This past ... month

I’m back! Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog post. I have been very busy with finishing this last semester of school and traveling around Italy (and Europe). Also, the Internet connection at my house has been down for almost a month now, limiting my opportunities to keep everybody posted.

So, let me start where I left off with my last post (December 5^th). The day after, I caught the Frecciabianca (literally “white arrow” – it is the fast train that goes from Milan to Venice) to Milan, where I met up with some other Rotary exchange students. I stayed there for two nights and visited all of the main sights in Milan – namely il Duomo (the Cathedral), Teatro alla Scala (probably Italy’s most famous theater), and the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele II (the center of Milan’s fashion district). We spent most of our three days in Milan wandering around downtown and even getting trapped inside Parco Sempione late at night. We were also lucky enough to be in Milan on the day of St. Ambrose (the patron saint of Milan) and saw a procession down Piazza del Duomo.

A procession in honor of Sant'Ambrogio in front of Milan's Duomo.

On our last day in Milan, we also visited a small church tucked away in the center of Milan called San Bernardino alle Ossa which is famous for its ossuary (which is a small side chapel filled with human bones).

The ossuary at San Bernardino alle Ossa filled with human skulls.

After a few days of Milanese fun, I headed back home to Vicenza for a couple days of school before taking off to Budapest that same week with my host family and some of their aunts and cousins. I actually wrote another article for the Summit Daily News about Budapest – which can be seen at http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20101226/NEWS/101229880/1032&parentprofile=1057. [I promise it was not I who misspelled ‘special’].

Here are some pictures of Budapest:

The Danube River between Buda (on the left) and Pest (on the right).

A castle on the Buda side of Budapest.

Now, on the other hand, I am spending my Holiday break in Naples with the family of Mafy (the Italian who was staying at my house in Colorado). I am having an awesome time here and you can expect another post soon – I promise.