"Down here at Cape Spartel is the celebrated cave of Hercules, where the hero took refuge when he was vanquished and driven out of the Tangier country. It is full of inscriptions in the dead languages, which fact makes me think Hercules could not have traveled much, else he would not have kept a journal."

-"The Innocents Abroad," Mark Twain

Friday, October 28, 2011

So, I wrote this yesterday...

October 27, 2011

I am currently sitting in the library here in downtown Salzburg, where, unfortunately, I have not been able to find a wifi network to connect to. So, this will (hopefully) be copied and pasted later this evening. And, I must admit, after I finish typing this, I am going to check out the bakery that is downstairs…

So much and so much of nothing has happened since I last posted! Last week, I went to Italy. Yeah. So that’s the “so much” part – however, it feels like forever ago since that actually occurred. I stayed with a host family there, as well. My class (minus two or three people) rode down on Saturday for about 9 hours, going through Switzerland on the way. Here’s a picture in Switzerland (yes, another picture book–post!):


We stayed in the town of Lecco, which you probably haven’t heard of. While there, we went to school for two hours, ate, went out, ate, saw the town, ate, shopped, ate, went to the lake, and ate. Just not exactly in that order. Yes, there was a lot of food and it was SO GOOD! We had pizza and lasagna and some other type of pasta and some other something kind of like pizza but not and paninis and I had a sandwich one day that was essentially a loaf of bread with cheese & Italian ham and cookies (“biscuits”) that a friend of my host family brought us from Sicily and Italian chocolate. I think I should stop with the food - I really am making myself hungry. Okay, one last food comment – we also went to a chocolate factory’s shop. Alright. I’m done. (Haha, but here’s a picture!)


Two cities that we visited and you probably (or at least maybe) have heard of are Genova and Milan. Milan/Milano/Mailand was large and I wish we had been able to see more of it! There were plenty of high-end, buy-this-and-your-mom-will-kill-you stores, as to be expected in a fashion capital. And the historical aspect was not too shabby either. Just to give you an idea:




Genova is on the sea and was gorgeous, a little bit warmer (we were in the northern part of Italy, remember), and extremely windy. It was wonderful. I have to say that it was probably my favorite place that we went to because it had an old city, the sea, and a modern part to it. Also, this is the city where George Clooney has a villa. No, we did not see it or him – it was on the other side of the lake. Pictures:




Where we had lunch! And the picture below is inside:



Alright, just looked at the time, and I need to be going soon. I have my first orchestra rehearsal tonight! Wish me luck!

I think that by this point, I don’t really need to say that I hope you’re doing well, but I’m saying it anyway. Much love!

mary beth

P.S. Almost forgot to mention – I got my visa on Monday and am officially legal for another year!

1 comment:

  1. Sounds so tasty! I think I would have just stayed at the chocolate store :) Loved seeing all the pictures. Hope the orchestra rehearsal went well. Your visa may be good for a year, but you must come back in July. I miss you too much and you need to look for a college, right?! Have a good weekend. love you, Mom

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