Il Bacio

I have to give a slight retraction to a previous statement I made about Italian men. I still stand by that Italian men aren't as forward as everyone thinks but these past few days we have encountered some instances that would lead me to believe otherwise. I will preface by saying I may or may not have been kissed by a random Italian man the other day. Let me give you a little background on this scenario. These two guys were hitting on us while sitting in the Campo. Side note: two very bad and annoying Italian pick up lines are do you have a lighter and can we take a picture with you. Maybe I should test these out at BYU haha. Anyways it was entertaining to talk with them especially when he said sorry when he mean to say smile and told us hello when he meant to say goodbye. After parting ways these guys came up to me again to ask about Shannon. Except this time they have an addition to the group. This gentlemen lets refer to him as Mr. Kisser preferred me and fighting for my attention while the other guy wanted me to tell him about my friend Shannon. My initial introduction with Mr. Kisser was one of traditional Italian greeting of kissing on both cheeks. He desired a photo with me ok thats fine but proceeded to give me a huge kiss on the cheek during the snapshot. I know the picture captured my absolute shock in that moment. I had to explain my name once again because Italians cannot say Autumn just like I cannot roll my R's. Despite the difficult nature of my name Mr. Kisser became even more infatuated with me. The conversation continued and the excuse of our test the next day prevented any further attempts to meet in the Campo later that evening. As I left to go home Mr. Kisser went for the "traditional greeting" again. Except...this time around he grabbed my face gave me a kiss on the right cheek and then planted one right on me. I can't think of a time when I have been more shocked in my entire life. They said sorry as I walked away but when it was mentioned earlier it meant smile haha. I just laugh every time I think about this whole scenario.
The next time we went to hang out in the Campo we didn't even sit down completely before we were asked to take a photo (great example of a bad pick up line). Initially we though he wanted Karli to take a picture of them but no they wanted a picture with us. Then we got stuck in this tiring conversation with students from Florence who speak a little English who were trying so desperately to form some connection with us. Italian men still aren't as forward as everyone says but I hope I don't have any more run-ins with Mr. Kisser. In my time abroad I have found I prefer French men more than Italian any day.

Hooked on Phonics

I can’t help but think of Brian Regan’s bit about Hooked on Phonix in this situation haha. Operation Phonics has begun. Words cannot even describe the sort of experience I had today. Our teacher is a Speech Therapist from an acting school in Rome named Giovanni Beve l’Acqa (yes his last name is drink the water if that is any indicator of his weirdness). First part of the “lection” (I enjoyed his combination word of lecture and lesson) we stood in a circle repeating the noises he was making complete with hand motions. Not so bad although I could not contain my laughter. To really get things started were asked to lay down and focus on our “birthing” also known as breathing try to stifle your laughter on that one. No this is not yoga or pilates its Hooked on Phonics. It then escalated quickly from there. Please picture this: 21 girls with their eyes closed imaging they were a “bland” or grass swaying in the wind. Our hands are like small bodies and can mimic those actions. We needed to move our hand with our birthing (hhmm….how shall I go about that one) and then we were to move our bodies along with this wind we were experiencing. “What color is your grass”?? Mr. Drink the Water asked us. I responded with light green but to be honest my mind was wandering to more pleasant thoughts of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. This somehow dealt with the sound e. Each sound apparently is complete with a particular color, body motions, and a scene. The O was a dark stormy cloud slowly moving. The A was a calm beach with no clouds. Our “lection” included another round of us laying on the ground feeling our “birth”. This time imaging a ball in our stomach filling with the air and collapsing as we exhale. Imagine filling the ball with our color and something about mixing all of our colors together hhmm…Another highlight was playing simon says repeating the noises along with actions. If I could only have a video camera to show you these insane motions because my descriptions are not doing it justice. I couldn’t help but laugh the entire time and ask myself what the heck am I doing and this hippy legitimately thinks this is normal. This “lection” was three hours of us singing noises, being a “bland” of grass, feeling our “birth, jumping, and hand motions. At this pace I doubt we will even upgrade to words we will only make it through the vowels and call it good. I will look at this more of a yoga exercise to be relaxed so that I will feel the three hours was better served.

Perfection: Paris in the Fall

By this day we were tired from lack of good sleep and running around Paris all day so it was all more relaxing. We said goodbye hopefully forever to the Friend’s hostel. A return visit was made to Eric Kayser to enjoy their desserts disguised as breakfast croissants. My mouth is watering just at the thought of my chocolate and apple pastries while we sat right on the Seine River. Les Tuilleries had our attention for the rest of the morning walking around the gardens and sitting at the pond/fountain. Apparently we enjoyed the Fall feeling of Paris so much we then went to the Jardin du Luxembourg to continue our stroll through the parks. We made another stop at a pastry store to pick up lunch to enjoy while sitting by the Eiffel Tower. I think I ate the yummiest bread of my life and an éclair because once again its one of those things you just have to get. I couldn’t have picked a better activity to spend our last moments in Paris. We made our bus, flight, and all our trains to make it safely back to Siena. I might as to be so bold and say that Paris provided me with one of the greatest memories and I had the best time!! I have regrets and we spent every second making the most of our trip. I was bummed we didn’t get to Versailles but there is always next time, right? Don’t worry I was already planning my repeat visit while still in Paris. But moral of the story Paris was life changing and I hope that everyone gets to experience the romance of it all sometime in their life!

Loving the Louvre

From a recommendation from a newly released missionary and his parents atop the Eiffel Tower (we had these mormon run ins everyday, weird) we started the day off at Napoleon’s Palace. This included WW2 stuff, knight gear, weapons, Napoleon’s tomb, cathedral, and that was only a small part of it. When we were done hanging out with Napoleon we visited the Opera House. All I have to say is I am dying to go see a ballet or opera in this magnificent building. It is probably one of the most gorgeous places I have been in. A fashion show was being held at the La Fayette department store but plans were foiled when you had to have an appointment to see it. We were bummed but checked out the shopping. While searching for the perfume museum we happened upon Mango. We made a stop in where I found the most gorgeous coats that man has ever created but yet I couldn’t justify the price sadly. The perfume museum was a failed attempt so we gorged ourselves on bread while waiting for student night at the Louvre to start. Apparently Friday night has extended hours where students gets in for free!! I am not going to lie it was an overwhelming experience and basically had a panic attack thinking about where to even begin. I was pleased with seeing my favorite statue of all time The Nike of Samothrace. Me and Emily basically walked the entire museum to try to see all the highlights. I admired Ruebens, countless Da Vinci’s (interfaced with Mona), Gericault’s, David’s, Venus di Milo, Reclining Couple, and the Seated Ramses to name just a few. Once again we had great success with dinner eating more steak frites, French onion soup, and blissful chocolate mousse. A round of escargot was ordered but lets be honest we couldn’t come to France and not try it. I rather enjoyed it actually quite a lot and I tried pate which also was pleasing to the senses. When I was attempting to get the meat out of the shell I had a pretty women experience and the line "slippery little sucker" kept running through my head.

Life Changement in Parigi

My humanities teacher Alessandro tends to favor this phrase life changement and I rather like it so I decided to make it apart of my speech as well. With our close vicinity to Sacre Coeur (Sacred heart) we headed up there to check out that pristinely white basilica on the hill. I definitely got stopped by a random African where he whipped me up this good luck bracelet haha and I will never forget that conversation. After Marmont we successfully located a pastry shop where I ate an apple turnover, mmm. Me, Emily, and Shannon could not pass up the amazing and very random carousel. It was exactly like the one from the Raleigh Springs Malls from my childhood maybe a little smaller. Notre Dame was our next desired location and is probably now my favorite Cathedral out of the thousands I have seen. I am saddened by the fact we missed going to Saint Chappelle due to cost and long lines but there is always next time. We were looking for a snack before we committed to a couple hours in a museum and stumbled upon this gem of a pastry place Eric Kayser where I dined on a parmesan and artichoke quiche. We sat overlooking the Seine River enjoying our delicious lunch. The Musee D’Orsay was life changing!! I have never experienced so much wonderful art in one establishment in my life. I was aesthetically pleased by Degas, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne, Matisse, Seurat, and an array of others. My favorites included Monet Haystacks, Luncheon on the Grass, and Picasso’s interpretations of Luncheon on the Grass, Degas Bathing Women, and Degas’ Dance class. To top that off we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the Eiffel Tower in all its glory. It was a definite highlight and the views overlooking Paris were breath taking. We even caught the sunset while we were up there. The Champs Elysees was the next stop for dinner but not before being wowed by the Arc De Triomphe first. We ate right on the Champs at a street café where we had the specialty of French Onion Soup. For dessert we dined on Nutella crepes!

Hostel hell...

We stayed at the Friend's hostel that had good reviews and was only a 15 minute walk to the city center. It doesn't sound bad right well we found it right in front of the train station with blinking blue neon lights. Still not so bad but we quickly realized that we were right in the middle of the red light district, lovely. The lobby was all mirrors, the halls bright orange, and our room was purple. Our bed consisted of a mattress, sheet, lumpy pillow thankfully under the sheet, and a concentration camp blanket that I would not touch from fear of contracting an STD. The bathroom contained a sink and a shower that I think people confused for a toilet so that was of no use to us. We may or may not have showered the duration of our trip. So that is why we look so gross in our pictures just FYI. Since the Moulin Rouge was so close we decided to take the 5 minute stroll to see it and all its glory. The walk was all neon lights and sketchy establishments. Vegas has got nothing on Paris. Everytime we returned home we were welcomed by the stench of stewage. That night as we retired to bed I discovered I was sleeping on plastic sheets. Well actually it was the plastic that covers the mattress upon purchase that they never taken off. So any movement I made every knew about it. We slept with our coats as blankets because our backpacks wouldn't allow us the space to bring such items and no way I was using the one provided. I tried to have as little of my body touching the sheets as possible. If I look uncomfortable then the picture does somewhat justice. The last night we were there a domestic disturbance of somekind went down right below our window. Sirens were blaring and cops got involved. A woman was thrown against the wall but then just ended with everyone storming off. I guess thats the kind of stuff you should expect from the red light district. You know what though we loved it the whole time and were always laughing. The hostel will forever be in our memories as an eventful experience and we wouldn't want it any other way. Oh the joys of the Friends hostel but hope to never experience anything like it again.

Ciao Italia...Bonjour Parigi

I recently took an extended holiday to the wonderful city of Paris!!! I can check off another life goal except I have to add another entry to come back to this wonderful place. We spent about three days and it was definitely not enough. We did have our woes in the beginning because we didn't think we were going to make our flight from Pisa because we couldn't check in for our lack of EU status. I don't know it was weird. But after running literally sprinting to all of ours trains we made it to the airport and onto our flight. Ryanair was also an experience with their obnoxious yellow interior and dance music. Our airport was literally in the middle of nowhere and required an almost two hour bus ride to the city. But it was all worth it. But let the good food begin. We fed our starving bodies with Steak Frites (steak and fries) before the trek to find our hostel. I also have an appreciation for the Paris train system it makes it so convenient to get around that huge city. Now to more sketchy matters...the hostel. Oh and the second we pulled into the bus depot in Paris we spotted the BYU bus. This was one of many Mormon run-ins, random.