sick music video

This is such a cool music video! Plus the song is really good, and I have a fatty crush on kid cudi. What a win!

5terre

Ok, last repulsively beautiful picture of the sea, I swear. This is the beach in Monterosso. We almost didn't stop in Monterosso, but thank goodness we did! It was really cute and as you can see it had a b**chen beach. If you are going to visit Cinque Terre make sure to go to Vernazza, Manarola and Monterosso. Those three were my favorites by far.
Some local lemons in Monterosso. Nora and I bought a couple to squeeze into our hair for sunning purposes, but we also ended up nibbling on them. They were delicious and super fragrant.
"In Focaccia is the essence of the Ligurian land:
The heat of the sun,
The smell of the intoxicating olives
The taste of the sea...
The same simple energy that is born
from the combination of an ancient art and the precious
fruits of a hidden land."
This poetry was on the wall of a focacceria in Manarola where we found foccacia covered in pesto and stracchino. Two of my absolute favorite types of foccacia COMBINED. I almost had a heart attack when I saw that magical combination.
Here is the pizza we had for dinner. This picture never ceases to make my mouth water.
Our trip came to an end with us watching the sun set out the train window. I couldn't think of a single thing that would have made those two days more enjoyable.
A presto miei cari!

Bagno a Manarola

I solemnly swear I didn't photo shop this at all, the bay of Manarola is really truly this disgustingly similar to paradise.
I actually feel nauseous looking at these pictures, the beauty is too overwhelming. Why isn't all water this beautiful? I feel extremely lucky to have been able to swim here.
Nora and I scaring the Italian tourists with our crazy antics. After we surfaced they clapped and cheered for us though. They were good sports.
Here we are shocking those same tourists with our goofing
The water of the Mediterranean was soooooo salty!! When our hair dried it felt like straw and we managed to mold it into all different styles. We got it to stick straight up for a good while, but I will spare you all those pictures. Please feel free to appreciate our 80's-tastic hair in this photo though.

ǝɹɹǝʇ ǝnbuıɔ

The gang in front of Manarola :)
A different view of Manarola
More Manarola!
Us gurlz in front of Vernazza
Street of Vernazza

5terre

The following pictures were all taken in Vernazza where it is impossible to take an un-beautiful picture.

5terre

This last weekend we finally made it to Cinque Terre! I have been wanting to go ever since I was 13. Honestly I was a little afraid that I had been day dreaming a little bit too much about how beautiful it would be, but I was extatic to find it is even more beautiful than I could have imagined. These photos don't even do it justice! This will take a bunch of posts to put all the pictures I chose up, but I think it is well worth it.I took this picture of Manarola from the train as we whizzed by.
I would kill to have a boat, even one as teeny as this. I just can't imagine anything more relaxing than floating around all day. Maybe I'll become a fisherwoman.
The graffiti on Via dell'amore was really beautiful and heartwarming. I am a huge sucker for all that stupid romantic stuff.
View of the sea from Via dell'amore
More stupid romantic stuff that I just can't get enough of! All over Europe you can find little locks on the most popular lovey-dovey places. I have seen them on bridges in Rome, Paris, and now on the Via dell'amore! The locks are supposed signify everlasting love, not only for couples but also for friends and family. I think it is nice to see all these little physical memories of relationships that may or may not still exist, it reminds you how much love there really is in the world. I wonder how long this rusty bad boy has been there!

As promised, photos of the castle here in Pavia. The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately so instead of hanging around the house or the university to study we head out to the grassy lawns on the castle grounds.
One day we spotted the allusive gelato truck, it was very exciting for both Ella and I.

Day trip prt 2

This photo needs a lot of explanation. I don't think Nora and I have ever enjoyed a third of a granola bar as much as we did that afternoon. As the bus swerved up and down hills and mountains our hunger grew and grew which made a sickly combination of car sick hunger pangs. I think we even look a little green in the photo! Luckily Lau found a granola bar in her bag and we all split it which enabled us to live until we reached the restaurant.
Where we found the Italian version of chili! It was so delicious and filling, I wish I know how to make it. I know it had gnocchi and beans in it, but everything else is a complete mystery. Drat.
After lunch we got to walk around a botanic garden which was really beautiful. I realized how much I miss nature, we don't get much here in Pavia except a couple trees, the Ticino of course and some grass.
Driving back we saw a lot of beautiful countryside like this. So that is the trip to Varzi!

Day trip prt 1

Our trip started bright and early in the morning when we all piled into a bus, we were all lucky enough to have succeeded in dressing ourselves properly even though all the sleepy odds were against us. We then drove about an hour through the beautiful Italian countryside(pictured above) to the town of Varzi.
We took a walking tour of the town and discovered this clever sun dial on the side of the city hall. You have to be a pretty BA clock to "only show the serene hours".
A nice little statue that supports "Peace and Good"

Song for the Sun

Ladies and Gentlemen! There is sun in the sky and I am trying to soak up every ray possible, which is why there has been a teeny pause in the posting. To make up for this lapse I give you a song. Listening to it makes me feel exactly how this new found sun does.

Two Discoveries

Seeing as it is a typical Sunday morning I have been lazing around surfing TV channels and getting lost on the world wide web. From this I have come upon two amazing discoveries.
1)You can text the Pope!!!! The lower red stripe has his number and the blue one has a running banner of different texts that have been sent to him. How insane is that!!

2) This amazing website called FFFFOUND. It is a pool of really awesome images and the really cool part is that bellow the image are a bunch of thumbnails which you can click on which leads you to other cool images. I have already found so many things to save in my "inspiration" folder on my desktop.
I hope you all have a great Sunday!

ps A post about yesterday's trip to Varzi and Pietra Corva should be coming soon

A truth

found here

some pavian life

I managed to get some quality studying done in one of the beautiful courtyards of the University of Pavia while we had a little break from the stormy weather.
And I finally took a picture of this beautiful wall I pass almost everyday on my way to school
...and then the thunder storms rolled back in. bllleeeeehhhhhh.

Gourmetscapades!

I have been going craaaazy with the veggies lately, and what goes beset with veggies? Why cous cous of course!
A colorful and nutritious salad.
One of my final cous cous products, notice the fancy shrimp ;-)

a beauty and a beast

A pretty lamp from the Canary Islands.
And some freaky meat from an Italian grocery store.

FUN in the rain

Daaaarrrnnnn iiiittttt! The rain continues. I am seriously considering running away to Sicilia. Bellow are some photos that give the illusion that we are trying to enjoy this rotten weather.
Ella and I gazing at the majestic castle of Pavia. I promise to put up better pictures where you can see the whole building in the future(there may be picniconthecastlegrounds plans that will happen as soon as the sun decides to shine). For now we can marvel at the ancient cobble stones and my rain savvy outfit
I will be the first to admit that this post is completely and entirely due to awful study procrastination. And perhaps these playful rain pictures will help you put something off as well! I feel like this may turn out to be a very symbiotic relationship of procrastination enablement(I'm not sure if this is actually a word because the spellcheck doesn't seem to think it exists, but it comes up on google searches, so I choose to believe it is completely legitimate) .