me if I was bummed that I didn’t spend my last day in Rome actually in Rome… not at all. Everyone else in our group stayed in the hotel all day and I actually got to go do something. It’s not like I’m not coming back to Rome soon anyway

Domani

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:48:38 +0000

we have been watching either CNN or Italian MTV since we have been in Rome, and I have become obsessed with one Italian song. It’s Michael Jackson ‘We Are the World’ style, and it features all of the major artists in Italy. It’s called Domani which means tomorrow in Italian, and was written to create awareness about the earthquake that happened a couple months ago in Italy. I bought the CD today and my 5 euro went towards the cause so now I feel a little bit better about myself. Check out the song on you tube… just look up Domani.

Angels and Demons

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:37:19 +0000

Angels and Demons is my favorite Dan Brown book and it is set in Rome, which is where I am! I started reading it again and tonight Rico, Lindsay and I decided to go see the movie. There is a movie theater that shows movies in English with Italian captions. It was amazing to see the places we walk by everyday depicted on the big screen! I feel closer to Tom Hanks now

An American Cheese Burger

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:35:05 +0000

Rico’s parents came in for the weekend just to do some site seeing and to say hi. They ended up taking Barrett, Lindsay and I out to Hard Rock Café for dinner and let me tell you it was probably the most amazing dinner I have eaten. Don’t get me wrong I love pasta and pizza, but when that is all you have eaten for lunch and dinner for 2 and ½ weeks a classic American Cheese Burger is welcomed with open arms. Rico’s parents are awesome by the way… I can tell where he gets all of his personality!

Cooking Class

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:11:27 +0000

Today we got to take an authentic Italian cooking class, and now I’m Italian chef! Andrea Consoly and his family own a restaurant in Trestervere called Le Fate and for 20 euro he gives Italian cooking lesson. We learned how to make fettuccini, ratittoui, meatballs, and a chocolate soufflé. My first job was to cut the onions and boy did I fail…

crying over onions

I started crying like a little girl and mascara was running down my face! I got to stay away from the onions after that. We ended up staying there for like 7 hours cooking, but we got to eat everything we made afterwards and it was worth it! I can’t wait to try out my new cooking skills back home.

PDA

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:08:33 +0000

Public Displays of Affection also known as P-D-A is very common over in Europe, especially Italy. Everywhere you turn you see a guy grab a girl’s face and start going at it… literally everywhere you turn. In the middle of a Piazza, the bus stop, at the dinner table, in the line waiting to get in the Coliseum, even RIGHT NEXT TO YOU on the train. This is something I am not going to miss about Italy!

Stuff White People Like

melanieniemann — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:06:36 +0000

there is a book called ‘stuff white people like’ and it has everything from Starbucks Coffee to boy bands… my recent favorite entry is backpacking through Europe. In a country about the size of California you can always spot the Americans. They are the ones with the huge North Face back packs on their backs and hiking shoes on their feet. It’s a fun game, spot the backpack, you will find them scattered at train stations and bus stops. I can’t really knock this way to travel because that is my goal for next summer.

You’re a good man Charlie Brown

melanieniemann — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:52:39 +0000

Have you ever seen the Charlie Brown episode where they are playing football and Lucy pulls the ball away just before Charlie kicks and he falls directly on his back… that’s exactly what happened to me today. We went to a park with Zach and met up with some of his friends to play ultimate Frisbee. While we were waiting for the match to start we were kicking to soccer ball around, throwing the Frisbee and playing some American football. I got the brilliant idea to show off my extreme athleticism and punt the football… that is where it all went wrong. Two feet in the air and a huge bruise on my butt- SO EMBARRESSING! I just laughed it off and the only thing really hurt is my pride.