Ciao!
Here's a LONG update of my week!
So I’m finally getting into the rhythm of school and classes and time definitely seems to fly by now. I really love my classes, especially my Food & Wine, my Fashion Marketing & Merchandising and my Art History classes. Wednesday during my Art History class period we went to the Bargello Museum in Florence. It is so great having our own personal historian (our teacher) wherever we go. The knowledge she gives us makes everything so interesting because every art piece has such a unique story. It was strange because when we walked into the museum I instantly remembered being there eight years ago when I first visited Italy.
For my Fashion class we walked up and down Tournabouni Street, which is basically Florence’s Rodeo Drive, and critiqued the window displays. It was really fun and so much more interesting than I would have thought. Generally when I walk past store fronts I appreciate the window displays, but had no idea that so much care and research goes into creating them. Our class named Louis Vuitton our current favorite display.
Friday morning we had to be up and at a bus stop at 7:15am for a class fieldtrip for Food & Wine. Fifty students plus our hilarious, not to mention passionate, teacher took a chartered bus first to the town of Talla outside of Florence in the Chianti Region. In Talla, we visited a pecorino cheese factory! I had never heard of pecorino cheese before, but as we pulled up to the factory I was quickly informed as we spotted the sheep that the cheese comes from. We all had to put blue booties on our feet and hairnets on before entering the factory. Needless to say we had lots of fun taking ridiculous pictures in them. My teacher led us through the factory explaining the various machines that produce the cheese. At one point we went into a room where ricotta cheese was being made and were lucky enough to get to sample it fresh! I never even really knew I liked ricotta cheese, but it was piping hot and so amazing! We literally ate it off of the ladle! In another room we saw how the waxed the cheese and the refrigerated rooms where the cheese is left to “age.” It smelled pretty gross throughout the whole factory, but the cheeses in the different colored waxes were so pretty! They told us that they place the cheeses on certain wood shelves to absorb the wood flavors. Everyone’s favorite part including mine was at the end when our teacher brought out trays of the pecorino cheeses to sample! They were sooo good! My favorite ones were the medium aged and aged pecorino cheeses. We then all piled back on the bus and traveled another hour to the little town of Montespertoli where we were to visit a winery. It was so beautiful! We got a tour of the rooms and machines where the wine is fermented, processed and stored. We were then taken into the wine cellar where the various wines are stored in barrels as they age. They explained that the wood gives the wine flavor and that the barrels are made of special French woods that are very expensive ranging between 600-1000 Euro per barrel (just the wood). At the end of the tour they took our group to this beautiful patio where they had arranged a very long and nicely decorated table for all of us to eat lunch at. As the brought our group course after course of delicious breads, pastas, cheeses, etc. they served us three of their different wines. We tried one of their vino bianco and two of their vino rosso (what they are best known for.) Everything was amazing and everyone definitely left in a food coma.
Saturday my friends and I had nothing to do so we decided to go to Bologna for the day. We took the train and arrived at the city literally knowing nothing about it or where to go. It was much more of a city than we were expecting! We found a town map and just started walking towards what appeared to be the central piazza and streets in the city. After walking much more than we had anticipated I definitely began to regret wearing my heeled boots. We finally found the town square which was beautiful. It was surrounded by churches and in the center was the beautiful Neptune’s Fountain by the sculptor Giambologna (I had just learned about him in class!). Part of what had prompted us to go to Bologna was our Food & Wine teacher’s constant mention of the city and its contribution to some of the main Italian foods we think of today. Bologna is where ravioli, tortellini, Bolognese sauce and of course Bologna meat was created. After even a half hour of being there we realized there really is not much to do in Bologna but eat. We came across this adorable local old man who in Italian guided us to his favorite bar (café) for cappuccinos. We wandered the streets and came across an amazing bakery where we tried some sweet bread. Since we finally admitted to ourselves that the basis of this little day trip was to eat, we were all really picky when choosing where to eat lunch. Wherever we ate had to meet certain criteria and have the food items Bologna was famous for. After one failed attempt at a restaurant we grabbed an amazing gelato, then feeling full and defeated started walking back towards the train station to come home to Florence. Along the way we saw that like Pisa, Bologna has a leaning tower too! It’s not quite as beautiful of a tower as the one in Pisa, but it was pretty amazing how much it leans! Anyways back to the important part: the food. So as we walked to the train station we came across a local restaurant off the beaten path and discovered it had our ideal menu. So even though we were all full, we entered and had a second lunch and we don’t regret it! It was so great! One thing our Food &Wine teacher has been telling us is to pay attention to the different breads in the different regions and cities in Italy because they are all different. Even in Bologna the bread was way better than in Florence, it was really moist and warm unlike Florence’s hard, seemingly almost stale breads. That concluded our day in Bologna, but all-in-all we discovered what we really loved about the city is that even though it is a city and not a quaint small Italian town, it lacked the tourists and Americanization that Florence has. Barely anyone we came across spoke English and there weren’t gross gelato stands every ten feet like in Florence. I don’t know that I ever need to go back to Bologna, but I’m glad I’ve been and one thing is certain: we loved the food.
Saturday night a big group of us from CEA (our program) went to this discoteca called SPACE. It was definitely a pretty cool club. They have this card system where when you enter they give you a punch card for your drinks and when you leave at the end of the night you pay for your drinks all at once. The catch is that if you lose your punch card you have to pay 50 Euro! So we all made sure to hold on tight to our cads! It was an amazing club. The first floor had karaoke and a long bar and then there was a ramp that led you upstairs where there was a huge dance floor, stage and seating above the dance floor so you could watch.
Sunday I slept in late and decided to go on a long run to explore. I’ve started running in different directions and areas that I haven’t been to yet. I came across this great park with a huge fountain/lake with a nice path around it so it was so fun! I later met Kelly in front of the Santa Croce Church where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried and had a café latte. It’s so great having here in Florence. She is such an amazing friend and it’s such a blessing to get to see her during the school year!
It rained virtually all of last week, but this week’s weather has been ideal. High 70s low 80s with a warm breeze and blue skies.
Tuesday during my 5 hour break in between my two classes of the day I decided to go on a long power walk. When I had set out I had planned on being gone for a little over an hour, but ended up being gone for almost two and a half! I think I nearly covered all of Florence! There were areas and streets that I had never ventured down so it really connected a lot of dots for me as far as finalizing my orientation of the city. During my walk I went farther down the Arno River than I had before and crossed over heading back towards the historical district. I decided to hike up to Piazzale Michelangelo (my favorite lookout point) and once up there discovered a back road that appeared to go back down the hill to the river. After about another 45 minutes of walking (after an hour already walking) I still had no sign of the river or anything familiar. Since I have a scary sense of direction I had faith that if I just kept going a little farther, even though I had never seen any area of Florence that resembled this, I would end up at the Pitti Palace in the Santo Spirito area of the city. Low and behold, that’s exactly where I ended up after two hours of walking. It was a fantastic walk and since I know now what that route is like I will definitely go back and run it.
Wednesdays are my long day of classes, but my first class of the day is Art History, which always flies by because every class is spent in museums or walking around Florence learning about the monuments. We went to Casa Buonarotti (Michelangelo’s House) which is a museum first, then went to the Accademia where Michelangelo’s famous David sculpture is. Even though I have seen it before, it never quite loses its beauty. It was definitely a different experience seeing it now being eight years older than the first time I saw it. I now have a greater understanding and appreciation of it. My art history teacher is great too and it makes it so much more interesting having her there to tell us the stories and secrets of the artists and their works.
I just can’t say enough good things about CEA my study abroad program. They arrange so many fun activities for us, one of them being the opportunity to go to the Fiorentina soccer game!!! A huge group of us all decked out in royal purple and fleur-de-lis walked to the stadium (30 minute walk) for their game against the team from Cinque Terre. It was such a cultural experience!!!! We sat smack dab in the middle of the local Florentine fans and had SO much fun chanting and singing the Fiorentina cheers in Italian! Some of them were quite rated R, but pretty hilarious. I learned a few interesting expressions in Italian haha. After they won the game, a few of my girlfriends and I wanted to go to this club called Central Park. It is one of the most popular clubs in Florence and was supposedly going to be closing for the winter. It is popular because it has three amazing outdoor dance floors and bars. We were obsessed with it!
Today was a great, but long day of classes. Had an Italian quiz and presentation then got to try six different types of cheeses, two salamis and one type of prosciutto in my Food and Wine class. My favorite cheese was the Romano!!! I’m definitely trying to be as experimental as my mind and palate will allow! For dinner we went to this adorable hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was recommended to me by my friends who studied here last spring and ordered the most unbelievable cheese and pear ravioli… I thought I died and went to heaven. It was amazing! I was so proud of myself for ordering it too, because in the US I definitely would have stuck with plain old penne pasta with butter!
That’s all for now! Sorry this update is so long! I’ve been a busy ragazza (girl in Italian…I’m learning!!!). About to head off to the train station to pick up Shelley who flew in from Paris for a fun filled weekend with me in Firenze!
Ciao Ciao updates to come after the weekend!!!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Birthday weekend in Cinque Terre Italy
Ciao!!!
So we are now on the train headed home (Florence) after an amazing weekend in Cinque Terre.
We arrived Friday mornig and after checking into our hostel in Riomaggiore the first of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre we grabbed a lunch of fresh foccasia bread since this is where it was invented as well as pesto and limoncello! We then set out on the "Tail of Love" which is a 7 mile hike that that takes you along the beautiful Mediterranean coast and to all of the five villages. The views were incredible! Words cannot even begin to describe. The water was the most amazing aquamarine blue that I have ever seen in my life. It was absolutely crystal clear so you could even see all the beautiful rocks underneath the water along our hike. The first two miles were pretty easy hiking but as we kept going we started having to climb hundreds of stairs and cliffs to get to each village. It was quite a workout! It was really nice because the trail gave you the option to stop and explore every village. It was amazing! Every town had spectacular views and brightly painted houses lining the cliffs. Each village was adorable and unique in their own ways. Along the trial at about mile four we had to stop while a helicopter airlifted a woman on a stretcher into from the air! It was crazy! That took about a half hour, but it was a nice break! We all ended up hiking in shorts and our bikini tops because it was so hot!
By the time we reached the fourth town Vernazza we were ready for a swim to cool off! We went in the bay of the tiny harbor and were in heaven! The water was cool and so refreshing! The water is much saltier here than in the Pacific, so as a result you are much more buoyant! It was so fun to just float on your back and take in the gorgeous green hills, colorful villages and beautiful sea! Unfortunately, while we were swimming my friend Lindsay slipped on a rock and hit her ankle which didn't hurt but it swelled up like a golf ball in less than a minute! This prevented us from finishing the last 2 miles of the hike so we all took the train back to Riomaggiore to get cleaned up for dinner!
It was both Lindsay and my friend Natalie's birthday on the 11th so we went to this great local restaurant called La Lampara, which happened to be recommended by Rick Steeves himself haha! It was so cute and had the friendliest old men that worked there that just loved us! After dinner we were pretty exhausted and all went up on the cliff of the town above the ea and sat on the steps. It was unbelievable. The air was the perfect warmth and the stars and moon were shining beautifully onto the water . While we were sitting there Lindsay started crying and we didn't know why. She came to tell us that as we were sitting there in the dark a ladybug had landed on her hand and wouldn't leave her. (We hadn't seen one ladybug yet the whole trip) She told us that ladybugs had been her little sister's favorite thing and her dad and little sister had both died two years ago in a car accident. It was a really special moment especially since it was her birthday. It was a beautiful way to end the day.
After getting back to our hostel we were quite surprised to see what appeared to be two men's backpacks on a pullout bed in the living room of our hostel. It ended up being 2 guys that we never ended up seeing but I guess we had reserved an 8 person hostel and since we only had 6 of us girls they put two random guys with us! I guess hostels are always an experience!
Saturday we woke up for a fun, relaxing day--perfect for my 21st birthday!
We grabbed the train to Monterosso (town #5) to spend the day. It is the biggest of the 5 villages with the most restaurants and best beaches. We rented two person kayaks for an hour and enjoyed exploring the coast and just relaxing and getting sunshine! We swam a little bit, the water was just so amazing! Afterwards we went and found some rocks to lay on to dry off. We started having fun taking pictures on the rocks and ended up asking this foreign lady in a tourist group to take a picture of the four of us girls. It was so funny the whole tourist group got really into making sure our picture was perfect, all of them speaking to us and each other in foreign languages. Then this cute old man came up to us and said something we couldn't understand in Italian. We then asked one of the other men what he had said and the man tried to compose himself as he translated saying that the man had said "I want a nude calendar of you for four months" (because there were four of us!) and we thought he said "new calendar" so we were all like "aww how sweet awww grazie!!!" Then we all realized what he had really said and started laughing so hard as we quickly got out of there! It was pretty hilarious!
We then went back to Riomaggiore because I had to meet Kelly who had come into Cinque Terre to help me celebrate my birthday! I seriously almost cried when I saw her. It was just so amazing to see such a good, old friend for my birthday so far away from home. We all went back to Monterosso for my birthday dinner and ate at this cute restaurant right off of the beach. I had really delicious swordfish and white wine. We walked around and found some fantastic gelato then happened upon this American bar and ended up hanging out there for awhile. We had a ball talking to these two older men and their wives from the US. They were so fun and hilarious!! We ended up even taking pictures with them! One of the men looked A LOT like President George W. Bush so we had a great time taking pictures with him! Before catching the train back to Riomaggiore we sat above the beach on this ledge, it was amazing. Upon getting back to town we heard music blasting "YMCA" and we quickly ran to find where this could be coming from at this hour in this tiny town. It turned out to be a huge celebration above the harbor in Riomaggiore. It was so fun and random and hilarious! Locals, tourists, old people and kids were gathered around a DJ with a fog machine and strobe light dancing! The music blared and echoed up the buildings so it was soooo loud! But a great ending to a great day!
It was such a perfect 21st birthday and just made me appreciate everything and everyone in my life!
Ciao for now!!!
So we are now on the train headed home (Florence) after an amazing weekend in Cinque Terre.
We arrived Friday mornig and after checking into our hostel in Riomaggiore the first of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre we grabbed a lunch of fresh foccasia bread since this is where it was invented as well as pesto and limoncello! We then set out on the "Tail of Love" which is a 7 mile hike that that takes you along the beautiful Mediterranean coast and to all of the five villages. The views were incredible! Words cannot even begin to describe. The water was the most amazing aquamarine blue that I have ever seen in my life. It was absolutely crystal clear so you could even see all the beautiful rocks underneath the water along our hike. The first two miles were pretty easy hiking but as we kept going we started having to climb hundreds of stairs and cliffs to get to each village. It was quite a workout! It was really nice because the trail gave you the option to stop and explore every village. It was amazing! Every town had spectacular views and brightly painted houses lining the cliffs. Each village was adorable and unique in their own ways. Along the trial at about mile four we had to stop while a helicopter airlifted a woman on a stretcher into from the air! It was crazy! That took about a half hour, but it was a nice break! We all ended up hiking in shorts and our bikini tops because it was so hot!
By the time we reached the fourth town Vernazza we were ready for a swim to cool off! We went in the bay of the tiny harbor and were in heaven! The water was cool and so refreshing! The water is much saltier here than in the Pacific, so as a result you are much more buoyant! It was so fun to just float on your back and take in the gorgeous green hills, colorful villages and beautiful sea! Unfortunately, while we were swimming my friend Lindsay slipped on a rock and hit her ankle which didn't hurt but it swelled up like a golf ball in less than a minute! This prevented us from finishing the last 2 miles of the hike so we all took the train back to Riomaggiore to get cleaned up for dinner!
It was both Lindsay and my friend Natalie's birthday on the 11th so we went to this great local restaurant called La Lampara, which happened to be recommended by Rick Steeves himself haha! It was so cute and had the friendliest old men that worked there that just loved us! After dinner we were pretty exhausted and all went up on the cliff of the town above the ea and sat on the steps. It was unbelievable. The air was the perfect warmth and the stars and moon were shining beautifully onto the water . While we were sitting there Lindsay started crying and we didn't know why. She came to tell us that as we were sitting there in the dark a ladybug had landed on her hand and wouldn't leave her. (We hadn't seen one ladybug yet the whole trip) She told us that ladybugs had been her little sister's favorite thing and her dad and little sister had both died two years ago in a car accident. It was a really special moment especially since it was her birthday. It was a beautiful way to end the day.
After getting back to our hostel we were quite surprised to see what appeared to be two men's backpacks on a pullout bed in the living room of our hostel. It ended up being 2 guys that we never ended up seeing but I guess we had reserved an 8 person hostel and since we only had 6 of us girls they put two random guys with us! I guess hostels are always an experience!
Saturday we woke up for a fun, relaxing day--perfect for my 21st birthday!
We grabbed the train to Monterosso (town #5) to spend the day. It is the biggest of the 5 villages with the most restaurants and best beaches. We rented two person kayaks for an hour and enjoyed exploring the coast and just relaxing and getting sunshine! We swam a little bit, the water was just so amazing! Afterwards we went and found some rocks to lay on to dry off. We started having fun taking pictures on the rocks and ended up asking this foreign lady in a tourist group to take a picture of the four of us girls. It was so funny the whole tourist group got really into making sure our picture was perfect, all of them speaking to us and each other in foreign languages. Then this cute old man came up to us and said something we couldn't understand in Italian. We then asked one of the other men what he had said and the man tried to compose himself as he translated saying that the man had said "I want a nude calendar of you for four months" (because there were four of us!) and we thought he said "new calendar" so we were all like "aww how sweet awww grazie!!!" Then we all realized what he had really said and started laughing so hard as we quickly got out of there! It was pretty hilarious!
We then went back to Riomaggiore because I had to meet Kelly who had come into Cinque Terre to help me celebrate my birthday! I seriously almost cried when I saw her. It was just so amazing to see such a good, old friend for my birthday so far away from home. We all went back to Monterosso for my birthday dinner and ate at this cute restaurant right off of the beach. I had really delicious swordfish and white wine. We walked around and found some fantastic gelato then happened upon this American bar and ended up hanging out there for awhile. We had a ball talking to these two older men and their wives from the US. They were so fun and hilarious!! We ended up even taking pictures with them! One of the men looked A LOT like President George W. Bush so we had a great time taking pictures with him! Before catching the train back to Riomaggiore we sat above the beach on this ledge, it was amazing. Upon getting back to town we heard music blasting "YMCA" and we quickly ran to find where this could be coming from at this hour in this tiny town. It turned out to be a huge celebration above the harbor in Riomaggiore. It was so fun and random and hilarious! Locals, tourists, old people and kids were gathered around a DJ with a fog machine and strobe light dancing! The music blared and echoed up the buildings so it was soooo loud! But a great ending to a great day!
It was such a perfect 21st birthday and just made me appreciate everything and everyone in my life!
Ciao for now!!!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ciao Ciao
Well the last two days have been a whirlwind but so fun! Wednesday night we had our CEA "appertivo" or Italian happy hour which was really fun, but it started raining! Luckily I had bought an umbrella earlier that day. Buying the umbrella had been my first attempt at bartering....let's just say it didn't work out. I spoke in Italian asking how much and she said 10 and I said 5? (All in Italian) and she said no 10 its a fixed price and you don't even speak this language (In English) she was so rude! I should've walked away but I needed an umbrella!
So Thursday I had class for most of the day and had my first session of my "Culture of Food & Wine in Italy" class. Which seems like it will be amazing! WE have some fun field trips to a cheese factory and to Parmo, Italy. (parmesan cheese) I also had my second session of my fashion class which was likewise amazing! I'm just enthralled with my teacher she's adorable. She is so knowledgeable! She was telling us the whole history of the Burberry trench coat, who knew it had historical roots in World War I?
Last night we all went out together and had such a fun night! My two friends who studied abroad here last Spring had become close friends with this club promoter and they told him all about me and so last night we went to the club he works at and he got us all right in and took us into the VIP section! It was amazing! I just love all my new friends here! After the club we all decided to find the legendary "Secret Bakery" of Florence. The bakery is in an unmarked building and is open from 2am-5am in order to bake all the bakery goods for the city. After aimlessly wandering around we called up a local friend who met us and showed us the way at 2:30am. The aromas coming out of this bakery were unbelievable! They had every item you could want and we definitely indulged!
This morning we all slep in and then headed off to the bus station to go to "The Mall" which is the designer outlet mall outside of Florence. They have stores like Gucci, Fendi, Pucci, YSL, Valentino, etc. After a scenic hour long bus ride to get there, we reached heaven. The prices were pretty unbelievable! It was so fun looking around! I picked up a few small items from Fendi : ) Upon getting home we rested for a bit before heading up to Palazzo Michelangelo. Basically it is the most beautiful view of Florence and maybe one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Its a little bit of a hike to get there off of the Arno (up lots of steps) but it was so worth it and I will 100% be going back often!
Well I'm off to bed we are going to Montepulciano tomorrow morning! I'll update ya'll when I get back!
xoxo
Buonasera
Well the last two days have been a whirlwind but so fun! Wednesday night we had our CEA "appertivo" or Italian happy hour which was really fun, but it started raining! Luckily I had bought an umbrella earlier that day. Buying the umbrella had been my first attempt at bartering....let's just say it didn't work out. I spoke in Italian asking how much and she said 10 and I said 5? (All in Italian) and she said no 10 its a fixed price and you don't even speak this language (In English) she was so rude! I should've walked away but I needed an umbrella!
So Thursday I had class for most of the day and had my first session of my "Culture of Food & Wine in Italy" class. Which seems like it will be amazing! WE have some fun field trips to a cheese factory and to Parmo, Italy. (parmesan cheese) I also had my second session of my fashion class which was likewise amazing! I'm just enthralled with my teacher she's adorable. She is so knowledgeable! She was telling us the whole history of the Burberry trench coat, who knew it had historical roots in World War I?
Last night we all went out together and had such a fun night! My two friends who studied abroad here last Spring had become close friends with this club promoter and they told him all about me and so last night we went to the club he works at and he got us all right in and took us into the VIP section! It was amazing! I just love all my new friends here! After the club we all decided to find the legendary "Secret Bakery" of Florence. The bakery is in an unmarked building and is open from 2am-5am in order to bake all the bakery goods for the city. After aimlessly wandering around we called up a local friend who met us and showed us the way at 2:30am. The aromas coming out of this bakery were unbelievable! They had every item you could want and we definitely indulged!
This morning we all slep in and then headed off to the bus station to go to "The Mall" which is the designer outlet mall outside of Florence. They have stores like Gucci, Fendi, Pucci, YSL, Valentino, etc. After a scenic hour long bus ride to get there, we reached heaven. The prices were pretty unbelievable! It was so fun looking around! I picked up a few small items from Fendi : ) Upon getting home we rested for a bit before heading up to Palazzo Michelangelo. Basically it is the most beautiful view of Florence and maybe one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Its a little bit of a hike to get there off of the Arno (up lots of steps) but it was so worth it and I will 100% be going back often!
Well I'm off to bed we are going to Montepulciano tomorrow morning! I'll update ya'll when I get back!
xoxo
Buonasera
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Buongiorno!
So I had my first day of classes yesterday! I had Italian and Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. Italian will be interesting for me since its so similiar to Spanish so its hard not to get it confused! I've been trying to use the few words I know in Italian since I've arrived and trying out new ones that I have been learning. I have not had any language barriers though because me or the other person can generally figure out what eachother means. Fashion Marketing class will be amazing. My teacher is the funniest, sweetest, more adorably trendy lady ever. She has so many connections so we get to have great guest speakers like a person from Gucci and we get to go on some great field trips as well like to Ferragamo's factory.
Between classes I ventured off to the San Lorenzo Mercado Centrale which is their farmers market. It is unbelievable. Its a whole warehouse basically that is filled with individual vendors selling their fresh produce, fruits (fresh & dried), nuts, fish, every kind of mean you could ever imagine (including tripe...ewww), cheese, fresh pasta, etc. Its unbelievable. I got some fresh provolone cheese that they cut me off a chunk of! Its so good! I also got some fresh whole grain bread thats amazing as well. I look forward to going back and getting some chicken and attempting to cook it in my kitchen! Last night me and a few girls sat down for a few frustrating hours and booked our next 2 weekend adventures. This weekend on Saturday morning we are going to take the train to Montepulicano (for the Twilight lovers this is where they just finished filming New Moon the next movie) which is a cute little town south of Florence. We are staying Saturday night in a hostel and just hope to explore the little town for Saturday and Sunday. The following weekend we booked a hostel for Friday and Saturday nights (Saturday will be my 21st bday!!!) in Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, Italy on the Italian Riviera. Our school is taking us there on Friday, but instead of coming home with the group that night we are staying until Sunday. I'm pretty sure Kelly McKitterick is going to meet me there on my birthday and hopefully stay in our same hostel!
Anywyas today I had my second day of class and it was great! I had my Great Masters Class, which is art history. I can tell its going to be tough, but its just so interesting! Today our very first day we had a field trip for the full 3 hour period at the Laboratory where they restore all the famous art pieces , church panels, etc. from the Italian museums and churches! It was AMAZING! This place is not open at all to the public so it was so great! We had one of the men that restores the art walk us through and tell us about everything! He only spoke Italian so our teacher translated. We saw a painting by Raphael that was being restored and has'nt been seen by the pubic for a few years due to its restoration as well as some others that havent been seen by the public for over a decade! One of the most amazing things to me that we saw were some of the original bronze panels from the Baptistry of the Duomo (the smaller separarte building in front of the Duomo used for baptisms by the Florentines) that are ancient. Today only replicas are in place and the originals will never be put back on the doors. At the laboratory they were being protected by the elements in a "box of air" literally a shield of air that is a particular humidity and temperature. Also the entire laboratory was monitored to be a certain humidity and temperature! It was crazy to see some huge pieces of art that had been destroyed in the Florence flood of 1963 and were barely recognizable to be paintings and see that they can restore them almost to a perfect state! With that being said, I'm excitd for this class!
Anyways I have to get ready for our Appertivo (Italian Happy Hour--normally pay for drinks and get free buffet....very traditional for the Italians) that our school is hosting for us!
So I had my first day of classes yesterday! I had Italian and Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. Italian will be interesting for me since its so similiar to Spanish so its hard not to get it confused! I've been trying to use the few words I know in Italian since I've arrived and trying out new ones that I have been learning. I have not had any language barriers though because me or the other person can generally figure out what eachother means. Fashion Marketing class will be amazing. My teacher is the funniest, sweetest, more adorably trendy lady ever. She has so many connections so we get to have great guest speakers like a person from Gucci and we get to go on some great field trips as well like to Ferragamo's factory.
Between classes I ventured off to the San Lorenzo Mercado Centrale which is their farmers market. It is unbelievable. Its a whole warehouse basically that is filled with individual vendors selling their fresh produce, fruits (fresh & dried), nuts, fish, every kind of mean you could ever imagine (including tripe...ewww), cheese, fresh pasta, etc. Its unbelievable. I got some fresh provolone cheese that they cut me off a chunk of! Its so good! I also got some fresh whole grain bread thats amazing as well. I look forward to going back and getting some chicken and attempting to cook it in my kitchen! Last night me and a few girls sat down for a few frustrating hours and booked our next 2 weekend adventures. This weekend on Saturday morning we are going to take the train to Montepulicano (for the Twilight lovers this is where they just finished filming New Moon the next movie) which is a cute little town south of Florence. We are staying Saturday night in a hostel and just hope to explore the little town for Saturday and Sunday. The following weekend we booked a hostel for Friday and Saturday nights (Saturday will be my 21st bday!!!) in Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, Italy on the Italian Riviera. Our school is taking us there on Friday, but instead of coming home with the group that night we are staying until Sunday. I'm pretty sure Kelly McKitterick is going to meet me there on my birthday and hopefully stay in our same hostel!
Anywyas today I had my second day of class and it was great! I had my Great Masters Class, which is art history. I can tell its going to be tough, but its just so interesting! Today our very first day we had a field trip for the full 3 hour period at the Laboratory where they restore all the famous art pieces , church panels, etc. from the Italian museums and churches! It was AMAZING! This place is not open at all to the public so it was so great! We had one of the men that restores the art walk us through and tell us about everything! He only spoke Italian so our teacher translated. We saw a painting by Raphael that was being restored and has'nt been seen by the pubic for a few years due to its restoration as well as some others that havent been seen by the public for over a decade! One of the most amazing things to me that we saw were some of the original bronze panels from the Baptistry of the Duomo (the smaller separarte building in front of the Duomo used for baptisms by the Florentines) that are ancient. Today only replicas are in place and the originals will never be put back on the doors. At the laboratory they were being protected by the elements in a "box of air" literally a shield of air that is a particular humidity and temperature. Also the entire laboratory was monitored to be a certain humidity and temperature! It was crazy to see some huge pieces of art that had been destroyed in the Florence flood of 1963 and were barely recognizable to be paintings and see that they can restore them almost to a perfect state! With that being said, I'm excitd for this class!
Anyways I have to get ready for our Appertivo (Italian Happy Hour--normally pay for drinks and get free buffet....very traditional for the Italians) that our school is hosting for us!
Buongiorno!
So I had my first day of classes yesterday! I had Italian and Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. Italian will be interesting for me since its so similiar to Spanish so its hard not to get it confused! I've been trying to use the few words I know in Italian since I've arrived and trying out new ones that I have been learning. I have not had any language barriers though because me or the other person can generally figure out what eachother means. Fashion Marketing class will be amazing. My teacher is the funniest, sweetest, more adorably trendy lady ever. She has so many connections so we get to have great guest speakers like a person from Gucci and we get to go on some great field trips as well like to Ferragamo's factory.
Between classes I ventured off to the San Lorenzo Mercado Centrale which is their farmers market. It is unbelievable. Its a whole warehouse basically that is filled with individual vendors selling their fresh produce, fruits (fresh & dried), nuts, fish, every kind of mean you could ever imagine (including tripe...ewww), cheese, fresh pasta, etc. Its unbelievable. I got some fresh provolone cheese that they cut me off a chunk of! Its so good! I also got some fresh whole grain bread thats amazing as well. I look forward to going back and getting some chicken and attempting to cook it in my kitchen! Last night me and a few girls sat down for a few frustrating hours and booked our next 2 weekend adventures. This weekend on Saturday morning we are going to take the train to Montepulicano (for the Twilight lovers this is where they just finished filming New Moon the next movie) which is a cute little town south of Florence. We are staying Saturday night in a hostel and just hope to explore the little town for Saturday and Sunday. The following weekend we booked a hostel for Friday and Saturday nights (Saturday will be my 21st bday!!!) in Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, Italy on the Italian Riviera. Our school is taking us there on Friday, but instead of coming home with the group that night we are staying until Sunday. I'm pretty sure Kelly McKitterick is going to meet me there on my birthday and hopefully stay in our same hostel!
Anywyas today I had my second day of class and it was great! I had my Great Masters Class, which is art history. I can tell its going to be tough, but its just so interesting! Today our very first day we had a field trip for the full 3 hour period at the Laboratory where they restore all the famous art pieces , church panels, etc. from the Italian museums and churches! It was AMAZING! This place is not open at all to the public so it was so great! We had one of the men that restores the art walk us through and tell us about everything! He only spoke Italian so our teacher translated. We saw a painting by Raphael that was being restored and has'nt been seen by the pubic for a few years due to its restoration as well as some others that havent been seen by the public for over a decade! One of the most amazing things to me that we saw were some of the original bronze panels from the Baptistry of the Duomo (the smaller separarte building in front of the Duomo used for baptisms by the Florentines) that are ancient. Today only replicas are in place and the originals will never be put back on the doors. At the laboratory they were being protected by the elements in a "box of air" literally a shield of air that is a particular humidity and temperature. Also the entire laboratory was monitored to be a certain humidity and temperature! It was crazy to see some huge pieces of art that had been destroyed in the Florence flood of 1963 and were barely recognizable to be paintings and see that they can restore them almost to a perfect state! With that being said, I'm excitd for this class!
Anyways I have to get ready for our Appertivo (Italian Happy Hour--normally pay for drinks and get free buffet....very traditional for the Italians) that our school is hosting for us!
So I had my first day of classes yesterday! I had Italian and Fashion Marketing & Merchandising. Italian will be interesting for me since its so similiar to Spanish so its hard not to get it confused! I've been trying to use the few words I know in Italian since I've arrived and trying out new ones that I have been learning. I have not had any language barriers though because me or the other person can generally figure out what eachother means. Fashion Marketing class will be amazing. My teacher is the funniest, sweetest, more adorably trendy lady ever. She has so many connections so we get to have great guest speakers like a person from Gucci and we get to go on some great field trips as well like to Ferragamo's factory.
Between classes I ventured off to the San Lorenzo Mercado Centrale which is their farmers market. It is unbelievable. Its a whole warehouse basically that is filled with individual vendors selling their fresh produce, fruits (fresh & dried), nuts, fish, every kind of mean you could ever imagine (including tripe...ewww), cheese, fresh pasta, etc. Its unbelievable. I got some fresh provolone cheese that they cut me off a chunk of! Its so good! I also got some fresh whole grain bread thats amazing as well. I look forward to going back and getting some chicken and attempting to cook it in my kitchen! Last night me and a few girls sat down for a few frustrating hours and booked our next 2 weekend adventures. This weekend on Saturday morning we are going to take the train to Montepulicano (for the Twilight lovers this is where they just finished filming New Moon the next movie) which is a cute little town south of Florence. We are staying Saturday night in a hostel and just hope to explore the little town for Saturday and Sunday. The following weekend we booked a hostel for Friday and Saturday nights (Saturday will be my 21st bday!!!) in Riomaggiore in Cinque Terre, Italy on the Italian Riviera. Our school is taking us there on Friday, but instead of coming home with the group that night we are staying until Sunday. I'm pretty sure Kelly McKitterick is going to meet me there on my birthday and hopefully stay in our same hostel!
Anywyas today I had my second day of class and it was great! I had my Great Masters Class, which is art history. I can tell its going to be tough, but its just so interesting! Today our very first day we had a field trip for the full 3 hour period at the Laboratory where they restore all the famous art pieces , church panels, etc. from the Italian museums and churches! It was AMAZING! This place is not open at all to the public so it was so great! We had one of the men that restores the art walk us through and tell us about everything! He only spoke Italian so our teacher translated. We saw a painting by Raphael that was being restored and has'nt been seen by the pubic for a few years due to its restoration as well as some others that havent been seen by the public for over a decade! One of the most amazing things to me that we saw were some of the original bronze panels from the Baptistry of the Duomo (the smaller separarte building in front of the Duomo used for baptisms by the Florentines) that are ancient. Today only replicas are in place and the originals will never be put back on the doors. At the laboratory they were being protected by the elements in a "box of air" literally a shield of air that is a particular humidity and temperature. Also the entire laboratory was monitored to be a certain humidity and temperature! It was crazy to see some huge pieces of art that had been destroyed in the Florence flood of 1963 and were barely recognizable to be paintings and see that they can restore them almost to a perfect state! With that being said, I'm excitd for this class!
Anyways I have to get ready for our Appertivo (Italian Happy Hour--normally pay for drinks and get free buffet....very traditional for the Italians) that our school is hosting for us!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Ciao!Just wanted to give you an update! Not much to report but yesterday I wokeup exhausted after barely sleeping due to the mistake of having a CafeEspresso gelato Saturday night...I was literally up until like 5am! I thenhad to be up early for a small historical walking tour of Florence with CEA.After that I went to the grocery store and got a few items, but theirgrocery stores are quite bizarre (very limited and strangely organized likethe laundry detergent next to the wine and cookies). I'm looking forward togoing to the San Lorenzo market tomorrow which is the farmers market withall the local meat and produce. But anyways after that I took a nap woke uprefreshed and decided to go for a run! I definitely got some strange looksfrom the locals and tourists alike as many people aren't out running! But itwas so beautiful I ran along the Arno River (the one the Ponte Vecchio goesover) and explored a little bit. It was pretty hot but there was an amazingbreeze! Then last night just went out to dinner with some of the girls to arestaurant that we made friends with a guy who worked there who gave us alla discount. I had the best margherita pizza there that I've had so far inItaly. Today most people started classes so since my friend LIndsey and Ididn't we spontaneously went to Pisa for the day! After a few trial anderror attempts at figuring out the train we got there after an hour trainride and started walking! We knew the general vicinity that the LeaningTower of Pisa was in so we headed that way and eventually stumbled upon it!It was pretty unbelievable! I had heard that most people generally aren'ttoo impressed with it, but we thought it was crazy how much it tilts! WAYmore than I was expecting! Lindsey and I took the touristy pictures with thetour in the background a wandered around the area for a bit before cominghome around 3pm. I bought my school books after getting back and made a tripto the 99 cent store I discovered and got a few organizational items for myroom! My friend Jillian and I then went to the Lions Fountain which is ournew favorite bar. Its an Irish pub that during the day is a restaurant withfree Wireless internet and at night becomes a really fun bar! We used theinternet to start doing some research about possible weekend trips thissemester. Croatia and Lake Como are out for this weekend because its justtoo last minute to get good prices! We are still brainstorming but thinkingwe may go on the CEA optional trip to Tuscany for a bike tour and winetasting adventure on Friday then maybe go to Montepulciano and Volterra(central Italy, south of Florence) for Saturday and Sunday. My first day ofclass is tomorrow so I'm pretty excited and a little nervous since I dontknow how difficult they will be! But I love you all and will write when Ihave more updates!Arrivederci!
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