Shay's Italia Adventures: 2011

Hi you guys, soooo sorry it has taken me this long to put in my last post! After getting home I have been busy unpacking and getting settled in our new home. We moved out of our house and actually back into my first house :) It's been fun but I have slowly been realizing how much stuff we all have and trying to fit it into a smaller space can be such a challenge! So my last trip before leaving Torino was in to the country of Malta. Malta is a small country in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It was such a fun vacation. I went with Jessica and another girl from her sorority (Lizzy) who was visiting. We met up with a group of guys from the program and took the train to Bologna. From Bologna we took a flight into Malta and eventually found our B&B. It was a really nice place, however the owner was a tad off her rocker. She was a really sweet woman but was a bit on the older side and was very confused most the time. That night we went out to dinner to none other than the HARD ROCK. It was really close to where we were staying and such an amazing spot. There was a strip of bars/clubs/restaurants. This area is where we went out each night. After dinner we grabbed a few drinks and then just went to bed.

We woke up the next day, met up with the guys and headed straight to the beach. We spent almost the whole day at the beach. It was so nice to just lay out, get in the water, and relax. That night we went to the guys' apartment and cooked dinner. We made a giant Mexican feast as it was Cinco de Mayo. We finally met up with Lizzy that night and eventually got ready to go out and celebrate! We had a great night, sampled some tequila, and eventually made our way back home.

The next morning called for some McD's so we stopped there briefly. We also were force fed by our crazy lady landlord, but it was actually a really nice breakfast. We took our time getting ready and then met back up with the 4 guys. We were off to see a few sights and stated our adventure. It took us a few different buses to find The Blue Grotto. We paid for a boat ride that took us in the Sea to see all these amazing caves. The bottom of the water was filled with white sand so the water was SO clear. It was entirely blue. It was such a fun little boat ride and was really cool to go inside some of these caves. After seeing The Blue Grotto, we hiked to see some 7000 year old ruins. We didn't want to pay money to see the ruins so we just saw them from a far. It was so cool to see something that old! It was pretty amazing. We hiked back down the mountain and headed back to our town in Malta, St. Julian's. On our way back to get ready for dinner, us girls decided to get henna tattoos. They were on our hands and looked pretty sweet if I do say so myself. We made our way back to our B&B and then met back up with everyone for our last dinner. We went to an amazing place with great burgers and salads that was right on the water. It was a seriously awesome meal. Right after dinner we headed out for our last night. We hit a few bars/clubs and had a great time dancing. The next morning was full of another great breakfast from the B&B. We took our time getting ready and packing and eventually left that afternoon.

Malta was such a beautiful country and a perfect last trip to end the most incredible semester of my life. The last week was full of packing and saying goodbyes. Jess and I eventually (after 26 hours of travel) made our way back to Seattle. I have been missing Torino, my apartment, and most of all the amazing friends I have made throughout the entire process. We are already planning get togethers and reunions. I miss these people more than you can imagine. I made some awesome lifelong friends and have shared some of the best trips and memories of my life with them. I will miss the Italian lifestyle dearly, but I realize it is time to come back to reality and start a summer full of work (and working out hopefully haha). I only have one semester of school left in my college career....ah!! Once this chapter closes, its time for a new one to open! I hope you all enjoyed this blog. I know I LOVED writing it and informing you all about my life changing adventures. Until next time....CIAO RAGAZZI!! xoxo

Jess and Lizzy in Malta! Burnt to a crisp...

We are tomatoes! (Minus Lizzy)

Happy Cinque di Maggio!

They love Tequila!

Travel buds :)

Med Sea baby!

Our hair is wild! plus we love floral outfits...

Notice Lizzy's whistle...

We are heading to Gilligan's Island.

Babes on a boat

Beautiful!

In the caves...yeehaw!

Honestly, just look at that water!

Keep your eyes open people.

The ruins are in there, I promise!

Nothin like a sunburn, cocktail, and a Maltese cigar.

Henna power! I am the tan hand...

Some of the dudes we went with....I pretend not to know them.

Group out in Torino!

Club right by our apartment. I'll miss you Cacao!

Ladiezzzz

On top of the Mole in Torino. More like on top of the world.

Miss you so much Cleenton.

Last night out people.

Roomie Luv.

We pretend to ride bikes.

I LOVE MY FAMILY.

Hey all! Sorry I have been seriously slacking at the blogging. But guess what...I AM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!! Yeehaw. What a crazy adventure the last 4 and a half months have been. I am so blessed to have done/seen the things I did! So sad to leave all my new friends and new home, but happy to return to everyone and everything here! I am about two posts behind so just hang in there.

So about three weeks ago I met my Grandma and Aunt Liz in Nice, France. I took a five hour train and met them on a Saturday. We finally met at our AMAZING hotel called The Westminster. We chatted and walked around the first day and just caught up. So much fun to be with my family in France, especially Nice just wandering around right on the Mediterranean Sea! We checked into our room, which did not have the view which was promised, so we promptly moved to a different room and let me tell you it was seriously spectacular. We opened up the huge windows and were starring right at the Promenade and the Sea. We immediately got in our bathrobes and started eating chocolate. Life could not have been better! Check out pics below. After our little photo shoot we decided to walk to grab some food, nothing too fancy as it had been a long day of travel for all. We found a little place called Queenies and enjoyed soup and salad. Oh, did I mention they brought me about 20 trashy magazines?! LOVE YOU GUYS! We went home to bed early as they had just traveled from the states and I dove head first into People Magazine and Red Vines. We all slept for about 11 hours and life was amazing.

The next day we were EXTREMELY well rested and got up to eat breakfast at the hotel. I am not even joking you, it was hands down the best breakfast I had in the entire 4 and a half months. I am talking meats, cheese, eggs, real bacon, sausage, 3 different kinds of fresh squeezed juices, cereal, yogurt, baguettes, etc. Sooo good. After eating my body weight, we hopped on a train to Cannes to explore! Once there we immediately found the Grand Auditorium (which you may have recently seen on TV as it is where the screenings for the Cannes Film Festival takes place.) Of course throughout this entire weekend all three of us took a billion pics of everything. We walked along the water admiring all the beautiful yachts and eventually shopped for souvenirs. We found a cute little shop called French Kiss and Grandma went to town. After buying the farm, we made our way through a cute antique market and eventually stumbled upon the Carlton Hotel. Gram had been raving about this the entire time so we stopped for lunch. She ordered for us ("Three salad nicoise and three ice teas please!") Our salads were simply fab and we sat in the sun people watching for a few hours. Seriously the most relaxing trip I had during the past 4 months. We finally got up and wandered on the beach and what do you know! Found gelato in France. Haha although it wasn't as good as Italian gelato, they did make a mean straciatella. After that meal we were no longer hungry so headed back to Nice for more much needed relaxation!

We woke up the next morning pretty early and ate our amazing breakfast again. Last day in France, we headed on a guided tour to Monaco. We were with two other couples and had such a great tour guide. On the way we stopped in such a cute town called Eze. It was literally out of a movie or something. It was this village built into this hill and everything was stone and beautiful. It looked kind of like a scene from Lord of the Rings. We wandered through Eze and finally headed on to Monaco. We stopped along the way to take some breathtaking pics. Our tour guide took us to the Monte Carlo and also gave us a walking tour of Monaco. We saw the changing of the guard and even did a lap of the Grand Prix track in Monaco!! It was about two weeks before the race and they were getting set up...so cool to see. On the way home we stopped in Eze again for a tour of the Fragonard Profumerie. It was really interesting to see how different perfumes are created. We even got to sample some and purchase a few little gifts. We finally headed back to Nice and had such a great day. We really enjoyed our tour and our guide was so informative. After we got back we headed to find a steak and frites dinner. We finally decided on a place after checkin out about a billion and sat down for our last dinner. It was so delicious. We had some great wine and took our time. After heading back towards the hotel we stopped for some Limoncello at the Negresco Hotel (perhaps the nicest in Nice.) It was so beautiful and we loved it!

The trip was such an amazing time and I was so happy to see my family. We did so much while still relaxing. Thank you so much to the both of you for coming to visit me!! I loved it so much and look forward to our next adventure (possibly NYC?) Malta is up next! Love you guys.