I went to Pisa for a day, saw the leaning tower, ate lunch, then had six more hours to kill.  My roommates (or travel buddies) and I went to Pisa for a quick day trip. When booking the trip, I thought we would want to have plenty of time in the city, so I scheduled…

One night in October my roommate Joji and I were sitting in our living room doing homework until I got bored. I went on the app Omio and started looking at prices for different trips. I always wanted to go to Venice, see the beautiful canals and go on a gondola ride. In the spur of the…

When my roommates and I started planning our Oktoberfest trip, all the way back in September, we wanted to go with a huge group of people. We started by asking all of our friends, got a group of about ten to go, and started looking into different Airbnb’s and hostels, and what the cheapest way to get…

Growing up I never noticed many vegetarian products. None of my friends were vegetarian at the time, and none of my parents’ friends were either, creating a little meat-eating bubble for me. It wasn’t until I reached middle school, and some of my friends started talking about becoming vegetarian as a way to lose weight,…

I usually don’t travel by myself; I prefer to do so with my friends because it takes so much stress away from travelling. I’ve only done it one other time when I went to visit my friend in Paris, but this time I was going to Amsterdam by myself to visit my mom and sister.   I decided…

During my sophomore year I found out that I had a higher sensitivity to food. With a chronic stomach illness, I can no longer eat whatever I wanted. I struggled to find a balance between healthy snacks that were good for me, and unhealthy food that gave me joy. Thankfully my mom was patient with…

I make a list. Every time I go to the grocery store, because if I don’t, I never get the food I need. Making a list helps me think about what I will be eating that week, instead of seeing interesting food at the grocery store and buying it on a whim. Even though I…

During the middle ages food culture changed drastically. In Ancient Rome cuisine was focused around bread, wine, and oil. However, during the middle ages it was centered primarily around meat.  Meat became the primary food both through consumption and psychological means. According to Massimo Monanari’s Medieval Tastes, it was thought in Ancient Rome that bead was the perfect food and provided…

During my first week in Florence I was walking around the duomo and saw a sandwich shop close by. I decided to stop in for a quick bite before taking my language placement test for school. Overwhelmed by the amount of options on the menu I chose what I thought would be a simple sandwich,…

Baguettes, Croissants, and Crepes. That’s what my diet mostly consisted of during this last week.   During October break I met up with my friend Maya, who is studying at Saint Andrews University, in Paris. Last year in high school when we decided we would both be studying abroad in Europe, we said we should meet up…