Firenze (Florence)

Ciao, again!

Sorry for the delay in Italia blog posts, I had some friends visiting this weekend, and a paper due at the last minute yesterday!

Leaving off on April 9, a Saturday morning. The girls and I reluctantly say goodbye to Venice, with this one last view of the city at sunrise...

Then it was off on a 3 hour train ride to Florence. When we arrived in the city we took a bus to our hostel, Hostel 7 Santi, which was about 10 minutes outside the main center of Florence. The bus system made it so easy for us to get back and forth though, so it was not a problem. The hostel was an old convent, so it was smack dab next to a beautiful church and the hostel itself was pretty big and spacious. Not as quiet as we would've hoped for an ex-convent, but it was nice nonetheless. We had two other roommates, girls from the States also visiting Florence from their study abroad location in Ireland. Good thing we had good roomies then, because come Rome hostel, things got weird. (more to come on that!)

After dropping our stuff off and relaxing for a few minutes, we headed into the city. Catching our first glimpse of the Duomo was so awesome! It was just awaiting us, in its dirty teal and rusty red colors. 

It cost a decent amount of moola to get up into the dome, so we instead went into the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (love that name, by the way, it has a beautiful ring to it). Let's just say the outside of the duomo is prettier than the inside... I honestly wasn't that impressed, considering by that point I had also seen Westminster Abbey, La Sagrada Familia, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur... oh, and the Sistine Chapel (in Rome a few days later). But moving on, we grabbed a small dinner of cheese, crackers and pizza bread and made the trek to Piazzale Michalengelo, for what was supposedly the best view of the city.

I would hope it'd be a good view after one heck of a vertical incline walk.

I'd say that's a pretty good view, don't you?

Me and the girls sat there for hours, just enjoying life and the amazing sunset that came around 8 p.m.

 Florence is such a beautiful city. I didn't really know what to expect. I loved that it seemed to be perfectly plopped down in between the rolling Tuscan countryside and mountains. And the river and bridges, with the duomo in view at basically all times... it just worked.

I love this picture because of the reflection in the water! And the buildings just seem so perfectly aligned and compact.

Here's a view of the Ponte Vecchio, Florence's most famous bridge. It's lined with jewelry shops and even more tourists.

The next day we met up with Jackie's friend for breakfast at an American diner she knew of. While it's silly to eat American food while in Italy (of all places), it is not silly to eat American breakfast while anywhere in the world. Omelettes, bacon, pancakes, hashbrowns... too good to pass up. After that we headed to the leather market for some shopping. And while we all told ourselves "oh I'll probably only buy a small wallet or keychain, maybe a belt" we all left the market with a little more than that. For the girls, three beautiful leather jackets, for me, a brown leather purse I've been wanting forever. Success.

Then it was off to Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. After waiting in line for about half an hour (not as bad as I was expecting), we finally saw the man himself. It was really cool. I've never seen such a huge statue. It's literally HUGE. If I stood next to him, I'd probably be a little taller than his knee.

...back to the hostel for some rest (this is the point where we are all exhausted from 4 months of traveling, and don't mind just hanging out). Then, with our hostel lady's recommendation, we headed down the street for a yummy Italian meal. Up until then we really hadn't had anything melt in your mouth worthy (aside from some scrumptious paninos), but we were in luck. I ordered something along the lines of tortellini and meat sauce, while Jen and Jackie both got a baked cheesey gooey ravioli thing, and Alex had a seafood and pasta extravaganza. Delicious. All of it.. we each had to try each other's food of course! Then came gelato (second of the day.. and absolutely necessary).

On Monday we went back into the city to find a food market Alex knew about. When we first came across it, it looked like just a bunch of fruit and veggie stands, then we wandered a little bit more and found food market heaven. Meats and pasta and nuts and more meats and fish and pastries and bruschetta and olive oil and balsamic and fruits. We made our way to a vendor (that Alex also knew about!) and got their infamous roast beef sandwich. 

.....

I have been craving another one ever since. Best. sandwich. ever.

......

We also got free samples of biscotti. Yum. The Italians have some great food, that's all I have to say.

Then it was off to the Giardino di Biboli (gardens) behind the modern art museum for some more relaxation before catching the train to Rome. 

^ Here's me at the gardens with my new bag :)

View from the Gardens... not too bad. Me and the girls just laid there relaxing and listening to music for a few hours... another one of those life is good moments. And of course I couldn't have asked for a better 3 girls to be there with (awwwhh). sidenote: Alex left for the states this morning, Jen is leaving tomorrow morning. This is not okay!!!! The semester is ending :( And I have two weeks, baaah!!

So that concludes the Firenze trip... we headed to Rome shortly after dinner (with our cheese and crackers again). Jen, Jackie and Alex got creative on the train ride and made cards out of napkins. Yes, 52 playing cards out of napkins. Then we realized, oh, you can see the number and suit pretty easily through the back of a napkin. Oh well, honor code it was. We threw on our sunglasses for a mean, competitive game of Go Fish. Off to Roma...

From Venice sunrises to Florence sunsets... Italia was treating us pretty well.

to be continued!

Venice

Ciao! I'm back from the most wonderful week in Italy with the best travel buddies anyone could ask for, Jackie, Jen and Alex :) This was our final trip together and our last hoorah of the semester. I think we can all agree that there was no better way to conclude a great semester than with a week in Venice, Florence and Rome.

We spent two days in Venice, about three days in Florence and two days in Rome. While there was a lot to see in Rome, we found ourselves doing a lot of relaxing in Venice and Florence. From hanging out at various parks and by the beautiful rivers in those cities, to staying at dinner for longer than we usually would... it was nice to just chill. But, nonetheless, by our last day in Italy, we were all so exhausted. I think 4 months of traveling has caught up to us. It will definitely be sad to leave London, but I am in need of my bed, my family, my dog and home-cooked meals. This reminds me, I have to send my mom a menu of all the home-cooked dinners I want. cough cough Mama!

Anyway, Italia trip 2011... first stop: Venice, Venezia

We arrived in Italy last Thursday morning, after flying over the Swiss Alps (sooo beautiful) and after an hour bus ride, we finally pulled up to Venice.

Wow.

Venice is just like you see in the pictures... so it was insane to believe we were actually there, in a city with no streets, just canals and gondolas, light/cloudy turquoise water, bridges, beautiful buildings... Venice was another place I had to stop and be like, whoa, this place is real. Needless to say, we all fell in love with Venezia.

Now, instead of doing the whole hostel thing, we went out on a limb and tried CouchSurfing, a company that sets up travelers with apartment/couch owners in various cities around the world. Back in February I found a young guy named Giovanni on CouchSurfing who said he could host us 4 girls come April 7... we kept in touch, and while we were a little nervous.. Alex had a great CouchSurfing experience in Paris, so we were feeling good about Venice. Turns out, Giovanni and his roommate Alessandro were GREAT. They welcomed us in their home, gave us a key so we could come and go, showed us around Venice and pointed us in the direction of the most amazing gelato. What more could we ask for? Oh, and Giovanni is a Boston Celtics fan.. so obviously he was the perfect host.

We did a lot of exploring in Venice, but surprisingly, didn't get as lost as we thought we would! With four of us, at least one of us could remember what church or bench or cafe we passed when, and how to get from the guys' apartment to Piazza San Marco (main square in Venice).

view from the guys' apartment...

Food: not as great as we were hoping for. The gelato was top of the line (I'm going to admit we got gelato at least once a day that week in Italy... but usually, we had it twice a day. Sorry not sorry!)

Weather: BEAUTIFUL. sunny and warm all week... I acquired a bad sunburn by the end of the week, but up until then it was so nice to have some Italian sun and warmth. Not to mention how awesome it was to only pack dresses and shorts and sandals :)

Culture and people: So charming and nice! The ladies loved when Alex used her Italian with them, and I just couldn't get enough of how "intimate" everyone was with each other, how friends and couples truly act like they enjoy each other's company. The first night, we went to the San Margherita piazza with Ale to meet his friends and hang out for awhile. All the college kids seemed to be there, so it was pretty hopping... not what you would expect of Venice, right? We met a girl named Julia (who speaks 6 languages... say what?!?! Europeans are too cool) and her boyfriend. They referred to each other as Amore.. :: cue the melting :: we all thought it was super adorable.

Sights we saw: St. Mark's, the Campanile (the real one is a little bit different than the one I've seen at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas), Grand Canal, Bridge of Sighs (although it was covered by an ugly Toyota ad), Rialto bridge

Some highlights of our time in Venice include our traghetti ride, which we thought would be a a nice little journey down a canal but instead ended up just bringing us 2 seconds to the other side of the canal. Ah well, 60 euros for a gondola ride wasn't happening. Then there was Alex's pigeon experience, Day 1: feeding and  having one sit on her arm, Day 2: being pooped on. Maybe she spoke too soon when she said she was the Pigeon Whisperer! Andddd Gelato. yum yum yum yum. I tried strawberry first, which is really surprising seeing as I'm a chocolate girl, 100% of the time usually. But, the strawberry won me over.. at least for the day. From there on out it was chocolate gelato. We lived the gelato dream for a week.

Overall, Venice was simply magical. We couldn't stop taking photos of canals and gondolas and buildings and people and more canals and more gondolas in canals and gondolas beside canals and gondolas near canals. But even though we never put our cameras away, my photos are all so different... every corner of Venice is unique. Picturesque. And so so so beautiful. I will definitely be back to Venice in the future.

I have less than a month left in Europe. I can't believe how time has flown! It really does seem like just yesterday that I was back at Marquette worrying about if my dad was even going to let me study abroad....and I can also clearly remember my first few days in London... being so excited and thrilled with life. And even though that initial excitement feeling has gone away (only because I've adjusted and made London my home away from home), I still have that "Am I really here?" question lingering about. And before I know it, I'll be back home in Shrewsbury, wondering "Did I really go to London for 4 months?" It's all such a blur. Maybe because I've done SO much. I can hardly fathom that during my time here I've seen a lot of London, been to Dublin/Galway/Cliffs of Moher, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Scotland, Oxford, Manchester, Barcelona, Madrid and Switzerland. Kinda crazy if you ask me. It's been such a whirlwind journey thus far but I've loved every minute of it. I can't even picture myself back at Marquette come August, walking to class on Wisconsin Ave. or grabbing lunch at the Union...

You know what's also crazy? That after I leave London, I still have a whole new adventure in NYC waiting for me. I find out in the next week or so what magazine I will be working for (I'm pretty nervous... cross your fingers I get a good one!). 4 months in Europe, 2 months in NYC... then back to Marquette. This is not my life!

I need to make the most of my last few weeks though. There's still so much to do and see here! Jackie and I are going to make a quick day trip down to the coast to Brighton, then I need to go back to a few museums, go to Harrod's... then there's the Royal Wedding on April 29!! Looks like Jackie and I will be camping out by Buckingham Palace to get a good view of the procession/and first kiss on the balcony. London is going to be one big celebration that day.

But before all that... me and the girls have one last trip. to ITALY!!!! We leave early tomorrow morning for Venice, then train to Florence on Saturday, then train to Rome on Monday, then back to London on Thursday. We've been looking forward to this trip all semester... in fact, it was the first one we planned. So now that it's finally here, we're all in disbelief!! And the weather forecast for Italy all week: mid-70s and sunny :)

Ciao!

Luzern, Switzerland

I can't hold off any longer on this Switzerland post! Well I could, but that would just mean I'd have to write my paper due for class. And obviously, blogging is more fun.

So. Last Friday morning, Alex, Jen and I hopped on a plane from Berlin to the airport in Basel, Switzerland, then we had to take a bus into the town and catch an hour train ride to Luzern. I think we all couldn't believe our eyes when we caught the first glimpse of mountains from the train. The tops were still covered in snow, and it was absolutely beautiful! When we arrived in Luzern we grabbed a quick lunch of... bratwurst... (I guess I wasn't ready to leave my German food behind yet) and met up with Katie, Alex's friend from home ( St. Charles). I've made an observation during my travels, that I clearly cannot be without a person from St. Charles. Either I travel with Alex, or I travel with Jen. I stayed with Katie in Luzern, I stayed with Shivani in Barcelona, and one of my best friends at Marquette is Lauren. 5 different St. Charles girls.. can't get enough of them I guess haha.

Funny story: we saw a guy with a shirt that read "You looked better from behind" and we all laugh and Alex says "Yeah, so do you buddy."

Leaving the train station, we took a quick bus ride to Katie's "apartment"/old hospital she's staying in. And lucky girl, right outside her room window is the most tremendous view of the mountains! Each morning when I woke, I popped my head up and saw Swiss Alps. Good morning to me. (In London, I look out the window and I see an ugly brick wall of the dormitory next door.)

After dropped our stuff off and relaxing for a little bit, we walked back into the city for some sightseeing. Luzern is a really small town, so it only took us about 25 minutes to walk to the Lake/train station area. Also, Luzern is in the German part of Switzerland so they speak Swiss German there. But because Swiss German is only a spoken language, they write in German. Our airport (Basel) was in the French part of Switzerland so it was funny to go back and forth between languages. Merci. Danke. Merci. Danke.

We stopped to grab coffee at Bourbaki, a coffee shop/cafe/bar that Katie and her friends go to all the time. It's located in an old panorama, so the circular floor spins once a day... and lucky us, we got to experience it once on Friday and once on Saturday! So fun. After that we walked toward the lake to catch our first glimpse of the fairy tale land that is Luzern.

Blue/teal lake water, white swans floating about, French-inspired buildings and hotels set along the edges (reminded me of what the coast in Nice would look like), and snow-capped Swiss Alps in the backdrop. Somebody pinch me because I think that was a dream. Places like that exist?!?!

Yes, yes they do. Pictures don't lie. But imagine this photo, beautified 10 times... that's what we actually saw. Even though we all took a bajillion and one photos, our photos could not fully capture the beauty of Luzern.

We grabbed some quick dinner at Coop (a grocery store with inexpensive packaged sandwiches, yummy pastries, and all the Swiss chocolate you could dream of), we went to an art gallery opening.

 I think Alex, Jen and I left Switzerland a little more hipster because of it. and we also left a little more addicted to chocolate. I honestly can't even think about chocolate after that trip. I ate enough for a lifetime. But it sure was yummy.

Then it was back to Bourbaki for some chill-time with some of Katie's friends from school. She is studying graphic design, and the next day (Saturday) she took us by her school to show us some of her and other students' artwork. Pretty cool if you ask me. They had all recently been to London, so a lot of their work was based off of that trip. Wooooo London!

On Saturday, after grabbing some picnic-y items from Coop, we went to sit by the lake. I could've sat there all day. The weather the whole weekend was mid-70s, clear skies and sunny. Perfect weather, perfect town, perfect day. Then, the group of us, and Katie's friend Lisa (also from America) took a paddleboat out onto the lake. 6 francs each... not too shabby. 

**note: The franc is really close to the dollar, but Switzerland is rolling in cash so everything was pretty expensive... which is why we ate from Coop. Also, because Switzerland is so wealthy, so are its people. They dress beautifully, they are all beautiful. End of story.**

The paddleboat ride was phenomenal! Definitely the best part of the trip. While it was a little chilly being out on the lake... Swiss lakes = ice cube water straight from the melting mountains.

After a lovely paddleboat ride, we grabbed some dinner (at Coop, of course!) and hung out at Bourbaki for most of the evening. Upon returning to the hospital/apartment, we went up onto the roof top and had the most BEAUTIFUL view of the sky. Being so far up in the mountains, we realized it was the closest to the stars we'd ever been. And, being in London for these months, and Milwaukee most of the school year, I never see the stars. It was so awesome to see them again :)

On Sunday, we had most of the day, so we met up with some more of Katie's friends and went to the other side of the lake where there was a park. So many of the locals were out and about, laying in the sun, playing games.. and walking tightropes between trees? Didn't realize that was the cool thing to do in Switzerland! Then it was back to Bourbaki for some more chill-time and coffee, then Alex, Jen and I said bye to Katie and Lisa, and hopped back on the train to Basel airport.

Yes, our itinerary was filled with lots of forms of relaxation and staring at the mountains, but that's really all we wanted to do. We wanted an inexpensive, relaxing trip.. and that's what we got. I think we left Switzerland 200% satisfied with our time there. 

What a beautiful place. I still can't believe what I was surrounded by all weekend! Such a dream land.

Spain is still my favorite country, Barcelona is still my favorite city. But Switzerland... you.are.wonderful.

Berlin!

hello everyone! I'm back from another great adventure :)

Even though the trip included both Berlin and Switzerland, I'm going to break up blog posts again. Just because the two places are so completely different!

Jackie and I (along with Andrei and his cousin, Cesar, who happened to have the same flight as us) flew into Berlin SXF airport Wednesday morning and easily navigated to our hostel, Heart of Gold, which was in the popular Mitte district. We had registered for a 26 bed dorm room, so needless to say, that's exactly what we got. 26 beds, huge room, infirmary/hospital style. Just me, Jackie, and a group of Spanish-speaking guys from Spain (of course I chatted them up in what little spanish I have... ending the conversation awkwardly at "y es todo el espanol que yo se" -- that's all the spanish I know).

Even though it was such a huge room, it was clean and the beds were pretty comfy. Our outer space themed hostel definitely grew on us.

Jackie, Andrei, Cesar and I went to Pariser Platz by the Brandeburg Gate to meet up with our Sandeman's Walking Tour (same company I've used in every other city!). But on the way, we stopped to eat lunch at a currywurst place in the train station. YUM. so delicious. Then we ran into a Dunkin Donuts (yes, an actual Dunkin Donuts, not Spain's Dunkin Coffee version) and I think Jackie and I were in heaven with our iced coffees. Here's Jackie's photo of us and our beloved DD iced coffees...

The 4-hour walking tour was super interesting, and our tour guide knew a lot about the city. We saw the Hotel Adlon (where Michael Jackson hung his baby over the railing), the site of Hitler's suicide bunker, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, site of the Book Burnings, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and Berliner Dom among many other sites. Berlin has so much history (that I actually wish I knew about before the tour, so I could connect things and be like oh, so that's where it is!), but oh well. Our tour guide was good about giving us a quick history of the city. 

Here are some pics from the tour!

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Berlin Wall

Jackie and I at the Berliner Dom

After the tour, we relaxed at our hostel for a bit and grabbed some dinner at a salad place nearby, then walked toward Hakescher Market. Along the way (5 minute walk, keep in mind) we spotted approximately 25 prostitutes lining the street. I was not aware Berlin had a prostitute scene like that. But lucky us, found it. Super sad and depressing to see girls dress like that and stoop to such a level to get some money. Definitely dampered my Berlin experience.

But, I couldn't help but sing this song in my head...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3EmA-eJPxs

Anyway, Jackie and I had some yummy weiss beer at this outdoor cafe, a.m. to p.m., at the market. The seats were little wooden cocoon swings. So cute! And they gave us blankets because it was pretty chilly outside. Danke! (thank you!). Then we got another currywurst. Can't get enough currywurst.

On Thursday, Jackie and I grabbed our Dunkin Donuts iced coffees and headed over to the Reichstag (parliament building). Unfortunately it was closed due to some security thing, so then we walked to the Jewish Museum. Let me just say that I love student discounts... my student card has saved me so much money on museums and attractions these past few months!

The museum was GREAT! Really interesting design of the building, the exhibits were all really artsy and meaningful... and informative. A lot of content was covered and I think even in the 2 hours we were there, we didn't get through all of it. While it did cover the Holocaust, the museum was intended more as a history of the Jewish people in Europe, so it was nice to see more than just the tragic part of Jewish history. After that, we walked back toward the Berliner Dom, stopping to get lunch. Guess what we ate? Bratwurst. We needed a little bit of a change from currywurst, but not enough of a change to throw us off from our sausage diet.

Jewish Museum...

Then it was back to the hostel for a nap and also where we were meeting Jen and Alex, who had flown into Berlin that morning and were off on the same walking tour we did the day prior. We all grabbed dinner at this little natural foods restaurant a few minutes away... I ended up with some potato wedges and a delicious salad with apples, raisins and nuts in it. Yummy. We were all pretty tired so we hung out at the hostel for the rest of the night, talking with Andrei and Cesar. I think we all had a lot of fun, just keeping things casual.

Friday morning, Jackie headed back to London (even though we wish she could've joined us in Switzerland!) and Alex, Jen and I jumped on a plane to Switzerland (that adventure, to be continued in next blog post!)

But, my thoughts on the trip:

Not a big fan of good ol' Berlin, actually. Everyone says Berlin is supposed to be this awesome city, but for some reason, Jackie, Alex, Jen and I couldn't find what was so awesome about it. Was it the currywurst? Because then I'd have to agree. I loved how historical the city is, and I think it's really interesting how it's still rebuilding. But that rebuilding, left a lot of construction throughout the city and no real unified culture or identity. As Jen said, Berlin is having a bit of an identity crisis. Fair enough. But I just never really grasped where I was... in Munich.. I knew I was in Germany. In Barcelona, I knew it was Spain.. Dublin.. Ireland, etc. But Berlin? I feel like I could've been anywhere. It was a big industrial city, and even when the sun was out, I didn't find it to be visually stimulating. Am I being too harsh on Berlin? I had a great time with the girls, and I saw a lot of the city with the walking tour, and the currywurst was great and it was a very affordable trip.. but I left feeling kinda "meh" about it. I really wish I had discovered what is so great about Berlin, because I know there has to be something, and I feel bad for leaving with such a so-so outlook on it. Sorry Berlin, but Munich was my favorite German city.

Best part of Berlin:

I am glad I went though!! :)

Guess who's going another trip tomorrow morning??! This girl.

Berlin and Switzerland here I come.

I feel like I spend a lot of my time in airports and or on some form of public transportation. But, don't worry, I've rested since Spain and am ready to go! The past few days I've been the laziest person ever... part of me feels bad for not doing anything, but the other part of me is like, "last semester was the busiest on-the-go 24 hours a day semester, it's not a big deal if you relax and don't do anything for a few days."

But because I am usually such a busy person, it's weird to have no responsibilities. Classes and exams are finished. I'm literally just.. hanging out. Aside from a few errands here and there (did some grocery shopping today, went to a market the other day), my to do list: zip zero zilch.

Until tomorrow morning (or a few hours from now)!! Off to Berlin with Jackie, then Jen and Alex will be meeting us there on Thursday. From Berlin, me, Alex and Jen are continuing on to Switzerland, where the weather forecast is 72 degrees F and sunny!!! wooooo!!! Ever since Spain, I've had nothing but good weather. Knock on wood. (Touch wood, as they say here)

I am so excited to get back to the German culture, and to see such an historical city like Berlin!! Berlin was another last-minute add on to my travels, and was one of the cities I knew I had to get to while I was abroad. And SWITZERLAND! cannot wait for beautiful mountains and lakes and trees... nature, basically.

With this trip also comes April 2, the official one month countdown until I have to leave London. I can't believe it's already been 3 months! Ahhh! Time has flown by way too quickly... but I've done so much so it's hard to complain. I'll be happy to get back home and hang out with the family, but I don't want this adventure to come to an end. Can my family and friends just come here? And bring Panera Bread and Target with them?

Alright, time to catch some zzz's before the car service picks us up at 3 a.m. Yep. Life of a young traveler.

xxx

Another day of beautiful weather!! This is the 4th day in a row I think... if that's even possible. I'm not complaining though! Love the start of spring..

I took a nice little walk up to the center of Islington today to pick up my photo prints (300 of them, free thanks to buying a new camera), and then do some quick grocery shopping at Sainsbury's. But as I'm leaving Sainsbury's — keep in mind it's about noon on a Friday afternoon — I run into a little gang fight of the sorts. Two groups of guys are yelling at each other, hitting each other, whipping each other with their belts and throwing crates of fruit at each other. Meanwhile, everyone is out and about because like I said, it's noon on a Friday afternoon, so it caused a HUGE scene. But it was rather scary, because they were taking up the whole street and running into cars and moving toward the group of us spectators (a mom and her baby had to like scram out of the way... I felt so bad).

Several thoughts were running through my head.

#1- This is quite exciting to watch.
#2- Where's the police?
#3- Where's my notepad and camera? I'm a journalist. I need to report this.
#4- This is actually getting pretty scary.
#5- Where's the police?
#6- I'm gonna get out of here. But really, where's the police?

20 minutes after the fight started, I could hear police sirens. But the guys in the fight... were long gone. It was pretty absurd that it took the cops THAT long to get there, even when everyone around me was calling them. Islington is actually a really safe, nice area of London, and I've never ever felt unsafe here. So it was surprising to see such a calamity in the middle of the day, in such a public area (literally outside the grocery store, restaurants and shopping). But it was also really frustrating and kind of nerve wracking that the cops weren't on top of their game.

anyway.

Marquette plans UNC in the Sweet Sixteen tonight!!!!!! I can't imagine what campus is going to be like tonight... I wish I was there to watch the game with everyone. Instead, me and few Marquette kids at City U. are heading downtown to catch the game at the Sports Cafe. Should be fun!

GO MARQUETTE!