Italians, Italians, Italians

Rome was interesting. Our hostel was somehow a campsite a little ways from Rome. This entertained me greatly, and Molly has taped footage of me singing "Let's Get Togther" from The Parent Trap in the cabin.

Of course, there were guys. It's Italy. You pretty much can't escape them, I've found. (Well, maybe with the exception of Milan where the only worthwhile men are gay.) We were at the Trevi Fountain and a group of Italians started talking to us. They bought all three of us roses, but that was all we allowed for. Southern Italians are kind of a lot creepy. I told them all I had a boyfriend (does it matter whether or not it's true?) which only made them say, "If you're in another country, it doesn't count."

Italian guys have such great morals.

We saw the Pope! It's his birthday soon so everyone was singing to him in different languages. I was happy becuase I understood most of the French, Spanish and English that was spoken, so I got the homily in three languages. Italian might be my next one. We'll see.

Now we're in Venice, my favorite and the prettiest city of all of Europe. We got a surprisingly nice hotel that comes with free internet and breakfast, so I'm pretty excited. They recommended this restaurant that gave us some amazing pasta for not too expensive. We already plan on going back.

The guy at the concierge of the hotel also just asked for my number... Italians are extremely forward. We already had the guys at the restaurant we went to tonight ask if we wanted drinks as well. I think I should just have a sign plastered on my forehead that reads, "I'm married with three kids" or "Being An American Girl Does Not Equal Easy." I think both would keep them away. Giovanni informed me that the guys are less crazy in the North, but Venice so far has not been agreeing with that.

Many people (like Christine) are going to be here this weekend, so I'm really happy that I get to see a bunch of friends before going to Greece.

Although, I just found out I have to write my thesis proposal by next week. I was not informed of this, and I am NOT happy about it. Ah well, I'm in Venice!

In the Land of Nutella

We made it into Rome ok! We just arrived about an hour ago. The traveling hasn't been too bad. I'm already not very fond of my bag, but that was to be expected.

Milan was a ton of fun! We've been walking around a lot. Molly, Katie, and I found Jenee while we were walking through the Milan metro system, so we spent the past two days with her. We haven't gone out yet, so I can't really comment on the Italian nightlife. The food has been amazing, but I already miss pain au chocolat. I'm going through withdrawl.

We did a little bit of shopping. We actually made an Italian friend during our time in Sephora (it's a makeup store for all those who aren't shoppingly-inclined). Jenee had seen Victoria Beckham in there the day before, so we wanted to check it out. We actually met the guy who applied her makeup while she was in there (she got fake eye lashes applied and talked to David on the phone while in the store... I'm better at celebrity gossip than the National Enquirer). His name was Marco, and he felt the need to inform us that he was gay very early into the conversation and that "if we had a cute brother, we should introduce him." I wanted to say, "You work at Sephora, your hair looks nicer than mine, and you're wearing mascara. Don't worry, we were aware." He was fabulous though. He made us come back to see him today, and we took a picture with him.

All four of us really wanted to see Leonardo DaVinici's "Last Supper," so we went to the building where it was housed only to find out that you needed to have an appointment two weeks in advance. This just didn't work for us. We wanted to see that painting, so we told the girl, "We'll be standing right there. If anyone doesn't show up for their appointment, let us know." We all used Oprah's idea of positive thinking and said , "We're getting in. No lies. Someone will cancel." We also prayed for good measure (just in case Oprah didn't work), and someone cancelled! It was perfection. I got to see "Last Supper!" Yay controversal paintings! The androgenous person next to Jesus is totally a woman, in case anyone was wondering. Either that, or it's a man who was taking styling tips from Marco.

Tomorrow we head off to the Vatican for Easter. I'm not sure whether or not we'll make it up for Mass (it's already almost 2am and we're an hour out so we'd have to wake up at the crack of dawn... don't know if I like that idea), but we will GO to the Vatican for Easter, and that's what really counts here.

I hope a chocolate store is open. I want to buy a chocolate bunny.

Happy Easter, everyone!