World's Worst Blogger

Hello again! I know it has been far too long since my last post, but I have been on the go for about two months straight!  Rome has been treating me very well.  The weather has been 70 degrees and sunny for about a week and I've even gotten a little color.  I'm crossing my fingers it will stay this way at least until the family leaves.  They come the 17th! Can't wait!
Since my last post I've traveled to London, Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and Florence.  Almost went to to Amsterdam, but the Italian website we booked our tickets through didn't actually book our tickets.  Typical.

London: Absolutely amazing.  Fell in love with the Tate Modern, and the Elgin Marbles were breath-taking.  My only complaint was that I didn't have enough time (or money...London is expensive!)

Also, happened to run into my twin at Westminster Abbey.  Marian High School just happens to be taking over the world....be warned.

The highlight of Barcelona was the Picasso Museum, which showed a lot of his drawings and earlier works that I love.  Gaudi was a little....gaudy, but still very cool.  The night life was awesome, especially because half of the Boston College class of 2012 was there.  Had dinner with Will BJ, who had grown a mustache for God knows why.  He rocked it though.  On Sunday morning before my flight we went to the Gothic Cathedral where we saw the locals dance the sardana.  Made Mama proud.

Me, Will (not the one with the mustache though), and Anna in front of Sagrada Familia.  That's one crazy building.

Madrid has some beautiful museums, and we definitely got lucky with the weather.  Not so much with the hostels though.  Along with creepy Russian men asking us to go "yogging" (we assumed they meant jogging), there was also a 2am curfew which really cuts into the nightlife.  We found ways around it, so no hard feelings MuchoMadrid....but seriously get with the program.

Megan, Leslie, Justine, and me in Plaza España.  Two thirds of the roomies reunited and it felt SOOO GOOOD.

From Madrid I took the train to Sevilla to meet Megan.  I don't know if it was the weather, the company, or the tinto, but Sevilla was paradise.  The Islamic-inspired architecture was gorgeous and made me feel like I was somewhere exotic.  It was also pretty nice to be able to communicate somewhat, even if my Spanish is rusty at best.  We saw a Flamenco show (in the birth place of Flamenco!) and ran into some BC girls.  Small world.

Megan and I at the Alcazar, a Muslim palace


Also, there's this tradition where the locals dress up on Semana Santa and there are pictures in all the souvenir shops of it.  Cool right?  Wrong.  They all look like KKK members.  And there is an obsession...

 

They even made chocolate figurines of them....seriously?

So those are some of my adventures.  I'll try seriously to post more, even though I only have about a month left :(

I almost get hit by a car everyday

So anyone who has ever been to Rome (or any big city for that matter) knows that the drivers here should probably be institutionalized.  They don't care if you are walking across a cross walk, they keep going...and then yell at you for being in the way.  And they park wherever they want.  Literally anywhere. Like the smart cars don't even parallel park they just back in.  And the best part about it is that the authorities don't care.  Actually, I think they encourage it, considering that when the yellow light comes on the green light doesn't go off.  I don't want anyone to misunderstand my tone, it's really entertaining, and riding in taxis is a blast (until the driver rips the poor americanas off). I love that here, yellows lights officially mean speed up. That's what everyone does anyway.

Apparently being in Italy makes one an awesome chef...

Two days ago Megan, Anna, Max and Timmy (all BC kids) came over to our apartment where we cooked a phenomenal pasta dish. Sausage and mushroom cream sauce over FRESH pappardelle pasta with prosciutto wrapped melon to start.  Honestly, the hardest part of the entire cooking process was figuring out how to turn on the stove.  The instructions they gave us were not only confusing but also just wrong.  It's pretty old school, you actually have to light it.

Max was on melon duty

Timmy grated the parmesan, and Megan, Anna and I made the sauce and pasta

(That's Megan)

Here's the recipe if anyone wants to try it, we didn't follow it exactly though so I encourage improvisation:

1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 lb. sweet sausage (casings removed)
1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 1/4 c. heavy cream
Parsley
Pasta
Parmesan cheese

In skillet, heat butter over medium heat. Add minced garlic, saute 2 minutes. Add sausage and mushrooms. Saute, breaking up sausage until cooked. Add heavy cream and simmer 3 minutes. Toss in parsley. Serve over your favorite hot, cooked pasta with Parmesan cheese.

(courtesy of cooks.com)

FINALLY

So I'm finally in Rome.  Actually I've been here since Monday, but have been crazy busy hitting the sites and da clubbz.  So far we've been to the the Musei Capitolini, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Vatican, and got a noise complaint.  But seriously Italians....I love your marble floors and all but if you guys are gonna get your panties in a bunch about hearing our boots click when we get home at night CARPET YOUR FLOORS.  That is all.

So the first night in Rome some of us went out on the town.  We found some fun places, I had some champagne (because I'm a high roller) and in the wee hours of the morning we decide it's about time to head home.  Max Hartman is an excellent navigator most of the time but that night he basically led us in the opposite direction of our apartments and lo and behold it's the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.

This little surprise may or may not have brought tears to my history loving eyes, but that's not important.  Also, we met this guy who told us that his cousin was the king of Lebanon, and that he wanted to take Rachel (my new roomie!!) to Milan and pay for everything.  But we're pretty sure that's code for "I'm gonna take you to Milan and sell you into sex slavery."

So we've been around, saw some pretty art, some pretty views, had some squisito food.  There is just old stuff lying around, IT'S AWESOME.

This is from the Musei Capitolini, one of the ancient bronze sculptures given by some pope to start the museum.  Romulus and Remus drinking some wolf milk (shout out to JK Rowling) about to go start Rome.

Then we hit up the Pantheon, no big deal.  It was cloudy though, so that bummed me out.  Dorothy and I plan on coming back when it's sunny and again when it's rainy because this place is so cool.  Also, Raphael's dead body is in there.

Then we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and I threw a coin in so I get to return to Rome.  Shout out to Bernini...that guy sure knows how to sculpt.

This morning we walked to the Vatican and got to see some gorgeous views of the city.

That's me and my roomie Rachel.  She goes to Emory and we are having a blast together.

We walked to the top of St. Peter's dome and I almost had a heart attack because the stair case was SO LONG and SO SMALL.  That's me and Dorothy who goes to BC with me.

The Vatican is beautiful and I can't wait to go back and see the museum there.

Until next time....

Will Work for Shoes...literally

So today I'm filling in for the Lofgrens at their new shoe store Tootsies La Jolla.  And it's slow to say the least.  So after cleaning (duh) and beautifying and putting a little Wilson spin on some displays, the next most obvious thing to do is try on shoes.  What do I go for?  One of the least practical pairs of shoes they have.  Particularly impractical because I'm going to Rome--where cobbles stones are the preferred method of paving--for 3 and a half months.

Jeffery Campbell 99 Tie--I don't care how cruel it is to my feet, I want them.

The birth of my blog

Welcome to Via Sophia...where my family and friends can keep tabs on me while I live in Rome and eat and drink myself across Europe.  I know I'll get lost like a million times, and definitely gain a few lbs...but it'll be worth it!

So in preparation, Nico and I made pesto. We don't follow instructions well but it turned out delicious anyway because we're naturally gifted.

notice the happy birthday sign in the background that still hasn't been taken down from Jan. 9th...we're really organized in the Wilson household.