Pisa, Lucca, and a Whole Lot of Italian Food!

     Oh boy, I have some catching up to do. My life has been pretty crazy for the past week and a half. This Friday, we have our final exam for the first part of the Italian class. I'm extremely nervous because this class has been so fast-paced and I feel like I'm struggling to remember the endless verbs, conjugations, prepositions, etc. I also feel like my life has been an emotional roller coaster. One day, I absolutely love living here and I am awed by the history of Florence. Then the next day I might hate everything about the city. I get sick of the way it smells, I get annoyed in the crowded-touristy sections, I hate the way just about everyone drives like a lunatic, and I hate that everyone seems to smoke around here. I swear, twice as many people smoke in Italy than they do in America. At least in America, those who do smoke are generally more considerate of the people around them by not letting the smoke drift directly into other people's faces. Oh well, what can I do about it? There are many things I do enjoy about living here, I guess I just have to get use to the culture.

     On the other hand, Italy also has so much beauty to offer. Italy's beauty includes the landscape, architecture, works of art, the clothing, the shoes, and food. Italians are all about good presentation, and they show that in many shapes and forms through the arts; mainly fashion, culinary, music, and visual art. Although I love all forms of art, while I'm here I've been mainly focusing on the visual art and food. I'm not a cook by all means, but I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new foods and, believe me, Italy is the place to do that. Since I've been here, I've been particularly interested in cheese. Everytime I go shopping at the grocery store, I pick up a different kind of cheese. I always forget the names, but I've been eating some of the best cheese in my life! Also, the pears and grapes are particularly good here. I'm especially a fan of the pere rosso, or red pears. In addition, I of course love gelato. So far, my favorite types of gelato are the fruit flavors, the chocolate, and the coffee. There are also certain gelaterias that are better than others. It takes a bit of exploring to discover the best ones.

     Dinner is always one of my favorite times of the day. Our host mom serves dinner at 8, and the first course is usually a big bowl of pasta. Then we start on the main course which could be anything. She makes all these wonderful vegetarian dishes that I've never heard of, but I always love everything. Once she served salmon, which was delicious, especially since I'm a big fan of fish. Another time we had cooked eggplant with formaggio(cheese) on top. There is also usually insalata(salad) and always and endless supply of pane con l'olio(bread with oil). After the main course, we start on the third course which is frutta(fruit). When we are done with our fruit, she makes us a cup of tea which is usually served with these little cream-filled cookies. And that concludes the story about how I eat every night. Going back to eating at the Hope College dining halls is going to be rough.

     Allora, well then, I should probably talk a bit about my trip to Pisa and Lucca last Saturday. We started with a mandatory half day field trip to Pisa, and afterwards we were given the option of stopping in Lucca on the way home. Pisa is a very nice city, I loved that the streets were wide and much cleaner than the ones in Florence. The trip to Pisa included visiting the Leaning Tower, the Baptistry, and Pisa's Duomo. I took a stereotypical photo of me holding up the Tower with one finger (I couldn't resist, haha!). For lunch, I joined some friends to go to a restaurant where I ordered a fabulous mozzarella pizza and drank fabulous vino rosso(red wine)!

     After we were done in Pisa, we caught a train to Lucca. I fell in love with Lucca while we were there. Like Pisa, it's clean and more open. The air smells fresh, it's quieter, and you can see marvelous views of the mountains. I must admit, I kind of wish I would've chosen to study in Lucca instead of Florence. Next time I go to Italy, I'm staying in Lucca for sure! We spent the majority of our time walking along the wall of what I believe was once a castle. The entire area was so peaceful and romantic; there was grass, trees, people biking along the path, young couples embracing and kissing, and older coulpes holding hands as they took a leisurely walk. It wasn't crowded with tourists or busy people, everyone here seemed to relax and enjoy themselves. I felt wonderful the whole time I was there. 

     Of course, all good things must end and I was soon back here in Florence. I love the art history aspect of Florence, but I'm getting sick of everything else. I'm trying to make the best of it though. As an artist, it is a wonderful opportunity for me to be here. I do feel like I'm slowly adjusting to the life here. I love exploring and it's really hard to get bored here, which is a lot more than what I can say for my small hometown in Arizona! Alright, I better bring this post to a close. Arrivederci!

   

   

   

   

   


   

Cinque Terre

     *actually written 9/15/12
   
     Today was amazing, to say the least. Because today, I visited the land of my dreams which is none other than Cinque Terre. This morning, Clairanne and I got up around 6:30 in order to meet with some of the other Linguaviva students at 8 and board the bus. The ride there took about two and a half hours. When I caught my first glimpse of Cinque Terre from the bus window, I nearly hyperventilated. It was that beautiful. When I saw the deep blue Mediterranean, the steep, green cliffs, and the brightly colored buildings built into those cliffs; my breath literally got caught in my throat. I was blown away, and this is coming from a person who dosen't get emotional over that kind of stuff. When I saw this unreal, magical world I felt that I was in a dream. It was so unreal. I will never forget that feeling as long as I live.

     We were dropped off at Cinque Terre's second town, Manarola. By the way in case you don't know, Cinque Terre is made up of five separate towns: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, Corniglia, and Monterosso al Mare. In fact the name "Cinque Terre" literally means "five towns". Anyways, we walked through the village of Manarola and enjoyed the view of the sea for a few minuetes. Then we hiked the trail alongside the Mediterranean to the first town, Riomaggiore. Along the way, you could see hundreds of locks along the fencing and railings of the sea. It is a tradition in Europe for newly wed couples to put a lock on the railing of a bridge and throw the key into the water. This symbolizes that their love is now sealed for eternity and that nothing can break it. After spending some time in Riomaggiore, we took the train to the third town, Vernazza, where we had lunch and went for a swim.
   
     Advice to anyone thinking of traveling to Italy(and probably any other place in Europe): be aware that PUBLIC RESTROOMS ARE SCARCE. Usually when you do find one you will either have to pay .50 cents to get in or(if it's a free one) you might be required to squat over a hole in the ground in a filthy stall. Not a pretty picture, trust me. Also, stock up on tissue and hand sanitizer as restrooms don't always have toilet paper or soap. Just make sure you're ALWAYS prepared. Also, if you visit a beach in Cinque Terre, just realize that there might not be a place to change into your swimsuit. I'd recommend wearing one under your clothes. Or, if you're like me, you could always hide inside a crevice in the rocks and change there. No biggie, just make sure no one sees you!

     The beach is totally worth it though. The water feels great this time of year, and the rocks are fun to climb on. I wish I could've stayed there longer to go rock climbing, hiking, or exploring. I would've also have loved to visit the other towns. I have to go back someday, maybe that's where I'll have my honeymoon if I ever get married.

     Afterwards, we got gelato before we had to leave around 5pm. It was a wonderful trip, but I wish I could've gone there on my own time with some friends and not have to worry about meeting up with the group, etc. It was a good experience though and it has given me some inspiration for some possible art projects. That'll be it for now. Sono molto stanco! I am very tired!

   

Siena and Chianti

     It has been over a week since I arrived in Italy, but it feels like it's been a lifetime. Already, so much has happened and it has been a bit overwhelming at times, but I absolutely love Italy! On Tuesday my roommate, Clairanne, and I moved in with our host mother, Carmen. She lives in a cute little apartment about a 20-minute walking distance away from Linguaviva. She also has a sweet cat who is "molto simpatico". I think I will enjoy living here.

     The first couple times Clairanne and I walked to school we took a few wrong turns and had to look at the map about a hundred times, but pretty soon we were able to find our way without using the map. Still, I find the streets here confusing and random. I'm not use to living in a big city since I grew up in a small town most of my life. I'm from a tiny cowboy town in Arizona called Wickenburg. Wickenburg consists of a population of about 6,500, a one-screened movie theatre, four stop lights, tons of horses, and...well...the desert. When I started attending Hope College in Holland, Michigan, it was a vast improvement from Wickenburg, but Holland is still considered a small town.

     So here I am in Florence; a huge(by my standards), noisy, crowded city. I know that I can expect to experience culture shock while I'm here, but right now I think I'm experiencing "city shock"(if there is such a thing). I don't like the narrow streets or tiny sidewalks, and trying to cross a busy street here sometimes terrorfies me. I miss the openness of the country and being able to see the entire sky without a bunch of buildings in the way. I guess that's one thing I've learned already, I will never be a city person.

     On a different note, yesterday we went on a field trip to Siena. The bus ride there was gorgeous; I was able to see rolling hills, vineyards of grapes, and I even spotted a castle! Siena itself is absolutely beautiful as well. While there we visited the Cathedral Complex. First, we went down to a recently-discovered crypt which had well-preserved paintings from about the thirteenth century all over the walls. It was quite fascinating, never had I ever visited something so ancient in my entire life. We then went into the sanctuary of the gothic-styled cathedral. Wow. That had to be that most beautiful sanctuary I had ever seen in my life! Incredible! I could go on and on about this, but I don't want to bore my reader by babbling on about cathedrals and art. You have to be there in person to fully appreciate it.

     At the end of the day, we drove to Chianti, where a wine festival is held every year. It was here that I went on my first wine tasting expedition. For 10 euro, we received seven tastes of wine and a wineglass that we got to keep as a souvenir. Unfortunately, we only had about 45 minutes since the bus driver had a schedule to keep. So we had to be relatively quick with the wine tasting. Whenever we tasted a wine, we had to give the seller our punchcard so they would be able to keep track of how many drinks we have tasted. The thing is, on several occasions, the seller wouldn't even punch my card, so I ended up with more like 10 tastes in 45 minutes. Not the best idea, but at least the wine wine was good and I ended up having a great time.

By the way, here is a photo of the big Cathedral we saw in Siena.

   
   

Pizzerias and Other Shenanigans

     As promised, I've posted a few photos of the enchanting city of Florence. Hope you enjoy!

     We are moving in with our host families tomorrow. I'm looking forward to being able to unpack and settle down into my new life. I sure hope I'll be able to communicate with my family with the language barrier. I'm quiet enough as it is around people who speak English, how on earth will I be able to communicate with someone who will most likely only speak Italian? Oh well, I probably shouldn't be too worried about it. I'm eager to learn Italian and I feel that as long as I keep an open mind, everything should be fine.    

     Today we all split into four separate groups and walked to different pizzerias for dinner. Our group ended up at a rather Americanized pizzeria, but the food was amazing nonetheless. We ordered a bottle of red house wine to split among us, which I highly recommend doing if you ever go to Italy since it is excellent and relatively cheap. For my meal, I ordered a mozzarella pizza. It was literally the most delicious thing I've ever had; the crust was thin and the cheese was slippery and gooey. It's hard to describe it with words, but it tasted amazing!

     For dessert, a few of us stopped to get some gelato. I had the banana and berry flavors, and I was pretty sure that I had died and gone to heaven when I tasted it. What a perfect way to end a perfect meal. My stomach is very happy right now.

Ciao!

The Arrival

     Well, I finally made it! I arrived in Florence yesterday around 3pm, exhausted yet glad that we had finally arrived. My parents and sister dropped me off at the Grand Rapids airport Friday afternoon. My first flight took me to Chicago where I met up with three other girls from ACM; Madeleine, Carolyn, and Emma. We traveled all night to Zurich, Switzerland for over 8 hours. I got absolutely no sleep on the plane, so I was completely out of it all day yesterday. We had about a 2 hour layover until our next flight took us to Florence. Switzerland is gorgeous by the way. It's so green and has beautiful mountains. I have decided that I must plan a trip to Switzerland some day.

     When we arrived in Florence, we took a taxi to the hotel and relaxed in our rooms before the first meeting. I meet a lot of the other ACM students and was able to chat with some of them when we went out to dinner at this amazing Italian restaurant. After dinner, the ACM professors took us around the city. During that walk, I fell in love with the city. The Medici chapel and the Duomo are absolutely amazing. Being able to see such great works of architecture in person just left me mesmerized. Despite how exhausted I was, I was beyond excited to finally be in Florence.

     After a night of much needed sleep, I walked around the street market with my hotel roommates. They sell belts, purses, leather jackets, scarves, and jewelry at these markets. I also walked around a farmers market where they sell fresh bread, wood-carved items, fruit, and much more. Alls I bought was a much needed bar of soap, but I'm sure I'll be coming back to buy some fruit and bread for my lunches.

     I am now resting after walking around the city all day. I'm still jet lagged, so I think I might take a quick nap before our next ACM meeting.

     Photos will be posted soon!