It all started at UVSC. Ashly and I were both signed up for a study abroad project however I was not special enough to go to Italy and was planning on staying in London. About a month before we were supposed to leave I got a call saying one of the girls had backed out of Italy and I was able to join. This ment getting flights and everything figured out for another country in any a few weeks. Well I went to the first meeting after I found and everyone already really knew each other except for me. There were only two boys Todd and Ashly (at this point I thought Ashly was Todd). Well I left that meeting as soon as possible because we were leaving to Disneyland that night. Meeting number two happened on a wedding my family was involved in. We were setting everything up and working hard and I had to leave to go to the meeting well my dad wanted to get out as well so he went with me. The meeting was short and I don't remember anything about it except I now know Ashly is Ashly and not Todd. Well on the way back to our car my dad said well that Ashly kids seams pretty nice. how funny I mean I hadn't even really even met him or talked to him at all. Next time we will meet in Italy.
Now I am fling to Italy all I know is that I will be the first one to arrive in Italy and most people will be there an hour after me. So my plane lands an hour earlier and I don't know what to do so I find my suit case and I wait by the luggage carousels assuming I will at sometime see everyone else here. Well a little later Most of the other people make it and Steve our director is now there as well. So we make it to our hotel and wait for our rooms. Ashly is still not here yet. I was the first one in Italy and now I am the last one to get a room at the hotel. Little did we know, but the four of us who had to wait forever to get our room got the best room of all. Instead of having one small room with four small beds and a little bathroom we had a door that opened up into three doors on that lead to the bathroom and the other two that lead to our rooms. There were two beds in each room which mean I really only shared a room with one girl Erin instead of with four. Also we had a balcony that wrapped all the way around the corner of the hotel, it was huge and awesome.
On day one I didn't know anyone I just knew I was rooming with Erin and that Colette and Emily were in the other room. Well Colette was with Ashly so they made it there a little later. Well Colette needed something from a store so she asked if wanted to come so we did. We didn't know where anything was or anything at all. So we wandered and found things a little. Meanwhile turns out Ashly's credit card company was giving him trouble to he had to call people and try to get it fixed. We all met up and later with Steve and we had dinner at the hotel just like every night. The next day our first real day in Italy Steve gave us our passes and showed us how to use the metro. He then gave us maps and we all looked at them and tried to figure out where we were going. We got of the metro at Colosseo like we couldn't figure it out how dumb. But anyways we were all walking with our maps in the station and Steve told us to look up and there right in front of us across the street was the Colosseum. Obviously we went to the roman forums and everything right by the colosseum and just learned about everything. It was gorgeous and everything you imagined it would be. We then went into the colosseum and continues our lecture. When were finished Steve told us to have fun and to back for dinner at the hotel. I still didn't really know people so me and Erin stuck together. We couldn't really find anyone so we left on an adventure of our own. First we left the colosseum and just started walking. We ended up getting on the metro and going to the museum of modern art because we herd they had a cool new exhibit thing going on and Erin wanted to see it so why not. Well we made it there and it was fine nothing great. We wondered around around for a long time then we found the knew cool thing we had heard about and it was soo fun. They had different big blocks that were rooms and each room had something cool or different about it. The one room was pitch black and you once you got in you literally couldn't get out, another one had a giant strobe light with mirrors. There were quite a few and they were all so fun and different, We just laughed and never stopped. We then were tired and didn't want to walk all the way back up the big hill to the metro stop and there was a bus stop right in front of us so Erin said why not and we got on. Now problem one we don't know where we are, problem two we don't know how to get to our hotel and problem three we don't speak or read Italian. So we get one and just hope well after traveling for a while we finally decide that was are just getting more lost so we get off in a little part or town that by the way we never made it back to again, but anyways Erin just started to try to talk to anyone and get help. Well turns out we got off in the only place where no on understood us. We finally found someone who told where a metro stop was. We eventually made it back to where things were and then back to our hotel. By this time it was well into dinner and we were just getting back. So we walked in laughing so hard we couldn't even walk and sat down for dinner. From that moment on Erin and me were the funnest people on our trip.
Well Erin and me were unstoppable ever since out adventure together we did everything together and had soo much fun doing it. We explored saw new things and always laughed along the way. Erin slowly convinced Ashly to start going places with us and to sit at our table at dinner. I think she knew I liked Ashly before he even knew if he liked me and I never told her anything. Well one night Erin and me got all dressed and were all cute and planned on going to the Vatican that evening. Well Ashly can in and we invited him and he said he couldn't apparently he was a very popular man and several groups of girls had already asked him to come with them to wherever. Now Erin is not dumb so she pulled the but we got all dress up and cute (which was actually true) card on him and it worked (it wasn't too hard I knew he secretly told everyone no because he wanted to go with us.) Well that night turned out be one of the best nights ever. We took funny pictures and just goofed around at the Vatican while nobody else was there (some hilarious pictures of us were taken at this time but mostly of Erin cuz she is the funny one.) We laughed the whole way back to our hotel and got in the elevator because we couldn't walk because we were laughing to hard and then Erin said something that took Ashly to the floor. He actually fell on the floor laughing which then just made us laugh even harder. Still one of the best nights of my life.
Now for the first time were completely alone without others from our trip (and the first time I knew this was more than just a fun time with a cute guy). We went to the Vatican that day to see the museum and to go learn about the different things actually inside the church. We had been to the Vatican several times before but we had to been in it. After our lesson Steve told us if you want the best view of Roma to go to the top St. Peters Basilica. So most of us decided to do that. Well you only have walk up ten million and sixteen stairs to get there. Anyways we all hiked up there and took pictures and slowly people started to leave. Well it was crowded and you couldn't always get close to the edge so ash stood right behind and yes he did the classic reach over move thing. It was great though exactly what I wanted. So we stayed up there forever because we could and why not, something you only see in once in your life I was not missing out and maybe I didn't want Ashly to leave. So everyone from our group leaves and finally we do to. Well we get down and out of the Basilica and are take pictures of the columns and the cool things in the Vatican. Ashly decided to hold my hand for the first time and of course me being be I immediately told him he was doing it wrong and that he needed to do it this way. It was awesome. Then we walked back to our hotel because it is close to the Vatican you can actually see the Vatican from my way cool balcony. Anyways on the way we saw a gold van just like my moms, it looked like a bus on the road it was big and funny.
The next day we went to Tivoli with a bunch of the people a gorgeous place. It is like a national park in Italy it had big beautiful waterfalls. Then on our last day in Italy we went back to the Meditchi park which we had been to many times before and we sat over looking Roma and watched the sun set. There were many people doing the same thing it was gorgeous. Like you could guess this was the first time Ashly kissed me. It was perfect. That was my favorite place in Roma and it just got better.
Then we left to Firenze. We did tons of fun things in Firenze, at gillato every night on the Ponte Vecchio pretty much the greatest weeks ever. By this time Ashly and I spent all our time together just walking around and seeing all of the different sight. It was my birthday and on that day i went up and ate breakfast like I always did and when I got back to my room Ashly had left a card and flowers on my bed it was cute and also he had gone and got my picture done by one of those people on the street. It was so amazing he had gone printed out a picture of me and had them draw it. After our lesson that day we went to lunch at a nice place for my birthday and my friends had candles and had the waiter bring out a "cake" with the candles in it for me. It was great and so much fun. That night at dinner Ashly brought me roses because he is the greatest. The best birthday ever, in Italy with great friends and my future husband. On the last day in Firenze we took one of the buses to an overlook of the city that Steve had recommended we do. It was of course gorgeous. We went at night so the city was all lit up and you could see for miles. We found a cute restaurant that looked like it was built into the mountains with windows along the whole side so you could see the view. We had the best food I have ever eaten in my life. I had pasta filled with gnocchi with this amazing pink sauce. I ate every last bite. Still to this day the best food ever.We went back to our hotel and left the next day to Venenzia.
Venenzia was fun we only a few days here at the end of our trip. The best thing we did was went and fed the pigeons at the Piazza St. Marco. It was so crazy they literally just swarm you, fun and a little creepy. It was fun enough that I did it twice in the few days we were there. We went and watched them blow glass and did a few other things Venenzia but soon it was time to go and Ashly to stay and meet up with Kenny. I still very jealous about but I am glad him and Kenny got to go and have fun together. Well Ashly helped me carry my bags to the taxi who would take us to the airport and on my way i realized my passport was still in my save at the hotel. Well Ashly ran all the back to the hotel managed to get and run all the back to me. That is how you know its true love when they will run three miles in a few minutes just because you were dumb and left something. After that I flew home. There is just a little about my adventures in Italy.
