How to forget everything you just learned about a new language

The answer?  Travel to countries that all speak different languages!  On my spring break I traveled to Paris and Barcelona, and on the way I confused most of the Italian I learned in the past six weeks.  By the time I moved on from Paris to Barcelona, I was still saying "merci," and when I went to the market after my return to Florence I had an entire conversation over cheese in "Spanitalian".  Funny thing is that the cheese-man totally understood me; it wasn't until later that I realized I mixed Spanish and Italian throughout the few minutes I was speaking with him.

In the entrance to the Louvre

Both cities I visited seemed to be constantly rainy up until the last few hours before I left, but I didn't let that get in the way of my sight-seeing.  In Paris, my lovely tour guide (and close high school friend) Alex got me around the city easily.  The metro seemed impossible at first but I started to get the hang of it.  I did everything on my check-list except eat a crepe, but it was pretty hard to find gluten free food there anyway so I didn't want to push it.  I enjoyed the Louvre more than I had in the past because I have learned a lot of relevant information in my art history class this semester.  In prior visits I headed straight for the Mona Lisa, which is overrated and touristy (sorry, Leonardo).  The sun decided to come out on my last day, so Alex and I had a picnic by the Eiffel tower before I headed to the airport.

Finally some sun in Paris!

Gaudi's Casa Batllo

The rain seemed to follow me from Paris to Barcelona where my good friend Maryann is studying this semester.  She was a great host but unfortunately had class most of the days I was there.  This wasn't a problem though, I just put on my big girl pants and toured around alone.  I even mastered the metro by myself!  It was a nice change to be in Barcelona where I was able to communicate.  Turns out I haven't forgotten that high-school Spanish after all.  A few highlights: I saw the inside of Casa Batllo and the Picasso Museum while Maryann was in classes, and she joined me to see Park Guell and walk around the central market.  She took me to many good restaurants and I even tried new seafood and different tapas.  Also, I'm sure any American student studying in Barcelona has heard of Bo de B, famous for their delicious sandwiches and salads.

Me and Maryann in Park Guell

Bo de B in Barcelona - The biggest salad I have ever had

In both cities, I ran into students on my Florence program many times.  It is crazy how small the world is....these were not busy or touristy places to just 'stumble upon' an acquaintance!  I saw four students from just one of my classes (all traveling separately) either on the metro in Paris or on random streets in Barcelona.  I also saw a ridiculous amount of Chicago Bulls apparel in both cities, which made me smile.  Weird to think that I will be home in less than seven weeks!


I can't believe my time abroad is halfway over.  It is flying by and still unreal to me.  Here are some random tidbits I haven't yet shared:

• Italians will never understand my name.  I am thinking of changing it to Candle because that is automatically what they assume it is.  Or an Amazon Kindle. 
• As much as I try to blend in and not stick out as an American, there is only so much I can do on my way back from Pilates class with a box of cornflakes under my arm.  At least I don't need the map to get around anymore!
• Italian kids are the cutest ever.  Italian dogs are a close second.
• Blogspot is actually awesome - I can see where in the world my audience is located and how much activity is going on.  Most of my audience is in the US and a chunk is in Italy, not surprisingly.  However I have had 16 hits from Russia (which makes me wonder a bit) and also one hit from Bangladesh!  I can even check which browser is most popular: Safari has almost 50% of page-views, with Google Chrome in second at 28%...Alright that is enough of my Blogspot stats for now.

In actual news, I am traveling every weekend for the next four weeks! Here is my schedule:

1. London, UK
2. Corfu, Greece
3. Amalfi Coast (Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii)
4. Munich, Germany

I am really excited because I have never been to Greece or Germany before!  I will be so busy but I'll try and keep everyone updated. Ciao!