Weekend in Roma!

Ciao ciao- annie here. We had a great weekend in roma- its making it really hard for us to leave. Wednesday night, we had food and wine at our friends apartment and then we all attended a free ben harper concert in piazza del popolo. It was PACKED! But ben delivered and we had a blast rocking out with our fellow Italians. We even met some Americans (so great to here regular English). Rachel and I of course skipped class on Thursday (I blame the wine) and we went to galleria borghese. This collection is comprised of the most fabulous sculptures I have ever seen (mostly Bernini). Im not even that big of an art person at all but I was blown away; there is also a room dedicated to Caravaggio paintings (he is quickly becoming a favorite). Rome is wonderful, I am always reminded of how lucky I am to call this place home. Afterwards, Rachel and I strolled through the gardens and stopped for a quick ciocolatta. Our next target was trastevere- which is the most delightful place to find yourself in the afternoon. We grabbed a bag of pistachios and strolled the backstreets- discovering new surprises around every corner. We stopped in the square and listened to some fabulous music and watched the little bambinos run around. But we couldn’t wait too long because we had to go to the colosseum to meet up at our friend, kimbo’s apartment. Our friends convened and we went to grub at an Indian restaurant. It was my first experience trying Indian food and it wont be my last. I have begun a love affair with non, delicious Indian bread. Friday, I woke up still full from my Indian fiesta but there was no time to waste, we had a date in borghese. Kimbo, bri, scott, Rachel, and I all met up and staked our claim on a little patch of grass next to the divine lake in Borghese. All together, we prolly brought a grocery store of food (which somehow all disappeared over the course of our picnic) and we plopped down to enjoy the park, along with the ducks of course. We played cards, ate, talked, read, and played games. 3 hours later we all reluctantly returned to reality and began plotting our night of debauchery. The girls got dressed and three bottles of wine later, we headed to testaccio to get drinks and dance our picnic feast off. We went to a bar and then to a dance club, where we spent the majority of our time on the dance floor. I’ve learned that Italian clubs are all the same- the males don’t seem to know where their hands belong. After a couple of hand slaps and exclamations of ‘NO!’, they get the picture that we mean business. The highlight of our dance club experience was when the DJ yelled over the microphone system, “aren’t the Americans great!”. Of course, we had no idea what he said since it was in Italian but an Italian man tapped me and told me what the DJ had said- you can imagine that after that point we only stood out more (as if the blonde hair wasn’t enough). The swarming just got worse after that point so we decided to split- plus, kimbo was getting hungry. So we all head to a small hot dog stand on the corner where kimbo gets a hot dog that is probably half the size of her (think toppings like mushrooms, French fries, etc.). I tried a bite, sans hot dog, and it was heaven. My head hit the pillow around 3 something and I was out like a light. Saturday we slept in late (hmm.. 1:30!) and the gals head to insalata ricca (a staple) for a late lunch.  Stuffed, we head home to shower and get out of our clothes from the night before after a quick gelato. Saturday night we all head to kimbos for a more relaxed night of wine, chocolate, and Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.  We spent most of our time shouting the names in the movie instead of watching it. Again, a weekend of fun, friends, and Roma, the most delightful city that I have come to love whole-heartedly. Until next time- ciao! 

Tuscany

hiyaaa everyone- annie here (surprising, i know). I am blogging to inform ya'll about our past weekend in roma. well actually, it wasn't in roma. On friday morning, Diana, our mom, invited rachel and i to go to her country house for the weekend . Honestly we were torn: stay in roma to eat, play, and hang out with raggazze OR go to tuscany with our italian rents and frolic in the hills like julie andrews in the sound of music? Guess which one we picked? (heres a hint: The hilllsss are aliveeee with the sound of music). yep, you guessed it: countryside. Rachel and I packed our goodies and bid farewell to the eternal city. The car ride was a bit uncomfortable seeing as we had to stuff our suitcases (come on, we are girls, we always overpack) into the mini Euro cars that barely leave enough room for your feet, let alone 4 bags. Anyways, off we go to Tuscany to spend a weekend with Italians. We pull up to the most quaint little house that I have ever seen- it was surrounded by vineyards ( i got to try their wine!) and trees of every imaginable kind of fruit. One quick glance past the house and I saw the greenest hills that seemed to stretch for miles and miles.  I knew that i had officially found paradise (or my retirement community at least). Diana and Ludovico's house was so perfect: complete with a mini Italian kitchen, dining area, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Ludo, needing to assert his manliness, immediately hopped on the lawnmower, while the gals headed off to the nearest town, aquapendente. We walked around, smelling scents of Italian goodness that i hope my nose never forgets. That night we cooked dinner of ravioli, salad, and pizza.After devouring dinner, we embarked on a journey of card games while listening to the Beatles greatest hits (is this heaven or what?). Diana and Ludo taught us a famous Italian card game that we will most assuredly bring back to the states. Saturday we hit the streets for a tour of tuscany. We drove through ancient medieval towns built into the rocks. We stopped in Savona, a quaint Tuscan town that is something out of a movie. That night we cooked dinner again and finished our card duel. The previous night, Diana and I dominated but luck was not on our side this night. Rachel and Ludo came back with avengence and killed us. Sunday we woke up, hit an outdoor market in aquapendente and then headed over to diana's friends house, Cristiana, for an italian lunch. Cristiana lives in the middle of paradise and heaven- her house is HUGE and she has the most incredible panorama of the Tuscan countryside. After peeling our eyes away from the incredible scenery, we noticed that 4 other Italian couples had arrived for lunch. we had no idea how we got ourselves into this- 2 americans and 10 Italians? This was not going to be easy- we met everyone and they tried to speak english but of course 2 minutes into the convo it was solo italiano. I wish i could count the number of blank stares we received during that long lunch...we eventually just started smiling and nodding. Diana and Ludo also acted as translators when things got really rough. Despite the language barrier, we enjoyed a true Italian meal: it lasted 3 hours and included pasta, some meat, 2 omelets, salad, rice salad, bread, cheese, and 2 different desserts. I felt like a roley poley afterwards. We ciao-ed our way outta there and hit the road for Roma- stuffed and satisfied. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend, full of unbelievable scenery and nice Italianos. Italy never disappoints...until next time- ciao my loves.

SBK 2k9

ciaoo you guys- annie here, i have officially divided the blogging duties between rachel and I so this is my contribution. I would say to wait for rachel's blog entry but you prolly will be waiting for a while haha. I just got back from an amazing jaunt with my mom and dad around greece ( croatia was thrown in there at the end). We soaked it up: eating grape leaves stuffed with greek gooodness, climbing castles, savoring the paradise of santorini and much more. We left from venice and after waving goodbye to st. marks square, we left for spring break 2k9 europe style. Our boat was very nice and the dishmans did it in style, shacking up in a suite. We had some prosecco (much of this stuff would be imbibed) waiting for us in the room and we felt pretttty special. But we soon figured out that Americans were few and far between. being avid cruisers, we waited for our announcements to come over the loud speakers, telling us what to do. BUT we forgot that we are in europe, not on our own turf like in america. So english wasn't the go- to language; instead, we were introduced to italian, spanish, german, french, and then english. such a multi-cultural experience. the first night on the cruise my dad made a decisive move that proved to be surprisingly beneficial: he introduced me to black jack. I know i know, everyone must be shaking their heads in disdain thinking about how much of my hard-working dad's money that i lost but you are wrong. The dishman duo actually MADE money! after visiting the black jack tables almost every night, we ended up making about 200 euros all together (not even enough to cover our spa charges though). Vegas here i come. But lets talk about the excursions because that was why we were there in the first place:

1. Bari, italy- nice place. It had some great churchs and a castle. I hate to say that it wasn't amazing but im a true italian now so i know my italy.

2. Katakolon, Greece: great place! we went to where they had the 1st olympic games and then we had a greek lunch complete with sambucca. that stuff is nasty but when in greece...

3. Santorini, Greece: PARADISE. i will return to this heaven on earth. we honestly couldn't believe our eyes- every single thing in this little town of oia was picturesque. if you dont believe me, check out my pics

4. Mykonos, Greece: great place too. but we went at night and so it got dark half way through our trip. We did manage to eat at this fantastic restaurant that was bustling. waiters would literally throw down octopus on the table (dont worry they were dead) for us to eat. 

5. Rhodes, Greece: another fun city. There was an old city which we stayed in mostly. it had great shops and there was a castle nearby. We ate at a pretty authentic greek restaurant b/c i wouldn't let my dad stop at the touristy places that he was drooling over. and it paid off, we had some eggplant concoction that was divine and a plate of greek specialties that was wiped clean in about 2 minutes. greek food is yummy

6. Dubrovnik, croatia: this little down on the coast of croatia is from a postcard. there is a fortification all around the tiny town and the water is unreal. 

i have to run but i will post more! time to go on a segway around villa borghese...i think this is a recipe for trouble. love you all and happy late easter! you better have gorged on chocolate...

annie

Rachel and Annie= vagabond vixens

So rachel and i are gypsies- we have been out of town every weekend for a whole month and this past weekend we invaded Pompeii, Naples (kinda), and Capri. I must admit that our excitement level for this excursion wasn't too high since we were sick of traveling but we were troopers and hopped on the bus (painful but someones gotta do it). So off we go to Pompeii- first of all, we get off the bus and the temperature has dropped probably 20 degrees and we are freeeezing. Please tell me how you travel farther south but it gets colder (italy is the land of contradictions)? We ate some fantastic neapolitan pizzas which were welcomed with open arms since we are sick of pizza romana. the difference between these 2 pizzas is that Roman pizza is more flat and crunchy while the Neapolitan pizza has a thicker and more doughy crust. Both are heaven (you cant go wrong with pizza)-- Pompeii was interesting. Vesuvius did a pretty good job of killing everyone and preserving the town. My teacher gave a tour of the entire city and went into pretty good detail- they know the functions of pretty much every building in the city. Those ancient romans had fast food joints, brothels, and shops- much like America today! By the end of the tour, i think our toes were on the verge of falling off. We headed to our hotel which was across the water from Mount vesuvius, on a cliff overlooking the water. Richmond always hooks us up. That night the girls went out on the town (vico equenese). Saturday, bri, chloe, and I woke up bright and early to go on our required field trip into Naples. The other gals had a lazy saturday consisting of shoppin and grubbin in Sorrento. In Naples, we went to the Pompeii museum where they had an erotic room (hmm) and they even had food that had been excavated from Herculaneum! I was paranoid the entire time in Naples because I just got done reading Gomorrah, which talks about the Camorra mafia that is in Naples (they are everywhere and i thought everyone in naples looked like they were in camorristi). That afternoon we went to Mount Vesuvius (why people want to climb up an active volcano, i have no idea). The bus ride to the top was scary due to the fact that buses should never be allowed on those crappy italian streets- i swear we almost fell off about 60 cliffs. The icing on the cake was that we had to climb the last 1000 meters to the top. Ok- so I haven't exercised since I have been in Rome and now they want me to walk up a mountain? Mind you, there is snow on the ground because its just that cold. I am not properly dressed (story of my life) but i head up the mountain and about 30 seconds into the hike, im already panting. No worries though, i made it to the top (after 30 minutes of pure torture) although i honestly thought about jumping off the side of the mountain just to put me out of my mistery. But the view from the top was worth all the pain- we were above clouds! it was absolutely breathtaking and we saw the sun's reflections on the water too. Vesuvius was cool looking too- steam was coming off rocks around the top. The last eruption was in the 1940's and they said the next one is gonna be bad (eek). I took some pictures and then peaced out so I could defrost in the bus. Saturday night needs to go down in the history books: so all the gals minus lili and blake head to sorrento to get some food and check out the town. We get to sorrento and find a yummy restaurant with a cool ambiance. Kelsey was looking sassy and convinced the troops to go out. We first head to this karaoke bar where we belt out Grease and some other oldies. kelsey wanted to be sandy and dubbed me as danny. Good times good times...then we find this other bar that looks pretty cool. We try to go into the regular entrance but we get denied and the greasy italian bouncers tell us to go into this other entrance that is supposed to be VIP but its at the bottom of this hill (sound sketchy? cause it was..). But being american girls, we head down the mountain desperately hoping there is something resembling an entrance at the bottom. Surprisingly, we actually get into this club and there is NO ONE inside but they assured us that in 20 minutes " 1000 people in here". Sure...we decide to stick it out because the inside looked awesome. They had carved this club out of a hill and there were white couches and a big dancefloor. So around 20 minutes later more people start trickling in and eventually it is packed. However, i think the median age of the boys in the club was 15- and they were forward, to say the least. You would think that none of them had ever seen or touched blonde hair in their lives-- we couldn't dance on the dancefloor without getting ambushed. These boys were grabbing our hair and being very suggestive with their hand placements. After a while, we all got tired of being molested every second so we attempted to get in the VIP section (it hasn't worked yet in Italy but we were hopeful). Guess what- we got in! It was a nice refuge from the mob outside...so around 2 we decide to go back home since we had to be ready to leave at 745 the next morning. We go outside to catch a cab and there are no cabs to be found. We find this strange so we call the cab number, no answer. Then we ask the police, who first look at us like we are stupid, and then tell us that there are no taxis b/c everyone is sleeping. Just in case you dont understand, this means we were stranded in a different city at 230 in the morning and not completely sober- bad news. We weighed our options and we could either try and get a hotel room for the 4 hours, go wait outside the subway station for the next train (which came at 5 in the morning), walk the 5 kilometers back to our hotel (not happening after the vesuvius marathon), or just keep trying to find a ride. luckily chloe asked our waiters at the restaurant we ate dinner at earlier and they happily agreed to drive us ( with a 30 euro fee, of course). So we all jump in these 2 italians cars and speed off to our hotel. We arrive safely at home around 330- devoid of sleep and money after our insane night. That next morning was brutal and Richmond decided to take us to Capri, the famous island off the coast of Naples where the rich and famous go to enjoy the beautiful views. It sounds amazing right?? well not when your hungover and sleep-deprived...we all get on a ferry that was a little too rocky and ventured to Capri. After another long climb up the mountain ( I never get a break in this country), all the gals make it to capri and its beautiful. yet again, italy delivers. but rachel still wasn't feeling too hot from the boat ride and she had to excuse herself to the bathroom. Anyways, the island was beautiful and there were so many ritzy shops like chanel, prada, etc. that we just ooed and ahhed over since we had no money due to our previous night. we walked around, ate (of course), and then blake, chloe, bri and I went on the chairlift to the top of the island. the views were the most beautiful that i have seen thus far. the water was perfect, it was such a deep blue. Of course, i jumped (literally) at the opportunity to take a jumping picture and it turned out great! overall, i was feeling pretty good considering my previous night. However, on the ride home, the hangover kicks back in and I start feeling miserable- i guess thats what I get.But roma, our homa, greeted us with open arms and i was happy again. 

We are so amsterdown

hello- so we are skipping one trip (barcelona) and updating you on our most recent expedition, amsterdam. We dont know if anyone has heard of this fair dutch city but it does have some unique features like the something called the red light district and coffeeshops, that sell weed. anyways, this city is beautiful- we leave the train station (which looks like it Hogwarts in Harry Potter) and walk to our hotel which is about 5 minutes away. Yea thats right, i said it, HOTEL, not hostel (thank goodness). Annie's awesome cousin hooked us up and we lived the lap of luxury this weekend at the Renaissance Marriott. We passed about 10 shops with the regional cuisine, waffles and donuts covered in chocolate ( which we should have realized our inevitable death by consumption would be imminent). After we admired the fluffy clouds which we would call our beds for 3 nights, we headed out to meet Kimbo's friend, Ross, who is studying abroad in Amsterdam for the semester. Ross took us to a 'coffeeshop' to try some of the local fare. You could look at the weed underneath a microscope and see the surface- so we got our science lesson in for the day. Rachel and I watched on while sipping on our mint teas- it was an interesting place. Then we went to dinner- first of all- it needs to be said that Amsterdam has more chinese, thai, and indonesian restaurants than China and Thailand combined. It wasn't hard to pick a place but we ended up at Jasmine, a thai restaurant. Heiniken, from the nederlands, was ordered all around and we embarked on our oriental food journey. After consuming an insane amount of curry, eggrolls, and pad thai the group began barhopping, amsterdam style. We met up with Ross's french friends, alexi and arienne, who have fantastic accents. We went to a bar in a free-standing house on a canal, visited the red-light district (hmmm) and then we went to a bar that was 600+ years old before retiring to our fluffy clouds of comfort. Friday was jampacked- we woke up and ordered some local Dutch pancakes and waffles and then hit the road, literally. Ross talked us into renting bikes for the day- Amsterdam is a bike city. Everywhere you look there are bikes and people riding bikes-  there are more bikes than cars. So, we hopped on and hoped for the best. We are proud to say, there were no collisions with people, animals, cars, etc. After what seemed like an hour long bike ride with lance armstrong, a.k.a. ross, we arrived at a beautiful park with lakes and ducks. Then we went to the Albert Cuyp Market, rumored to be the biggest open market in Europe. They sold everything here- shoes, fish, fruit, clothes, cameras- you name it, they got it. Bri and rachel bought a stroopwaffel. Now we need to devote some time to this amazing gift from God- it is two very thin waffels with a hint of cinnamon that taste like perfection and in the middle is a caramel sauce. Oh.My. God- annie fell in love. it was game over after the first bite- she was in heaven. That is all she could talk about for the rest of the trip, stroopwaffels. Well, we headed back to the hotel, got in the eucalyptus sauna (mhmm, we were spoiled) and then headed out to eat a dinner of Indonesian food. We found this hole in the wall restaurant that seemed to be a couple's house. The wife was the waitress and the husband was in the back cooking our delectable delights. Our mouths enjoyed the scrumptious flavors of lamb, coconut, fried bananas, curry, lots of red pepper, peanut sauce (yumm) and heinikens. If you are wondering how much weight we have gained, wait until i describe saturday's damage. Then we went to Ross's friends apartment and sat around conversing, drinking vino rosso, and eating some dutch cheese. We capped off our night by heading to a corner restaurant and ordering mint teas (we are so healthy, HA). Saturday we woke up bright and early so we wouldn't have to stand in hour long lines for the Anne Frank House. We made it there only 45 minutes behind schedule (we blame the beds- too comfortable to get out of). Anne Frank's house is amazing- surprisingly they have kept it in very good shape. We got to walk through the exact rooms where the Frank family and others had to hide out for 2 years before being discovered. There wasn't any furniture b/c it was all taken when they were discovered but there are pictures of what it looked like. It was so surreal and very sad- at the end of the tour, they had Anne's actual diary on display. We left and made a pit stop for stroopwaffels (annie is really obsessed) and then went to breakfast at Bagels and beans (coffee beans, not real beans- the blondes both were confused about that). We all had never tasted such perfection in the form of bagels before in our lives. After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to the flower market to check out the scene. There are sooooo many flowers- we saw some that we never even knew existed. But it was raining so we dashed to a coffeeshop. Guess who we met inside?? A passenger from the Turkish airline flight where 9 people had died when it crashed in Amsterdam just weeks before. Surprisingly, he was pretty chill and said he still wasn't scared of flying (it was prolly the weed talking). Then we headed to the Van Gogh Museum to see Starry Night,which was part of an exhibition. The painting isn't normally at this museum (it calls the MoMA in NYC its home) so we got very lucky. The painting didn't disappoint either. After the museum trip, we headed back to the hotel. By this point, Annie had consumed about 9999 stroopwaffels and was so round that she looked like a rolly polly. Everyone went to the sauna but annie and bri b/c there was NO way annie was getting in a bathing suit at this point. Then we headed to dinner at Top Thai  (bad news for annie but of course, the food always wins). The food was fantastic but the insane amount of stroopwaffels that annie ate earlier got the best of her and she had to go home because she didn't feel good. Everyone else went to a coffeeshop and then called it a night because the gals had a 6:55 a.m. flight back to roma, our homa. Soooo that was our amsterdam adventure, folks. Needless to say, it was a success. Naples and Pompeii next weeekend- until then arrivederci ragazzi!

Bonjour- we are now on our third language. This past weekend we ventured to Parigi- the city of loveee. It was amazing and we both fell in love with the lights, food, art, and most of all, the men. We woke up bright and early on thursday and set off for the airport. Rachel flew by herself ( BIG accomplishment due to her extreme phobia of flying). We were all on cloud 9 on our cab ride to our hostel, especially when we drove underneath the eiffel tower, but we were quickly brought back down to reality when we pulled up to our hostel. The sign said it all: the 'e' was hanging off the word hostel (we documented this in case you dont believe us). But we didnt let this bring us down and we headed off to discover paris. Of course, the first thing we thought of was food and we all enjoyed a meal of french onion soup, croque madame's, and an omlette for annie. Thursday night we did a night bike tour of paris. We got to wear sweet vests with reflectors and rode on some squeaky bikes, but it was all good. All in all, the tour took 4 hours and it was a blasssstttt. Paris at night is the most amazing thing anyone could ever see- we all were so giddy, like little kiddos. The best part was riding in the Lourve square at night- it was breathtaking. Our tour guide was named blakely (or bakery as he said we could call him) and he was from Florida. He invited us to go drink sangria with him afterwards and of course, we accepted. The bar was quite a sight- very rustic and rachel labeled it 'glamourous grunge' (watchout vogue). The sangria was amazing and there was some dangerously strong fruit floating in it. The parisians in there fit the mold exactly- they thought they were something special. We retired for the night- pooped from bikes and booze and went back to our hostel. In the morn, we set out for a day of sightseeing. We hit the arch de triumphe, champs elysees, the tullerie gardens, and the orangerie, where we saw an exhibit of Monet's water lilies and other French impressionist work. We both fell in loveee with Renoir (other faves are monet, degas, and another guy with a long name). We all could have just died from exhaustion at this point but we took showers and had to constantly hold the button for the shower to stay on= torture. We set off for the Lourve (with wet hair b/c we forgot to back the adapter for the blowdryer AND our electrical outlets didn't work in the room). We all said waddup to Mona- she is much smaller in person but still fantastic. We kinda cut ourself short with the Lourve b/c it is just colossal. We headed to Moulin Rouge to check it out and take the typical tourist pic. That area is quite seedy. Rachel got asked if she wanted to work- she kindly declined the offer. After snapping a few pics, we jetted out of there and headed to a nicer area of Paris for an Italian dinner (we didnt realize it was italian, ironic). However, it was reallly good and the owner gave us a bottle of champagne for free after dinner! After our after-dinner cocktail we all headed to Le duplex, an underground club in Paris. We paid a ridiculous amount to get in but it ended up being worth it. There were 2 levels w/ 3 dancefloors. We realized around 1:40 that we needed to leave so we could make our 2:00 curfew for our hostel. Since we are girls, everything takes about 10 minutes longer than planned so we ended up getting to our hostel at exactly 2:00- close call. Saturday was THE day: we went to Versailles!!!!!!! Words cant explain the grandeur of this palace- it is massive and the gardens are perfect. We saw Marie Antionette's room where she fled through a secret door when people were rioting outside. We walked a long way to see marie's countryside retreat- it looked like disneyland. Rachel's theory is that marie was pretending she was a hobbit- it makes alot of sense if you see the place. Oh and by saturday, all four of us were ready to chop off our feet. The complaining that went on that day was out of control- but it was all warranted. Saturday night we meet our friend, Stodd, in the latin quarter and had drinks, fondue, & crepes. The nutella-banana crepe was bomb. In that area we watched some street dancers and the people watching was superb. There were many attractive french men that tortured us every time they walked by. Lili saw her soulmate but was too afraid to approach- however, fate will bring them together again. At dinner, there was a rugby team from Ireland that had lost their game and decided to drown their sorrows.....in beer and song. They sang the entire time in really deep Irish voices- quite entertaining. One of the men was so cute and sat down with us to talk obama and organics. We didnt go out, seeing as our feet forbid it. Sunday we awoke and headed to Museum D'Orsay (sp?) and saw more French impressionist art on the top floor of the converted train station. We all enjoyed it- there are soooo many famous paintings in this museum. It seemed like every time we turned the corner, we were saying, " I studied this in art history!". Then annie harassed everyone to get a jumping picture in front of the eiffel tower-- I know everyone looks happy in that pic, but we weren't. After bidding au revior to Paris we headed back home to roma. Rachel wouldn't leave France without buying a French Vogue, and that she did in the airport. Overall, we had a blast and saw more than we ever expected. But no matter how much fun we had, we all missed italy and were happy to be back in roma, our homa. One 'ciao' from our crazy cab driver and we felt at home again. But not for long, Barcelona awaits us on Thursday. Until next week, arrivederci!!!!!

soo its been awhile- we are so sorry b/c we know everyone checks up on us everytime yall get online. anyways, friday we went to villa d'este and villa adriana in Tivoli. Annie is getting married at villa d'este- but we asked our tour guide how much it costs to have weddings there and he said it isn't possible. To quote him, ' not even the president can have a wedding here.' So I have a feeling we will meet some resistance when I try to have my wedding there...maybe dad should start working on it now? Needless to say, villa d'este was annie's favorite but rachel's favorite was villa adriana because it was more open and spacious. Friday night the whole crew went out in Testaccio to a Salsa club!!! Lili had painted our faces with cool designs for Mardi Gras and we were all feeling a little sassy. The club was pretty authentic it seemed and of course, we all scooted right up to the front and attempted to try out our salsa moves. I bet we were a sight to see- but rachel did have a couple of sassy italian/latin dance partners who were just beside themselves to be dancing with such a blonde goddess. Saturday was a rough day and sunday we hung out in trastevere and ate our weight in pizza (our bodies hate us at this point). Monday night, Bri, lili, us and eddie persia went out. we want to give eddie a shout out b/c we told him we'd mention him in the blog. We tried a somewhat sketchy Chinese restaurant (which had fantastic sake that annie consumed WAY too much of). then we smoked hooka. It was a good night. that should be it for the update- tomorrow the four gals head off to Paris for the weekend! wish us luck on our first solo venture...we will blog and post pics when we get back! ciaoo- ci vediamo presto!