Donatello's Mary Magdalene @ the Duomo Museum - I stood in front of it for about 12 minutes just staring at it

The Colosseum in Rome - I could walk around it all day

Paragliding in Interlaken - pictures can't do it justice

45' jump while canyoning in the Swiss Alps - nbd

150' repel to start off the day - the rope was hooked on to a highway guard rail...still don't know how I feel about that

extreme

Taking a break to take some pictures while riding scooters through the Swiss Alps

John and Trey (respectively)

Okay, it's safe to say that it's been a while since I've updated anyone who cares on my whereabouts and whatabouts in Europe. The past 7 days have been a blast from Rome to Switzerland and everything in between. Our entire program went to Rome on Monday and Tuesday in place of class. That place just blew me away with all of its history and remnants of ancient civilization - it was mind boggling to think about everything that we learn about growing up happening on the ground I was walking on. Went through the Vatican and saw the Trevi fountain on Monday - both of which were just jammed packed with people (a common theme throughout Rome). Lunch was on UD so that was a treat as was dinner the next evening. Went to a place that was showing the Duke Notre Dame lacrosse game, met some guys that play for Villanova (or apparently beat Notre Dame earlier in the season so there was some bitterness in their hearts while watching) so that was a good time then called it a night. The next day was filled with churches and other historical sites in Rome. Spent a couple hours in and around the Colosseum and couldn't seem to stop staring at it - needless to say I was bummed I had to leave it. I kept thinking about Gladiator (2000) and looked for traces of Russell Crowe's biceps. Spent some more time hanging around at the Trevi fountain then made my way back to the hotel we were staying at to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner. A short 3 1/2 hour bus ride and we were back in Florence.

The rest of the week was spent in Florence going to different museums and catching up on some schoolwork. I did manage to find a place to trim my hair due to the increasing temperature in Florence. It was a barber shop ran by an elderly Italian guy who spoke very little english so that was an experience - especially when I found out that I agreed to a 9 euro clean shave.

Switzerland. Probably my favorite place in the world. The scenery is breathtaking and everyone is your best friend. It was in the 70's the whole weekend and you could still see snow on top of the mountains (which were in every direction). Interlaken is a funny little town settled in between two lakes that are surrounded by mountains. For being such a popular place for college tourists to go to it was so chill and laid back and not crowded at all. We rolled in around 9 or 10 and got settled in our hostel room then walked around a bit before crashing for the night since we had to wake up pretty early to sign up for things. 8am hits and me and Trey Stuckenschnieder were all set to go for paragliding and canyoning. Paragliding was sweet - we drove 3000 feet up a mountain to the "launch point", clipped in with our guide and took off. Before I knew it I was flying around over mountains and across lakes. 20 minutes later we do a hand-full of corkscrews and land. Such an incredible view and really cool experience. Canyoning was a bit more extreme. 12 of us drove an hour away to a canyon, suited up in our canyoning suits (intense wetsuits), and repelled down a 150 foot cliff to get to our starting point in the river. So for about 2 1/2 hours we were wading through a river, jumping off of 45 foot cliffs, sliding down rocks, and having the time of our lives. Our guides led us through everything with somewhat vague detail on what exactly we were supposed to do. A common bit of advice was "don't f*** this up or you're done for, cancelled" - pretty comforting if you ask me. The water was bone cold but it really only affected our hands and face (everything else was covered). All in all it was a great day. Back at the hostel (which was really a college kid's haven complete with an outdoor grill/patio, living room, dining room, basement bar, and rental equipment) they had the Italy/Switzerland friendly match on so a bunch of people crowded around the t.v. and watched that then headed to bed. Woke up the next morning at 4am to someone in our room pleading for a bucket as he vomits all over himself. Then again at 6am. And again at 8am. Needless to say it was a very broken night of sleep but surprisingly I felt very well rested. Found out I had to catch a 1:30 train out of Interlaken so I had around 3 1/2 hours to kill so me and Trey decided to rent mopeds and ride through the Swiss Alps (doesn't everyone want to kill time doing that?). It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life. The scenery was beautiful, the air was clean, and we had absolutely no POA, just riding through the mountain back roads. We stopped at some place for lunch about 35 minutes outside of Interlaken then headed back. I returned the scooter, bought a knife, and hoped on a train to Florence. It was rough having to leave and honestly if I didn't have a midterm the next day I probably would have stayed.

Wow, hopefully I won't have to fill you in on an entire week again. But it was fun thinking back on it. We'll see what this week has in stock - I literally have no plans yet. I like it.