Siamo In Italia!

"A man who has not been to Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what is expected a man to see." --Samuel Johnson

"I've never been out of the world... wait... I mean, the country" -- Me hahah

I haven't written in so long! My life has been so entirely busy since school started... sometimes I don't even feel like I have time to tie my shoes. I'm working 2 jobs and taking 16 hours of school... not fun. Andddd me and Cole are about to try to put up Christmas lights for extra money starting in November, so add 1 more job to the mix. I think I've always been a little used to having a lot on my plate... just maybe not this much lol. BUTTTTTTTTTTT it's all okay, ya know why? Cuz I'm going to ITALY IN MAYYYY! I can't wait :)

223 more days until I take my first international trip EVER and I can't believe that it will be to Italy because that has always been the #1 place I've wanted to visit. Ok, so let me give u the details... Me, Cole, Abby, and Reid (Abby's bf) will be going to this beautiful country in May for 10 days after me and Cole finish the Spring semester. From our tenative plans, we are going to be staying in Venice, Florence, and Rome and other than those places, we will visit the island of Capri, and then maybe Milan... but I'm not sure about Milan, I can't remember. Anyways, since the day I found out that I would be going there, I have been researching, dreaming, and learning :) I downloaded a bunch of apps on my phone that help with language translation, so before long I will be speaking Italian (but not fluently) hahah. Oh, and for the purpose of the trip, these are our new names: I am now Messalina, Cole is Colmazio, Reid is Renzo (that one's my fav) and Abby is Abbondanza (but I might change her name, cuz it's a mouthful). Needless to say, I MIGHT be a little excited...

You know what my #1 HAVE TO DO THING is while I'm in Italy? This: 

Riding in a gondola in the canals of Venice. Like, you can feed me all the amazing pasta and incredible gelato, and take me to see the Colisseum, but if I leave Italy without riding in a gondola I will be sooooo disappointed. Idk why, it's just always been a dream of mine.

So yes, aside from riding in the gondola, we will be.... visiting all the main "must see" sites of Italy, eating all the carbs we can handle, drinking wine (and hopefully visiting a winery), shopping little markets in the cute cobblestone streets, biking in one of the towns (and i totally think we should rent a mo-ped as well), seeing world famous art and buildings, eating cute little pastries and of course, eating gelato!

The only problem with all of this is... I've gotta focus on school and work in the meantime. But that's ok, because whenever I have downtime I will be imagining that day in may where I embark on my 16 hr flight overseas to visit the place of my dreams! :)