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Alright so admittedly I am terrible at updating this thing, but at least this time I have a really legitimate excuse. I have been in Switzerland and Italy for the past ten days with Internet that has been unpredictable at best. Seven of my friends and I began our intrepid travels in Geneva, where there was snow on the ground and the smell of authentic chocolate wafting through the air. Just kidding.. but Switzerland was incredible. I went there not knowing squat about the place but had a blast nonetheless. We went to the United Nations, walked to France, attended a beautiful mass in French and went out for some tasty Swiss fondu and roquette among other fun stuff.

We then took a train to Venice, where I know it is supposed to be flooded, but the rains this week took that description to a whole new level. It was freezing and wet, and I would be lying if I said that the first day was not slightly miserable. We stayed at this place called B&B Rota, which sounds lovely but in reality was little more than an old Venetian apartment turned into a little 3-roomed hostel where we could have sworn we heard gunshots during what should have been a pleasant siesta. The guy who worked at the front desk totally redeemed the entire place though when he let us sleep in until 11 the next day, which was turned out to be fun. The place is so unique and beautiful. We went to San Marco church which allegedly houses the bones of St. Mark, visited the Doge Palace where all the rich rulers lived, walked the famous Rialto bridge and saw the beautiful collection of art in the Correr Museum.

After some minor but stressful train misunderstandings, my friends and I (just four of us at this point- the other 4 went to Rome) settled down to a simple bread and cheese dinner on Italy's version of the Ave and headed to Florence, where we stayed in this adorable hostel called Leonardo's House. Expecting to be greeted by a homely little old Italian man, we were surprised and entertained by the young quirky Leonardo, who not only recommended good places to see and eat, but also gifted us with a bottle of Italian red wine when we complained about how much we had spent on vino one night. My favorite part about that leg of the trip had to be just walking the city, going to the Uffizi Museum and seeing Michelangelo's The David.

From there my friends and I took the train to a little town called La Spezia, and from there another train to Riomaggiore, the first of the five little towns of the Cinque Terre. We literally screamed when we emerged from the tunnel before the town. The rocky cliffs gave way to clear rolling waters where fisherman boats rocked gently. The little town had multicolored beautiful buildings that, as our man Rick described, leaned on each other like drunken sailors. We went, daringly, without making room arrangements. Hoping there would be some little old Italian men waiting around with cardboard signs advertising their respective little B&Bs, we were slightly shocked when we saw no such Italians. We went to the nearest travel agency and, I guess since it is considered off season right now, got an awesome deal on this beautiful little apartment right on the water. So unreal. We watched the gorgeous sunset that night then went out for some insane Italian dinner and then came back and enjoyed the vino and played cards all night. Honestly, during this entire trip we did not go out crazy like we normally do, but rather just hung out and chatted for hours and hours and it was completely perfect. The next day we hiked a good portion of the paths and it was so beautiful it was just one of those afternoons where you have to really take it all in and when you find yourself in some other uglier or harder time in life, that is the place you will want to focus back on.

That night we took a train to Milan and had just enough time in the morning to do a little sightseeing before my friends had to catch their flight back to Madrid. It was so weird seeing them go because it feels like just yesterday we all got here. Plus I do not really know Europe without my friends. I met up with my friend Emily later that day and we saw some of the major sites like the Duomo and the castle. Milan is a really cool city-- way different from the others we had seen because it was more like a big city, like a New York or Chicago.

Then the next day we took a kind-of impulsive but AMAZING trip to Verenna, one of the little towns on Lake Como, an incredibly dreamlike oasis snuggled in the mountains almost in Switzerland. George Clooney apparently has a place there too, which only adds to its appeal. We spent the first day hiking in between towns and relaxing as much as possible. Like Slick Rick says, it is such a great place to just chill and see how slow you can get your pulse to go. We ran into this one American guy and hung out at a local bar that night. The little hotel we stayed at was so sweet. It has this grandmotherly like woman running it who gave us a discount and insisted we sit down for breakfast the next morning. We took a late flight out of Milan and stayed one more night in Madrid before Em had to catch her flight back to the US of A.

I am the remaining domer from this little Euro tour, and I am writing right now from a hostel called Las Musas, where all of us stayed one of the first weekends. Admittedly I booked it because it was the cheapest, but right now all of these memories are rushing back from the semester and I am realizing how fleeting time is and how much I miss my friends that were here. I also went back to Toledo today to pick up a suitcase from my family's house. They were so awesome to keep it for me, and I have realized how much I really miss them too. Being in Toledo was so weird without all the fall kids.

One more night. My family is coming tomorrow morning, and I am like a little girl at Christmas I am so excited. Actually, that is exactly what I am. This all is so bittersweet, though. I physically cannot even listen to Christmas music because it just reminds me of home. I have not been able to last through even one, have not smelled the fresh pine from a Christmas tree, have not baked or eaten one cookie and have not watched one Christmas movie. For some reason, I just associate Christmas with home and with family. And it is not just about Christmas day, but the entire season leading up to it.. all the hype that I have totally missed out on. I have been telling my friends that we will really have to double dose it next year.