Bella Bella, Molto Bene

Wow Italy was a adventure for the record books. I have always wanted to visit this interesting boot, and I`m so glad that it was able to happen with my family. My Ideas of what this place would be like were shattered and replaced with the reality that the way we perceive a culture is often inaccurate.
Seeing my family for the first time in 3 months was wonderful. Skype, emails and letters only go so far for communication. I prefer the real face to face stuff.

Our trip started out in Rome. First off I would like to say that the Sistine Chapel is far from overrated. Everyone should really make an effort to see this in their life time. it definitely didn`t disappoint. Aside from all the sights a real high light for me in Rome was the meals. The food was pretty good, authentic and what not, but just spending hours catching up with Grace and the Padres made it all the more better. We also got the chance to meet up with McCauley Bennet`s family(and Summer) who were visiting Rome as well. It was refreshing to meet up with some more South Carolinians.

After Rome we headed north to the Cinque Terre, which translates to five villages. these five fishing villeges are located on the Italian Riviera close to Genova, and the beauty of these towns rivals anything I had seen previously. We spent some time hiking and enjoying the landscape as well as a nice change in pace after Rome.

Lastly we headed to Florence where we were all reunited with Ryan, Andrew, JD, Porter, McCauley, Summer and other Clemson friends. The combination of the tuscan landscape and the history made this my favorite stop on the trip. Seeing David in the Academia was a big highlight, as well as viewing the city from Piazza di Michelangelo and Fiesole. Mom, Grace and I enjoyed haggling with the street venders, and I am perfectly okay with saying that we all purchased leather bags. Mine very masculine of course. The day trip we took through Tuscany to Siena was very memorable as well. The Duomo there, while not the biggest, is one of the most impressive churches I have ever see. This trip really revived me and I returned to Sevilla this past Saturday ready for more adventure and wonderful experience.


I also wanted to thank everyone for praying for us while in Rome. Sorry about not getting in contact with you all after the earthquake, we really had no idea how bad it was until we reached Florence 3 days later. Thanks for your concerns.


I love all of you

-rob

My Trip up North to the Land of the Frenchies

So the reason I have not written in a fairly long time is that my computer died. I know very sad, but life will go on, and lately life has been pretty sweet despite the loss of my electronic companion.

Going to Paris is not something I have dreamed about since being a little kid. I know that it has the reputatio

n for being very beautiful city among other things, but it wasn’t on the top of my list of places to visit. Luckily my friends here were looking out for me and talked me into going. What an amazing city it turned out to be. My trip up north to Paris started out swimmingly. Traveling to a new country for the first time there is always some anxieties, but those were quickly thwarted when the first view off the metro was the glowing Notre Dame (our lady) dominating the night sky.

The next morning

I hopped on a train to Brussels to meet up with some of my Belgian friends that I made last semester at Clemson. Martial Boland greeted me at the train station, and the whole time I was in Brussels, which was only about 25 hrs, he was the most hospitable/ accommodating person I’ve run into so far here in Europe. He housed my friends Porter and David as well as me for the evening, and showed us a wonderful time in his rainy city. He took us to see the EU parliament building, the Manikin piss, and to a famous pub called Delirium. I also got the chance to catch up with Dorian and Laurence some of my other friends who studied abroad in Clemson last semester. It was wonderful to switch places and be in their city.

The next day Porter, David and I caught a train back to Paris where we spent the next three days soaking in the sites and the atmosphere. We visited the Louver, the Orsey, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel tower, and more.

The highlight of the trip for me was dinner on Saturday night. My friend JD did his research and he led a perfect mix of Ole Miss and Clemson Friends to a little place close to the Luxembourg Park. The food and the atmosphere were perfect, and the combination of that and the company made it one of my all-time best meals. Seeing my friends Graham, Porter, McCauley and Summer was wonderful.

My last night in Paris JD, Porter and I wanted to save a little euro on dinner, so we purchased some baguettes and cheese and a cheap bottle of Bordeaux which we ate and drank under the Eiffel tower. Maybe a little cliché but also another experience I will remember for a long time.