Lexicles

These legs were meant for walkin

lexicles — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:46:29 +0000

Since the last update I’ve been to Vienna, Munich and Prague( where I am currently). And I have walked around soo much!! Especially being alone, you get so caught up in a city you could just walk for hours. Here are some updates on the cities I have been to in the past week!!

Vienna is such a beautiful city but a big leap into western culture with starbucks, h&m’s, and english all around it wasn’t hard to feel at home here. Maybe that is why I let my inhibitions go way down and had a couple of wild nights out. My favorite part of vienna was the tiergarten, the park not the Zoo. I also got a great Viennese mélange and some wienersnitzel(sp?).

Munich: first off out start to Munich began with a severe headache and about three hours of sleep, nonetheless a 5 hour train ride was less than desirable, not to mention the thought of drinking again at the infamous Oktoberfest . Katina and I met her friend jannick, who was nice enough to let us crash with him for the night, then got ready for Oktoberfest and there we were. Immersed in a uncontrolable crowd we got our mas(liter) beers and a bratwurst and became a part of the great tradition. The next day Katina left for America so I was left by myself in Munich. After wandering around at Oktoberfest sober I found it was not as exciting as the night before. That night at 11:45pm I left for Prague, again with a headache, basically my body hated me at this point.

Prague: for my first experience truly traveling alone Prague has been great! The city is beyond beautiful, not only in the day but astonishing when the low lights come on after dusk. My first day was relaxing and very self reflective , then I returned back to my host’s flat and hung out with some German couchsurfers that were staying there as well. We had great conversation about the differences between America and Germany, all the while with their trusty and BEAUTIFUL dog nearby. Today I woke up leisurely, leaving the flat with the anticipation of seeing the famous castle of prague and instead running into a flock of people. And of course what does any normal person do when seeing a flock of people?! Of course flock with them, and I am very glad I did, because I ended up seeing the pope!! Crazy happenings here in Prague:-) on the downside my computer is broken and my fingers can not handle much more posting on the iPhone, so this may be my last blog post until I return to the USA on Friday, unless I get ambitious in berlin!

Tuesday I am going to Berlin then off to dusseldorf and NYC / Syracuse on friday!

Baci ,
alyxa

Budapest lovin!

lexicles — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:36:54 +0000

Since I last wrote I have been in Slovenia, Zagreb(Croatia), and I am currently in Budapest. After going to Verona, Katina, Adam and I went to Slovenia to the capital city Ljubjana( LU-B-ANA). Much to my surprise it was so beautiful! In our original travel plans we had not expected to go to Slovenia, but as a last minute addition it was a great choice. We had a great time with our slovenian host, and saw the awesome castle above the city. Next we traveled down to Zagreb, Croatia to take a bus down to Plitvich lakes one of Croatia’s national parks. These lakes were so amazing, the kind of blue you only see in pictures, and scenery out of a fairytale. After the lakes, we went back to Zagreb to stay two days with a couchsurfing host who was more than accommodating and showed us some great food and sights in Zagreb. Next we took a train to Budapest where we are now. Budapest is actually two different cities, Buda and Pest, they are both enormous and breathtaking in their own ways. Today we walked around the castle of Buda, and then saw the miraculous structure that is the Hungarian Parliament. Tomorrow we are going to the markets around Pest, and the Thermal baths that are supposed to be awesome. I will be back in the states in 11 days and excited to see what is in store for me there, slightly scared about that, but I guess all I can do now is enjoy what is going on in the present.

Ciao,

Alyxa

Back to Bergamo!

lexicles — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:26:30 +0000

I am finished with English camps for the summer and I am now embarking on ANOTHER traveling adventure. Friday was the end of my camp in Lissone near Monza, it was a great week, but I was ready for it to be over. On saturday, I went to Milan, and window shopped through all the really expensive shops that I will never be able to afford, saw the Duomo ( which was unreal), and then headed back to Bergamo. If you dont remember, Bergamo was where I started camps about three weeks ago, so I am staying with my host family there…such sweet people. We went out for sushi last night, and I think that is the first non Italian meal I’ve had in one month! Later today I will be going to Verona to finally meet back up with Katina and Adam. I do not really know what the next couple weeks hold for me, but I am getting really excited about new adventures! I will be home in 19 days and I am pretty excited about that too….wish me luck! I hope I will have internet sometime in between all the madness, but if not I will update as soon as possible!

Love you all.

Alyxa

It’s official, I am the worst blogger ever.

lexicles — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:22:29 +0000

I am getting to accustomed to the Italian lifestyle. Coffee and relaxation have become my everyday routine. After three to four coffees a day you would think I would be ready to write a novel about my day to day life and the adventures I have had so far but that is not the case. On Sunday , I did end up going to Lake Como, it was beautiful, not exactly up to my expectations, but worth the trip. I went to a small village called Bellagio, thinking that something would shed light on why the Bellagio in Vegas was named after the quaint village, but that was not the case either. The drive on the lake and the company i was with was amazing though. We had a fun time together and then returned safely to Monza, no where near ready to start camp the next day. This camp has been fun, but not as much fun as the last two. I am only with one other tutor and much more tired than the last two weeks. On the other hand this is the first week I have been able to see alot during the week. Yesterday we went down to Port Genoa in Milan and saw some really cute canals. I have no idea what the next few weeks hold for me. On saturday I am done with camps and hope to meet up with my friends Adam and Katina to continue our travels in Croatia, Budapest, Vienna, etc, but no plans have been made so far….Problem ?….I hope to go back to Bergamo and see my first host family, then wonder around Milan more.

I wish I could say I will update you with more soon, but I dont know when I will have internet again, so until then Ciao and I love you all!!

Baci,
Alyxa

I promise to have a longer update tommorow!!

lexicles — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:47:44 +0000

Ciao Tutti,
Sorry it has been awhile since I’ve updated. This week has gone by so fast in Foiano Della Chiana, near Arezzo.

Sunday I went to Siena with some fellow tutors, and then we started our crazy busy week with 82 kids at camp!

Tonight is our big show and I am super exhausted but very excited to see everything pull through from this week’s work.

Tommorow I am off to Monza, near Milan. Hopefully going to Lake Como on Sunday.

So in a nutshell, life is pretty great at the moment.

Missing home and friends a lot at the moment, but still trying to embrace all that italia is offering me!

Baci,
Alyxa

Big Team Small House…

lexicles — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:06:55 +0000

Ciao from Arezzo, my new home for the week!! This morning I left Bergamo, with a few tears rolling down my cheeks. My host family in Seriate ( Bergamo) was so amazing, and I just loved the time that I spent there. My mum, Paola, made a special angel out of wool for me and gave me an Italian book about Bergamo so I would remember my week with them. It was so awesome!! But now I am in Arezzo, which is near Florence and in the Tuscany region of Italy ( aka very beautiful!). Tommorow I may venture to Siena with fellow tutors if we get some free time. The family I am staying with is Greek and Italian, so its a diverse culture that I will be around for the next week. They also speak perfect English so I am happy about that, hopefully I will still keep up on practising my Italian, because I am getting quite good!! I miss home a lot and I can not believe I still have a month until I am back in the USA, but the experiences I am having are truly amazing, I feel so blessed to be able to see all of these things and meet so many great people. Today I actually realized that I have completely forgotten all of my responsibilities back at home, so I will have to work on balancing my work and pleasure in Italia with my obligations in the US…ekk.

I will be writing more this week, because I have internet!!!

Ps- English Camps are going well, very very fun….more on that later!!

Baci,
Alyxa

Seriate

lexicles — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:38:54 +0000

It has been awhile since I’ve written about my travels, so there is alot to catch up on. For the last week I have been in a small town near Bergamo called Seriate. I am staying with an awesome host family that makes so much food. Everynight we sit around for about three hours and speak broken Italian and English to each other. It is so much fun!!! Next week I am going to Arezzo, which is close to Florence. I am very excited about that.

I hope to write more about Arezzo when I am there.

Ciao for now….

Italian healthcare system > USA……

lexicles — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:50:13 +0000

so last night i fell while walking down to a festival in baiardo, the small town Katina and I are isolated in until camps start next week! So long story short, I had to get stitches in my hand today at the hospital all morning! talk about a european adventure. Everything including my tetnus shot was free of charge, so crazy that it probably would have taken a load of money as well as some insurance babble to get that done so quickly in the US! Anyways I will try and post again tommorow or before I am off to teach English with a bum hand…..Ciao for now

ps- for all family members, dont worry yourselves, I am doing fine just a minor glich in my travels miss you all!!

O alfa Romeo, o alfa romeo.

lexicles — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:17:02 +0000

So our travels since lecce have been very interesting. We rented an alfa Romeo( a very stylish Italian car) to drie up the coast of Italy. From lecce we saw awesome places such as alberobello, matera, Pompeii, Salerno, and sorrento!! It’s been a wild ride but also a great sleeping ground as we hve used the car to sleep, eat and drive in. From sorrento we took a 5 hr drive up to Perugia Italy to visit a friend Katina and I met last year… We’ve been here for two days an today we are off to Pisa and cinqueterre! Sound be an exciting day of tourism as these are two very touristy sights in Italy. I’m super excited to see the leaning tower , I already saw cinqueterre last year but its a beautiful place so it will be fun too. Unfortunately we have to leave our precious car in la spezia and we do not really know where we will stay tonight… Hmmm… Seems to be a reoccurring theme for us.

Wish me luck… Ciao tutti;)

Ciao lecce!

lexicles — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:29:37 +0000

We are off on a new adventure! Yesterday we decided to rent a car to drive through the rest of Italy! It should be an interesting time. Our new friend Gaetano is driving us to Bari to get the car, then we will go to mater and continue on to Salerno. Wish us luck on this crazy part of our trip!

Ciao tutti!