London Calling

Hello All!

I'm home. I have been for a while but summer has continued on a terrific track and I've hardly been near a computer, so... sorry!

I landed back in London at the end of June and my first few days back in Blightey did involve a bit of whinging. As I'm sure you're all aware, England is not renowned for its glorious summers and quite frankly I was cold. Probably more like 'a bit chilly', but I missed the sun- and everyone knew about it! Another reason to moan would be that spent those first few days delaying reunions with my friends and family in order to chain myself to a desk whilst attempting to write an essay, in Italian. The research process, however, was very interesting and I had hand-picked the topic myself in order to link the essay up nicely with the Cimitero Accatolico per gli stranieri and so to task wasn't an odious and gruelling as it could have been. However, having this job to do did force me to hit the ground running as soon as I got home and enjoy my homecoming enormously.

As soon as the assignment was complete and sent of for judgement and condemnation, the fun could begin. I've spent lots of time in the city centre, including trips one of my favourite restaurants in the world (a Pancake House called My Old Dutch) and a day trip to SeaLife, the London Aquarium. My friend Holly and I had so much fun. We were in there for approximately four hours starring at various fishes, quoting 'Finding Nemo' and stroking starfish. We especially liked the giant turtle and the penguins. After we had exhausted the Aquarium we strolled off down the Southbank, enjoyed the sunshine and took pictures with some street performers. We are southbank converts, we especially liked the old pianos and poetry!

So now I'm just on a wave of reunions and fun. I've also marked this new beginning with a little change- and a big trip to the barnet shop. I have gone blonde. I am a blonde. Suddenly films such as 'Legally Blonde' make so much more sense, being blonde is an empowering thing and as far as I can see they really do have more fun. So until the Olympics and my job start it's just more fun with friends, another round of cosmos, girls?

Those summer nights

Hello old friends,

Let me apologise, I've been absolutely rubbish this month. Especially considering that last month I was basically blog obsessed. I doubt anyway cares that much, but if by any chance I have left you high and dry, I am sorry.

June has brought some good things. The weather has shifted to a true Mediterranean climate. Very hot and sunny. I wake up every morning eager to get up, for the sole reason that my bed has been baking in the sunlight since sunrise. During the day, as keen for a tan as any Essex girl may be, I fear burning on my way to get a coffee. It is glorious!

A view from my spot on the sand.

One way we've been making the most of this beautiful sunshine is by making the occasional day trip to Castel Gandolfo. The nearest beach to Rome (Ostia) is famously ugly... or at least that's what the real Romans tell us. Although I suppose they've never been to Southend pier and are simply used to the beauty of the Amalfi coast. Either way, I plan to go there eventually, but the lake is about an hour's train ride away from the city and is beautiful. We went mid-week, before the school's finished and so only had to share the shore with about six other people. Perfection. Bliss. You take my point.

We loved our afternoon. We sat of the sand, read books and sporadically went to swim in that gorgeously blue water. We wandered away for coffees and ice creams and came home tired by the sun and our lazy day, during which I read at least half of ‘The Battersea Park Road toEnlightenment’.

It is said that in summertime the days grow longer and the nights shorter. However, this has not been my experience. As summer has begun the Italian population seems to have woken up from a semi-hibernation and is completely rejuvenated. For the past 3 weeks I haven't returned from a Saturday night out earlier than 5am. Gosh.

Furthermore, most of our favourite events have moved from little clubs into large open air spaces. Fun! Most of them also have booths selling very cheap wine. Double win!

Now I remember why I wanted to move to Italy. Sunshine and wine.

I would never claim to be a football fanatic. Mostly because at my first attempt my brother and all male friends would jump in with controversial comments about how I've never cared in the slightest. That may be true. I'm not overly bothered. However, this month we've all been getting very much involved with the Euros and... well, drunk beer. In the group stages we've been showing our support for both England and Italia, but if things go well over these two evenings we're going have to make a very tough decision Blood and patriotism vs. we're in Italy and would have to take some stick. Only time will tell...

Despite all this revelry in the sun this month has also had it's challenges. My next work deadline is approaching and, as you may remember from here, all the work I have to submit to Warwick this year must be written in Italian. I've now completed my second module report and am researching an planning my final extended essay. There had to be some price for this beautiful year abroad! However, despite the freedom of the essay I'm hating it, partly because it's hard to concentrate on anything in this heat. And the fact that I'd rather be outside playing!

Well, I'm now closing in on the end of my Italian adventure, but I'll be sure to keep you posted on the rest of my fun. Also rather excitingly, after four years of friendship my friend Jess and I now live in the same city- even if it is only for a few.

I have a match to pay better attention to now. This is why we don't usually watch them at home...

A Day Trip.

I have a tiny confession to make. Ever since I came back to Rome after my last trip home I've been somewhat less than enthusiastic about my life here. This has bothered me. Please, don't get me wrong- I love my life here and I'm in no hurry for my time to run out, but having had such a wonderful trip home part of me has been pining for that part of my life, leaving me somewhat disconnected from all things Roman.

Today, however, has given me a new wave of excitement about this place. I'm finally excited about all the things I still haven't done or seen here. Why? Well, we went on a little day trip today, and it was lots of fun!

The train coming into Tivoli.

This week I started to make a list of things I'd like to do before I run out of Roma time; you know... nearby places I'd like to visit; landmarks I haven't yet stumbled upon. That sort of thing. Well, this morning Anna and I both woke up feeling uncharacteristically energetic and enthusiastic and so we though 'No time like the present' and set about checking something off our wishlist.

By lunchtime we'd convinced Rosa to join us and were sitting on a train to the nearby town of Tivoli. About an hour's journey away and less than €5 for return train fare this was a lovely afternoon. We didn't know anything about Tivoli, but had heard that it was very pretty. Five minutes out of the station we came across Villa Gregoriana and ere not disappointed by the beauty of the place. We also had a really fun hike!

We spent the afternoon following various trails, gasping awestruck at the   waterfalls and magnificence of the valley we were in... and took lots of pictures. Not even rain could dampen our spirits and so we trekked on and made the most of our afternoon exploring caves and ancient temples, enjoying the exercise of our rambles and taking lots of photographs!

When Rosa tells you to get in a cave and look like an enthusiastic starfish... YOU DO IT.

More cave fun.

The three of us looking over the 'Valley of Hell', post rainfall.

Rosa and I in an empty water feature.

After a few hours of rambling and exploring we finally made it to the highlight of all tourist destinations and cultural institutions: the coffee shop. We were very lucky that it was just as we went in that the heavens really opened, and threatened to completely drench us,  that we stumbled upon this delight. We had a coffee, with free peanuts, crisps and biscuits... and then decided to stay and have a beer too, as the rain decided to get heavier just as we were thinking of heading back to the station. The people in the bar were lovely, and made sure we always had snacks. Warm snacks too.A wonderful afternoon. We also found out that there are two more villas in Tivoli, and so may go back again soon.

So after a day of fun, I'm once again very excited to be here in Italy. I've got lots more on my list, and so hopefully I'll be busy exploring (and blogging) over the next few weeks!

If you're ever in Rome and feel like getting out of the city for an afternoon- try out Tivoli. It's beautiful! And the whole day (Train, villa entrance and drinks) all cost us less than €15 each!

Easy Tiger

This week my Facebook and Twitter feeds have been overflowing with reports of how glorious the weather currently is in England; the land of cold and dreary. Only as far as weather goes, of course. I suppose that's me getting my just desserts. Having spent most of the last fortnight gloating about the beautiful weather in Rome, how I'm out gallivanting in shorts and vest tops and how nice it is to just sit in the sun with a gelato. Well, I suppose Rome still has that advantage. I love my country, but the English don't know anything about ice cream!

Moving swiftly on... on rather returning to my point. Over the last few days England has been sun bathing, barbecuing and boasting about it. I spent yesterday looking out at the rain and, although today was dry, I have been forced back into full length jeans and long sleeve t-shirts. This is not what I had in mind when I moved to a Mediterranean country, especially not in late May.

However, as a natural optimist I think it always better to focus on the positives. So having now had my mini moan about the past few days allow me to tell you about the weekend and the good things that came my way.

This weekend I went to Sicily for the Evento Nazionale. A weekend of fun, where Erasmus students studying all over Italy come together in one holiday resort to make mischief. Maybe I'll come back to the mischief in another post. For now, I'd like to simply take a moment to remember the warmth and the sun. I'd like to talk to you about tanning.

I'm basically from Essex. Give me this one break!

I'm not going to say to much about my time in Sicily as, I'm almost embarrassed to admit, I didn't really do anything there. I didn't see any sights or do anything remotely cultural. I spent the morning my the pool with my book and the afternoon dancing by the pool with my mates. Sorry. All this pool time did lead to some good results, mind you. The tan. I'm not completely bronzed- bitter disappointment, but there's still time- however, I have been reminded of the one great affliction of sunkissed skin. Tan lines.

Some of you may have been somewhat confused by the title of this post, but now here it is. Why is it that a bikini, a vest top, a pair of shorts, whatever you wear, will eventually leave you striped like a colour-confused tiger! *Grumble*

Oh well, I'm sure they'll fade/fill out. There's still time to work on my 'I live in Italy' tan!

That's all I have to say. It was a fun weekend, but as I told you, I didn't really do anything. Which was lush.

Party on Erasmus!

That's going to hurt in the morning.

The sun's reappearance in Italy has me totally energised and so this week I've been out of the house more or less all day, everyday. Somewhere between finding these new reserves of energy and finding all my shorts and sun dresses I somehow got the notion into my head that exercise would probably be a good thing to do.

I imagine it happened seconds after I realised that soon after shorts comes bikini.

In general I've enjoyed all this new activity. I've always been a fan of walking places, rather than waiting for buses. Playing games in the park is lots of fun. Busting out an exercise DVD with dancerise and toning work outs, felt good at the time, but has left me very achy.

I had this 'brilliant' idea on Friday. On Saturday my legs were to achy for me to even be bothered with getting 'all the way' to the park. The shame. I'd promised my flatmate I'd clean the bathroom yesterday, any kind of bending or crouching was uncomfortable and unpleasant, and as the rest of the day taught me it's also unavoidable. Did you have any idea how bending you actually do in a day? Moving from standing to sitting on chair? More exertion than relaxation- gah!

I blame the squats. And the crunches. Grumble, grumble...

Despite this moan, I'm hoping to be less achy tomorrow, and give it another go. It probably is still a good a good idea and, as my mother likes to remind me,

"No pain, no gain"

Sorry to moan, but at least I'm still somewhat motivated. I think I hae to be, because that bikini isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's coming out on Thursday.

Gosh.

The joy of doing nothing.

Over these past few days we'e been truly blessed. The weather has been fantastic. Spring is heating up, the sun is shining and I've been spending as much time out of doors as possible. Sun dresses and shorts have come out of the wardrobe. Plans for the beach are being made. Sun cream has been bought.

The weather has completely put an end to my homesickness and reminded me that I love living in Rome. It's helped by the fact that it's raining in England.

What I've loved about the past few days is that when the weather's fine I just can't bear to sit indoors and so I've been getting up earlier- woken by the heat of the sun on my window- and have just been doing something, or a lot of lovely nothing.

Villa Torlonia

"Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." 
-Winnie the Pooh 

While the sun and the heat are still novelties and completely delightful I'm really enjoying pointless walks, sitting for a minute as I go through the piazza and heading over the the park. The gelato tastes better and the Kindle is getting a lot of use. John Thornton and Margaret Hale will be out of my life in no time. Which is actually a shame, because I'm loving North and South.

It's alarming how much time I've actually whiled away in the sun over the past few days. Today, for example, I was somewhat surprised when I realised actually been at Villia Torlonia for three hours. Blanket out, Kindle out, zoning out. There's something so peaceful and calming about enjoying your surrounding entirely and letting yourself get lost. Yesterday I ended up having a cheeky nap when Anna and I were at the park and earlier I'd been devastated when I realised that it was time to get up and head over to uni, having been enjoying my time in the Parte Antica, after finishing work at the Cimitero Acattolico.

"You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have things occur to you, to let you mind think."
-Mortimer Adler

So far I'm having a great week. I've been busy, but I'm most busy doing nothing. It's lush!

p.s. New favourite song, as of today.

Dancing in the street.

"Callin' out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right for dancin' in the street."
-Martha & the Vandella's.


May Day. A cheeky bank holiday to celebrate in the spring time. We all know it's steeped in tradition; such as white dresses, dancing around a May pole, etc etc and yet all it really means to most Brits today is a long weekend and a week without that Monday feeling.


In Italy, Primo Maggio (1st May) is still a holiday -yay!- but apparently is a much bigger deal. Also known as Festa dei lavoratori (Workers' Day) it its actually celebrated on 1st May, and not the nearest Monday. This means that on Tuesday, next to nobody was at work and there was a great deal of fun to be had.


Here in Rome the occasion is marked by a huge concert in front of San Giovanni. It was so surreal to see a massive stage rigged in front of one of the city's most imposing basilicas. The streets were packed from early afternoon through to midnight and the atmosphere was really relaxed and lots of fun.

I spent the afternoon on the rooftop terrace of a friend, living very nearby, where we had a barbeque. After a showering of rain earlier in the day we feared this plan may yet go awry but in the end we were very fortunate and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon.

After watching the sun set, which was even more stunning with that view, we headed back down to the piazza to enjoy the concert and the atmosphere. Most memorable May Day by far. Grazie Roma!

That's all for now- so much shorter than my last post!

p.s. We dip-dyed Rosa's hair. We're proud of the results!
p.p.s. Anna has a really annoying habit of looking cool in photos!

The sun has got his hat on.

"The sun has got his hat on,
Hip hip hip hooray,
The sun has has got his hat on, and he's coming out to play!"

Sunshine makes everything seem better. Fact. Here in Rome winter seems to be well and truly passed and ever so gradually Spring is....erm, springing. For over a week now at least a few hours of the day have been 'just sit outside and enjoy the sunshine' beautiful and a few days ago I even got a whiff of some freshly cut grass. It was bliss!

My aunt and I chilling in the sunshine.

Since my last post my life has been a total blur. I've been busy working, both as a volunteer and also in my new job teaching English as a second language, as well as enjoying a trip from two of my aunts. Not to mention what I consider to be a pretty impressive marathon of fun, with not a single night in for over a week. Well done me.

The whirlwind that became my social calendar couldn't have been a bigger blessing as it pulled me straight out of the misery that is ever February. It never ceases to amaze me that the shortest month of the year can drag on for so long and make the world and everyone in it so miserable! However, I catapulted into March and the completely exhilarating madness that I knew it was sure to bring. Yippee!

As I mentioned earlier, two of my aunts, my two gorgeous godmothers, came to Rome this weekend and spoilt me rotten.  It was a lovely visit. It was just a really chilled few days in which we wandered around the city and enjoyed the sunshine, the views and each others' company. My Mum kept emailing me how jealous she was of us! I really miss my family sometimes as we've always been so close, so it was really wonderful to get to share a piece of my life here with two people who mean so much to me.

What with this Thursday being 'Festa della donna', or more simply put 'Women's Day', I'm going to take this opportunity (or any opportunity really) to gush about my amazing family, on this occasion my Mum's side. My Mum is one of four sisters and after my grandfather died young, leaving my grandmother a widow at 41, the family became entirely female. For me this meant growing up surrounded by amazing women as role models who've also always supported me as confidantes, advisers and, most importantly, friends. At one point over the weekend one of my aunts had something of a revelation when, during a relaxed evening in the hotel bar with a bottle of wine, she turned to her sister and said 'I can't believe it. Clare looks like an adult' before continuing to have a mini muse on how little and blonde I used to be and how I now have a life, in a foreign country. She's right though, it's a bit mental. Life. I could ramble on for ages, but I'll leave this train of thought at end with the all important conclusion that I love my aunts. Apparently it was really obvious that we were having a lovely time. Even a taxi driver commented on how happy we looked just to nattering away together!

With my godmothers, by the Trevi fountain.

So far March is hectic, and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down. Thank goodness! This week I'm heading off to find some fellow Warwick Erasmus students in both Milan and Pavia and so I'll be writing up my adventures soon.

p.s. I finished Tess of the D'Ubervilles- it wasn't nearly as depressing as I thought it would be. I actually rather liked enjoyed it.

p.p.s. I've stumbled upon an artist called Wakey!Wakey! and am loving him. Here's one of my favourites from the album 'Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said Last Time I Saw You...'

All At Once

When I decided to do a Year Abroad and move to Italy, I confess, I was thinking 'I know! Brilliant idea! I'll go and spend a year in the sun... and maybe improve my language skills too'. However, whilst this logic is not without merit the last week has taught me a terrible lesson. Winter happens in Italy too. There's no escape, quite literally when the snow delays your flight for four hours!

Yes. It's a well kept secret, but sometimes Italy experiences a bout of genuine winter- not just the slight breeze that makes everyone wrap up ridiculously in the otherwise warm early November sun. We've had snow over the last two weekends and are experiencing a seriously cold spell.

A snowy Colesseum

But life goes on and my moaning won't. Despite the cold I've had a brilliant week! Life works a bit like London buses, it seems, you send a while waiting for the next big thing but then lots happens all at once. That's certainly been true of this eventful week!

Last Friday I flew back to England for a short but sweet trip and although I hadn't been away too long I loved my time at home. As I mentioned earlier the journey didn't quite go off without a hitch as the weather kept us grounded at Ciampino (aka the world's most boring airport) for four hours, but nothing bonds travellers better than a good grumble (luckily for us Brits it was grumbling in a queue!) and thankfully after that hiccough the rest of my trip went perfectly. I was only home for four days, but in that time I got to see a lot of my extended family, all of my friends that weren't away at uni and got a bit of all the culinary classics that are never quite right anywhere but England. By this I mean Curry, Chinese and anything requiring gravy! The only thing I didn't get to do was go up to visit all my friends at Warwick, but there's always next time.

So why the last minute, short trip home? Funnily enough, even though I'm only half way through my Erasmus year and barely got my head wrapped around all of the things I want to do, I have started to look ahead and to think about what's next... and how to fund these big adventures. Short answer: get a job. So this summer I'm setting my sights on returning to London for what should be an epic one. With both the Queen's Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics in my own city I think I'd be foolish to stay away! So a couple of interviews called me back home and hopefully come July I'll be busy working and saving up for my next big escape!

Since coming back to Rome, however, things have been anything but dull. Jumping straight back into deep end of the Erasmus night life creates many a tale, not to mention that this weekend filled the streets of Rome with hundreds (if not thousands) of my compatriots here to support our boys when they played Italy in the Six Nations. Flying out for a couple of days is probably as cheap as going to a home game  as you only pay about €25 instead of up to £250 last minute, as tickets are like gold dust in the UK!

The frosty pitch at the Stadio Olimpico.

Despite the match nearly being called off due to the snow, which you can see on the pitch, it was a brilliant day. I really like the way rugby fans can enjoy the stadium atmosphere and a bit of national rivalry whilst standing side by side, trusted not to unleash waves of hooliganism and violence, unlike football fans. We were surrounded by Italians chanting away why we belted out choruses of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' and I gave Anna a minor lesson in patriotism when it came to the rest of out national songs. We had a great time and the joy of the two of us just going together was that we didn't have to pretend to know any more about the game than we actually do (we follow it well enough) and it was perfectly fine to spend as much time discussing the players as the actual rugby. Excellent!

A couple of highlights from the match.


To summarise, the last week has been rather good. I've been happy in both of my homes, I've laid some groundwork for next summer, learnt that I like rugby and we got snow- which is beautiful and fun, even if it means it's freezing cold, you may fall over and society grinds to a standstill!