Cinque Terra (A walk through five cities).

This is a project I have been working on for my advanced typography class. It is a visual map through Campo de Fiori, a popular market.

This is the beginning of our hike through Cinque Terra.

Our troop hiking.

This is the second city on our hike. You can see the first one across the water. It took 90 minutes, and was a hard one!

Going up! Very tiny steps.

A pretty view looking over the water.

People even had their dogs with them. Without leashes! I don't think Lyle could do that. One squirrel, and he's a goner.

Some of the girls taking a break.

Very narrow walkway.

Just me, with the second city in the background.

The last city on the walk. We were exhausted, but were able to relax on the train home.

This is at Hadrian's Villa. Cori needed some cash fast, and got a little confused, ha!

100 fountains all in a row.

Me in front of an extremely huge fountain.

My room mate, Kym, just posing before a night out.


Well hello there again! It's been a little while since I have written, but I've got some great pictures! For art history class, we went to Tivoli to Hadrian's Villa, and we also went to another Villa where there were many fountains, it was so pretty to get away from the city for awhile and just hear the sound of water and breath fresh air. On Saturday, we took a day trip to Cinque Terra, that means 'five cities' in Italian. It was a 7 mile hike along the coast of Northern Italy and it goes through 5 villages. It was beautiful! I thought it was going to be a nice walk along the water, but no way. I worked up a sweat! I was cold at the beginning, but after, my 3 layers were down to one. The stairs never ended! It was a 90 minute hike to the second town, and a 90 minute hike to the third town. Then is was a 45 minute hike to the fourth town, then a 20 minute hike to the last town. The first hike was the hardest. We left Rome at 7 in the morning and we got back to Rome at 11pm, taking the train. It was a packed day-trip, and well worth it. Tomorrow we leave on a field trip to Venice and Milan. Our field trip goes until Friday, and then we have the choice to travel on. We will be going to an island named Morano, and it is a big island for glass blowing. Also, we will be taking a hike in Tuscany that includes a wine tour. We don't know if it is going to rain yet, so we might bike it or hike it. On the tour, we will be able to see the place where Leonardo da Vinci used his flying machine. It sounds pretty cool. It is getting colder in Rome. Everyone is starting to buy sweaters and jackets. Our apartment gets pretty cold, too. We've asked for more blankets, but they won't give any to us. I'm starting to actually learn how to cook, weird, huh? Who would have thought a daughter coming from Kim Linafelter could learn how to cook, ha! It's fun finding new combinations to things and such. Anywho, I have nothing much else to say. I have to pack for the trip tomorrow. I just registered for my last semester of classes, oh my goodness it went fast! It looks like I won't be super stressed out, so that will give me time to get my portfolio together. Well, I guess I will post new pictures soon when I get back from Milan and Venice. Until then, ciao!

Keeping up with my studies.

These are three books I made for a book-making assignment. Two are hard cover, and I made the band that goes around the middle one.

This is a drawing I did of a sculpture of a head that is in the Palatine Museum.



Well, this last week we had a famous graphic designer come in named Primo Angeli. He has worked on things such as the Olympics, General Mills, and Sunkist. He is a very well known package designer, and most of us bought his book, which he is going to sign. He lived in San Francisco, but has recently moved to Rome with his wife. Don't be fooled by the name, he is American. We got into groups within our class, and had one week to re-design a badly designed package here in Italy. Our group picked wafers because they are a big sweet treat over here. So, we started from the beginning with research and sketches, and after a week of critiques and re-do's, we came up with three strong designs, one being mine! It was very exciting to have this famous designer critique our work, and at the end, he was SO impressed by all of us. He actually wants us to go to the company we picked and present these re-designs and see if they pick up on them. He was such a cool guy, inspiring and influential. Also, I have been working diligently on my other classes. I have to create an identity (make a logo and signage) for Palatine Hill. It's a very big tourist site, and they say that Rome was started there by Romulus and Remus. Also, in my advanced typography class, I have to create an abstract map from one point to the other in Rome. I picked Campo di Fiori, which is a popular piazza in Rome. I 'm creating my map focusing on different times of the day within Campo di Fiori, so there will be a distinct recognition of morning, noon, and night. Campo di Fiori turns into many things over this period of time (market, soccer games, popular hot spot for youth). It is going to be an accordion fold, hard-cover booklet. In Photography, I have to pick a subject matter to focus on for my final project, and go out and capture that in Rome. Well, that's a quick re-cap of what's been going on. I'm a busy gal, but I think I'll get some great work out of everything. I'm putting a few things I've worked on for pictures, enjoy! Ciao!

Haircuts and such.

My roomie Kayleen had to put this shall on they gave her because her back was showing in the church.

Candles in the church.

Priest sitting in the church.

My apple cheesecake birthday cake Kim made me!

Blowing them out!

It’s been an exciting time around the Montecatini apartment. So far, four girls have gotten their hair cut by Miss Stephanie. My friend who I live with has the gift of being a fabulous hairdresser. I say she starts charging. She has taken before and after pictures, and she should really put them in her design portfolio. With being a great designer, she can also cut hair! Who wouldn’t want to hire her? It’s Friday, which makes it a great day. Steph and I are going to get ‘Café Freddo’ in a little bit. That’s basically cold coffee, but boy does it have a kick. Then, we have Photography class for four hours! I guess I will really need that coffee. I passed my Italian class (it’s pass/fail), so that’s a good thing. I still don’t know how much Italian I know, however. Yesterday, we visited many churches for Art History class. They are so intricate and beautiful. Even being very old, they have been preserved to look new. I was wearing a tank top dress, and my teacher asked me, when we were in the church, to put my sweatshirt on. It’s common courtesy to not have your shoulders showing. They are very strict about it. In the church, you can pay .50 euro to turn the lights on the mosaics for 4 minutes. I thought that was very strange. It is a little dark, but the lights really help, and it’s a way for the church to make money. I spent 3.50 euro on a bottle of ‘Coca Cola Light’ the other day. That hurt. I kept asking the man, “Cuanto cosa?” He acted like he wasn’t listening…now I know why. Other than that, I haven’t been ‘dooped’ at all. I watch my surroundings and am aware of rip-offs. On the train ride home from Naples to Rome, we were all split up in seats. In every car, there are different compartments consisting of 6 seats. I was in a separate compartment by myself, and a man walked by, and saw that I was sitting alone. He stopped, and walked in and sat in my compartment. I knew something was weird about that, so I clutched my purse a little tighter. Then, a group of people from New Zealand stopped at my compartment, and told the man that was their seat. He got up and left, and the 5 New Zealanders joined me in my compartment. I told them they saved my life! It was funny. They ended up being really nice, and even gave me a piece of chocolate. We talked about school, and their travels. It was good. It was Ross’ Birthday yesterday. I sent him a giant cookie through a company in Ames. He got it! We are going to celebrate our birthdays when he gets to Rome on November 16. I can’t wait! I’m excited to spend my birthday money, but it’s SO busy on the weekends to shop. People everywhere, and everything gets pretty picked over. So, I’ll wait for the week. I run to the park almost everyday, and I run by all of the shopping stores. My mouth waters. Purses, boots, skinny jeans, dresses. I want it all! But, I’ve been a good girl so far with holding off. I did get a new purse, though. It was much needed. I got Denice and Clayton’s card today in the mail, what a pleasant surprise! Thank you! I had a really good birthday. Today, Stephanie got a package from her mother with Goldfish, candy corn, granola bars, mac n’ cheese, and oatmeal. Haha. Many people have been getting packages like that. It’s funny. I guess it’s just a piece of home. American products are hard to come by here. Kellogg’s and Dannon are recognizable brands. But now, about the ‘Nutella.’ I knew of Nutella before I came to Rome because we have it in the States. However, it is HUGE here. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a spread that consists of hazelnut and chocolate. It is very good. You can spread it on toast, but many of my roommates eat it out of the jar, haha. I don’t buy it because I don’t want to get addicted. They also have candy bars with it and other sweet things. I think Nutella to them is our Peanut Butter, because peanut butter is very hard to come by. Also, it’s expensive. Well, the Northern field trip is coming up, and that’s to Florence. There are talks of traveling on to Switzerland. That sounds like fun. Well, I have to start doing some homework before my Photography class. My weekend is mostly going to consist of homework. Fun, huh? I’ll see you soon! Ciao for now!

Rome Sweet Rome.

REMINDER: You can click on any picture to make it bigger.


Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts! It made my day great!


This was a toga party that the interior design girls held at their apartment. This is a picture of all of us graphic design kids. Toga toga toga!

This is some cool grafitti right by the train tracks in Naples. I love the color.

Yummy vegetarian pizza at our hostel in Sorrento. Kim and I were in love!

These are a few of my roomies walking on the road by our hostel in Sorrento.

Me on the beach of our hostel in Sorrento. It was beautiful! About 80 degrees, and the water was so salty.

This is a group of us acting like real gladiators at Pompeii. I'm pretty sure everyone thought we were crazy!

This picture is a little haunting. These are casted bodies at Pompeii from the ash. It appears to me that this is a father keeping watch over a mother and child when the eruption was happening.

Doing as the Romans do. (Notice: leaves in hair, and leaves on shirt. Yeah...I planned it. hah.)

This is the view from our the convent we stayed at in Sorrento. It was absolutely beautiful. You can see Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

This is the breakfast the nuns had for us in the morning, they were so nice! Crossants, nutella (I will talk more about this later. It's pretty big in Italy), crackers, and coffee.

Another picture when we were eating breakfast at the convent. You can see the water outside.

In the convent. This reminds me of the book 'Madeline.' All of the beds where the girls sleep.

This is a picture I took when we were at a Pompeii museum in Naples.

Downtown Sorrento at night.

Me at our $60 dinner. All of the ISU kids did it. Four courses! So yummy.

Our apartment at our table. All of the other kids from ISU are around us.

First course: Antipasti (appetizers). Cheese puffs, fresh mozzerella wrapped in a mint leaf, etc.

Second course: Pasta with cheese.

Third course: Fish and potatoes. (I couldn't finish this one. Way too full!)

Fourth course: Lemon creme dessert.

The girls from my apartment in Sorrento.

There was an awesome storm rolling in. This is the view from the convent at night. You can see Mt. Vesuvius. I tried to get the lightning.

Waiting for the train....


Well, this post is going to have to be quick. It's my birthday today, yeah! I'm going out to eat with a few girls from my apartment, and they made me a cake, too! That's why I'm in a hurry to leave because we are eating soon. So, these pictures are a bit of a recap of what's been going on. We went on our 'Southern' field trip this last weekend to Naples, Pompeii, and Sorrento. It was so fun. We took the train from Rome to Naples. Then we went to a few museums. Then we took a bus to Sorrento where we stayed at a convent. This convent was beautiful. The nuns greeted us by waving yelling 'Ciao! Ciao!'. They were so excited to have us kids stay. The convent was right on the water. That night we went to a four course dinner in Sorrento. Woah. I was stuffed. I couldn't finish all of it! It was amazing food, though. The next morning we took the train to Pompeii and was there for a day. So much history. Many things are still in tact, making it such an interesting place. That night we stayed in a hostel in Pompeii. This was the time when our field trip was over, and we went on with the girls from our apartment. The next morning we woke up and went to our hostel in Sorrento. This was right on the water, and oh so cute. Everything was very clean and we were beach bums most of the time. On Sunday, we stayed in the sun, then took a train home that night to Rome. Well, that is a VERY brief overview of my little trip this weekend. Like I said, I've got to get to my birthday dinner. I'm thinking pizza. Hah. I miss you all. And I promise to make a little more time for myself to go in depth about certain things here in Rome. The culture/food/etc. I will write soon. P.S. Sorry for any grammatical errors, I'll fix em' soon! Ciao!