Friday Jan 28
Nothing exciting today, just took my Italian oral exam, during which I talked about French movies. Then went out to lunch with a of bunch people and Miriam I split some really yummy pizza. It was a white pizza with four different, super melty and hot cheeses with arugula, or as they call it in English here, rocket, and walnuts on yummy yummy thin crust. Then we went to school to attempt to use the internet which clearly didn’t work and then spent the rest of the day packing for Florence!. We got our Florence addresses, which was awesome. At first, we thought we were a little out of the way but it turns out the area we’re in, Santa Croce, is where tons of great bars and restaurants are. Our apartment is also pretty close to a bunch of our friends which is great. We took a break for dinner, then packed and “studied” for our final the next day.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Church is fun!
After class and lunch (a delicious sandwich, which had eggplant, I'm really expanding my palate guys!), Miriam, Emily, and I went to the Duomo so we could really see everything Siena has to offer. Our ticket included not only the Duomo, but also a museum, a panoramic view of Siena, the baptista, and the catacombs. The Duomo was stunning--absolutely huge and just had incredible craftsmanship. When I got up near the altar I literally just stared with my mouth open, unable to shut it. I probably could have stood there all day just looking around because there was so much detail that I just saw something new every time I turned my head even the slightest bit. It was so beautiful and I could not fathom how people could make something like this. We went into a little room off the side of the Cathedral that served as little library and it had really old, really giant prayer books complete with music notes. Although we couldn't read the words, I thought it was awesome that I could still read the music. Obviously it had its differences from the sheet music we're used to today, but if I really wanted to I could have played it out. It's so cool that even though these books are hundreds of years old, we can still use the same music today. The church ceiling was decorated with these super-creepy busts of all the different popes--after noticing them I had to stop looking at the ceiling because they creeped me out so much. After the cathedral we went into the museum where there were lots of paintings and old Christian memorabilia, including dead people's bones--gross. From the museum you can climb up this gorgeous old tower and at the top there are INCREDIBLE views of Siena. The staircase up was one of the claustrophobic, tiny, spiral ones--that was fun, and by fun I mean dizzy-ing and small. We went up another set of even smaller stairs to go even higher, and the view was stunning. We hung out up there for a little bit just admiring the town and taking pictures. Then we climbed down the stairs--which was even more dizzy-ing--sat in the museum for a little while, and then went into the catacombs. The catacombs weren't that exciting, although they did have scary glass floors so you could look down. Then we went into the baptista, which was very pretty, and again had gorgeous ceilings. Italy is really good at ceilings. After we stopped at this pizza place to get water, but they also had "duff beer" from the The Simpsons, and something labeled "sexy pasta", which was really just spaghetti. Then we went back to the hotel before our AIFS FREE dinner.
**You can skip this if you don’t feel like learning about Italian history at the moment…no judgement**
Before dinner we (as in the entirety of my program) went to hear about one of the 17 Sienese contrada, or districts. In Siena, these districts are extremely important, and people feel a strong sense of loyalty to their particular contrada. Fun Fact: my school is in the Tortuga, or turtle district, GO TERPS!. They even had a little mini Testudo fountain along the side of the street. Every summer Siena holds Il Palio, a horserace where each contrada has a participating jockey and they turn the Piazza del Campo (where I eat all the time) into a track. Doesn’t sound like such a big deal, except for the fact that this has been going on for 400 years. The race is run in honor of the Virgin Mary, so nobody gets any prize money, the winning Contrada simply receives a banner.
**You can can start reading again now**
We had a tour of the contrada represented by this dolphin/fish type thing, except I don’t know the name of it because it was hard to hear the tour guide and everyone was talking. The tour was kind of long, which would have been fine except we were starving, but it was cool to see all these really old costumes from old Il Palio races. Dinner was served family style and we had these 15 year old Italian boys as waiters who just looked so frazzled. The vegetarian rissoto that I got tasted like they had dumped a pound and a half of salt in it, so I only had a few bites, but dessert was incredible and of course, there was good wine. Most of the program left early, so we took the extra dessert home. And by we, I mean Miriam carried a tray of pastries home because I was told I was not capable of not dropping them. On the way home this random American guy from Riverdale came up to us (meaning me and about 12 of my friends) and essentially offered us free food and drinks. He seemed pretty legit so we went into the restaurant, carrying a tray of pastries, but we got up there and it was weird, so we left. And then he continued to try and get us to go this other bar, but we just said we had class the next day. It was strange. He had told us that he wanted to show us the fun side of Siena (Because at this point we were going nuts in this tiny little town), sorry buddy! We got back to the hotel, did our homework, and then stared at the 15 (absurdly delicious) pastries sitting in our room, wondering why the hell we decided to bring them home. They did make for good breakfast the next morning though.
**You can skip this if you don’t feel like learning about Italian history at the moment…no judgement**
Before dinner we (as in the entirety of my program) went to hear about one of the 17 Sienese contrada, or districts. In Siena, these districts are extremely important, and people feel a strong sense of loyalty to their particular contrada. Fun Fact: my school is in the Tortuga, or turtle district, GO TERPS!. They even had a little mini Testudo fountain along the side of the street. Every summer Siena holds Il Palio, a horserace where each contrada has a participating jockey and they turn the Piazza del Campo (where I eat all the time) into a track. Doesn’t sound like such a big deal, except for the fact that this has been going on for 400 years. The race is run in honor of the Virgin Mary, so nobody gets any prize money, the winning Contrada simply receives a banner.
**You can can start reading again now**
We had a tour of the contrada represented by this dolphin/fish type thing, except I don’t know the name of it because it was hard to hear the tour guide and everyone was talking. The tour was kind of long, which would have been fine except we were starving, but it was cool to see all these really old costumes from old Il Palio races. Dinner was served family style and we had these 15 year old Italian boys as waiters who just looked so frazzled. The vegetarian rissoto that I got tasted like they had dumped a pound and a half of salt in it, so I only had a few bites, but dessert was incredible and of course, there was good wine. Most of the program left early, so we took the extra dessert home. And by we, I mean Miriam carried a tray of pastries home because I was told I was not capable of not dropping them. On the way home this random American guy from Riverdale came up to us (meaning me and about 12 of my friends) and essentially offered us free food and drinks. He seemed pretty legit so we went into the restaurant, carrying a tray of pastries, but we got up there and it was weird, so we left. And then he continued to try and get us to go this other bar, but we just said we had class the next day. It was strange. He had told us that he wanted to show us the fun side of Siena (Because at this point we were going nuts in this tiny little town), sorry buddy! We got back to the hotel, did our homework, and then stared at the 15 (absurdly delicious) pastries sitting in our room, wondering why the hell we decided to bring them home. They did make for good breakfast the next morning though.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday January 26 2011
You have all figured out what my mornings are like now, so I’ll just skip to lunch. For lunch, Miriam, Ali, and I went and got giant pizza slices for lunch, but we were still hungry so we decided why get another slice here when there are 3 other places within 20 feet of us that we haven’t tried. So, we went into a few other places, but found no pizza to our liking and kind of gave up. Ali went to get gelato, so Miriam and I went next door and this restaurant was giving out free little snacks, so we just had those to fill up (little mini pizza crostini things, so yummy, and free!) Then we leisurely strolled home, stopping at this market to pick up some yummy fruit. Miriam and I had about two hours to kill, so obviously, we napped (probably one of the best naps ever) We woke up feeling refreshed and headed out to the wine tasting AIFS had arranged. The wine tasting was fun, we tried two reds and a white (which was from a San Gimignano, and is apparently pretty famous), there was cheese, so clearly I was very happy. The woman told us that younger whites more transparent, while older ones have a more yellow color. Younger red wines have a more purple tint to them, while older ones have a orangey/red color to them. You can also tell how much alcohol a red wine has by the number of “tears” that fall down the inside of the class (the more there are, the more alcoholic it is). She also talked about how the wines had flower and peach scents to them, but that went way beyond me. After the woman was done talking, we sat around talking and finishing our wine, and eating cheese. The girls next to us decided they didn’t want their cheese and meat plate (weird), so we got more cheese, yay! After wine tasting Miriam, Stacey, Joanna and I went to dinner, but we stopped in a few little shops, including an Italian grocery store (so much better than American grocery stores) and ended up in a restaurant at Piazza del Campo that we hadn’t eaten at before. I had a really yummy ravioli with marscapone and nuts, and then Miriam and I split a chocolate lava cake that was so yummy (Mom/Dad-kind of like the place's flourless chocolate cake). So delicious, I'm going to get so fat, oh well. After dinner, we didn't do anything exciting, just homework and hanging out. Went to bed full of yummy Italian food yet again!
You have all figured out what my mornings are like now, so I’ll just skip to lunch. For lunch, Miriam, Ali, and I went and got giant pizza slices for lunch, but we were still hungry so we decided why get another slice here when there are 3 other places within 20 feet of us that we haven’t tried. So, we went into a few other places, but found no pizza to our liking and kind of gave up. Ali went to get gelato, so Miriam and I went next door and this restaurant was giving out free little snacks, so we just had those to fill up (little mini pizza crostini things, so yummy, and free!) Then we leisurely strolled home, stopping at this market to pick up some yummy fruit. Miriam and I had about two hours to kill, so obviously, we napped (probably one of the best naps ever) We woke up feeling refreshed and headed out to the wine tasting AIFS had arranged. The wine tasting was fun, we tried two reds and a white (which was from a San Gimignano, and is apparently pretty famous), there was cheese, so clearly I was very happy. The woman told us that younger whites more transparent, while older ones have a more yellow color. Younger red wines have a more purple tint to them, while older ones have a orangey/red color to them. You can also tell how much alcohol a red wine has by the number of “tears” that fall down the inside of the class (the more there are, the more alcoholic it is). She also talked about how the wines had flower and peach scents to them, but that went way beyond me. After the woman was done talking, we sat around talking and finishing our wine, and eating cheese. The girls next to us decided they didn’t want their cheese and meat plate (weird), so we got more cheese, yay! After wine tasting Miriam, Stacey, Joanna and I went to dinner, but we stopped in a few little shops, including an Italian grocery store (so much better than American grocery stores) and ended up in a restaurant at Piazza del Campo that we hadn’t eaten at before. I had a really yummy ravioli with marscapone and nuts, and then Miriam and I split a chocolate lava cake that was so yummy (Mom/Dad-kind of like the place's flourless chocolate cake). So delicious, I'm going to get so fat, oh well. After dinner, we didn't do anything exciting, just homework and hanging out. Went to bed full of yummy Italian food yet again!
Tuesday, January 25 2011.
Our quiz today was also extremely easy. I’m really hoping that this is a sign of what class is going to be like in Florence, because if it is, I’m in for a great semester of doing very little work, and lots of traveling! After class we took a group AIFS picture outside the Duomo and then Miriam and I headed straight for a café called Nannini, which is known for its super delicious pastries. We each had a panini first, and then got a pastry. I had what was basically a donut sliced in half and filled with whipped cream. It was light, sweet, and heavenly. Nannini is a little further away from our hotel, but the pastries were definitely worth it. After lunch, we went back to school to finally get some internet access. It was so nice to catch up on emails and Facebook, and get a feel for what is going on back home (this lack of internet is making me realize how much I rely on the internet. I literally can’t do anything with my iPhone except make phone calls. Weird.). Miriam and I went back to the hotel to drop our stuff and meet up with our friend Emily to go look at cell phone stuff, which I finally really need to look into as Florence gets closer. On our way to the cell phone place this official looking Italian man stops us across the street from the store, and we notice other people are crowded around as well. At first we though there was an accident, but then I peered around and saw a film crew and it turns out they were filming an Italian soap opera that’s apparently famous and is broadcast throughout Europe. We hung out for a while and watched them film, it was actually really really cool to watch them do a few takes and see how the extras had an exact pattern to walk in and how planned out everything was. We started taking pictures when we realized the Italians around were doing so as well, because the actor is apparently famous; one guy went up and took a picture with him, it was pretty cool. I found it ironic that in my week and a half in tiny Siena I run into a show being filmed, but in all the time I have spent in the City, I have only seen a movie being filmed once, and there wasn’t even much to see (although when Miriam came to the City she got to see Enchanted being filmed, not fair). We finally went into the phone place where I only got slightly less confused about what I’m going to end up doing about a phone here, but the guy who helped us was such a typical Italian; slicked back hair, big gold ring on his finger, leather jacket, in the US he’d be a straight up guido. Getting a cell phone here is a little complicated because not only is there a language barrier, cell phones in general are a little confusing, so if anyone knows phones really well, and speaks both English and Italian well, and feels like coming to Italy, then I could use your help. We went back to the hotel to nap (this is what happens when I wake up at 8 am everyday) before dinner. For dinner, Miriam and I went with our friends Emily, Joanna, and Stacey to this restaurant that was a little further away. We had tried to go once before, but it was sketchily chained up, but we heard the food was really good, so we decided to try again. The restaurant was great—good food, good music, and good wine. We had a nice long dinner followed by gelato, and then went back to the hotel to watch The Holiday and go to bed.
Our quiz today was also extremely easy. I’m really hoping that this is a sign of what class is going to be like in Florence, because if it is, I’m in for a great semester of doing very little work, and lots of traveling! After class we took a group AIFS picture outside the Duomo and then Miriam and I headed straight for a café called Nannini, which is known for its super delicious pastries. We each had a panini first, and then got a pastry. I had what was basically a donut sliced in half and filled with whipped cream. It was light, sweet, and heavenly. Nannini is a little further away from our hotel, but the pastries were definitely worth it. After lunch, we went back to school to finally get some internet access. It was so nice to catch up on emails and Facebook, and get a feel for what is going on back home (this lack of internet is making me realize how much I rely on the internet. I literally can’t do anything with my iPhone except make phone calls. Weird.). Miriam and I went back to the hotel to drop our stuff and meet up with our friend Emily to go look at cell phone stuff, which I finally really need to look into as Florence gets closer. On our way to the cell phone place this official looking Italian man stops us across the street from the store, and we notice other people are crowded around as well. At first we though there was an accident, but then I peered around and saw a film crew and it turns out they were filming an Italian soap opera that’s apparently famous and is broadcast throughout Europe. We hung out for a while and watched them film, it was actually really really cool to watch them do a few takes and see how the extras had an exact pattern to walk in and how planned out everything was. We started taking pictures when we realized the Italians around were doing so as well, because the actor is apparently famous; one guy went up and took a picture with him, it was pretty cool. I found it ironic that in my week and a half in tiny Siena I run into a show being filmed, but in all the time I have spent in the City, I have only seen a movie being filmed once, and there wasn’t even much to see (although when Miriam came to the City she got to see Enchanted being filmed, not fair). We finally went into the phone place where I only got slightly less confused about what I’m going to end up doing about a phone here, but the guy who helped us was such a typical Italian; slicked back hair, big gold ring on his finger, leather jacket, in the US he’d be a straight up guido. Getting a cell phone here is a little complicated because not only is there a language barrier, cell phones in general are a little confusing, so if anyone knows phones really well, and speaks both English and Italian well, and feels like coming to Italy, then I could use your help. We went back to the hotel to nap (this is what happens when I wake up at 8 am everyday) before dinner. For dinner, Miriam and I went with our friends Emily, Joanna, and Stacey to this restaurant that was a little further away. We had tried to go once before, but it was sketchily chained up, but we heard the food was really good, so we decided to try again. The restaurant was great—good food, good music, and good wine. We had a nice long dinner followed by gelato, and then went back to the hotel to watch The Holiday and go to bed.
Monday, January 24 2011
Today=lots and lots of class, 6 hours to be specific. During our two hour break we went to lunch and wait for it….I tried a NEW FOOD! But don’t get too excited, it was just minestrone, but still, I was very proud of myself for being “adventurous” (I liked it by the way). Then we went back to class for another two hours, which actually passed by extremely quickly. What’s so great about class here and what makes the long hours easier, is that we are actively learning new material the whole time and participating. I’m shocked by how much I have learned in a week and am so excited to continue learning the language. I’m really trying to use out in the real world, which is even easier now that we have learned restaurant and food vocabulary. After a long day of class, Miriam and I napped/rested and then we went to dinner. We went with our friends Emily, Danielle, and Hayley to this restaurant near the Duomo. Walking past the Duomo at night is sort of surreal, because it is this big, ornate building looming against the dark sky, and it looks almost fake, like someone just plopped a façade in front of you because there is no way human could actually create something like that; but it’s a pretty fantastic view. The food at this place was so delicious, especially the bread. I got pici cacio e pepe, which is pici with pecorino cheese, a Siena/Tuscan specialty, and pepper, cheesy and spicy, yum! We even got some really yummy Siennese desserts. We got seconds on dessert because these little powdered sugar cookies were that good. We just hung out and had a long dinner (I’m starting to get used to this long Italian dinner thing), and it was nice to just hang out with a smaller group of people in restaurant that hadn’t been found by the rest of our program. After dinner, we came back and studied for our quiz the next day and then passed out with extremely full bellies!
Today=lots and lots of class, 6 hours to be specific. During our two hour break we went to lunch and wait for it….I tried a NEW FOOD! But don’t get too excited, it was just minestrone, but still, I was very proud of myself for being “adventurous” (I liked it by the way). Then we went back to class for another two hours, which actually passed by extremely quickly. What’s so great about class here and what makes the long hours easier, is that we are actively learning new material the whole time and participating. I’m shocked by how much I have learned in a week and am so excited to continue learning the language. I’m really trying to use out in the real world, which is even easier now that we have learned restaurant and food vocabulary. After a long day of class, Miriam and I napped/rested and then we went to dinner. We went with our friends Emily, Danielle, and Hayley to this restaurant near the Duomo. Walking past the Duomo at night is sort of surreal, because it is this big, ornate building looming against the dark sky, and it looks almost fake, like someone just plopped a façade in front of you because there is no way human could actually create something like that; but it’s a pretty fantastic view. The food at this place was so delicious, especially the bread. I got pici cacio e pepe, which is pici with pecorino cheese, a Siena/Tuscan specialty, and pepper, cheesy and spicy, yum! We even got some really yummy Siennese desserts. We got seconds on dessert because these little powdered sugar cookies were that good. We just hung out and had a long dinner (I’m starting to get used to this long Italian dinner thing), and it was nice to just hang out with a smaller group of people in restaurant that hadn’t been found by the rest of our program. After dinner, we came back and studied for our quiz the next day and then passed out with extremely full bellies!
I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaack!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Saturday was pretty uneventful. I mean I actually did nothing all day, which has kind of been the norm for pretty much all Saturdays in my life, and after a week of waking up early I was pretty ok with letting this trend continue. I did get up for lunch, and for those of you who have seen me in CP on a Saturday, this is a rare occurrence, as I rarely move from my bed on Saturdays in CP. Finally, around dinner time Miriam and I decided to become real people; we went to dinner with our four other roommates, which was nice. Two of the girls are sophomores from Pitt and the other two are juniors who go to University of New Hampshire. At dinner I got tortellini, and had my first oops! This is meat problem. I’ve seen a bunch of people order tortellini here and they have ALL been cheese, but obviously the one time I order it (and don’t ask), I end up with meat tortellini. No big deal, I ate bread and cheese and got gelato instead, which is just as good in my mind. After dinner, Miriam and I came back to the hotel to have some wine with friends and then a bunch of us went out, which failed somewhat miserably because there is nothing to do in Siena, but actually. We looked up nightlife in the guide book and we’d been to 3 of the 4 places, one of which is actually just a wine tasting place and doesn’t actually count as nightlife. We did meet some funny Italian guys though, who offered to go to this bar we had been looking for but we declined because that would be sketchy. The night clearly wasn’t going anywhere so Miriam and I went home with our friend Marissa and went to bed. We’re really cool, I know.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday was a little bit more exciting than Saturday because we took a trip to a little Tuscan town called San Gimignano (whoever can pronounce it correctly first gets a prize…my everlasting love and affection). Miriam and I got lunch at this cute little bakery that we have to go back to because their cookies look absolutely delicious and perfect. Then we got on the bus to San Gimignano and stared in awe once again at the views from the bus window; Tuscany is everything beautiful, I am never going to be able to stop staring at it or get used to it, it’s too pretty and perfect. San Gimignano is adorable, and really really old. It was really nice to get out of Siena, although it was funny because we went from one walled city to another, but it was a much needed changed of scenery. San Gimignano is known for its 14, 800 year old towers that used to be used for military defense back in the day. Today, they are used so tourists, like myself, can get some exercise after eating 5000 pounds of pasta and gelato and see the MOST incredibly stunning views ever in existence of the world (well maybe not quite, but its way up there). We obviously climbed the tallest tower in San Gimignano, because they just knew how much I love to climb stairs. Before we went up to the top though, we stopped in the town hall which had a few frescos (one of Mary and one telling a story about some boy and how he gets married) which I believe are some of the first frescas painted in Italy. After, we trekked up the stairs, which were actually quite open and easy to walk up and not the tiny spiral staircase we were all expecting. The only freaky part was the tiny little ladder that lead through a little opening to get out to the top (not so bad going up, but going down was pretty freaky and I bumped my head, shocking I know). When you got out to the top, it was a) freezing and b) breath takingly beautiful and absolutely bellissima and any other word that means gorgeous. You could see the rolling green hills and vineyards of the Tuscan country side around for miles and miles. The sky was clear that blue day and it was perfect and totally worth all the stairs (le scale). After climbing the tower, the tour guide talked for a little longer and then we got to get coffee/hot chocolate on AIFS (yay for free food!)
I cannot even begin to describe how delicious this hot chocolate was. Let me put it this way, the hot chocolate was as delicious as the view was beautiful. What’s great about Italian hot chocolate is that it is literally hot chocolate. They melt the chocolate, throw in some cream or milk and serve it to you. This particular bar (that’s what they call coffee places here, its basically a café), makes their hot chocolate so thick and creamy that it’s like eating hot pudding. Some of my other friends couldn’t finish theirs (lame), but being the chocolate-lover I am, I drank every last drop, my mouth is watering just typing this. I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat that powdery crap ever again (not to sound pretentious or anything).
Now that I’ve written a paragraph about hot chocolate let me continue; after the hot chocolate extravangza we shopped around for a little bit, including going into my first leather store. I am SO excited to buy leather everything in Florence. I hadn’t really been shopping up until this point, so this just made me itch with excitement to shop my little heart out when I arrive in Florence (I love you Mom and Dad!). We took some funny pictures in the leather store and my friend bought the cutest change purse. The store had a sign at the cash register that essentially said “buy it now, because you’ll regret it when you get home otherwise”…I need to not think of this too often or I will go home with all of the shoes in Firenze. At this point we grabbed a slice of super delcious-kind of-NYC-style pizza and then headed back to Siena. We got back and hung out for a little then went to dinner, where I tasted my friend Ali’s dinner and I need to go back and get it myself because it was the best spaghetti ever: it was basil, olive oil, and tomatoes, and it tasted like a super light pesto, but with a hint of tomato, SO good. As we were walking out of the restaurant (which we had been to before) the cute waiter stopped my friend and was asking her to go out later, while my friends and I huddled waiting for a few feet away, giggling like 12 year old girls. He was super cute and seemed pretty disappointed when she wouldn’t come out (mostly because we had 6 hours of class the next day). Italian men are too funny.
Ciao!
Saturday was pretty uneventful. I mean I actually did nothing all day, which has kind of been the norm for pretty much all Saturdays in my life, and after a week of waking up early I was pretty ok with letting this trend continue. I did get up for lunch, and for those of you who have seen me in CP on a Saturday, this is a rare occurrence, as I rarely move from my bed on Saturdays in CP. Finally, around dinner time Miriam and I decided to become real people; we went to dinner with our four other roommates, which was nice. Two of the girls are sophomores from Pitt and the other two are juniors who go to University of New Hampshire. At dinner I got tortellini, and had my first oops! This is meat problem. I’ve seen a bunch of people order tortellini here and they have ALL been cheese, but obviously the one time I order it (and don’t ask), I end up with meat tortellini. No big deal, I ate bread and cheese and got gelato instead, which is just as good in my mind. After dinner, Miriam and I came back to the hotel to have some wine with friends and then a bunch of us went out, which failed somewhat miserably because there is nothing to do in Siena, but actually. We looked up nightlife in the guide book and we’d been to 3 of the 4 places, one of which is actually just a wine tasting place and doesn’t actually count as nightlife. We did meet some funny Italian guys though, who offered to go to this bar we had been looking for but we declined because that would be sketchy. The night clearly wasn’t going anywhere so Miriam and I went home with our friend Marissa and went to bed. We’re really cool, I know.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday was a little bit more exciting than Saturday because we took a trip to a little Tuscan town called San Gimignano (whoever can pronounce it correctly first gets a prize…my everlasting love and affection). Miriam and I got lunch at this cute little bakery that we have to go back to because their cookies look absolutely delicious and perfect. Then we got on the bus to San Gimignano and stared in awe once again at the views from the bus window; Tuscany is everything beautiful, I am never going to be able to stop staring at it or get used to it, it’s too pretty and perfect. San Gimignano is adorable, and really really old. It was really nice to get out of Siena, although it was funny because we went from one walled city to another, but it was a much needed changed of scenery. San Gimignano is known for its 14, 800 year old towers that used to be used for military defense back in the day. Today, they are used so tourists, like myself, can get some exercise after eating 5000 pounds of pasta and gelato and see the MOST incredibly stunning views ever in existence of the world (well maybe not quite, but its way up there). We obviously climbed the tallest tower in San Gimignano, because they just knew how much I love to climb stairs. Before we went up to the top though, we stopped in the town hall which had a few frescos (one of Mary and one telling a story about some boy and how he gets married) which I believe are some of the first frescas painted in Italy. After, we trekked up the stairs, which were actually quite open and easy to walk up and not the tiny spiral staircase we were all expecting. The only freaky part was the tiny little ladder that lead through a little opening to get out to the top (not so bad going up, but going down was pretty freaky and I bumped my head, shocking I know). When you got out to the top, it was a) freezing and b) breath takingly beautiful and absolutely bellissima and any other word that means gorgeous. You could see the rolling green hills and vineyards of the Tuscan country side around for miles and miles. The sky was clear that blue day and it was perfect and totally worth all the stairs (le scale). After climbing the tower, the tour guide talked for a little longer and then we got to get coffee/hot chocolate on AIFS (yay for free food!)
I cannot even begin to describe how delicious this hot chocolate was. Let me put it this way, the hot chocolate was as delicious as the view was beautiful. What’s great about Italian hot chocolate is that it is literally hot chocolate. They melt the chocolate, throw in some cream or milk and serve it to you. This particular bar (that’s what they call coffee places here, its basically a café), makes their hot chocolate so thick and creamy that it’s like eating hot pudding. Some of my other friends couldn’t finish theirs (lame), but being the chocolate-lover I am, I drank every last drop, my mouth is watering just typing this. I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat that powdery crap ever again (not to sound pretentious or anything).
Now that I’ve written a paragraph about hot chocolate let me continue; after the hot chocolate extravangza we shopped around for a little bit, including going into my first leather store. I am SO excited to buy leather everything in Florence. I hadn’t really been shopping up until this point, so this just made me itch with excitement to shop my little heart out when I arrive in Florence (I love you Mom and Dad!). We took some funny pictures in the leather store and my friend bought the cutest change purse. The store had a sign at the cash register that essentially said “buy it now, because you’ll regret it when you get home otherwise”…I need to not think of this too often or I will go home with all of the shoes in Firenze. At this point we grabbed a slice of super delcious-kind of-NYC-style pizza and then headed back to Siena. We got back and hung out for a little then went to dinner, where I tasted my friend Ali’s dinner and I need to go back and get it myself because it was the best spaghetti ever: it was basil, olive oil, and tomatoes, and it tasted like a super light pesto, but with a hint of tomato, SO good. As we were walking out of the restaurant (which we had been to before) the cute waiter stopped my friend and was asking her to go out later, while my friends and I huddled waiting for a few feet away, giggling like 12 year old girls. He was super cute and seemed pretty disappointed when she wouldn’t come out (mostly because we had 6 hours of class the next day). Italian men are too funny.
Ciao!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Ooops!
Sorry for the lack of posts, my internet access is limited right now, but I promise new ones soon!!
Florence on Saturday, wooo!
Florence on Saturday, wooo!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
This is the most expensive artist in all of Korea...
Friday, like every other day, started out bright and early, you would think I'd be getting used to this waking up early thing, but I'm really not. Class was fun, it was smaller than usual because a lot of people missed because they were hungover, which our teachers found very entertaining. During the break I got a cappuccino (which I add about a pound of sugar to), which I have become dependent on to get through the last two hours of class everyday. After class, we grabbed lunch (mozzarella, roasted peppers, and pesto sandwich, like what I get at the deli, but for only 3 Euro, and I am not gonna say its better, because that would be sacrilegious, so I'll use the word different) and then raced back to the hotel before our field trip to meet with the Florence volunteer person. Andddddd Miriam and I are going to be tour guides at one of the four major Florence churches. I originally wanted to work in an elementary school but that required you to have good Italian and to wake up at like 7 am, so that failed miserably. I told them they didn't want me to be there that early, the lady laughed, and Miriam was like, no, really, you don't. AFter our meeting, we got on the bus for a trip to the Chianti Sculpture Garden that AIFS arranged for us.
It was snowing when we got to the Garden, so we just took the tour in the snow (thank goodness for rain boots and the fact that I'm from the Northeast, because there were some not so happy people). The Garden was really cool, basically this absurdly wealthy guy decided to commission a bunch of artists to create site-specific sculptures for this 15 acre piece of land right outside Siena. He's really funny in a pretentious way because he said things such as "this is a piece made by the most expensive sculptor in all of Korea..." I decided he had some sort of repressed issues from his childhood that made him need to prove himself to the world (love being a psych major). After we walked through his garden he took us to his house which is beyond gorgeous and doubles as an art gallery. The sculptures were pretty cool, and I clearly came up with new, better titles for them than the original artists did (for example, oversized carcass, see Facebook). They served us delicious wine, cheese, clementines, and olives (which I actually tried, but didn't like so much) (and there was meat, but clearly I didn't eat that). The house had they most stunning views of the Tuscan country side, but unfortunately my camera died so no pictures, but I decided I'm just going to have to get a house with views like that one day. I've seen pictures of view like this so many times, but to actually be standing and looking at them was unreal. From the Sculpture Garden, we went back to the hotel to nap and get ready for dinner. Dinner was fun, I had penne with some sort of tomato pesto sauce and a few of the other girls got this tomato truffle sauce which they were obsessed with. I think it was the third time my friend Melissa had ordered this dish at the restaurant we were at to give you an idea of how much people love it.
After dinner, we sat around and drank wine for awhile and then went out in Siena (which isn't really a going out kind of place). We went to this one bar where they had a karaoke type thing and were switching off between Italian and American songs (featuring Genie in a Bottle and Shania Twain among others). My friends and I were thoroughly enjoying this and really tried hard to sing in Italian, I think we were pretty good, and the Italians around us seemed to appreciate it. We started talking to some Italian guys so we could practice our Italian and they were impressed by our Italian and that we had only been speaking it for a week. but we left before they got the wrong idea (safety first!). After that we went to a more American bar to hang out for a little bit, but then three other girls and I walked home because we were exhausted and the bar was extremely crowded. It was so much fun to kick back and have a good time. We met some awesome people from our group last night, so that was great. Siena is awesome, but we leave for Firenze in a week and I could not be more excited, we get our addresses on Wednesday, yay!
It was snowing when we got to the Garden, so we just took the tour in the snow (thank goodness for rain boots and the fact that I'm from the Northeast, because there were some not so happy people). The Garden was really cool, basically this absurdly wealthy guy decided to commission a bunch of artists to create site-specific sculptures for this 15 acre piece of land right outside Siena. He's really funny in a pretentious way because he said things such as "this is a piece made by the most expensive sculptor in all of Korea..." I decided he had some sort of repressed issues from his childhood that made him need to prove himself to the world (love being a psych major). After we walked through his garden he took us to his house which is beyond gorgeous and doubles as an art gallery. The sculptures were pretty cool, and I clearly came up with new, better titles for them than the original artists did (for example, oversized carcass, see Facebook). They served us delicious wine, cheese, clementines, and olives (which I actually tried, but didn't like so much) (and there was meat, but clearly I didn't eat that). The house had they most stunning views of the Tuscan country side, but unfortunately my camera died so no pictures, but I decided I'm just going to have to get a house with views like that one day. I've seen pictures of view like this so many times, but to actually be standing and looking at them was unreal. From the Sculpture Garden, we went back to the hotel to nap and get ready for dinner. Dinner was fun, I had penne with some sort of tomato pesto sauce and a few of the other girls got this tomato truffle sauce which they were obsessed with. I think it was the third time my friend Melissa had ordered this dish at the restaurant we were at to give you an idea of how much people love it.
After dinner, we sat around and drank wine for awhile and then went out in Siena (which isn't really a going out kind of place). We went to this one bar where they had a karaoke type thing and were switching off between Italian and American songs (featuring Genie in a Bottle and Shania Twain among others). My friends and I were thoroughly enjoying this and really tried hard to sing in Italian, I think we were pretty good, and the Italians around us seemed to appreciate it. We started talking to some Italian guys so we could practice our Italian and they were impressed by our Italian and that we had only been speaking it for a week. but we left before they got the wrong idea (safety first!). After that we went to a more American bar to hang out for a little bit, but then three other girls and I walked home because we were exhausted and the bar was extremely crowded. It was so much fun to kick back and have a good time. We met some awesome people from our group last night, so that was great. Siena is awesome, but we leave for Firenze in a week and I could not be more excited, we get our addresses on Wednesday, yay!
Important note from yesterday: I wore jeans to class. Unfortunately I have no picture evidence of this, but I promise its true. Im growing up so much.
Getting out of bed today was extremely difficult (kind of like when my parents would have to literally drag me out of bed for high school), the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me, but I had to go to school for my first Italian quiz (not that I would ever skip class). The Italian quiz was probably the easiest thing Ive ever taken, probably even easier than my Advocates for Children quizzes at UMD (fyi: my friends and I essentially would take these quizzes together, hi Kristen!). After class, Miriam and I went for lunch (I got salad, my body was so happy to have something non-carb related, and we split a cheese platter...YUMMY!!!)
(yes, this meal was as good as it looks) Then we went back to school to use the slightly-better-than-the-hotel internet (which really means, it sucked). Miriam and I completed our afternoon adventures by going to by aprons, yes, aprons. They are personalized and say things in Italian (la regina della cucina, queen of the kitchen). Do not make fun of us; they are really cool, and were really cheap. Fun fact Miriam picked up on: Regina means queen and in Mean Girls the queen bee is named Regina, yay for knowing Italian! Well, we thought our adventures were over, buuuut not so much. Due to my mother being really talented at Jewish-guilting me (yes, I just made up that verb) about not going on an art history tour of Siena, Miriam and I stopped at the Siena Duomo ourselves on the way back to the hotel. Well, Miriam went to take her camera out and it wasn't there, luckily it was at the restaurant where we had lunch and the guy handed it back to us with a smirk on his face that made us think he looked through the pictures, but whatever, Miriam got her camera back. So basically, thanks for the Jewish guilt mommy. Well, I was exhausted from our adventurous afternoon, so I took a nap and then did my homework (I am such a good studentessa!) before dinner. Miriam and I went to dinner with our friends Stacey and Joanna who go to Clemson, and they are great! We went to this adorable little ristorante near our school, and the waitress was great because she patiently explained things to us in Italian. It is so nice when Italians don't automatically switch to English but gives us a chance to practice using the language. Dinner was delicious, I just had some spaghetti with olive oil, garlic, and red pepper, because I wasn't super hungry, and it was still so light and delicious (that's what's great about Italy, the simplest dishes are so yummy). Miriam got this really good pici with cream sauce and Joanna and Stacey got yummy ravioli with vegetables. After dinner, the four of us went to this other restaurant to get a tiramisu crepe (SO UNBELIEVABLY delicious, see Facebook for photos) and wine. We got sucked into karaoke while we there and met this very strange Italian woman who was very into trivia night at the bar (she was super creepy and just picked up Miriam's camera without asking and started taking pictures of us, which was nice, but at first we didn't know what she was doing. We just had an awesome night hanging out drinking wine (Moscato. But not from the blue bottle. Weird.) and singing Blink 182 at the top of our lungs. Miriam and I got back to the hotel and hung out with some other friends who were going out, but after we literally had a moral debate over it, we decided to stay in and get some much needed sleep before a very busy Friday.
Ciao!
Getting out of bed today was extremely difficult (kind of like when my parents would have to literally drag me out of bed for high school), the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me, but I had to go to school for my first Italian quiz (not that I would ever skip class). The Italian quiz was probably the easiest thing Ive ever taken, probably even easier than my Advocates for Children quizzes at UMD (fyi: my friends and I essentially would take these quizzes together, hi Kristen!). After class, Miriam and I went for lunch (I got salad, my body was so happy to have something non-carb related, and we split a cheese platter...YUMMY!!!)
Ciao!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Yesterday was pretty unevenful, although it did include some of the best food Ive had since I got here (I should really just start a food blog, but it eating is pretty much the only thing to do in Siena, which works for me :]) Yesterday (as in Wednesday) was a very exciting Italian class because we learned definitive articles (which means I can now say the in Italian, very exciting, I know). After class my friends and I went to a cute little restaurant for lunch (for those of you interested I had tagliaterre with some kind of pesto-esque sauce). After lunch I took a much needed nap, did some homework and reading, switched to a highe level of Italian for Florence classes (fancy, right?) and then got ready for dinner. For dinner we tried to go to a restaurant that was supposed to be the best one on the list of places where our meal vouchers are accepted, but that failed miserably since the place never actually opened. It turned out to be a good thing though because we got explore Siena a little bit and ended up at this absolutely delicious restaurant, by far one of the best meals Ive had so far. This was the first meal we ate that was really, just Whoa!, this is great! The bread was so delicious, and I had very good spinach tortelli (big tortellini) with a pumpkin sauce and cheese, mmmm. After dinner, we were stuffed, but obviously had room left for some gelato (caramel and chocolate :]), and then went back to the hotel to study for our quiz we had the next day. We got back from dinner pretty late, so Miriam and I just did some studying, and then went to sleep on the somewhat earlier side, aka 12 45 (we keep trying to go to bed earlier, and its failing miserably). Miriam and I skyped with our friend Dania, and got to here a little bit about life in Alicante, Spain (it sounds great, I want to visit!) I got to talk to my parents before I went to sleep, and my mom decided this would be a great time to correct my grammar on this blog, so I am apologizing now for the lack of apostrophes in this post because Im using an Italian keyboard and cannot figure out how to type them for the life of me, so, sorry mom.
Life in Siena is pretty simple: lots of eating and lots of class. Everyone is very ready to go to Florence and really start our abroad experiences. Later this week Im going to a sculpture garden and to visit a little town called San Gimignano. I also might be going to Pisa to take the mandatory Leaning Tower of Pisa pictures (love being a tourist!). Anyway, Italy is great and I am getting to know some cool people. I am so excited to go to Florence and really see what life here is going to be like. I cant wait to visit the leather market(place bets now on how many pairs of shoes I come home with) and see all the things Florence is famous for and get to know a new city! I am also so excited to get to see all my friends from home who I get to be in Florence with (just get on a plane guys, Italy is great)
Ciao!
Life in Siena is pretty simple: lots of eating and lots of class. Everyone is very ready to go to Florence and really start our abroad experiences. Later this week Im going to a sculpture garden and to visit a little town called San Gimignano. I also might be going to Pisa to take the mandatory Leaning Tower of Pisa pictures (love being a tourist!). Anyway, Italy is great and I am getting to know some cool people. I am so excited to go to Florence and really see what life here is going to be like. I cant wait to visit the leather market(place bets now on how many pairs of shoes I come home with) and see all the things Florence is famous for and get to know a new city! I am also so excited to get to see all my friends from home who I get to be in Florence with (just get on a plane guys, Italy is great)
Ciao!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Buon Appetito!
Ciao, mi chiamo Ariel. Di dove sei? Io sono Americana di New Jersey e io studio psycologia a University of Maryland. Io parlo italiano!
For those of you do not, parlare italiano, I just said Ciao (ok fine, it’s hi, but Ciao is way more fun), my name is Ariel! Where are you from? I am an American from New Jersey. I study psychology at the University of Maryland (GO TERPS!). I speak Italian!
So its day 2 of Italian classes and I’m already forming sentences, yay! It’s really fun learning a language again and its bringing back lots of high school memories of the absurd exercises in my French textbook. I literally am doing the same type of homework I did in 7th grade, it’s nice to have easy, busy work homework again, definitely beats 10 page papers. French is definitely helpful because everything sounds similar and I don’t get as confused as the kids who speak Spanish because the spelling isn’t that similar (I’m getting really good at learning languages that will in no way be useful later in life, oh well). My Italian teacher, Mariangela (so fun to say!), is absurd. She just makes funny faces at everyone depending on what they say to her or if they make a mistake (in a completely nice way, don’t worry I don’t have some bitch of a teacher). She’s so funny, I love her, and she speaks English really well which is extremely helpful since some of the other teachers don’t speak English as well and its harder for those kids to get the information they need.
After class me, Miriam, Ali, and a few other girls grabbed some lunch and then me, Miriam, and Ali set in a café and I got the most delicious hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream (ciocolatta con panna!) We just hung out and people watched (which has always been a favorite activity of mine and Italian restaurants and cafes just bring it to a whole new level). After this, I went back to the room and rested (this early class thing is not agreeing with me) before cooking class!
Oh. Mon. Dio. (Oh my Gd). Cooking class was so great. I mean SO great. And by great I really mean beyond delicious. I cannot wait to make these dishes back in CP/Millburn/anywhere I have a kitchen. We made pici (it’s a kind of thick spaghetti) with tomato and basil, gnocchi with a gorgonzola cream sauce, and tiramisu (which I don’t even really like, but it was delicioso). This hardcore Italian woman taught us and we made the pasta by hand (which took a million and a half years, I don’t know how people do that all the time) and she had this amazing woman who translated to English for us. The translator, Jackie, is Welsh (we think) and moved here about 28 years ago to au pair for an American family, married an Italian guy and has been here ever since (living the life!). We watched the cooking teacher mix up the creamy gorgonzola sauce (cream, butter, and cheese…heart attack, yes, but definitely not going to stop me from eating it), the marscapone (always makes me think of Giada de Laurentis from Food Network), and the amazing tomato sauce, which made me even hungrier. We had to wait a while for dinner, but it was SO worth it. Homemade pasta is the way to go, its so fresh and just better than store bought in everyway, minus the convenience. During dinner Miriam and I got to chat with a few other girls from the program, who are so sweet and it was so nice just to relax and get to know each other. After dinner (which didn’t end till about 10) we came back to the hotel to relax, because early class is really tiring (and dumb for that matter, 9 am should simply not exist, although I think my morning grumpiness has been pretty under control). Sidenote: to get to cooking class we had to go down this maze of escalators and it was so weird because all of the sudden there’s this set of escalators in the middle of all these amazing, gorgeous, old buildings. But, on the way, I walked up the stairs for a little, and then gave up because I was way too full, but I tried (you’d be so proud Mommy!) Anyway, it’s time for bed. So excited for new parole italiano demano (new Italian words, and I have no idea if that was correct)
Ciao!
For those of you do not, parlare italiano, I just said Ciao (ok fine, it’s hi, but Ciao is way more fun), my name is Ariel! Where are you from? I am an American from New Jersey. I study psychology at the University of Maryland (GO TERPS!). I speak Italian!
So its day 2 of Italian classes and I’m already forming sentences, yay! It’s really fun learning a language again and its bringing back lots of high school memories of the absurd exercises in my French textbook. I literally am doing the same type of homework I did in 7th grade, it’s nice to have easy, busy work homework again, definitely beats 10 page papers. French is definitely helpful because everything sounds similar and I don’t get as confused as the kids who speak Spanish because the spelling isn’t that similar (I’m getting really good at learning languages that will in no way be useful later in life, oh well). My Italian teacher, Mariangela (so fun to say!), is absurd. She just makes funny faces at everyone depending on what they say to her or if they make a mistake (in a completely nice way, don’t worry I don’t have some bitch of a teacher). She’s so funny, I love her, and she speaks English really well which is extremely helpful since some of the other teachers don’t speak English as well and its harder for those kids to get the information they need.
After class me, Miriam, Ali, and a few other girls grabbed some lunch and then me, Miriam, and Ali set in a café and I got the most delicious hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream (ciocolatta con panna!) We just hung out and people watched (which has always been a favorite activity of mine and Italian restaurants and cafes just bring it to a whole new level). After this, I went back to the room and rested (this early class thing is not agreeing with me) before cooking class!
Oh. Mon. Dio. (Oh my Gd). Cooking class was so great. I mean SO great. And by great I really mean beyond delicious. I cannot wait to make these dishes back in CP/Millburn/anywhere I have a kitchen. We made pici (it’s a kind of thick spaghetti) with tomato and basil, gnocchi with a gorgonzola cream sauce, and tiramisu (which I don’t even really like, but it was delicioso). This hardcore Italian woman taught us and we made the pasta by hand (which took a million and a half years, I don’t know how people do that all the time) and she had this amazing woman who translated to English for us. The translator, Jackie, is Welsh (we think) and moved here about 28 years ago to au pair for an American family, married an Italian guy and has been here ever since (living the life!). We watched the cooking teacher mix up the creamy gorgonzola sauce (cream, butter, and cheese…heart attack, yes, but definitely not going to stop me from eating it), the marscapone (always makes me think of Giada de Laurentis from Food Network), and the amazing tomato sauce, which made me even hungrier. We had to wait a while for dinner, but it was SO worth it. Homemade pasta is the way to go, its so fresh and just better than store bought in everyway, minus the convenience. During dinner Miriam and I got to chat with a few other girls from the program, who are so sweet and it was so nice just to relax and get to know each other. After dinner (which didn’t end till about 10) we came back to the hotel to relax, because early class is really tiring (and dumb for that matter, 9 am should simply not exist, although I think my morning grumpiness has been pretty under control). Sidenote: to get to cooking class we had to go down this maze of escalators and it was so weird because all of the sudden there’s this set of escalators in the middle of all these amazing, gorgeous, old buildings. But, on the way, I walked up the stairs for a little, and then gave up because I was way too full, but I tried (you’d be so proud Mommy!) Anyway, it’s time for bed. So excited for new parole italiano demano (new Italian words, and I have no idea if that was correct)
Ciao!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
gelato, pesto, and pizza. oh my!
Two posts in one day, wow you guys are lucky (or if you're Lexi, "twice in one day, what a treat!") Yesterday (as in Sunday for those of you who are as confused about the days of the week as I currently am), we finally had a super long orientation meeting and learned a little bit about what our housing in Florence would be like (I'm actually going to have to pay attention to utility stuff, which makes me feel really old and real person-like). Then we had lunch, aka my first gelato (mento e ciocolatte...i think that's how you spell it, which means mint and chocolate) and it was absolutely delicious. 
Afterwards, we hung out in Piazza del Campo (the main square in Siena) and bought our books for our classes and signed up for activities (cooking classes, wine tastings, you know, boring stuff ;)) Then we went downstairs and our lost baggage had arrived, YAY! It was very exciting to have toiletries and shoes, but mostly my shoes. Miriam and I were posed with the problem of fitting two more large suitcases in our very tiny room, which resulted in Miriam's suitcase being put under the sink (without clothes in it of course) and mine being stored in our hallway (yes, our room has a hallway). We went to leave for a welcome reception and dinner, only to discover we lost our one and only room key (which is an actual key, and who knows why they only give us one). We went out anyway, and had the best night. The reception was nice; they made us pizza (with weird toppings that I didn't eat) and bellinis (yummy!). Then we went to dinner with some other people from the program which was really fun, because it turned out two of them were my Florence roommates that Miriam and I hadn't met yet! It was great to spend time with them! For dinner, I had...drum roll please...pasta with pesto!!! I was not disappointed; it was so delicious and I was very very happy to be having my favorite food in its native country. After dinner we went out onto the hotel terrace which has the BEST views of Siena and the Tuscan country side to drink wine and hang out (you cannot get away from wine in this country...oh well). It is so unbelievably breathtaking, a camera does not even come close to doing it justice, but I am going to try. I simply cannot get over the sheer beauty of this place and I am convinced it is fake and I am in Disney World and have to remind myself that I am actually lucky enough to be living in this place for the next 4 months. After this we went to some Irish Pub (weird how that ended up in the middle of Siena) with essentially half of our program to watch the Jets/Patriots game (who knew the Jets were capable of beating the Patriots). It was so much fun just hanging out with everyone and we even got to meet Britney Spears (just kidding, but hi Rachel Friedman, can't believe you fell for that one). What actually happened was some Italian guy named Claudio (who might have actually been cute if he wasn't approxiamately 17 years old and wearing the most hideous, European jacket in the world) told Miriam she was beautiful "like Breeeetney Spears", and we preceded to laugh in his face. He went away, and ended up with some other girl, but it was really funny because he kept saying the same 2 sentences (you're beautiful and studenta? meaning are you a student). We went home around midnight because we had to be up at 7 45 AM for class, but it was such a great night and we got to meet so many new people!
PS. In case you were wondering, we found our key, right before we were about to pay for a new one. In the process we found someone's glasses and an Italian car magazine, both of which we will put to good use.
Today, I had my first Italian class, which was great, I'm really excited to learn the language. My teacher is a woman from Naples and she is nuts, but in a good way, and really seems to love Italy and the language, and its always great to have a passionate teacher. My seven years of French is definitely going to be helpful with Italian, it makes it so much easier to understand new Italian words. After class, I got lunch with two girls who I just met (pannini with mozzarella and tomato, delicioso!) and then hung out in Piazza del Campo again with a bunch of AIFS girls. We then had a meeting about classes and volunteering. Afterwards, we went home, and stopped at a little market and bought the most beautifual and delicious grapes. I would post a picture, but they literally look exactly like the background of this blog. SO GOOD! I did my homework (weird to be doing that again and a major flashback to high school French exercises) and some reading before dinner. Miriam and I went to dinner with two of our roommates, which was so great. We wandered around Siena for about 20 minutes looking for a place to eat that would accept our special meal vouchers, and couldnt find one so we just ended up in the Piazza del Campo for dinner again, oh well, still delicious. I had pizza (although I was a little disappointed, but still very good). We think this restaurant is not the best because they had parmesan cheese in a little pre packaged thing (kind of like sugar) and I found this to be absurd; however the food was still really good. They even gave us some free bruschetta and penne with really delicious tomato sauce. After dinner we came back to the hotel and hung out and caught up with home because we were so tired. Tomorrow, I have cooking class and I am SO excited. We're making gnocchi, some other pasta, tomato soup, and tiramisu. Being in Italy is renewing my love for Italian food, not that it was ever waning, but still, it is so damn good here. If you're lucky, some of you will get to taste the recipes I learn tomorrow when I get home.
Sorry for the super long post, but at least I'm staying updated. I'll try to post more pictures when I get to Firenze (aka Florence) but the internet is pretty bad here so its hard!
Ciao!
PS. In case you were wondering, we found our key, right before we were about to pay for a new one. In the process we found someone's glasses and an Italian car magazine, both of which we will put to good use.
Today, I had my first Italian class, which was great, I'm really excited to learn the language. My teacher is a woman from Naples and she is nuts, but in a good way, and really seems to love Italy and the language, and its always great to have a passionate teacher. My seven years of French is definitely going to be helpful with Italian, it makes it so much easier to understand new Italian words. After class, I got lunch with two girls who I just met (pannini with mozzarella and tomato, delicioso!) and then hung out in Piazza del Campo again with a bunch of AIFS girls. We then had a meeting about classes and volunteering. Afterwards, we went home, and stopped at a little market and bought the most beautifual and delicious grapes. I would post a picture, but they literally look exactly like the background of this blog. SO GOOD! I did my homework (weird to be doing that again and a major flashback to high school French exercises) and some reading before dinner. Miriam and I went to dinner with two of our roommates, which was so great. We wandered around Siena for about 20 minutes looking for a place to eat that would accept our special meal vouchers, and couldnt find one so we just ended up in the Piazza del Campo for dinner again, oh well, still delicious. I had pizza (although I was a little disappointed, but still very good). We think this restaurant is not the best because they had parmesan cheese in a little pre packaged thing (kind of like sugar) and I found this to be absurd; however the food was still really good. They even gave us some free bruschetta and penne with really delicious tomato sauce. After dinner we came back to the hotel and hung out and caught up with home because we were so tired. Tomorrow, I have cooking class and I am SO excited. We're making gnocchi, some other pasta, tomato soup, and tiramisu. Being in Italy is renewing my love for Italian food, not that it was ever waning, but still, it is so damn good here. If you're lucky, some of you will get to taste the recipes I learn tomorrow when I get home.
Sorry for the super long post, but at least I'm staying updated. I'll try to post more pictures when I get to Firenze (aka Florence) but the internet is pretty bad here so its hard!
Ciao!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Ciao, Italy!
So, as you can see from my post two days ago, I love Italy, the ridiculous amount of time it took to get here was totally worth it. Basically, we had to be on the bus for Heathrow at 5:45 AM, and didn't leave till 6:30 because some people decided they didn't feel like getting out of bed (rude). They unloaded us and our luggage at the airport where we had to wade through everyone's luggage to find our stuff (not an easy task when there were probably 300 suitcases or so). Then got through security (London security is craaaazy) and then our flight was delayed for about an hour, so we literally sat in the middle of the airport waiting for our gate to be posted. This was all made up for when my friend Ali and I got bumped up to first class (the British Airways guy joked it was becuase of my shoes--I knew there was a reason I bought bright orange rain boots). The plane was then delayed about another hour because everyone had so much carry on stuff, that the small plane did not have room for it all and it had to be put underneath. The flight attendants were amazed at how much stuff we had, but we explained it to them and they were extremely understanding. I slept a little on the plane, woke up to eat breakfast (Ali and I pigged out on croissants, mmmmmm), slept more, then woke up to see the hills of Italy underneath me. I was SO excited to see the coast line--it kind of felt like the first time I flew into Israel, I had been imagining what this place and looked like for so long and I was finally here. Just you when you though everything was going to be ok, we get off the plane to find out British Airways has lost literally half the program's bags. Pretty much everyone had at least one bag (including me, yay!) except for a few people, so that took a really long time to get sorted out. Then they took forever and a day to get us on busses, which took even longer to leave the airport, until finally we were on our way to Siena. I fell asleep, but when I woke up my eyes were glued to my surroundings-Tuscany is absolutely stunning. I couldn't decide which direction to look in and forced myself to stay awake despite my exhaustion. I did fall asleep again, and woke up in Siena, where I arrived at my hotel to find I was rooming with Miriam (who is in SDT with me and will also be my roommate in Florence). That night we had dinner with the whole group...complete with three different wines to try and multiple courses (including a cheese platter that had a big chunk of mozzarella and a wedge of the most delicious parmesan cheese, obviously I was in heaven). Dinner took forever which normally would have been fine, but we were all exhausted and just wanted to to go bed, which is exactly what I did afterwards. It was really great to experience a real Italian dinner (complete with a pasta dish (yummy yummy lasagna) and a meat dish (which I clearly did not eat)) They really love their food here and really take the time to enjoy it. It was such a tiring day it was so great to get back to our room (which is literally a closet, Miriam and I can hold hands from our beds) and go to bed.
Miss you all!
Miss you all!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Just like Marilyn Monroe...
It has been a crazy, but fun first few days here. We were only in London for about 24 hours, so I think we got the fastest tour of London humanly possible, it was exhausting, but so cool to see a city that has so much history. We took a three hour bus tour of the city on Friday afternoon and saw pretty much everything you could want to see in London: Buckingham Palace (beautiful, but you can’t get close enough to the guards to try and make them move so that was disappointing, plus they weren’t the kind that wore the big, furry black hats), Westminster Abbey (where I got my coveted picture in a red telephone booth, which smelled like pee for those of you who were wondering), St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge, you get the idea. We wanted to go on the London Eye (the Ferris wheel which gives an incredible view of London) after the tour, but our tour guide informed us it was closed—lame. After the tour some friends from UMD, as well as three girls we just met, went to dinner at a typical English pub (goal number two checked off) to eat dinner. After dinner, we walked around the West End, which is sort of like a mini-Times Square. I was completely mesmorised by the city around me and probably could have walked around and people watched all night long. We saw a British musical (although I'm hesitant to use the word musical) called "Blood Brothers". I was so excited to see a show in the West End, but "Blood Brother" did not even come close to living up to my expectations--it was the most bizarre production I have ever seen. It was about twin brothers who were separated at birth, one growing up rich and the other poor, and then they become friends, and in the end find out they are brother and one ends up killing the other and the other dies seconds later (sorry I spoiled the ending, but trust me, you don't ever want to see this show, ever.) The music was horrific, it was all keyboard-y and 80s sounding and they probably had two songs that repeated the whole time and the lyrics just changed every so often. One song compared the characters' lives to Marilyn Monroe's and this song repeated over and over and over again, till the point where you could predict what they would say, and my friends and I were dying of laughter at the most inappropriate moments, and never want to hear the name Marilyn Monroe ever again. If you cut out the music though, and look at the show as a play, it would have been pretty decent, but some really bad composer decided to add tacky music to an otherwise good play. Also, they told us Mel C. (aka Sporty Spice) was supposed to be in it and she wasn't. And then there were the three drunk people sitting in front of us being extremely obnoxious--awesome. I'm glad I got the British theater experience, but from now on, I'm sticking to Broadway. After the show, I was SO TIRED (I hadn't slept in like 24 hours at this point) and we took the Tube home (so cool, it's different then the subway because you literally feel like you're in a tube, it's very enclosed and I don't recommend it if you're claustrophobic). Then I finally went to sleep and woke up at 5 am (yes, you read that right), to go to SIENA, ITALY!!!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
LONDON, BABY!!!!
I have finally arrived in LONDON!!! I haven't done so much today because I arrived extremely early in the morning, but now I am sitting in an internet cafe with new friends and my friend from UMD, so perfect timing to update everyone. My hotel room is nice, and I lucked out because I ended up rooming with someone I know and there was only one bed in the hotel room, so lucky us! Tonight I'm going to see a show at the West End, (Blood Brothers) which is pretty much the perfect way to spend my 24 hours in London. I have to run, but longer post later.
Arrivederci!
Arrivederci!
So after one flight cancellation and miraculously shoving all my clothes into two decently bags (underweight!), I am finally on my way to Florence, well really London. My program goes to London for two days, then Sienna, Italy for two weeks where I will finally learn some Italian, and then I finally arrive in Florence at the end of January.
I cannot wait to see what this semester brings but I know it will involve lots of food, beautiful art, and of course, new Italian shoes ( sorry Mom still can't remember the word). And I guess there will be some learning also :)
Arrivederci for now!
Ps. Email me at Atouger@umd.edu and find me on skype!
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