Thanksgiving, Lax, and Roma= My November

Sooooo Thanksgiving was a success and it seemed that everyone enjoyed the food. The goose turned out okay although it was so hard to find the meat. I wasn't the biggest fan but the kids really liked it and there was so much other food that it was okay even if you didn't like the meat. 

Cooked goose.

Opa carving the goose.

Garlic bread, glazed carrots, Jan;es gooey potatoes, yummy salad, sweet potato casserole, and not pictured is the corn casserole and the stuffing which were both awesome. So all in all I'd say a successful first Thanksgiving

Christian, Oma who isn't looking, Opa, Me and Florian. 

Oh and the pumpkin pie that I made entirely from scratch. 

Everything else in the everyday has been pretty much the same. I got to go to Göttingen, pretty much 3 hours just straight west of Köln. There was an indoor box lacrosse tournament that I got to play in with the Köln team and it was an absolute blast. It was pretty much a big lock in at the Göttingen sports club with 16 teams from all over Germany. We got there late Friday night and there was a huge party going on there so it was really cool to be there for that. They had a ping pong table and people were playing beer pong which I guess is a pretty uncommon thing for them. That night there were people just sleeping anywhere there was space so that's what I mean by a big lock-in. Saturday the games started at 9 and went all the way to I think 8:30. They alternated between men's and women's and each had 8 teams, one being a pick-up team. So we had 3 games and I played 2 pick-up games...so much lacrosse and so much fun. It was also cool to see how close the men's and women's teams are at Köln in that whenever they were playing, we were watching and vise versa. That night there was a big party at a bar for the whole tournament so we all walked there about a half hour together. It was like lacrosse players on parade which was really cool. I got to meet lots of new people and feel like I had some sort of a social life while being able to play lacrosse so it was a pretty great weekend, with the exception of 2 things. Saturday night I chipped my fake tooth on a beer bottle that some girl accidentally hit me with so that really sucks. 

Sunday we got up and had the semi finals and won that then the finals against Stuttgart who I guess usually beats us. We won! We won the whole tournament and then went upstairs to watch the guys who were in the men's finals and eat pizza that they had ordered for us. They won and we ran downstairs and everyone was singing viva Colonia and it was all very exciting. There was a short awards ceremony where they got a giant bottle of beer and we got a giant bottle of Champagne and had a shower party, which is exactly what it sounds like. European style so it was a little weird for me. When we were packing up to leave I realized that my iphone, which I had barely taken out of my bag all weekend was gone and still is. I'm really bummed that happened. 

This is a team photo of all of us after the guys won. So fun!

Last weekend (well, Thursday to Monday) I went to Rome. I got to see friends from DePaul and explore a new city, both of which were great. The food was unreal, of course. The first night we went and got a couple drinks and made it to one of Steve's favorite pizzerias. Then we went out in Trastevere and it was just like going out in a college town but it was in Italy. Most of the kids there were Americans studying abroad so it was cool to meet all Steve's friends but also not very Italian. 

There is a chocolate bar somewhere near there and we went and got chocolate shots which was really cool. It was some sort of chocolate lacquer and alcohol mixture in a shot glass made of chocolate topped with whipped cream. It was very interesting. 

The next day we got up and walked around for a bit, found a great little place to get a delicious lunch that looked like someone's kitchen. I had some sort of spaghetti with eggplant and ricotta cheese and tomatoes, delicious. 

We met up with Steve and went on a walk, ended up in Villa Borghese which is a big beautiful park. We got to hang out there for a while and see the sunset which was very cool. After that we walked to the Spanish Steps and down what I would call the Champs Elysee of Rome. We ended up at a wonderful restaurant near Piazza Navonna and had some delicious bruscetta and this pear pasta. For dinner there I had a creamy shrimp risotto that was awesome. We went out that night to a few bars and after much of the debauchery had already gone down, Tommy and I followed his twin friends from home to the Pantheon and we saw that by night. This was a preface for the rest of the trip and how much late night sight seeing we would do, regardless of crazy downpour. 

All 5 of us on the Spanish Steps. Me, Emma, Steve, Tommy, and Emma

The next day Tommy and I got up and go tout the hostel, we walked to find something to eat and then to find the Vatican. We walked through the museum and I was amazed at all the art. Not realllllly my style but still breathtaking and wonderful to see first hand after learning about all the paintings in art classes. We then met up with Steve and his friends and walked to St. Peter's Square and got pulled into this crazy Italian dance with all these silly Italians. It was pretty hilarious and we were all laughing the entire time. We then walked around a bit more, saw some more cool stuff and made our way to the Trevi Fountain. On the way we stopped at St. Ignatius church and that was cool to see the famous painting ont he ceiling there as well. 

Trevi Fountain

Then we walked to dinner for the best pizza of my life. It was crazy to wait for a table there because it was super busy and there was a mob outside the door. The guy would open the door and people would just yell how many they had. 

Best pizza I've ever eaten from Pizzeria Baffeto. So good. 

We went out that night to a great Irish bar and watched the Georgia vs. Alabama game which was fun. I haven't gotten to watch football since I've been in Europe so I was happy all the guys wanted to watch and we made it happen. We then made the trip to the Colosseum with a bottle of red wine and that was awesome. Afterwards apparently Tommy and the twins and I weren't tired and went back tot he Trevi fountain which was really cool because it was about 4am and there was no one there. 

Colosseum at night.

The next day we woke up late and Salvador, the man who ran the hostel, was banging on our door basically telling us we needed to get out and I hopped in the shower very fast and he turned the water off on me while I still had shampoo in my hair so that was a very unpleasant way to start the day. It was unnecessary as they didn't even start cleaning or anything when we got out. 

We went to a place for lunch close by and it was UNREAL. We had 2 different kinds of bruscetta, one caprese and one truffle and they were both absolutely amazing. We also got pastas and Katie got risotto. Following was some great tirimisu. This was probably my favorite meal there. 

Probably the best lunch I've ever eaten. Dont worry, not all three are mine. 

That day we walked around, went to Campo d'Fiori and there was a farmer's market with spices and oils and things which was cool. We walked around cute little streets until we reached Piazza Vittorio which was a lot of steps up to a wonderful view of the city. Did some more walking around and went back tot he piazza to watch the sunset from there which was awesome. Katie and Emma had to go catch their train and Tommy Steve and I went back to the Irish pub to watch the Bears who unfortunately lost. 

I left the next afternoon. 

It was a wonderful weekend with friends, great sights, amazing food, and fun times. Despite all the rain we got stuck in every night it was such a great time and I'm so happy that I went. 

Ciao!