A party in 85 Cavour!

Last night my roommate Lucas surprised me by having a small little Christmas party in our room. He went out and bought a Pandoro, which is a traditional cake that is eaten here in Italy for the Christmas season. The party was great. We had cake and juice and friends from our pensione came and we had a good time. It was Great!

Last weekend in Firenze

December 16 2007

After being sick all last week and still recovering this past weekend, my last weekend in Firenze has been very repressed and simple. Thursday night I had a chance to go with some classmates and visit my Italian professor's house and enjoy homemade Tiramisu and prosecco. It was a fun evening and I got to use my Italian skills to (Photo to the left is the Medici Palace) converse with her. After a while though I still was not able to tell everything I wanted in Italian so the remainder of the evening we all spoke in English. Our professor's house was amazing. An old medieval palace it had vaulted ceilings and various renaissance paintings. It was a great experience and an enjoyment of eating the best tiramisu ever! Apparently, her husband's family are well known architects and in the past have designed famous palaces throughout Tuscany, hence the palace where they live now. Her five year old son Giovanni was very cute and refused to obey any of his mother's requests on being quiet. It was a great evening. Since I had school on Friday and had to complete two finals, Italiano and Arte it was a busy day. Saturday was a busy day. I went with a friend and we toured Santa Maria Novella, one of Firenze's oldest churches and largest and then we also toured the Medici Chapel. We then went through San Lorenzo market and I picked up my last gifts and souvenirs. Afterwards we returned to our pensione and waited for the evening. This past weekend it has been very cold. It has been very cold and frosty with a few white flakes falling to the ground, but not enough to actually stick. Last night with a group of friends we watch Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" which was perfect for the holiday season.(Photo of Santa Maria Novella)

Today (Sunday), I have already accomplished finishing my Operations Final via online and have plans to slowly begin to study for my Econ final for tomorrow. It will be my last final and then I will have all the time in the world to relax, sleep in, and see the rest of Firenze before I leave this coming Thursday. Its coming to an end quickly and I hope that I get well quickly and have enough time for fun in my last few days here. Monday night a group of friends want to take me out for my last night in Firenze...of which they clearly want me to try a few specialty drinks.....it will be interesting but fun! (Photo to the right is the Medici Chapel)
















(Here is a photo of Mercato Centrale the large indoor market where vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and cheese, wine and bread)

Its christmas in Firenze

December 12 2007

It has been while since my last entry of the Christmas Party so I have decided to make a few closing remarks before I return home in 8 days. Plus, our pensione was able to get internet again and thus has made me motivated again to spend some time writing down some thoughts. Last weekend I became ill and suffered throughout this week with some sinus and runny nose issues. I think I am finally getting better…but after several rolls of toilet paper for tissue. This past weekend I was able to get some sight seeing accomplished in Firenze. I was able to tour the famous San Marco Museum and attended Mass in the church for Day of Obligation. It was very neat to see the frescoed walls by Fra Angelica throughout the monastery and see where it held so much power during the 1400 hundreds by Fra Savonrola. I also was went to the church of San Lorenzo. One of Firenze’s first church’s I was able to see Donatellos tomb and grave and also got to see lots of famous Medici tombs, the family that for several hundred years ruled Firenze. In addition to churches I was able to visit the Baptistery of Santa Maria del Fiore next to the Duomo. Its inside was not as elegant as I had hoped, however the ceiling was a piece of art with the most elaborate mosaic I have ever seen. It was very cool. In addition to this I went with several friends (Megan and Sheena) to the Uffizi Art Gallery. It was a fantastic time and we didn’t have to wait in line at 8:00 am in the morning. My favorite painting was the Birth of Venus by Botticelli. The art gallery was amazing and there were pieces of art from many famous Florentine artists during the renaissance. After the museum we went to Firenze’s oldest and most well known donut café. There we were able to capture and taste bombilla or little bomb; because when they make it the little drop of dough expands as it cooks in the oil. It was great to taste a treat that I hadn’t had in a long time.

One of the evenings I went with some friends to Santa Croce where they had a Christmas festival with a carousel turned into a rotating bar. There I had some pretzels the size of my head, some hot spiced wine which was amazing, a bratwurst and some hot apple strudel. It was all very amazing. Also, I made a mental note and realized that the Holy day of Obligation seemed to be Italy’s day for Christmas shopping. Everyone had bags full of wrapped gifts and there were literally thousands on the streets shopping or window shopping with families. There were thousands out and it was just as if the streets were full of tourists during the summer, but instead it was all Italians. It was very interesting and felt great to blend in. All the streets now are decorated with Christmas lights and decorations, and almost all of the large piazzas have Christmas trees all lit up in lights.

Tomorrow I have been invited to make and eat apertivi at my Italian professors house with some other students. It should be great since we will be making Tiramisu. Also, I have finally finished one final (Management) and will be finished with four classes by Friday (Art, Italiano, Operations and Management).

This weekend I hope to do some last minute gift shopping for friends and family and then make sure I have enough money for a cab ride to the airport and a few euros for food on the plane trip home.

I am excited to be home again; however, I will truly miss my friends here, but will have them to visit back in Spokane during the summer and coming years.

Christmas in a Villa in Italia!!

December 4th 2007

Last night was a fantastic evening on the outskirts of Firenze. Our school hosted a Christmas party at an old villa near Fiesole. All we had to do to prepare was pay 15 Euro and dress elegantly! The evening began with about 80 students cramming onto a public bus plus others waiting for the other bus, up to the villa. As we entered this grand complex we handed over our coats to the coat check and walked into the first room with a lighted fireplace and a fir christmas tree all decorated and lighted up. We then were introduced to an abundance of free flowing chamagne and white wine along with apertivi of different delicious assortments. Socializing was the main form of entertainment and photos were being taken every second and I have many of them to show you this extravagant and fun event. Along with apertivi (appertizers) a silent auction and raffle was being held to raise money for the local half-way house called Casa di Famiglia. We were able to raise 1200 euro for their new industrial washing machine. I bid on two concert tickets and a cd of Tokio Hotel, one of Europes hottest music groups from Germany. I will not be able to go to the concert, however, I only had to pay 10 euro for 50 euro tickets and a cd..what a deal if i could go! oh well.

Anyways....dinner was amazing. It began with the first course of rissotto and ravioli. The second course was grilled eggplant with a pan seared pork loin that was amazingly delicious. For dessert we had a light colored cake with warm chocolate sauce. In addition we had red Chianti wine and cafe for dessert. The evening was a lot of fun and it was great to mingle with everyone and take pictures with all my friends!!

Buon Natale!!

An Italian movie, An Italian Opera, and a trip to the Eternal City

November 28^th to December 2, 2007

On Wednesday the 28^th, the school hosted a movie night of an Italian film called “I Soliti ignoti” (Big Deal on Madonna Street). This Italian comedy was a fun prelude to my trip to Rome. Set in the 1950s this film highlighted what Rome was like during that time period. It was a great film and I recommend anyone to watch it if you can find it in the states. The next night, I had an evening with one of Italy’s Operas. The opera, called La Forza del Destino. This was a great cultural experience for me and I actually was able to understand the story line and read the Italian subtitles on the reader board. The only downside was the Opera was over 4 hours long and by the end of it, I was falling asleep in my chair. Overall, it was an ok experience but glad that I was able to see an opera.

Early the next morning at around 7:00am a small group of 35 students boarded the bus for Rome, the Eternal City. We arrived around 11:00am and had a few hours to explore the area around the hotel. I was able to visit Piazza Republica where the church of Angeli and the Martyrs was and had a chance to go inside and see its enormous interior frescoed and painted by Michelangelo. This church was integrated into one of Rome’s largest steam baths after the fall of the Roman Empire.

At 1:30pm we returned to our hotel where we begun our three hour guided tour through ancient Rome. We walked to the Coliseum where we were able to take photos and walk around the massive structure. It was great to see this famous site. We then toured through the ancient Roman forums and walked under three Arches of Triumphs. Our tour concluded with visiting the Vittoria Emmanuelle II monument where the tomb of the Unknown Soldier was laid. It was a great spectacle and amazing to see such a large monument.

After our guided tour our personal school guides took us on another walking tour to the rest of Rome’s famous monuments. We visited the first Jesuit Church and saw the tomb of St. Gonzaga. We then visited the famous Trevi Fountain where I was able to toss a coin into its flowing fountains. Then we visited the grand Pantheon and ate some great gelato. Even though the night came early all of these places were lit brightly and I was able to capture and experience them majestically. Our last stop was the Spanish Steps where we climbed to the top and had a perfect skyline of the city and St. Peter’s Dome. We then all split into smaller groups and we strolled down via corso and saw Gucci, Prada, Fendi…etc all lit up and decorated in Christmas lights and ribbons. The first day in the Eternal City was amazing and I was able to cover a lot of ground in our first day.

My second day in the Eternal City began at 7:30 am where we all took the Metro to the Vatican Museum. We waited in line for about 45 minutes where the line was at least half a mile long. We then split into small groups and toured the Vatican Apartments, Raphael Rooms, the various museums of Egypt, Ancient Greece and Rome and the Etruscan period. I was extremely impressed and amazed at the details of all the rooms. Each room was frescoed, painted, carved and decorated so elegantly it almost seemed fake…but it wasn’t. The conclusion to the Vatican Museum was the Sistine Chapel. This blew me away in amazement and I wished I was able to capture and show you what it was like, but was not able to. Brightly colored and frescoed from wall to wall and floor to ceiling Michelangelo did it all. I was awestruck at its elegance and beauty.

After the Vatican Museum we regrouped and walked to St. Peter’s Basilica. We were lucky to not have to wait in line long and we scurried into the grand church. It too was elegantly decorated and immense! After visiting the largest Catholic Church in the world we then walked to the River Tiber and crossed the Ponte Angele and walked through Piazza Navona and Compo dei Fiori. We then walked through the Jewish quarter where it once was one of the largest Ghettos in the world. We then traversed back across the river over the island of Tiberina and explored Travestere (across the river) district. Here we visited a small Franciscan Church where we were able to see Bernini’s last famous piece of work, the Maria in Ecstasy.

We returned back to our hotel by bus and tram and saw the place where Julius Ceasar was murdered…its now a cat sanctuary where there are now over hundreds of cats living under safety…its very smelly.

The next morning we packed up and left early again to St. Peter’s Square. There we visited the Vatican Radio Station where a Jesuit of Gonzaga gave us a personal tour of the Vatican’s famous radio and journalism station. We then quickly walked to St. Peter’s Square to witness and listen to the Pope’s Angelus that occurred at noon. It was exciting to see the Pope and I think I went crazy taking too many photos of this event. He did his blessing in five different languages and concluded his blessing with a shout out to all the visiting Australians. I don’t know why…

After the Angelus, I had time to browse the streets of Rome, did some shopping and returned to our hotel and returned home.

It was a fantastic trip and I wish I had more time in the Eternal City, but now I that I have seen all of Italy and can go home content.

Giorno di Tacchino e tempo con la famiglia di Storey-Johnsons

21 – 25 novembre ’07

For Thanksgiving weekend I had been invited to visit family friends in Southern Italy. The Storey-Johnson family living in Trani, Italia were generous to invite me to the Puglia region for a little home comfort and a fun filled weekend of them showing me the surrounding area all the way down to the city of Lecce.

My journey down to the city of Trani began with a long night on the night train. I left Firenze at 10:30 pm via Eurostar to Bologna Centrale where I waited for two hours for my connecting train for the rest of my journey. Of course the train was forty-five minutes late and upon boarding my train my seat was already filled with a sleeping occupant. So…having to wake him up, I held my bag close to me while I dozed in and out for the six hour train ride where I arrived in Trani at 8:00am. Luckily, I had a few hours of sleep to function properly once I arrived. At the train station I was greeted by a welcoming party consisting of Spencer, Stuart, and Kendra. It was great to see them! They walked me to their house which was about a 10 minute walk. I was happily greeted again by Steve and Kristin who welcomed me in. After settling in, the entire family took me on a walk of the town where I was able to see the old town and the famous Trani Cathedral near the marina. It was a very different feeling to be so far south, since I am so use to northern Italian architecture.

After exploring the town we went back for an early thanksgiving feast. It was a welcoming site to see American traditional food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, stuffing, and apple pie! It was a fantastic thanksgiving dinner and great to share it with the family’s two Italian tutors who were amazed by the new experience.

That evening I had another great experience of watching High School Musical with the kids and Kristin. I thought it was cute and matched the ages of the kids, there were some good morals. However, it does seem a little played up and embellishes some of the stereotypes of high school, which could mislead non-Americans (Italians) to believe that what is in High School Musical is the actual American experience of High School, which is not totally true.

Anyways it was great to watch it finally after many friends telling me that I should. Also, the popcorn was a great addition.

The next day we ate a great breakfast of waffles made by Steve. We then packed up and loaded into the family van and began our trip to a small beachside community called Casalabate where we would stay two nights. On our way down south we made a stop at Castle Del Monte, which was a large castle erected by Federico II who ruled the southern part of Italy for many years. This was a very cool structure which was completely octagonal and had eight rooms on each floor. It had amazing views which were momentarily obscured due to the wind and partly cloudy skies. It was still very neat to see and explore.

After Castle Del Monte we continued through the hundreds and hundreds of acres of olive trees to the town of Alberobello which is famous for its houses with stone roofs that form a cone on the top. It was very interesting to see and explore through this very unique town. Apparently, the peasants of a wealthy aristocrat built their homes out of stones in order to evade the tax collectors when they came to the town as well as providing an affordable method of housing themselves. We walked through the town and visited the local cathedral which honored the Padre Piero.

After this very unique town, we traveled to our destination of Casalabate. We arrived at the little Villa Rosa where we settled in and were welcomed with many family board games which were happily enjoyed by all. For dinner we had the a personal chef come and deliver our large course meal of chicken, lasagna, salad, and apertivi. It was a fantastic meal and there were plenty of leftovers.

The next day we traveled to the city of Lecce where we went on a short walking tour of the old town. We parked near the villa (city park) and wondered through the main piazza where we visited the old ruins of an amphitheatre, the column of Brindisi, and went on a walk amongst the many many churches. It was interesting to see the difference in architecture. Baroque was the dominant form in the South. Very elaborate. Lecce was known for its craft in Papier-mâché. The churches, which we weren’t able to go into supposedly, had their interior domes decorated in papier-mâché. Instead we wandered around town and visited a local papier-mache craft store where they were hand making nativity scene figurines. It was very neat to see how they were made.

After our day in Lecce we returned home to our comfortable villa where we finished the night with board games and a wonderful meal of homemade chili by Kristin.

My trip came to an end the next day where before dropping me off at the Lecce train station we went beachcombing and walking along the sandy coast of the Adriatic Sea.

My time in Southern Italy was a lot of fun and I had a great time visiting the Storey-Johnsons in their home. It was fantastic to see the kids and see how much they have grown since I last saw them.

It was a comforting experience and a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend!

Grazie Mile!

Ciao!

Venezia per solo giorno! Novembre 17

So a few weeks ago, my roommate Lucas and I wanted to plan a trip together in order to get to know each other better. We chose to take a power trip (meaning a day trip to Venice). In addition, our friend Kristin wanted to go as well and so it was the three of us who left at 7:30 AM and bought tickets to go to Venezia. The three hour Eurostar trip there went well and I had a chance to meet a group of Malaysian tourists who were also taking a day trip to Venezia. After the long train ride, we were not too sure on what to do, so we pulled out our friend Rick Steve’s from my pack. Wanting really just to be able to relax and wonder the islands we were not too concerned on what we really wanted to do, but having a little bit of some helpful tips such as buying a 12 hour water bus ticket and recommending to go to Rialto and St. Mark’s square were helpful.

The weather was sunny with a few clouds, but it definitely was much colder in Venezia than in Firenze. Bundled in our layers we hopped onto the #82 water bus and took it to Rialto where we were able to take photos of us on the famous bridge and wander the hundreds of stalls of the merchants. It was very overwhelming, since there were hundreds crowded on the boat and we hardly had any room to move, let alone get off the boat when it was our stop. The day went smoothly and I was amazed at how the entire city was able to function solely with boats and gondolas as a mode of transportation.

I really loved not having to dive around cars or motorinos throughout the day. After wandering the markets and grabbing some good pizza by the slice, we crossed back over the Rialto bridge and wandered slowly to Piazza San Marco (St. Marks Square). We arrived there and were amazed at all of the pigeons. Literally, it was disgusting at how many pigeons there were and to add to the chaos of birds there were vendors selling bird seed to tourists to experience being bombarded with frenzied birds! It was a really interesting and disgusting visual experience. The square was beautiful and since we arrived during siesta time there were not many businesses open, so the square was solely filled with tourists and pigeons.

As I was taking photos, someone had the smart idea to try and steal my camera. Luckily…it was one of my friends from school who was visiting Venezia with his parents. It was not a nice thing to do. It totally freaked me out, and once I met Marcus’ parents his parents told me I should have punched him. Haha. It was scary and I will have to try and get him back.

After saying goodbye we headed to the Doge’s palace. We entered and convinced the ticket person to admit us as “European Students” to get the reduced 6 euro fare instead of the 13 euro fare. I was amazed at the intricacy and the amount of wealth that were shown in the palace. It was enormous and definitely showed the power and wealth of the Venetians. Room after room were inlaid with gold, frescos, and paintings that were the length of the entire rooms which ranged from a few meters in length to over 60 meters + in length. It was a great experience. We also were able to tour the prisons of the Doge and see how prisoners were kept in the drafty cells.

After the Doge’s palace we went into St. Mark’s Basilica where there were more frescos and mosaics of the Venetian wealth. Everything inside was fully mosaic and the jewels and altars were all gold, emerald inlaid and more. It was very cool to see. We climbed the façade of the church and had a nice view of St. Mark’s square, the bell tower, and the famous clock.

Departing St. Mark’s square we wandered around again, bought a few items known for Venezia, such as Murano glass and witnessed the process of how chocolate is made. We then wandered through a part of the Jewish quarter and found a small trattoria for dinner. We then wandered and shopped some more and then concluded our journey to Venezia by taking the last train back to Firenze. It was a lot of fun and I have hopes of returning to experience it more justly in the near future. It definitely is an expensive city and is mainly run based on tourism, but it was fun to be a tourist for the day!