To celebrate Carnevale, I went with my roommates to a small town north of Rome called Ronciglione. We arrived in the morning as the celebrations were just starting. There were performers all around the streets, and we spent the morning exploring the old, winding streets of the city. All around town were all sorts of delicious food. Vendors selling baskets of colorful dried fruits, and fresh cheeses. Once lunch time came around, the main street was filled with food stalls selling polenta, pasta, meat and of course wine!

My last blog was centered around my trip to Stockholm. As I was thinking about what exactly to write about in this blog, I thought it would be necessary to talk some more about that trip. Stockholm definitely exceeded my expectations. Whether it be the people, the food, the architecture, or the layout, the city was much better than I had predicted. The trip was something that I planned really only because everyone else had been traveling abroad. I thought that I needed to get on that too.

Ah, the dreaded Monday morning. No one looks forward to going back to work or school after a fun, exciting, or even a lazy weekend. I’m definitely not excluded from the set of people that normally snooze their alarm clock 5 times. Still, since coming to Milan, I’ve become sort of a “morning person.” I’ve actually begun looking forward to Monday mornings and the potential of what the week might bring. 

Studying abroad is the perfect opportunity to try new things, eat new foods, and, most importantly, make new friends. Since arriving in London, I have been meeting new people left and right and hearing stories from all walks of life. My new friends here are truly amazing, and I often find myself thinking about how lucky I am to have found them. But, that being said, there is still something beautiful in being able to connect with old friends in a new place and start right back up where you left off.

Coming to Paris for the semester, I was faced with something I did not think about before I left: When I got here, I didn’t want to go see all the traditional sights of the city. As this is my third time in the city, I’ve been able to see my fair share of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre Coeur, and I don’t necessarily want to go again. 

My favorite thing about Europe is that there is always an opportunity to escape.

Yes, I know, I know, the title is very dramatic. But it is true, biking in Amsterdam is an extreme sport. It is difficult to describe the Dutch biking culture without experiencing it first hand, but I think a good place to start would be to say that there are A LOT of bikes. In this city of 820,000 people, there are 880,000 bicycles! It is easily the preferred mode of transportation for the majority of Amsterdammers.

It is an ordinary day, yet I feel happy and satisfied. A great thing about Vienna, is the diversity of the people within the city. Within my daily Straßenbahn ride and walk to classes I may hear a dozen different languages including Italian, English, Mandarin, Spanish and Arabic. Vienna and Germany both have large populations of Turkish immigrants, which plays a role in Austrian daily culture.

Yesterday morning, the Chilean consulate in Washington stamped my visa. Three days from now, I will step off the plane at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport. Today, however, I have only one goal: to find one tin of the best seasoning known to man.