Lucy, I'm homeee

I'm home! I'm home! I'm home!

With a beautiful new HP computer to replace the terrible terrible one that died. :(

As soon as I move over all my pics and documents to the new baby HP, I will update the world on the last bit of my travels. 

xx! Merry early Christmas!
Kristi

Update!

Hey, faithful followers :)

So I have a bit of sad news for you, my computer is dead. RIP Baby Toshiba. London got the best of her, I'm afraid. Not only was this somewhat devestating for me since this is finals week and I have three 10 page papers to complete without a computer ... but also, it's not exactly fun for you blog-readers either. Tyler is graciously letting me use his computer while he's at his internship and Elise, my future roommate, has also been letting me use hers. I'm getting very good at computer hopping, however Tyler's doesn't have an SD card reader for my camera :(

So, that means no new blog entries for a bit. However, I only have 2 weeks left in this beautiful city so the things that I cram in toward the end alongside writing papers will have to be documented a little later than I'd like. What can you do? 

Thank you for your understanding! I know you are all upset beyond belief, but don't despair. There will be more blog entries. Patience, young grasshopper. 

It's very very chilly in London - it was in the 20's yesterday! And they're predicting snow, so who knows?! Maybe we'll have an early white Christmas after all :)

Cheers! Happy American Thanksgiving and Ordinary Everyday Thursday in London! 
xx
Kristi

Bellisima Italia

Ok, here we go - Italy's turn! I'm doing my Fall Break post in 2 entries just to save your fingers the extra scrolling, so scroll away down and read Ireland first if you haven't done so already ... because the adventure starts there and then continues in Italy!

We arrived and were met by our professor, Sergio, who drove us to eat. The food was magnificent, but I was instantly woken by the strange "not in Kansas anymore" feeling when he had to order our food. Well, duh, they speak Italian in Italy ... but they spoke English in Ireland, so I think I just forgot .... However, I picked up some key phrases and was mastering my Italian like a pro by the time we left! Success.

G'bye Ireland!

YAY WE'RE IN ITALY

Our first meal - Ty got a calzone, I got passsta!

I have no idea what this says but I'm assuming DON'T SWIM is part of it

A chocolate boat?!

a loooot of these in Italy

CASTLE

...complete with duckies!

Explorin'

I had some jet lag sickness this day, so don't mind the pic...

 Oh, and these photos are from a peninsula off of Brescia, where Sergio lives with his brother and his family, where there is some fabulous scenery, and of course, a castle!

Pretty

We HAD to get gelato. Everywhere we went.

But we didn't feed it to the ducks like these weirdos.

After that, Sergio left us alone to explore Brescia!

So we found this big church

This church was even more ornate - so gorgeous!

We also found this woman getting water. Is that sanitary?

And this guy with no nose.

And this chick with no head.

We found another castle and took pics from very very high up

King of the World!

hayyyy

Delish hot chocolate that was more like warm ice cream

Strong aparetivos at Sergios with cute Tyler

Ok, that was all Brescia. Brace yourself ... two more cities to go. Next we have.... Venice! Ty and I would catch trains in the morning to get to where we wanted to go that day and had Daddy Sergio help us buy tickets on the Italian Automatic machines ... all of the gelato purchasing, however, I did on my own :)

Our first glimpse of Venice's canals

Hello Venezia!

The famous Rialto Bridge

OMG ITALIAN PIZZA

The best thing ever? Possibly.

They sold Carnivale Masks everywhere

Fantastic church in San Marco Square

illegal inside pic!

Clock tower

A cute Italian puppy I wanted to keep

work it! work it!

Gondola rides were like 80 euro. Too much - but they were pretty to look at

And of course, more gelato

Lovers leaving Venice

 Yay! On to Verona ... or shall I say, Fair Verona where we lay our scene? Either way...

Juliet's Tomb

A super fitting piece of art for Verona, I think

The Arena! the Colosseum's baby sis

This Pinocchio busker was totally cheating and standing in that box

A delicious Italian lunch!

The writing on the walls entering Juliet's house!

Me on her balcony :)

Yayy our love is not forbidden!

Ty and I inside the Arena!

Right before we got lost for a while in Verona

But took pretty pics while we were at it :)

Santa Anastasia church

And then.... we climbed. Forever.

I don't know if all 390 steps to the top of this tower was worth it...

After recovering....

Bye Italy! It was fun! "Home" to London!

 So, there you have it! My fall break adventures ... hope you vicariously enjoyed them, because it was an absolute blast! Right now, I'm standing only 3 weeks and some odd days until I return to the U.S. and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been a loooong and exciting time in London, but I'm definitely ready to be in my own space again. I'll put up some other updates about the various things I've been up to around London to keep you all feeling in tune (especially since I"ve been such a delinquent blogger lately). Cheerio! xx!