Our last weekend in Positano and Capri!

I cannot believe our final week is here. Where has the time gone?! For our last weekend trip, we visited Positano and Capri. This trip was an optional trip planned by our program. Although I have enjoyed planning most of my weekend trips, it was nice just to follow and have everything set up for us! Cinzia was our guide for the weekend, and we were so thankful to have her along with us. Our weekend was very nice and relaxing without many plans. If you have never visited Positano, it is a very beautiful and charming place. There is not much to do except enjoy the scenery, food, and lemons [they are known for their lemons so they are evvvvverywhere!]

We arrived in Postiano early afternoon on Friday, had lunch, and walked around all the shops and boutiques. 

the HUGE lemons!

we found lemon slushes... DELICIOUS. 

Saturday, we all decided to catch a boat to Capri! We enjoyed the island and had another relaxing day enjoying the views and doing a little shopping along the way :)

Me and Brittany

Me and Suze

I was so very blessed to have 3 of my best friends with me throughout this experience.
I love them very much and would not be who I am today without them.
Me, Britt, Suze, Mary

Me and Britt

The water is so blue in Positano! I have never seen anything like it!

God's beauty continues to amaze me.

Suze, Me, and Alex on the way to Capri

View of Positano from the boat!

Capri!

Britt, Laura, Brittany, and Me at the top

A wonderful little bakery in Capri!

This week has been very slow compared to our normal weeks. We are done with classes and have been working on our assignments due today and tomorrow. We have a 12 page paper, photo journal, presentation, and final exam. We are not use to having a lot of assignments so we have been struggling a little, but who are we to complain :)

Bologna, Milan, and Barcelona!

As you might know, I got back from Switzerland on the 3rd (at 10 pm) and then had to be ready to leave for Bologna at 6 am the next morning. We arrived around lunch time and were given free time to eat and walk around. Bologna is the location of the first university in the world. Yes, world. So it is filled with college students, which is always fun.

Bologna's Main Square

Our visit to Bologna was very brief... the next day we checked out early and were headed to Milan! On the way we stopped in Maranello to visit the Ferrari Museum and a local balsamic vinegar factory, Acetaia del Cristo. We had a guided tour around the Ferrari museum and got to see Ferrari's from many different years. 

One room of barrels! The vinegar stays there for at least 15 years... and some have been fermenting for 200 years!!! Crazy! Each barrel has a hole on top but it covered by a film (like above). The oldest vinegars are extremely thick because they have had more time to evaporate.

... and by dinner time we had finally made it to Milan!! The fashion and design capital of the world!!

The Duomo

The Galleria Victorio Emmanuele

Later that night, the program treated us to an "Appertivo" with yummy drinks

On Wednesday we met Max! Max is a professor in Milan who works at the Portaluppi Foundation. He gave us a lesson on "Modern Milan" then spent the rest of the day taking us to exhibits to see awesome designs and Italian showrooms!

we had Japanese for lunch...
Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Seaweed Salad, Egg rolls! :)

Back to the art... This is on the side of the Duomo... essentially a huge pile of salt with horses.
Kinda strange if you ask me.

I don't understand how this is art....

unique flower vases

Our few days in Milan flew by and before we knew it we were getting on a plane to Barcelona, Spain!! This trip was definitely one I had been looking forward to.. all 20 of us decided to go together for the weekend and I had heard so many great things about the city! Well... they were all right! Barcelona was so much fun and beautiful. The city is so clean and easy to get around. The only downside was there are very sketchy men wandering around at night... good thing we were in a big group! and I thought the Italian men were bad... nope, Spain wins.

La Sagrada Familia!

we love American chain restaurants :)

Agbar Tower!

We spent out last evening enjoying a great 'Tapas' dinner!
Trying not to eat Subway and KFC for every meal :

Flights are around 30 euro round trip... but you certainly get what you pay for! haha They never leave on time... sell smokeless cigarettes and cellphones down the aisles the entire flight... and everyone cheers when you land! I know.. this doesn't even sound real... but believe me, it is. So as sad as it is that my time abroad is coming to an end I am happy I can say I never have to fly with Ryanair again! but also very thankful that they did get us back safely after all. The cheering after that last flight was very necessary. We made it back to our nooks around 1 pm due to the delay and everyone crashed from being up all night!!! 

We just got back from Positano and slowly realizing our time here is coming to an end. I can hardly believe it!! 

Seeing Switzerland!

after traveling through 3 countries in one week, i am finally back in my little nook! first i will update you all on Switzerland. this is country is beautiful in every way- the mountains, the lakes, the snow, the green grass, the air, the people... everything!

there were 8 of us that left early friday morning headed for Geneva, Switzerland. we got very spoiled in Switzerland... instead of staying in hostels and figuring everything out on our own, we got to stay with family friends of mary cate who have been living in Switzerland since 1990. Jimmy and Cheryl both attended the University of Florida law school, got married shortly after they graduated, and moved to Switzerland for his job. they never had kids so they enjoy company anytime they can have it! they basically planned our whole weekend and the only task we had was to show up! it was so nice and relaxing to not have to worry about how we are getting anywhere or what to do... we were truly blessed to have this experience. 

this is what i woke up to on the plane! i thought i was dreaming haha
as always, the picture doesn't do justice.

i knew i was going to love Switzerland the moment they gave me something to organize my franks separate from my euros ...
it drives me absolutely crazy when my coins from different currencies combine!

the first thing Jimmy and Cheryl told us to do was enjoy Geneva during the day Friday, so we walked around got some chocolate and lunch and just enjoyed the beautiful day we had!

suze, me, and britt in Geneva

Bel- Air of Switzerland

we stopped in to get something Switzerland is known for... their chocolate!
and i must say it is very delicious!

we found a nice little park to lay in while we waited on our train
it was right next to the river!

their trees were so funny to me!

once we were done in Geneva, Jimmy had told us to take a train and he would me us and transport us from there. once we met us with Jimmy, he took us to their mountain home in Verbier! 

it overlooked the Swiss Alps!!

the view from their back porch...

once we got in and settled he took us to rent our ski's

friday night Jimmy told us to walk around Verbier for a little bit and enjoy the atmosphere and all the festivities they had going on... it is a very quaint little town, and SO FUN! once we were done walking around, we came back to the apartment and Jimmy had dinner ready for us... this is when the spoiling really began!

we woke up early morning to hit the slopes!

Jamie, Mary, Me, Elizabeth, and Susanna
the rest of the group went paragliding!

God's beauty!

me and britt before she went paragliding... so proud of her!

the 3 paragliders! it looked really fun and they also said it was one of the best experiences!

the skiiers with Jimmy!
without him we would have been lost!! we just followed him everywhere!

after we skied for about till about mid afternoon, we packed up and went to their home in Lausanne. i just pictured their home being in some nice little neighborhood in Switzerland... but little did i know they would have the most incredible view right from their kitchen window!

their modern home!

the view out their window...

they prepared a nice appertivo for us... some wine and finger foods!

for dinner we had fondu, which is very common in Switzerland after a day of skiing! 

some more of their beautiful backyard!

they had two puppies... it made me miss Charlie very much!

just some cows on the side of the road!

there were so many vineyards on the side of the mountain they lived on!

they took us on a stroll along the hillside Sunday morning before we left

Team Switzerland!

Jimmy and Cheryl

:)

we saw some of the Olympic Museum

the Johnson's were determined for us to experience as much of Switzerland as we could in one weekend, and they succeeded! we could have never done half the stuff we did without them, and i am very thankful they opened both homes to us. it beats staying in hostels any day! it was so nice to have a little taste of home... even though it was a totally different country, we were around Americans and had home cooked meals which makes all the difference in the world. 

i will do my best to update you all on Milan and Barcelona as soon as possible! the weeks are starting to slow down, but the work is picking up... with a final, paper, and other assignments. we have one more weekend trip to Positano this weekend, then i will be heading home the next weekend. i cannot believe we have come to the final weeks. the time has flown by! but it will be so nice to catch up with you all and see what is going on in everyone's life! 

until next time!