Allora!!

So it has been a while since I have posted anything (ironically I feel this way every time I actually sit down and start to write), but I just wanted to let everyone in on some of the things that have been going on since last time.

First and for-most (and this is mostly for my mother!!) BUT I got an A in Italian 1!! Besides getting good grades at Italian, its been really cool to be able to walk around and stop wherever you are going and 85% of the time hold a conversation with someone in just Italian!! In the 6-7 weeks that I have been here, my Italian has grown tremendously and it has been awesome to see what I am studying actually pay off! This is probably the first time in all of my schooling career that something that something I am studying now is usable now as well. The things I learn every day in class helps me go out that day and hold a better conversation than I could the day before!

Another interesting thing that happened this week was Matt and I played soccer with Cesare (our Italian roommate) and his friends... Needless to say Matt and I somewhat got embarrassed, but we were invited back for next week! Matt and I both scored, and I think that might have been our saving grace!

Today I will be also updating my list of 25 things to do in Europe, as we have crossed a few more of those off the list, and along with that I am going to be making a second blog post that has my weekend schedule on it... This is going to allow you to know where I am going each weekend!!

Ciao,
Nate

Lake Como... Minus George

I spent this past weekend in Lake Como here in Italy, and I must say that it was a nice change of pace.  Rather than spending my weekends running around a city or hiking the Cinque Terre, I was able to spend time relaxing and enjoying some free time that was not planned from start to finish!

Lake Como was very nice. We spent the weekend relaxing, kayaking, swimming, taking ferry rides, and exploring a couple of the towns on the lake! We were so lucky because the owner of the hostel let us actually stay in a studio in his house for the first night because he didn't have any room in the hostel.  The place we stayed was amazing! It was clean, the staff was nice, and the location was perfect. On Saturday we went kayaking on the lake and we were able to explore a little bit more of the north part of the lake. Some of the houses on the lake just amaze me... the size is one thing, but the architecture, location, and view just bundle them together to make the perfect vacation homes.

Another interesting thing that has happened is that I will be visiting the European Union on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of next month! I am very excited about this because we will be meeting actual members of the EU and directors of all of Europe! I am more excited to go to Brussels to meet some members of the EU than I am to go to Amsterdam the following weekend, Florence in a couple weeks, or even the truffle festival next week. I think this just has to do with the fact that I am starting to understand the importance of things like the EU, and what that means to me and the way I am able to live my life!

This weekend I will be staying in Torino, next weekend we will be hiking Friday, truffle festival on Saturday, and wine tasting at a vineyard on Sunday, the following weekend we will be in Florence with Cesare, and the following weekend we are going to London for the Wilco concert!! STAY TUNED FOR MORE FUN!!!

Ciao,

Nate