December 16th, 2013
Back in the States! We got home late on Thursday evening and I have had a little bit of time to take in this enormous trip that I had experienced. And as excited and eager as I was to come home, once I got home, I became incredibly sad. Sadly, I'll never get the chance to have the experiences that I had on the trip. But I realize that even though I cannot see in the foreseeable future spending another three months in Italy, I did spend three months in Italy and it was AWESOME! Without the financial and emotional support of my parents, this trip would not have been even close to possible. I am incredibly grateful to have the supportive parents that I have to provide me with these opportunities.
I'll miss spending every minute with our fantastic group and our two professors that became friends to us. I'll miss the authentic and ancient Italian culture: the emphasis on food, family and hospitality. I'll miss the Italian people: their inability to be on time no matter how vital it is, their horrific driving and their incredibly kind personalities. I'll miss Monica: her incredible dishes, her chipper and warm personality and her stubbornness in terms of what cheese and salt go on. I'll miss venturing out every weekend to explore an entirely new territory, unique cities and the inability to understand public transportation abroad (happily being lost). I'll miss the presence of siestas: the emphasis on relaxation and the nonexistence of to-go cups or drive-thrus. I'll miss stopping in the middle of the day to sit down and have a glass of wine or a cappuccino. I'll miss field trips in our classes to the Vatican, Colosseum and every church you can possibly find in Rome. I have become slightly obsessed with Italy, I must say.
I could go on and on about everything I learned when I was over there varying from eating spaghetti to understanding myself better. But, I will spare you of that and tell you that you HAVE to visit Italy. Each and every place that we went holds a special place in my heart and there is absolutely so much to see. If anyone is planning a trip or loves Italy as much as I do, I would LOVE to talk about it.
Back in the States! We got home late on Thursday evening and I have had a little bit of time to take in this enormous trip that I had experienced. And as excited and eager as I was to come home, once I got home, I became incredibly sad. Sadly, I'll never get the chance to have the experiences that I had on the trip. But I realize that even though I cannot see in the foreseeable future spending another three months in Italy, I did spend three months in Italy and it was AWESOME! Without the financial and emotional support of my parents, this trip would not have been even close to possible. I am incredibly grateful to have the supportive parents that I have to provide me with these opportunities.
I'll miss spending every minute with our fantastic group and our two professors that became friends to us. I'll miss the authentic and ancient Italian culture: the emphasis on food, family and hospitality. I'll miss the Italian people: their inability to be on time no matter how vital it is, their horrific driving and their incredibly kind personalities. I'll miss Monica: her incredible dishes, her chipper and warm personality and her stubbornness in terms of what cheese and salt go on. I'll miss venturing out every weekend to explore an entirely new territory, unique cities and the inability to understand public transportation abroad (happily being lost). I'll miss the presence of siestas: the emphasis on relaxation and the nonexistence of to-go cups or drive-thrus. I'll miss stopping in the middle of the day to sit down and have a glass of wine or a cappuccino. I'll miss field trips in our classes to the Vatican, Colosseum and every church you can possibly find in Rome. I have become slightly obsessed with Italy, I must say.
I could go on and on about everything I learned when I was over there varying from eating spaghetti to understanding myself better. But, I will spare you of that and tell you that you HAVE to visit Italy. Each and every place that we went holds a special place in my heart and there is absolutely so much to see. If anyone is planning a trip or loves Italy as much as I do, I would LOVE to talk about it.
December 9th, 2013
This past weekend, Shelby, Colleen and I ventured off to our last destination: Cinque Terre! From Rome, it is about a four hour train ride north west. It is a series of five cities that are known for their incredible views, hiking trails and incredible pesto and focaccia bread (map on Picture 18)! We thought that we were missing out on the classic study abroad story that goes: "Four of out the six tickets were booked for the wrong day" story. So, we had two options: pay 104 euros for a ticket that was original 29 euros or get off the train at the next stop and buy them there. You can imagine which one we picked. We got off at this ghetto little town, bought the correct tickets, people watched for an hour and got back on the train and began our excursion once again! We got to the second town, where our hostel was located, at about three in the afternoon! We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and went on a hike so that we could see the sunset! ABSOLUTELY beautiful (Pictures 6-9). I have found that, similar to my mom, the places that I have found that give me the best feeling are the ones where I can see the ocean. We hiked up this hill, covered in a lit up nativity scene (Picture 5 - supposedly done by a local artist) with lemon groves, olive trees and vineyards on either of our sides. We took a piece of advice from Rick Steve's Italy book and went to a restaurant in the town we were staying called Il Porticciolo. Here, I decided to splurge on the pesto. We got pesto bruschetta (Picture 10) and pesto spaghetti (Picture 11) and of course, wine. Absolutely DELICIOUS meal. And apparently, if you bring the Rick Steve's book (which we did), you can get a free glass of dessert wine - which is how we finished our dinner! We met two other Americans studying in the UK and shared some American stories over dinner, all around exhausting but wonderful day!
On our second day, we woke up early to go for a full day of hiking! We started at the second city and wound up in the fourth city after our hiking endeavors. The trail maps online estimate this journey to be about 8 miles! Needless to say, we felt accomplished. I am slightly obsessed with Cinque Terre so there are a lot of pictures of me trying to grasp the beauty of this place. I don't ever grasp it. Just put it on your to-do list and let me know so I can tell you of the places to check out! Definitely a must see! When we got to the second city, we needed some energy food so we stopped by a local cafe and got a pizza! Part of me felt like I was in the book Into the Wild for a day, except when we stopped and got the pizza of course. We continued back on the trail, hiking through vineyards, orange trees, kaki trees, lemon groves and vineyards. We met fellow Americans - we're a hard group to miss when we're not in our nature habitat, but it is always a happy experience. My favorite part of the day was when we happened upon this house that was the "halfway point" (Pictures 23-25). An artist, his dog and his cat had opened his house to hikers that were in need of hot/cold water or fresh fruit. His art was displayed and his backyard offered an incredible view of the water. Although it appeared creepy at first, many couples had stopped in to fill their water bottles and I am so glad we followed in suit! I needed a bit of restoration in humanity. When we got to the fourth city, we grabbed a cappuccino, watched the sun set yet again (Pictures 26 & 27) and waited for a train to bring us to the fifth city! At the fifth city, we stopped at a pizza place (you can never have too much pizza in Italy) that offered 99 different flavored pizzas (Picture 29)! I could not get away from my absolute favorite, Four Cheese and had a Nutella-filled focaccia bread (Picture 28). On the third day, we checked out of our hostel and explored the third town (Pictures 30-35). We grabbed another cappuccino and had to head back to Rome. Although each one had its own feel and charm, Cinque Terre definitely was one of my favorite places. I am SO glad we went to this gem.
I will have one more blog posting wrapping it all up but it is exciting to say, next weekend: I'll be HOME!!
This past weekend, Shelby, Colleen and I ventured off to our last destination: Cinque Terre! From Rome, it is about a four hour train ride north west. It is a series of five cities that are known for their incredible views, hiking trails and incredible pesto and focaccia bread (map on Picture 18)! We thought that we were missing out on the classic study abroad story that goes: "Four of out the six tickets were booked for the wrong day" story. So, we had two options: pay 104 euros for a ticket that was original 29 euros or get off the train at the next stop and buy them there. You can imagine which one we picked. We got off at this ghetto little town, bought the correct tickets, people watched for an hour and got back on the train and began our excursion once again! We got to the second town, where our hostel was located, at about three in the afternoon! We dropped our stuff off at the hostel and went on a hike so that we could see the sunset! ABSOLUTELY beautiful (Pictures 6-9). I have found that, similar to my mom, the places that I have found that give me the best feeling are the ones where I can see the ocean. We hiked up this hill, covered in a lit up nativity scene (Picture 5 - supposedly done by a local artist) with lemon groves, olive trees and vineyards on either of our sides. We took a piece of advice from Rick Steve's Italy book and went to a restaurant in the town we were staying called Il Porticciolo. Here, I decided to splurge on the pesto. We got pesto bruschetta (Picture 10) and pesto spaghetti (Picture 11) and of course, wine. Absolutely DELICIOUS meal. And apparently, if you bring the Rick Steve's book (which we did), you can get a free glass of dessert wine - which is how we finished our dinner! We met two other Americans studying in the UK and shared some American stories over dinner, all around exhausting but wonderful day!
On our second day, we woke up early to go for a full day of hiking! We started at the second city and wound up in the fourth city after our hiking endeavors. The trail maps online estimate this journey to be about 8 miles! Needless to say, we felt accomplished. I am slightly obsessed with Cinque Terre so there are a lot of pictures of me trying to grasp the beauty of this place. I don't ever grasp it. Just put it on your to-do list and let me know so I can tell you of the places to check out! Definitely a must see! When we got to the second city, we needed some energy food so we stopped by a local cafe and got a pizza! Part of me felt like I was in the book Into the Wild for a day, except when we stopped and got the pizza of course. We continued back on the trail, hiking through vineyards, orange trees, kaki trees, lemon groves and vineyards. We met fellow Americans - we're a hard group to miss when we're not in our nature habitat, but it is always a happy experience. My favorite part of the day was when we happened upon this house that was the "halfway point" (Pictures 23-25). An artist, his dog and his cat had opened his house to hikers that were in need of hot/cold water or fresh fruit. His art was displayed and his backyard offered an incredible view of the water. Although it appeared creepy at first, many couples had stopped in to fill their water bottles and I am so glad we followed in suit! I needed a bit of restoration in humanity. When we got to the fourth city, we grabbed a cappuccino, watched the sun set yet again (Pictures 26 & 27) and waited for a train to bring us to the fifth city! At the fifth city, we stopped at a pizza place (you can never have too much pizza in Italy) that offered 99 different flavored pizzas (Picture 29)! I could not get away from my absolute favorite, Four Cheese and had a Nutella-filled focaccia bread (Picture 28). On the third day, we checked out of our hostel and explored the third town (Pictures 30-35). We grabbed another cappuccino and had to head back to Rome. Although each one had its own feel and charm, Cinque Terre definitely was one of my favorite places. I am SO glad we went to this gem.
I will have one more blog posting wrapping it all up but it is exciting to say, next weekend: I'll be HOME!!
December 2nd, 2013 - Unfortunately for my blogging community, I have not been able to post because THE WARRENS (AND MATTHEW) came to ROME! And it was WONDERFUL having some of my absolutely favorite people here after two and a half months! With an exception of a few frustrations here and there regarding public transportation and being entirely lost in Rome, I was the happiest girl in Rome. To avoid being wordy, I shall avoid talking about how happy I was and begin!
On Saturday, they arrived incredibly tired and jet lagged! I forced them to fight their jet lag (best way to not be jet lagged I have found!) and Professor Balena invited us an incredible meal of pasta, lemon chicken and of course, wine! Inevitably, they were zombies and we ran back to enjoy a rejuvenating night of sleep! On Sunday, we made an excursion to the Appian Way! For all those incredibly faithful blog readers, this was one of the first places we went as a group in Rome. It was the ancient (and bumpy!) road leading from Rome to Naples, filled with catacombs and ancient ruins. Sunday is the perfect day to go due to the fact that they close down public traffic! So after appreciating a cappuccino, we ventured out for the afternoon exploring the ancient ruins and the beautifully chilly day that Rome offered us (Pictures 1-8)
On Monday, we explored the Spanish Steps (Pictures 9-11), the Pantheon (Pictures 12-13), the Trevi Fountain (Pictures 14-17) and a Roma game (Pictures 18-20)!! Although I SWEAR it was warmer and after they were here, turned out to be in the forties all week with an incredible windchill. Luckily for them, they did not pack one jacket. Needless to say, we were a bit chilly. This did not stop me from providing an exceedingly adequate tour of the city, however. For all those who are interested in having an inexpensive tour guides in major monuments throughout Europe, I strongly suggest Rick Steve's podcasts. Although there are corny jokes, he is FULL of information and completely free! He informed all of those who weren't effected by Katie's boredom about the Pantheon on Monday. We had a complete tourist day (as it should be), enjoyed some sandwiches from my FAVORITE sandwich shop and ventured off to the Roma game at night! We were able to meet up with our Ledyard friends,The Brownes, for a wonderful dinner and an exciting soccer game. An exciting, yet frigid day!
On Tuesday, we did the epic and exciting exploration of the Colosseum and the Forum! It is suggested to do the Forum (Pictures 21-25) before the Colosseum (Pictures 26-30) so that is what we did! Again, we had Rick Steve's podcast guide us through both of these ancient areas. Although I had already been, it was incredible to be able to experience this ancient history in the same place they did. Rick Steves helped me develop even more in my head what it was like here in ancient Rome. And of course, Katie and I pretended to be the Emperor, choosing people's destinies. What power!!
On Wednesday, we had our religious day. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.. (Although no Romans are visiting the Vatican Museum, they are a religious bunch!) When I went to class, my family went off to explore the Vatican Museum and the Sistene Chapel. We met up for another Rick Steve's tour of St. Peter's Basilica (Pictures 31-35)! Seriously, he is the best! A much needed cappuccino was consumed and we got ready for our night! On Wednesday night, Katie and my mom were going to the Barber of Seville (Pictures 37-39 - the same opera I went to a couple of weeks back) and Matt, my dad and I were all "winging it!" We dropped them off, went to go experience the Trevi fountain, Victor Emmanuel monument (aka the wedding cake) and Capitoline Hill by night! We took out our Rick Steve's book (I'm kind of obsessed, I don't even think they wanted to know about it) and learned a little history on the monuments. After we stopped at an Irish Pub for a MUCH needed burger and fries (I miss American food, what can I say?).
Thursday was THANKSGIVING. This made me think, "What if I showed my family the worst, possible sites in Rome? I think I should show my family some real poverty and barbed wire fences." I wish that I had planned it, honestly. Unfortunately, I did not. I got us all very lost on a bus on the outskirts of town. Luckily, I had an easy going group and they were fairly up for getting lost in this sketchy area. The real destination was Campo de' Fiori - which is this piazza, filled with a daily market of wines, oils, fruits, spices, etc. We made it there, after the market was closing down, oops! That day, my classmates, Professor Balena and Monica had slaved over the enormous meal that we had! They had worked hard to provide an authentic American thanksgiving (in some sort of Italian fashion). First course was a pumpkin soup. Monica makes the BEST soups. Second course was all the goods - the turkey, potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing with a dessert of apple pie, pumpkin pie and upside down pumpkin pie! Shelby and Colleen made this awesome thankful tree that we all put what we were thankful for on, all around AWESOME Italian thanksgiving (Pictures 41-43).
On Friday, I insisted that they see the countryside. Because although Rome is incredibly Italian, I don't think that someone can appreciate the country without seeing the Italian countryside. For those faithful blog readers, we had been there a week in October. Luckily for us it was a beautiful day! We got to appreciate the Italian countryside and all the quaint stores that Orvieto has to offer! Thankfully to my mom, we happened upon the cutest olive and wine tasting! What wonderful midmorning treat, seriously the best combination of oil, balsamic vinegar and bread that I have ever tasted! We happened upon an enormous amount of wild cats that became one of our friends. For the rest of the day, while Katie and my mom shopped, my dad, Matt and I visited the famous caves that are known to be in Orvieto! The Amazing Race was being filmed right in the city center too! So if you happen to watch the Italy edition, make sure to look for five confused looking Americans!
On Saturday, they arrived incredibly tired and jet lagged! I forced them to fight their jet lag (best way to not be jet lagged I have found!) and Professor Balena invited us an incredible meal of pasta, lemon chicken and of course, wine! Inevitably, they were zombies and we ran back to enjoy a rejuvenating night of sleep! On Sunday, we made an excursion to the Appian Way! For all those incredibly faithful blog readers, this was one of the first places we went as a group in Rome. It was the ancient (and bumpy!) road leading from Rome to Naples, filled with catacombs and ancient ruins. Sunday is the perfect day to go due to the fact that they close down public traffic! So after appreciating a cappuccino, we ventured out for the afternoon exploring the ancient ruins and the beautifully chilly day that Rome offered us (Pictures 1-8)
On Monday, we explored the Spanish Steps (Pictures 9-11), the Pantheon (Pictures 12-13), the Trevi Fountain (Pictures 14-17) and a Roma game (Pictures 18-20)!! Although I SWEAR it was warmer and after they were here, turned out to be in the forties all week with an incredible windchill. Luckily for them, they did not pack one jacket. Needless to say, we were a bit chilly. This did not stop me from providing an exceedingly adequate tour of the city, however. For all those who are interested in having an inexpensive tour guides in major monuments throughout Europe, I strongly suggest Rick Steve's podcasts. Although there are corny jokes, he is FULL of information and completely free! He informed all of those who weren't effected by Katie's boredom about the Pantheon on Monday. We had a complete tourist day (as it should be), enjoyed some sandwiches from my FAVORITE sandwich shop and ventured off to the Roma game at night! We were able to meet up with our Ledyard friends,The Brownes, for a wonderful dinner and an exciting soccer game. An exciting, yet frigid day!
On Tuesday, we did the epic and exciting exploration of the Colosseum and the Forum! It is suggested to do the Forum (Pictures 21-25) before the Colosseum (Pictures 26-30) so that is what we did! Again, we had Rick Steve's podcast guide us through both of these ancient areas. Although I had already been, it was incredible to be able to experience this ancient history in the same place they did. Rick Steves helped me develop even more in my head what it was like here in ancient Rome. And of course, Katie and I pretended to be the Emperor, choosing people's destinies. What power!!
On Wednesday, we had our religious day. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.. (Although no Romans are visiting the Vatican Museum, they are a religious bunch!) When I went to class, my family went off to explore the Vatican Museum and the Sistene Chapel. We met up for another Rick Steve's tour of St. Peter's Basilica (Pictures 31-35)! Seriously, he is the best! A much needed cappuccino was consumed and we got ready for our night! On Wednesday night, Katie and my mom were going to the Barber of Seville (Pictures 37-39 - the same opera I went to a couple of weeks back) and Matt, my dad and I were all "winging it!" We dropped them off, went to go experience the Trevi fountain, Victor Emmanuel monument (aka the wedding cake) and Capitoline Hill by night! We took out our Rick Steve's book (I'm kind of obsessed, I don't even think they wanted to know about it) and learned a little history on the monuments. After we stopped at an Irish Pub for a MUCH needed burger and fries (I miss American food, what can I say?).
Thursday was THANKSGIVING. This made me think, "What if I showed my family the worst, possible sites in Rome? I think I should show my family some real poverty and barbed wire fences." I wish that I had planned it, honestly. Unfortunately, I did not. I got us all very lost on a bus on the outskirts of town. Luckily, I had an easy going group and they were fairly up for getting lost in this sketchy area. The real destination was Campo de' Fiori - which is this piazza, filled with a daily market of wines, oils, fruits, spices, etc. We made it there, after the market was closing down, oops! That day, my classmates, Professor Balena and Monica had slaved over the enormous meal that we had! They had worked hard to provide an authentic American thanksgiving (in some sort of Italian fashion). First course was a pumpkin soup. Monica makes the BEST soups. Second course was all the goods - the turkey, potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing with a dessert of apple pie, pumpkin pie and upside down pumpkin pie! Shelby and Colleen made this awesome thankful tree that we all put what we were thankful for on, all around AWESOME Italian thanksgiving (Pictures 41-43).
On Friday, I insisted that they see the countryside. Because although Rome is incredibly Italian, I don't think that someone can appreciate the country without seeing the Italian countryside. For those faithful blog readers, we had been there a week in October. Luckily for us it was a beautiful day! We got to appreciate the Italian countryside and all the quaint stores that Orvieto has to offer! Thankfully to my mom, we happened upon the cutest olive and wine tasting! What wonderful midmorning treat, seriously the best combination of oil, balsamic vinegar and bread that I have ever tasted! We happened upon an enormous amount of wild cats that became one of our friends. For the rest of the day, while Katie and my mom shopped, my dad, Matt and I visited the famous caves that are known to be in Orvieto! The Amazing Race was being filmed right in the city center too! So if you happen to watch the Italy edition, make sure to look for five confused looking Americans!
November 18th, 2013
Even though I already blogged this week, I couldn't resist to share with you one of my absolute favorite Italian breakfast recipes! Last week, Monica taught myself and Lucas how to make a crostata! Crostata is a breakfast pie (pretty much a cake but Italians love eating dessert for breakfast so they call it a crostata). For all of you who are interested, here's an AWESOME, authentic crostata recipe (so authentic, we had to create the recipe so we would have it later):
Ingredients: 4 cups Flour
8 Tbsp Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg, whole
1 Egg, white
2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup Water
12 ounces Jam
Procedure: In an electric mixer with a hook, mix flour and butter. While mixing, slowly add insugar, eggs, and baking powder, until mixture has formed a dough. Slowly add water in mixer until dough is slightly moist and pliable. Flour a countertop or cutting board, and lightly knead dough by hand for a short amount of time (about a minute). For a ball, and leave to rest for 30 minutes in refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 400℉. Remove dough from refrigerator, and using a rolling pin, work dough into a circle, about 14 inches in diameter, and slightly more than . inch thick. Use butter to grease 12" diameter pie pan with low edges (1 inch edges), and lay dough into pan. Cut off excess dough. Place jam on top of dough, and spread evenly. Use excess dough to cover the top with lattice. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before serving. Feeds about 10 people. This is the first of many recipes of Monica's cookbook!
Even though I already blogged this week, I couldn't resist to share with you one of my absolute favorite Italian breakfast recipes! Last week, Monica taught myself and Lucas how to make a crostata! Crostata is a breakfast pie (pretty much a cake but Italians love eating dessert for breakfast so they call it a crostata). For all of you who are interested, here's an AWESOME, authentic crostata recipe (so authentic, we had to create the recipe so we would have it later):
Ingredients: 4 cups Flour
8 Tbsp Butter
3/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg, whole
1 Egg, white
2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 cup Water
12 ounces Jam
Procedure: In an electric mixer with a hook, mix flour and butter. While mixing, slowly add insugar, eggs, and baking powder, until mixture has formed a dough. Slowly add water in mixer until dough is slightly moist and pliable. Flour a countertop or cutting board, and lightly knead dough by hand for a short amount of time (about a minute). For a ball, and leave to rest for 30 minutes in refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 400℉. Remove dough from refrigerator, and using a rolling pin, work dough into a circle, about 14 inches in diameter, and slightly more than . inch thick. Use butter to grease 12" diameter pie pan with low edges (1 inch edges), and lay dough into pan. Cut off excess dough. Place jam on top of dough, and spread evenly. Use excess dough to cover the top with lattice. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before serving. Feeds about 10 people. This is the first of many recipes of Monica's cookbook!
November 17th, 2013
Just one quick shout-out: Breanna and I wanted to get tickets for our families to go to the Roma game while they are here. Unfortunately, they didn't take cards, so I was running around like a crazy person trying to find an ATM, in the pouring rain. When I had gone to two ATMs that didn't work, the couple that was checking us out at the store gave me an umbrella to use while I was running around. When it was all said and done, I thanked them immensely for the umbrella and gave it back to them. They graciously gave me their umbrella - this huge, very classy umbrella! I have to say, if I did not have this umbrella, this weekend would be A LOT more wet. HUGE HUGE shout out to all the nice strangers out there. Pass it on!
This weekend we ventured off to the lovely region of Assisi and Urbino - our last excursion as a full group! Unfortunately, we did not have the best weather but we definitely made the best of it. Due to my wonderful sister letting me borrow her camera, I wanted to defy stereotypes of me destroying electronics and make sure that her camera made it back to the United States in one piece. Because of this, I didn't get to take a lot of pictures but I put up the ones that I did take! The first day, we went to the land of monks, Assisi! Assisi was essentially built out of this pink and white rock. The whole town was pink and white. And I LOVED it. Although I don't tend to associate myself with the Catholic Church at all after learning as much as we have about it, I have come to enjoy the history of the church like any other history class. Our professor had organized a walking tour which turned out being AWESOME. We each got a headset (so I couldn't get distracted) and the tour was GREAT. It was fast paced but incredibly informative - just how I like it! We learned about St. Francis from Assisi (explored where he was buried (Picture 7), where he died, his family background (Picture 3: his parents) and the general history of his life), who practiced simplicity and was the patron saint of animals. Assisi was a great little town, full of history and absolutely beautiful (Assisi pictures: #1-8).
We stayed at the University of Urbino while we were there - which was fantastic! Urbino is a little Renaissance town, essentially in the same shape that it was in the of the Renaissance (early 1400's to late 1500's). It is known to be it's own "island" - not that it's anywhere near the water but it does have a getaway feel to it. It is in the middle of rolling hills and the BEAUTIFUL Italian countryside. Turns out, Raphael (the famous Renaissance painter) is from Urbino! We are incredibly familiar with him from our Renaissance Art class so we hung out with him, naturally (Picture 12, 13)! We explored the very Italian markets that surrounds the outskirts of the town on Saturday mornings. Turns out, people will pay for absolutely useless things everywhere, not just America. Not to mention really cheap fruit (one of my favorite parts of Italy) and cheeses and wines. We found one of those places where we you can whisper into the wall on one side and the other person can hear it. SO COOL, I was slightly obsessed. It brought me back to my elementary school days, Renaissance style (Picture 14, 15). By the end of the weekend, we must have covered all of the town. It was an incredibly relaxing town to take a stroll through, shopping a little here and there. All around incredibly authentic Italian town. We also met a group of students from the University of Texas studying in Urbino. There's something about seeing English speaking people, especially Americans, when you're in Italy. They taught us all about the dining hall, how it worked, showed us around the local bars/pubs and we ended up having a great time with them! It was incredibly rejuvenating seeing hanging out with them! While I have fallen in love with Italy, I have really come to appreciate America more than I ever had.
On our way home, we took a gelato break from our four hour car trip at a beautiful little town called Todi (Pictures 18-21). Turns out we had perfect timing - not only was the sun out but it was setting! We watched the sunset on this beautiful town, got gelato and left for Rome! We finished off the car ride singing Boogey Nights and talking about what we would name our study abroad trip if it was a movie. FANTASTIC last excursion as a full group!
Next weekend: I will be out of commission! My parents, my sister and my boyfriend will all be joining me in Rome and I am SO excited to see them all that I imagine myself sitting and staring at them all throughout the day and not having any time to blog! So, Happy Thanksgiving!!
Just one quick shout-out: Breanna and I wanted to get tickets for our families to go to the Roma game while they are here. Unfortunately, they didn't take cards, so I was running around like a crazy person trying to find an ATM, in the pouring rain. When I had gone to two ATMs that didn't work, the couple that was checking us out at the store gave me an umbrella to use while I was running around. When it was all said and done, I thanked them immensely for the umbrella and gave it back to them. They graciously gave me their umbrella - this huge, very classy umbrella! I have to say, if I did not have this umbrella, this weekend would be A LOT more wet. HUGE HUGE shout out to all the nice strangers out there. Pass it on!
This weekend we ventured off to the lovely region of Assisi and Urbino - our last excursion as a full group! Unfortunately, we did not have the best weather but we definitely made the best of it. Due to my wonderful sister letting me borrow her camera, I wanted to defy stereotypes of me destroying electronics and make sure that her camera made it back to the United States in one piece. Because of this, I didn't get to take a lot of pictures but I put up the ones that I did take! The first day, we went to the land of monks, Assisi! Assisi was essentially built out of this pink and white rock. The whole town was pink and white. And I LOVED it. Although I don't tend to associate myself with the Catholic Church at all after learning as much as we have about it, I have come to enjoy the history of the church like any other history class. Our professor had organized a walking tour which turned out being AWESOME. We each got a headset (so I couldn't get distracted) and the tour was GREAT. It was fast paced but incredibly informative - just how I like it! We learned about St. Francis from Assisi (explored where he was buried (Picture 7), where he died, his family background (Picture 3: his parents) and the general history of his life), who practiced simplicity and was the patron saint of animals. Assisi was a great little town, full of history and absolutely beautiful (Assisi pictures: #1-8).
We stayed at the University of Urbino while we were there - which was fantastic! Urbino is a little Renaissance town, essentially in the same shape that it was in the of the Renaissance (early 1400's to late 1500's). It is known to be it's own "island" - not that it's anywhere near the water but it does have a getaway feel to it. It is in the middle of rolling hills and the BEAUTIFUL Italian countryside. Turns out, Raphael (the famous Renaissance painter) is from Urbino! We are incredibly familiar with him from our Renaissance Art class so we hung out with him, naturally (Picture 12, 13)! We explored the very Italian markets that surrounds the outskirts of the town on Saturday mornings. Turns out, people will pay for absolutely useless things everywhere, not just America. Not to mention really cheap fruit (one of my favorite parts of Italy) and cheeses and wines. We found one of those places where we you can whisper into the wall on one side and the other person can hear it. SO COOL, I was slightly obsessed. It brought me back to my elementary school days, Renaissance style (Picture 14, 15). By the end of the weekend, we must have covered all of the town. It was an incredibly relaxing town to take a stroll through, shopping a little here and there. All around incredibly authentic Italian town. We also met a group of students from the University of Texas studying in Urbino. There's something about seeing English speaking people, especially Americans, when you're in Italy. They taught us all about the dining hall, how it worked, showed us around the local bars/pubs and we ended up having a great time with them! It was incredibly rejuvenating seeing hanging out with them! While I have fallen in love with Italy, I have really come to appreciate America more than I ever had.
On our way home, we took a gelato break from our four hour car trip at a beautiful little town called Todi (Pictures 18-21). Turns out we had perfect timing - not only was the sun out but it was setting! We watched the sunset on this beautiful town, got gelato and left for Rome! We finished off the car ride singing Boogey Nights and talking about what we would name our study abroad trip if it was a movie. FANTASTIC last excursion as a full group!
Next weekend: I will be out of commission! My parents, my sister and my boyfriend will all be joining me in Rome and I am SO excited to see them all that I imagine myself sitting and staring at them all throughout the day and not having any time to blog! So, Happy Thanksgiving!!
November 10th, 2013
This was the weekend of Tuscan wineries, sulfur baths, Italian birthday parties and country villas. On Friday, we embarked on our trip to Tuscany for a tour of the Vignaioli del Morellino di Scansano winery. Vignaioli del Morellino di Scansano is a very classy and DELICIOUS wine from Tuscany. We rented two cars, picked up two of our professor's friends and drove two hours out to Tuscany. There is something about Italian driving that is completely and entirely nauseating (could be the drivers, could be the routes they tried to put roads on, simply brainstorming though...). When we arrived, we got an entire tour of the winery in Italian and learned about how the wine is made, differences between red and white wine, how they store it, the cost and quality, etc (Picture 1, 2, 9, 10). What a process!! Then, they provided us with a FANTASTIC meal (Pictures 5-8). We started off with antipasto (appetizer, cheese slices, three different types of bruschetta, prosciutto), first course (homemade ravioli), second course (potatoes and meat) the dessert (an interesting tasting dish, I'm still not sure what that was) and of course, wine (Picture 3). I wound up sitting next to all four of my professor's friends who spoke little English. This led to broken up, twenty minute conversations to finally understand that they have been to the United States and a huge explosion of excitement that we had finally understood each other in that moment. It got easier for everyone as the lunch progressed, however - the Italians never allow anyone's wine glass to be empty. An AWESOME part about this program is the fact that both of the professors on our trip have spent a significant amount of time in Italy. So, we are always getting the genuine, full immersion Italian experience. After lunch, they showed us these sulfur springs tucked in the countryside - essentially a nature created waterfall and hot tub (Pictures 11-15). People were swimming, it was SO warm (about 104 degrees!!). I never thought I would see something like this in Italy, what a great find!
On Saturday, we helped out with one of our professors' kids' birthday party (Pictures 16-18)! After my family's professional party planning, I knew I was up for the challenge. They combined five different birthday parties together, which means five different cakes, over fifty people (every parent stayed) and lots and lots of food. Our job was temporary tattoos and hiding eggs. One conclusion that I learned from this experience: American children are raised to be much more polite. The parents were beyond appreciative but the kids, not so much (I'm not bitter or anything…). It was interesting to see the cultural differences. There was not any theme: they rented out a school and the kids basically ran free for the majority of the time. I have to say, Americans do kid's birthday parties better. But the completely "tatted" kids at the party had a great time, so I guess that's all that matters!
On Sunday, we ventured off to Monica's (our cook for all of you who don't remember) country house! Our "driver" (my life is so cool) arrived at 9:00 to bring us off to the countryside! After about a forty minute drive, we arrived at Monica's BEAUTIFUL villa! The house was GORGEOUS - incredibly quaint and intricate (Pictures 19-21). It reminded me of New England: the fire was going, it was a little breezy but the perfect fall temperature. Our job for the day was to pick olives! Unfortunately for Italians and olive oil lovers, the olive farmers have been having a horrible time with the growth of olives this season. Apparently, the farmers are getting 10% of what they usually make due to the weather and the olive attacking bug. Here's the process of olive picking: lay down a tarp, use a plastic rake and hit the tree as hard as you can so all of the olives fall down. It's a difficult process. We picked olives essentially all morning side by side with Monica, her husband and a few of their family friends (Pictures 21-26). As we worked, we sang Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Cat Stevens who were the only artists that both cultures knew - worked out for us! Of course, Monica provided us with a fantastic meal as she always does (Picture 27) and we played a board game with her and her husband before we left for the day! T'was a perfect day!
Quite honestly, if someone asked me advice on what to do in Italy if they were here for a weekend, I would suggest having the exact same weekend that I had this weekend. This was definitely one of the more genuine Italian weekends I have had.
Next weekend: Urbino and Assisi!
This was the weekend of Tuscan wineries, sulfur baths, Italian birthday parties and country villas. On Friday, we embarked on our trip to Tuscany for a tour of the Vignaioli del Morellino di Scansano winery. Vignaioli del Morellino di Scansano is a very classy and DELICIOUS wine from Tuscany. We rented two cars, picked up two of our professor's friends and drove two hours out to Tuscany. There is something about Italian driving that is completely and entirely nauseating (could be the drivers, could be the routes they tried to put roads on, simply brainstorming though...). When we arrived, we got an entire tour of the winery in Italian and learned about how the wine is made, differences between red and white wine, how they store it, the cost and quality, etc (Picture 1, 2, 9, 10). What a process!! Then, they provided us with a FANTASTIC meal (Pictures 5-8). We started off with antipasto (appetizer, cheese slices, three different types of bruschetta, prosciutto), first course (homemade ravioli), second course (potatoes and meat) the dessert (an interesting tasting dish, I'm still not sure what that was) and of course, wine (Picture 3). I wound up sitting next to all four of my professor's friends who spoke little English. This led to broken up, twenty minute conversations to finally understand that they have been to the United States and a huge explosion of excitement that we had finally understood each other in that moment. It got easier for everyone as the lunch progressed, however - the Italians never allow anyone's wine glass to be empty. An AWESOME part about this program is the fact that both of the professors on our trip have spent a significant amount of time in Italy. So, we are always getting the genuine, full immersion Italian experience. After lunch, they showed us these sulfur springs tucked in the countryside - essentially a nature created waterfall and hot tub (Pictures 11-15). People were swimming, it was SO warm (about 104 degrees!!). I never thought I would see something like this in Italy, what a great find!
On Saturday, we helped out with one of our professors' kids' birthday party (Pictures 16-18)! After my family's professional party planning, I knew I was up for the challenge. They combined five different birthday parties together, which means five different cakes, over fifty people (every parent stayed) and lots and lots of food. Our job was temporary tattoos and hiding eggs. One conclusion that I learned from this experience: American children are raised to be much more polite. The parents were beyond appreciative but the kids, not so much (I'm not bitter or anything…). It was interesting to see the cultural differences. There was not any theme: they rented out a school and the kids basically ran free for the majority of the time. I have to say, Americans do kid's birthday parties better. But the completely "tatted" kids at the party had a great time, so I guess that's all that matters!
On Sunday, we ventured off to Monica's (our cook for all of you who don't remember) country house! Our "driver" (my life is so cool) arrived at 9:00 to bring us off to the countryside! After about a forty minute drive, we arrived at Monica's BEAUTIFUL villa! The house was GORGEOUS - incredibly quaint and intricate (Pictures 19-21). It reminded me of New England: the fire was going, it was a little breezy but the perfect fall temperature. Our job for the day was to pick olives! Unfortunately for Italians and olive oil lovers, the olive farmers have been having a horrible time with the growth of olives this season. Apparently, the farmers are getting 10% of what they usually make due to the weather and the olive attacking bug. Here's the process of olive picking: lay down a tarp, use a plastic rake and hit the tree as hard as you can so all of the olives fall down. It's a difficult process. We picked olives essentially all morning side by side with Monica, her husband and a few of their family friends (Pictures 21-26). As we worked, we sang Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Cat Stevens who were the only artists that both cultures knew - worked out for us! Of course, Monica provided us with a fantastic meal as she always does (Picture 27) and we played a board game with her and her husband before we left for the day! T'was a perfect day!
Quite honestly, if someone asked me advice on what to do in Italy if they were here for a weekend, I would suggest having the exact same weekend that I had this weekend. This was definitely one of the more genuine Italian weekends I have had.
Next weekend: Urbino and Assisi!
November 4th, 2013 (time flies!)
On Wednesday, Marisa and I went to see the Barber of Seville which was offered by the Italian program that we partake in (how I got to go to the Roma game and the Italian documentary). The opera house was a hole in the wall but completely quaint and beautiful on the inside! And although I understood three words of the entire opera, the performers were EXTRAVAGANT. Their voices were incredible and the acting pulled the whole plot together for me. Also, the band geek inside of me melted when I saw the orchestra and heard the tuning note. I was completely mesmerized with all the musical talent filling the room. The pictures from the opera are slightly horrible but I posted them because it gives you some idea of the orchestra, environment, costumes and characters! (Pictures 1-5)
On Friday myself and three girls from my program embarked on our adventure to Venice!! Here's what we had heard about Venice before going there:
1. Venice is beautiful but it smells: Honestly, I have heard this about everywhere in Italy and have not witnessed one place with a horrible smell to it. Except the train station in Rome, which is where the whole homeless community has claimed as their bathroom. Venice smells like the sea. I'm not sure what people were expecting when they went.
2. Venice is expensive: This is true. Luckily we heard this piece of advice. We stocked up on store-brand crackers, cookies, jam, granola bars, Nutella, Cheerios, apples, oranges, bread and of course wine (Picture 32) for a grand total of five dollars per person and put it in a suitcase. With an exception of one meal, we lived primarily out of our 'food suitcase'. For breakfast, we had bread with Nutella with a side of a fruit. For lunch and dinner, we had Nutella, strawberry jam and Cheerio sandwich with a side of cookies, Cheerios or crackers. Ah, the beautiful life of a college student. When we got hungry on the train to Venice, we pulled out our 'food suitcase' and started individually making sandwiches. The couple that sat with us could not bear to sit in our cabin while we sprawled out and ate apparently.. They stood in the hallway. That called for an awkward rest of the trip. You gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose.
3. Venice is cold this time of year: Being in the northeastern region of the country, I wasn't terribly surprised to find out this was true. Not even close to what we experienced in Germany, however. Anything's warmer than sleeping in a tent.
4. Venice is the city of masks. And oh boy was it. Everywhere we went we experienced some sort of masks. There were entire stores dedicated to the trade. When we walked into one, we watched the woman as she painted a very intricate version of a mask- so cool! She was incredibly talented (Pictures 6-9).
5. Gondolas are expensive. When you're not willing to spend 20 dollars on a pizza, you're definitely not willing to spend 40 dollars per person on a gondola ride. Instead we got a picture of the boat, with the boat and people in the boat and I was satisfied (Pictures 10, 23, 28). (They then took a picture of us, being good sports about me taking advantage of their romantic experience). Maybe when I'm incredibly rich one day, I will come back and treat myself to one but for now, I'll just take advantage of tourists with money.
6. Venice is the most romantic city in Italy. Italy being the most romantic country in the world (in my personal opinion), I made sure to get a INCREDIBLY corny and HORRIBLY written chick flick to satisfy my romantic side during this trip.
We also got to experience a Venetian rowing competition. As we were walking through town on Sunday morning, we had the pleasure of happening upon a competition between four or five boats. Locals and tourists were lined up cheering them all on. With two former crew members with us, it was interesting to talk about the similarities and difference between American crew and Italian crew. If it weren't for them, I would have stuck to my original, "Oooo! A pink boat, I'm going to root for them!" It became a crew critique on Sunday, it feels good (Pictures 11-14). We spent the most of our time either exploring the city by foot (to the point where we needed to do some serious stretches - Picture 16), eating out of our 'food suitcase' and drinking wine (Okay, so maybe our financial priorities were a little off). Some observations: there were SO many dogs here (some horse-like dogs Picture 26, some regular dogs, every time I saw one I couldn't help but think how happy I was that Asbury wasn't there. Not that I don't love and miss my dog but imagining Asbury within feet of water at all times that she couldn't go in sounds like a nightmare). And they had some bizarre ways to attract tourists (They had a "fish pedicure" where a person sits in a chair and their legs dangle into a pool of fish, like a pedicure. The fish eat at your feet to make your skin softer and apparently the fish LOVE it! I'm sure they would love to live in the ocean a lot more but they take eating humans feet as a happy second option. Luckily I did not have a single desire to do this).
There are a lot of pictures that are similar here. This is partly because I was mesmerized by the city - it made me so curious. I had a million questions: How do regular activities for us get accomplished, such as doing the trash? How does the tide effect their lives? What accommodations to people have to make to live in this town? How will the continually rising sea level effect the locals? So many questions. All around awesome trip, really interesting city, SO glad we went!
Next weekend: full day excursion through an olive mill/winery in Tuscany, volunteering at our professor's child's birthday party doing face painting and Monica's (our cook) putting us to work at our country house picking olives!
On Wednesday, Marisa and I went to see the Barber of Seville which was offered by the Italian program that we partake in (how I got to go to the Roma game and the Italian documentary). The opera house was a hole in the wall but completely quaint and beautiful on the inside! And although I understood three words of the entire opera, the performers were EXTRAVAGANT. Their voices were incredible and the acting pulled the whole plot together for me. Also, the band geek inside of me melted when I saw the orchestra and heard the tuning note. I was completely mesmerized with all the musical talent filling the room. The pictures from the opera are slightly horrible but I posted them because it gives you some idea of the orchestra, environment, costumes and characters! (Pictures 1-5)
On Friday myself and three girls from my program embarked on our adventure to Venice!! Here's what we had heard about Venice before going there:
1. Venice is beautiful but it smells: Honestly, I have heard this about everywhere in Italy and have not witnessed one place with a horrible smell to it. Except the train station in Rome, which is where the whole homeless community has claimed as their bathroom. Venice smells like the sea. I'm not sure what people were expecting when they went.
2. Venice is expensive: This is true. Luckily we heard this piece of advice. We stocked up on store-brand crackers, cookies, jam, granola bars, Nutella, Cheerios, apples, oranges, bread and of course wine (Picture 32) for a grand total of five dollars per person and put it in a suitcase. With an exception of one meal, we lived primarily out of our 'food suitcase'. For breakfast, we had bread with Nutella with a side of a fruit. For lunch and dinner, we had Nutella, strawberry jam and Cheerio sandwich with a side of cookies, Cheerios or crackers. Ah, the beautiful life of a college student. When we got hungry on the train to Venice, we pulled out our 'food suitcase' and started individually making sandwiches. The couple that sat with us could not bear to sit in our cabin while we sprawled out and ate apparently.. They stood in the hallway. That called for an awkward rest of the trip. You gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose.
3. Venice is cold this time of year: Being in the northeastern region of the country, I wasn't terribly surprised to find out this was true. Not even close to what we experienced in Germany, however. Anything's warmer than sleeping in a tent.
4. Venice is the city of masks. And oh boy was it. Everywhere we went we experienced some sort of masks. There were entire stores dedicated to the trade. When we walked into one, we watched the woman as she painted a very intricate version of a mask- so cool! She was incredibly talented (Pictures 6-9).
5. Gondolas are expensive. When you're not willing to spend 20 dollars on a pizza, you're definitely not willing to spend 40 dollars per person on a gondola ride. Instead we got a picture of the boat, with the boat and people in the boat and I was satisfied (Pictures 10, 23, 28). (They then took a picture of us, being good sports about me taking advantage of their romantic experience). Maybe when I'm incredibly rich one day, I will come back and treat myself to one but for now, I'll just take advantage of tourists with money.
6. Venice is the most romantic city in Italy. Italy being the most romantic country in the world (in my personal opinion), I made sure to get a INCREDIBLY corny and HORRIBLY written chick flick to satisfy my romantic side during this trip.
We also got to experience a Venetian rowing competition. As we were walking through town on Sunday morning, we had the pleasure of happening upon a competition between four or five boats. Locals and tourists were lined up cheering them all on. With two former crew members with us, it was interesting to talk about the similarities and difference between American crew and Italian crew. If it weren't for them, I would have stuck to my original, "Oooo! A pink boat, I'm going to root for them!" It became a crew critique on Sunday, it feels good (Pictures 11-14). We spent the most of our time either exploring the city by foot (to the point where we needed to do some serious stretches - Picture 16), eating out of our 'food suitcase' and drinking wine (Okay, so maybe our financial priorities were a little off). Some observations: there were SO many dogs here (some horse-like dogs Picture 26, some regular dogs, every time I saw one I couldn't help but think how happy I was that Asbury wasn't there. Not that I don't love and miss my dog but imagining Asbury within feet of water at all times that she couldn't go in sounds like a nightmare). And they had some bizarre ways to attract tourists (They had a "fish pedicure" where a person sits in a chair and their legs dangle into a pool of fish, like a pedicure. The fish eat at your feet to make your skin softer and apparently the fish LOVE it! I'm sure they would love to live in the ocean a lot more but they take eating humans feet as a happy second option. Luckily I did not have a single desire to do this).
There are a lot of pictures that are similar here. This is partly because I was mesmerized by the city - it made me so curious. I had a million questions: How do regular activities for us get accomplished, such as doing the trash? How does the tide effect their lives? What accommodations to people have to make to live in this town? How will the continually rising sea level effect the locals? So many questions. All around awesome trip, really interesting city, SO glad we went!
Next weekend: full day excursion through an olive mill/winery in Tuscany, volunteering at our professor's child's birthday party doing face painting and Monica's (our cook) putting us to work at our country house picking olives!
October 28th, 2013
On Saturday, we had an Art History visit at Villa Farnesina located in the Trastevere district of Rome (Picture 1). The villa was originally built for Agostino Chigi who was a wealthy banker in Rome in the early 1500's. The villa was surrounded by beautiful gardens (Picture 2&3) and the inside covered with beautiful and extravagant frescos by Raphael. The rest of the day I was taking on Rome with my own two hands. I called it my "Elizabeth Gilbert day" because as I was walking around the streets of Rome, I felt like I was in Elizabeth's Gilbert's book Eat Pray Love. Not knowing where I was at all times where I was but being able to find my way around made me way too confident. I got a little cocky and saw two elderly Americans lost and offered to help them as though I had lived in Rome for years and years. Looking to me like I had saved their entire day, I had absolutely no clue how to help them and casually said, "I'm so sorry I heard English and thought I could help! Erhm." That was the end of my helping Americans. From that point on, I just heard English and said, "OH MY GOD English, where are you from?" The rest of the day, I did some market shopping (Picture 7), some Roman store shopping (SO cute but SO out of my price range), checked out some of my favorite places we've gone so far (the Pantheon, Campo di Fiori, the Great Synagogue of Rome and Trastevere and their surrounding neighborhoods- Pictures 8,9,10) and of course, got myself some fantastic bruschetta and quattro formaggi pizza (four cheese pizza - this place had the best pizza I have tasted - incredibly authentic - Pictures 5&6) It was a beautiful day for being a tourist.
Things I learned about eating in Italy (besides learning how to eat spaghetti):
1. Breakfast is minimal, generally a couple pieces of toast, potentially some yogurt or a torte or cake of some sort.
2. Lunch is generally a two course meal - a grain or pasta dish and fruit for dessert. They generally eat lunch here around 1:30. I showed up at 12:45 to the lunch place and they instantly knew I was American, no doubt. They also add bruschetta, a meat and olive platter if you're eating out! Yummay!
3. Dinner is generally a three course meal. There's a vegetable or carb dish and a meat or meat substitute course. And of course, dessert (my absolute favorite!)
4. Eating is a casual event - you have to ask for the check or they will not bring it over to you. It's the Italian way - definitely better than getting rushed!
5. Chicken Alfredo and Spaghetti and Meatballs are not a dish in Italy. Whenever we Americans think that we can make an Italian dish by putting carbs and meat together on the dish, we are very very wrong. Italians will be the first to tell you.
On Sunday, three girls from my group and I went to Eurochocolate in Perugia, Italy! Eurochocolate is a yearly European festival held in Perugia (Picture 15&16 - known for their chocolate- yummay!). We were able to experience the last day of the 20th year anniversary! We took a two hour train ride out of Rome to explore the wonderful world of chocolate! Although it was a tourist-infested area, it was DEFINITELY worth it. We found EVERYTHING chocolate (Pictures 12&13 - chocolate statues (Picture 14), chocolate liquor (Picture 19), chocolate pasta, chocolate beer, chocolate cards, chocolate fudge, chocolate computers, chocolate truffles and chocolate bars in every flavor possible (including white chocolate, raspberry, strawberry, lemon, mint and pepperoncini - I was not that daring!). We first stopped for a sausage filled sandwich and chocolate for dessert! I had an INCREDIBLE strawberry chocolate bar, yummy yummy (Picture 17)! We all got different kinds of bars and shared around (Picture 18 -mint chocolate, white chocolate, caramel and strawberry!), best chocolate I have ever had! We visited the various tents, trying all the free samples (Picture 20&21) we could possibly find - chocolate liquor, chocolate honey and chocolate bar samples everywhere! We also enjoyed an incredible chocolate covered strawberry dessert (Picture 22&23 - melted chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries)! It seriously does not get any better than that! Although the chocolate was delectable and we had an incredible day all around, missing the train home was best part of the day (no sarcasm whatsoever). Reading the wrong sign, we not only watched the train sit on the tracks for 45 minutes but we watched it leave (classic). However, Perugia taught me that nothing can go wrong when you've got wine and chocolate! And because of that, we had a wonderful end to our day!
Next weekend: a Roman opera and a trip to Venice!
On Saturday, we had an Art History visit at Villa Farnesina located in the Trastevere district of Rome (Picture 1). The villa was originally built for Agostino Chigi who was a wealthy banker in Rome in the early 1500's. The villa was surrounded by beautiful gardens (Picture 2&3) and the inside covered with beautiful and extravagant frescos by Raphael. The rest of the day I was taking on Rome with my own two hands. I called it my "Elizabeth Gilbert day" because as I was walking around the streets of Rome, I felt like I was in Elizabeth's Gilbert's book Eat Pray Love. Not knowing where I was at all times where I was but being able to find my way around made me way too confident. I got a little cocky and saw two elderly Americans lost and offered to help them as though I had lived in Rome for years and years. Looking to me like I had saved their entire day, I had absolutely no clue how to help them and casually said, "I'm so sorry I heard English and thought I could help! Erhm." That was the end of my helping Americans. From that point on, I just heard English and said, "OH MY GOD English, where are you from?" The rest of the day, I did some market shopping (Picture 7), some Roman store shopping (SO cute but SO out of my price range), checked out some of my favorite places we've gone so far (the Pantheon, Campo di Fiori, the Great Synagogue of Rome and Trastevere and their surrounding neighborhoods- Pictures 8,9,10) and of course, got myself some fantastic bruschetta and quattro formaggi pizza (four cheese pizza - this place had the best pizza I have tasted - incredibly authentic - Pictures 5&6) It was a beautiful day for being a tourist.
Things I learned about eating in Italy (besides learning how to eat spaghetti):
1. Breakfast is minimal, generally a couple pieces of toast, potentially some yogurt or a torte or cake of some sort.
2. Lunch is generally a two course meal - a grain or pasta dish and fruit for dessert. They generally eat lunch here around 1:30. I showed up at 12:45 to the lunch place and they instantly knew I was American, no doubt. They also add bruschetta, a meat and olive platter if you're eating out! Yummay!
3. Dinner is generally a three course meal. There's a vegetable or carb dish and a meat or meat substitute course. And of course, dessert (my absolute favorite!)
4. Eating is a casual event - you have to ask for the check or they will not bring it over to you. It's the Italian way - definitely better than getting rushed!
5. Chicken Alfredo and Spaghetti and Meatballs are not a dish in Italy. Whenever we Americans think that we can make an Italian dish by putting carbs and meat together on the dish, we are very very wrong. Italians will be the first to tell you.
On Sunday, three girls from my group and I went to Eurochocolate in Perugia, Italy! Eurochocolate is a yearly European festival held in Perugia (Picture 15&16 - known for their chocolate- yummay!). We were able to experience the last day of the 20th year anniversary! We took a two hour train ride out of Rome to explore the wonderful world of chocolate! Although it was a tourist-infested area, it was DEFINITELY worth it. We found EVERYTHING chocolate (Pictures 12&13 - chocolate statues (Picture 14), chocolate liquor (Picture 19), chocolate pasta, chocolate beer, chocolate cards, chocolate fudge, chocolate computers, chocolate truffles and chocolate bars in every flavor possible (including white chocolate, raspberry, strawberry, lemon, mint and pepperoncini - I was not that daring!). We first stopped for a sausage filled sandwich and chocolate for dessert! I had an INCREDIBLE strawberry chocolate bar, yummy yummy (Picture 17)! We all got different kinds of bars and shared around (Picture 18 -mint chocolate, white chocolate, caramel and strawberry!), best chocolate I have ever had! We visited the various tents, trying all the free samples (Picture 20&21) we could possibly find - chocolate liquor, chocolate honey and chocolate bar samples everywhere! We also enjoyed an incredible chocolate covered strawberry dessert (Picture 22&23 - melted chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries)! It seriously does not get any better than that! Although the chocolate was delectable and we had an incredible day all around, missing the train home was best part of the day (no sarcasm whatsoever). Reading the wrong sign, we not only watched the train sit on the tracks for 45 minutes but we watched it leave (classic). However, Perugia taught me that nothing can go wrong when you've got wine and chocolate! And because of that, we had a wonderful end to our day!
Next weekend: a Roman opera and a trip to Venice!
October 20, 2013
So this weekend we went to Naples, Capri and Pompeii. And just to preface, Naples does not have the best reputation around here. It's seen a bit negatively - with an overwhelming amount of trash, crime and graffiti. We were encourage to not bring any valuables (cameras, phones, earrings, necklaces, etc.) However, my professor was born and raised in Naples and has an incredibly positive attitude towards Naples (Luckily he let us use his camera! I was going through withdrawals..). Since we have arrived, everything has been: "Well, the hairdressers in Naples are better." Or the "The fruit is better in Naples." Just fill in the blank and it was better in Naples. It's safe to say that I was bit conflicted of how I should feel about the Naples trip. If you can believe it, it was FANTASTIC.
On Friday, we went to Capri (found out that it's pronounced KA-pri and not any other way). This was not originally part of our schedule but we heard it was a must see. And because this program was so new, we hadn't hired cleaners for this year yet. So we spent four hours cleaning for two weeks and made a happy tradeoff. We woke up early Friday morning to venture off to Capri, which is an island right off the coast of Naples! What a relaxing day we had. We got there and jumped immediately into the Mediterranean Sea!! If you know how much my mom loves to swim, you would know how long I spent in the water. Some went in and out of the water and I sat and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL, crystal blue water. We then went for a hike up to the cliffs, enjoyed a Neapolitan sandwich and did some shopping and got some absolutely incredible views of both sides of the island! I wish I could just bring you all there because me talking about is not doing this island any justice.
On Saturday, we went to Pompeii! About 45 minutes outside of Naples, we took the train to visit the ancient city (Pictures 14 - 26)!! Our professors bought a tour guide book and were our own makeshift tour guides for the day (Picture 16). We saw the Forum, the theater (Picture 26) various bar areas and villas and of course, brothels. It was so interesting to walk in the same place that people walked, lived and essentially started the main trades of civilization. As we walked, we had one of our friends pretend to be a horse to get the full reenactment. There are some pictures (Picture 18) that look like a carbon copy of a human. It was crazy to me. Here's why that is: The people that were killed in Pompeii were not killed due to lava. The people were killed through a slow and painful death via gas (absolutely horrible). Pumice and ash were falling from the sky which caused everything to turn into cement. In any other case, the people would have decayed but because of this, they remained in the positions they died in. It certainly made the tragedy real. Some women were in despair with their children. Others were smiling. It was a very surreal experience. My favorite part about Pompeii was seeing how similar their lifestyle was from ours. We derive our pottery skills, sculpting skills, flooring abilities (tiling through mosaic - so cool!), our priorities of preserving our loved ones, the need for a spiritual being and of course for alcohol. Pompeii was very real for learning about ancient societies - so cool! On Saturday night, we took a drive with Professor Balena's AWESOME and ENORMOUSLY generous friends and family through Naples (mind you - scariest car ride of my life). After some complications with the car and some blasting of Phil Collins (so excited this is what he picked and I knew the words!), we went to three spots - an overlook over the entire city, an overlook of the sea (put our feet in one last time!) and of course, GELATO.
On Sunday, we stayed in Naples until we left! We enjoyed some FANTASTIC pizza (Picture 29 - 31), walked around the town with our own personal tour guides (the language barrier was an issue the entire weekend but it worked out!) and sadly said goodbye to Naples. The man in Picture 32 with all of us is the owner of the restaurant that we went to all three nights (we had a deal with the hotel!)! We had incredible fish dishes, pasta dishes, caprise salad, real salad, everything really. On Friday night, Napoli was playing Roma in soccer (they don't call it futbol here - they call it calcio!) The owner of the store, who was from Rome and a Roma fan, stood and watched the game the entire time it was on (not serving one person and it was socially acceptable!). Roma ended up scoring twice and winning But both times they scored, he came around hugging and kissing us on the cheek. Although everyone else was a Napoli fan, we supported him and it made for a comical and exciting game (we were in his restaurant afterall)! The woman in Picture 27 was the woman who provided us with a croissant and a cappuccino (best cappuccino ever) every morning. As a whole, I haven't met sweeter people than I met in Naples - incredibly generous, giving, understanding and excited to show off their town. Even though I broke out in hives last week and thought about what I would do if they wouldn't go away, I am SO SO grateful for Benadryl because I am so so glad that we went!
Next weekend: Eurochocolate in Perugia, Italy!
So this weekend we went to Naples, Capri and Pompeii. And just to preface, Naples does not have the best reputation around here. It's seen a bit negatively - with an overwhelming amount of trash, crime and graffiti. We were encourage to not bring any valuables (cameras, phones, earrings, necklaces, etc.) However, my professor was born and raised in Naples and has an incredibly positive attitude towards Naples (Luckily he let us use his camera! I was going through withdrawals..). Since we have arrived, everything has been: "Well, the hairdressers in Naples are better." Or the "The fruit is better in Naples." Just fill in the blank and it was better in Naples. It's safe to say that I was bit conflicted of how I should feel about the Naples trip. If you can believe it, it was FANTASTIC.
On Friday, we went to Capri (found out that it's pronounced KA-pri and not any other way). This was not originally part of our schedule but we heard it was a must see. And because this program was so new, we hadn't hired cleaners for this year yet. So we spent four hours cleaning for two weeks and made a happy tradeoff. We woke up early Friday morning to venture off to Capri, which is an island right off the coast of Naples! What a relaxing day we had. We got there and jumped immediately into the Mediterranean Sea!! If you know how much my mom loves to swim, you would know how long I spent in the water. Some went in and out of the water and I sat and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL, crystal blue water. We then went for a hike up to the cliffs, enjoyed a Neapolitan sandwich and did some shopping and got some absolutely incredible views of both sides of the island! I wish I could just bring you all there because me talking about is not doing this island any justice.
On Saturday, we went to Pompeii! About 45 minutes outside of Naples, we took the train to visit the ancient city (Pictures 14 - 26)!! Our professors bought a tour guide book and were our own makeshift tour guides for the day (Picture 16). We saw the Forum, the theater (Picture 26) various bar areas and villas and of course, brothels. It was so interesting to walk in the same place that people walked, lived and essentially started the main trades of civilization. As we walked, we had one of our friends pretend to be a horse to get the full reenactment. There are some pictures (Picture 18) that look like a carbon copy of a human. It was crazy to me. Here's why that is: The people that were killed in Pompeii were not killed due to lava. The people were killed through a slow and painful death via gas (absolutely horrible). Pumice and ash were falling from the sky which caused everything to turn into cement. In any other case, the people would have decayed but because of this, they remained in the positions they died in. It certainly made the tragedy real. Some women were in despair with their children. Others were smiling. It was a very surreal experience. My favorite part about Pompeii was seeing how similar their lifestyle was from ours. We derive our pottery skills, sculpting skills, flooring abilities (tiling through mosaic - so cool!), our priorities of preserving our loved ones, the need for a spiritual being and of course for alcohol. Pompeii was very real for learning about ancient societies - so cool! On Saturday night, we took a drive with Professor Balena's AWESOME and ENORMOUSLY generous friends and family through Naples (mind you - scariest car ride of my life). After some complications with the car and some blasting of Phil Collins (so excited this is what he picked and I knew the words!), we went to three spots - an overlook over the entire city, an overlook of the sea (put our feet in one last time!) and of course, GELATO.
On Sunday, we stayed in Naples until we left! We enjoyed some FANTASTIC pizza (Picture 29 - 31), walked around the town with our own personal tour guides (the language barrier was an issue the entire weekend but it worked out!) and sadly said goodbye to Naples. The man in Picture 32 with all of us is the owner of the restaurant that we went to all three nights (we had a deal with the hotel!)! We had incredible fish dishes, pasta dishes, caprise salad, real salad, everything really. On Friday night, Napoli was playing Roma in soccer (they don't call it futbol here - they call it calcio!) The owner of the store, who was from Rome and a Roma fan, stood and watched the game the entire time it was on (not serving one person and it was socially acceptable!). Roma ended up scoring twice and winning But both times they scored, he came around hugging and kissing us on the cheek. Although everyone else was a Napoli fan, we supported him and it made for a comical and exciting game (we were in his restaurant afterall)! The woman in Picture 27 was the woman who provided us with a croissant and a cappuccino (best cappuccino ever) every morning. As a whole, I haven't met sweeter people than I met in Naples - incredibly generous, giving, understanding and excited to show off their town. Even though I broke out in hives last week and thought about what I would do if they wouldn't go away, I am SO SO grateful for Benadryl because I am so so glad that we went!
Next weekend: Eurochocolate in Perugia, Italy!
October 15th, 2013
So this week, we did an EXPLORATION of Rome. On Sunday, we went to Orvieto! But this is just my ROME blog - more than necessary because I live here!! This blog is just a compilation of Rome that I haven't been able to blog about but I have wanted to!
The first couple pictures are pictures from the Vatican! On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we ended up going to the Vatican Museum and St. Peters (twice for class and once to bring the Dean of Students there when she came to visit - we were professional tour guides by that point!) It was incredible. It is indescribable really, being the largest church in the world: the extravagance, the art and the detail that fills every wall. One could seriously spend days there. The "frescos" that they have there are incredible and I can guarantee that if I hadn't gone with a class I would have thought they were frescos but they're not! They're full out mosaics. What an incredibly long time that must have taken, my lanta. So impressive though. (Pictures 1-9)
On Friday, we showed off Rome to the Dean of Students from Assumption College who came for a long weekend! We took a leisurely walk through one of Rome's largest parks (which is actually within walking distance of our campus), through beautiful gardens, fountains and structures (Pictures 10-13). We happened upon this cute little neighborhood which was "so Italy", as I say. The houses were covered in vines, pastel colored houses were made out of clay (Picture 15) and of course, there was a gelateria! We happened upon an incredible view of Rome (Picture 14), overlooking the beautiful city but also being physically surrounded by green and suburban area. We strolled down by the Tiber River, which disappointingly has become incredibly polluted (Picture 16). We also went to Castel Sant'Angelo, which is an incredibly interestingly architectured building that dated back to ancient Rome (Picture 17&18).
On Sunday, we went to Orvieto, which is about an hour and a half train ride out of Rome! We checked out this ADORABLE town that overlooked the most countryside that I had ever seen. When looking over the green countryside, there was not one civilized area in site, besides an enormous castle and a few houses. We predicted that the castle must have been preparing for a feast that night by the smoke coming out of its chimney. It was certainly a liberating feeling, being surrounded by trees and land by not seeing a single person for miles and miles (Pictures 22-24, Pictures 27-29). I was obsessed, hence all the pictures I insisted on putting up. We checked out the Duomo of Orvieto which was incredibly extravagant. And although I consistently have a hard time with how the Catholic Church uses its money, I find that if I look at each church objectively, I really can appreciate the individual churches. I just have to take a step back and realize how much this art meant to someone.
On Monday, we went to Capitoline Hill with our art history class! This is the place for the Roman mayor to govern, that Michelangelo designed! We went to Santa Maria in Aracoeli Church, which I called the chandelier church (You'll know why - Pictures 30-32)! I did a presentation on Michelangelo while we looked at the architecture and sculptures in Capitoline Hill! We checked out the Marcus Aurelius (Picture 39) as well as the two river gods (only got a picture of the Tiber - Picture 35). And we got to see the Roman Forum from a different perspective, from Capitoline Hill and talk about the importance of the location all of these structures (Picture 36)! Interesting art history class, I must say! After this, we went to a discussion and presentation of the documentary called Italy: Love it or Leave it put on by our Italian program. This documentary that's aim was to promote political and social change by capturing their six month travel around Italy, learning about the dilemmas that Italians face on an every day basis. Italy is an awesome place to study abroad in but just like the United States, I have found that it has its hiccups and dilemmas. It was interesting to learn about to understand how my temporary stay differs from the average Italian's understanding of Italy.
Note: NEVER ever EVER use a knife with spaghetti. When we went out on Sunday night for the best meal (Picture 42) I have ever tasted in my life. (Pictures of each course - I was ecstatic about the spaghetti, which ended up being the first and second course (hence why it was the best meal ever). So I dove into my plate, knife in right hand and fork in left. The waiter looked at me and genuinely concerned said, "Do you have an argument with someone?" And I proceeded to get a completely detailed tutorial on how to eat spaghetti. I currently use the spoon method (it's like training wheels), which I will eventually graduate to eating like an actual Italian.
So this week, we did an EXPLORATION of Rome. On Sunday, we went to Orvieto! But this is just my ROME blog - more than necessary because I live here!! This blog is just a compilation of Rome that I haven't been able to blog about but I have wanted to!
The first couple pictures are pictures from the Vatican! On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we ended up going to the Vatican Museum and St. Peters (twice for class and once to bring the Dean of Students there when she came to visit - we were professional tour guides by that point!) It was incredible. It is indescribable really, being the largest church in the world: the extravagance, the art and the detail that fills every wall. One could seriously spend days there. The "frescos" that they have there are incredible and I can guarantee that if I hadn't gone with a class I would have thought they were frescos but they're not! They're full out mosaics. What an incredibly long time that must have taken, my lanta. So impressive though. (Pictures 1-9)
On Friday, we showed off Rome to the Dean of Students from Assumption College who came for a long weekend! We took a leisurely walk through one of Rome's largest parks (which is actually within walking distance of our campus), through beautiful gardens, fountains and structures (Pictures 10-13). We happened upon this cute little neighborhood which was "so Italy", as I say. The houses were covered in vines, pastel colored houses were made out of clay (Picture 15) and of course, there was a gelateria! We happened upon an incredible view of Rome (Picture 14), overlooking the beautiful city but also being physically surrounded by green and suburban area. We strolled down by the Tiber River, which disappointingly has become incredibly polluted (Picture 16). We also went to Castel Sant'Angelo, which is an incredibly interestingly architectured building that dated back to ancient Rome (Picture 17&18).
On Sunday, we went to Orvieto, which is about an hour and a half train ride out of Rome! We checked out this ADORABLE town that overlooked the most countryside that I had ever seen. When looking over the green countryside, there was not one civilized area in site, besides an enormous castle and a few houses. We predicted that the castle must have been preparing for a feast that night by the smoke coming out of its chimney. It was certainly a liberating feeling, being surrounded by trees and land by not seeing a single person for miles and miles (Pictures 22-24, Pictures 27-29). I was obsessed, hence all the pictures I insisted on putting up. We checked out the Duomo of Orvieto which was incredibly extravagant. And although I consistently have a hard time with how the Catholic Church uses its money, I find that if I look at each church objectively, I really can appreciate the individual churches. I just have to take a step back and realize how much this art meant to someone.
On Monday, we went to Capitoline Hill with our art history class! This is the place for the Roman mayor to govern, that Michelangelo designed! We went to Santa Maria in Aracoeli Church, which I called the chandelier church (You'll know why - Pictures 30-32)! I did a presentation on Michelangelo while we looked at the architecture and sculptures in Capitoline Hill! We checked out the Marcus Aurelius (Picture 39) as well as the two river gods (only got a picture of the Tiber - Picture 35). And we got to see the Roman Forum from a different perspective, from Capitoline Hill and talk about the importance of the location all of these structures (Picture 36)! Interesting art history class, I must say! After this, we went to a discussion and presentation of the documentary called Italy: Love it or Leave it put on by our Italian program. This documentary that's aim was to promote political and social change by capturing their six month travel around Italy, learning about the dilemmas that Italians face on an every day basis. Italy is an awesome place to study abroad in but just like the United States, I have found that it has its hiccups and dilemmas. It was interesting to learn about to understand how my temporary stay differs from the average Italian's understanding of Italy.
Note: NEVER ever EVER use a knife with spaghetti. When we went out on Sunday night for the best meal (Picture 42) I have ever tasted in my life. (Pictures of each course - I was ecstatic about the spaghetti, which ended up being the first and second course (hence why it was the best meal ever). So I dove into my plate, knife in right hand and fork in left. The waiter looked at me and genuinely concerned said, "Do you have an argument with someone?" And I proceeded to get a completely detailed tutorial on how to eat spaghetti. I currently use the spoon method (it's like training wheels), which I will eventually graduate to eating like an actual Italian.
Also, Italian food is the BEST. However, we found something that Americans are better at: breakfast. When we found out there's an American breakfast place nearby, we made sure to make it there on Saturday morning! Honestly, nothing tasted better than that bagel, bacon and eggs (Pictures 40-41)
Next weekend: Naples, Capri and Pompeii!
Next weekend: Naples, Capri and Pompeii!
October 7th, 2013
Due to some confusion, to ensure the best reading of blog experience, I have started numbering the pictures. This way, I will write up here and then refer to the number of picture that I'm referring to!
Back to the important stuff! This weekend, my childhood friend Breanna and I went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany - the happiest place on Earth! We took part in the Bus2Alps program, a program designed to help transport study abroad students who want to travel (awesome program for all those study abroad kids out there)! After a 12 hour bus ride from Rome to Munich, we arrived at 8am excited and eager to begin the festivities! As we stood in line, we not only bonded with two Canadian girls over sharing an umbrella but the Australian leaders provided us with a cup of beer and ensured that it was ALWAYS full (Picture 1). The campsite was awesome - run by an awesome group of people and housing some of the nicest people from all over the world. When we first arrived at our small tent, I hoped that I was going to experience what Harry Potter experienced at the Quidditch World Cup when he sees the tent that the Mr. Weasley reserved (Picture 2). But it turned out working out just fine! Just enough room for two and waterproof for the most part!
Once we signed in, we went exploring Oktoberfest! We observed the AWESOME dirndls and lenderhosen (the traditional garb of the Germans) and enjoyed some Bratwurst - enjoying the German lifestyle. We sat down at the beer garden, drinking out of our enormous beer stein, which apparently holds four beers! Everywhere we went, we met someone. The first group of Germans that we met, when finding out we were American, told us the difference between the two countries was that they cared about other people and we didn't - it's funny to see how other people see Americans (Picture 3-7). At night, we signed up for a beer challenge - which was some history of the beer culture and some drinking (mostly drinking). Our tour included fellow Americans and a Brazilian and we went bar hopping - hitting up all the breweries in Munich as well as Oktoberfest! That's what you do in the beer capital of the world (Pictures 8-14).
Hungover and unhappy, we woke up to go to Neuschwanstein Castle with a group called NewEurope (Same program as the beer challenge - best guides ever!) When I realized how awesome the tour was going to be with help of a Starbuck's frappuccino, my spirits were certainly lifted! Neuschwanstein Castle was the castle that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty castle off of (this is all I knew about it going in). We took a two hour train ride, where we met newlyweds on their honeymoon who we spent the day with! We went to the cutest town called Fussen, which housed this awesome castle. We hiked up to it, learning from our tour guide about Emperor Ludwig, a peculiar emperor of the time - obsessed with fairy tales and swans (which was depicted all throughout his house) and not particularly interested in governmental affairs. The castle, between the paintings and architecture, took fourteen years to build and he only lived in for about 150 days - before he was killed in a nearby lake. Can you imagine? It was beautiful and intricate, not to mention a bizarre and intriguing historical story to boot (Pictures 15-18, 19-23). We couldn't get any pictures during our tour of the inside or else I would definitely have them up, incredible!! The other castle that you see in my pictures is his mother's castle - an additional castle that he built. He suggested to the board that he would build a glass bubble used that would transport him from one castle to the other (Picture 19).
At night on Saturday, we checked out the festival again - observing all the ridiculously drunk people (Pictures 24-26, 28, 29). We went to get dinner at a local pub called Barbaria (Picture 27) that we happened upon. This is where we enjoyed a fantastic meal with a wonderful couple (the girl was from Canada and the boy was from Finland) who were absolutely cracking us up - telling us that the difference between the Italians and Germans was their fried breakfast food and how angry they get about when her American friends post about dogs on Facebook. The point of me telling you all about these people is just that I find it so interesting that everywhere we met we found someone interesting and eccentric - someone that I would not have met if we hadn't sat down and asked, so Hi! Where are you from? (Hoping to God they spoke English. Some of the coolest people were at Oktoberfest - it was awesome to get a feel for the rest of the world out there. I'm going to be really good at charades when I get home - that's the key to for foreign languages) (Picture 30)
On Sunday, we woke up bright and early and explored Munich. Thanks to Breanna's understanding of German direction giving and maps, we were able to find the Olympic Stadium (Picture 31) - the stadium used for the 1972 Olympics in Munich (Also huge thanks to Breanna for respecting my hatred for mornings and waking me up gradually and respectively after refusing to wake up the first two alarms). Directly outside the stadium, there was a incredibly powerful monument dedicated to the eleven members Israeli Olympic team that were taken hostage by a German police officer (Picture 35). This park overlooked the city of Munich, the BMW factory/museum (Picture 32) the Olympic stadium as well as the bottom of the Olympic needle - a beautiful sight (although it was cloudy, I felt like I was on the top of the world - Picture 36). From there, we checked out Marienplatz - the heart of the city, where we witnessed the Glockenspiel on the hour (Picture 37 - described to us as 'the most overrated monument' - where statues dance around to music for five minutes. Turned out to be pretty cute - I'm happy we went) We explored the intricate churches and both the new and old city hall - the new one being my absolute favorite building I have seen - gothic and eccentric (Picture 38 - 39).
Overall, AWESOME trip. I'm so glad we went - we met some great people and certainly witnessed Oktoberfest at its FINEST. The Germans are a funny bunch and Munich was a beautiful city (despite the rainy weather).
Next weeke
Due to some confusion, to ensure the best reading of blog experience, I have started numbering the pictures. This way, I will write up here and then refer to the number of picture that I'm referring to!
Back to the important stuff! This weekend, my childhood friend Breanna and I went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany - the happiest place on Earth! We took part in the Bus2Alps program, a program designed to help transport study abroad students who want to travel (awesome program for all those study abroad kids out there)! After a 12 hour bus ride from Rome to Munich, we arrived at 8am excited and eager to begin the festivities! As we stood in line, we not only bonded with two Canadian girls over sharing an umbrella but the Australian leaders provided us with a cup of beer and ensured that it was ALWAYS full (Picture 1). The campsite was awesome - run by an awesome group of people and housing some of the nicest people from all over the world. When we first arrived at our small tent, I hoped that I was going to experience what Harry Potter experienced at the Quidditch World Cup when he sees the tent that the Mr. Weasley reserved (Picture 2). But it turned out working out just fine! Just enough room for two and waterproof for the most part!
Once we signed in, we went exploring Oktoberfest! We observed the AWESOME dirndls and lenderhosen (the traditional garb of the Germans) and enjoyed some Bratwurst - enjoying the German lifestyle. We sat down at the beer garden, drinking out of our enormous beer stein, which apparently holds four beers! Everywhere we went, we met someone. The first group of Germans that we met, when finding out we were American, told us the difference between the two countries was that they cared about other people and we didn't - it's funny to see how other people see Americans (Picture 3-7). At night, we signed up for a beer challenge - which was some history of the beer culture and some drinking (mostly drinking). Our tour included fellow Americans and a Brazilian and we went bar hopping - hitting up all the breweries in Munich as well as Oktoberfest! That's what you do in the beer capital of the world (Pictures 8-14).
Hungover and unhappy, we woke up to go to Neuschwanstein Castle with a group called NewEurope (Same program as the beer challenge - best guides ever!) When I realized how awesome the tour was going to be with help of a Starbuck's frappuccino, my spirits were certainly lifted! Neuschwanstein Castle was the castle that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty castle off of (this is all I knew about it going in). We took a two hour train ride, where we met newlyweds on their honeymoon who we spent the day with! We went to the cutest town called Fussen, which housed this awesome castle. We hiked up to it, learning from our tour guide about Emperor Ludwig, a peculiar emperor of the time - obsessed with fairy tales and swans (which was depicted all throughout his house) and not particularly interested in governmental affairs. The castle, between the paintings and architecture, took fourteen years to build and he only lived in for about 150 days - before he was killed in a nearby lake. Can you imagine? It was beautiful and intricate, not to mention a bizarre and intriguing historical story to boot (Pictures 15-18, 19-23). We couldn't get any pictures during our tour of the inside or else I would definitely have them up, incredible!! The other castle that you see in my pictures is his mother's castle - an additional castle that he built. He suggested to the board that he would build a glass bubble used that would transport him from one castle to the other (Picture 19).
At night on Saturday, we checked out the festival again - observing all the ridiculously drunk people (Pictures 24-26, 28, 29). We went to get dinner at a local pub called Barbaria (Picture 27) that we happened upon. This is where we enjoyed a fantastic meal with a wonderful couple (the girl was from Canada and the boy was from Finland) who were absolutely cracking us up - telling us that the difference between the Italians and Germans was their fried breakfast food and how angry they get about when her American friends post about dogs on Facebook. The point of me telling you all about these people is just that I find it so interesting that everywhere we met we found someone interesting and eccentric - someone that I would not have met if we hadn't sat down and asked, so Hi! Where are you from? (Hoping to God they spoke English. Some of the coolest people were at Oktoberfest - it was awesome to get a feel for the rest of the world out there. I'm going to be really good at charades when I get home - that's the key to for foreign languages) (Picture 30)
On Sunday, we woke up bright and early and explored Munich. Thanks to Breanna's understanding of German direction giving and maps, we were able to find the Olympic Stadium (Picture 31) - the stadium used for the 1972 Olympics in Munich (Also huge thanks to Breanna for respecting my hatred for mornings and waking me up gradually and respectively after refusing to wake up the first two alarms). Directly outside the stadium, there was a incredibly powerful monument dedicated to the eleven members Israeli Olympic team that were taken hostage by a German police officer (Picture 35). This park overlooked the city of Munich, the BMW factory/museum (Picture 32) the Olympic stadium as well as the bottom of the Olympic needle - a beautiful sight (although it was cloudy, I felt like I was on the top of the world - Picture 36). From there, we checked out Marienplatz - the heart of the city, where we witnessed the Glockenspiel on the hour (Picture 37 - described to us as 'the most overrated monument' - where statues dance around to music for five minutes. Turned out to be pretty cute - I'm happy we went) We explored the intricate churches and both the new and old city hall - the new one being my absolute favorite building I have seen - gothic and eccentric (Picture 38 - 39).
Overall, AWESOME trip. I'm so glad we went - we met some great people and certainly witnessed Oktoberfest at its FINEST. The Germans are a funny bunch and Munich was a beautiful city (despite the rainy weather).
Next weeke
September 30, 2013 -
This past weekend we went to BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL Tuscany - absolutely my favorite place so far! We ventured off in two cars on Thursday night for our roughly three hour excursion to Florence! We were staying with Assumptionist nuns which turned out being a slightly eerie building but filled with the sweetest women you'll ever meet. On Friday, we met our professor for a full day of art history - touring around the major historical monuments in Florence. We went to the Duomo, piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce, The Carmine and the Uffizi Museum (where Michelangelo's David is located). On our free two hours, we walked to the gardens that overlook Florence which was BEAUTIFUL. Truly stunning. Florence is located in the middle of all of these hills - it's quite the sight from above. It's humbling, overlooking a city like that. It certainly makes you think about how truly enormous the world is. At night, we went out to dinner with a few guests (an Assumption college graduate being one of them) to enjoy a wonderful four course Tuscan meal. It was a busy day - but BEYOND worth it! Needless to say, I slept like a baby. Highlights from this day: seeing the ENORMOUS statue of David (so much bigger than I expected. I wish I was able to show you a picture but that is strictly banned), admiring all the WONDERFUL leather Florence offers, experiencing the enormous Duomo (inside and out - absolutely stunning), seeing where Michelangelo was buried (and finding out he was homosexual - things I didn't obviously didn't know when I asked about his mistresses), having a personal tour guide to point out the historical aspects of the town AND (my all time favorite) sitting in a piazza in Florence singing various songs while the director played his guitalele (ie. You are my sunshine, Bob Marley and a variety Italian songs).
Saturday was the best day I have had in Italy thusfar. Although Sunday is close competitor. On Saturday we went to The Academia, again with our Italian professor where we explored the four ninja turtles (and very talented artists) Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Donatello and Raphael! Then, we went to this BEAUTIFUL town about an hour out of Florence called Certaldo, Giovanni Boccaccio's hometown. We found when we got to the town not only was everything named after Boccaccio but there was a party going on in his name! (This is his 700th birthday after all). After spending only five hours there, I deemed this place one of my absolutely favorite places in the world (besides Gales Ferry, obviously). This town was how I imagined myself in Italy - sitting back with good company, overlooking an incredible view, listening to Renaissance music playing in the background with a bottle of wine and some Italian bread and olive oil - what a fantastic moment :))
Sunday, however, was also an incredible day. Let's just say this weekend was fantastic. We got up early, attended mass with the Assumptionists and embarked for Siena! Although it was pouring when we arrived, we enjoyed a wonderful Tuscan meal and experience the wonderfully cute town of Siena and got to see their Duomo - and do some puddle jumping in the meantime (not a lot of pictures - didn't want to get Katie's camera wet, yet again). We hustled back to Rome and luckily due to the determination and time management of our professors, myself and a few girls in the program got to go to the ROMA futbol game!! It was INCREDIBLE. Our Italian program provided us with the opportunity to go and I am SO glad I went. Within five minutes of arriving, enormous fireworks started going off - apparently the Roma fans were attempting to scare the Bologna fans away (didn't work.. They stayed the whole game). These fireworks sounded like a bomb to be honest, I saw my life flash before my eyes. Don't worry, not a single Roma fan was concerned though so I assumed we weren't getting attacked. We were right behind the goal - directly next to the away section - the best place to be if you want to experience the perfect amount of hostility (it was hilariously awesome). In my pictures, you'll see that the security actually outnumbered the fans (those poor people). Apparently the fact that they're both a part of Italy does not prevent the hundreds of Roma fans from chanting expletives across the stadium at the 50 dedicated Bologna fans that were in attendance (Don't worry, they were not innocent in their chanting either, there were just less of them) They won 5-0 but my favorite was by far the singing and pride that filled the stadium. The amount of roman pride experienced at this game was over the top - I feel like a true Roman now. Two weeks and I'm already a Roman, HUZZAH.
Next weekend: Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany (Exploring the castle Walt Disney designed Sleeping Beauty's castle off of, participating in a beer challenge - touring all the Munich breweries and obviously experiencing firsthand the excitement of Oktoberfest!) Ciao!
This past weekend we went to BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL Tuscany - absolutely my favorite place so far! We ventured off in two cars on Thursday night for our roughly three hour excursion to Florence! We were staying with Assumptionist nuns which turned out being a slightly eerie building but filled with the sweetest women you'll ever meet. On Friday, we met our professor for a full day of art history - touring around the major historical monuments in Florence. We went to the Duomo, piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce, The Carmine and the Uffizi Museum (where Michelangelo's David is located). On our free two hours, we walked to the gardens that overlook Florence which was BEAUTIFUL. Truly stunning. Florence is located in the middle of all of these hills - it's quite the sight from above. It's humbling, overlooking a city like that. It certainly makes you think about how truly enormous the world is. At night, we went out to dinner with a few guests (an Assumption college graduate being one of them) to enjoy a wonderful four course Tuscan meal. It was a busy day - but BEYOND worth it! Needless to say, I slept like a baby. Highlights from this day: seeing the ENORMOUS statue of David (so much bigger than I expected. I wish I was able to show you a picture but that is strictly banned), admiring all the WONDERFUL leather Florence offers, experiencing the enormous Duomo (inside and out - absolutely stunning), seeing where Michelangelo was buried (and finding out he was homosexual - things I didn't obviously didn't know when I asked about his mistresses), having a personal tour guide to point out the historical aspects of the town AND (my all time favorite) sitting in a piazza in Florence singing various songs while the director played his guitalele (ie. You are my sunshine, Bob Marley and a variety Italian songs).
Saturday was the best day I have had in Italy thusfar. Although Sunday is close competitor. On Saturday we went to The Academia, again with our Italian professor where we explored the four ninja turtles (and very talented artists) Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Donatello and Raphael! Then, we went to this BEAUTIFUL town about an hour out of Florence called Certaldo, Giovanni Boccaccio's hometown. We found when we got to the town not only was everything named after Boccaccio but there was a party going on in his name! (This is his 700th birthday after all). After spending only five hours there, I deemed this place one of my absolutely favorite places in the world (besides Gales Ferry, obviously). This town was how I imagined myself in Italy - sitting back with good company, overlooking an incredible view, listening to Renaissance music playing in the background with a bottle of wine and some Italian bread and olive oil - what a fantastic moment :))
Sunday, however, was also an incredible day. Let's just say this weekend was fantastic. We got up early, attended mass with the Assumptionists and embarked for Siena! Although it was pouring when we arrived, we enjoyed a wonderful Tuscan meal and experience the wonderfully cute town of Siena and got to see their Duomo - and do some puddle jumping in the meantime (not a lot of pictures - didn't want to get Katie's camera wet, yet again). We hustled back to Rome and luckily due to the determination and time management of our professors, myself and a few girls in the program got to go to the ROMA futbol game!! It was INCREDIBLE. Our Italian program provided us with the opportunity to go and I am SO glad I went. Within five minutes of arriving, enormous fireworks started going off - apparently the Roma fans were attempting to scare the Bologna fans away (didn't work.. They stayed the whole game). These fireworks sounded like a bomb to be honest, I saw my life flash before my eyes. Don't worry, not a single Roma fan was concerned though so I assumed we weren't getting attacked. We were right behind the goal - directly next to the away section - the best place to be if you want to experience the perfect amount of hostility (it was hilariously awesome). In my pictures, you'll see that the security actually outnumbered the fans (those poor people). Apparently the fact that they're both a part of Italy does not prevent the hundreds of Roma fans from chanting expletives across the stadium at the 50 dedicated Bologna fans that were in attendance (Don't worry, they were not innocent in their chanting either, there were just less of them) They won 5-0 but my favorite was by far the singing and pride that filled the stadium. The amount of roman pride experienced at this game was over the top - I feel like a true Roman now. Two weeks and I'm already a Roman, HUZZAH.
Next weekend: Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany (Exploring the castle Walt Disney designed Sleeping Beauty's castle off of, participating in a beer challenge - touring all the Munich breweries and obviously experiencing firsthand the excitement of Oktoberfest!) Ciao!
September 24, 2013 - "All roads lead to Rome.."
Just a short blog post about Appia Antica and MOZZARELLA - I couldn't resist! We went to Appia Antica this weekend, which turns out is an ancient road leading from Rome to Naples. Just outside the city lies this cobblestone trail that is surrounded by beautiful graves, catacombs and villas (for those rich people that aren't afraid of ghosts!) We enjoyed a delightful and bumpy bike ride (apparently the Ancient Romans were not using mountain bikes to travel) along the trail. The road goes on for miles and miles with mountains on one side and Rome on the other- what an awesome sight. We stopped halfway through to enjoy a spaghetti pie (there's an official name out there somewhere but it was some form of spaghetti frittata) and a sandwich packed by Monica! My favorite part of this road was how incredibly peaceful it is (I debated not putting my pictures up because I feel they do not do it any sort of justice). When waiting for the bus on the way home, my professor and I decided to walk home. Not only did I get a full history of Catholicism and a full understanding of the context of the Decameron but we stumbled upon some of the most beautiful structures and of course gelato. If you come to Rome, take a day to get lost! Set aside a day to not know where you're going and you'll stumble upon some of the most beautiful sights and structures. This is how we came across a lot of pictures that you'll see (Trevi fountain, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (where Constantine is buried and the pope preaches as the bishop of Rome) as well as the original walls built around Ancient Rome to guard themselves from intruders).
Also, MOZZARELLA. Included, I have pictures of white balls that look similar to bread dough. It is in fact mozzarella, the BEST mozzarella I probably ever will have. My professor has family in Naples (the birthplace of this delicious cheese) and traveled to visit them for a couple days. When he came back, he provided us with this delectable cheesy goodness. I wish I had the ability to describe what it tasted like but you'll just have to come here and figure it out. The caprese salad that Monica made up for us with fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella was by far my favorite meal here, preceding a pasta dish and followed by homemade ice cream and fresh fruit. It's hard being here...
Short but sweet. I knew I would forget about these awesome Italian experiences after Florence so I thought I'd throw them in now :))
Just a short blog post about Appia Antica and MOZZARELLA - I couldn't resist! We went to Appia Antica this weekend, which turns out is an ancient road leading from Rome to Naples. Just outside the city lies this cobblestone trail that is surrounded by beautiful graves, catacombs and villas (for those rich people that aren't afraid of ghosts!) We enjoyed a delightful and bumpy bike ride (apparently the Ancient Romans were not using mountain bikes to travel) along the trail. The road goes on for miles and miles with mountains on one side and Rome on the other- what an awesome sight. We stopped halfway through to enjoy a spaghetti pie (there's an official name out there somewhere but it was some form of spaghetti frittata) and a sandwich packed by Monica! My favorite part of this road was how incredibly peaceful it is (I debated not putting my pictures up because I feel they do not do it any sort of justice). When waiting for the bus on the way home, my professor and I decided to walk home. Not only did I get a full history of Catholicism and a full understanding of the context of the Decameron but we stumbled upon some of the most beautiful structures and of course gelato. If you come to Rome, take a day to get lost! Set aside a day to not know where you're going and you'll stumble upon some of the most beautiful sights and structures. This is how we came across a lot of pictures that you'll see (Trevi fountain, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (where Constantine is buried and the pope preaches as the bishop of Rome) as well as the original walls built around Ancient Rome to guard themselves from intruders).
Also, MOZZARELLA. Included, I have pictures of white balls that look similar to bread dough. It is in fact mozzarella, the BEST mozzarella I probably ever will have. My professor has family in Naples (the birthplace of this delicious cheese) and traveled to visit them for a couple days. When he came back, he provided us with this delectable cheesy goodness. I wish I had the ability to describe what it tasted like but you'll just have to come here and figure it out. The caprese salad that Monica made up for us with fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella was by far my favorite meal here, preceding a pasta dish and followed by homemade ice cream and fresh fruit. It's hard being here...
Short but sweet. I knew I would forget about these awesome Italian experiences after Florence so I thought I'd throw them in now :))
September 19, 2013 - I MADE IT. Even though my aviatophobia could have convinced me that I would never make it here, I am in fact in one piece and loving it! I have fallen in love with EVERYTHING. There is SO much I want to say but I'll do my best to keep it concise (It didn't work - I had way too much to say). For one, my classes are AWESOME. I'm taking Renaissance Art History, Italian I, Catholicism Today, Love and Friendship (my independent study) and Italian Literature.
Italian: The Italian class is taught at a Italian university to help teach American students how to speak Italian! The university is only a few metro stops away and past the Spanish steps (pictures below!) When you're forced to use a foreign language as much as we have been, it comes a lot easier rather than using it in a classroom every other day for forty five minutes. They also organize programs for American students to better understand the culture. For example, in a few weeks, they're offering a trip to a Roma soccer game (which I am INCREDIBLY excited about) and tomorrow they're having a pasta lunch!
Italian Literature: where we're reading The Decameron (a similar Italian version of the Canterbury Tales) throughout the semester taking on the identity of the characters (I am Elissa for all of you Italian literature fans out there). We get to go to find the path that they supposedly took in Florence next weekend and see the place that Giovianni Boccaccio supposedly grew up. And so far, I love this class!
Art History: Our second class was in the Colosseum which was AWESOME. Between all of my professors and the field trips that we go on, I feel like I constantly have a personal tour guide. As we walked around, it was so interesting to think that I have never been on ground that was that old before. (kind of). To think that emperors in Ancient Rome sat in the exact place that I was sitting watching gladiator combats was such an awesome feeling. I definitely transformed to Ancient Rome for a few minutes to truly understand what an incredible stadium this must have been.
Catholicism Today: The theme of this class comes from Pope John Paul II: "If you come to study in Rome, you should take time to study Rome." Although this class will be my most time consuming class, I'm excited to see all the things that he has planned for us. Apparently there are 900 churches in Rome and for one our assignments, we will be attending seven of them - all in different languages. Another one of our assignments is to go get gelato at Gellateria del Teatro and walk down to Ponte Sant'Angelo and write a reflection on the historical significance of this and Castel Sant'Angelo. My life, it's way to hard these days.. (Side note: We went to the Vatican on Sunday to hear the sermon and get blessed by the pope!! I didn't have the camera, I didn't want to ruin Katie's camera with the rain or else you would see pictures!)
Love and Friendship: This class is considered my independent study! I am a part of the ethics class that my group is doing but because I already took ethics, I have different readings and will be doing research instead of exams. For this class, I will theoretically use Plato, Aristotle and Frankfurt's theories of love and friendship to treat a client in my potential career. I joined the class to go to a non-catholic cemetery (by far the prettiest cemetery I have ever been too) where John Keats was buried (Romantic readers out there I figured would appreciate this! Picture below!)
Favorite things thusfar:
1. At first, it was definitely culture shock. As it sinks in, I'm falling in love with the Italian lifestyle. The entire city shuts down from 1:30 to 3:00 to go home and eat lunch with their family and take a nap. Within a day of arriving, I was already used to this aspect of the culture.
2. OUR COOK. Monica, our chef, comes to our building to make lunch and dinner every day to make DELECTABLE meal. She makes a plethora of food, most food I haven't heard of but it's all DELICIOUS. There's two course for lunch and three courses for dinner (pasta/grain, meat, dessert). I haven't had one dish I didn't like. And everyone will be proud - I finish every meal (because I'm not rushed), drink all my water and I eat absolutely every vegetable here, it's official. Two things Americans don't tend to know: spaghetti and meatballs and chicken alfredo are totally American. The Italians never combine bread and meat with pasta. Funny how much we just made that one up.
3. The fact that I can get off the metro like I'm in New York City, walk up the stairs and see the Pantheon in the middle of this enormously urban area. The fact that SO much history happened on the same ground that I use to get to class is really the most surreal feeling (besides the fact that I'm actually studying abroad in Rome and not just starring in a remake of my childhood favorite movie, Lizzie McGuire)
4. The fact that I'm forced to use the Italian language as much as I can. Whether I'm buying gelato or using the metro, I'm forced to use the language as much as I can which is essentially how I'm learning it so quickly! Fortunately, I'm not stuck in a corner if I don't have the right word (because both the professors with us are fluent) but it's still been wonderful learning this language! Whenever I talk in Italian, I feel 20x more intellectual than when I speak in English. Even when I'm just saying 'My favorite color is pink' (which didn't even go well - I ended up saying my favorite color is cake).
5. The fact that the majority of my time in the city will be with professors who are professionals in certain aspects of the city (whether it's the enormous religion component, the Italian language and history or the architecture that surround the streets of Rome). I'm not just walking aimlessly around the streets, not knowing what anything means. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY.
This weekend: bike ride around Appica Antica (ALSO using the clothesline as a dryer, exciting!)
Next weekend: Florence! (We're actually going to Tuscany but unbeknownst to me, Tuscany is the region in which Florence is! Two birds, one stone!)
Below is a slideshow! It will automatically move for you but if you click one, it will be made bigger!
Italian: The Italian class is taught at a Italian university to help teach American students how to speak Italian! The university is only a few metro stops away and past the Spanish steps (pictures below!) When you're forced to use a foreign language as much as we have been, it comes a lot easier rather than using it in a classroom every other day for forty five minutes. They also organize programs for American students to better understand the culture. For example, in a few weeks, they're offering a trip to a Roma soccer game (which I am INCREDIBLY excited about) and tomorrow they're having a pasta lunch!
Italian Literature: where we're reading The Decameron (a similar Italian version of the Canterbury Tales) throughout the semester taking on the identity of the characters (I am Elissa for all of you Italian literature fans out there). We get to go to find the path that they supposedly took in Florence next weekend and see the place that Giovianni Boccaccio supposedly grew up. And so far, I love this class!
Art History: Our second class was in the Colosseum which was AWESOME. Between all of my professors and the field trips that we go on, I feel like I constantly have a personal tour guide. As we walked around, it was so interesting to think that I have never been on ground that was that old before. (kind of). To think that emperors in Ancient Rome sat in the exact place that I was sitting watching gladiator combats was such an awesome feeling. I definitely transformed to Ancient Rome for a few minutes to truly understand what an incredible stadium this must have been.
Catholicism Today: The theme of this class comes from Pope John Paul II: "If you come to study in Rome, you should take time to study Rome." Although this class will be my most time consuming class, I'm excited to see all the things that he has planned for us. Apparently there are 900 churches in Rome and for one our assignments, we will be attending seven of them - all in different languages. Another one of our assignments is to go get gelato at Gellateria del Teatro and walk down to Ponte Sant'Angelo and write a reflection on the historical significance of this and Castel Sant'Angelo. My life, it's way to hard these days.. (Side note: We went to the Vatican on Sunday to hear the sermon and get blessed by the pope!! I didn't have the camera, I didn't want to ruin Katie's camera with the rain or else you would see pictures!)
Love and Friendship: This class is considered my independent study! I am a part of the ethics class that my group is doing but because I already took ethics, I have different readings and will be doing research instead of exams. For this class, I will theoretically use Plato, Aristotle and Frankfurt's theories of love and friendship to treat a client in my potential career. I joined the class to go to a non-catholic cemetery (by far the prettiest cemetery I have ever been too) where John Keats was buried (Romantic readers out there I figured would appreciate this! Picture below!)
Favorite things thusfar:
1. At first, it was definitely culture shock. As it sinks in, I'm falling in love with the Italian lifestyle. The entire city shuts down from 1:30 to 3:00 to go home and eat lunch with their family and take a nap. Within a day of arriving, I was already used to this aspect of the culture.
2. OUR COOK. Monica, our chef, comes to our building to make lunch and dinner every day to make DELECTABLE meal. She makes a plethora of food, most food I haven't heard of but it's all DELICIOUS. There's two course for lunch and three courses for dinner (pasta/grain, meat, dessert). I haven't had one dish I didn't like. And everyone will be proud - I finish every meal (because I'm not rushed), drink all my water and I eat absolutely every vegetable here, it's official. Two things Americans don't tend to know: spaghetti and meatballs and chicken alfredo are totally American. The Italians never combine bread and meat with pasta. Funny how much we just made that one up.
3. The fact that I can get off the metro like I'm in New York City, walk up the stairs and see the Pantheon in the middle of this enormously urban area. The fact that SO much history happened on the same ground that I use to get to class is really the most surreal feeling (besides the fact that I'm actually studying abroad in Rome and not just starring in a remake of my childhood favorite movie, Lizzie McGuire)
4. The fact that I'm forced to use the Italian language as much as I can. Whether I'm buying gelato or using the metro, I'm forced to use the language as much as I can which is essentially how I'm learning it so quickly! Fortunately, I'm not stuck in a corner if I don't have the right word (because both the professors with us are fluent) but it's still been wonderful learning this language! Whenever I talk in Italian, I feel 20x more intellectual than when I speak in English. Even when I'm just saying 'My favorite color is pink' (which didn't even go well - I ended up saying my favorite color is cake).
5. The fact that the majority of my time in the city will be with professors who are professionals in certain aspects of the city (whether it's the enormous religion component, the Italian language and history or the architecture that surround the streets of Rome). I'm not just walking aimlessly around the streets, not knowing what anything means. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY.
This weekend: bike ride around Appica Antica (ALSO using the clothesline as a dryer, exciting!)
Next weekend: Florence! (We're actually going to Tuscany but unbeknownst to me, Tuscany is the region in which Florence is! Two birds, one stone!)
Below is a slideshow! It will automatically move for you but if you click one, it will be made bigger!
September 10, 2014: T-minus three days until I embark on my journey!
Here I will be keeping everyone updated on my life in Rome! I thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch with all the people I love back home - via pictures and stories! Disclaimer: I am not even close to an English major and grammar has never been something I prided myself on. This is just a fun explanation of my life in Rome. So here we go!
Although I have a couple tough good-byes ahead of me, I'm overwhelmed with excitemension (excitement with a dash of apprehension). Yesterday, our group of seven kids from Assumption College had an incredibly informative orientation. Here are the top five aspects that I am absolutely excited about:
1. Shout out to Assumption for providing students with this INCREDIBLE opportunity - providing us all with books, weekend trips to Urbino, Florence and Naples as well as day trips to Orvieto, Appica Antica and Ostia Antica AND a monthly metro and bus pass. (Shout out to the 'rents as well: I would not be getting on the plane without my parent's emotional and financial support!)
2. Having a professional Italian chef in the downstairs of my dorm room for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all inclusive! HOW COOL. Not to mention that everyone seems equally as excited as I am to eat gelato, drink wine and eat pasta every day.
3. For the first couple weeks, my walk to my Italian class will consist of beautiful eighty degree weather past all the well-dressed Italians, up the Spanish steps and to class. Sometimes I forget about the actual 'going to class' aspect that comes with this whole process but I can't deny how awesome it sounds just to get there!
4. The art history course that we're taking not only talks about Roman art and architecture but allows us to witness it firsthand in the museums in the area, all included! Also, because I'm a senior and have already taken certain requirements, I have an independent study with an Italian philosophy professor! Call me geeky but I guess I have thought about going to class... And I can't say it sounds too shabby.
5. For all those worried about my well being, you will be delighted to know that I'm living in a safe neighborhood on a gated campus. Also, my wonderful friend Sage has provided me with a lock that allow me to lock my purse against all those nasty pickpocketers I hear so much about. Try me, Italian pickpocketers!
Fino alla prossima volta! (Until next time! Hopefully, next time I won't have to use Google Translate...) Ciao!
Here I will be keeping everyone updated on my life in Rome! I thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch with all the people I love back home - via pictures and stories! Disclaimer: I am not even close to an English major and grammar has never been something I prided myself on. This is just a fun explanation of my life in Rome. So here we go!
Although I have a couple tough good-byes ahead of me, I'm overwhelmed with excitemension (excitement with a dash of apprehension). Yesterday, our group of seven kids from Assumption College had an incredibly informative orientation. Here are the top five aspects that I am absolutely excited about:
1. Shout out to Assumption for providing students with this INCREDIBLE opportunity - providing us all with books, weekend trips to Urbino, Florence and Naples as well as day trips to Orvieto, Appica Antica and Ostia Antica AND a monthly metro and bus pass. (Shout out to the 'rents as well: I would not be getting on the plane without my parent's emotional and financial support!)
2. Having a professional Italian chef in the downstairs of my dorm room for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all inclusive! HOW COOL. Not to mention that everyone seems equally as excited as I am to eat gelato, drink wine and eat pasta every day.
3. For the first couple weeks, my walk to my Italian class will consist of beautiful eighty degree weather past all the well-dressed Italians, up the Spanish steps and to class. Sometimes I forget about the actual 'going to class' aspect that comes with this whole process but I can't deny how awesome it sounds just to get there!
4. The art history course that we're taking not only talks about Roman art and architecture but allows us to witness it firsthand in the museums in the area, all included! Also, because I'm a senior and have already taken certain requirements, I have an independent study with an Italian philosophy professor! Call me geeky but I guess I have thought about going to class... And I can't say it sounds too shabby.
5. For all those worried about my well being, you will be delighted to know that I'm living in a safe neighborhood on a gated campus. Also, my wonderful friend Sage has provided me with a lock that allow me to lock my purse against all those nasty pickpocketers I hear so much about. Try me, Italian pickpocketers!
Fino alla prossima volta! (Until next time! Hopefully, next time I won't have to use Google Translate...) Ciao!