Roma

This past weekend the program that I am abroad with, Academic Programs International (API) took us to Rome.  The trip was amazing, and three days there was not even close to enough.  We took a charter bus three hours south, through beautiful Chianti, to get to Rome.  We had the best weather we could have asked for: 60 and sunny both days!  Right when we got there we took a walking tour to catch some of the highlights of the city. 

We saw the Pantheon, where Raffaelo is buried as well as Queen Margherita, the woman that the margherita pizza is named after.  The red tomatoes, white cheese, and green basil represent the Italian flag.

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We made our way to the Trevi Fountain where we, of course, threw Euros with our right hand over our left shoulder to find marriage.  Approximately 3,000 Euros are collected from the fountain every day and is used to fund different charities.

We saw the Spanish Step which were built by the French in Italy- ironic huh?  Bernini’s fountain, Fontana della Baracaccia, is at the base of the Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna.  We also saw another one of Bernini’s fountains- The Fountain of the Four Rivers.  We ate delicious pizza and beer for an early dinner before continuing our exploration of Rome on our own.  We stumbled across ruins at sunset, a beautiful overlook of the city, a little garden, Vittorio Emanuello’s monument, and a long walk home.

Our hotel was so nice and in a perfect location right off of the Ponte Sisto and in between Campo de Fiori and Trastevere, the perfect place for night life.  We went to a bar called the Drunken Ship and then attempted to find a club by the Spanish Steps but they were so beautiful at night we were distracted and climbed them to see the view from the top instead.  

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast in the hotel, we had a guided tour of the Castel Sant’Angelo.  Next, we toured St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City and it was amazing.  Words cannot describe how intricate that building is.  It has the largest interior than any Christian church in the world.  The Basilica is the burial site of Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles.  Some of Michelangelo, among other artists’ works are displayed throughout the basilica, including Michelangelo’s Pieta- Mary holding crucified Jesus.  I saw many popes tombs that are in the crypt below the basilica, including Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, who’s body is mummified and on display on the main floor.

Hungry and tired from the ridiculous amount of walking we had been doing, we made our way the the Vatican Museum to specifically see the Sistine Chapel, which again, words cannot describe.  The fresco was amazing.  We had a delicious dinner on our walk back from the Vatican.  It felt great to rest my feet and doze off a little before hitting the town again.  We went to a bar in Campo de Fiori again and then made our way to Trastevere to Dee Jay Bar and a Chocolate Bar where we had Bailey’s shots in an edible chocolate shot glass with whipped cream on top.  It was delicious! 

After less than 5 hours of sleep, Casey and I were up again to wander around an Italian flea market.  We saw so many cool, Italian vintage things, from jewelry and sunglasses to pretty much anything you could find at a garage sale.  We met up with our program for a bus tour, which was obviously a complete fail.  No one could keep their eyes open once the bus started moving.  Finally, we ended with the Coliseum andddd running to the bus with calzones in hand when our lunch ran late.  I tried to soak in as much of Rome as possible but it looks like I’m just going to have to go back.  When in Rome… :)

Family Dinners

So to catch you up before I drop the Rome blog, last week was a nice catch up week after my exhausting Interlaken trip… well after Valentine’s Day that is.

Our group of 11+ had dinner at Il Gattos family style.  For only 15 euros each, we had mozzarella and tomatoes, a cold cut platter, bruschetta and bread with a mushroom mixture on top, a vegetable platter, delicious bread, and that was just the appetizer.  We also had ravioli, spaghetti, and another type of pasta, not to mention the half of liter of chianti per person.  Needless to say, it was delicious.  After dinner, we made our way to the bar for the famous gatto bombs before heading to the Lion’s fountain.

The rest of the week I spent resting and going to class.  We had our first quiz in Italian which was easier than my high school Spanish 1 quizzes, but I’m not complaining.  I can tell you my name, where I’m from, how old I am, articles of clothing, and how to conjugate the verbs to be and to have.  Andddd that’s about it.  I wish I could have come with a little more Italian background.  In wine tasting Tuesday night, we only tasted SEVEN wines.  I don’t know how Donato expects us to take notes after round 4.  And my favorite story from my history of Florence class is Cosimo the Elder would walk past the Pucci Palace to go pray and one day one of the Pucci family members wanted to get revenge to Cosimo so he sat perched in one of his windows with his gun.  He was caught just in time, and Cosimo had the Medici family emblem put on the corner of the Pucci palace and defaced leaving only one of the six balls in place.  He also had the window where the shooter had been permanently shut to symbolize conspiracy and broken friendship.  I love these stories and the history and symbolism behind things that I walk past every day. 

Thursday night, our group got together again for a family dinner in our apartment this time.  We ended up having way too good of a time and stayed up wayyy to late considering our 7 am departure for Roma the next day.  Regardless, it was a great night.

Roma post very soon!     

Interlaken, Switzerland

It’s not real.  I saw it and I still don’t believe how blue the water of the two lakes surrounding Interlaken is.  Not to mention waking up to enormous snow-capped mountain every morning.  Interlaken was all I could have asked it to be.

I traveled to Interlaken with a student travel agency called Euroadventures.  The trip began around 7 o’clock Thursday night when Casey and I walked up to the bus and found that our friends Melissa, Rose, Tom, Keith, and Matt had signed up as well.  We watched 3 movies and finally arrived at Katy’s B&B around 4 am. 

The next morning after breakfast, we wandered until we found a hiking trail and hiked 3,000 something feet up to Harder Klum.  It was beautiful and quite a tough little hike.  It took 2.5 hours to get to the top and the view was unreal.  Perfect way to start the trip. 

After finding our way back down the mountain, we bought tickets for a Swiss chocolate show.  I can’t even tell you how many truffles I ate.  I learned how to make hollow chocolate cows!  We definitely got our money’s worth out and the tickets came with 8 franc vouchers for even more chocolate.  (Hey Josh, try to eat my swiss chocolate- you can’t…. torched). 

Instead of going night sledding with our friends because Euroadventures told us it was closed because there wasn’t enough snow…  (We were a little disappointed in our Euroadventure guides and the information they gave us… or lack thereof)  We ate at a little Swiss restaurant and then found the cheap pitchers at Hooters.

Saturday, we skied the Swiss Alps… and by skied I meant fell down the Swiss Alps.  My two ski trips to Sugar Mountain obviously didn’t prepare me for Kleine Schiedegg.  It was beautiful, nonetheless.  Pictures can’t even do it justice.  And even though I had huge raspberries on both hips and was ridiculously sore in every single muscle in my body (yes, even the muscles under my chin?) I was a happy camper after ending on a nice, long blue to Grindelwald.

We barely had any time to relax before Casey and I headed off to night sled (because there was enough snow).  Our guide was hilarious and it was so fun!  We had a swiss cheese fondue after with bread and Interlaken brewed beer!  The saying “would you like some cheese with that wine” became literal because the cheese fondue had so much wine in it and you could definitely taste it.

Exhausted from our day of adventures, we hit the sheets.

 

We took Sunday easy and spent the day messing around in the huge field used for skydiving and paragliding landings, eating kebabs, and souvenir shopping before packing up the bus and heading home.

My first trip was definitely a success.  I learned how I would rather travel in the future and we made some great memories.  Switzerland, I will probably be seeing you again soon!  Next time, mom and I will be hiking your beautiful mountains.     

cosa significa?

I am absolutely obsessed with my Quarters of Florence class.  Who knew I live on 2 blocks down from where three of the wealthiest families lived in the 1400’s-1500’s?  On top of that, my professor is the cutest little, old Italian man with a hilarious sense of humor.  We spent half the class learning about the first gonfaloni (Lion D’ore) of the first quarter (San Giovanni) of Florence, which I happen to live in.  Then, we walked around to the Babtistery, Basilica of San Lorenzo, and the palaces of the Medici, Taddei, Ginori, and Pandolfini families.  I can’t believe I walk past these historical building every day and never knew anything about them.  The Genori family is famous for being among the first to invent fine china.  Andddd fun fact: the Ginori family’s cook’s son wrote Pinocchio- true Florentine character.  

Before class, I went for a little run and found Cascine Park.  It’s only 1.8 miles from my apartment so it will be perfect for doing my longer runs!  I can’t wait to see it in the nice warm sunshine because it was cold and foggy the day I went.  My amoxicillin that I purchased at a pharmacy on my street for 3.5 euros is doing wonders for my poor asthmatic lungs.  Hopefully I will be able to breathe again soon!

We tasted sparkling wines in class, which I’m not particularly fond of.  It was interesting to learn how the wines become sparkling.  There are two techniques.  The first is the charmat technique.  It’s quick and cheap and is done by refermenting the wine.  The second is the champagne technique and is more expensive and referments for a longer period of time in a liquor, sugary, yeast concoction.  I also didn’t realize that sweet wines are sweet because their fermentation has been cut short by lowering the temperature.  Less sugar from the grape juice is turned into alcohol; therefore, the wine is sweeter.  Our last wine was a Barolo, a dry red, and it was my favorite wine of the night!

Italian is going well for half of my class and not so well for the other half.  I’m thankful Spanish is so similar because I understand more.  But because my professor refrains from speaking any English, our class is struggling on the simplest assignments just because we don’t understand the directions.  Oh, and by the way, even though Florence is flat, don’t think that I’m missing out on climbing up to the hill every day.  My classes are held in rooms on the 3^rd floor.  It’s 90 stairs… I counted.  

Last night, I went with Anna, Ashley, and Casey to the Lion’s Fountain, an Irish pub that is student abroad oriented.  If you bring in a t-shirt from your university, they will hang it from the ceiling.  You can also leave your mark by signing the wall.  We each had a beer and then we called it a night.

My next adventure: Interlaken, Switzerland!! I actually leave in 6 hours!!!  I’ll be back Sunday with plenty of stories to tell, I’m sure.

Ciao!  

sunset!

So… about Bologna…  Lesson learned: there are different train stations in Florence and when you look up departure times on the Italian train website all of the Firenze train stations are listed, not just the main one that I use.  The little abbreviation FISMN (Firenze Santa Maria Novella) – my train station, is important.  So, no, we did not make it to Bologna on Sunday; however, it is a lose-win situation and Casey and I spent the day wandering around the Gallerie dell’Accademia which hosts Michelangelo’s David sculpture as well as many other works of art.  I bought leather boots at the San Lorenzo leather markets and I LOVE them.  My old, cheap target boots were struggling, and my real leather ones smell so good! Casey and I explored a little bit more and of course ended our outing with gelato despite the chilly weather.  After dinner and a nap, I was ready to celebrate the Superbowl at the early hour of 12:30 a.m.  I went with Anna, Randi, Bri, and Lauren to watch the game at Astor, a club in the Piazza del Duomo.  Good news: Marco, the barista that made me the “Jessica drink” the first week, also supplied me with 2 Guinness’s and a Bailey’s shot…for free?  Bad news: We don’t get Superbowl commercials in Italy L.  I left after half time and finally fell asleep around 3:30.

Saturday, Casey and I made a quick run to the market and headed back to the ciccolate festival.  And again, the chocolate just wasn’t enough so we made a pit stop for some rice gelato that Randi had when she was little and wanted to get again.  It was delicious!  Throughout the past two days of exploring I have seen nine dachshunds!  Each one is adorable!!  However, apparently Italians don’t use doggie bags… We set out at sunset for a little run and found ourselves at the Piazzale Michelangelo, a beautiful view of the whole city of Florence.  I can’t wait to visit again in normal clothes andddd with a bottle of wine.  That night, 5 of us: Casey, Ashton, Anna, Lauren, and I, curled up in two combined twin beds to watch Wedding Crashers on a laptop.

Piazzale Michelangelo

I had my mafia class this morning and 2.5 hours of class is exhausting!  We watched a documentary on the history of the mafia for the first half and my teacher lectured the second.  At least it is interesting but the last 30 minutes I struggled.  Luckily, here in Italia they have cappuccino vending machines.  It even pops you out a stir stick!  I headed to one of the LdM buildings after class to get my Permesso di Soggiorno (permit to stay in Italy for over 90 days), which was pretty painless.  Then, I grabbed a few links of sausage and a sweet potato at the mercato central and went to Italian.

Ciao!

Ciccolate

I can’t believe it is already Friday!  Where are the weeks going?  Yesterday, Casey and I went to Ferragamo’s shoe museum!  We saw shoes that Ferragamo designed for Judy Garland and Audrey Heburn (they even had a video on Audrey’s shoes Kathryn!).

An enlarged replica of a shoe Judy Garland wore!

For dinner, we joined our neighbors Jess and Jamie for penne and chicken and then started getting ready for the night.  We started at Astor and made our way to the black and white party at Twice.  After four hours of dancing, Casey and I decided it was time to find the secret bakery!  Florence has seven secret bakeries that start baking their goods around 2ish in the morning so they will be able to distribute them fresh to cafes throughout the city.  If you can find the bakery and knock on the door they will bring you chocolate deliciousness for only a euro!  We sniffed out the baked goods and even escaped with a picture!  Little did we know there is also one right around the corner from our apartment!

The Secret Bakery!

As if we needed anymore chocolate after our late night secret bakery trip, Florence is holding a chocolate festival until the 13^th so obviously we had to check it out… There was chocolate in the shape of almost anything you could imagine.  Casey and I bought a delicious kebab with grapes, strawberries, and bananas covered in dark chocolate- yummm.  We also bought our text books, and I am lovingggg their prices way more than the ones from the states.  After a quick grocery trip to get some veggies, we headed home.          

                                   

My program held a mandatory self defense lesson tonight in case we meant an attacker with “evil intentions” (as our self defense teacher liked to say).  It was quite funny and I can definitely take down any attacker with my head/neck thrusts, elbow blows, and groin kicks… Nonetheless it has been an eventful weekend… and the weekend technically hasn’t even begun. We are taking it easy tonight and exploring Florence more tomorrow then traveling to Bologna on Sunday!

Ciao Bellas! 

What a beautiful day!

While walking home from my women characters class that was cancelled tonight, I couldn’t help but smile and think to myself how grateful I am to have 4 whole months to enjoy the accordion players on the streets and listen to the various beautiful accents as I walk past people having conversations.  I can’t imagine coming for only a summer, and I can’t believe that I have only been in Florence for a week and a half. 

Yesterday I had my first wine tasting class!  My teacher has so much energy and is fun to listen to.  His name is Donato but he told us to call him Donuts… Anyway he passed around a bottle of champagne so we could have a toast for our class and arrival in Florence.  Then we tasted two red and two white wines from the Liguria and Piemonte regions of Italy.  The class passed quickly and I can’t wait for next week’s class!

Casey had dinner ready by the time I walked back.  She cooked the ham I bought and chopped up some tomatoes and mozzarella! It was so good anddd we have plenty of left overs.

This morning Casey and I went on a run around the Arno!  It is starting to warm up in Florence and it felt great in the sun.  Italian class went well and Gina and I headed to Astor after for some coffee.  I met Taylor (my other roommate) there and some of her friends took us around town.  I changed out of my World Religions class and into a class on the Quarters of Florence.  Now my Mondays won’t be as long and I’ll learn more about Florence!  We will spend many of the classes out looking at the historical landmarks rather than in a classroom so I am looking forward to it!