Home Sweet Home

Hello again, this time from a little different scenery in the middle of some sunshine at home in the Netherlands. After a safe flight on Thursday, I was warmly welcomed by my family at the airport and shortly after arriving home I took a hot shower, wrapped myself in a bathrobe and slipped into the sheets of the most comfortable bed ever. I slept like a little baby.

After 5 months living abroad in Rome, I unfortunately had to say goodbye (for now, because I'll be back for sure!) to the beautiful city, my new friends and my internship company. This era can be considered as one of the best periods of my life so far. Rome has made me fall in love with its beauty, the food, the Italian culture, the people, the 'La Dolce Vita' atmosphere.. Everything was perfect. I already miss the city and my friends like crazy. I miss even the busy roads, the loud sirens of the ambulances and the irritated, but fashionable, Italians who keep pushing the horns of their cars. But most of all, I miss living my life there with the people I met and spent my time with. From the stress moments at work to drinking cocktails at a bar.. From enjoying Italian dinners to the crazy parties and the exciting World Cup games.. Without my new friends it wouldn't have been this amazing. I want to thank every single person I've met for making my time in Rome complete. Grazie mille a tutti!

Next week will be exciting as graduation is coming really close. In a couple of days I'll have to do my final presentation of my Bachelor thesis and I have to hand in my internship report. While awaiting the results, I'll probably relax and try to get used to my old habits. If that's even possible...

Summer in June

It seems that Summer is really here now! The weather has been so warm for the last couple of days and the forecast tells pretty good news as well! Since I work in the office from Monday to Friday, wearing long - black - jeans and stuff, I couldn't wait to put on my summer clothes again during the weekend. I know that most 'real' locals here think I'm just a typical tourist, especially since I wear shorts when it's hot outside and they, on the other hand, still wear jeans with jackets, but hey.. why not enjoying the sun and getting a bit tanned? I've waited too long already not to wear dresses and shorts, but last weekend I just couldn't resist it anymore.
Oh, how much I love this weather. Guess it will be beach time tomorrow!

Instant happiness at the tennis court

I never thought this would actually happen to me. Seeing Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco live was my huge dream and it finally came true. Last week the Internazionali BNL d'Italia tennis tournament started and I totally had to be there!

The problem with tennis tournaments is that up to the day itself, you never know what match you'll be seeing. As long as I can remember, Rafael Nadal has always my number one tennis player. I admire his passion for his sport, the way he plays, his perseverance and how (mentally) strong he stays until the very last strike. So I really wanted to see him playing. Luckily he won his match the day before, but unfortunately for us he was scheduled to be playing in the afternoon (me and my friend bought tickets for the evening matches). What a bummer! We eventually decided to go earlier to Foro d'Italico, the sport complex in Rome, but when we arrived we couldn't get in, not even on the ground area. Since we were so close I made my decision: I was going to by a ground ticket. I'm so glad me and my friend did as we were able to see some other matches as well! 

Ten minutes later we got in! I knew that a certain match I wanted to see was about to begin, so me and my friend immediately went to the court. There he was, ready to play his double match. Sitting front row (next to his coach, being a little way too enthusiastic, oops!) and seeing Fernando Verdasco playing tennis at not even 10 meters distance.. wow, I was so happy!

We also walked around a bit and saw other tennis players as well such as Feliciano Lopez, Tommy Haas, Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, Radek Stepanek..

As we waited for the evening matches to begin at the main stadium, Rafael Nadal was still playing there. I couldn't handle the fact that if I just climbed up the stairs and walked five meters, I could see Nadal playing. With any doubts, I walked to the security man and asked if I could enter. Of course it was not possible, I knew, but you never know right? He saw that I really wanted to get in, so eventually he told me that as soon as the match was finished, I could get in. Not even a minute later I finally saw my all-time favorite tennis player celebrating his victory! Instant happiness! Such a pity I couldn't see him playing, but hey.. at least I saw him!

After everything was set and done, the matches we bought tickets for, were about to begin. First Serena Williams vs. Varvara Lepchenko. Williams is such a strong woman, unbelievable! It was a pretty easy game for her, so the match was finished quite soon. After this match, Novak Djokovic and Philipp Kohlschreiber played against each other. In the beginning it seemed that Djokovic was going to lose, but in the end he was the strongest.

I much more prefer watching men's tennis rather than women's tennis as there is much more power, plus the feeling of a true competition is stronger. Are you a tennis fan? Who's your favorite player?

11 hours in Napoli

Yesterday my alarm clock went off way too early if you’d ask me, but it was totally worth it! At 07.30am me and my friends sat on the train on our way to Naples. I was so excited since the only Italian city I ever visited (and now living in) was Rome.. ok and Tivoli, but that’s just a town near Rome, that doesn't really count haha. Since I'm living in Italy, I wanted to see more Italian cities, so chop chop on our way to the city of laundry and pizza!

I always loved the idea of seeing narrow streets full of drying laundry fluttering in the breeze from just about every single balcony. When I saw those streets myself, it felt like I was in a different scene. I loved it! I also heard some less positive stories about the city. I was told that the city was old, dirty and scary because of the many pickpockets. Everyone warned us, so me and my friends walked around the city holding our bags like our lives depended on it. Locals must have thought weird things about us haha!

We wandered through the city, visited some churches and had a lovely lunch. After, we went to the boulevard. Ooooh how much I loved to see the sea. I even got more excited when I saw Mount Vesuvius and the island of Capri in the distance. I really want to go to that island one day, those caves with water bluer than blue. Mamma mia! One day, one day..

After walking around and eating a yummy Italian dolce called 'sfogliatelle', we headed to a little train that took us up to the hill from which we had an amazing view! After enjoying the city’s skyline and having a little rest moment from all the walking, we went searching for this certain restaurant to eat pizza. When in Naples guys, you just have to eat pizza, because pizza Napolitano is the best! We only had 30 minutes left to go back to the train station, so we were a bit in a rush. Luckily our pizzas were served in less than 5, I say 5, minutes! Good services and, most importantly, good quality. The pizzas were so tasteful!!

Napoli is a very lovely and vibrant city and is full of historical and artistic treasures and narrow, winding streets with small shops. It’s such a pity we went there for just one day, I wished to climb Mount Vesuvius and to visit Pompeii. And if I only had the chance to visit Capri.. I'll be back!