My Favorite Trip in my LIFE...Italia <3

Went to Italy this weekend... and all I have to say is....

I LOVE so much of Italy it's ridiculous.

The People.
+Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.
+Perfect olive skin and complexion.
+Genuinely nice. They love you first before they hate you. (vice versa in LA.)
+Modest. They think they're w/e, and we're gorgeous and exotic.... what is this nonsense.
+Everyone is one big mafia family. Spending hundreds of hours in a parking lot, then calling each other, then ending the night at each other's houses (24 hours of talking and bonding pretty much...) I LOVE IT, I wish we had even a semblance of that.
+The men are impeccably dressed (Italian designer brands mania much???)... the girls not so much. Kind of like every other animal on this planet (peacocks, for example.)

The FOOOD.
+Lasagna in Naples is not made out of cheese, but this cream concoction... SOOOO GOOOOODDDDD.
+Coffee or Cafe. So rich, so aromatic, so flavorful. As our friend Gianluca calls American coffee, it's black water in comparison.
+Pizza. I never want to eat American pizza again, hahha jk. Naples, the inventor of pizza, has the most amazing tomato sauce ever, I die.
+Pasta... any of it. SOOO GOOOD. Carbonara, Gnocchi, Matricana.... DELICIOUS.
+Chicoria... this Italian gelato girl we met told us to eat it cuz it's so amazing. It's this leafy vegetable sauteed with garlic and has a dash of lemon, sounds like an Asian dish huh? It was alright, but I love my veggies so it was still good, but nothing special.
+GELATO. So many flavors I die. Popcorn gelato? Check. Melon? Twix? W/e you want!

The Scenery.
+Naples had beauuuuuuuuuuuuutiful views of the Mediterranean Sea.
+Rome ... very touristy. It was okay, felt like I could see it all on a postcard. BARFARAMA of people... seriously. The plaza at the Vatican was very breathtaking though, I'm sad I didn't get to stay there longer because it started raining.


Conclusion.

I love Italy (Rome and Naples for now :)), but I wouldn't want to live there. Rome is littered with graffiti and trash. Everything seems super old but kind of worn down, not very well preserved..besides the Vatican of course. I wish I went to Rome on a not so touristy weekend (if there is such a thing...) so that I could see the Trevvi Fountain and the Spanish Steps in peace without millions of people surrounding me and jumping into my pictures. Naples is absolutely stunning, but I don't think I would want to be the token Asian (there are absolutely no minorities there) and live in a bubble all of my life.

Give and take... either have an amazing circle of friends (aka... family) without an idea of the outside world... or live in a diversified world of hate and corruption.


'

Westfield London

Biggest exploit of consumerism I have seen in London.... omg. Almost as big as Southcoast but with a ton more creative window displays and lots and lots of places to spend your money.

Riiiiiiiddiccccuuuulouussssssss is the only word to describe this place.

+The Village houses all your expensive ass designer brands: Prada, Miu Miu, Louis, Chanel, Salvatore... drool....

+The Atrium has a really interesting marketing idea of "living rooms" housing boutique brands/products... instead of the normal kiosk things... definitely need to bring that to the states.





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I want this ceiling setup in my house. Sigh...






Craving Sprinkles in the UK? Get some Buttercup, it's pretty similar.


Red velvet tastes just as good! There's a heart in the middle but the flash blinded it.


My bed... in the mall. Hahahah.


My vanity...


My living room!


I want to win the lottery so I can shop here... I die.

Can You Say WALES?!

Theme of the trip: The Hard Way.

So we decided to do an adventure ON OUR OWN, but turns out that's so much harder than dreamed of.

London Paddington Station >> Cardiff via train >> Swansea via train >> Mumbles via Bus.... and then back.

Spent the whole day in transit.. and saw Oystermouth Castle and Mumbles town... and ate a 5 min. dinner at Cardiff... but it was SO SO worth it!

Lesson of the day:
The Welsh language has got to have the most consonants per word I have ever seen... besides maybe German.


Oystermouth Castle! Original plan was going to go hiking so we all wore like nothing thinking we're going to sweat... and now we're freezing.


The hard way to get up the hill!

Steepest hill... and there was a trail to the side we didn't see. The hard way!


Castle!




Top of the castle!


Welcome to my room?


The Welsh sure know how to capture the scenery in a picture!


Gorgeous view from atop!




Where the cannons used to be...




wth Welsh?

I went to the Prime Meridian!

Went to Greenwich today to go to the Prime Meridian of the WORLD!




View from aboooooove.


Where the Royal Observatory said the prime meridian was, with a nice little sculpture and everything.


...but our GPS says it's about 300 ft. to the east on some grassy patch... so wth?!
+The Prime Meridian is erratic! It changes every few often!
+The British just decided that they're going to be the ruler of the seas and used the Greenwich meridian as a reference point. The French obstain and use another (of course.)
+GPS systems use a different global positioning system, and thus the difference!

Sidenote:

Delicious delicious Montgomery cheddar cheese from Neal's Yard at Covent Garden... SOOOOO goooooooooodddddd.

Easter + Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaath

I went to church on Easter Sunday! Crazy I know!
St. Paul's Cathedral is absolutely stunning.

Touristy attractions around London after!
Did it just to say I did it...but nothing too exciting. Haha.

Monday: Bath day with the class, where the only remaining Roman Baths in England are located.

Pretty to look at, somewhere to take pictures and then... go home. hahahaa.

At Bath...:
+saw the Roman Bath. whoop whoop!
+Ate my first cornish pastry! It was aiite.
+Ben's Cookies = BOMB (all around London too.)
+Fashion Museum is 8 pounds to get in. OUTRAGEOUS I refuse, but the building has many ballrooms that are free to look at are quite pretty.
+Jane Austen lived? here. There's a museum for her if you're interested.
+Get apple brandy and famous cheese (Montgomery Cheddar... SOOO GOOD) here... but I didn't get either.

In front of St. Paul's as proof!




Westminister Abbey!


Big Ben!


"Picadilly Whip." It's like iced... whipped cream (odd)... with a delicious choc. flake!


Whoop whoop. Stonehenge on the way there... Not too impressive... pictures look the same as the real thing.


Bath is gooooorgeous!


Takin' a dip!


Some weird ass animal sacrilage sculptures everywhere...






Nom nom nom, "classic" cornish pastry.


The Fashion Museum that cost too much -_- hahah.


Inside the beautiful ballroom!


Beautiful little area with a cute park... that cost a pound to get in. Friggin' Bath and their friggin' all tourist economy.