heaven on earth

I, Molly Elizabeth, am madly and deeply in love with Cologne, Germany.

I think it might be a perfect place. First and foremost, the whole city literally looks like the North Pole exploded all over it.  There were Christmas decorations everywhere. In restuarants, clothing shops, grocery stores, and hotels. The Christmas markets were phenomenal. There were 7 total throughout the city and guess what? I went to every single one.

On Friday night, after 10 hours of traveling (not an easy place to get to from Italy) I strolled into one of the markets packed with people drinking spiked hot chocolate and buying Christmas ornaments while huge lit paper stars hung in the trees above and what do I hear? All I Want For Christmas is You playing from the speakers tucked behind the trees. I don't think I've ever had a more perfect moment in my life.

Pictures do not even do the Christmas spirit in the city enough justice.

So other than Christmas what is so great about Cologne? Well let me tell you. The people were super friendly.  We would be standing on the sidewalk looking at our map and someone would come right up to us and ask what we were looking for and if they could help us.  The shopping was fab. Too bad I have no money left.  It was such a cool mix of trendy and tradition.  We saw great clothes and ate pumpkin soup served in a jar in a cafe with hot pink walls, but we also went into the gorgeous Duomo and felt beautiful handmade wool hats at the markets. Everyone rode bikes everywhere, the city was big but fairly walkable, and there were young people everywhere.

And just to add the cherry to the top, there is a park with trails that circumferences the entire city making it easily accessible from pretty much everywhere. And guess what? I ran on it and there were SO many runners. Perfect place. I'm telling you.

And guess what? People thought I was German. More than once. For the first time this whole semester I wasn't sticking out like a sore thumb.  It was kind of weird going back to blending in, not going to lie.

In other news, I found out this week that I got an internship to write for college fashionista next semester and I'm SO excited about it (check out the website it's pretty cool)

My mom is coming tomorrow!!! dooinvoinwidnivwnd !!!!

She's actually in the air as we speak! We are meeting in Rome tomorrow, going to Orvieto on Friday, and then possibly Spello on Saturday, and Perugia Sunday and Monday.  It should be a really great weekend.  I'm taking the 5:50 train tomorrow morning to Rome. Guess what time it is right now? 12:30.

Yep.

Okay.

Goodnight. Ciao ciao for now lovers

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving dearies!

Big things happened in Perugia today. I, Molly Elizabeth, successfully made a turkey complete with stuffing and gravy. And it was DANK. Let me tell you, this was no easy feat.

It all started last week when I had to go order my little tacchino (this was when I slammed my finger in the door and thought I broke it).  Then, last night, I stopped in to see if I could pick it up. Si, si, says the butcher.  A couple minutes later he comes out of the back room holding a turkey by it's legs that is legitimately the size of a small child. The thing was so large I had to cradle it in my arms like a baby while its little leg almost kept poking me in the face for the 15 minute walk home. Never again will I take for granted being able to drive my groceries home. But this was only the start of the 24 hour bond sesh I had with little tacchino. I let him brine in my kitchen all night, stuffed him this morning, rubbed him down with some spices, and literally crammed him into our tiny oven. Then, when he was finally done, I carried him back uphill to our friends apartment on a cookie sheet. I thought my back was going to break in half. And I got some weird looks. Wonder why.... It was a labor of love let me tell you. I almost felt slightly sad when I finished carving it up. Weird? Yes.

There he is! All crammed in the oven!

And I made an apple pie.

Thanksgiving was great though. All of my friends made great food as well and it was so nice having MG here. We sat around for 4 hours chatting, eating, and listening to Christmas music. It really was the perfect Thanksgiving away from home. 

But on a holiday that is so centered around family, I am missing mine big time. I have a fantastic family. Great parents, great siblings. I could not be more thankful for them and all the things they do for me.

On a less serious note, guess what time it is?

It's Christmastime!!!!!!fvnoendwinvidowvno!!!!!!!! 


I'm going to Germany tomorrow morning to see the best Christmas markets in Europe and I literally am worried that I am not going to make it through the weekend. I might die of happiness. I just might. 


Oh God. And Frank Sinatra's Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas just came on. Melts my heart. 


I'm going to be the most annoying grandma ever. Can you imagine? The thought is actually terrifying. 


Alright. I should sleep. Gotta get up in 5 hours. Yayyyyy. Who needs sleep anyway? 


But have the best Thanksgiving. Eat until you feel sick, watch football, be with your family, laugh when you have to repeat yourself 70 times because great grandma can't hear you, make turkey sandwiches for days and eat stuffing tomorrow morning for breakfast, listen to Christmas music, be thankful and enjoy every minute of it. 


Ciao ciao for now lovers

soccer, ballets, and coffee shots

This Sunday, after a weekend filled with long runs, trips to the mall, and walking around Perugia, I went do see the Perugia soccer team play.

It was an interesting experience let me tell you. We get there and little did we know that we all needed an official picture ID of some sort in order to get into the game. Well guess who was the only person in the group not to bring an ID? This girl. Typicalities. But in my defense, you never have to show ID in this country. Ever. Long story short the whole group formulated some plan to borrow some girl's passport to sneak me into the game. It worked out. Somehow. I have good friends.

After an hour long debacle of getting ID's together to buy the tickets and the fact that Italians clearly never learned the importance of a line in grade school (they never line up for anything. its a massive cluster you know what every time you have to wait for something), we finally made it into the stadium. Even though the Perugian team isn't that great (D3) and they were playing a crappy team, it was still somewhat crowded and people were very much into the game to say the least. You would have thought they won a million dollars every time Perugia scored. It was great. And it was a beautiful day. The stadium is in the valley and all of the trees are at their peak right now.

Do they sell beer like at American sporting events you ask? Nope. They sell little shots of coffee flavored liquor in little plastic cups. I thought it was espresso. Then I tasted it... not the case. But it was good!

I was enjoying every second of it, the atmosphere was great, the weather was beautiful, girls paid less for tickets than boys (HA), until I had to go to the bathroom...

First of all, there's only one girl's bathroom as opposed to the 8 bathrooms for boys. So I had to ask directions because I kept walking into boy's bathrooms (sorry I didn't know).  Then when I finally made it to the bathroom I walked in and guess what? It's just a hole in the ground.

Sweet Jesus get me back to the US where they have actual toilets.

But overall it was a great day.

My friend MG is coming to visit me for the week today. I am so excited to see her.

Thanksgiving is only a few days away. Which is hard to believe. I'm going to be missing the fam bam. But I am in charge of the turkey here (lot's of pressure) so that'll keep me busy. Cross your fingers that I don't completely mess it up.

And guess what? I'm going to a ballet tonight. How classy am I? It's Sleeping Beauty in Italian. I'm really looking forward to it. I even get to dress up! Except I have no clothes that I haven't already worn 700 times. Going home is going to be like getting a whole new wardrobe.

Anyways. I'm sure I'll be blogging about the ballet, and Thanksgiving, before I leave for one of the BIGGEST CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN THE WORLD this weekend. I might actually might die from happiness while I'm there so really take in my posts this week.

Alright. Ciao ciao for now frandssss

beautiful day in the neighborhood

So I am sitting at my kitchen table. Listening to Mariah Carey Christmas (I can't help it), waiting for my zucchini bread to be out of the oven (it smells like heaven on earth right now), and procrastinating on studying for my Italian quiz tomorrow (don't worry, I already studied a lot).

Exactly 1 month from today I will be flying home. 1 month. That's it. I feel like I got here yesterday.

But I had a really good day today. Did my Perugia thing. I ran this morning, which wasn't that great to be honest. I am training for this half marathon that's in January and I had this tempo thing this morning. But my legs kind of feel like someone put them through a meat grinder. BUT it was beautiful out. So it ain't no thang. Then I stopped at church on my way to class. Confession: I haven't been to church in a while so I needed to send some love up to the big guy. You know what I'm saying? But going into a church here is like walking into an art museum. It's just gorgeous. Mind blowing.

Then I went to my Italian class, got a little espresso because I was about to fall asleep. That stuff is a miracle worker let me tell you. Then I studied for a little bit, meandered home, ate some vegetable soup (its all I've been eating for the past 3 days... low on money), studied some more, walked to photography class... which ended up getting cancelled! Even though I kind of love my pictures for this week and wanted my teacher to see them (nerd girl problems). I sat on the steps of a church and talked to my dad on the phone. Went to school and studied a little more.

I stopped at this little shop on my way home to buy a bread pan and proceeded to knock over an entire display of pans. oops. The lady working there was pretty nice about it though so no worries. Or she just wanted me to get the hell out of there.

I ate tuna fish for dinner. Made my bread. And now here I am.

And guess what? This is just a typical day. Filled with beautiful walks, churches, cooking... These are the kinds of days I'm going to miss the most.

Anywaysssss make some zucchini bread (that's one of my top 2 favorite food blogs by the way...)

It smells like heaven. I'm serious.

Ciaozies.

Prahaaa

Thursday night after a near death experience at the train station (my friend had her backpack sticking out over the tracks and the train whipped by and smacked her backpack sending her flying, I seriously thought she was a goner), and a 2 hour ride to Florence, we hopped on a bus for 12 hours and made our way north to Prague.

It was a trek, let me tell you, but worth every minute spent cramped up in that dumb bus. When we arrived on Friday morning we dropped our stuff off at the nicest hostel I've stayed in so far in Europe, and made our way out for the walking tour. A couple interesting things about Prague, I'll make it quick:
1. It was the city they modeled Disney castles and movie settings after (think Cinderella's castle in real life)
2. Hitler wanted Prague. Very badly. And bombed the crap out of it during WWII.
3. They were a communist country up until 1993 when they finally declared independence.

After the tour I got a Starbucks. In a Christmas cup. Dream come true. We walked around a little longer and then got a traditional Chezk dinner. One of the best parts about Prague was that it was dirt cheap. I only spent $90 US dollars all weekend. Unheard of.


Friday night we went on a pub crawl. The first place we went to was the basement of a church.

I'm serious.

Bar, dance floor, the whole nine yards. Basement of a church.

Saturday morning I went on a nice little run. It was cold and all the leaves have changed there. So seasonal. Then we went on another walking tour to see some peeing statues again (I don't get it), the Charles Bridge (amazing. Kayne West filmed some music video on it), and then to the John Lennon wall. 

??.... dont get it.

Saturday night we went to an 80's and 90's music video club. Let's just put it this way, people were probably mistaking me for Madonna when Like a Prayer came on.

Sunday morning my friend and I went on an even prettier run and then boarded the bus for the 12 hour ride home. Little did I know that people were being real aggressive about where they sat and had claimed seats earlier that morning. Guess it makes sense, no one wants to get shafted on a 12 hour bus ride. Welp. Guess who did? This girl. I ended up in the second to last row, pinned against the window, with a girl in front of me who felt the need to recline her seat as far back as it would go. Have some courtesy for God's sake! At the 8 hour mark I had to ask her to move it up a little, I thought my knees were going to split in half.

We got back to Florence around 11:30 and took the hour and a half van ride back to Perugia. Here's where it gets bad. I get out of the van and am walking back to my apartment when I realize one of my running shoes is not in my bag.

Devastation Nation.

I borrowed my roomate's shoes this morning and just went and found a new pair. Saying that my options were limited would be the understatement of the year. Basically I could have choosen between Reeboks that look like something a 90 year old would wear, patent leather Nike air shocks that closely resemble tap shoes, or Nike Air Max's that more than likely weigh about 10 pounds each. I ended up with the cheapest ones I could get that actually seemed like running shoes. Picture this... white Nike's with neon green accents. Good God help me. I think it's time for Asics to expand to Europe. Preferably Perugia.

On another note, I did have success today in ordering a turkey from the butcher in town for Thanksgiving next week (only after slamming my finger in the door first, of course) and I was able to communicate with a pharmacist well enough to get some cough medicine (which I later spent throwing back in a dark bathroom at school before class since the power got turned off today... think I need a life check?). Small victories my friends, small victories. Maybe now I'll stop feeling like I smoke 2 packs a day.

Overall, I would strongly strongly suggest putting Prague on your bucket list of places to see before you die. It was beautiful; both naturally and architecturally. People who live in Prague are proud of their country, proud of it's history. I think this might be one of the best qualities a country can have because that pride shows in so many different aspects of what makes a country what it is.

I just ate a potato, a zucchini, and an onion for dinner. Poor girl problems? I looked at my bank account today and almost cried.So now I have to go watch some movie for my food class. And I shockingly have a lot of homework to do tonight. Have I started it? Noooooo of course not. And I need to apply for a job back at home and apply for this blog internship I want.

Real life is slowly catching up to me. You mean I can't just live like this forever?


And now I'm going to be late.

Shocking right?

Ciao ciao for now lovers.

helloooooo

Thought I would do a little blog postie before I leave for Prague tomorrow. SO. Once again the week flew by and I do have a couple stories to tell.

Monday night I went to the grocery store after class and realized that I forgot my reusable grocery bag. Which I do pretty much every time I go grocery shopping. Well, if you don't bring your own bags you have to buy plastic ones for 10 cents. Of course I didn't want to buy more than one bag so I crammed probably 10 pounds of stuff into one.  Five minutes in to my walk home I realize that this bag is about to rip right down the middle. So I stop, cause a scene, and transfer groceries into my school bag which is carrying notebooks, my 100 lb computer (that's another story), my iPod, my phone, and my camera.

I get home 10 minutes later and am unloading everything when I pull an empty water bottle out of my school bag. And there I am thinking "hmm I could swear this was full before!" Well. It was full. Until it exploded in my bag which now has standing water at the bottom with my camera floating happily along.

Just as a reminder. This is the third camera I've owned since I got here.

I turned it on and the LCD screen was completely broken.

Basically, I had a heart attack.

I put it in some risotto (no rice around here), took out all my notebooks (which now look like weathered leather), hung my bag on the clothes line to dry out, and could not believe I was mourning the loss of yet another camera.

Then, this morning, after my run, which wasn't that great since I currently have this thing going on where I feel like I have to cough up my left lung every other minute, I turned my camera on and guess what? The little puppy works again. November miracle. Happiest girl.

I was squatting on the ground today near the bank taking pictures from "a dog's point of view" for my photography class (God help me) and I hear, "Scuzi, scuzi" I'm thinking "God almighty if this is some creepy Italian I'll smack him"... I turn around and am face to face with two police men decked out in full uniform with guns strapped across their chests.

Heart attack number 2 for the week almost occurred. They ask me for my camera, and go through all of my pictures while I'm trying to explain that I was just trying to capture the shadows on the ground. Cool Molly. After looking at my pics they finally give it back to me and walk away.

Newsflash Italian police: If I was going to be taking pictures of something so that I could form some master plan to steal from the bank, I wouldn't be making a scene my squatting on the ground in my denim shirt while my bag spills every which direction. Duh.

So anyways. The camera has caused me much drama this week.

Have a lovellyyyyyy weekend! Go get a Christmas Starbucks for me. Just the thought of them sends me into momentary depression.

Ciao lovers.

blah blah blah... no one cares

I have an addiction.

To Brussels sprouts.

I know this is strange. And that you probably don't care about my weird food habits. But I am in the mood to blog and this is currently what I am thinking about (think I need a life?)

So if you want to stop reading now I totally understand. In fact, I almost encourage it.

Back to the sprouts. I can't get enough of them. I saw them at the grocery store last week and now I think I've had them once a day for the past 5 days. Cut them in half, throw them in a pan with a little olive oil, hot pepper, and salt. When they are almost done (nice and brown) splash in a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar to glaze them up and badabing badabom heaven on a plate.

They are filling, and they are so good for you! (I may or may not have just googled their nutritional value)

Now that I am done trying to convince you that Brussels sprouts are actually so good contrary to popular belief, I do have a couple other things to mention.

1. I watched part of the LSU vs. Alabama game this weekend before they closed the bar (damn time change) and it made me a little America-sick.

2. My cousin turned 21 a couple days ago. Which means I'm going to be 21 semi-soon in 6 months. Which makes me feel kind of old. I don't feel like I'm in my 20s. Good God.

3. I'm going to Prague this weekend! 12 hour bus ride here I come...

4. Where in the World is Matt Lauer starts on the Today show today. If you are in America and don't watch it, I will no longer associate with you. I am actually uberjealous that he gets paid to travel the world for a week.

Alright. Welp. That's all I got for now.

The fact that I just blogged a half a post about Brussels sprouts is slightly depressing.

But you gotta be excited about the little things in life right?

Right.

Sure.

Ciao ciao for now.

november... already?

I've been here for two months.

Yikes.

I'm waiting for Grey's Anatomy to download on my computer so I figured I would blog about what I've learned in the month of October. Have a nice little life reflection. It's good for the soul (Do I sound philosophical?)

1. It would do Italy good to get with the times a little. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Congo with how disconnected I am. I don't watch TV, the news is nowhere to be found, and my internet is horrific. It's 2011 people. At least get me some wifi that's good enough for me to skype for God's sake. The dial-up is killing me right now. However, it is slightly refreshing. I no longer crave my iPhone like I did before. (sad, but true)

2. I am actually finally used to the amazing scenery in Perugia. The views of the valleys, old mid-evil alleyways, and beautiful architecture have become familiar, even natural. I have to remind myself to stop and actually stop and pay attention like I did when I first got here. Going home is going to be strange. The scenery is just so different.

3. I truly, truly more than ever, believe that man is naturally good. I have met so many wonderful people in the past two months. People who do good things out of the kindness of their hearts. People who are genuinely nice.  Maybe this is a naive view of the world or maybe our culture just focuses on the evil more than the good making us believe that everyone is out to get each other.

4. Perspective is the name of the game. The way you view something makes a wold of difference.  There's always going to be something to complain about if you're looking for it. Always. Life's not perfect. But there's also always a positive. God knows it's easier to complain sometimes. And sometimes the situation just sucks. Bottom line. But do you learn something from it? Do you grow from it a little? You bet.

5. On a much less serious note, I now know how to pack 10 days worth of stuff into a backpack, hazelnut flavored anything is my jam, chocolate pasta isn't as good as it sounds and shockingly enough, I can exist in life without having my phone attached to my hand and constantly knowing what time it is. 

So. There's the come to Jesus post of the month. Hope you enjoyed the glimpse inside my thought process.

And now guess what? It is less than a month till the best month of the year. Not that I'm wishing time away, but I just can't wait for Christmas season.

After all, it's the time of year when the world falls in love....

Cheesy that I just said that, but potentially the best song lyrics of all Christmas music. I couldn't help myself.

Okay that's enough.

CIAO.

mollyworld

We left Brussels aggressively early on Friday morning to head to Milan. Back to Italia! I was sitting on the plane, reading a book, listening to my 20 songs on repeat, when I looked to my left out the window and saw one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was a clear morning and the sun was rising in all different bright colors at the exact time we were flying over the snow covered swiss alps. I've got a thing for sunrises anyways, I just love them, but this was gorgeous. I was totally having a "moment" thinking about how lucky I am, when the French guy in his bright red puffy vest that kept rubbing up against my shoulder noticed the view too.

For the following 45 minutes he stuck his head in front of my face moving up and down so that he could get a better look out the window. Let me tell you I wanted to murder him. Here I am, just trying to take it all in, and I've got Frenchie over here completely destroying my personal bubble with no hesitation whatsoever. BACK UP PAL.

Anyways. It was still beautiful.

So we got to Milan (which I loved). Everyone was so fashionable! ah. just killed me. Ate Italian food again. Had the best gelato of my life. Rose flavored. In a cone with chocolate in the bottom. Picture gourmet drumsticks. Fabulous.

We went to the duomo of course. Which was beautiful. Saw some stained glass and skeletons. No big deal.

We did a lot of walking and going in shops. Milan was the only Italian city to be bombed and completely destroyed during WWII.  The building that holds the famous painting of the Last Supper (you need to book an appointment 3 months out to see it) was destroyed during the bombing.  The entire building collapsed except for the wall with the painting on it. Now you tell me there isn't something bigger than us out there...

Milan has small little elephant statues all over the city. I don't know why. But I took pictures of my two favorites...

Saturday morning I got up and went for a run. We were planing on taking the 9 am train back to Perugia so why waste time showering right? Well. We got to the train station and discovered that all of the trains until 6 that night were sold out. Of course. We ended up having another great day in Milan but needless to say, I was disgusted with myself by the time we finally made it home.

After the 5 and a half hour train ride home (we couldn't get on the express) we were finally back in Perugia with backpacks full of dirty clothes, tired bodies, and the promise of an actual bed to sleep in that night. 10 days of sleeping on the floor gets a little old. In my excitement, while we were walking up the stairs from the tracks to the inside of the station I completely ate it. Went down hard on the marble stairs.

Typicalities my friends, typicalities.... the trip wouldn't have been complete if I hadn't fallen at least once.

So that's it. 4 countries, 10 days, 1 backpack, experience with new cultures, foods, drinks, people... and now it just feels surreal. But guess what? I think I'm starting to learn the tricks of the trade. Maybe little molly will come back to big old America and not be in mollyworld anymore...

nah.

I like mollyworld. Not trying to leave. It's a pretty happy place.

I'll just be smarter. That's all.

Alright. I'm going to go try and make banana bread. No bread pans. Don't have all the ingredients. Things are getting wild in via del cane today!

On another note, I ferociously cleaned my little apartment today from top to bottom and not only was it a pain in my ass, but it also took me forever. So now I understand why my mom wants to kill me when I leave my stuff everywhere. I, Molly Elizabeth, promise from now on to be cleaner at home.

Okayyyyy that's all for now. CIAO.