Elena's European Adventure: Italian Weekend (sorry kind of late)

I spent LAST weekend (nov 7-10) in Parma visting some friends. It was a very lazy laid back Italian weekend--just what i needed after being so busy that past weeks.

I arrived late Friday night so we just went back to my friend's villa and had bread, cheese, and pruscetta. I ate SO much! and they made me a birthday cake, which was cute but unfotunately it wasn't that good, which was funny. I ate it anyways though because it made me happy. I felt so rejuvenated seeing all my bc friends after not seeing them for six months.

Saturday morning we walked around Parma. I saw all the old buildings and the churches. Apparently Caravaggio is from Parma so he did a lot of the paintings inside the churches there which were gorgeous. And we had perfect weather. I loved just walking down the cobblestone streets along all the buildings that were painted different shades of yellow and orange. And Saturday night a group of six of us from BC went out for an amazing Italian dinner. I had the best gnocci ever. We biked from their villa to the restaurant. Everyone bikes around there. So i had to try it. It was an experience. I was kind of scared. Because I was using an old bike so it was so wobbly I felt like I was tipping over and I had to ride next to all the buses and cars. But I got the hang of it after awhile and I felt like a local. :)

My friend Andrea, who I was staying with, was very sick and it turns out she had tonsilitis or something. So we had an early night. We pushed her two beds together and curled up in bed and skyped with some of our friends from BC and watched episodes of the Office. It was just like we were back at bc.

Sunday I was suppose to go to Cinqueterre, which is five little towns around this cliff but I missed the train there literally by one minute. I saw it pull away from the platform. It was a very sad moment in my life. So instead, me and Andrea had another lazy Italian day. We went to the doctor together, got gelatto, sat in the park. And later that night we cooked dinner together.

All in all it was a great weekend. Parma is so cute and it just makes you happy to be in a little italian city with perfect weather, good food, and best friends.