Rome and Istanbul: Splugen and Kitty Hookah

Finally, our second big trip with the program: ROME AND ISTANBUL! Both were as awesome as expected, and I'm starting to feel very lazy so I think I'm just going to give the highlights instead of the play by play.

ROMAAAAA
Visited: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Arch of Titus, Spanish Steps, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel, Piazza de Popolo, Victor Emmanuel Monument

Group pic!

Highlights:

• Seeing my Phi Sig Sig seeesters! We went to a karaoke bar on Tuesday and some club on Thursday, and they're all beautiful and wonderful and it was AMAZING to see them/ gossip with Kaedy.
• After karaoke bar, I was extraordinarily hung over the next day and almost puked in the Roman Forum.  But I didn't so I count that as a win in my books!
• My first meal in Rome was fried chicken.  Great decision.
• FOOD. SO MUCH PIZZA. SO MUCH PASTA. SO FUCKING GOOD.
• I'm not really an art person, but the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica absolutely blew me away.
• Me and Nate Bronstein accidentally got in a beer chugging contest in a bar and he won.  I've never been more disappointed in myself.
• Playing kings in a hotel room is a great way to get to know everyone in your program.

So hungover I literally could not lift my head

Just try to say the name of this beer without giggling.

herro

LITP

ISTANBULLLLLLLL

Visited: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkaki Palaca, Hippodrome, Underground Cistern, Grand Bazaar, Spice Market, Galata Tower

Group pic!!

Highlights:

• FOOD. SO MUCH FOOD. LAMB. CHICKEN. MEZEDES. DONER KEBOB.  AND BEST OF ALL BAKLAVA AT EVERY MEAL.  INCLUDING BREAKFAST.
• People here are really aggressive when they try to sell you things/ get you into their restaurants.  My favorites were:
• When three girls were walking with a guy, they would call out "Charlie's Angels!" This worked especially well when we were with Charlie Dale.
• "Are you tired? Come sleep with me!"
• "Do you want scarves? OR CHILDREN?"
• I bought 9 scarves in the Grand Bazaar.  I don't even wear scarves.  I can never be allowed there again.
• We went to the royal palace, which is now a museum.  The two best parts:
• The Harem, which we decided was the precursor to the sorority 
• The Circumcision Room.  Really?!?!
• I look downright ethnic with a headscarf on.
• And the best part of any trip or moment or place thus far in my life, KITTEN HOOKAH!!! We stumbled upon this place in a small alleyway near our hotel, and it was MAGICAL. There was hookah which is all well and good, but the best part were the three KITTENS that lived there! So fucking cute, I was obsessed with them. We went here three nights in a row.

Gotta blend in when visiting mosques!

Ultimate sorostitute pose at the Harem!

The picture that describes our friendship

On top of the world! (aka Galata Tower)

They give you silly hats at Kitten Hookah

PUKEY CAT

Ryan and his kitten.  Literally the cutest thing in the world.

So my current list of my favorite cities I've been to so far:

1. Istanbul (Kitten Hookah wins everything always)

2. Edinburgh (Great accents and great architecture)

3. Santorini (Nothing beats a donkey ride)

4. Barcelona (My favorite party weekend, ICE BARcelona was the greatest)

What the hell is there to do in Madrid?

So in between fall break and Rome and Istanbul, my friend Nick decided it would be the perfect time to visit and interrupt a lot of good nap time.  This was quite a conundrum for me, since all I ever do in Madrid is a.) go to class/work and b.) drink.  So during the night we took him to our normal haunts:

• El Tigre, which gives you a huge plate of delicious tapas with the purchase of a beverage (we went twice)
• La Casa de Cervesas, which has open bar for 10 euros, although I think I was the only one to make full use of that deal
• Kapital, the famous 7 story club,  He had an infamous box of wine and I was borderline blackout per the usual, so it was super fun (from what I am told).  I did fall down two flights of stairs.  Embarassingggg.

We also went to El Escorial, which is a gigantic monastary/royal site about an hour from Madrid, built mostly for King Phillip II of Spain and which contained more art than I ever thought possible.  The coolest room was the Pantheon of the Kings, which has the coffins of kings from the Hapsburg and Bourbon dynasties.  Super cool.

This is how I want to be buried

I also brought him to a lunch run by my program so he could attempt to understand the awesomeness that is Madrid and the Mediterranean.  I drank a bottle of wine by myself while him, Nate Bronstein, and Ryan were shaking their head in judgement/ jealousy.

Conclusion: There is nothing to do in Madrid except drink, which is why it's the most fabulous city in Europe.

FALL BREAK aka the best EVER

So the inevitable happened and I stopped caring about / writing in this blog, but I really do want to remember this whole experience anddd I have actual school work that's motivating me to not do anything but procrastinate so here we are!

Midterm Week:
Ha. Hahaha. Midterms in Madrid? Definitely a laughing matter.  One was cancelled because we missed a class during the cruise.  One was cancelled because the teacher's parents died, which is the worst thing ever since he's so wonderful.  And I have an internship.  So this whole "midterms week" thing was more take one very easy midterm and plan for an EPIC fall break with Nate Bronstein!

LONDON: Day 1
So after that whole "school"thing, me and Nate Bronstein set off on a wild vacation across the UK and Ireland! First off was London for just under 24 hours, where we met up with some stupid AU kids.  First stop, and by farrr the thing I was looking forward to the most, CHIPOTLE!!!!!! Nothing else happened that night, and if you care about me you won't ask.

CHIPOTLE!!!

LONDON: Day 2

This day was the most wonderful day jam packed with sightseeing and us just shitting on each other constantly.  I love the people on my program, but it sure was nice to talk to friends from back home!  Highlights:

• The Brits sure like to use the prefix "cock" to name a lot of things
• Fish and chips is just as great as I thought it would be
• The British guards don't seem to like it when you pet their horses
• Nate Bronstein should never be let out of the house with his freaking Captain America sweatshirt
• I mounted my first lion!
• Nate Bronstein and Nick desecrated a sphinxhead statue by doing the DG salute in front of it.  I tried to push them into the river per Phi Sigma Sigma retribution codes.
• The Texas Embassy had good nachos.
• My patronus would be sadness.

SCOTLAND: Day 3

After a harrowing 9 hour long bus ride, me and Nate Bronstein arrived in Edinburgh, which I still don't know the correct way to pronounce! We signed up for a 2 day tour that takes us all the way up through Scotland, and most importantly to the Loch Ness.  Our tour guide, David, had a delightful Scottish accent and told us many fun tales about the Scots.  We stopped at a few small Scottish towns that were so freaking cute, and a bunch of pretty views of mountain ranges and lochs.  It was just so wonderfully pleasant.  It was also the most cozy van, with the rain beating, pleasant Scottish music, and the perfect temperature to drift off into sleep between stops.

One of many beautiful views.

You never realize how much you have to pee until you're near a waterfall.

We then got to our bed and breakfast for the night, which was so romantic and homey, so of course Nate Bronstein was uncomfortable.  I let him be little spoon though and all was forgiven.

SCOTLAND: Day 4

Now this was by far my favorite day.  After a wonderful home cookedScottish breakfast (sooo much better than the freaking toast I get every day in Spain) we headed off to the famous LOCH NESS!!!  Now, of course before we got on the boat we had to buy Nessie hats, so we scrambled into a giftshop before boarding.  Little did we know, the boat would be filled to the brim with Asian tourists, all of which got a fucking kick from us in our hats.  So instead of dutifully searching for Nessie the whole time, we had a PHOTOSHOOT!

Yes, I made a collage of it.

After that, we had a long drive back to Edinburgh, stopping at more pretty things and got tea at the most girly tea shop I could ever imagine.  We ended the trip by actually spending some time in Edinburgh, eating haggis and getting chased by ghosts.  All in all a wonderful place.

He liked every second of it.

Haggis is delicious!

DUBLIN: Day 5

So we roughed it like true college kids and slept in the airport before an early morning flights.  So much fun.  After getting mildly lost for (surprisingly!) the first time, we settled into our hostel and then explored the city! We walked around the main part (there was a Forever XXI in the mall, I've never been happier) and while wandering found a cool 4d movie/ really cheap ride place for 5 euro, so of course we went in.

You guys are jealous, I know.

Then we napped or drank or ate or something, and headed out for another greatly anticipated event we booked: GHOST TOUR!!!! We took a bus to the haunted Wicklow mountains outside of Dublin, where our amazing tour guide, Garvin, told us stories about murderers and satanic rituals while we approached the HELLFIRE CLUB (duh duh duhhhh).  Now, I know there are a lot of non believers out there, but me and Nate Bronstein are very accepting of the paranormal and were feeling very jittery on this Halloween night.  And I'm not saying this is proof of anything, but I was freaked out.  So in the club, we ventured away from the group and went into a basement room.  Nate Bronstein took this picture:

The he felt cold, his very reliable camera suddenly lost most of its battery, and he pushed me out of this room.  But not before he turned around and took a picture of that EXACT same corner:

SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL IS THAT LIKE WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE THERE WAS NOTHING THERE IT'S TOTALLY A GHOST OR SOMETHING PARANORMAL.

Anyways, great tour, great talks with Garvin.  We then went back to our hostel, changed into our lazy halloween costumes (Captain America and Nessie), and went to a bar.  I had to explain to the bartender what an Irish carbomb was (we just called it a car bomb) and we made friends with a surprisingly intelligent blacked out Norwegian kid.

DUBLIN: Day 6

So we actually decided to do some touristy things today, with stuff we read about on the magazine on the plane ride over.  First up, Guinness Factory!  I'm not really a beer girl unless it's Natty Light at a frat party, but I must say Guinness is absolutely delicious, probably my favorite beer now.  Then we went up to the hostel where we met up with our roommate, JJ (who is one of the most beautiful, kind, funny, amazing people I have ever met and I'm in love with him but that's beside the point) to go to the LEPRECHAUN MUSEUM! Yes, it exists and yes, it is as great as it sounds.

Magical.

We then drew pictures of leprechauns and probably enjoyed the tour more than the ten 8 year olds who were also with us.  The we strolled around Trinity College, saw a cool water exhibit, ate some more chinese food, and saw Paranormal Activity 3, which was a great end to a perfect trip.