Day 2

Slept in till 11:00 am this morning but it was just what I needed for my long day ahead! I woke up to a beautiful sunny day, although it was a bit chilly (nothing a scarf and jacket couldn’t fix). For breakfast I had a Greek yogurt and apple, both of which I picked up at the local market. The roommates and I decided to explore the “old town” part of the Tuscania, which is the historic area between the two tall clock towers. The “old town” is my favorite part of Tuscania because that’s where the town originated. The large stonewalls used to act as a barrier to protect the town from intruders in the Roman area. If you walk straight up the cobble stone street from the arched clock tower entrance, it leads you to a magnificent plateau to view the entire northern side of the town called Parco di Lavello. When first entering, on your left, you see a large circular fountain that spews a small arch of water from its center. Overlooking the fountain is a large and never ending stonewall, part of the original wall that acted as a barrier to the town that overlooks miles upon miles of hills and valley’s. Upon many of the hills are ancient castles and farmhouses. It was truly breath taking. I stayed here for an hour and half just gazing at its beauty. The sun felt amazing on my back as I sat there and gaze in pure awe. I hope this view never becomes anything less than marvelous; I never want to take a site such as this for granted!

For lunch we met another five students from Ldm at La Piazzetta. Mei, one of my academic advisors, offered all students wonderful meal deals to eight local restaurants, all of which cost only 5 euros! At La Piazzetta I had an amazing spaghetti dish with fresh tomato sauce and grated cheese. I never knew how scrumptious spaghetti could taste until eating it in Italy! Truly mouth watering! I then ended the meal with two “tortas” which reminded me of marble pound cake with a strawberry jam drizzled on top. YUM! (and for an muy bene price!) Following our lunch I then walked around the town for a bit, stopping at a local bar called Centre. I tried a ginseng cappuccino that was out of the world! It is very similar to a typical cappuccino expect its less strong and little more sweet, the perfect combination for me! It is normal in Italy to stand at the bar when drinking your cappuccino, rather than sitting. There is actually a price difference from drinking your cappuccino while standing at the bar versus sitting at a table. Most people spend no more than five minutes at the bar. Coffees are meant to quick, but frequent things in Italy!

Ginseng cappuccino

After learning our “short cut” from the school to our apartment, Tori, Jen and I went grocery shopping. We tried to by enough groceries to last us the week. At the store we bought lots of sandwich meats, cheese, and pasta, (and enough chicken breasts to last us for a couple of dinners). Tonight Jen showed me how to make chicken cutlets cooked in olive oil, along with pasta and tomato sauce and some steamed broccoli! Jen is an excellent cook and I was quiet impressed with our first real home cooked meal! Tonight was a ton of fun because all 6 of us sat around in the living room and chatted for hours. And of course the subject of boys, booze, and traveling came up. I can already feel my abs from all the laughing. I can tell this is going to be an easy transitions with these six! We all have so much common and have a lot of similar places we want to visit while here, some of which include, Spain, Prague, Germany, Greece, Holland, Israel, and of course within Italy Pompeii and the Almaphi coast!

I was also finally able to set up my Internet connection and got to skype with Mom, Dad, Sabe, JuJu, and Taylor! Made me feel right at home. Missing everyone at home, but wishing they could come see and experience all the amazing sights I have already discovered!

Buena notte!