First Day in ROMANIA!

Hey everyone!

So now that I have successfully visited my dream land (Italy)

I have continued on to do my dream internship in

ROMANIA! 

These are my really lovely roommates that I will be spending the next few months with 

working in the orphanage and in the hospital/clinic. 

Left to Right: Jodi, Me, Britta

LOVE THEM!

:)

This is our teeny tiny elevator. It is a darling, rickety creation

with just a touch of scary.

Did you notice how all the buttons are different? 

I love that too. Ha 

 

When I say it is small I mean SMALL.

As in it can comfortably fit one super cute roommate in it. 

...Or me acting really stupid. 

 

Well welcome everyone! This is where the magic happens.

Cooking, eating, doing laundry. 

Super exciting stuff in this post so just

bear with me for a bit. 

Our apartment has a few signature gems that I will 

lay out for you.

Gem #1:

This random plank of wood in our bathroom.

Is it there just in case there is a really big spider?

Or maybe it is to prop the door shut since it does NOT lock.

Scotch tape along the door and a plank of wood is what we found.

I give props to the creativity of this make-shift lock.

Bravo.

 

Gem #2

We don't actually have a shower.

It's more like a spray nozzle I would use for a hose.

It took me a few attempts to figure out how to successfully get my

entire body wet without falling over. 

I'm still a little unsteady some mornings. :)

Gem #3:

Our apartment came fully furnished.

Furnished as in little china tea sets, shot glasses, and figurines of

horses....but my personal favorite...

A little boy peeing?

...

Hmm

...

My roommate Britta has some pretty fantastic ones in her room too.

Sometimes she plays with them.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

:)

Gem #4:

 The Medusa Cactus

 This is an obvious necessity in anyone's home.

Martha Stewart should do a segment on grooming

one of these babies.

The extent of our care for it went as far as braiding its 

spiky little arms.

Gem #5:

Pig-Faced Girl Painting

This glorious creation is in my room (Gem #6).

I was instantly choked up when I saw it.

Some of the other girls believe that is a severed

dolls head next to her.

Obviously it is a recreation of  the scene from The Godfather

made for naughty children.

Instead of a severed horse head in the bed...

it's her precious dolly.

I'm speechless nonetheless.

 Gem #6:

We drew from a hat (actually a small trinket bowl we found)

which room we would take.

Hot dog I won the dining room!

Hahahahahaha!

Ya, that's a dining room table people.

Is that a real bed you ask?

Nope. 

A couch bed.

Is it comfy?

It's like floating on a cloud!

:)

Pros and cons people.

 

 Gem #7:

Laundry machine?

Check!

(Rattling and shaking is an added bonus)

Dryer?

Nope!

Instead we hang it.

Where you ask?

My room of course! 

Hahaha!

My room also has a t.v., a balcony, and the rope for 

hanging laundry.

I really can't complain though because I get such a pretty view!

I know that the other girls get views of the city...

but I actually love my view of trees, bloc apartments, a park, 

and just the neighborhood.

Just my style.

:)

 

Gem #8:

Our stove and oven have to be lit.

I am afraid of fire.

Luckily my roommates are champs and make

sheep cheese pizza on the top of pots for me.

Here's Britta with her pot of pizza. 

YUM!

Seriously people I LOVE this apartment and I LOVE every single

little GEM. :) 

ROMANIA you ROCK!

Roamin' in Rome

Final Stop in Italy?

ROMA

I LOVED the Colosseum. 

What can I say? I'm a gladiator fan.

Well, I am a fan of Russell Crowe in The Gladiator.

(T.V. Edited version only people!)

It was absolutely incredible to see one of the greatest architectural 

creations in Italy. 

Did you know they used to have mock sea battles inside the Colosseum?

Or that they would have animal hunts?

Executions?

Re-enact famous battles?

Perform classic theater?

I didn't think it was possible for it to become even more spectacular

but I am more than happy to be surprised. :)

I was REALLY happy to be inside the Colosseum.

Jenna got to experience my excitement. Ha.

There would sometimes be a covering over the bottom where they would 

have performances.

Those tunnels are where they kept slaves, animals,

or they would flood it for boat battles.

AWESOME.

Oh, hey there Arch of Constantine. 

Congratulations on being a triumphal arch built by the Roman Senate 

to commemorate the defeat of Maxentius in 312.

P.S. I think you're pretty. :)

Italy had some WILD fashion. 

The women were all stunning and ridiculously fashionable.

I guess I would never have thought that tie-dye and 

polka dot tentacles would be a hit.

Boy, was I wrong!

Italy knows best.

What is the smallest country in the world?

Vatican City.

Did I go there?

Yep. 

Did I kiss the sphinx inside the museum?

Yep.

The Vatican museum is like a rat maze with no clear way out.

It forces you to see outstanding artistic masterpieces before

getting to the Sistine Chapel.

Darn it! :)

But luckily we did make it to the Sistine Chapel.

It says no pictures...

Oops!

:)

Did you know it took Michelangelo over 4 YEARS to paint this ceiling?

Most of that time he spent on his back on a scaffold painting it.

Not bad, not bad at all Michelangelo!

Some of my favorite pictures aren't from any of the ancient cathedrals, 

or bridges, etc. but are from the people that I saw in Italy.

My brother asked me if I had seen a monkey with an accordion yet.

No, but I did see an adorable father-son duo rocking out on the streets of Rome.

Close enough!

Ever wonder where the apostle Peter was buried?

No?

Me neither!

But I got to see his tomb anyways!

 

Um....WOW was all I could say. 

Breathtaking, illuminating, big, shiny, neat-o.

I am running out of adjectives to describe the detail work and awe-inspiring

architecture in Italy.

 

I wish I may 

I wish I might 

wish the wish I wish...

in the TREVI FOUNTAIN!

I make wishes on everything.

Birthday candles,

eyelashes, 

highway tunnels,

shooting stars,

ANY fountain 

(excluding drinking fountains).

But I am pretty sure that my wish HAS to come true if I made it in 

the largest and most famous Baroque fountain in Italy right?

Right!

Fresh cut coconut.

One euro.

Sweet, sweet goodness!

Well, everyone it is time...

This was my very last adventure in Italy.

The Pantheon!

Julia and I were SO happy to find out that this was in Rome and not 

in Greece.

 (The Parthenon is in Greece for those slightly confused people. 

Now you don't have to Google it like I did.)

Well, that's all folks! My trip to Italy has come to a happy end.

It was incredible, outstanding, inspiring, beautiful, delicious, and any

other compliment you can think up!

But ya know what? 

My adventures are not over because now I am in ROMANIA!

Posts about Romania, the orphanage, 

my awesome new roommates, learning a new language,

and gypsies can now BEGIN!

P.S.--Sorry this post was so long but it's pretty hard to sum up Rome in a paragraph and have pictures!

 

Siena = Fairy Tale Princess Land

Hi.

My name is Moriah and I am in love....

with...

SIENA! 

Thinking about Siena gets me all flustered with happy thoughts.

Amazing scenery on the train.

Italian man on the train kissing my cheek and hand

and then proposing marriage to me. HA. 

FYI: I said "No, grazie." :) 

The hotel we stayed in was SO cool. It used to be a convent and it overlooked

the city. Take a gander at this beauty of a picture that came from my balcony.

I'm still in shock that I was able to see this view. 

It physically hurt my eyes to look at something so beautiful...

or maybe it was all the cigarette smoke...

either way it was the most beautiful view I have EVER seen!

 

I loved this view so much that I woke up at 6:30AM just to see it again! 

Here it is again. Sorry I'm blocking the view.

 I just wanted to prove that I didn't just Google Siena and post pictures

on here.

This is the path we took to my new favorite restaurant in the world.

The nice chubby Italian statue man guides the way to a happy palate.

 

This is us looking ridiculously cute as we await the best meal of my life.

Truffle sauce is NOT overrated.

I could practically drink truffle sauce. 

The next day when we came back to this restaurant

the cute waiter brought out a dessert that I thought was for us but 

it actually wasn't. He thought it was so funny that he gave

us free dessert! It was SO good!

After eating the most wonderful food of my life I decided to take a course in Italian cooking.

No, just kidding. All I did was try on the hat at a tourist stand.

Cute though, no?

  I'll let you in on a little secret.

Italians know how to build cathedrals. 

Everywhere we went there was something

just like this. I was constantly baffled by the beauty.

May I present the Siena Duomo! 

The flags are in preparation for the coming of the Queen.

No, again I am totally joking. I have no idea why there are flags but it makes

Siena even more like a fairy tale city!

This is the best shop in the history of ever.

Locally grown fruit (TUSCANY grown fruit here people),

Ah-mazing dried fruits, wines, and oils.

I bought a bottle of truffle olive oil!

...

OKAY.

 I bought 5 bottles of truffle olive oil.

:)

This same little shop had something I had never even heard of before...

Edible Gold!

Sorry, it's late and the sarcasm is easier than honesty.

Actually it was a peach.

A delicious, juicy, fuzzy little ball of joy.

Best peach of my life.  

No sarcasm there! 

(Really!)

Ciao Siena! 

Your striking good looks and tasty treats will have

to be passed on to another group of traveling young ladies.

As for me, I'm going to ROME!

Fiery Firenze

Second stop: FLORENCE

I've wanted to go to Florence for years now simply 

because of the movie

 While You Were Sleeping

Don't pretend you don't have a secret wish to fulfill Sandra Bullock's lifelong dream of putting a stamp in her passport and going to Florence. I know you do.

Well guess what? I DID!

We stopped by the Duomo and took some pretty pictures. 
The detail work on this building is extraordinary!

Here is a nice partial group shot of us in front of the Duomo. 
Notice our water bottles?
Yes, all of Italy DOES charge a ridiculous 
amount of money for water. 

We hiked the bell tower which was one of my favorite things 
about Florence. It was a bit of a hike...414 steps DOMINATED.
We thought we had reached the top of the bell tower after one flight of stairs 
and then someone discovered we still had 3 more to go.
My legs were shaking for the next hour...

But you know what? It was definitely worth it! The view was outstanding. 
Sandra Bullock...this is for you!

I really thought my camera was going to fall to its death but 
this picture actually turned out kind of cool. 
Yeah, Jenna! We made it to the top!

Oh, Florence! I love everything about you! This view was simply breathtaking!

This was breathtaking too...YUM!
This is probably the best picture I have taken yet!
Honestly, someone should just hook me up to an IV filled with gelato.
Really any way to get this stuff into my body ASAP.

Oh, and how could I forget? We went to see the David! 
I had heard about it.
I had seen pictures.
But nothing prepared me for how amazing it actually was.
All of the other sculptures/statues I saw in Italy were
nothing compared to David. 
(Also, did anybody know that it is HUGE?)
(This isn't the actual David. This is just it's replica outside a museum. You can't
take pictures of the real one but just believe me when I say how beautiful it is!)

Well a trip to Florence is nothing without a walk out to the Ponte Vecchio.
This bridge overlooks the water and really encompassed how gorgeous 
Florence truly is.

I could not get enough of the view of Florence and so I took this 
picture inside the Uffizi Gallery  where we saw the Birth of Venus and
my personal favorite, la Primavera!
Stunning. 

We wanted to have at least one really fancy dinner while in Florence and so 
we got all beautiful and went to ZaZa's! 
Delicious food, bread, expensive water, and lovely ladies. 

Bucket List Check-off #2:
GO TO AN OPERA
For those of you who know me you know how much I am in LOVE with operas 
and vocal music. This might be because I sound like a cow giving birth
every  time I sing and so I really appreciate the talent and beauty in operas.
Well, thanks to my WONDERFUL parents I was able to go see my 
very FIRST opera!

We saw La Boheme at St. Mark's and it was great!
I might have fallen asleep in the 4th Act but ya know I was REALLY tired
after exploring Florence all day okay? Ha. 
Still, it was incredible and I can't wait to see another!

Florence was the art capital of my trip to Italy.
Even the street artists blow my mind!
Good-bye Florence! Siena here I come!