Two and Half Months of Photos.

These are all out of order. I can't figure out how to move them around without it taking forever.

This old man followed me around in Fabriano telling me that I was the "ragazza di miei suoni" (the girl of his dreams) and that I had "occhi del mar" (eyes of the ocean). He was obviously nuts. Hah

Yep, this is what I look like when I travel. They have dubbed me "the turtle".

A tower at pisa with Erica and Diana.

Sketching at Herculaneum in Campagna.

Sara, Whitney, Diana, and I atop a bell tower in Cuisi in Tuscany.

Thought I would throw in a nightlife picture. Clearly sober. This is us girls in Barcelona.

A birds eye view of Dan and I at the Duomo in Siena.

Hanging out at Parc Guell in Barcelona.

Parc Guell again: Sara, Me, Erica, Diana, Whitney, and Lisa.

The whole group at Paestum in Campagna.

Sarah came to visit from Paris the week my parents were here. This was us at the Wales v. Italy rugby game. The boys were random well-dressed Welshmen.

On the ferry in Venice.

During my parents' and Sarah's visit. A nighttime visit to Trevi Fountain.

Sarah and I at the game.

Momma and I out for a few drinks with the rest of the gang.

Singing at dinner. As usual.

This is one of the cool buildings we got to see. This is what we do EVERYWHERE. sketch.

Love you all. Have happy days!

Paper and Zip Lines

Hello All,

We figured out last Friday that we now have less than 5 weeks left in Rome. I am overwhelmingly sad at the thought of leaving. The problem is that most of the people I'm with are excited to get back to Boston, their homes and their friends. However, after I spend a blissful three days with my family in San Diego, I head back to an empty Boston. By empty, I mean sans family, sans best friends (most will still be in Europe), and sans anything resembling a home (except for a roof over my head). Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to get back to experience Boston in the summer and to the familiarity of knowing the native tongue, but I know that re-entry is going to be really difficult and there won't be much to outweigh the cons. Then I think of getting back to triathlons and how they saved me from a total breakdown about 8 month ago, hopefully they will do the same this time. I am already technically in the triathlon club at my school. I get all the emails and stuff but I've never met or trained with any of them. I'm really excited to get started though. The excitement is also buoyed by the fact that my parents are getting me a tri/road bike for my 21st birthday and I couldn't be more excited or surprised. All I expected was a card! So I will be spending my lonely days with my new bike! Also, if any of you triathletes or road bikers have suggestions for a bike, whether to get a road or tri or just two seat posts with aero bars, where to get said bike, and whether I should get it in San Diego and bring it on the plane or to just get it in Boston, please email me with your advice!

Anyway, now that I've spilled my guts...after I wrote last week, I had a relatively relaxing week. My roommate's friends were in town so we took them out on Tuesday night. The night is pretty foggy, I just know that I felt like s**t for two days after. I'm getting less tolerant in my old age! I stayed in for the next two nights and did loads of homework. I'm trying to step up my game in the design part of school and its very time consuming. I remained sleep deprived for the rest of the week because I found my mind wandering every time I tried to fall asleep. Now I know how my Dad feels, its sucks.

On Friday night, we knew we would have to wake up early the next morning and Erica and I decided to have a quiet night. We went to dinner at a cozy restaurant around the corner, thinking we would be back within an hour and half. Silly us! We forgot about the Italian way of long meals (this is one thing I will definitely miss when back in the US). After a liter of wine between us and two courses we finally left. Three hours later. We got back to our apartments, hung out with the people just getting ready to go out, and then crashed for a full night's sleep. It's obvious, alcohol is the cure to sleeplessness. Duh!

On Saturday morning we left for a trip with our Italian teachers to the paese (tiny town) of Fabriano. They are known for their paper making factory. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, and we had a scavenger hunt around the town. Just by being there, we doubled the size of the town (that might be an exaggeration) so it was interesting the look we got. After that we had a leisurely lunch and then went for a tour around the paper factory. Yay! In pursuit of the betterment of our Italian, our teachers made sure that the tour was in Italian. Although I understood most what they said, a lot of my time was spent looking around wondering what the hell she was talking about.

After the tour was had a half hour to kill and immediately headed to the child's playground we had seen on the drive in. It was definitely the funniest half hour of my week. One of my classmates fell off of a balance bar onto her back (only funny after we made sure she was ok), another got stuck in the little wooden animals that bob back and forth on springs, another got stuck trying to climb on top of a play set that was not meant to be mounted. Then we discovered the zip line. YES. It was much too big and scary to be in a child's playground which meant that it was perfect for us. We all lined up for a try (me being first, of course, I couldn't wait to get on this thing since the moment I saw it) and everyone finally had a ride, including my Italian teacher! She's a really good sport.

Usually our tours are led by the dean of the program (Scott). He is my italian teacher's (Claudia) husband. Both are really nice people but Scott is much more uptight. Claudia is a very warm and motherly person and an absolutely sweetheart. All she wanted was for us to have fun. It was very different than our other trips, led by Scott, during which seeing old stuff was the top priority. Ew.

We were offered the opportunity to stay in Fabriano for the night and then have a leisurely Sunday outside of Rome, for free. Most of us stayed but unfortunately it was a really rainy day and we didn't get to see much. The involved a lot of sleeping on the bus and feeling cozy away from the rain. We did stop at a cave for a tour. Very cool and different from all the other caves I've seen. I also realized how many caves I've actually seen in my life, interestingly, it's a huge number. Just a little factoid for you.

We got back in to Rome at 7pm and I've been cooking dinner and blogging since then. A very uneventful and restful weekend. Hope all is well with you guys and that you had an awesome weekend.

Oh and I almost forgot! My most recent design work was highly praised my my professor and I can't believe how it's transformed. Apparently the hard work paid off. 

Also, kudos to my parents for their 65 mile ride this weekend. They're nuts as far as I'm concerned.

ALSO! My sister, Makenna, won the position of president of a leadership group for the entire state of California. She is now going to be traveling around the state teaching other kids how to run their leadership clubs. She beat out several other, very qualified kids when she dominated a speech in front of 2000 people. TWO THOUSAND. You are looking at a very proud older sister. Yeah Makenna!

Love you all,

Ash

Pigeon! I will PUNT you!

For once it actually seems like a week was a week and not three days. I'm pretty sure it was my lack of drinking but time did not zoom by, it wandered.

On Tuesday morning we left for the region of Veneto. Our first stop was Verona (home of Romeo and Juliet). Its a gorgeous and quiet town. Like Rome except smaller and with a lot less cars. Its probably one of my favorite cities that I've seen in Italy. However, apparently it has a VERY rich population so I won't be living there any time soon. We saw a bunch of old stuff as usual but we also saw a bunch of new stuff! They actually took us to see a modern architect who had modernized a few buildings in Verona. 

That night was St. Patrick's Day and there was no way I wasn't going out. We somehow found a Scottish Pub (at least its celtic) in town and piled all 30 of us into it. The poor patrons that were already there were basically shoved out. Met some cool people *wink wink* and ended up wiling the night away talking to them. My roommate has a long term boyfriend and was an awesome wing-man. We've actually been getting really close lately. She and I have the same lifestyle of not going out every night. We like to have fun but it doesn't always involve getting drunk, sometimes its just better to enjoy the company of some cool people. I'm really glad she's here otherwise I would feel really out of place.

And the next day they took us to see more new stuff! Hah. You can't imagine how exciting it is to see a building that was designed and built after the turn of the century. Revolutionary idea! Take architecture students to a place where they might actually gather ideas for their own designs. Anyway, we saw a really cool Grapa (Italy after-dinner liqueur) factory that was shaped like a bubble. The architect had no budget and definitely took advantage. No one knows how much it cost to build except for the architect and the owners. Crazy. Then they took us to another old building (a Palladian Villa).  Blah.

On Thursday and Friday we were in Venice. I really love Venice but I went this summer with my family and Aunty Nikki's family and, honestly, there's not that much to see. The canals are definitely a sight. And the lack of cars give it a very safe feeling. But I can't help but get island fever with all the really tall buildings, tiny alleyways, and lack of a way out. Its almost like claustrophobia. The school took us to a couple of really interesting Modern art exhibits and I actually found myself understanding the art. Who knew that college could actually make you smarter. I spent longer in the exhibits than they forced us to. Wow.

After Venice, most of my classmates stayed for the weekend. I knew that there wasn't much as far as night life during the winter so my roommate (Erica) and I came back to Rome for a weekend of leisure. 

Saturday was spent laying bed, literally, all day. The only break I took was to go the gym and the grocery store. Oh and big news! I ran! on the treadmill at the gym, I ran for 20 minutes. There was a slight twinge in my foot once or twice but nothing like I felt before. People were staring at me because I just had this huge grin on my face. Haha. Who knew that Ashley Hopwood would EVER be smiling while running. Its those damn triathlons. I caught the bug.

Erica and I didn't go out Saturday night, instead we stayed in and cooked dinner and watched a movie. No alcohol involved. You maybe have your mouth hanging open staring at the computer, but I needed a little recovery time after my parents' weekend here.

Sunday I got some menial homework done while everyone else was gone and then Erica, Lisa (another roommate), and I ventured to the Parco Degli Acquedotti (Aqueduct Park) on the outskirts of town. It takes about an hour to get out there on the metro but its well worth it it was a really gorgeous sunny day and we spent it lying in the grass, drinking wine, and talking amongst two sets of aqueducts. Its a really humbling sight and its like the huge structures just promote activity. I've never seen such a vast open space of land before and there were people scattered all around playing games and lounging. Definitely a must see for anyone in Rome for longer than a week.

Anyway, its Monday morning and I should start getting ready for class. This is our second to last week before they focus us solely on design. I need a lot of work in that department so it could be an interest last month in Rome. I'm starting to mentally prepare myself now.

Love you all and miss you (the homesickness is pretty bad)

Ash

RYANAIR FLIGHT!!

Hey All,

Im in Venice at the moment and was supposed to fly to London this weekend. I canceled my trip and am now left with a RyanAir flight. I can change the flight destination, day, name, etc. Basically I have a credit on RyanAir. Is anybody planning on flying RyanAir ANYTIME.

If you are willing to pay more than 70 euro, even a little more, I would get at least some money back from this wasted flight (which I paid way too much for in the first place). Stupid decision on my part.

Please let me know asap so I can change the flight before Friday at midnight (Rome time) when it goes out the window.

Just email me at sensualcelery@gmail.com

Thanks!
Ash

Welsh weekend

The week after Amsterdam was spent doing about 16 hours of work a day. I had two huge projects due that week and I wanted to be relatively free for my parents and friends coming.

My parents arrived on Wednesday morning and met me at the studio. We went for a cafe and cornetto and caught up on life. Its amazing how their presence completely relaxes me. Some of the only people in the world that I don't have to watch what I say and do. I had class for the rest of the day and then they took me out to dinner. True to form, I got the restaurant at 7pm and my parents had already met a group of British boys and were both off their rockers drunk. I quickly caught up and it was a successful night. After a few hours of drinking, I picked Tish up for the train station. Three people that I love very much all in one place. Doesn't get much better.

The rest of the week was spent drinking, eating, drinking, drinking, and shopping. On Friday night, my parent's welsh gang arrived. About twenty of them. We had a loud and drunken dinner in the basement of a Roman restaurant on Friday night, then my other two friends arrived from Madrid, Dobs and Devon. All four of us young'ns went to Scholars (our local Irish pub) and continued the debauchery, getting home around 5am.

Saturday was the day of the rugby game. Unfortunately we didn't get tickets for Dobs and Devon but Tish and I got to go with my parents and all their friends. Apparently the game wasn't very good (I don't have anything to compare it to) and the stadium was tiny but it was easily the craziest event I've ever been to. Everyone was dressed in red and green (the Welsh colors), or as sheep (the welsh prostitute), or as giant daffodils (the Welsh flower). We began drinking in the early afternoon and then the singing started. If you didn't know, the Welsh love to sing, and they're actually pretty good at it.

The game was pretty slow but Tish and I entertained ourselves by checking out the phenomenal perfection of the Welsh rugby player. It was like a collection of all the sexiest men on earth on one rugby pitch. Stu got us really good seats so we could actually see the rippling muscles underneath the players' shirts. Wales won, but only just, and then the celebrations began. The entire stadium descended on Rome and took over all the pubs with song and drink. It was something that I've never experienced before and I can't wait until my next game. At midnight, I was STILL hungover from the night before so Tish and I headed back for a relatively early night.

On Sunday I had some homework to do and then we met the gang in front of the Pantheon for "a drink". Yeah right, you knew it wouldn't just be one drink. We ended up staying there for 4 hours and then moving on to another Roman basement for dinner.

It is now Monday evening. I am missing my parents and Tish (who left this morning) and am extremely sleep deprived and hungover. My body hates me and my liver is pickled. Oh Well! It was totally worth it. I just turned in my last major project and now I'm sitting in a lecture, trying to keep myself awake by writing. Tomorrow, we leave for a class trip to Verona and Venice. I was supposed to go to Cardiff this coming weekend for the championship game but the logistics are just too difficult. Huge thanks to Stu and Ken though, bummed I won't be able to take them up on their offers. Next time hopefully. So instead of Cardiff, I'm going to stay in Rome and have a leisurely weekend. Probably involving very little alcohol, the oldies wore me out.

Hope you're all healthy and happy. Love,

Ash

A little out of it.

Hey All,

As I predicted, this past week was comprised of continuous homework. I was in class or studying or at the gym for the 16 hours that I was awake for 4 or 5 days. It was actually a very comforting feeling. This is what we are all used to in Boston and when we don't have ridiculous amounts of work and lots of deadlines, we don't really know where to put ourselves.

Part of the reason I was fighting to get so much done was because I just got back from Amsterdam! Was there for the weekend. If this email seems a little convoluted, its probably because my brain doesn't know what to do after losing half of its brain cells. Aside from the obvious, Amsterdam is an incredible city. The architecture there is unlike anything i've seen before. Its almost like the facades (front's of the buildings) are set up like a movie set. Like something out of Universal Studios. As well as that, I have never experienced such a liberal city.

I'll start with Friday night. We didn't arrive until quarter past midnight and were ready for a night on the town. There were three of us from Rome: Dennis, Julian, and I and two from Madrid: Devon and Dobs. We quickly realized that most things close by three am and we were definitely too sober to still be awake. We hit the sack early to be up by 9am the next morning. We all met up at a coffee shop (Dobs and Devon were being romantic and got a hotel together) and then decided to get to the Guinness Factory. Amsterdam is made up of a very confusing maze of roads and canals and we only had a very vague and out of scale map to go by. We got very lost on the way to the Factory but when we eventually found it, it was completely worth the hour's walk. We did the "Heineken Experience" and it was about an hour tour around the factory. However! It wasn't just any tour, it including a free pint of beer, a simulator ride, and a few REALLY cool rooms clearly geared towards the less than sober.

After that, we decided to walk to the Anne Frank Museum on the other side of town. We were halfway there, saw a sign for pancakes and all of a sudden, our curiosity about the living quarters of little Jewish girls during the Holocaust completely dissolved. We had a feast of Dutch pancakes and then fell into a food coma.

A two hour nap later, it felt like we were starting a completely new day. We decided to just walk and see where the city took us. Low and behold! We walked straight into the red light district. Anyone that knows me knows I was dying to see a Sex Show. Just out of curiosity I swear! But no one else wanted to so I was forced to move on. I have to say that the women standing in the windows is a like a catalog for skeezy men. It must be so boring to be one of those women though. And surprisingly, most of them were very attractive. I did see a few that were definitely men, but even they were attractive. We kept walking and came across a Mexican restaurant. We shared nachos and I got a very authentic quesadilla. It definitely made me miss home. After that, we were all beat after a long day and we got to bed at midnight. No dancing or talking, just a pure, adulterated 9 hours of sleep. Glorious.

We woke up the next morning to check out and meet Dobs and Devon for pancakes, again. They were amazing, again. Think really large crepe topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, copious whipped cream, hot fudge, and pears. YUM. Then Dobs and Devon had to leave for they're flight and Julian, Dennis, and I headed to the Children Museum. On the way, we found a really cool library and crossed a really cool footbridge. The museum was on the water and shaped like a ship. I can't remember the architect (slap on the wrists) but I do remember studying it in one of my classes in Boston. We picked up some Dutch fries (thick cut and topped with cheese) on the way to the train station and then headed to catch our plane. 

Our flight was really short and I slept the whole time. Not to mention, KLM airlines is amazing. I was going to attempt some work tonight but I need to go to bed instead. My parents and best friends (minus Aurel) come this week and I need to get as much done as I can before they get here. I have also just joined the gym and can't wait to get back into it. It was really expensive but after one workout, I already realize how much I miss the endorphins. And Pilates in Italian turns out to be pretty interesting. My foot's still a little out of it so hopefully I can get in a physical therapist appointment in before everyone gets here.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Ash

Ps. This blog was fairly censored but if you feel that you can deal with the debauchery, I'll fill you in! Email me!

My New Bici

So last I left off, I was kind of hating life in Rome with a bum foot. Well things have certainly started to look up from there.

Last Tuesday, an hour after I posted my blog, Alessio picked me up from class and took me to see his friend the physical therapist. It was a beautiful ride on the vespa, up Mount Giancoli (one of the 7 hills of Rome) where there are spectacular views of the whole city and beyond. We arrived at a very sketchy building. Luckily Alessio was with me or I wouldn't have gone it. We got in the doctor's office and after lots of translation and poking and prodding, it was determined that all that was wrong was some SERIOUS tension in my foot and up my leg to my knees. In both feet. He proceeded to obliterate my legs and all the knots in them. I almost leaned over and smacked his hand away. That would be a good way to get a bad rep for Americans, and Alessio would probably hate me. So I grinned and beared it. I didn't even cry!! (its my usual response to any overload of emotion)

45 euro later, he pronounced that I would probably be ok and wouldn't even need another session. I now love Alessio AND his physio friend, Alejandro. I have also come to the conclusion that every single Italian doctor is ridiculously good looking. I've come in contact with about 5 male doctors by now and have not met one that doesn't make me melt. And they're smart! Its a tragedy that I'm usually in some awkward pain and position when I meet them. And then they have to grope my smelly feet. I may write a book, "How to Woo a Man in 3 Doctor's Visits".

Anyway, after the appointment, we had some time before I had to be back to class. Alessio and I went for a cappuccino and then he took me on a short tour of Rome (he's a high class tour guide for a living). Again, we were on his vespa and it was a stunning day. Life doesn't get much better.

After that, I went back to class for a wee while. We were set free at 5.30 and I headed to my first experience with an Italian esthetician. I won't give the details but lets just say it involved hot wax. All around, it was successful and very cheap. Ladies, if you want more details, email me directly, I want to spare the men.

I came back to the apartment for dinner and a quick nap. Then Will picked me up for our date. We went to a bar a couple blocks away and talked for about 3 hours. A little bit about him: he's from Chicago, goes to school in Iowa, is studying business, he's trying to find a way to move to Italy permanently, and he's one of the funniest people I've ever met. It was an awesome night and I really like the kid. I haven't spoken to him since because I was in Tuscany and now he's in Prague. I'll keep you updated though.

We left early Wednesday morning for Tuscany. After not much sleep the night before, I slept for the two hour journey. Our trip that day was titled "Tuscan Hill Towns" and thats exactly what it was. We went to several. Had a tour through the underground aqueducts in Chiusi and up the bell tower there. Absolutely breathtaking. I'll put pictures up as soon as I upload them. Then we went to a brick making factory. Some kids found it really cool, I could care less, especially when all I want is a glass of Tuscan wine. We got to Siena that night and checked in to our hotel. I took a nap, woke up for group dinner, and went straight back to bed.

The next day was spent in Siena. The physical therapist told me not to walk around too much because I need to let the muscles heal after his "massage". The professor were really helpful so my shortened schedule was to walk from the East side of the city, to the campo. Then we had a tour inside the Palazzo Publico (the tower building the Campo/ Piazza). I really wanted to walk up the tower but couldn't walk up it and then turn around and say I was hurting too much to complete the tour. Whoops! Then the group left for a trek around the city and I went in to the huge museum across the street from the striped Duomo. The Museum was really cool, a hospital converted to a museum. I then bought a brick of bleu cheese and some rice cakes and planted myself on one of the steps around the main Campo/ Piazza. Not such a bad afternoon. Except I ate so much cheese that I broke out in a cherry color and got all itchy. Hahaha. I forgot to mention that the Duomo was pretty sweet too. The polychromy (striping) was a little variation on the other churches we see.

That night we arrived in Florence. We went to dinner at this really delicious place near the train station then back to bed. Don't know how I slept so much in the past few days. The next day was more churches and palaces and old stuff. Honestly, it just gets really monotonous after a while. I don't really care anymore. I'd much rather wander the city and soak up the culture and atmosphere.

That night, I met up with a friend from home that I've known since middle school, Jessica Cometa. She's studying in Florence for the semester and her and her friends took me out for the night. We went to a very exclusive pub (you had to have a card to get it) then to this awesome club down the street. After a night of dancing I brought an extremely drunk friend home, took care of her for a while, and passed out after she went to bed.

We all got to sleep in the next day. A nice change from the norm of waking up at the crack of dawn (8am) everyday for classes.

We somehow lucked out with our hostel and got all 8 of us in our own apartment of a side street, really close to all the nightlife. After we woke up, we all just lounged for a couple hours. My friends nursing their hangovers and me laying in bed and dozing.

After a pastry and cappuccino we split up and ventured in to the city. I find that traveling in large groups is extremely frustrating and annoying. Three or four people is pretty much my limit. Me and two close girlfriends (Lisa and Erica) explored Florence in this exact order: pastry, sandwich, gelato, shoe shopping, walk across Ponte Vecchio, wander around Boboli Gardens (by far my favorite place in Florence), statue of David, food in a piazza, back for a nap, and then dinner. Dinner was fantastic (truffle ravioli) and pretty cheap. We attempted to go out but Saturday nights are usually tough for us because we are so wrecked from Friday.

We had to be out of our hostel by 10am on Sunday so we packed up and headed to Pisa. The city was really boring and the tower wasn't really that cool either. Actually, it was cool for about 10 minutes, then we found that taking pictures was way more fun. It was a 4 hour train ride back because we were too cheap to take the fast train and we arrived home at 10pm.

It all sounds like an awesome trip in Tuscany but I was a grouch for a lot of the time. I have put it down to the fact that my bum foot has kept me from exercising and Italian food 24/7 plus no walking plus no other exercise equals some extra fat and a very low body image. So this morning, I bought a bike! It an old rickety dutch style bike. Like a beach cruiser except way cooler. It has an old school kickstand, back wheel rack, and wheel powered light. I am in love and am trying to think of a fitting name for my new ride. I have been riding that to class all day and it such a blast zipping around Rome. I also ran up 60 flights of stairs and did lots of "weights" (aka large water bottles). I'm on my way back!

Anyway, that was a ridiculously long blog and now I'm going to bed. This week involves lots of homework, then Amsterdam this weekend then my parents and best friends are here next week! Probably couldn't be happier unless they were with me write now.

Love you all. Have awesome days.

Ash