Ciao, Italia!

Bonjourno! I am finally in Italy. This is my first post of many documenting my trip here in pictures and in words. I hope you enjoy the read, and hopefully I will keep up with this blog very diligently. Click any photo to enlarge it.

Perugia is supposedly a "hill town" of Italy, but from what I have seen so far it is a sprawling metropolis.

 There was some resistance at the Miller household to me leaving home right away...

Ye shall not pass!!!

...but soon I was on my flight to Rome. The flight was pleasant - I watched Sex and the City so I was happy - but I didn't get to sleep that much. Something about sleeping sitting up is really difficult for me. By the time I found Kane at the airport we were both famished and exhausted - unfortunate considering we still had 8 hours of traveling to do.

The view flying over Corsica

     Once we took the train from the Roman airport, Kane and I were picked up by Flavio Travasso, our pseudo-boss at the lab. He took us to our home on Via del Lupo (Street of the Wolf) and got us all checked in. An hour later, after a much needed shower, we went out on the town! The center of town is amazing - everything is so much bigger than I expected it to be and the shopping is INCREDIBLE. There are so many restaurants and shops and even on a Tuesday night there were hundreds of people out on the town square. I loved it. First we went out to a restaurant and had pizza, where I quickly discovered that asking for a glass of water with your meal is very unusual. Oh, and Italians don't use ice, either. People here only drink bottled water not because the tap water is unsafe but because it does not meet their standard of taste! 

     After dinner we went out drinking at several different bars/clubs, all of which Flavio kindly treated us to. I had several more culture shock experiences - including using the men's restroom by accident at one of these bars... I wondered why there was no toilet seat! Speaking of toilets - Google the word "bidet". That's what I've had to deal with. There is no toilet paper anywhere. Ahhhh!

This is the view from my bedroom! It is a fairly cloudy day today - it actually rained earlier. At night you can see the whole city sparkling from my room. The view from everywhere and anywhere is equally as beautiful. I love the roofs of the houses here. Behind that tower in the background there are actually mountains that you can see on a clear day, but those pictures will come later. 

This is one of the buildings - probably an apartment complex - 

on my walk back from the center of town, which we are very close to. 

     I woke up this morning and was starving, but of course I had no food in the house so I had to get ready and go out. Kane was still asleep (he slept until 5pm!) so I went by myself. I have no idea what time we got back last night but I was exhausted - probably because I hadn't slept in about two days. When I stepped outside the first thing that I saw was a group of about 10 Japanese students! They were probably waiting for the two Japanese girls that live in my apartment with me. Of the seven of us, there are two Japanese, one Dutch, two Brazilian, and of course two American students. When you are walking around you will hear every language you can think of being spoken by different groups -  I have never been in a more culturally diverse place!

The way back from the center of town. 

These are the steps leading into the center of town (this is a very long hike! I will have some nice
 thighs by the end of the summer.) You have to walk all the way up these to go pretty much anywhere.

     I just got back from dinner/lunch with Kane. None of the grocery stores were open today because it is a holiday. I bought a water while we were out - unfortunately I could not read the label and got seltzer water by accident! That was a surprise. And gross.

     Overall I have had an exciting first night/day in Perugia. Tomorrow Flavio is coming to get  us so that we can see the lab and more of the town. Everyone is so chivalrous here!  Anyway that's all I have for now - I hope to hear from all of you soon!

Ciao, 
Becca