Some interesting tidbits about Europe

Okay so in this post I am going to be sort of reflecting on a few things I have learned while abroad. They aren’t like lessons just like facts about Europe that the normal American doesn’t think about. Lessons will come later..

  1. Italians take their time with everything. You want to grab a sandwich from the local Tibacchi (quick shop), hope that there isn’t a local Italian in there or you will be standing in line for like 5-10 minutes.
  2. Even with unlimited data, your phone will not always work, matter of fact, it rarely completely works. I think this is a good thing though, it makes you dive into the culture and really pay attention to the little things instead of staring at your iPhone screen for 10 minutes.
  3. Breakfast really isn’t that important to Italians. It is more of a piece of pastry like a crescent and coffee. I have had eggs one time in one month and that was while I was in Amsterdam. I can’t really figure out why breakfast isn’t a bigger deal to them, but i just isn’t.
  4. Italians are the nicest Europeans by far. The Dutch were somewhat nice but not really at the same time. French weren’t helpful in any way at all and the Germans honestly do not like Americans one bit. When we went on an Air BnB to Nerano, which is at the tip of the area surrounding Naples, the people that rented out the Air BnB completely took care of us. Whenever we needed a ride we got one, offered to get us pizza, even found us the fairy we needed to go to and a taxi to the airport! I have never felt more welcomed then I did in Southern Italy.
  5. Pick Pockets and Gypsies are real but if you are just cautious, you will be fine. Yes you can get pick pocketed and someone I know actually did but I think if you are careful then everything will be fine. Just casually feel your pocket and hold it on the public transportation.
  6. Europeans are very touchy. I can’t explain how many times me or one of my friends got our butts felt up while just standing waiting for transportation. I don’t know why but they are much more touchy so be ready for that.
  7. The smell thing that we all talk about back in the states is a real thing here for sure. At a couple of bars you could really smell some people and it honestly was terrible.
  8. Rome has about a billion tourists and a lot of english speakers. Be ready to wait in those lines for the Vatican (well worth it) and be surrounded by people in the Colessium. Also, go check out the Roman Forum, that was a really cool place!

If I think of more I will add to this post, thanks for reading!

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Rome, Italy

With our third weekend abroad our group decided to go the mecca of all cities. Rome. And let me tell ya, it was fantastic. I am a big fan of Rome. There were thousands of tourists so that was good and bad but I loved it. The Vatican was absolutely insane and amazing. The lines sort of stunk but it was well worth it! I honestly have no idea how they made those back then. Pretty incredible if you ask me. The amount of detail in each little sculpture and painting was amazing. We got to go to the top of which was incredible as well. I have pics that I will be posting later. I’d for sure say that it is a MUST see city.

We also got to go to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum so that was also really cool. It is hard to imagine how long those things have stood. And it is super cool that the Romans have kept them in pretty good condition. Imagine if Rome had never fell? They would be light years ahead of every civilization in my opinion.

Ill be posting about the odd things I have noticed in Europe later on this week. Pics will come later too. Chow!

Second weekend, Amsterdam

So with our second weekend, which was last weekend, we went to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was a much different place than Capri Island and Rome. We stayed near the liedeshplein square. That seemed to be where a lot of locals and families went to hangout which was a cool atmosphere. The food there was so much different than Italy’s and our group couldn’t of been happier. The grease was much needed for sure. The fries and mayo were really good. We went to the Rijksmuseum and saw some other cool places as well. The red light district is something that is so different from everything it’s insane. Honestly I feel bad for those women. The weirdest thing ever is that families and kids like walk by there. Just wrong

The canals in Amsterdam are so awesome though. It’s pretty cool how kinda just go from canal to canal and there is shopping food, whatever you need. Overall, I could honestly live there for a summer and have a great time. Not a ton of US people there either which was cool. The public transportation was very easy to understand as well.

Lastly, sorry for the late post on here. We got stranded in Amsterdam and then took a train to see Paris the next day because our flight wasn’t until like 3 the next day in Paris. We then got back to CIMBA campus at like 7 on Monday and then the week just got crazy. Pics of Amsterdam will be up tomorrow as well as Roma!! Stay tuned

 

Nerano, Italy

Some of my friends and I went to Naples, Italy and wanted to go to the legendary Capri island. We ended up staying in an air bnb in Nerano known as Olga’s residence.It was probably the nicest I have ever been treated in my life. The Italians are unbelievably hospitable and generous. We paid $37 a piece for 2 nights in Nerano. Traffic in Italy is absolutely insane, even Alfonso who was driving us was whipping it around turns.

 

On Saturday we visited Capri Island and it was absolutely incredible. I learned so much about the Italian culture on that day it was crazy. The housing on the island is insane and not much real estate is sold because islanders have been passing down these homes for generations! Our tour guide told us that it was around 800 euros to stay there a night. There is incredible shopping as well and so many different people its insane. On our boat ferry over there were no native Italian speakers and only a handful of Americans other than us. The views were once in a lifetime. Unfortunately the legendary “blue grado” was closed, but I got to see pretty much everything else which was awesome. Pictures are coming in the next blog!

First blog post

Hey y’all, hope everyone is having a nice start to the summer. I just got done with orientation here in Paderno, Italy! I am currently enrolled in the CIMBA program with 20-30 of Arkansas’ finest! We start class at 8 am tomorrow which is going to be pretty early. Hopefully my classes go well throughout this program.

Honestly the whole trip over here was pretty simple! The flight was long but it was not terrible at all thanks to all the movies. The weather here is perfect right now and I hope it stays like this the whole trip! Ill be posting pictures later on, I do not have a ton right now. The faculty and whole program seems great and I am very excited for these next 4 weeks! Ill be posting later on in the week!