sleep.
get up and lay in bed.
breakfast.
watch "the real world".
lunch.
watch more "real world".
watch "the city" because there are no more "real world" episodes.
dinner.
watch "engaged and underaged" or ANY OTHER possible show on mtv.com
go to bed.
repeat all weekend.
...with a few bathroom breaks inbetween.
so you didn't miss much.
HOWEVER... these past few days have been hectic/incredible, so we'll start with them:
Before I get to Babs and Dean, I'll first recall my days in Lake Como and Milan. Now, I know you all are dying to know, so I'll give you your answer before I write another word: NO, i DID NOT make out with George Clooney in Lake Como at his mansion on the water (sigh). YES, i did a double-take at every salt-and-pepper-haired attractive middle-aged man (you'd be surprised at how many there are...) and YES, i did buy a postcard of "his house" (and by one i mean six.)
THAT BEING SAID...
VISIT LAKE COMO. George Clooney or not, it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Brittany, Anndel and I had one of those perfect days: great food, tasty gelato, pretty weather (we even had a rainbow, no joke.) It was just... sigh. So GO. You won't regret it.
We missed our train to Milan (read onward to hear about MORE missed transportation.) but thankfully those come every hour, so while we were waiting I purchased "fake nail tips" and tried to put them on in the train station. You can imagine how that turned out. 2 euros down the train with nothing to show for it. Apparently everyone predicted that outcome except me.
Milan was... hmm... how do i describe it... very... New York-ish? It was much more of a modern city than Rome, that's for sure. The duomo was beautiful, but right next to it was a jumbo screen and an exhibit on "the future". Don't get me wrong, the city was great, I just wasn't expecting everything to be so... up-to-date. Apparently I've lived in Rome too long because I think grocery stores with more than 5 aisles are jaw-dropping, and the only thing modern in St. Peter's Basilica is the metal-detector.
So I left early sunday morning for Venice... wait wait wait, I'm starting this all wrong...
Once upon a time, my parents decided to plan a trip to visit their favorite daughter in Italy (me, obvi.) However, instead of rushing to Rome to see her, they decided to make it a three-city trip and see Venice and Florence BEFORE Rome (don't worry, I'm not irritated or anything that they weren't in a hurry to see me... or that this became a "let's see italy" trip rather than a "let's visit Kelsey because we miss her so much" trip. Not irritated one bit. ONE BIT.)
SO, because I love surprises (and because i'm A-mazing) I decided to surprise them in Venice! So I tricked them into being in front of St. Mark's Basilica at 11:30 (you don't need to know how, just that I am genius.) and politely tap my dear ol' dad on the shoulder from behind saying "scusi". Of course he turned around and didn't know who the heck i was for about 4 seconds, but once he realized it was his wonderful daughter the "what?! how?!" came out and the tears were flowing and we actually did a "family love" in St. Peter's Square (translation: family love is a longstanding Conklin gesture similar to a group hug). I usually would be embarrassed but I admit, i was just so darn gleeful.
Venice was beautiful! Seriously, the place is ON water: no cars, just boats. So we "boated" (is that a word?) all around, saw a museum or two, ate LOTS of gelato (you can't get Babs and Dean away from that stuff...) and even did a Gondola ride (i didn't feel like the third wheel or anything on a "romantic" gondola ride WITH MY PARENTS. third wheel is bad enough, with your parents, you can only imagine). But then again, how can you not do a gondola ride in venice?... I can only hope next time it'll be with someone other than mom and dad...
As mentioned before, there was a bit of a "missed transportation" incident. To put it simply: i missed my plane back to Rome. NOT MY FAULT THOUGH (ha, i love saying that) I went to the wrong airport ("Treviso" is NOT in Venice, don't let RyanAir fool you) and then got tricked by a cab driver and basically ended up spending 6 hours traveling to 2 airports, 3 different cities, taking a boat, cab, 2 buses, a train and ANOTHER boat back to my parents' hotel. The only good thing that came out of that was complete sympathy for me (aren't parents the best?!), free breakfast the next morning, and a tag-along journey to Florence! Okay, so I guess a lot came out of missing that plane... YAY?
Florence was great the second time around! This time I didn't eat most of my meals in an American Diner (not that i regret that the first time there) and I even visited the Uffizi! ...something that only an art nerd like me would find fascinating. Botticelli IS cool.
I don't even know how I can begin to break down these past 6 days, but it's worth a shot:
1: Lake Como was wonderful. Making out with George would've made the trip that much better, but you can't have it all.
2: Milan is the opposite of Rome in that you can't find a clothing store in Rome because there are too many restaurants. You can't find a restaurant in Milan because there are too many clothing stores.
3: Do something nice for your parents. They'll love it. And buy you dinner.
4: Florence never gets old.
5: I never mentioned that this blog is being typed out on my NEW COMPUTER! I finally have one here in Italy! And my dad named it using this train of thought: "Kelsey, name it Gwyneth Paltrow".
"Okay, but why dad?"
"Because what's her daughter's name?"
"...Apple... ohhhhhhh, ha."
"You have a Mac, get it?!"
That's just a little taste of Dean Conklin's idea of humor. You should get to know him better, you'll be a better person because of it.
On that note, I have to go clean my apartment for the arrival of Babs and Dean in Rome tomorrow morning! Rome. Easter. Babs. Dean. Me. Can life get better? I think not.
p.s. shoutout to Cole Strange! Sorry you were forced to go to Proms (yes plural) with me. I owe you.
p.p.s. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY KYLE FICARRA. Thanks for being my best friend. Cole only had to do Prom with me. You have to do life with me. Poor thing.
C to the IAO.
