First of all, I am so sorry I haven't posted anything in SO long. I am back in the states and I felt like I just needed time to settle in and try to cope with the fact that I'm no longer living in Italy. I think I had culture shock once I came home. I became so comfortable with traveling all the time, constantly planning activities for our trips, and trying to take time to enjoy Rome everyday. It was really hard for me to come back home and do absolutely nothing. Of course it was nice to relax, but that gave me TOO much time to look back at my time abroad and reflect on all of my experiences. Now I am ready to finish these last few travel posts.

This was our second to last trip that we had planned to Catania and Taormina Italy. I traveled with my usual crew (Kelsey, Alaina, and Katie), but we also had an awesome addition to the group- Katie's mom Lisa. She studied abroad when she was in college, and when I say studied abroad I mean she basically backpacked and hitch hiked everywhere. It was the 80's and she had so many amazing stories to share. We arrived in Catania and hopped on a bus into the downtown historical district. There were tons of tourists here. Sicily is known for arancini which is a fried rice ball that is mixed with cheese and veggies or meat of your choice and yes it is as amazing as it sounds. I think I had two a day... Yikes. We stopped at a little cafe and had our first rice balls and a few beers. Don't judge, it was really nice out and we were celebrating the warm weather!!  After our quick bit to eat, we went into a beautiful church in the main square. We shopped around a bit and went into a few outdoor markets. We got lost a few times, but I didn't mind exploring around the city. Soon hopped on another bus to our hotel. We settled in and immediately went out to the pool to lay out. For anyone from Michigan, this weather was paradise. However, my friend Katie from California was not having it. No one would get in the pool with me, so I jumped into the freezing cold water by myself and eventually I persuaded Katie into coming in with me. After this, we showered and dressed up and met Katie's mom at the hotel bar for a little cocktail before dinner. I felt quite fancy and mature in this moment. We went out to dinner and I ordered a pizza. I spent the rest of the night showing my friends vegan youtube videos (bonny rebecca- she's amazing, check her out!!) and we went to bed because we had an early morning!

The following day, we went to Taormina. We had a little miscommunication with our cab driver. He told us 90 euro when we thought he said 19 euro. After searching our purses for money, the cab drove off and we were left in this deserted town. We arrived fairly early and Italians don't start their day until late on the weekends. This sea side town is picture perfect. I felt like I was walking in a movie. We got coffee and biscuits for breakfast. Then we window shopped until the stores opened. By noon the entire city was filled with people. They had a ton of ceramic tiles, dishes, and bowls that were all painted with bright colors. For lunch, we ate arancini and other foods from the local shops. We took some really cool pictures of the water and all the landscapes. The entire city is built on a mountain, so it looked very similar to places in Greece. This trip was one for the books. I will always remember these breathtaking views, the amazing food, and the friendly people of these cute cities.