Off To Italy

Hey everyone and welcome back! It’s just another day here in Italy, but today I have a special surprise. In my last post, I spoke about a certain item that I will be purchasing in the future. Lucky for you, today I am going to let you in on the secret. Not only will I tell you what it is, I’m also going to convince you to buy one too. Trust me, it will improve your life. read more…

Alright……so it has been a while. Here I am after a month of not writing a single post. I’m beyond disappointed with myself. I can’t even really give an explanation of why I haven’t written. I could say that I have been too busy, or that I just never have enough time. Unfortunately both of those reasons would be untrue. I’m a honest person and lying just isn’t my style.
I started this Blog as a way to keep my family and friends in touch while I was away in Italy. I thought it would be a fantastic way for them to come along on my trip. I also wanted to share my experience in Italy with anyone who was interested. There is no place in the world I would rather travel to. For some reason I just stopped writing. What can I say? Sometimes that’s just the way things are. They never work out as planned. read more…

Drunk people, fake bulls and broken glass. That’s right, you heard me correctly. Sounds like an interesting mix right? Trust me it was.

Since my arrival in Italy I have heard numerous times about a festival that takes place every year. Still to this day (even after the festival) I don’t know what it is called or even what is signifies. Every time someone mentioned this festival, I was told about all the drunk people that go. Now I know why. I can only recall maybe 2 or 3 times when I have seen so many drunk people in one place before. Now keep in mind I’ve done my fair share of partying. I was lucky enough to attend what was voted the #1 party school in America for several years. Go UALBANY!!! Something to be proud of right? read more…

It’s raining in Italy, much more than I would like. Some days it’s just wet out with a light mist in the air, but others there are plenty of raindrops falling from the sky. This isn’t exactly the type of weather that makes you hop out of bed in the morning and go on an adventure. Although sometimes I would prefer to stay inside on days like this, I’m in Italy and determined to make the most of my time here. So where is the best place to go when it’s raining? You guessed it…..The MALL! read more…

Welcome back everyone! Things are going really well here in Italy. This may be somewhat of a random post, but I wanted to share a couple pictures and videos with you. Sorry, but not every post can be an exciting story of running to the bank or experiencing the nightlife in Italy. However, since many of my posts are stories of recent events, I wanted to give you a nice visual to accompany my exciting stories. Unfortunately, to my surprise it has been raining here quite a bit. Since my previous two trips to Italy have been in the summer, I wasn’t really expecting such cold weather with so much rain. Thankfully, today was a really nice day so I managed to snap a couple of shots I’d like to share. I would have taken more, but the batteries in my camera died! read more…

So far everything in Italy is going great. I finally feel that I am starting to get in the groove of life here in Italy. Each day I manage to accomplish another task that makes me feel as if I am now living in Italy, not just visiting. Today I decided to take a trip to the bank. I needed to exchange my U.S. Dollars since I never had the chance at J.F.K airport. I was able to exchange $100 dollars in the Munich Airport, but I felt the exchange rate was too low (which I later learned I was correct). Now usually when you are in a different country, you can exchange your money right in the hotel lobby. Since I am not staying in a hotel, I need to take my first trip to the bank. read more…

So I have officially survived my first day here in Italy. Even though the past two days felt more like a month, it has only been one day since my arrival. Now that I have finally made it here, what should I do? The answer is obvious, go out for a night on the town!

My night started off with one of my favorite events, eating. I went to a restaurant with Jessica (one of the girls I am teaching English) and a bunch of her friends. They were all very nice and also spoke a little English. Now this wasn’t just any restaurant, this was a Pizzeria! Anyone who knows me, should know I could eat pizza everyday. The pizza I had last night, I could eat everyday for every meal for the rest of my life! read more…

Wow, that’s all I can really say. I am exhausted. I finally made it. You would think that two flights with a three hour layover would be enough. Not until after the 12 hour journey in the air, did the real fun start.
I arrived at the Ancona airport which might be the smallest airport I have ever seen. I manage to gather all my baggage from the one small conveyor belt that services all of the incoming flights. I have plans to take a train from directly in front of the airport to San Benedetto Del Tronto, the town where I am staying. I am assuming there is an information stand in the airport. First lessoned learn on my trip……never assume. read more…

Alright this is it.  I’m leaving today.  I am scrambling last minute to get everything together. This is it though.  The time has finally come for me to hit the road.  The amount of preparation that has gone into this journey is more than I would like to share.  It seems as though the older you get, the more difficult it is to travel.  The days of packing a backpack and hitting the road are long gone.  Although planning this adventure has given me my fair share of gray hairs, I wouldn’t have it any other way.   Well, although I’d love to stay and chat, I’d hate to miss my flight.  This is my final farewell, I’m Off To Italy!

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

List of Travel Items

• Sense of Adventure…..check
• Desire to pursue dreams…..check
• Passion for all things Italian…..check

Other than that I don’t really have much of anything prepared. I’ve been working as much as possible to try and save up some money. Something tells me I am going to be scrambling last minute to prepare for this trip (not that I’ve ever done that before in the past). Stay tuned to find out. By the way, I am starting to get extremly excited, hope you come along for the ride!