Pesce (Pay-sh-A) - Fish

            ….well today seemed as though it was so so busy, but now that I sit down to write the  blog for today, I guess that it really wasn’t at all…..just got up and went to class….then came home and instead of studying, or taking the nap that I needed desperately!, I watched some tv….but the best part of today? Well that is aside from the fact that I AM GETTING ON A PLANE TO LONDON TOMORROW!!!! Was cuisine class was today J J J…

            …downside to cuisine today?  I was lots of seafood….but goodness gracious I was a brave girl once again today!, seriously, two weeks in a row of eating some stuff that I really don’t care for….oh well, gotta try new things so you can find out what you really do like, right dad??

            …antipasti was really really really super good…..it was fondue, that was served in a really flakey, almost sweet pastry like roll….the fondue we made had Fontina cheese (my absolute favorite J), butter, milk, and a couple other things that I know I am forgetting….it was so so good I just wanted to eat that the entire meal!...

  …primi piatti, we again had two….the first one was the part of the meal that I had to be the most brave….you see it was spaghetti, with clams and mussels….first time eating either one of those slimy creepy little things…..but to be honest, once I got past the fact the look of them and the texture, oh! And the fact that the mussel was ORANGE!.....i mean come on, they are orange? How did I never know that…..that was totally and completely weird….but once I was able to somehow get past all of that….the flavor was actually really good….not too fishy, and since there wasn’t a sauce on the pasta just the water and juices we cooked the mussels and clams in, it was nice and light…..actually really good J…

   






         …the second primi piatti we made, was another form of pasta in a red sauce that we had made….this was with tomato puree, garlic, onion, a few other things, and pancetta, which is basically diced bacon…..honestly I think that it would have been really really good….but unfortunately, it was really too salty….like that’s all you could think as you sat and ate….

            …the secondo piatto, was pretty good…..Mediterranean cod with capers, red chili, green olives and a few other things….and the side was slices of potato, boiled and dressed with parsley and olive oil…..really very good, but it was just very fishy….so it would have been really good if you liked fish a lot….and many of the other students really liked it….

            …dolce was really good….we made a tart….we made the dough for the crust and learned all of that, and then spread a jam or blueberries, raspberries, and I think, black berries all on the bottom and put more of the crust pieces on the top and baked it…..then served it with really really good ice cream….i loved it….llight but very good…..then to finish the whole meal she made us coffee….not normal espresso but some very very good caffes J…

            …not a totally exciting day I know, but turned into an overall quite yummy class J….tomorrow evening we are off to London!....I cannot even kinda believe it and I am so excited!!......its my first out of country big adventure, since being here and I cant wait….Friday we are sightseeing with a hop on hop off bus….then seeing Wicked on the West End (for my traveling companion, Olivia’s birthday)…..Saturday we are off to Birmingham to go find Grandpa Wall’s home….and the afternoon/evening seeing more sights….also meeting up with my friend from Boise State, Lucas who is studying in England right now….Sunday we have tickets to go up in Tower Bridge and walk up and over it…and finishing seeing everything before getting on a plane back to Torino on Sunday….ahh its going to be a great adventure, I am so excited!!....i will hand write my blog posts during the weekend and post them all on either Sunday when I get back or Monday….so until then! Have a great weekend everybody!!! J

Torta al cioccolato (tore-ta – Al – chalk-co-la-toe) - Chocolate Cake

            …today I ate the best chocolate cake ive ever had….oh my goodness, I never wanted that one piece of cake to end!....Eli’s friend, Simona, made for dessert after tonight’s dinner and I was in heaven….      

….but before I get to that….the rest of my day, honestly, wasn’t too terribly exciting….woke up early and was off to the kindergarten….worked on a presentation about a lesson, for the American teacher, Donna, who we are the interns for….and then it was home to workout, shower and then met up with my friend Olivia to make the last few decisions and plans for London….we leave Thursday night and I can hardly believe it!!!....I am so freaking excited!!....

…tonight was a dinner that Eliana has been planning for a bit…..Simone is out of town, actually in Chicago, for business all week….so needless to say, Eli wasted no time planning a dinner with her closest girlfriends….she asked if I would like to come and of course I said yes….honestly this is one of my favorite parts of the homestay situation…..getting to make “family friends”…I mean I also adore my extended family that I have as well….but its really cool to continue seeing the same friends over and over….tonight there were 3 friends that I had already met, and 3 that I hadn’t…..it was very fun…a couple were also pregnant (which was adorable)….and I got to be there when Eli told her big news that she is also J….a couple friends knew already but most of them did not, so that was very cool to be a part of…

…dinner was delish….eliana made pizza (I absolutely love her pizza because she makes the crust thicker than normal Italian pizza crust…she even made me one with sauce and pesto on it J I think she likes me J)….she literally made 6 pizzas for 8 women….we had pizza for days….but regardless it was so so so delicious….we would eat a pizza, then relax and wait for the next one to finish cooking….over and over and over….until finally we had all had enough pizza and after some more relaxing following the last pizza….i saw a chocolate cake find its way onto the table….

            …this literally was the most beautiful cake….homemade….totally from scratch….and oh my goodness, I want to eat this cake for the rest of my life…it was thick but yet not really heavy…sooooo creamy….soo rich but not too sweet….perfect amount of frosting…..oh man alive I am REALLY hoping those left overs stay here J….

            ….dinner went on for a good three hours, and actually is still going on from the sounds of it….after 2 and a half hours, my head was pounding from trying to translate and do it fast enough to keep up with the conversation of 7 women….and I was already exhausted, so that just made the translating more difficult…..so I bowed out, thanked them for dinner, and am now heading to bed….tomorrow is a long day of classes, but at least we have cuisine tomorrow!!! J until then J….buona notte J

Sforzo (ss-for-zo) – Stress

            ….today wasn’t really a big day necessarily, even though I do actually feel as though I accomplished a good amount today…..anyways…..todays word is close to yesterday’s but means something very different….because today I have been feeling really, same as in America, school stress….because well molly isn’t the best planning (as in looking ahead at a schedule) and decided that this weekend was prime to spend all of her time in london…..which I do not regret because I am UNBELIEVABLY excited for….but right before I have a field trip with the group on Tuesday, my first Culture midterm on Wednesday of next week and Italian 1 Final on Thursday….so that should be interesting….

            ….so what did I do today?? Basically everything that I could, without actually studying…..went to class this morning….then walked downtown to buy the boots that had been stuck in my head since I tried them on on Friday…then back home to workout, shower, eat lunch, watch a little tv….(ok ya that part I probably could have skipped haha)……and then I skyped (but this time I did finish making notecards and doing my Italian excersizes during that skype session)….then I was off to dinner at Natalie’s…

            …tonight was Brinner (breakfast for dinner) take two!....this time, we drank mimosas (with blood orange juice, because normal oj is really really hard to find) and Nat made us bacon and French toast….which was absolutely delicious…..we were all very very happy J…..man nothing makes you miss American food more, that NOT being able to have it…..i mean don’t get me wrong I am in no way, shape, or form, complaining about the food that I get to eat here!....mearly stating that this kid can really go for some good American breakfast food or a good burger and fries every once in a while J…..

            ….but that was basically my night….now it is home, to actually study somewhat tonight before bed….tomorrow is an early morning, over at the kindergarten….buona notte tutti! J

Forza Juventus! (four-za – U-ven-too-s) - GO JUVENTUS!!! (not a literal translation) – don’t worry dad, no spoliers in this post, PROMISE)

            ….today was a completely laid back day, and boy was it nice….I slept in until about ten this morning….got up and went to mass…realized once I was almost ready to go, that I normally go to the ten am one and didn’t even know for sure if there was an eleven….so I got there right as the 10am was getting out and I just sat….right when I was getting ready to leave, thinking I had missed really the only mass I knew exactly of….more people started walking in for the 11:30 mass J….so I didn’t miss it….that was great…

            …spent the rest of the bulk of the day doing homework, and cleaning….that was nice to get all of that done, especially since I leave for London on Thursday (speaking of which I have quite a bit of research left to do for that trip….hmmmmmm)…..

            …then tonight I went out to a pub named Murphy’s downtown…and met up with a group of my USAC friends to watch the Derby J….essentially that’s just the intercity rival soccer game….so it was the Juventus vs. FC Torino game….boy was it fun….the place was absolutely packed!! We ended basically getting the worst table because all of the rest of them had been reserved for days and days….which is no surprise really and we should have thought of that…..we basically sat or stood by the table and could see the tv through a hole/window in the back wall that looked into the next room…..didnt matter though, they had burgers that were pretty good by Italian standards (not horrible by American)….and beer….and fans………and the game….we were happy campers….it ended up being a fantastic night….gotta love living in a country that loves soccer as much as your dad does…..totally freaking awesome J…..

Milano Moda Donne (me-lawn-o – mode-ah – dawn – eh) – Milan Fashion Week

            ….yes your read that correctly….today I went to fashion week in Milan….thats a totally crazy thing to do!...and actually to say that I have done….it wasn’t really something that I was really planning on doing, but when a few friends said that they were going yesterday and invited me for the day, it seemed like an awesome opportunity….

            ….so this morning, myself and three other girls, got on a 9 am train to Milan with not a lot of knowledge of really where we were going, but we were so excited….after two hours we were in Milan, figuring out their metro system and where we were going to go…..we decided that before we tried to find Fashion Week, we should go to the Duomo…..oh my goodness, I have seen this before, three years ago when I came with the soccer boys, but it was almost as though I had forgotten how incredibly amazing and breathtaking it was!

shelbie wasnt allowed in...

.....oh my dear goodness, its so massive and so intricate….pictures and words cant ever do it justice….we tried to go inside but since we were all dressed up for fashion week, one of my friends skirts wasn’t quite long enough and even though she was wearing black tights, she still wasn’t allowed in….
so I waited outside with her (since I will be able to go inside with Josh in March) while the other two went inside…..

had to take a breakfast @ Tiffany's shot

           …after that exploration and marveling we grabbed a cappuccino and were off to seek out the fashion…..we only knew the name of one piazza, so we asked someone and went to the nearest metro stop we were told…..we started walking and soon found the fashion district….it was streets and streets of the top of the line, prime brands…and they were packed with people….occasionally you would see women that were skinny as rails and about 7 feet tall, who you just knew were models….and then we saw a man that we are pretty sure we recognize as an Italian designer, that is pretty famous….it was so freaking cool….everything you can imagine…eventually we found a square with a huge screen that was showing a live broadcast of the runways….

            …we found a map and tried to go off to find this specific piazza that would have the main tents and biggest runway shows….although we knew we couldn’t get in, since they are all invite only, we still wanted to be there to see any street shows that may be happening or a glimpse of someone (even though lets be real, none of us would recognize a designer right off the bat, the crowd would definently tell us J)…bbuuutttt still no avail….so we headed back to where we started looking and met up with one of the girls I was with, friends that was studying in Milan for some lunch….

            …she took us back to Piazza del Duomo to a shop literally JUST around the corner, that had a line stretching out the door and around the cornerJ….we sat and ate with the locals, standing right on the corner and then walked across the street to a gelato shop, that is pretty famous in Milan…..

….apparently its incredibly old, the only one of its kind, and still owned by the same family…..it basically sold sandwiches that were pizza frites (renaldo kids def know what these are, but for anyone else, basically fried dough)…oh my goodness gracious, they were SO GOOD!!!....if anyone you know is going to Milan, please tell me so I can tell them how to go to this shop….its incredible

            …this was a special gelato shop that had pretty good gelato, but the kicker was that before they put it in the cone, they put chocolate in the bottom of the cone….oh goodness…..this was another place that was PACKED….so you go up to the register to order and pay, and you are given a number….then you stand and wait in the shop for your number, for you to be served….just to give you an idea, I was given the number 102….they were on 67….but goodness it was awesome J….so much fun….

            ….afterwards we went back to Duomo, and ate it, and people watched a bit….we saw a model getting photographed and then a group from a Milano fashion magazine came parading through, so we walked over towards them….before we knew it they had given us copies of their most recent issue and we were posing with them, cheering and yelling “we love fashion TuStyle” for their next commercial….that was pretty darn awesome…since the lady in charge spoke pretty great English, we asked her where to go for the center of Fashion Week….and literally, she pointed simply to the GIANT exhibit at the other end of the piazza….it was so close the entire time…

            …we followed the masses, we had apparently missed in the morning and went and explored….found some more screens streaming the show and then the entrance to what we think was a giant showroom with entrance to tons of buyers so we just sat and watched….not only the people going in but mostly the other people outside just waiting….everyone was dressed sooo amazingly…it was so cool to watch and see…

            …after we were off to basically do the same thing at another location, this one was the show of a designer that two of the other girls knew of….we just sat and watched….this one we were able to kinda see inside (since it was in his shop that had glass doors) and see the party, which was really really cool J…

            …then it was wandering back to the center to go to Apertivo which was so delicious…and then back to train station to head home….it was a truly packed and amazing day….i loved it…im so glad that I was able to go and experience that….but now I am physically and mentally exhausted….really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, doing some homework and then going out tomorrow night to a pub to watch the Derby (inter city rival soccer game) between Juventus and FC Torino….that shall be a great night….:) until tomorrow, goodnight all!!

Bicerin (bee-ch-air-in) – Bicerin – a classic Italian coffee, whipped cream & coffee drink

            …today was simply and utterly divine….mainly because it started by sleeping in until 11 and then getting up and doing piyo….the best way to start the day I do believe J….but then it was a shower, lunch and getting ready to go meet the group for the tour of the Bicerin Café..

            …this café is the oldest one in Torino, and we were told that the first Prime Minister when Italy became a republic (since Torino was the first capital when Italy became a country)…he would go to this café everyday and drink a Bicerin….now I know I went with mom and dad before to drink Bicerin and those were really good….but these were EVEN BETTER!  We were told that these drinks are made of three fingers worth of chocolate, two fingers worth of espresso and two fingers worth of whipped cream….oh goodness so good….the café was adorable too and we all enjoyed it and had a great time J….then we went to the shop next door where they sell their chocolate…and even got to see a woman making chocolate on the back stove….it was such a fun tour to do J….

            ….afterwards a few friends and I went off to go shoe shoppin….of course my favorite activity J….there are so many shops around town that have 10 euro sales….thats like $13….so needless to say I was a happy girl…found some adorable heels…they are suede and a light tan, and actually look a lot like the other shoes I bought, except in heel form….im in love…and then I also found a pair of ankle boots that I’m going back on Monday for….

            ..finally it was home by 6 to go with Eliana and Giacomo to a friends house for dinner….it was really really fun actually….its funny you would think that I would be going to these friends’ houses to learn more Italian, but really its because her friends really like to try and practice their English….i always have a good time with them though J…

            …the family is off to the mountain…and I think that tomorrow I am off to Milan in the morning for, get this, Fashion Week!....thats a pretty cool thing to say…im going to fashion week in milan….im totally excited actually J….and then Sunday it’s a relaxing, sleep in, work out, and do homework day…..shaping up to be quite a great weekend in and around turin….which is great because I realized today that I believe all the rest of my weekends have something planned haha…..my whole like is about to get extremely busy and I am so freaking excited….it all starts next weekend with London, then Paris, (then maybe a weekend here or in the mountains with the host family), then the boyfriend will be taking up the last two weekends of march J, then hopefully Prague or Sicily, then the sea with my host family, then easter tour of Cinque Terra, Pisa, Florence, and Siena, then Roma, then Switzerland, then the last weekend here in Turin and then heading home….this life is completely incredible and unbelievable….

            …ya know when you think of all that I am able to be doing and seeing while I am here studying abroad, its absolutely increadible….but like Sammie said in a Skype a bit ago….think about if you did this in the states…just took a semester of easy classes, light load…saved up for the semester just to spend it on traveling, shopping and eating out….and then took all your weekends for travel….it would be so cool to do in the US….like one weekend to NYC, one to Washington DC, one to LA/SF, one to Disney, Seattle, roadtrip to Yellowstone…..like seriously, this would be amazing to do in the states too J…im so thankful that I took the leap, was brave and did this….its worth every ounce of missing my friends and family, and every penny….this is so freaking cool….literally living a dream in Italy…

Dormire e Felice (dorm-E-ray – a – fell-E-ch-A) – Sleep and Happiness

….today was a day of really nothing…but it was really nice actually J….last night a bunch of us went out downtown for one of the English guys’ birthdays and it was sooo much fun….since we stayed out though past the metro closing, I stayed with a friend that lives downtown and came back early this morning when the metro opened….so long story short I was pretty exhausted for class this morning at 9am…

            …but I only had Italian this morning…it actually was really interesting today, we learned a lot of really good vocab…like days of the week, months, times, and directions….also we worked on learning possessives so that was nice too….

            …after class it was home for a good ol nap….then a few hours later, back to school to meet up with the girl that I am going with to London next weekend to plan for things to do there….we ended up finding a hop-on-hop-off tour to take around to the major sights which will be cool…and a walking tour of the famous pop culture sites in town like where you could buy tickets to the Titanic and where the Beatles used to record….we are super excited too J…I cant believe that I am going to be able to see Big Ben and all sorts of other amazing sites that are so typical to London….i am so freaking excited…

            …when I got home I watched Batman: Dark Knight Rises in Italian with Eliana and that was super cool….its amazing how well you realize that you know a movie that you try to be able to translate the words to all the lines you know….it was really fun J

            …when Eliana left to pick up Giacomo and go run errands I got to skype my Steve….he is one of my best friends back in Boise….I haven’t really gotten to skype him for a long time the entire time that I have been here….so it was so amazing to be able to spend 2 solid hours talking to him….it so incredibly hard to change from living across the hall from him, (and basically as an extra roommate there)  to 4500 miles away….and as busy as everyone is doing school and work and everything and the time difference, its really hard to set the time to have a good long talk….but man it made me so happy today to see him and talk to him…

            ….in your life, I believe that you will find lots of people that can make you happy, feel great about your life, and enjoy your days…..but it takes those few, really, really special people who just somehow make you a better person….make you want to be the best you can be and encourage you to work hard to be great….and they are proud of all you do…these people are my family back in boise…..and I miss them everyday that I am here…like I was telling Steve today…its not like I miss Boise….i don’t miss the place, I miss the pieces of my heart that are with the people in that place….i find myself thinking all the time….how much I miss them….dont get me wrong…I am ABSOLUTELY in love with this life that I am blessed to be living….but you can definently feel how long 4500 miles is for your heart strings to stretch…..Steve is my best friend…..Shebs is my person…and the rest of my family there….I would not be the same person that I am today, the one who was brave enough to even take on this adventure….with the support and love they show me….so I guess what I am trying to say is, again, how incredibly thankful I am to have them in my life, and how terribly I am missing them….oh! and how thankful I am for skype….its slowly becoming like the best invention in my opinion….it connects me to the other side of the world and I am so thankful…..and seeing those faces is what recoups me....talking to them makes me feel like i am right near them, so close....today was a re-energizer for me :)

            ….the rest of the night was just spent in, dinner with Eli and Giacomo….and of course, a little Wreck It Ralph….gotta love the home life….goodnight all J

Mangia (mah-nn- ja) - Eat

…so today was just a day of class, class, class….but thankfully they were actually really fun….first off early this morning was Italian…which was well, Italian, nothing too exciting….but it was still interesting….after wards it was straight off to the metro to head downtown to meet up with the rest of our culture class…..today we went to a little museum about the Fasicist Resistance in WWII….it was so freaking cool…

               …..the museum was actually one of the buildings that was bombed during the war, we were even able to go downstairs into the bomb shelter and look around….it was so freaking coo!!!,…I totally loved it….the exhibits were filled with information and testimonies from people that were living in Torino during the reign of Mussolini….gah, I find that class so freaking interesting…my professor knows so much….classes always run long (which really only is because he answers questions like my dad, as in I asked a question today about how they ventilated the bomb shelters, and I think he ended up telling me the entire history and architectural history of bomb shelters)….but anyways it was a really fun class….

                …afterwards, I was really craving a cheeseburger and more than that a fountain drink with ice (and I know that this will make my dad go nuts but…)….natalie and I went to McDonalds on our way back to Lingotto….and oh man that cheeseburger and fries….but more than that the fountain coke!!! Oh man it was just plain fizzy goodness!! J….i was a happy girl and now I will be good for another two months or more J

                ….the afternoon was spent booking the flights and hotels to Paris and looking up things for being in London, weekend after this…. It was exhilarating fun….

                ….tonight was our second cuisine class and this one was , well, interesting…..i mean the cooking and getting to learn about all the foods and things was great great fun….and Elilzabetta was adorable as always….but well the antipasties were just a lot…..we made two the first being, raw veal pounded thin with raw mushrooms, parmigiano, parsley, and truffle oil…..^nd time in like a week!!!)….and then the other was a roasted pepper topped with a sauce of cream, oil, garlic, and anchovies…..yes I was a very brave girl tonight….

really good if you can get past the idea that you are eating raw meat (again, I mean sheesh, this is the 2

                ….the primi piatti was polenta with tons and tons of cheese….so so good except that the gorgonzola was SUPER overpowering….i don’t think I like that type of cheese….but overall it was really good…..J….and then the contorno was grilled polenta….pretty good…..we had this with a great wine from Alba where I went with mom and dad, I can remember the name exactly but dad would have loved it…..a good red….

secondo piatto, was this AMAZING meat, that was basically braised in a broth of tomato paste, a bouillon cube, oil, and a ton of spice…..oh man the meat was super tender, almost like a stew meat

                ….dessert was the absolute best part, tiramisu!....so much fun to make and even MORE fun to eat!....we had it with Moscato d’Asti wine, which was of course delicious…..i am so excited that I learned how to make it!..   

             …I am loving the class mainly because as we learn how to make more classic Italian dishes we are also learning really basic cooking steps….like how to make the cream for tiramisu….it so so cool…..cant wait to cook for people when I get home…

                …tonight we are off to celebrate a friends birthday downtown and it is sure to be a blast!!....im sure there will be notes of it tomorrow…..until then, my dear friends! Buona sera!! J

Ps this is the little old man from yesterdays post J

Abituale (ah – bit- too –al – eh) - Routine

this isnt my friend, but the same park...
...these people meet on this bench every Wednesday im pretty sure...

            ….so today wasn’t really an exciting day, I worked at the kindergarten but I was making a presentation movie for the American teacher to use for the directors of the school, to show her teaching them English but about “Around the World”….afterwards I came home to do homework and just relax….

            …however, the word for today it routine….because Italians are total creatures of habit…they go to the same bars for their caffe…same gelato shops….and most people have a routine of their day no matter what country they live in….so maybe  I just notice it a lot because I live in a neighborhood away from the center of town, so I see the same lady walking her dog at 8:51am passing my gate, on my way to class in the morning…..and the same couple walking around after dinner, passing my building a bit after 8:30 every night….or the man walking to his apartment around the corner, coming back from getting his caffe at the bar, while on my way to the metro on Tuesday mornings….or Giovanni opening the gelato shop saying hello every Tuesday…..everyday its all the same….im sure, I was the exciting sight when I moved into the neighborhood….

            ….but the most adorable routine that I see every day on my way to school is the little old man and his dog sitting on the same park bench….i walk by and he nods towards me and smiles (also, Italy is not like the states, people don’t say hello to those they don’t know on the street…if you do the other person will spend the next half hour trying to figure out how they know you or what you were trying to sell them…..so his nod is a super kind step!)….but every day I pass, tell him good morning and he nods to me with the cutest little smile….rain, snow, or shine….he is there….most days I see one of the school receptionists come out and hand him something, but I don’t know what it is…..

            …I am hoping that one day he will return my good morning and start talking to me….unfortunately by Italy’s standards im doing more than I really should be haha….now I am supposed to just stay at this much interaction…id love to be his friend….im sure he has the best stories (after all I think he is just “sitting and watching the belly buttons go by”…don’t you think momma) ….but for now he is a great part of my morning routine….no matter how tired I am in the morning, stressed about school, homesick or just don’t want to be going to school…..he looks up as I pass and smiles and nods, and I cant help but feel myself start to smile as I say good morning….maybe this wont be a large enough memory to be something that I tell my kids about…but for now, it’s a pretty neat memory for me to have….

…ill do my best to become his friend so that you can see him my faithful blog readers (btw thank you very much, Im so blessed that you care to hear about my journeys)….but if that doesn’t happen soon, Ill just sneak you a pic J…..until tomorrow have a great day J

Panoramica (pan-O-ram-E-ca) - Overview

....todays post is just a montage of our study abroad parents weekend :) today I went to class early, then went out to a great last lunch with mom, dad, and Eliana....before taking mom and dad to catch their bus for Milan....where they will spend the night and be on a plane tomorrow morning.....so here are just a few of the bazillion memories that we made these past 5 days....i cannot believe that they came, and truly, that they are now gone....it feels like they were here forever, and that those days flew, at the same time....i LOVED having them here....i dont think that I have ever enjoyed a time with my parents so much (with the exception of our Europe soccer trip)....there was just something about this....it truly was the most fun....

...kissing picture to start off...it was their anniversary after all :)...

...mom saying, look at how big my plate is!!...

....valentines gift from mom....my word "attraversiamo"

....delish desserts from Eataly...

....tramming it on the Basilica di Superga adventure...

....all the love....

....snacks and maps, pretending we were tourists...

...mom giving Eli her valentines gift....a pendent that says "Daughter   USA" on one side...
..and the date 14-1-14, the day i moved in, on the other....

new best friends...

...mom loves saying she is taking "selfies"...man shes cute :)

...i think this is, dont let molly give directions...

she really liked this pot...

...asked me if i wanted a bite of her cone, but when I went for it...
...i slurped out her last bit of gelato instead....

...mom loved any and all water fixture
that came straight out of the wall...

...a happy boy at the wine tasting...

...loving traveling with this guy...

...as close as i was allowed to the Nutella factory...

...the air in Alba smells like Nutella...we just loved the smell...
...its what heaven smells like i think...

....great adventures at the Porta Palazzo Market...
...the largest in Europe..

...let it be written in history, this woman ate raw veal...
....and a sunny side up egg....

...at the top of the Mole....
...love this lady...

...spent time in line, just because I really wanted to go up the Mole...they are the best people...

...took mom to Zara, like I shop at H&M..
...every one in the area :)...

..we found a round about way to Stadio Olympico..

...she had brought me the best snacks....shes the best mom...

....a combined family dinner....pizza by the meter :)...

...playing the "mmmmm delicious" game with my host brother...
...he LOVED it!...just like Elliot does...

...some final prosecco together while waiting for the bus...

....mom and dad, I cant thank you enough for all that you did for me, everything you provided for me this week and most of all, the sacrifices you made to be able to come visit me here....all the way in italy....thank you for crossing an ocean and 4500 miles to hug me....I cant convey to you, how much it meant to me....and how much it confidence and bravery it gave me....no matter the tears at the bus station today, I feel stronger after seeing you.....i miss you already.....thank you for coming for part of this grand adventure....fly home safe, and tell those back home I love them......i love you so so so much...

....che é stato un grande gioco.....bonus words for today: "that was a great game"....