This was quite the weekend! Two day trips and each SO much fun. On Friday me and four of my friends went to Bologna for the day. It's about an hour from Florence so not too abd. We got there around 9:30 and stayed until about 4 45...it was perfect! We probably didn't do nearly as much historical and culture stuff as we had hoped but I think we're going to try and go back there before the end of the semester. We spent a lot of time wandering the streets aimlessly, which is honestly my favorite type of travelling. Bologna is home to the world's oldest university (i believe) and so we walked through the streets in the neighborhood where the university was. It was quite the college town. It was a bit unfortunate because we have to travel with a small budget and going to places like bologna, known for their food, puts a limit on what we can try. We can't afford to have a nice lunch in bologna to try the cuisine so we just ended up having a typical italian meal. Still good obviously.
Today was SO much fun. Amazing. We went to two towns in Tuscany for my sociology class. The first town was called Montelupo. It's known for it's ceramics so we went to the ceramics museum. It was interesting I suppose. The museum was suprisingly nice considering the size of the town but it was pretty plain and boring in terms of it's content. I love pottery but I knew all the stuff that was discussed so it was only so interesting. After the museum we had time for lunch and exploring until our bus left at 3 00 for certaldo.
Certaldo was my heaven. Entry was free (thanks NYU)but then my friends and I bought a nice wine glass for 3 euro in order to have a wine tasting. Basically this little tiny medieval town on a hill was hosting a food festival. There were dozens of stalls set up selling their products and of course, there were tons of samples. Cheese, meat, bread and olive oil, chocolate and wine wine wine. SO much fun. We spent almost three hours wandering around sampling everything. My professor even shared her beer with me! The smells, the tastes, the sights, everything was incredible. You don't taste food like that in the U.S. I tried gorgonzola right from the wheel...with flies all around! It felt so authentic! I tried wine jam (??)and wild boar...maybe it was the wine but I felt progressively more and more fearless when it came to trying all the meats. I definitely had some mystery meats. But all delicious. I just kept thinking to myself how wild it was that I was on a school trip and not on vacation. Only in Italy.
This upcoming week is a bit busy getting ready for midterms and on Friday-Saturday I'm going on another school trip to Padua, Mantua and Verona! A domani!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Parlare con i nonni
I'm loving my Italian class. Today "i nonni" (grandparents) came into our class to talk with us. We were split into small groups and assigned to 1 or 2 "nonni". Our task was to ask them questions about Italian food, what their favorite kind is, favorite desert, pasta etc. Tomorrow we're going to the Mercato Centrale for class to buy ingredients for a meal that "i nonni" recommended we cook. Then next week we're going to meet with "i nonni" again and tell them how the cooking went, how we liked the food and show them photos. I'm so excited!
Talking to them today was such a challenge. But a fun challenge. My group was with a woman named Lena and a man named Lorenzo. Neither of them spoke ANY english so we literally had to fight our way through speaking italian and hope that they understood what we were saying. It was definitely difficult but such good practice. They told us what they eat, explained the Tuscan diet (a diet of poverty), their favorite deserts, they even told us what gelato places to hit up in Florence. I love talking to Italians! I can't wait to meet up with them again and tell them how all the cooking went. We're going to make a veggie pasta, called Pasta Ortolana, and a salad. Tomorrow, my long day of three classes isn't going to be too bad (hopefully) because I have site visits for all of them! Bargello in the morning for Renaissance, Mercato Centrale for Italian and Museo Marino Marini for Painting. Ciao!
Talking to them today was such a challenge. But a fun challenge. My group was with a woman named Lena and a man named Lorenzo. Neither of them spoke ANY english so we literally had to fight our way through speaking italian and hope that they understood what we were saying. It was definitely difficult but such good practice. They told us what they eat, explained the Tuscan diet (a diet of poverty), their favorite deserts, they even told us what gelato places to hit up in Florence. I love talking to Italians! I can't wait to meet up with them again and tell them how all the cooking went. We're going to make a veggie pasta, called Pasta Ortolana, and a salad. Tomorrow, my long day of three classes isn't going to be too bad (hopefully) because I have site visits for all of them! Bargello in the morning for Renaissance, Mercato Centrale for Italian and Museo Marino Marini for Painting. Ciao!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
A Relaxing Weekend in Elba
It's been about a week since my last blog, which only means that I'm so busy that I don't have time to talk about every individual day. That's good.
This past weekend my roomate Shelly and I went to Elba! I know what you're thinking, where the hellba is elba?? Well, Elba is a small island off the western coast of Tuscany and it's beautiful! We went for the entire weekend. I had class on Thursday until 2 45 so I rushed to the train station to catch a 3 27 train. We ended up sprinting with our huge backpacks to catch the train, which was of course at the furthest possible track, and once we made the train, it left about 15 min late. Perfect. Sweaty and out of breath, we sat down in our seat for a breather. About halfway from Florence to Pisa (a stop on the way), I realized that we forgot to vallidate our tickets. Even more perfect. Not validating tickets (getting them stamped by machines) can result in fines, which for poor college students, is no good. So, as soon as the train stopped in Pisa, I sprinted off the train, dodging dozens of travelers to validate the ticket. As soon as I stamped them, I jumped on the nearest car, seconds before the train started to move. Shelly was a bit worried since I wasn't in the right car but I popped through the doors in a minute or so and she was very releaved that I made it!
From Pisa we changed the train in Livorno (which we only figured out once we were the last people on the train) and then took a bus from the last train station to the ferry terminal 20 min away. Of course, our bus arrived 5 min before the 7 o'clock ferry was scheduled to leave so again, we sprinted to buy the tickets and then ran across a massive carpark towards the boat. Yet again, we made it in the nick of time only to have the ferry leave late. Nice. We were very happy to have caught the earlier ferry because otherwise we would have had to wait until 10!
When we arrived in Portoferraio, Elba, we found a nice restaurant and had dinner. We befriended the waiter and he was nice enough to give us a half bottle of wine on the house. He understood that we were college students :) After dinner we had our first experience with the marvelous expense of Elba. Our cab from Portoferraio to our hotel (about 15 min away) was 28 euros! We finally got to our hotel and it was quite the pleasant suprise. Very modern with a nice bathroom, balcony and kitchen...it had an oven! Quite the luxury for us Florentines.
Friday was a stressful day. We decided to rent bikes for the day for 5 euros and go to the beach. Of course with the bikes we got the back breaks didn't work, the seats were far too low and we had no helmets. Thus a horrible combination. The beach that was suppose to be 3km away downhill ended up being uphill/downhill for quite awhile. We decided to lock our bikes at the beach and call the hotel to pick them up. Once at the beach we went to a hotel to have breakfast/brunch (10 euro buffet). What we didn't realize was that the hotel was a hot hang out for bees. Let's just say eating toast with jam and honey was not a repelent for the bees. We ended up spending the majority of our breakfast lurring the bees with honey and trapping them under various plates.
After breakfast came our lovely experiment with local transportation. Finding the bus stop proved to be impossible so we ended up giving in and jumping in a taxi to go the beach. 40 euros! That was a splurge. We finally got to the beach and spent the entire rest of the day there. It was beautiful and such a good end to the very hectic day. Since we had spent so much money we decided to cook dinner that night and so we went to the grocery store to get supplies, as well as food for breakfast and lunch the next day. Three meals from the grocery: 17 euros. Saved us a lot.
Saturday was a much more successful day. Armed with a correct bus schedule, our tomato and mozzerella sandwiches and the determination to have a great day, we set off for Portoferraio. We decided to go to the tourism office and get some advice and the nicest woman was there full of information. She basically planned our entire day out for us! At 10:30 we caught a boat that took us on a tour of the northern section of Elba, including a underwater look at the marine life (very cool). Unfortunately the two hour boat ride resulted in mild to extreme-ish seasickness and we were quite happy to get back to land. We had our sandwiches after lunch and then caught the bus to a beach called Procchio. Typical Shelly and Sophie, we missed our stop on the bus and ended up having to catch another back to the Procchio stop. Minor hiccup which lead to a beautiful afternoon spent on the beach. Procchio was amazing. Pictures hardly do justice. I went swimming in the ocean and it was INCREDIBLE. Crystal clear water, soft soft sand and no creepy marine life. It was perfect. For our last dinner in Elba we went back to the first restaurant we went to. Our friends from the first night were there and they were very happy to see us back. At the end of the meal, when we asked for our bill, our new friend/waiter Stefano told us that it was taken care of. As in, our 40 euro meal was free. On the house. Let's just say we were far from upset. Great end to the weekend.
Sunday morning we got up, paid our bill and went to the Napoleon Villa. Apparently Napoleon was exiled there. I'm not very caught up with French history...I actually don't know anything about French history, sad I know. But he had a pretty sweet set up in Elba. Nice mansion on the cliff, with an ocean view. Not really the exile most people would expect. It was a nice, realxing morning with zero problems with public transportaion. Of course the last day we're there, we finally figure it all out. We grabbed a quick lunch in Portoferraio and then, again, had to spring to the ferry at 12:40. We literally got there five seconds before the boat closed up. VERY close call. The boat ride was relaxing, we played cards and from there the travel home was a cinch. No suprises and no rushing.
All in all it was great weekend. Shelly and I travel very well together so it was perfect. I'm happy to be back in Florence and excited for all the other travels...I need to work out where to go! Next weekend Bologna?? (pronounced Ba-lon-ya...not Ba-loney)
This past weekend my roomate Shelly and I went to Elba! I know what you're thinking, where the hellba is elba?? Well, Elba is a small island off the western coast of Tuscany and it's beautiful! We went for the entire weekend. I had class on Thursday until 2 45 so I rushed to the train station to catch a 3 27 train. We ended up sprinting with our huge backpacks to catch the train, which was of course at the furthest possible track, and once we made the train, it left about 15 min late. Perfect. Sweaty and out of breath, we sat down in our seat for a breather. About halfway from Florence to Pisa (a stop on the way), I realized that we forgot to vallidate our tickets. Even more perfect. Not validating tickets (getting them stamped by machines) can result in fines, which for poor college students, is no good. So, as soon as the train stopped in Pisa, I sprinted off the train, dodging dozens of travelers to validate the ticket. As soon as I stamped them, I jumped on the nearest car, seconds before the train started to move. Shelly was a bit worried since I wasn't in the right car but I popped through the doors in a minute or so and she was very releaved that I made it!
From Pisa we changed the train in Livorno (which we only figured out once we were the last people on the train) and then took a bus from the last train station to the ferry terminal 20 min away. Of course, our bus arrived 5 min before the 7 o'clock ferry was scheduled to leave so again, we sprinted to buy the tickets and then ran across a massive carpark towards the boat. Yet again, we made it in the nick of time only to have the ferry leave late. Nice. We were very happy to have caught the earlier ferry because otherwise we would have had to wait until 10!
When we arrived in Portoferraio, Elba, we found a nice restaurant and had dinner. We befriended the waiter and he was nice enough to give us a half bottle of wine on the house. He understood that we were college students :) After dinner we had our first experience with the marvelous expense of Elba. Our cab from Portoferraio to our hotel (about 15 min away) was 28 euros! We finally got to our hotel and it was quite the pleasant suprise. Very modern with a nice bathroom, balcony and kitchen...it had an oven! Quite the luxury for us Florentines.
Friday was a stressful day. We decided to rent bikes for the day for 5 euros and go to the beach. Of course with the bikes we got the back breaks didn't work, the seats were far too low and we had no helmets. Thus a horrible combination. The beach that was suppose to be 3km away downhill ended up being uphill/downhill for quite awhile. We decided to lock our bikes at the beach and call the hotel to pick them up. Once at the beach we went to a hotel to have breakfast/brunch (10 euro buffet). What we didn't realize was that the hotel was a hot hang out for bees. Let's just say eating toast with jam and honey was not a repelent for the bees. We ended up spending the majority of our breakfast lurring the bees with honey and trapping them under various plates.
After breakfast came our lovely experiment with local transportation. Finding the bus stop proved to be impossible so we ended up giving in and jumping in a taxi to go the beach. 40 euros! That was a splurge. We finally got to the beach and spent the entire rest of the day there. It was beautiful and such a good end to the very hectic day. Since we had spent so much money we decided to cook dinner that night and so we went to the grocery store to get supplies, as well as food for breakfast and lunch the next day. Three meals from the grocery: 17 euros. Saved us a lot.
Saturday was a much more successful day. Armed with a correct bus schedule, our tomato and mozzerella sandwiches and the determination to have a great day, we set off for Portoferraio. We decided to go to the tourism office and get some advice and the nicest woman was there full of information. She basically planned our entire day out for us! At 10:30 we caught a boat that took us on a tour of the northern section of Elba, including a underwater look at the marine life (very cool). Unfortunately the two hour boat ride resulted in mild to extreme-ish seasickness and we were quite happy to get back to land. We had our sandwiches after lunch and then caught the bus to a beach called Procchio. Typical Shelly and Sophie, we missed our stop on the bus and ended up having to catch another back to the Procchio stop. Minor hiccup which lead to a beautiful afternoon spent on the beach. Procchio was amazing. Pictures hardly do justice. I went swimming in the ocean and it was INCREDIBLE. Crystal clear water, soft soft sand and no creepy marine life. It was perfect. For our last dinner in Elba we went back to the first restaurant we went to. Our friends from the first night were there and they were very happy to see us back. At the end of the meal, when we asked for our bill, our new friend/waiter Stefano told us that it was taken care of. As in, our 40 euro meal was free. On the house. Let's just say we were far from upset. Great end to the weekend.
Sunday morning we got up, paid our bill and went to the Napoleon Villa. Apparently Napoleon was exiled there. I'm not very caught up with French history...I actually don't know anything about French history, sad I know. But he had a pretty sweet set up in Elba. Nice mansion on the cliff, with an ocean view. Not really the exile most people would expect. It was a nice, realxing morning with zero problems with public transportaion. Of course the last day we're there, we finally figure it all out. We grabbed a quick lunch in Portoferraio and then, again, had to spring to the ferry at 12:40. We literally got there five seconds before the boat closed up. VERY close call. The boat ride was relaxing, we played cards and from there the travel home was a cinch. No suprises and no rushing.
All in all it was great weekend. Shelly and I travel very well together so it was perfect. I'm happy to be back in Florence and excited for all the other travels...I need to work out where to go! Next weekend Bologna?? (pronounced Ba-lon-ya...not Ba-loney)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Hike to My Twenties
This weekend was amazing. Everything about Cinque Terre was incredible and, like I say about everything in Italy, I will definitely be going back there. For those of you who don't know, Cinque Terre means 5 towns in Italian and consists of 5 towns which hiking paths connecting them. The length of each varries but the two trails at the end are 1.5 hours and in total it should take 5 hours to hike. Unfortunately, one of the long paths was closed because of the rain but we were still able to see all of the towns. Each of the trails varried in level of difficulty as well so we got a lot of variety throughout the whole day. So....we got to Riomaggiore around 10:00 in the morning on Saturday and began our adventure! The first path, from Riomaggiore to Manarola was pretty easy and took about 30 minutes. It was called Via dell'Amore (Road of Love) and it was basically a walking path on the coast. Very beautiful but definitely crowded.
When we got to Manarola we took the train to Corniglia since the path was closed. The hike from Corniglia to Vernazza was about 1.5 hours and definitely much harder than the first hike. The water kept getting bluer and the cliffs kept getting more and more dramatic. Everything was lush and untouched. It was raining a bit during this trek but not too hard where it became uncomfortable. And despite the clouds and rain, it was beautiful.
Hungry and in need of energy, we decided to use Vernazza as our lunch stop. Vernazza was one of my favorite towns out of the five. It was right on the water and had the cutest shops, cafes. After lunch we chilled for a bit on the pier we noticed the clouds moving away and the sun finally shining. That was our signal to get moving to the last town so we could relax on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Of course, with the sun comes the heat and we definitely noticed an increase in temperature on the last leg. It was also the hardest trek in total because it was so much uphill and downhill. Lots of old stairs and precarious paths on the cliffs. I loved it though. Nothing feels better than being out of breath going up a really steep hill and then getting to the top and looking around at the gorgeous view: crystal clear turqouise water hitting against the cliffs, surrounded by lush green medeterainian landscape.
We got to the last town, Monterosso Al Mare at about 4:30 or so and the sun was still shining! The first task however was not to go to the beach, but to find a place to sleep for the night. We had a lot of trouble finding a hostel open for that weekend so we managed to find a random apartment. We decided that since the apartment had no name and no reservation policy (the guy on the phone asked me my name and told me to call him), that we would try when we got there to find a legit hostel. Fortunately we found a great place where all eight of us were able to stay in one apartment for only 25 euros each.
Once we found the hostel, we quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed straight to the beach! It was SO nice to just lay on the beach for an hour (before the sun started to disappear and the heat left) after a long day of hiking. I was really happy that we got atleast three hours of beautiful weather! For dinner we went out at this cute restaurant. Shelly and I split a pizza and it was delicious!
We definitely ended our day with a bang. After dinner we wandered around the town and stumbled upon a concert on the pier. The band was playing Italian music and there were a few people dancing, so we decided to join in and get the party started. And we did. So well. The eight of us dominated the dance floor and after a few songs (warmup) some locals joined in. Soon enough the dance floor was pretty filled and we were learning Italian line dancing. Perfect. Nothing like dancing with Italians at the beach.
We called it an early night (one of the earliest I've had since coming to Italy) so we could get up nice and early and enjoy the day. Unfortunately,when we woke up, the weather was really crummy. We went to breakfast and by the time we were done it looked like it was about to downpour. So we went to a cafe and played cards while it rained. Eventually we made an executive decision to try and take an early train back to Florence. The weather wasn't as nice as we'd hoped and we all had a bunch of hw to get done before the week. So we caught a train back to Florence and we were back at our apartment by about 5 45.
All in all, despite the crummy weather, this weekend was amazing. It was beautiful (check photos) and a physical challenge, which is always fun. Next weekend I'm going to Elba with my roommate Shelly and the weather looks perfect. So that will be my beach vacation!
Tonight for dinner Shelly, Nami and I went to Danny Rock, an American 'diner' around the corner. We were going to cook but decided we were too lazy. It was a great end to an incredible weekend and a great start to my twenties!
When we got to Manarola we took the train to Corniglia since the path was closed. The hike from Corniglia to Vernazza was about 1.5 hours and definitely much harder than the first hike. The water kept getting bluer and the cliffs kept getting more and more dramatic. Everything was lush and untouched. It was raining a bit during this trek but not too hard where it became uncomfortable. And despite the clouds and rain, it was beautiful.
Hungry and in need of energy, we decided to use Vernazza as our lunch stop. Vernazza was one of my favorite towns out of the five. It was right on the water and had the cutest shops, cafes. After lunch we chilled for a bit on the pier we noticed the clouds moving away and the sun finally shining. That was our signal to get moving to the last town so we could relax on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Of course, with the sun comes the heat and we definitely noticed an increase in temperature on the last leg. It was also the hardest trek in total because it was so much uphill and downhill. Lots of old stairs and precarious paths on the cliffs. I loved it though. Nothing feels better than being out of breath going up a really steep hill and then getting to the top and looking around at the gorgeous view: crystal clear turqouise water hitting against the cliffs, surrounded by lush green medeterainian landscape.
We got to the last town, Monterosso Al Mare at about 4:30 or so and the sun was still shining! The first task however was not to go to the beach, but to find a place to sleep for the night. We had a lot of trouble finding a hostel open for that weekend so we managed to find a random apartment. We decided that since the apartment had no name and no reservation policy (the guy on the phone asked me my name and told me to call him), that we would try when we got there to find a legit hostel. Fortunately we found a great place where all eight of us were able to stay in one apartment for only 25 euros each.
Once we found the hostel, we quickly changed into our bathing suits and headed straight to the beach! It was SO nice to just lay on the beach for an hour (before the sun started to disappear and the heat left) after a long day of hiking. I was really happy that we got atleast three hours of beautiful weather! For dinner we went out at this cute restaurant. Shelly and I split a pizza and it was delicious!
We definitely ended our day with a bang. After dinner we wandered around the town and stumbled upon a concert on the pier. The band was playing Italian music and there were a few people dancing, so we decided to join in and get the party started. And we did. So well. The eight of us dominated the dance floor and after a few songs (warmup) some locals joined in. Soon enough the dance floor was pretty filled and we were learning Italian line dancing. Perfect. Nothing like dancing with Italians at the beach.
We called it an early night (one of the earliest I've had since coming to Italy) so we could get up nice and early and enjoy the day. Unfortunately,when we woke up, the weather was really crummy. We went to breakfast and by the time we were done it looked like it was about to downpour. So we went to a cafe and played cards while it rained. Eventually we made an executive decision to try and take an early train back to Florence. The weather wasn't as nice as we'd hoped and we all had a bunch of hw to get done before the week. So we caught a train back to Florence and we were back at our apartment by about 5 45.
All in all, despite the crummy weather, this weekend was amazing. It was beautiful (check photos) and a physical challenge, which is always fun. Next weekend I'm going to Elba with my roommate Shelly and the weather looks perfect. So that will be my beach vacation!
Tonight for dinner Shelly, Nami and I went to Danny Rock, an American 'diner' around the corner. We were going to cook but decided we were too lazy. It was a great end to an incredible weekend and a great start to my twenties!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Finally Went to A Museum
Shelly and I decided it was about time that we venture to a museum. We've been living here for three weeks and have yet to go to the Uffizi or the Academia. So today, we hit up the Uffizi and it was INCREDIBLE. Studying Italian Renaissance Painting and being able to go and see all the paintings in the Uffizi is one of the best parts of Florence. Plus, our Amici cards get us in for free and allow us to cut the line. It's great. I honestly didn't know what to see in the Uffizi. I knew beforehand that it is the mostm famous museum in Firenze but I wasn't really sure why...of course I figured it out very quickly after entering. One of the first rooms we went into contained The aesta from Giotto, Cimabue and Doccio. Seeing all three of those paintings of the Madonna Enthroned was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. We compared the three paintings in class so it was extremely interesting to see all three of them in the same room. I could've spent hours in there. I felt bad because there was so much information that I wanted to share with my friends about the painting but I'm sure I ended up sounding really pretentious. I just really love Italian art.
We wandered around the Uffizi for a little over an hour but I know I'm going to have to go back. I saw the Maesta collection and Titian's Venus of Urbino, but I didn't get to the Birth of Venus or the Caravaggio collection. There is just so much to see there that I didn't want to overwhelm myself trying to see it all at once. I'll just have to go back!
Other than the Uffizi, our day was very relaxed. My roommates and I decided to have a mini-dinner party with just the four of us. Shelly made stuffed tomatoes with spinach, mozzerella and pesto, Nami made risotto with peas, onions and asparagus and I 'baked' no-bake cookies. It was so nice and relaxing to all eat together!
Tomorrow we have to catch the train at 7:55 for Cinque Terre! We'll be back Sunday night...so it's bedtime for me...until then...
We wandered around the Uffizi for a little over an hour but I know I'm going to have to go back. I saw the Maesta collection and Titian's Venus of Urbino, but I didn't get to the Birth of Venus or the Caravaggio collection. There is just so much to see there that I didn't want to overwhelm myself trying to see it all at once. I'll just have to go back!
Other than the Uffizi, our day was very relaxed. My roommates and I decided to have a mini-dinner party with just the four of us. Shelly made stuffed tomatoes with spinach, mozzerella and pesto, Nami made risotto with peas, onions and asparagus and I 'baked' no-bake cookies. It was so nice and relaxing to all eat together!
Tomorrow we have to catch the train at 7:55 for Cinque Terre! We'll be back Sunday night...so it's bedtime for me...until then...
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Site Visits and Angry Neighbors
Another busy week in Florence! Every day there is something new to plan, and once we finish planning one thing, we move onto to another thing. My roommate Nami thinks I'm going to get a brain aneurysm from planning so much. I wouldn't be suprised...although that would be a shame if all the planning went to waste. So far, here's a list of upcoming trips:
19-20th Cinque Terre
24-27th Elba
October is going to be a busy month. So much more planning to do! But for now I'll just update my blog.
Yesterday, for my sociology class we went to the the Museo degli Argenti in the Palazz Pitti. It was incredible. The museum exhibited the main rooms of the Palazzo (which was owned by the Medici family) and a collection of gorgeous decorative and utilitarian objects. The walls in the large halls were unbelievable. They were compltely covered in frescoes which were painted to make it seems as though the space all around you was endlss. We kept looking around trying to figure out if the balcony painted on the wall was actually a balcony or just a flat surface. It was unreal. The photo below is one of the rooms, but it really doesn't do the place justice. You'll just have to come visit me and see it for yourself...
The rest of the museum had the most ornate jewelry (my mom would love seeing it), ivory carving, gold platters and, my favorite, wine goblets made of massive conch shells. Incredible! I kept trying to guess how much I could buy them for...let's just say I don't have enough money.
So that was yesterday and today for my Early Masters of Italian Renaissance Painting course we meet at Santa Croce to spend the class period. I was very happy cause I live less than 5 min from Santa Croce so I didn't have to wake up too early. The church doesn't open until 10 and class started at 9 so our professor walked us around the area pointing out monuments (michelangelo's house) and explained the layout and architecture of the surroundings. So interesting! The church was amazing inside. Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli (to name a few) are all burried there. There are sculptures from Donatello and painting by Cimabue and Giotto. A lot of it was covered in scalfolding because of restoration but we were able to see what we wanted to see: Giotto's frescoes in the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels. They were impressive to say the least. I definitely need to go back there because there was a lot I missed. 2 hours and 45 min is definitely not enough time!
The last thing to report is about the neighbors. Until yesterday, we had yet to meet our neighbors. We had all these plans to leave a note in Italian with a bottle of wine to introduce ourselves or to bake a cake (even though we have no oven) and give it to them. But of course that fell through and we hadn't met them. But yesterday we were sitting in our kitchen and our door bell goes off. A middle-aged Italian man walks in towards our window, rumbling off some words (in Italian of course)while eating a cracker. Using the little Italian that I know, along with his basic pantomiming, I figured out that he wants us to keep our shutters closed so the pigeons don't sit on them and poop on his clothes hanging below. He went to the window, shook off the pigeons, dropped some crumbs on the floor and left. That's it. No, ciao! Mi Chiamo Luigi, piacere! (hi, mi name is luigi, nice to meet you). Nothing. Then tonight we went back to the apartment the same time as the wife and son and all the wife said was to go upstairs and close our shutters that minute because of the pigeons. Let's just say they're not the nicest neighbors. Non mi piaccono! We want our shutters open so we can get light in our apartment. So annoying.
That's my update...on to work. I need to finish everything for next week before leaving for Cinque Terre on saturday! A domani!
19-20th Cinque Terre
24-27th Elba
October is going to be a busy month. So much more planning to do! But for now I'll just update my blog.
Yesterday, for my sociology class we went to the the Museo degli Argenti in the Palazz Pitti. It was incredible. The museum exhibited the main rooms of the Palazzo (which was owned by the Medici family) and a collection of gorgeous decorative and utilitarian objects. The walls in the large halls were unbelievable. They were compltely covered in frescoes which were painted to make it seems as though the space all around you was endlss. We kept looking around trying to figure out if the balcony painted on the wall was actually a balcony or just a flat surface. It was unreal. The photo below is one of the rooms, but it really doesn't do the place justice. You'll just have to come visit me and see it for yourself...
The rest of the museum had the most ornate jewelry (my mom would love seeing it), ivory carving, gold platters and, my favorite, wine goblets made of massive conch shells. Incredible! I kept trying to guess how much I could buy them for...let's just say I don't have enough money.
So that was yesterday and today for my Early Masters of Italian Renaissance Painting course we meet at Santa Croce to spend the class period. I was very happy cause I live less than 5 min from Santa Croce so I didn't have to wake up too early. The church doesn't open until 10 and class started at 9 so our professor walked us around the area pointing out monuments (michelangelo's house) and explained the layout and architecture of the surroundings. So interesting! The church was amazing inside. Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli (to name a few) are all burried there. There are sculptures from Donatello and painting by Cimabue and Giotto. A lot of it was covered in scalfolding because of restoration but we were able to see what we wanted to see: Giotto's frescoes in the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels. They were impressive to say the least. I definitely need to go back there because there was a lot I missed. 2 hours and 45 min is definitely not enough time!
The last thing to report is about the neighbors. Until yesterday, we had yet to meet our neighbors. We had all these plans to leave a note in Italian with a bottle of wine to introduce ourselves or to bake a cake (even though we have no oven) and give it to them. But of course that fell through and we hadn't met them. But yesterday we were sitting in our kitchen and our door bell goes off. A middle-aged Italian man walks in towards our window, rumbling off some words (in Italian of course)while eating a cracker. Using the little Italian that I know, along with his basic pantomiming, I figured out that he wants us to keep our shutters closed so the pigeons don't sit on them and poop on his clothes hanging below. He went to the window, shook off the pigeons, dropped some crumbs on the floor and left. That's it. No, ciao! Mi Chiamo Luigi, piacere! (hi, mi name is luigi, nice to meet you). Nothing. Then tonight we went back to the apartment the same time as the wife and son and all the wife said was to go upstairs and close our shutters that minute because of the pigeons. Let's just say they're not the nicest neighbors. Non mi piaccono! We want our shutters open so we can get light in our apartment. So annoying.
That's my update...on to work. I need to finish everything for next week before leaving for Cinque Terre on saturday! A domani!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Well Needed Getaway
It's been awhile since I've last blogged. Things have been hectic in the lives of us intrepid study abroad students. Me and five of my friends are trying to plan our fall break trip and it's become a huge pain to get everyone together to plan. We're trying to go to Morocco (Marrakech and Fez) and then Barcelona. Everything is sounding amazing but we can't get anything done or finalized until everyone is in the same room, which seems to be an impossible feat. Tomorrow we made a definite plan to get together at 6pm and not leave until everything is done. Fingers crossed.
But today was AMAZING. One of the best days so far. There were seven of us that went on the bike tour through Chianti. We met the tour guide and the rest of the group at 10am, drove to the start and started biking! In total we rode 20 km, 5 before lunch and 15 after lunch. First stop was the winery Le Conti. The property has been with the same family since the 1200s and all 600 acres are beautiful! We got a short, but informative tour of the winery, learning about the wine and olive oil they bottle. It was so interesting to learn about wine and of course it didn't hurt that we got to try it afterwards. The wine and olive oil was so good! I definitely want to do another winery tour so I can learn more about wine. Maybe an educational session? I'm sure I'll find something in the next 3 months. Following the winery we rode for about 15 minutes to lunch. Lunch was truely an indulgence. The whole tour cost us 60 euros and we got a winery tour, wine/olive oil tasting, three course meal at an amazing restaurant and a choice of gelato or cold drink at the end of the biggest hill. The experience was worth every penny. All of us were in the best mood the entire day. I don't remember the last time I've been so happy doing something so simple like riding a bike. The scenary was BEAUTIFUL. Vineyards, olive groves, villas, churches, and monasteries were scattered across the landscape. After every hill we climbed up, the view always proved to be worth it. Plus the weather was PERFECT. Not too hot, not too sunny, but always beautiful. Basically the day was incredible. Tomorrow may be a different story, when we wake up sore and exhausted, but no matter what, it was worth the experience.
As the title says, it was a well needed getaway. Tomorrow is cleaning, working and planning day, so no time for fun (pressumably). Next weekend is Cinque Terre! We're going to be there from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. My fingers are crossed that the weather will be nice...photos will be updated shortly...
But today was AMAZING. One of the best days so far. There were seven of us that went on the bike tour through Chianti. We met the tour guide and the rest of the group at 10am, drove to the start and started biking! In total we rode 20 km, 5 before lunch and 15 after lunch. First stop was the winery Le Conti. The property has been with the same family since the 1200s and all 600 acres are beautiful! We got a short, but informative tour of the winery, learning about the wine and olive oil they bottle. It was so interesting to learn about wine and of course it didn't hurt that we got to try it afterwards. The wine and olive oil was so good! I definitely want to do another winery tour so I can learn more about wine. Maybe an educational session? I'm sure I'll find something in the next 3 months. Following the winery we rode for about 15 minutes to lunch. Lunch was truely an indulgence. The whole tour cost us 60 euros and we got a winery tour, wine/olive oil tasting, three course meal at an amazing restaurant and a choice of gelato or cold drink at the end of the biggest hill. The experience was worth every penny. All of us were in the best mood the entire day. I don't remember the last time I've been so happy doing something so simple like riding a bike. The scenary was BEAUTIFUL. Vineyards, olive groves, villas, churches, and monasteries were scattered across the landscape. After every hill we climbed up, the view always proved to be worth it. Plus the weather was PERFECT. Not too hot, not too sunny, but always beautiful. Basically the day was incredible. Tomorrow may be a different story, when we wake up sore and exhausted, but no matter what, it was worth the experience.
As the title says, it was a well needed getaway. Tomorrow is cleaning, working and planning day, so no time for fun (pressumably). Next weekend is Cinque Terre! We're going to be there from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. My fingers are crossed that the weather will be nice...photos will be updated shortly...
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