Southern Italy

As promised, I am blogging after my trip...it's been some time since we returned and I'm ready now...(as Amy would put it :P) to be jealous of my past self. 

The trip involved a 9 hour coach ride from Bologna to Napoli (Naples). After essentially no sleep, we arrived and embarked upon our day trip to Capri. This island is potentially the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my life. Everywhere you looked could have been a postcard, and having done some previous research on it, I was excited to see the idyllic visions come to life. 

Rather than bore you with written descriptions, I will give you what you're all here for, the pictures! 

Capri was honestly beyond beautiful. BUT you need to be at prime fitness level to tour it properly, let's just say that there were several points in the day where we genuinely believed we would die. The terrain is either extreme uphill/steps or extreme downhill...we left that island feeling not only like the real athletes we are, but a little worse for wear.

For the evening we returned to our hostel which was, a little cramped to say the least. There were 7 (meant to be 8) of us in one room, with one small shower/combined toilet...and 2 plugs..it was, let's say...interesting.

The following day was the day I was very excited for, the climbing of Vesuvio (Vesuvius) and then the trip to Pompei. 

The climb up Vesuvio was pretty difficult considering how much our legs were aching from Capri and the rays from the burning heat as we clambered our way up the treacherous volcano. But we made it to the top, which was...breathtaking.

After lunch we headed over to Pompei, a very sombre experience...it's pretty hard to believe what happened there but if you can ever visit, I would really recommend it! It's absolutely huge and we only got to see a tiny portion of it so I would love to go back! 

I found the last picture (above) pretty chilling as we were in the ruins of Pompei with Vesuvio in the background looming over it, warning it that it still has the power. 

The next day, with never ending sore legs, we took on the tour of Napoli. A few of us weren't feeling so well, I think perhaps a touch of sunstroke (our own fault for not having hats!)...Napoli is a really unique city, it's pretty picturesque from the sidelines, inside the heart of the city it seems overcrowded yet vibrant.

By the final day, everyone was pretty wiped out. There had been a party in the hostel, which I didn't attend because I felt unwell, so either from feeling unwell or hungover, it's safe to say nobody was looking forward to the 9 hour coach ride ahead!

Just before we departed back to Bologna, we took a trip to Sorrento. I was actually really excited to go because I know of some people who got married there and it looked beautiful. The combination of not feeling too well and lack of time meant we didn't actually get to see that much of the town but I look forward to perhaps visiting again one day. 

Overall, the trip was an amazing experience I will treasure in my memories, potentially one of my favourites from the entire year abroad.

Now I am back in the reality of Bologna. For many people here, their Erasmus year is not worth anything in terms of their final degree mark...for me it's worth 30%. The amount of work I currently have to do over the next few weeks is terrifying,  I mean, it's literally impossible, so I am currently trying to figure out what I can get away with not doing.

It's such a shame that I can't enjoy my last month and a half here like the rest of the students, instead mine is filled with deadlines, essays and exams. I spent over a month revising for my exams last year when they were worth even less, now my deadlines are only a few weeks away and I'm still yet to even read the texts never mind start revising.

It makes me just want to go home where I know the deadlines will be over, for a few months at least. But I must slap me, and tell myself to enjoy my last 6 weeks(ish) here.

Obviously this blog post whilst necessary is complete procrastination. 

You're going to need a cup of tea for this one...

Okay, I know...it has been 2 months since I last did an 'I'm going to try and write every week' blog post. Rather than dwell on my utter failure, I'm going to go through my diary from the last time I blogged and update you on what has been happening...and don't worry, I'll try to include some pictures to make it fun! 

Okay so for starters, we actually have started classes, in fact, we are almost done with this semester...where did that time go...anyone?! 

Our modules this semester are generally okay, one is really hard the other two are completely dull...either way, my current situation is that I have A LOT of work to do in a very short space of time so better get on with the rest of this post. 

The first major thing that happened since my last blog post is that I got tickets (along with some friends) to go to V Festival this year. I've been twice before for the whole weekend and I always have an absolutely incredible time...seeing live music is one of my favourite things in life to do. This year, due to certain circumstances (mainly financial) we are only going for one day..one very special day. Sunday the 18th of August WILL be up there with one of the best days of my life because we are getting to see my favourite artist in the entire world..BEYONCE! 

 I know some people may disagree, but I consider her a role model and I have listened to her music since the Destiny's Child days, there's not been a single or album I've disliked...I won't bore you with my Beyonce obsession and all the reasons I love her, but know that I am BEYOND excited because we missed out on her World Tour tickets because the only day she was performing in Italy is the day of my Dad's wedding in England. Also know that (as I did when I saw my other favourite performer Eminem live)...I will cry. 

Moving on...right after we got those tickets. One of my best friends from home, Charlotte came to visit me in Italy. It was so wonderful to have a friend from home here with me and the fact she stayed for a week meant we had lots of time to relax and see the sights of Northern Italy together.

A few days after, I had an interview over Skype for a teaching module next year which meant I would be entering a Leicestershire Secondary School and acting as a sort of classroom assistant with perhaps the chance to teach part of a class...and I actually GOT the place! I was utterly surprised and immediately filled with dread at the realisation that I will be going back to Secondary School with the shoe on the other foot..being the person that my friends and I used to make fun of when we were the pupils. 

During that week, myself and Emma had a little realisation of actually how long we have left here and on the 15th of March, decided to take ourselves away for the weekend to another place at the top of my 'To Visit in Italy' list...Florence. 

If you have never been before, GO. It is honestly up there with Venice. They're both my favourite places I have ever been too. Florence is beyond beautiful, everywhere you go there is incredible art, architecture and scenery. We stayed at a great little hostel for the night to make the most of our trip...rather than try and describe it anymore, I will post some pictures. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Gallery (Where 'David' is) but I would HIGHLY recommend them as a must do when in Florence. 

On the 23rd March, I went back to the UK for 2 weeks for the Easter holidays. It was so nice to go back and relax for a couple of weeks, and let myself forget about all of the work I have to do, that I should have been doing!
I had lots of fun with my Friends, Family, Niece and my wonderful Boyfriend. 

However I did go from a picnic in the park in Bologna....

to snow so deep it was up to my knees, all within 24 hours...quite a shock to the system.

So that brings me almost up to date. Apart from the last week, which has been fantabulous because Alex, one of my besties from Leicester came to visit. 
I'm sure you regular readers will all remember (or you can just scroll down) that I went to visit him and Sophie on their Erasmus in Amsterdam and now it was time for me to play host. 

We honestly had SO much fun..we climbed the top of the Asinelli Tower in Bologna (all 500 steps of it..I nearly died I tell you).. the views were amazing and it gave me a moment of realising how lucky I am to have had this opportunity to study for a year in such a beautiful place! 

I showed Alex around pretty much all of Bologna, we ate A LOT of Gelato and pizza..and we even managed to sneak in a cheeky trip to Venice as Alex had never been before. It was the most glorious weather half way through the day and we just soaked up the atmosphere. 
I even 'vlogged' the day. There will be a YouTube video soon, I'll link it on this blog. However, because I filmed it on my HD camera, it means it's going to take like 400 minutes to upload...so might not be for a while yet ;)

For now, here are a few snaps from Alex's trip! 

PHEW! That's it..the last exciting thing that happened here...I'm now up to date. 

I'm sorry about the mammoth blog post but I really want to be able to look back on this and remember everything I did..it's my own fault for not blogging more regularly *slaps wrist*

Tomorrow at midnight I am leaving for a very exciting trip to the South of Italy. I will update this blog on my return, I promise! :)