Hey Everybody!
Well, as you may have guessed I have been incredibly busy soaking up my last few days of Italy. I probably wont finish my section on my family's 10 day visit, so expect for me to tell you all about the rest when I get home. There’s simply to much I want to share about that trip. But now that I am almost on my way home I'd really like to share some of the last few weekends and thoughts I have been enjoying while wrapping up my two month stint in Italy!
The weekend after my family left Florence API took us to Lucca and Cinque Terre. This was a trip I had really been looking forward to! Friday was the fourth of July, which is really weird to celebrate in a foreign country but my roomies and I rocked it out despite the distance. It started off in Lucca, where we left API, who had planned yet another day of walking tours around the city. We decided that we had had enough of walking tours and were ready to strike out on our own! So we found a place that rented bicycles out by the hour and biked along the city walls of Lucca for the next four hours. We dipped in to the city once and rode around to see the churches and little stores that filled the town, but we had fallen in love with the large city walls. When I say city walls, you probably picture a thin road made of stone that’s pretty high up! Well, the high up part is right, but its actually a huge road, probably wide enough for three cars to ride side by side and it has a TON of trees and even a few parks that branch off it (Pictures of it above). It was a gorgeous view from the road and I have never had so much fun on bike! After Lucca we were taken to our hotel and we swam for the rest of the day! That night before dinner all of us girls ordered a beer and toasted to America. We even hummed the Star Spangled Banner (We hummed instead of sang because lets face it, no one can really sing that song on pitch)! It was actually one of the most fun 4th of July's I have had yet!
Saturday we were taken to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is kind of like a "second rate" Capri. I actually feel lame even saying that because Cinque Terre was SO beautiful. So I take it back. Cinque Terre is JUST as beautiful as Capri. We were dropped off at La Spezia, a little beach town at the very beginning of the island chain that makes up Cinque Terre (AKA the 5 islands). We took a boat from La Spezia to Port Venere, which is a really great little beach town. It was pretty sleepy and not much to it. API had set up another tour and we skipped it again. So we wandered around the little town, laid on the HUGE rocks that they call a beach and enjoyed the sun and the sound of the waves! It was so relaxing and beautiful! From Port Venere we caught another boat to Monterosso, the only Island out of the five-island chain that has a beach...again a rock beach, but still, a beach! The boat ride over there was SO fun because there were some HUGE waves and the boat kept rising and plummeting. There were actually a few times I thought Anna and I were going to be thrown off the boat (thus that picture of us on the slideshow above), It was so fun! Monterosso was (surprise, surprise) beautiful and we spent the entire time sunning! It was a wonderful Saturday and Sunday, all I did was read and sunbathe! I actually used sun tan lotion for the first time in my life because I have finally began to worry about what all this laying out is going to translate into in the next thirty years. So I applied and reapplied through out the day! We had some really great pesto pasta because my Food and Wine professor says the area surrounding the Cinque Terre grows the best basil in the country and thus they make the best pesto around. He was right- it was delicious! We decided to join API for a little hike they wanted to take us on (Cinque Terre is known for their hiking trails). The trail they took us on is called Lovers Lane. But let me assure you, it’s a lot less romantic than it sounds when you’re walking it with 50 other people, none of whom are your love. But it was still a gorgeous hike with gorgeous views. Unfortunately my camera decided to die and I have yet to get pictures of it from Anna. But trust me, it was gorgeous. On Sunday, after we had spent the entire day in the sun we drove back to Florence and I was so tired I pretty much took a shower and went right to sleep!
The next weekend all of my roomies and I stayed in Florence, I don’t really even remember that weekend because most of it was spent lounging around the apartment reading. I have read 5 books so far in Florence, all in the last 3 weeks. I've been doing some serious relaxing, and loved every minute of it!
Last Friday my roomies and I were hungry...but we didn’t want to go anywhere so we decided to make apertivos in our apartment! Apertivos are a wonderful invention, very similar to Tappas in the States but better I think. I think I explained this in my Milan Blog post but I'll go ahead and give you a recap. Apertivos is where you go in to a restaurant, and purchase a cocktail for 6 euro or so and you get full access to a wonderful all you can eat buffet of snacks like pastas, or bruschetta or procuitto and melon. It’s pretty great!!! We decided to go to the grocery store, buy our own procuitto, mozzarella, tomatoes and peaches (for dessert). We took it all home, whipped it all up and thoroughly enjoyed our hard work! It was so fun! (Pictures of it are on the slide show!)
Saturday we went to Viagreggio, which is just a small beach about a two-hour train ride from Florence. I've been there before; I went there with Emma during first session. But this time I went with my roomies, Lexi, Anna, Hannah and Hannah's boyfriend Steven. We had a great time, lounging on the beach and then we had dinner at a really cute little restaurant where I tried gnocchi (potato dumplings) with a crab sauce! It was delicious! We even had crème Brule that was ffffaaabbbuulous. That's my favorite dessert! We got home around 11 and I again, took a shower and went straight to sleep!
We had to wake up early on Sunday because we were meeting a bike company at 9:30am to go on a Bike Tour through Tuscany! We didn't have reservations but they assured us we shouldn’t have a problem getting in. We ended up not being able to go with the first company that left at 9:30 but we were told to wait around for the Taste of Tuscany Bike Tour at 10:00. So we waited for about 20 minutes and luckily we were able to make it on the tour! We drove about 25 minutes outside of Florence to an 11th century Castle that is still being lived in by a Count and Countess! We were given a tour of the castle, and the wine process they have set up in order to age and bottle their wine and olive oil! We were able to climb the tour of the castle and see the amazing view from the top and then we climbed down and had a wine and olive oil tasting in the castle’s courtyard. It was so beautiful!!!
After a glass of wine we hopped on our bikes (I know...drinking and riding...really?) and started our 13-mile tour! 13 miles sounds like a lot but we took a lot of breaks and broke up the trip between Lunch. We rode downhill most of the way before lunch, which we had at a really cute little restaurant, and then rode for about 45 minutes on a straight stretch through olive and wine groves. After the bike tour we got back on the bus and went back to Florence. I basically never wanted to move again! So I took a shower and .... watched a movie! THEN I went to sleep! haha, changed it up there for ya :).
All in all I think its going to be a fabulous last week. I only have 5 more days till I am home as it is, and I am looking forward to wrapping up Florence by revisiting all of my favorite places and making sure to get in some news ones. Two months seemed to have flown by in retrospect. But I will wait for those thoughts till Friday when I will write again!
I hope you have great week- I will be writing soon!
Ciao ciao!
July 21, 2008
July 8, 2008
Part 2: Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Ok! If you remember Mom, Mawmaw and Pawpaw and I were on a ferry to Palermo, Sicily when I last wrote:
Tuesday the 24th: At 6 am (ANOTHER early morning!) we woke up, packed up a little bit and got ready to dock at 6:30am. It was a really stressful morning since there were hundreds of other passengers trying to get off at the same time. Not to mention it was 6:30 am. However, we managed to get off the boat with all of our luggage and wits in tact. Our next stop was to the Avis Car Rental Company. We thought about taking a taxi but the map didn't make it look like it was far so we started walking, with all of our luggage in tow. About a mile later we were all frustrated and extremely tired of walking...with no exit from the port in site. A little shuttle came up behind us and offered a free ride to the end of the port, which we more than gladly accepted. We laughed as we were getting in, saying it was going to drive three feet up and drop us off. Luckily he drove more than three feet and we were thankful we took it when we did. From the edge of the port we took another taxi toward the Avis Rental Company. Our taxi driver was really nice though, and informed us (in Italian) that Avis wasn't going to open till 9 (it was about 7:15 by this time) so he wanted to take us somewhere we could eat and rest and then walk to Avis. He dropped us off at a really nice cafe and told us how to get to the Avis that was just across the street. Around 9 we went to rent a car.
Now, I just want to take a minute a salute Pawpaw because he was our fearless and confident driver for the week. Like I have said many times in previous blogs Italians are crazy drivers! Add driving on incredibly narrow roads, lined with cars, and pedestrians taking no notice of you and it can be nerve racking to say the least! But Pawpaw did a magnificent job of navigating us safely from town to countryside. I could not have driven all that time but Pawpaw never got tired of it and always got us where we needed to go! So thanks Pawpaw!
Tuesday we just drove from town to town seeing the sights. From Palermo we went north up a little mountain to Monreale, but it was to crowded to park and we were still getting use to the car so we decided not to stop. We turned back south and drove for two hours to the other side of Sicily to a little town called Agrigento. There are some Greek temple ruins in Agrigento that I am sure would have been cool but it was at least 100 degrees outside and they were to spread out to walk in the heat of the afternoon. We decided to just grab some lunch and head on to Piazza Armerina, a little town closer to the center of Sicily. We had to do a little detouring, and I had to reprogram our Tom-Tom Woman- who we named Rhoda (get it, "Road"a, haha) a couple of times, but we made it to our destination no worse for the wear. We were staying at a BEAUTIFUL converted convent (convents are just really great places to stay guys, believe me). The Gigliotto is located in the middle of a vineyard, in the middle of the Sicilian countryside! It was gorgeous, I loved it! Mawmaw and Pawpaw had stayed there once before, so it was their suggestion, and it was perfect! The Gigliotto had a swimming pool with a great view so after we checked in and moved in we all went to swim and rest. It was great. Then, like every night, we had dinner and went to sleep- happy because we had decided to sleep in the next morning!
Wednesday the 25th: We did sleep in, finally! We all decided to have an easy day around Piazza Armerina. We slept so late we missed the breakfast offered at the hotel so we got back in the car, set up Rhoda, and headed back into the town. We found a cute little cafe for croissants and coffee and then set off to walk around the town. We came across a great park in the center of the city and found a shady nook to sit in for a good while. We just chatted there and enjoyed the breeze. When we were tired of sitting we set out in search of some playing cards, Kleenexes and a swimsuit for mom! We found the cards and Kleenexes but no luck on the bathing suit. There were some Mosaic Ruins that Mawmaw and Pawpaw wanted us to check out so when we finished shopping we programmed Rhoda and left the town. We only had to drive a few miles out to find the Mosaics. They are still in the process of excavating and cleaning some areas of the town but there was a lot to see! We saw some absolutely beautiful floors found in houses, the bathes, and even outside decorating what must have been a major street.
After we visited the mosaics we got some lunch and some gelato and then went back to the hotel to swim and enjoy the evening. We all took naps and after dinner we played cards and planned out the next day.
Thursday the 26th: Thursday morning we woke up around 9, grabbed some breakfast at the convent, packed up, checked out and fired up Rhoda. We programmed her to take us to Catania where we would meet our cousins, Nina and Gianni. It was a fairly uneventful drive until we reached Catania and realized the meaning of a traffic jam. You think Houston is bad, go to Catania! It was one of those time when we were all SO thankful to have Rhoda. The night before Aunt Francis had given us the address to Nina and Gianni's appliance store, so Rhoda told us how to there while Pawpaw maneuvered through the traffic like a pro. When we finally reached the store we were welcomed with huge hugs and smiles, and a lot of Italian exclamations! Nina and Gianni don't speak English- actually Gianni does speak a little, and he understands a lot so that was helpful. Mawmaw understood everything they said to her, but she said the hard part was speaking back. I could understand a fair amount, if they spoke slowly, and I could respond fairly well. So with the help of some hand motions and oversized gestures we always managed to get the point across. Nina showed us around the store- it is a really great store- and then we all piled in our car again to take a trip up to Tauramina.
Taurmina is a small beach town much like Capri, only about 45 minutes away from Catania. Nina wanted to take us there for lunch and then to walk around the town and see the beautiful view. We had lunch at a seafood place and for the first time I realized why people always joked about their Italian grandmothers who never let them leave the table without eating EVERYTHING. Nina was that Italian grandmother. She continued to order food, even though there was way too much on the table already, and then in turn she scooped it on to your plate saying "Mary- MANGIA!" I did my best to eat what she offered me- and then I ate some more. We were all stuffed beyond reason by the time lunch was over, and we dreaded the thought of dinner- but she assured us dinner would be light. Keep that in mind.
After lunch we drove up a little higher on the cliff, parked, and walked around the cutest town I've seen yet. I really did love Tauramina. It was so picturesque. Just a small town, cobblestone streets, beautiful architecture, and with a view of the sea. We shopped some and then walked to a Greek theater about which Nina claimed "if you come to Tauramina but don't see this, you have seen nothing!" Mom and I climbed all the way up to the top of the theatre with Nina (she was like an energizer bunny!) And took in the view. It was gorgeous, perhaps more beautiful than Capri...I don’t know. Maybe a close second. After the theater, which was cool by the way, but after seeing so many ruins it’s kind of like..meh, its another ruin...we decided to start walking back to the car. Just a side note- on the way back to the car, I some how started talking to this old man while waiting for Mawmaw and Mom. I figured he was harmless so I smiled and chatted for a second, and the he decided he should try and kiss me...yeah. LUCKILY I managed to keep him on my cheek and then push him away but the damage was done and I was ready to get on a plane and go back to the states where random old men don't try to kiss you. It was terrible. Just thought I'd share that haha. Needless to say I was thankful to get in the car and go back to Catania.
When we got to Nina's apartment she gave us a tour of her lovely home and then showed us where we could put our stuff and shower. It was about 8pm by this point, and I thought I had heard her tell Gianni to pick up a pizza for dinner. I was thrilled at the thought of staying in after such a long day and just having a slice of pizza. Unfortunately, around 9 Gianni came home without a pizza- I thought this was odd but then I thought "well, maybe we are going to order one in"...10 o’clock rolls around and no pizza. I wasn’t hungry though so I didn't really mind going to bed without dinner. Mom agreed. But sometime after 10 Nina and Gianni asked us if we were ready to go get dinner...we, dumbfounded, said yes, piled into two cars and drove half way across Catania to this little pizzeria they told us was their favorite! When we got there Mom and I decided we would split a pizza but when it got to our table Nina grabbed our pizza, gave me her whole pizza, and gave mom Gianni's whole pizza (we are talking a ten inch pizza...it could have fed three) and they split ours! I still have no idea why they did that haha, I guess they didn’t want us to go hungry. So we all had potatoe wedges, beer, pizza, and THEN they wanted us to order some dessert. I ordered Pineapple figuring it would be a small bowl. wrong. It was HALF a pineapple, shell and all. I ate a few pieces and then decided to try to play their game and insist they eat some. They said they were full (which never worked when we said it) and left me to finish it.
Just when I thought the night was over, and I could go sleep off the 115 lbs of food I just ate, Nina and Gianni's oldest son, Pipo, comes up with his girl friend Andrea. They sat down with us and we chatted for a little bit. Andrea is 21 and had been teaching herself English so while I spoke Italian to her she spoke English back and we instantly hit it off! She was absolutely adorable. They all insisted we walk around the town together so they could show us Cantania. We agreed and off we went! Mom and I walked with Andrea and Jean Marco, Pipo's 12 year-old son, for most of the tour. About three minutes in to the walk Andrea asked Jean Marco if he would walk on the other side of me so she could stand next to me and hold my hand. Italian women love to hold hands when they walk, its a sign of close friendship, Nina hadn't let go of Mawmaw's hand the whole day. So we walked and talked and got to know eachother while looking at all the beautiful architechure. We ended up trying this drink Catanian's have at 4am after dancing the night away in a club and they are hot and thirsty- that was Pipo's exact explanation. I think it was a syrup and club soda mixture, mine kind of tasted like sour apple...it was strange but good! After alllllll of that, we said our good byes to Pipo, Andrea and Jean Marco. I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to Andrea and Jean Marco- They were both incredibly fun. I knew if we had had more time together Andrea and I would have become like sisters. She was a real sweetheart. When Mom and I finally crawled into bed we looked at the clock and realized that it was 3 in the morning. I hadn't stayed up until 3 in the morning once since school had let out. I was exhausted, and fell asleep thinking about how our Italian cousins are incredible people and that I never wanted to eat again!
I think I will stop here for part 2, and Pick up on part 3 soon! Va bene? Ok! Ciao!
Tuesday the 24th: At 6 am (ANOTHER early morning!) we woke up, packed up a little bit and got ready to dock at 6:30am. It was a really stressful morning since there were hundreds of other passengers trying to get off at the same time. Not to mention it was 6:30 am. However, we managed to get off the boat with all of our luggage and wits in tact. Our next stop was to the Avis Car Rental Company. We thought about taking a taxi but the map didn't make it look like it was far so we started walking, with all of our luggage in tow. About a mile later we were all frustrated and extremely tired of walking...with no exit from the port in site. A little shuttle came up behind us and offered a free ride to the end of the port, which we more than gladly accepted. We laughed as we were getting in, saying it was going to drive three feet up and drop us off. Luckily he drove more than three feet and we were thankful we took it when we did. From the edge of the port we took another taxi toward the Avis Rental Company. Our taxi driver was really nice though, and informed us (in Italian) that Avis wasn't going to open till 9 (it was about 7:15 by this time) so he wanted to take us somewhere we could eat and rest and then walk to Avis. He dropped us off at a really nice cafe and told us how to get to the Avis that was just across the street. Around 9 we went to rent a car.
Now, I just want to take a minute a salute Pawpaw because he was our fearless and confident driver for the week. Like I have said many times in previous blogs Italians are crazy drivers! Add driving on incredibly narrow roads, lined with cars, and pedestrians taking no notice of you and it can be nerve racking to say the least! But Pawpaw did a magnificent job of navigating us safely from town to countryside. I could not have driven all that time but Pawpaw never got tired of it and always got us where we needed to go! So thanks Pawpaw!
Tuesday we just drove from town to town seeing the sights. From Palermo we went north up a little mountain to Monreale, but it was to crowded to park and we were still getting use to the car so we decided not to stop. We turned back south and drove for two hours to the other side of Sicily to a little town called Agrigento. There are some Greek temple ruins in Agrigento that I am sure would have been cool but it was at least 100 degrees outside and they were to spread out to walk in the heat of the afternoon. We decided to just grab some lunch and head on to Piazza Armerina, a little town closer to the center of Sicily. We had to do a little detouring, and I had to reprogram our Tom-Tom Woman- who we named Rhoda (get it, "Road"a, haha) a couple of times, but we made it to our destination no worse for the wear. We were staying at a BEAUTIFUL converted convent (convents are just really great places to stay guys, believe me). The Gigliotto is located in the middle of a vineyard, in the middle of the Sicilian countryside! It was gorgeous, I loved it! Mawmaw and Pawpaw had stayed there once before, so it was their suggestion, and it was perfect! The Gigliotto had a swimming pool with a great view so after we checked in and moved in we all went to swim and rest. It was great. Then, like every night, we had dinner and went to sleep- happy because we had decided to sleep in the next morning!
Wednesday the 25th: We did sleep in, finally! We all decided to have an easy day around Piazza Armerina. We slept so late we missed the breakfast offered at the hotel so we got back in the car, set up Rhoda, and headed back into the town. We found a cute little cafe for croissants and coffee and then set off to walk around the town. We came across a great park in the center of the city and found a shady nook to sit in for a good while. We just chatted there and enjoyed the breeze. When we were tired of sitting we set out in search of some playing cards, Kleenexes and a swimsuit for mom! We found the cards and Kleenexes but no luck on the bathing suit. There were some Mosaic Ruins that Mawmaw and Pawpaw wanted us to check out so when we finished shopping we programmed Rhoda and left the town. We only had to drive a few miles out to find the Mosaics. They are still in the process of excavating and cleaning some areas of the town but there was a lot to see! We saw some absolutely beautiful floors found in houses, the bathes, and even outside decorating what must have been a major street.
After we visited the mosaics we got some lunch and some gelato and then went back to the hotel to swim and enjoy the evening. We all took naps and after dinner we played cards and planned out the next day.
Thursday the 26th: Thursday morning we woke up around 9, grabbed some breakfast at the convent, packed up, checked out and fired up Rhoda. We programmed her to take us to Catania where we would meet our cousins, Nina and Gianni. It was a fairly uneventful drive until we reached Catania and realized the meaning of a traffic jam. You think Houston is bad, go to Catania! It was one of those time when we were all SO thankful to have Rhoda. The night before Aunt Francis had given us the address to Nina and Gianni's appliance store, so Rhoda told us how to there while Pawpaw maneuvered through the traffic like a pro. When we finally reached the store we were welcomed with huge hugs and smiles, and a lot of Italian exclamations! Nina and Gianni don't speak English- actually Gianni does speak a little, and he understands a lot so that was helpful. Mawmaw understood everything they said to her, but she said the hard part was speaking back. I could understand a fair amount, if they spoke slowly, and I could respond fairly well. So with the help of some hand motions and oversized gestures we always managed to get the point across. Nina showed us around the store- it is a really great store- and then we all piled in our car again to take a trip up to Tauramina.
Taurmina is a small beach town much like Capri, only about 45 minutes away from Catania. Nina wanted to take us there for lunch and then to walk around the town and see the beautiful view. We had lunch at a seafood place and for the first time I realized why people always joked about their Italian grandmothers who never let them leave the table without eating EVERYTHING. Nina was that Italian grandmother. She continued to order food, even though there was way too much on the table already, and then in turn she scooped it on to your plate saying "Mary- MANGIA!" I did my best to eat what she offered me- and then I ate some more. We were all stuffed beyond reason by the time lunch was over, and we dreaded the thought of dinner- but she assured us dinner would be light. Keep that in mind.
After lunch we drove up a little higher on the cliff, parked, and walked around the cutest town I've seen yet. I really did love Tauramina. It was so picturesque. Just a small town, cobblestone streets, beautiful architecture, and with a view of the sea. We shopped some and then walked to a Greek theater about which Nina claimed "if you come to Tauramina but don't see this, you have seen nothing!" Mom and I climbed all the way up to the top of the theatre with Nina (she was like an energizer bunny!) And took in the view. It was gorgeous, perhaps more beautiful than Capri...I don’t know. Maybe a close second. After the theater, which was cool by the way, but after seeing so many ruins it’s kind of like..meh, its another ruin...we decided to start walking back to the car. Just a side note- on the way back to the car, I some how started talking to this old man while waiting for Mawmaw and Mom. I figured he was harmless so I smiled and chatted for a second, and the he decided he should try and kiss me...yeah. LUCKILY I managed to keep him on my cheek and then push him away but the damage was done and I was ready to get on a plane and go back to the states where random old men don't try to kiss you. It was terrible. Just thought I'd share that haha. Needless to say I was thankful to get in the car and go back to Catania.
When we got to Nina's apartment she gave us a tour of her lovely home and then showed us where we could put our stuff and shower. It was about 8pm by this point, and I thought I had heard her tell Gianni to pick up a pizza for dinner. I was thrilled at the thought of staying in after such a long day and just having a slice of pizza. Unfortunately, around 9 Gianni came home without a pizza- I thought this was odd but then I thought "well, maybe we are going to order one in"...10 o’clock rolls around and no pizza. I wasn’t hungry though so I didn't really mind going to bed without dinner. Mom agreed. But sometime after 10 Nina and Gianni asked us if we were ready to go get dinner...we, dumbfounded, said yes, piled into two cars and drove half way across Catania to this little pizzeria they told us was their favorite! When we got there Mom and I decided we would split a pizza but when it got to our table Nina grabbed our pizza, gave me her whole pizza, and gave mom Gianni's whole pizza (we are talking a ten inch pizza...it could have fed three) and they split ours! I still have no idea why they did that haha, I guess they didn’t want us to go hungry. So we all had potatoe wedges, beer, pizza, and THEN they wanted us to order some dessert. I ordered Pineapple figuring it would be a small bowl. wrong. It was HALF a pineapple, shell and all. I ate a few pieces and then decided to try to play their game and insist they eat some. They said they were full (which never worked when we said it) and left me to finish it.
Just when I thought the night was over, and I could go sleep off the 115 lbs of food I just ate, Nina and Gianni's oldest son, Pipo, comes up with his girl friend Andrea. They sat down with us and we chatted for a little bit. Andrea is 21 and had been teaching herself English so while I spoke Italian to her she spoke English back and we instantly hit it off! She was absolutely adorable. They all insisted we walk around the town together so they could show us Cantania. We agreed and off we went! Mom and I walked with Andrea and Jean Marco, Pipo's 12 year-old son, for most of the tour. About three minutes in to the walk Andrea asked Jean Marco if he would walk on the other side of me so she could stand next to me and hold my hand. Italian women love to hold hands when they walk, its a sign of close friendship, Nina hadn't let go of Mawmaw's hand the whole day. So we walked and talked and got to know eachother while looking at all the beautiful architechure. We ended up trying this drink Catanian's have at 4am after dancing the night away in a club and they are hot and thirsty- that was Pipo's exact explanation. I think it was a syrup and club soda mixture, mine kind of tasted like sour apple...it was strange but good! After alllllll of that, we said our good byes to Pipo, Andrea and Jean Marco. I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to Andrea and Jean Marco- They were both incredibly fun. I knew if we had had more time together Andrea and I would have become like sisters. She was a real sweetheart. When Mom and I finally crawled into bed we looked at the clock and realized that it was 3 in the morning. I hadn't stayed up until 3 in the morning once since school had let out. I was exhausted, and fell asleep thinking about how our Italian cousins are incredible people and that I never wanted to eat again!
I think I will stop here for part 2, and Pick up on part 3 soon! Va bene? Ok! Ciao!
July 7, 2008
Planes, Trains and Automobiles....
And taxis, and tour buses, and even a boat!!! And of course- on foot! Those were all of the means of transportation Mom, Mawmaw Pawpaw and I took during our 10-day tour of Southern Italy. It was amazing the amount of traveling we accomplished in such a short amount of time! During the plane ride from Palermo, Sicily to Florence Mom and I discovered we had visited 16 cities/towns in 10 days. We were traveling fools! I think it would be much easier for me to take this day by day since there are ten of them and let's face it, there's a lot to remember!
Friday the 20th: When I left you on Friday, I was about thirty minutes away from hopping on the train to Rome. I made it there with out a hitch and Mom and PawPaw were at the train station waiting to pick me up! It was so great to see them and hug them, I was pretty ecstatic! We carried my luggage up nine blocks to our hotel, which was actually a convent of Spanish (I know, why not Italian? who knows!) Nuns who rented out several rooms as a hotel. They were the sweetest Nuns, so welcoming and cute, I really wanted to be their best friends. So there ya go Uncle Mike- I almost joined a convent! BUT I didn't! That night we took a taxi straight to the Pantheon, since mom had never seen it, and then we found a cute, quiet little piazza and had a wonderful meal! After dinner we walked to the Trevi Fountain, which, if you recall is by far my favorite site in Rome, and mom and I made a wish in the Fountain. Mom wouldn't tell me what she wished for but I'm going to go out on a limb and say she wished to come back with Dad and Dom...ok fine maybe that was MY wish, but I bet she echoed it! :). After the Trevi we went and got their first cone of Gelato! It was delicious!! We had to go back to the convent after that because the Nuns had a curfew of 11:30, but believe me, we were all exhausted from traveling so it didn't bother us to call it a night.
Saturday the 21st: We slept in a little bit, grabbed some breakfast at the convent (a roll with cheese and a cappuccino) and headed out for the day! Mom, Mawmaw and Pawpaw had found a tour bus the day before that would take you all over the city of Rome and allow you to get off at any stop you chose and explore for as long as you want and then catch the next tour bus that came along. I thought this was a grand idea. The first thing we stopped at was the Coloseum. We went through the long line, and then walked around the entire arena. I was acting tour guide and basically parroted back everything I remember Fabrizio (my previous tour guide) had said. This is why I do well in school- I am an incredible audio learner, the real reason I don’t have a 4.0 is because I tend to daydream... :). ANYWAY, after the colosseum we hopped back on the bus and took it to the Vatican City. This is what I was most excited for Mom to see- I adore St. Peter's Basilica and every church in Italy pales in comparison to its ornate arches, sculptures, and frescoes. We debated not going in because the line looked about 2 miles long (I'm not joking) but we realized it was moving pretty fast and we got in line. I am really glad we did because the line, going through the church and getting out couldn't have taken us more than 45 minutes! It worked out really well! By the time we were out of the Vatican we were ready for some Gelato and a nap. So we got some gelato, caught the next tour bus and went back to our convent. We rested and then went back to the city center for dinner. We had the cab driver take us straight to the Spanish Steps but when we got there he had to drop us off a little ways from it because there was a marching band playing on the steps and quite a crowd of people standing around enjoying the music! We listened for a little while and then set off in search for a bancomat (ATM) and a cute place to eat! We found both and had another enjoyable dinner in a breezy little piazza. After dinner we walked back to the Pantheon to catch a cab and called it a night.
Sunday the 22nd: Sunday we had to get up extremely early to call a cab (which I managed to do in Italian, whoop!) and head out to catch our Bus Tour to Naples, Pompeii and Capri! The bus nearly left Pawpaw because he was on the phone a few steps away, but we caused quite a raucous while it was pulling away, and they stopped so he could hop on! I slept all the way to Naples (it was 7 am and I was in a moving vehicle, I didn't stand a chance). We didn't actually stop in Naples, we just drove through the port so I wouldn't say we got a good view of the city. It was a pretty dirty port, and didn't look inviting or fun at all, so based on that little bus ride I'd have to say Naples was a bust and not really some place I'd like to visit again!
After Naples we went to Pompeii! It was incredibly hot but our tour guide was great and always stopped in shaded places. We walked all over the ruins of the little town and I was amazed to see how much of the town was still in tact. Almost entire houses were in tact with their mosaic floors and painted walls. They were actually really nice houses. I was also shocked to see how far away Mt. Vesuvius was from Pompeii. I was under the impression Pompeii was a naive little city that put itself right on the foot of a volcano and was destroyed because of the lava. In reality Pompeii is several miles away from the mountain and it wasn't the lava that killed the people living there, it was the poisonous gasses and the 500-degree ash that settled over the town. It wasn't even that eerie to walk around but what was eerie, and very sad, was what we saw in the food market. There we were introduced to two former inhabitants of Pompeii. It was actually a plaster cast of their bodies in the position they were in when the disaster hit. What happened was their bodies were covered in layers and layers of ash during the volcano's eruption. As years went by the ash turned more into rock and the body decayed leaving a perfect mold. Some archeologist discovered this and decided to pour plaster into a small hole he made in the ground effectively giving him a perfect reconstruction of what the person looked like in the last moments of their life. I think that’s perfectly horrific but to each his own. I took about a MILLION pictures all over Pompeii so I will have to show them to you sometime, my description here does no justice to how cool the town actually was.
After Pompeii we were taken by bus to Sorrento, which is a really scary drive up VERY narrow streets where one side is a rock wall and the other is a plunge into the Mediterranean Sea. It was nerve racking, but there was a beautiful view if you could manage to look out the window, haha. Sorrento is a little town just 5 minutes from Capri. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called Hotel Vesuvius (no worries we were no where near Mt. Vesuvius at this point) and had a wonderful dinner. After we ate we enjoyed some coffee out on a lovely patio with live music. We went to sleep exhausted and knowing we had another early morning ahead of us.
Monday the 23rd: Ok, I am going to admit that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed Monday morning. I had fought a battle of the wills the night before- I basically had an excruciating headache and refused to take anything for it. Mother Nature won out around 3 am when I felt so sick I could barely sit up long enough to take some Tylenol. I know Mom and TJ are just shaking their heads at me right now. Why am I so rediculously stubborn about taking medicine? I have no idea. Nor is that really interesting haha, just an excuse to why I was so cranky the next morning. We woke up at 6am, all of us wishing we didn't have to get back on that bus and go go go for the rest of the day. It had been a rushed few days and I think we were all ready to sit still for a day...and maybe sleep in a little! But we made it out to the bus at 7:30 and met our guide for the day: Marco. Marco is a 30 something Italian man, as cute as can be and maybe a little too energetic. He took us to the ferry we took to get to Capri from Sorrento. When we arrived in Capri he basically RAN us to these little speedboats so we could be the first to enter the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto is a little little cave in the side of a cliff. We were told over and over again how lucky we were because the grotto was open that day. If the tide is to high or the water is too rough it is impossible to go in. Why would we rush to go in that death trap you ask?? I will tell you. When we arrived at the grotto's entrance Mom, Pawpaw and I climbed into a little rowboat with a very small Italian guy as our guide. Mawmaw chose the wide-open spaces, and I do not blame her, looking at the little rowboat and the even smaller opening we were about to go into was a little frightening! We rowed up to a 5 foot wide and 3 feet tall opening in the cliff. Our guide told us to lie completely flat in the boat and he pulled on a chain that pulled us into the cave. We sat up as soon as we got in and looked down into the water. This is why people come into the Blue Grotto. The angle at which the light comes through the opening of the cave causes a reflection that makes the entire cave light up in the most brilliant electric blue you have ever seen!! I got some great pictures of it, plus some great video of our guide singing opera once we were in the cave. It was really an amazing little ride.
Once we got back to the mainland of Capri we took a little bus all around the overly crowded island and walked and shopped. We saw an old perfumery where monks once worked making perfumes and soaps using all of the flowers and herbs native to Capri. We also saw a gorgeous little garden- it really is one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.
We only stayed in Capri for a few hours, by three pm we were back at our hotel and waiting for one more tour bus to take us back to Pompeii where we hoped yet ANOTHER tour bus would take us to Napoles where we would catch a ferry to Palermo Italy. Do you see now why I was a little upset that morning, we are talking a non-stop few days. We made it to Naples (turns out we got a huge 55 passenger bus all to our selves! I have no idea how!) and on the ferry with out a problem! We had some dinner, enjoyed some drinks and went to sleep, thankful for a chance to rest!
I think I am going to stop here for this blog- I will write about the rest in a separate post just for the sake of space!!!
So....To be Continued:...
Friday the 20th: When I left you on Friday, I was about thirty minutes away from hopping on the train to Rome. I made it there with out a hitch and Mom and PawPaw were at the train station waiting to pick me up! It was so great to see them and hug them, I was pretty ecstatic! We carried my luggage up nine blocks to our hotel, which was actually a convent of Spanish (I know, why not Italian? who knows!) Nuns who rented out several rooms as a hotel. They were the sweetest Nuns, so welcoming and cute, I really wanted to be their best friends. So there ya go Uncle Mike- I almost joined a convent! BUT I didn't! That night we took a taxi straight to the Pantheon, since mom had never seen it, and then we found a cute, quiet little piazza and had a wonderful meal! After dinner we walked to the Trevi Fountain, which, if you recall is by far my favorite site in Rome, and mom and I made a wish in the Fountain. Mom wouldn't tell me what she wished for but I'm going to go out on a limb and say she wished to come back with Dad and Dom...ok fine maybe that was MY wish, but I bet she echoed it! :). After the Trevi we went and got their first cone of Gelato! It was delicious!! We had to go back to the convent after that because the Nuns had a curfew of 11:30, but believe me, we were all exhausted from traveling so it didn't bother us to call it a night.
Saturday the 21st: We slept in a little bit, grabbed some breakfast at the convent (a roll with cheese and a cappuccino) and headed out for the day! Mom, Mawmaw and Pawpaw had found a tour bus the day before that would take you all over the city of Rome and allow you to get off at any stop you chose and explore for as long as you want and then catch the next tour bus that came along. I thought this was a grand idea. The first thing we stopped at was the Coloseum. We went through the long line, and then walked around the entire arena. I was acting tour guide and basically parroted back everything I remember Fabrizio (my previous tour guide) had said. This is why I do well in school- I am an incredible audio learner, the real reason I don’t have a 4.0 is because I tend to daydream... :). ANYWAY, after the colosseum we hopped back on the bus and took it to the Vatican City. This is what I was most excited for Mom to see- I adore St. Peter's Basilica and every church in Italy pales in comparison to its ornate arches, sculptures, and frescoes. We debated not going in because the line looked about 2 miles long (I'm not joking) but we realized it was moving pretty fast and we got in line. I am really glad we did because the line, going through the church and getting out couldn't have taken us more than 45 minutes! It worked out really well! By the time we were out of the Vatican we were ready for some Gelato and a nap. So we got some gelato, caught the next tour bus and went back to our convent. We rested and then went back to the city center for dinner. We had the cab driver take us straight to the Spanish Steps but when we got there he had to drop us off a little ways from it because there was a marching band playing on the steps and quite a crowd of people standing around enjoying the music! We listened for a little while and then set off in search for a bancomat (ATM) and a cute place to eat! We found both and had another enjoyable dinner in a breezy little piazza. After dinner we walked back to the Pantheon to catch a cab and called it a night.
Sunday the 22nd: Sunday we had to get up extremely early to call a cab (which I managed to do in Italian, whoop!) and head out to catch our Bus Tour to Naples, Pompeii and Capri! The bus nearly left Pawpaw because he was on the phone a few steps away, but we caused quite a raucous while it was pulling away, and they stopped so he could hop on! I slept all the way to Naples (it was 7 am and I was in a moving vehicle, I didn't stand a chance). We didn't actually stop in Naples, we just drove through the port so I wouldn't say we got a good view of the city. It was a pretty dirty port, and didn't look inviting or fun at all, so based on that little bus ride I'd have to say Naples was a bust and not really some place I'd like to visit again!
After Naples we went to Pompeii! It was incredibly hot but our tour guide was great and always stopped in shaded places. We walked all over the ruins of the little town and I was amazed to see how much of the town was still in tact. Almost entire houses were in tact with their mosaic floors and painted walls. They were actually really nice houses. I was also shocked to see how far away Mt. Vesuvius was from Pompeii. I was under the impression Pompeii was a naive little city that put itself right on the foot of a volcano and was destroyed because of the lava. In reality Pompeii is several miles away from the mountain and it wasn't the lava that killed the people living there, it was the poisonous gasses and the 500-degree ash that settled over the town. It wasn't even that eerie to walk around but what was eerie, and very sad, was what we saw in the food market. There we were introduced to two former inhabitants of Pompeii. It was actually a plaster cast of their bodies in the position they were in when the disaster hit. What happened was their bodies were covered in layers and layers of ash during the volcano's eruption. As years went by the ash turned more into rock and the body decayed leaving a perfect mold. Some archeologist discovered this and decided to pour plaster into a small hole he made in the ground effectively giving him a perfect reconstruction of what the person looked like in the last moments of their life. I think that’s perfectly horrific but to each his own. I took about a MILLION pictures all over Pompeii so I will have to show them to you sometime, my description here does no justice to how cool the town actually was.
After Pompeii we were taken by bus to Sorrento, which is a really scary drive up VERY narrow streets where one side is a rock wall and the other is a plunge into the Mediterranean Sea. It was nerve racking, but there was a beautiful view if you could manage to look out the window, haha. Sorrento is a little town just 5 minutes from Capri. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called Hotel Vesuvius (no worries we were no where near Mt. Vesuvius at this point) and had a wonderful dinner. After we ate we enjoyed some coffee out on a lovely patio with live music. We went to sleep exhausted and knowing we had another early morning ahead of us.
Monday the 23rd: Ok, I am going to admit that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed Monday morning. I had fought a battle of the wills the night before- I basically had an excruciating headache and refused to take anything for it. Mother Nature won out around 3 am when I felt so sick I could barely sit up long enough to take some Tylenol. I know Mom and TJ are just shaking their heads at me right now. Why am I so rediculously stubborn about taking medicine? I have no idea. Nor is that really interesting haha, just an excuse to why I was so cranky the next morning. We woke up at 6am, all of us wishing we didn't have to get back on that bus and go go go for the rest of the day. It had been a rushed few days and I think we were all ready to sit still for a day...and maybe sleep in a little! But we made it out to the bus at 7:30 and met our guide for the day: Marco. Marco is a 30 something Italian man, as cute as can be and maybe a little too energetic. He took us to the ferry we took to get to Capri from Sorrento. When we arrived in Capri he basically RAN us to these little speedboats so we could be the first to enter the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto is a little little cave in the side of a cliff. We were told over and over again how lucky we were because the grotto was open that day. If the tide is to high or the water is too rough it is impossible to go in. Why would we rush to go in that death trap you ask?? I will tell you. When we arrived at the grotto's entrance Mom, Pawpaw and I climbed into a little rowboat with a very small Italian guy as our guide. Mawmaw chose the wide-open spaces, and I do not blame her, looking at the little rowboat and the even smaller opening we were about to go into was a little frightening! We rowed up to a 5 foot wide and 3 feet tall opening in the cliff. Our guide told us to lie completely flat in the boat and he pulled on a chain that pulled us into the cave. We sat up as soon as we got in and looked down into the water. This is why people come into the Blue Grotto. The angle at which the light comes through the opening of the cave causes a reflection that makes the entire cave light up in the most brilliant electric blue you have ever seen!! I got some great pictures of it, plus some great video of our guide singing opera once we were in the cave. It was really an amazing little ride.
Once we got back to the mainland of Capri we took a little bus all around the overly crowded island and walked and shopped. We saw an old perfumery where monks once worked making perfumes and soaps using all of the flowers and herbs native to Capri. We also saw a gorgeous little garden- it really is one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.
We only stayed in Capri for a few hours, by three pm we were back at our hotel and waiting for one more tour bus to take us back to Pompeii where we hoped yet ANOTHER tour bus would take us to Napoles where we would catch a ferry to Palermo Italy. Do you see now why I was a little upset that morning, we are talking a non-stop few days. We made it to Naples (turns out we got a huge 55 passenger bus all to our selves! I have no idea how!) and on the ferry with out a problem! We had some dinner, enjoyed some drinks and went to sleep, thankful for a chance to rest!
I think I am going to stop here for this blog- I will write about the rest in a separate post just for the sake of space!!!
So....To be Continued:...
July 2, 2008
Pictures from Lake Guarda/Venice/ Verona
Hello!
Here are the captions for the new slide show I put up from Lake Garda, Venice and Verona! I hope you enjoy them!
Lake Garda:
1. We took a speedboat out for about 20 minutes (it would have been longer but it started to rain) to get a better look at Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy. You can see our cute old captain in the hat and red vest! He was really cute!
2. Close up of us in the boat! (Thanks Anna for these two pictures!)
3. The beautiful Scaliger Castle from the 13th Century, right on the water. It was probably the coolest castle I've seen yet!
Venice:
1. View of Venice from the Grand Canal
2. View of Venice from the Grand Canal
3. View of Venice from the Grand Canal- Here you see the Bell Tower and Duomo from St. Marks Square in the background!
4. Close up of the bell tower and the Greek Church.
5. Beautiful Waterway in Venice- Venice is made up of 118 Islands, 166 canals and 400 Bridges connecting them. Our tour guide said every time you cross a bridge you are leaving behind an island.
6. This is a close up a crest you see on all of the Gondola's in Venice. The Top thick part represents a governor’s hat- to show power, the 6 prongs coming off of it represent the six districts in Venice and the silver stem that runs down the bottom of the gondola represents the Grand Canal.
7. The Bridge of Sighs- it connects the courthouse and the prison and as the prisoners were taken across to the prison it is said they would sigh as they caught the last glimpse of their sweet Venice. Very sad. Very Poetic.
8. St. Mark's Basilica in St. Marks Square
9. The Bell tower in St. Marks Square
10. The sweet Clock tower in St. Marks Square. The iron guys at the top actually swing their hammers to ring the bell- way cool.
11. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo- a staircase designed to look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa- but they messed up because it’s not leaning! :) Ironic.
12. Rialto Bridge- Beautiful! Almost as cool as the Ponte Vecchio in Florence-- Almost but not quite!
13. Gondola Traffic Jam...haha. Which is why I didn't ride one- too touristy, to packed. blah.
14. Me with a pretty waterway
15. Anna, Me and Emma drinking Bellini's the drink Venice is known for! It's Champagne and Grapefruit Juice--yum!
16. Hooray for Venetian Masks!!
Verona:
1. St. Peter's Hill- the oldest roman building in Verona. Originally it was meant to defend the city but now it hosts a huge jazz festival!
2. This is a grave of a guy called Cane Grande...yes that translates to Big Dog. I don’t know about you, but that sounds slightly Mafioso to me! Which makes sense because he was kind of a bully. The reason his grave is above the door instead of on the ground like all of the other sarcophagi is because he wanted to remind people that he was "above them in life, and is above them in death." He was a real nice guy....
3. A statue of Dante the famous author. He fled to Verona when Florence kicked him out because of his controversial ideas, so he finished parts 2 and 3 of his divine comedy in Verona.
4. Juliet's Balcony- the reason Verona is the 4th most visited city in Italy. To bad it’s fake. Basically it’s a sarcophagus they glued to the side of a wall. People can't get enough of it though. (Read the bottom note B/c I have some fun facts about Romeo and Juliet!)
5. This is statue of "Juliet"- if you notice that a certain part of Juliet is exceptionally shiny its because there's a legend that says if you touch said shiny part you will have luck in love. I thought that was a little too weird so I stuck with a picture.
6. the Arena of Verona- basically the little sister of the Colosseum. It was used for the same purpose as the Colosseum for years and years but now it hosts an entire year of theatrical and opera events like Aida.
7. A beautiful piazza in Verona.
Valpollicella:
1. the view of this little wine town outside of Verona, we visited it for a wine tasting
2. Vineyards
3. Soon to be vineyard
4. Cute church near the wine cellars.
5. Vineyards
6. Anna and Me in the Vineyard
7. Me in front of a HUGE wine cask!
My New Hair cut! Ever since I first saw the movie Roman Holiday where Audrey Hepburn gets her hair cut off while in Italy it has been my goal to get my hair cut in Italy. Check Check!
Small note about Romeo and Juliet:
1. While Romeo and Juliet never existed there was in fact a family called the Capulets and a family called the Montague’s- and their houses are the ones pinpointed as "Romeo and Juliet’s" houses.
2. The two families did hate each other. The Montague’s (Romeo's family) were Imperialists and the Capulets (Juliet's Family) were Papalists. These two different groups hated each other during the time of the legend.
3. Turns out Shakespeare's story is actually an English version of a French translation of an Italian legend. The reason Shakespeare gets all the glory is because he was the only one who wrote an ingenious and beautiful play out of it! Bravo Shakespeare!
And that's all the fun pictures and fun facts I've got for ya from those three places. I'll be writing again soon!
Love,
Mary Kay
Here are the captions for the new slide show I put up from Lake Garda, Venice and Verona! I hope you enjoy them!
Lake Garda:
1. We took a speedboat out for about 20 minutes (it would have been longer but it started to rain) to get a better look at Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy. You can see our cute old captain in the hat and red vest! He was really cute!
2. Close up of us in the boat! (Thanks Anna for these two pictures!)
3. The beautiful Scaliger Castle from the 13th Century, right on the water. It was probably the coolest castle I've seen yet!
Venice:
1. View of Venice from the Grand Canal
2. View of Venice from the Grand Canal
3. View of Venice from the Grand Canal- Here you see the Bell Tower and Duomo from St. Marks Square in the background!
4. Close up of the bell tower and the Greek Church.
5. Beautiful Waterway in Venice- Venice is made up of 118 Islands, 166 canals and 400 Bridges connecting them. Our tour guide said every time you cross a bridge you are leaving behind an island.
6. This is a close up a crest you see on all of the Gondola's in Venice. The Top thick part represents a governor’s hat- to show power, the 6 prongs coming off of it represent the six districts in Venice and the silver stem that runs down the bottom of the gondola represents the Grand Canal.
7. The Bridge of Sighs- it connects the courthouse and the prison and as the prisoners were taken across to the prison it is said they would sigh as they caught the last glimpse of their sweet Venice. Very sad. Very Poetic.
8. St. Mark's Basilica in St. Marks Square
9. The Bell tower in St. Marks Square
10. The sweet Clock tower in St. Marks Square. The iron guys at the top actually swing their hammers to ring the bell- way cool.
11. The Scala Contarini del Bovolo- a staircase designed to look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa- but they messed up because it’s not leaning! :) Ironic.
12. Rialto Bridge- Beautiful! Almost as cool as the Ponte Vecchio in Florence-- Almost but not quite!
13. Gondola Traffic Jam...haha. Which is why I didn't ride one- too touristy, to packed. blah.
14. Me with a pretty waterway
15. Anna, Me and Emma drinking Bellini's the drink Venice is known for! It's Champagne and Grapefruit Juice--yum!
16. Hooray for Venetian Masks!!
Verona:
1. St. Peter's Hill- the oldest roman building in Verona. Originally it was meant to defend the city but now it hosts a huge jazz festival!
2. This is a grave of a guy called Cane Grande...yes that translates to Big Dog. I don’t know about you, but that sounds slightly Mafioso to me! Which makes sense because he was kind of a bully. The reason his grave is above the door instead of on the ground like all of the other sarcophagi is because he wanted to remind people that he was "above them in life, and is above them in death." He was a real nice guy....
3. A statue of Dante the famous author. He fled to Verona when Florence kicked him out because of his controversial ideas, so he finished parts 2 and 3 of his divine comedy in Verona.
4. Juliet's Balcony- the reason Verona is the 4th most visited city in Italy. To bad it’s fake. Basically it’s a sarcophagus they glued to the side of a wall. People can't get enough of it though. (Read the bottom note B/c I have some fun facts about Romeo and Juliet!)
5. This is statue of "Juliet"- if you notice that a certain part of Juliet is exceptionally shiny its because there's a legend that says if you touch said shiny part you will have luck in love. I thought that was a little too weird so I stuck with a picture.
6. the Arena of Verona- basically the little sister of the Colosseum. It was used for the same purpose as the Colosseum for years and years but now it hosts an entire year of theatrical and opera events like Aida.
7. A beautiful piazza in Verona.
Valpollicella:
1. the view of this little wine town outside of Verona, we visited it for a wine tasting
2. Vineyards
3. Soon to be vineyard
4. Cute church near the wine cellars.
5. Vineyards
6. Anna and Me in the Vineyard
7. Me in front of a HUGE wine cask!
My New Hair cut! Ever since I first saw the movie Roman Holiday where Audrey Hepburn gets her hair cut off while in Italy it has been my goal to get my hair cut in Italy. Check Check!
Small note about Romeo and Juliet:
1. While Romeo and Juliet never existed there was in fact a family called the Capulets and a family called the Montague’s- and their houses are the ones pinpointed as "Romeo and Juliet’s" houses.
2. The two families did hate each other. The Montague’s (Romeo's family) were Imperialists and the Capulets (Juliet's Family) were Papalists. These two different groups hated each other during the time of the legend.
3. Turns out Shakespeare's story is actually an English version of a French translation of an Italian legend. The reason Shakespeare gets all the glory is because he was the only one who wrote an ingenious and beautiful play out of it! Bravo Shakespeare!
And that's all the fun pictures and fun facts I've got for ya from those three places. I'll be writing again soon!
Love,
Mary Kay
June 20, 2008
Audrey Hepburn would be proud!
Ciao!!!
Ok, I have to apologize for a few things right off the bat. First of all, I am sorry it has taken me so long to write on my bog. It was finals week this week and as much as I tried to procrastinate (and succeeded in some cases) I just never got enough time to sit and write a good blog post!
I also must apologize because I have been promising to tell you all about Lake Guarda, Venice and Verona and I am afraid I won't be able to. Why? Well, I don’t exactly know, except that every time I sit down to and start writing about it I get annoyed and stop. The trip was great, don't get me wrong, and to be honest I have no idea why writing about it is so impossible but I guess, since it is, I'll just have to tell you about it in person when I get back! So be sure to ask about it if you’re interested! They were all three beautiful places, and Venice is probably one of my favorite cities so far. I have pictures up on the new slide show so you'll get to see them and I'll write some captions here in a minute!
Ok- So about this week. Actually it was a pretty funny week despite the stress and annoying exams! I'll just go through the week and if I remember a funny story I'll write it out! Deal!? Deal!
Monday: On Monday my Art History class (did I ever tell you I was taking Art History? No? Well I am!) went to the Palazzo Vecchio which is a really old palace built in the 13th century. During the 15th century it was renovated, so to speak, by an artist named Vassari (that's his last name). Vassari created several major masterpieces for the ceiling of the Palazzo, along with tons of minor paintings and frescos all over the place. Of course we went to take a tour, however, this was no ordinary tour. Oh no...on this tour we were going to be walking and talking with Vassari HIMSELF....how can this be you ask?? Well, basically a 20 something Italian man is paid to dress up like Vassari, know everything about him and the time period he lives in and gives us "his" thoughts on all of the paintings and frescoes we see as if it was the 1500's and he was Vassari. At first I thought this was a pretty great idea, but soon after we began things just got awkward. First of all, our dear sweet sweet tour guide, Alberto....I mean, Vassari, didn't speak English very well. He got several words mixed up during the tour making for some pretty great quotes. My favorite "Vassari-ism" went something like this:
Vassari to a girl in my class: Why do you wear pants and not a dress, YOU ARE NAKED!
Girl: It's too hot to wear a dress! Why did they wear them during the summer anyway?
Vassari: Because, you see...a woman's body is full of...of...PEACH.
All of us: Peach?
Vassari: Si! Peach...peach!!
All of us: *Blank stare*
Vassari to my teacher: Come se Dice 'peccato' in inglese? *teacher answers*
Vassari: OOOO, SIN! a woman's body is full of SIN therefore she must wear the dresses!!
....Peaches...Sin...sure I can see how they sound the same. I am no longer going to feel bad for mixing up my Italian words haha. I loved Alberto- he was a great sport!
Tuesday: Ok....I admit it. I crumbled, I gave in to my cravings and I caved and I ....I went to McDonalds! I KNOW! I KNOW! I am in ITLAY, HOOWWW could I possibly have gone to MCDONALDS! Here's how. First of all, the McD's in Italy smell better than the ones in the US. I think it's because they use sunflower seed oil instead of what the US uses. Second of all, all of my roomies and I decided latish Wednesday night that we were craving some chocolate cake, so we headed out in search for some! unfortunately its not possible in Italy to eat just dessert at a restaurant so no one would let us sit down and order cake. We didn't feel like gelato though, and the only American bakery in Florence closed three hours before we set out. So we just started walking, hoping we would happen upon a sweet little trattoria that would let us have some cake. And then we saw the golden arches. We all looked at each other and said....Meh...Why not! They all got Mcflurries but as soon as I stepped inside the craving for their fries I had been fighting for the last 5 weeks came rushing back and I had to order some. They were delicious. I do not regret it haha.
Wednesday: Wednesday was spent cramming for the exam I had in Art History on Thursday
Thursday: I took an exam, it was fine! It was one of my roommate's (Olivia) last night in Florence so all my roomies and I took her out to dinner at a really cute place called Trattatoria Nerone. In case you are wondering a Trattatoria is a little family owned restaurant, they are pretty much the norm here and you are guaranteed a wonderful meal and a friendly smile. Emma came along (it was her last night too) and we had dinner, went to Grome, our favorite gelato place and finally ended up in Piazza Della Signoria were we listened to a guy play some Simon and Garfunkel on his guitar for about an hour. It was amazing!!!
Friday: Today....today I accomplished one of my goals! I got my haircut in Italy! It was so scary!!! I printed off a picture or two of what I wanted and I took to the hair salon a friend of mine had recommended. The girl who cut my hair didn't speak English or understand my weak Italian- eek!- but her friend did so he made sure she knew what I was looking for. And then she had me stand up...and took an electric razor...and chopped off three inches in one foul swoop. I nearly cried but then I remembered it was just hair! She took about two hours to shape and style it, the whole time using an electric and then an old school blade barbars use on men’s beards. I was pretty freaked out by the end of it. I walked out convinced I looked like a boy until I got home and all of my roommates freaked out with a round of "OOO MY GOSH IT LOOKS GREATTTT!!!!!"...I love them. I have played with it some and I really love it. Its EXTREMELY thinned out and short so its a lot easier to deal with, I think I’m going to really love it as soon as it gets really hot here. I put a picture up there so you can kind of get a feel for it, but I have it half up in the picture so it looks a little different than normal.
Well, I have to run because a train's leaving for Rome in 30 minutes and I've got to be on it! My mom and Grandparents made it safely to Rome and have been touring around for the day. I will meet up with them around 6 pm and then it's on to a super fun week in Napoli, Pompeii, Capri and Sicily and back to Florence! I will be posting about it the week after next and I'll be sure to put up some fun pictures!
I hope everyone has a fantastic week, I love you all!!
Mary K.
Ok, I have to apologize for a few things right off the bat. First of all, I am sorry it has taken me so long to write on my bog. It was finals week this week and as much as I tried to procrastinate (and succeeded in some cases) I just never got enough time to sit and write a good blog post!
I also must apologize because I have been promising to tell you all about Lake Guarda, Venice and Verona and I am afraid I won't be able to. Why? Well, I don’t exactly know, except that every time I sit down to and start writing about it I get annoyed and stop. The trip was great, don't get me wrong, and to be honest I have no idea why writing about it is so impossible but I guess, since it is, I'll just have to tell you about it in person when I get back! So be sure to ask about it if you’re interested! They were all three beautiful places, and Venice is probably one of my favorite cities so far. I have pictures up on the new slide show so you'll get to see them and I'll write some captions here in a minute!
Ok- So about this week. Actually it was a pretty funny week despite the stress and annoying exams! I'll just go through the week and if I remember a funny story I'll write it out! Deal!? Deal!
Monday: On Monday my Art History class (did I ever tell you I was taking Art History? No? Well I am!) went to the Palazzo Vecchio which is a really old palace built in the 13th century. During the 15th century it was renovated, so to speak, by an artist named Vassari (that's his last name). Vassari created several major masterpieces for the ceiling of the Palazzo, along with tons of minor paintings and frescos all over the place. Of course we went to take a tour, however, this was no ordinary tour. Oh no...on this tour we were going to be walking and talking with Vassari HIMSELF....how can this be you ask?? Well, basically a 20 something Italian man is paid to dress up like Vassari, know everything about him and the time period he lives in and gives us "his" thoughts on all of the paintings and frescoes we see as if it was the 1500's and he was Vassari. At first I thought this was a pretty great idea, but soon after we began things just got awkward. First of all, our dear sweet sweet tour guide, Alberto....I mean, Vassari, didn't speak English very well. He got several words mixed up during the tour making for some pretty great quotes. My favorite "Vassari-ism" went something like this:
Vassari to a girl in my class: Why do you wear pants and not a dress, YOU ARE NAKED!
Girl: It's too hot to wear a dress! Why did they wear them during the summer anyway?
Vassari: Because, you see...a woman's body is full of...of...PEACH.
All of us: Peach?
Vassari: Si! Peach...peach!!
All of us: *Blank stare*
Vassari to my teacher: Come se Dice 'peccato' in inglese? *teacher answers*
Vassari: OOOO, SIN! a woman's body is full of SIN therefore she must wear the dresses!!
....Peaches...Sin...sure I can see how they sound the same. I am no longer going to feel bad for mixing up my Italian words haha. I loved Alberto- he was a great sport!
Tuesday: Ok....I admit it. I crumbled, I gave in to my cravings and I caved and I ....I went to McDonalds! I KNOW! I KNOW! I am in ITLAY, HOOWWW could I possibly have gone to MCDONALDS! Here's how. First of all, the McD's in Italy smell better than the ones in the US. I think it's because they use sunflower seed oil instead of what the US uses. Second of all, all of my roomies and I decided latish Wednesday night that we were craving some chocolate cake, so we headed out in search for some! unfortunately its not possible in Italy to eat just dessert at a restaurant so no one would let us sit down and order cake. We didn't feel like gelato though, and the only American bakery in Florence closed three hours before we set out. So we just started walking, hoping we would happen upon a sweet little trattoria that would let us have some cake. And then we saw the golden arches. We all looked at each other and said....Meh...Why not! They all got Mcflurries but as soon as I stepped inside the craving for their fries I had been fighting for the last 5 weeks came rushing back and I had to order some. They were delicious. I do not regret it haha.
Wednesday: Wednesday was spent cramming for the exam I had in Art History on Thursday
Thursday: I took an exam, it was fine! It was one of my roommate's (Olivia) last night in Florence so all my roomies and I took her out to dinner at a really cute place called Trattatoria Nerone. In case you are wondering a Trattatoria is a little family owned restaurant, they are pretty much the norm here and you are guaranteed a wonderful meal and a friendly smile. Emma came along (it was her last night too) and we had dinner, went to Grome, our favorite gelato place and finally ended up in Piazza Della Signoria were we listened to a guy play some Simon and Garfunkel on his guitar for about an hour. It was amazing!!!
Friday: Today....today I accomplished one of my goals! I got my haircut in Italy! It was so scary!!! I printed off a picture or two of what I wanted and I took to the hair salon a friend of mine had recommended. The girl who cut my hair didn't speak English or understand my weak Italian- eek!- but her friend did so he made sure she knew what I was looking for. And then she had me stand up...and took an electric razor...and chopped off three inches in one foul swoop. I nearly cried but then I remembered it was just hair! She took about two hours to shape and style it, the whole time using an electric and then an old school blade barbars use on men’s beards. I was pretty freaked out by the end of it. I walked out convinced I looked like a boy until I got home and all of my roommates freaked out with a round of "OOO MY GOSH IT LOOKS GREATTTT!!!!!"...I love them. I have played with it some and I really love it. Its EXTREMELY thinned out and short so its a lot easier to deal with, I think I’m going to really love it as soon as it gets really hot here. I put a picture up there so you can kind of get a feel for it, but I have it half up in the picture so it looks a little different than normal.
Well, I have to run because a train's leaving for Rome in 30 minutes and I've got to be on it! My mom and Grandparents made it safely to Rome and have been touring around for the day. I will meet up with them around 6 pm and then it's on to a super fun week in Napoli, Pompeii, Capri and Sicily and back to Florence! I will be posting about it the week after next and I'll be sure to put up some fun pictures!
I hope everyone has a fantastic week, I love you all!!
Mary K.
June 10, 2008
There are no Squirrels in Florence
It's true. And coming from College Station, where squirrels practically outnumber the students, I am surprised it took me this long to notice!
How's everybody doing?! I am great; today was a monumental day for me. Actually the last two days have been good, but I'll get to yesterday in a minute. Today two significant things happened. The first was getting on a first name basis with Marbola, the sweetest little barista in the News Café, where I get my cappuccino and croissant every morning. Every day for the last few weeks we have smiled animatedly, said ciao to each other, asked how the other was (in Italian of course) and exchanged coffee and cash. And that was great, but I really wanted to talk to her and get to know her, she seemed so sweet. So last week I began attempting to chat with her. Unfortunately I would get so intimidated that my Italian failed me and I couldn't say more than three words before I resorted to a pathetic "uuhh...*Smile and shrug*". She was really sweet and helped me say what I was trying to say but it was emotionally exhausting for me and our conversations were never more than two sentences long. But today I decided to try again- perseverance!- and I asked her name. That kicked off a good little chat about my name, our ages and why I was here. So it was a lot better, and I think I made a good friend. I'll keep you updated, hopefully my Italian will get better and we can talk more!
The second monumental occurrence of the day actually happened about five minutes after my conversation with Marbola. Today I felt my first surge of pride for my little neighborhood. While I was enjoying my cappuccino, a group of tourists walked by, heading towards the leather market. While they were passing my table I heard their leader say rather loudly, "Now watch your purses and your pockets! Do you have locks on that backpack!? Keep everything close now!". This made me angry! How dare he accuse my sweet little neighborhood with my sweet little Italian neighbors of being thieves. If they were walking past the Duomo sure, but in my neighborhood?!?! No way. Ok sure, there are some creepers in the leather market, but the worst one is the guy who calls out terrible pickup lines every time you pass by. My personal favorite is the " Wait Bella, you've dropped something... (I keep walking)...Bella, Bella, you've dropped my heart!" But I have even come to find that guy endearing. So please Mr. Guide, if you're going to accuse a part of town of being sketchy, I suggest you look elsewhere!
Yesterday was, like I said, another great day! I skipped class with a few of my roommates because it was one of the first pretty days we have had in Florence. I don't think I have mentioned it yet in my blog but Italy is experiencing its rainiest summer in 2 CENTURIES! CENTURIES! Are you kidding me, I chose the ONE rainy summer out of 200 gorgeous ones....ha! The Italians are in an uproar about it too. It has been kind of frustrating actually because Florence isn't as pretty when the skies are gray and rainy. Not to mention I have no desire to sit and read in a garden or walk around a museum when it’s cold. So when we woke up and it was gorgeous outside we just couldn't help it! Don't worry- we get two free absences and I haven’t skipped class yet, nor do I plan on doing it again so I promise it wasn't a big deal :)! We decided to go the Boboli Gardens and enjoy the sun and warm weather. The Boboli Gardens is located on the southern side of Florence (also the more residential and less touristy part of town). It is a gorgeous and huge plot of land divided by geometrically shaped hedges, beautiful fountains, and big spacious lawns. It sits right behind the Piti Palace and use to be a private oasis for the Medici's, an incredibly wealthy royal family in Florence way back when. We brought some books to read and a blanket and just lounged and chatted. It was probably one of the best mornings yet!
So I really can't complain about this week! It has been amazing! Last week was probably my most difficult as far as homesickness goes. I suppose that makes sense. I had been here for three weeks and I was looking ahead at 6 more. A bunch of the kids I have been hanging out with on a daily basis (including Emma and Lee) are only here for the first 5 week term, so everyone was talking about what they were going to do when they got home in two weeks. It was really hard to listen to the food they were going to eat, people they were going to see and things they were going to do knowing I had another month and half before I got back to any of the things I was missing. So there were a few low points. I am convinced the rain didn't help. But this week I am better; the sun is shining and I am making some progress in my goals. The same kids are even telling me how lucky I am that I get to stay longer, and I am beginning to agree with them. Not to mention the huge bonus that Mom, Maw maw and Pawpaw will be here next week!!! We have been planning a ten-day trip for the time in-between my class sessions and it has really been helping with my homesickness! I am really looking forward to having them up, though I wish all of you could come. I am convinced this trip would be better if everyone I loved were here, though I know I wouldn't be growing so much if they all were.
This post is getting long so I am going to say Buona Sera, and leave you for now. But I will write back soon about my trip last weekend to Venice and Verona! I hope you all have a great day!!
Love,
Mary K
How's everybody doing?! I am great; today was a monumental day for me. Actually the last two days have been good, but I'll get to yesterday in a minute. Today two significant things happened. The first was getting on a first name basis with Marbola, the sweetest little barista in the News Café, where I get my cappuccino and croissant every morning. Every day for the last few weeks we have smiled animatedly, said ciao to each other, asked how the other was (in Italian of course) and exchanged coffee and cash. And that was great, but I really wanted to talk to her and get to know her, she seemed so sweet. So last week I began attempting to chat with her. Unfortunately I would get so intimidated that my Italian failed me and I couldn't say more than three words before I resorted to a pathetic "uuhh...*Smile and shrug*". She was really sweet and helped me say what I was trying to say but it was emotionally exhausting for me and our conversations were never more than two sentences long. But today I decided to try again- perseverance!- and I asked her name. That kicked off a good little chat about my name, our ages and why I was here. So it was a lot better, and I think I made a good friend. I'll keep you updated, hopefully my Italian will get better and we can talk more!
The second monumental occurrence of the day actually happened about five minutes after my conversation with Marbola. Today I felt my first surge of pride for my little neighborhood. While I was enjoying my cappuccino, a group of tourists walked by, heading towards the leather market. While they were passing my table I heard their leader say rather loudly, "Now watch your purses and your pockets! Do you have locks on that backpack!? Keep everything close now!". This made me angry! How dare he accuse my sweet little neighborhood with my sweet little Italian neighbors of being thieves. If they were walking past the Duomo sure, but in my neighborhood?!?! No way. Ok sure, there are some creepers in the leather market, but the worst one is the guy who calls out terrible pickup lines every time you pass by. My personal favorite is the " Wait Bella, you've dropped something... (I keep walking)...Bella, Bella, you've dropped my heart!" But I have even come to find that guy endearing. So please Mr. Guide, if you're going to accuse a part of town of being sketchy, I suggest you look elsewhere!
Yesterday was, like I said, another great day! I skipped class with a few of my roommates because it was one of the first pretty days we have had in Florence. I don't think I have mentioned it yet in my blog but Italy is experiencing its rainiest summer in 2 CENTURIES! CENTURIES! Are you kidding me, I chose the ONE rainy summer out of 200 gorgeous ones....ha! The Italians are in an uproar about it too. It has been kind of frustrating actually because Florence isn't as pretty when the skies are gray and rainy. Not to mention I have no desire to sit and read in a garden or walk around a museum when it’s cold. So when we woke up and it was gorgeous outside we just couldn't help it! Don't worry- we get two free absences and I haven’t skipped class yet, nor do I plan on doing it again so I promise it wasn't a big deal :)! We decided to go the Boboli Gardens and enjoy the sun and warm weather. The Boboli Gardens is located on the southern side of Florence (also the more residential and less touristy part of town). It is a gorgeous and huge plot of land divided by geometrically shaped hedges, beautiful fountains, and big spacious lawns. It sits right behind the Piti Palace and use to be a private oasis for the Medici's, an incredibly wealthy royal family in Florence way back when. We brought some books to read and a blanket and just lounged and chatted. It was probably one of the best mornings yet!
So I really can't complain about this week! It has been amazing! Last week was probably my most difficult as far as homesickness goes. I suppose that makes sense. I had been here for three weeks and I was looking ahead at 6 more. A bunch of the kids I have been hanging out with on a daily basis (including Emma and Lee) are only here for the first 5 week term, so everyone was talking about what they were going to do when they got home in two weeks. It was really hard to listen to the food they were going to eat, people they were going to see and things they were going to do knowing I had another month and half before I got back to any of the things I was missing. So there were a few low points. I am convinced the rain didn't help. But this week I am better; the sun is shining and I am making some progress in my goals. The same kids are even telling me how lucky I am that I get to stay longer, and I am beginning to agree with them. Not to mention the huge bonus that Mom, Maw maw and Pawpaw will be here next week!!! We have been planning a ten-day trip for the time in-between my class sessions and it has really been helping with my homesickness! I am really looking forward to having them up, though I wish all of you could come. I am convinced this trip would be better if everyone I loved were here, though I know I wouldn't be growing so much if they all were.
This post is getting long so I am going to say Buona Sera, and leave you for now. But I will write back soon about my trip last weekend to Venice and Verona! I hope you all have a great day!!
Love,
Mary K
June 3, 2008
Yay for Comments!
Hi All!
Several of you have been asking me how you can comment on my blog if you are not a gmail user! You are in luck my friends because I have just fixed it up so everyone can comment!! What you do iissss:
1. click on the "# comments" link at the very bottom right hand side of the post you wish to comment on
2. Write your comment in the box!
3. Click on the bubble next to "Name/URL" Type in your name, Don't worry about URL, just leave that blank
4. Click "Publish Comment"- It won't show up as a comment right away because I have requested to check every comment for the random crazys I dont know.
Va Bene?? Let me know if y'all have any problems but I am pretty sure that should work! So thanks for letting me know I needed to fix that, y'all make me smile! I will probably post next week so till then- Have a good one!!!
Love, Mary K
Several of you have been asking me how you can comment on my blog if you are not a gmail user! You are in luck my friends because I have just fixed it up so everyone can comment!! What you do iissss:
1. click on the "# comments" link at the very bottom right hand side of the post you wish to comment on
2. Write your comment in the box!
3. Click on the bubble next to "Name/URL" Type in your name, Don't worry about URL, just leave that blank
4. Click "Publish Comment"- It won't show up as a comment right away because I have requested to check every comment for the random crazys I dont know.
Va Bene?? Let me know if y'all have any problems but I am pretty sure that should work! So thanks for letting me know I needed to fix that, y'all make me smile! I will probably post next week so till then- Have a good one!!!
Love, Mary K
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