So, a lot has happened. I know the millions of readers out there have been waiting with bated breath for my next installment and I apologize for the delay. I had an amazing time in Italy, and I was very sad to leave it...wait, I should probably start at the beginning.

Last time I wrote I was outside of Florence, enjoying some of the many olive groves and vineyards Italy has to offer. From there I caught a train to Sarzana, a town on the western side of the country a few hours below Genoa. I couchsurfed there at a young Italian's house in the hills outside the town. His name was Luca and he lives with his mother, grandmother and sister. He was by far the best host I've ever had. It's obvious how much he loves his culture and loves to show visitors around. I had two and a half jam packed days with him- including beautiful castles and some amazing oceans views. The highlight had to be hiking the Cinque Terre though. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is comprised of five fishing villages set along gorgeous jagged coastline. There is a trail that goes to all the little towns (and also a railway for the slightly less ambitious). It took us six hours to hike the 20 km of ups and downs and it was worth every minute. (i hope my pictures will make that clear!). We also went to the marble mines in the hillls above Sarzana where a small part of Casino Royale was filmed. But aside from seeing Liguria (the region of Italy I was in) I also got to taste it! Luca's mom cooked us some impressive meals. My first dinner started with melon and proscuitto (yes, they actually eat that!) then chicken and beef with vegetables, then fresh fruit from the garden, and then gelato from the best gelateria in town. Quite the meal! The next night the starter was minestrone soup (a favorite of mine!). Luca also put a little adventure into my last morning by letting me take a shotwith his crossbow (see photo and notice my shot!!)

I left Luca and headed to Naples. There I was to meet up with a friend of mine I haven't seen in four years. Carlotta was an Italian exchange student when I was in South Africa and was only there for three months but we have kept in contact through the miracle of facebook. She is just finishing her first year at a university in Naples where she studies Russian (she hopes to become an interpreter for the UN someday!). I wasn't sure how it would be to reconnect with her but when we immediately started catching each other up on the past four years- I knew it was going to be perfect. Carlotta lives in a small but cosy loft apartment in the middle of "the worst part of town" (her words). It didn't look to bad to me (especially since I fell in love with their place) and I never felt really unsafe, but maybe living in Johannesburg had something to do with that. I ended up spending six days there, exploring the city leisurely, spending the evenings with Carlotta and her friends and, of course, eating pizza. For those of you who don't know, pizza was invented in southern Italy, and they definitely know how to make it right because it is AMAZING. I ate pizza everyday for lunch and never got sick of it. The sauce is like nothing I've ever tasted; it's fresh and light and delicious. I've heard it has to do with the volcanic soil of the area.

Speaking of volcanic soil, I also spent a day at Pompeii. I thought it was great to just wander around the massive area, seeing the ruins of a lost civilization. The creepiest/coolest thing was to see the volcanic casts of people who didn't survive- there was even a dog who seemed to be writhing on its back in pain. One odd thing that really has nothing to do with Pompeii, this American couple brought their seven month old baby in a stroller to the site. Look at my pictures and imagine trying to navigate the huge cobblestones in the hot hot sun...maybe not such a good idea?

I almost missed my train out of Naples. Carlotta and I had gone to a market outside the city with some of her friends early in the morning. When we finally got home, we both literally passed out on her bed. I awoke, looked at my watch, and realized that i was supposed to be leaving for the station..and i hadn't even packed. We ended up sprinting the 15 minute WALK to the train (please remember that I am carrying at 17.9 kg bag), buying a ticket, and pratically catipulting myself onto the train. In the end, I made it and the train left 10 minutes late so I was sitting there red faced and sweaty for almost no reason. Anyway, three hours later (i took the slow, and therefore cheap, train) I arrived in Rome. The next day my brother's best friend, Tony, arrived. He has been living/studying in Italy since September, and is currently working/cooking on a farm. We spent four days in Rome together and, believe me, we spent them well. Rome is amazing. So many times, we literally bumped into ancient ruins (some dating back to 3 or 4 BC!!) in the city. Funny thing, stray cats have made the ruins their personal playground! We counted about 30 at one site. Of course, we also did the routine Roman tourist attractions; the Colloseum (utterly breathtaking!), the Forum (MASSIVE), Vatican City (where we had to get a little creative for me to be allowed to enter as my shorts were deemed inappropriate. I was wearing two tanktops so i ended up using one as a skirt over my shorts...), the Pantheon (one of the oldest buildings in Rome, and pretty amazing to walk around in, too bad there were a million other people there), and the Trevi Fountain (look at my photo, the crowd was HUGE, but the foutain was worth it). Aside from the toursit spots, Tony and I saw lots of local spots as well, a pleasant result of getting lost several times every day when we decided to walk from our hostel into the center. There was one particularly bad morning where we ended up in some scaffolding on the side of the highway...not many tourists get to see that! Tony was in Italy to learn about cooking, he went to Culinary School while he was there, so I had my own personal food expert, which is pretty handy when traveling in such a tasty country. Though we didn't find pizza to rival Naples (I have been assured that none exists in the world and I will forever be disappointed elsewhere), I did have the best olives of my life, along with some pretty good cheese and wine. All-in-all, I loved Rome and I flew out of Italy on Wednesday knowing that I want to return in the future.

I flew to Edinburgh, where i got off the plane in shorts and was greeted by rain. I changed into my jeans, which I barely recognized since I havent worn them for over a month, and headed for my hostel. The hostel is in a church, which sounds pretty cool except they didnt make real rooms, there are just wall partitions (with no ceilings) so you can hear everything in the other 15 rooms (definitley an ear plugs hostel). I walked into the reception and bumped into the friend that I was meeting here. Will and I have a bit of an odd connection; he is Nina's older sister's ex boyfriend. We met last summer when I was staying on the cape at Nina's house and he has even met most of my family at my graduation dinner (definitely a night to remember). Since I wasn't going to London (where he lives) I forced him to train it to Edinburgh. He is also going to Dublin since he has friends there, but he left last night while I leave tonight. We've just been exploring the city a bit, we went to a movie and hung out in the park. I am at the point in the my travels where all churches/museums/castles kind of look the same so I am happy just relaxing. Also, getting some internet time is good since I have been neglecting almost everyone who attempts to keep in contact with me.

So, now I sit at an internet cafe in Edinburgh, after sitting in a book store for two hours reading The Firm, which I 'borrowed' from the hostel. Tonight I fly to Dublin, where I am staying with friends of my Dad. I fly on Tuesday afternoon at 1:50pm to Boston and arrive at 3:45 pm. Everyday I say atleast ten times that I can't believe I am going home so soon. Too bad I have to get blood drawn at the doctor's two days after I arrive or else I might actually be excited.