i have eaten 15 gelatos

so now i am in italy and i am in love. we started off in cinque terre where we walked along the cliffs and saw beautiful sunsets and everything beautiful in the whole wide world. also, one of the trails was closed, so ryan led us on a cliff


florence- i have never had better food in my entire life. kait and jenny took me to a great place where a little italian man talked and sang to us the entire time, while his wife cooked us food of the gods. if jesus made pasta, it wouldnt be as good as this ladys. holy smokes. he also took pictures of us every half an hour because whe wanted our dinner to be well documented. additionally, i would like to point out that the stereotype is true. italian women do everything, and the men hang out all day. he told us about his life in the boyscouts while his wife slaved away making gnocci with buffalo mozzarella. i almost fainted and threw up! faint because that could be my favorite thing in the entire world and threw up because i ate so much. but neither happened! and also we had unlimited wine, which is like angels words to 5 broke college girls. and it was all 15 euros, really.

the next night we went to a pizza place which in fact, there is one with the same name in the burgh! i melted with the pizza because it was so delicious. also we got wine again, they drink wine more than water. which i didnt even think i liked wine, im just learning that italian wine is a bit better than franzia.

also, i counted how many gelatos i have eaten. but then i stopped, because it ebcame embarassing. kait took me to her favorite place and if jesus specialized in ice cream and not saving people he wouldnàt compare. actually maybe he would. i dunno jesus doesnt make ice cream. i had fig because im trying to do stereotypical study abroad things, cliff diving, eating fish heads, you know.

then i climbed the duomo. 453 steps to the top. my new thing i hate in life is people that block tiny European staircases. the stairs in the duomo are tenny tiny and  spiraly. this man kep ttaking pictures of every brick in the goddam buildling so we had to stand and wait and be done. i learned an important lesson in life a long time ago, that when you get back from your trips, your not gonna print all your brick pictures, your gonna print your people pictures, so flex in front of the duomo or something.

then kaitlin took me to the leather market. my mom kept being like, daina, go to the leather market and buy yourself a nice leather coat, its timeless. and im like, ma, im not gonna spend your 8 million dollars on a leather coat, yes im now on my moms dime, dont come to a country where the exchange rate is double. go to south america or something. but actually do come. as were walkin through the market this guy alex came up to me and made me try on like 17 leather jackets and i was like ''alex, listen there bud i am broke as shit  i am not buying one of you rleather jackets'' then he was like ''i will give it to you for 70 percent off''. now that is a deal. so now i have a timeless leather jacket that i am wearing around europe, i look rull trendy and good, so let me know if you see me.

next, i saw a canoli in the window, and i thought, oh my goodness, im in italy and this is a canoli, so i got it. ( my new passion/goal in life is to eat all of the barbs in italy and believe me it s challenge, but dont worry, things are going great so far). it was awful, the canoli. jesus definitely could have made a better one. so then i went on a canoli search because i was like holy moly i have to eat a good one while im here. the end.

finally, i would like to tell you how i do with beggars. not well. europe is known for its variety and originality of beggars trying to scam daina. probably my soft green eyes and gentle face that lure these suckers in. probably my wealthy looking appearance ( i have worn the same £1.50 fleece and shorts the entire time ive been traveling, witte is concerned that people will notice that i have been wearing the same blue fleece and shorts the whole time. no. im not. i am wearing them right now. and i feel great) anyway, so these beggar people find me and i really can never shake them. women with clipboards, firls with postcards saying they cant speak english but need money, men without legs. it had become a joke that i am always the target, my favorite was when i went to the bathroom in the marseilles train station, which you have to pay for but i really had to pee. i couldnt figure out how to put my money in the gosh darn slow and then this kind old man came up and showed me , spoke english with me, and talked to me about his, german french an dbelgian wife. then he showed me the slot to get a token! ah thats what i was missing! then i was thinking, wow what a nice guy, hes a winner, then he goes,'' can i have 4 euros? i need a bus ticket'' fiddlesticks! fooled again

also last night i thought of a great idea. jenni kait and i were going to sleep and then i thought what if bucknell had a sorority paintball fight to become the most popular group of sorostitutes!! maybe the best one ive ever had. 1000 sorostitutes running around campus with sorority color corresponded paintballs. so now weve been debating who would be agile and stealthy and strategizing. now the end.

also, there are alot of words and i apologize for the lack of pictures. iwould be really bored and wouldnt read this, so if you did. wow.thanks. your really nice.