I learned a lot about Italian culture from my host family and one of my favorite Italian singers was Laura Pausini. Here is one of her hit songs that you should listen to, as well! Even if you don't know Italian, she has a beautiful voice.
http://popup.lala.com/popup/360569449482768050
I miss Italy! I miss the lighted up streets as I walked my 25 minute walk home from the Villa Rossa to my 4th story appartment in Campo di Marte. Our last night in Florence was definitely memorable. We finished classes and finals on Thursday and I had the best feeling ever going into my Italian written exam because my Nutrition & Health teacher is also an Italian student. She gave me a big grin and said, "good job! highest grade on the final" as I had taken the nutrition and health final the previous day and it covered 4 chapters. I was not expecting that at all but I'm so happy because I studied my butt off for that last nutrition exam that included about 200 or pages of information. So grades ended up working out fine it Italy, after much hardwork post midterms scare. I got an A- in Italian!! A B plus in Family & Gender In Contemporary Italy and a B in Nutrition & Health.
Maddy, Myra, and I collected Maddy's paintings and sculptures and we took the bus back to Maddy's apartment and then walked to Spero's pizzeria, famous for their Neopolitan style pizza with bigger crusts. Then Myra and I walked back towards school and I headed down the center to do some shopping for family. It was nice to have one last walk down "Via de Servi" the street that I walked so many times while I was in Florence. It goes directly to the Duomo from Piazza Savonarola where Syracuse UNiv. In Florence is located. I admired all the shops, taking everything in as I knew my time in Florence was coming to an end. I had luck with selling books back at Paperback exchange, and I found my mom the perfect lavender scarf. I went to San Lorenzo market to get my dad and brothers Firenze shirts and I finally bought myself a purse. The past 3.5 months Id been frugal and picky about purses, but I finally saw one I loved. I bartered with the lady to sell it to me for treinta euro instead of treinta-cinque.
Then I took in the crisp air and high tailed it back to School because many friends of mine were in the play at the Villa Rossa which was a version of the Importance of Being Earnest. It was really funny even though I was pretty exhausted at this point. Afterwards, there was food and wine of course but I was full from Pizza. After a little socializing and some goodbyes, I walked back to the apartment, down those streets that became less foreign and more apart of me everyday in Florence, as I stood more confidently by the end of 3 1/2 months, didn't wear rainbow sandals anymore, and tried to smile at the occasional Italian instead of put my head down, like they do. Kiera and I packed our things that night and had a final dinner with Alessio, Vittoria, and Ludo. Vittoria made my favorite pesto al genovese lasange. (lasange with pesto sauce) and I helped her make Tiramisu the night before. We had a fun last dinner and Kiera and I continued packing. Id been working ahead on my packing so it wasnt too overwhelming. I said bye to my family before I left to meet my friends for one final night on the town in Florence and goodbyes. Alessio apologized for not being more communicative but I still enjoyed him very much this semester and I gave him a big hug. Ludo came into my room and gave me a very long hug. It really felt like she was my little sister, and Vittoria of course open her arms up in Italian-mother fashion kissed me and gave me a huge hug, and said we'd be in touch.
The last night in Florence was memorable as it poured after being in the Piazza Savonarola with lots of my friends-- all drinking alittle prosecco and taking pictures. We wandered to the Duomo and headed over to Cafe Biggalo, even though I'm usually not found of the American bars. It was special being with maddy and Myra my last night as well as Remi, mary, lauren, Julie, Emily, Aviva, and other girls. Maddy, Myra, and I wanted to try to find a place to dance but the next place we tried was closed. We still had a blast wandering our streets together talking and reminising. We went to Twice which is kind of like a joke--its a discotech where tons of creepy men always try to dance with girls but its also fun to occasionally go to just to dance and its not too hard to ward them off if they are weird. Twice was completly empty!! There were maybe like 9 people there so Maddy Myra and I let loose on the open dance floor.
We didn't stay there too long but when we left it was pouring raining. Long story short, I walked back into my appartment at 230 am, and woke up 430am to get ready for my Taxi that picked me up at 5am. It was pouring rain and freezing and as I walked out of my appartamento, it was snowing!!
Then it took me 49 hours to get home...but that's a boring story :-)
Now I have been home in San Diego and appreciating many things about SD and the comfortability of my own home and family, but I can't say that I didn't end things on a happy note in Florence. I came such a long way from the mosquito bite that closed my eye that first week of classes. I was confident, found happiness again admist some hard times before and after midterms. I gained 10 pounds which was also not helping my self esteem while I was in Italy, but I was loving the food and refused to diet. Now that I am home, I have enjoyed working out and running along Del Mar's coast. I have been eating very healthy and I bought new clothes and cleaned out my wordrobe. I am now packing up my life again to start a quarter at Santa Clara in a new appartment. I don't mind that I don't have a car up at school this year, because I am quite fine with doing it the Italian way, and riding a bike.
Off to Vegas! Ciao ciao and happy new years!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Fall break pictures
Athens-
Some glimpses of what I have missed writing about online:
Greece: Corfu
we stayed at the pink palace, atving, kayaking, unibrowed men on the traghetto or ferry, toga party, card games, happy hours, rooming with tori, traditional greek dancing and plate breaking
Greece: Corfu
we stayed at the pink palace, atving, kayaking, unibrowed men on the traghetto or ferry, toga party, card games, happy hours, rooming with tori, traditional greek dancing and plate breaking
Monday, November 23, 2009
Lets Euro that Star to Rommmmma
I really wish my uploader was not lost so I could share pictures with you guys, they speak so much louder than words sometimes... but what I will do is share them on here when I get home for Christmas break which is less than a month away now!
This past weekend I went to ROMAA ! Yay. I was so excited to travel again on the weekend as staying in Florence all weekend has its pluses and minuses sometimes. Roma brought a life into me that I felt was missing the past 2 weeks. I was able to escape the Villa Rossa and my stresses of school, or daily things and jet on that Eurostar bright and early with a bunch of friends, it was also an all school trip, so included in what Syracuse tutition was. It was a gorgeous day in ROma and we toured the Vatican Museum with Rocky. The Lycoon, Sistine Chapel, School of Athens and Maps Room really stood out to me, not to mention the SIZE of the The Vatican, holy cow. We of course went inside St Peters bascillica and The Pieta was beatuiful. Lauren Romanazzi and I decided to climb to the cupola of ROme which was def. an interesting experience. Im never queasy going up high but as u get higher and higher the passageways get smaller and smaller and slant sideways so its a weird feeling going up, combined with the fact that we had to climb around a man who was passed out and they were trying to bring him back to life...but then we made it to the top and the view is pretty awesome. I gotta say, I enjoyed the Florence view more, I think its more beautiful since you can see Tuscany and The Arno, but Romes view is obviously awing beause Rome is huge! 4 million people i believe.
Lauren and I grabbed lunch and then we met up with our class again outside the bascillica and then headed to our hotel where we all checked in. Hotel was near Piazza Republicca, and right near the train station which was convenient for the next day. I roomed with Maddy, Lauren, and Emily, which was fun. We napped and goofed around at the hotel for awhile. Our room was super hot at the beginning, but we got someone from the hotel to turn off the heat and open the window, since we sadly couldnt figure it out. Maddy was under her bed covers when he arrived and I was on the bed, but Lauren did the talking, and I think he felt kind of awkward, and quickly said buona notte and left. It was funny at the time.
I couldnt nap too long because I wanted to shower and kept saying Were in Rome guyss. Eventually we made it out to explore the city of ROme at night which was a lot of fun. We took the MEtro, changed our train tickets for the next day so we could get back for the Fiorentina soccer game against parma on Sat. night.. We had a group of about 8 of us and we went to the Trevi Fountain, which was so incredibily beautiful, I thought. And we meandered through Piazza NAvona, and passed outdoor restaurants and lights, and Romans out enjoying the pleasant temperature. The streets are bigger, the piazzas are bigger, and there is so much life and vivaciousness in ROMAA. We finally settled for a restaurant near Campo di Fuori which was completely empty at nine but the prices looked right and it ended up being an adorable family run restaurant. Ravioli with spinach and cheese is what I got. Our first destination after dinner was a bar called the Drunken Sailor, an irish pub that was playing the OSU game, and they had ber pong. We made it to two other bars and there was lots of walking, and exploring, which is always fun. We all refused to take a taxi home, so we got home around 230 am and woke up around 8 on Saturday for ANCIENT ROME. Collosseum, The Forum, Capitlone Hill, THe pantheon, and i was abosolutely mesmerized by a Church called del Gesiuex. Great feeling.
By this point we all were feeling pretty tired, but the rest of our time consisted of lunch, gelato, and some shopping-browsing.
hopped on the 450 eurostar back to firenze just in time to attend a Fiorentina soccer game on the Curva Fiesole side, which means we were right in the hubub of the radical Florence fans.. which I will tell you about in my next Blog. So stay tuned!
I dont know how else reads this besides my mom, but thanks for reading whoever you are! I love and miss you all, and hope you are doing well.
This past weekend I went to ROMAA ! Yay. I was so excited to travel again on the weekend as staying in Florence all weekend has its pluses and minuses sometimes. Roma brought a life into me that I felt was missing the past 2 weeks. I was able to escape the Villa Rossa and my stresses of school, or daily things and jet on that Eurostar bright and early with a bunch of friends, it was also an all school trip, so included in what Syracuse tutition was. It was a gorgeous day in ROma and we toured the Vatican Museum with Rocky. The Lycoon, Sistine Chapel, School of Athens and Maps Room really stood out to me, not to mention the SIZE of the The Vatican, holy cow. We of course went inside St Peters bascillica and The Pieta was beatuiful. Lauren Romanazzi and I decided to climb to the cupola of ROme which was def. an interesting experience. Im never queasy going up high but as u get higher and higher the passageways get smaller and smaller and slant sideways so its a weird feeling going up, combined with the fact that we had to climb around a man who was passed out and they were trying to bring him back to life...but then we made it to the top and the view is pretty awesome. I gotta say, I enjoyed the Florence view more, I think its more beautiful since you can see Tuscany and The Arno, but Romes view is obviously awing beause Rome is huge! 4 million people i believe.
Lauren and I grabbed lunch and then we met up with our class again outside the bascillica and then headed to our hotel where we all checked in. Hotel was near Piazza Republicca, and right near the train station which was convenient for the next day. I roomed with Maddy, Lauren, and Emily, which was fun. We napped and goofed around at the hotel for awhile. Our room was super hot at the beginning, but we got someone from the hotel to turn off the heat and open the window, since we sadly couldnt figure it out. Maddy was under her bed covers when he arrived and I was on the bed, but Lauren did the talking, and I think he felt kind of awkward, and quickly said buona notte and left. It was funny at the time.
I couldnt nap too long because I wanted to shower and kept saying Were in Rome guyss. Eventually we made it out to explore the city of ROme at night which was a lot of fun. We took the MEtro, changed our train tickets for the next day so we could get back for the Fiorentina soccer game against parma on Sat. night.. We had a group of about 8 of us and we went to the Trevi Fountain, which was so incredibily beautiful, I thought. And we meandered through Piazza NAvona, and passed outdoor restaurants and lights, and Romans out enjoying the pleasant temperature. The streets are bigger, the piazzas are bigger, and there is so much life and vivaciousness in ROMAA. We finally settled for a restaurant near Campo di Fuori which was completely empty at nine but the prices looked right and it ended up being an adorable family run restaurant. Ravioli with spinach and cheese is what I got. Our first destination after dinner was a bar called the Drunken Sailor, an irish pub that was playing the OSU game, and they had ber pong. We made it to two other bars and there was lots of walking, and exploring, which is always fun. We all refused to take a taxi home, so we got home around 230 am and woke up around 8 on Saturday for ANCIENT ROME. Collosseum, The Forum, Capitlone Hill, THe pantheon, and i was abosolutely mesmerized by a Church called del Gesiuex. Great feeling.
By this point we all were feeling pretty tired, but the rest of our time consisted of lunch, gelato, and some shopping-browsing.
hopped on the 450 eurostar back to firenze just in time to attend a Fiorentina soccer game on the Curva Fiesole side, which means we were right in the hubub of the radical Florence fans.. which I will tell you about in my next Blog. So stay tuned!
I dont know how else reads this besides my mom, but thanks for reading whoever you are! I love and miss you all, and hope you are doing well.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
where did the last month go?
I feel like so much has happened in the last month that I don't know where to begin... we had midterms, my parents came to visit me in Florence, I turned 21, I went to Greece, I had a crappy week after Greece getting midterms back, and sorting some things out at school, I had an amazing weekend in Prague, and then another week at school that was filled with ups and downs. I dropped my art history class, which I think is for the best as it was stressing me out too much and I'm ok on credits for Santa Clara. The classes that I do need to do well on that actually count are Sociology and Nutrition. Nutrition and Health, believe it or not, has been my hardest class here. We have 5 tests throughout the semester, and each test is on 3 chapters of infomration or about 150 pages. My first test really didnt go too well, but the 2nd was better, and the third was the best, but it was still an 80...multiple choice and I don't do too well...but Im keepin on keepin on. Well, I dont want to spend the whole blog sharing my grade worries with you, but they defintiely were there, but I have improved the situation for sure.
I went to my first Italian movie theater tonight. Myra and I saw Public Enemies in Italian after getting apperitivo with 2 other girls, Mary and Maggie. The seats in the theater, just like Italian women are are very small..i dont know how dad and michael woud manage as i could barely fit in them and they have an intermission during the movie.Certainly it was hard to follow but I understod more than I thought I would. Also, instead of a huge concessions stand they just have a man who goes around holding a tray of a few things to sell during the intermission like water, coke, popcorn, and ice cream bars. The theater was smaller than ones at home and actually not freezing cold but quite warm inside.
I finally saw the David on Friday at the Academia. He is truly massive. Maplethorpe's photography exhibit showing the human body forms and movement was also there. Quite the contrast in types of art.
Sleep is calling me, but when I get a new uploader I will post some pictures and go back and recount fall break and Prague and bits and pieces of the last month.
xox
I went to my first Italian movie theater tonight. Myra and I saw Public Enemies in Italian after getting apperitivo with 2 other girls, Mary and Maggie. The seats in the theater, just like Italian women are are very small..i dont know how dad and michael woud manage as i could barely fit in them and they have an intermission during the movie.Certainly it was hard to follow but I understod more than I thought I would. Also, instead of a huge concessions stand they just have a man who goes around holding a tray of a few things to sell during the intermission like water, coke, popcorn, and ice cream bars. The theater was smaller than ones at home and actually not freezing cold but quite warm inside.
I finally saw the David on Friday at the Academia. He is truly massive. Maplethorpe's photography exhibit showing the human body forms and movement was also there. Quite the contrast in types of art.
Sleep is calling me, but when I get a new uploader I will post some pictures and go back and recount fall break and Prague and bits and pieces of the last month.
xox
Saturday, October 17, 2009
weekend in Firenze
This weekend I stayed in Florence and it has been soo nice to be able to sleep in, relax a little, and hang out with friends after what felt like a busy week. Friday, after sleeping in, I wandered to a market that is just a couple blocks from where I live. I was talking to my host mom about needing a pair of boots or some warmer things and she recommended checking out the Campo di Marte market first, which is open every morning. It was fun exploring down there and taking in the market scene. I thought some of the shoes and boots were nice, but it was very busy, and there were lots of Italian women asking for sizes and talking with the men selling the shoes, and I wasn't in the most aggressive mood, to be honest, I didn't know my shoe size in Italian standards...I will go back another time, I think size 10 is about a 41.
Many friends of mine were gone Friday, on the Venice trip or traveling somewhere else, but I met up with Catherine and we grabbed some lunch at a cafe nearby, and then hopped on a bus to the center where we went to the San Lorenzo market, a pretty big market in Florence, were should found a grey coat, and even got it down from 35 to 30 euros. We met up with 2 of Catherine's friends who came to Florence for the weekend. One is studying in Rome,and the other in Milan. They were very nice and fun to be around. We showed them Piazza Signoria, and where the Uffizi is, and took them along the Arno and Pontevecchio, and into the Oltraarno area. We got some gelato and chatted on the sloping sidewalk near the Pitti Palace as a fat pigeon dropped down on a woman's head nearby. It was pretty funny. Showing other people around Florence, made me realize how much I do love fLORence now. I'm really appreciating it now, not that i wasn't before, but Im really starting to feel like its becoming my city, and not a foreign city to me.
Later that night after walking forever to find an apparitivo restaurant, we found Kitch or Kitsch. It was amazing! Such a fun and decorative atmosphere. A drink and all you can eat Italian buffet for 8 euro. Very good deal. We went to 2 other bars afterwards, and walked many streets that night which was fun. Mark, who studies in Milan, kept commenting on how much he loved Florence after being there for like the first hour, which made me think about how happy I am about the size of the city I picked. Its not tooo big, but definitely not too small. Florence is a great size for studying abroad. Especially after hearing about Hillie's commutes living and studying in Rome...mine are a piece of cake compared to hers. We ran into our Moraccan friends on the bus ride home, too.
Today, consisted of sleeping in, going to an American diner with Myra, going to Oblate, a public library in Florence to begin the midterm studying, meeting Sierra for mass at the duomo in english, which we had the wrong time for, but at least we got there. I went out to dinner later with Myra, Lauren, Sierra, and Julianna, and Lauren, Myra, and I got some gelato at a place near Lauren's apartment and then I walked home.
Mom and Dad are in Austria now, I heard from them tonight, and they will be in Florence Tuesday night!
Many friends of mine were gone Friday, on the Venice trip or traveling somewhere else, but I met up with Catherine and we grabbed some lunch at a cafe nearby, and then hopped on a bus to the center where we went to the San Lorenzo market, a pretty big market in Florence, were should found a grey coat, and even got it down from 35 to 30 euros. We met up with 2 of Catherine's friends who came to Florence for the weekend. One is studying in Rome,and the other in Milan. They were very nice and fun to be around. We showed them Piazza Signoria, and where the Uffizi is, and took them along the Arno and Pontevecchio, and into the Oltraarno area. We got some gelato and chatted on the sloping sidewalk near the Pitti Palace as a fat pigeon dropped down on a woman's head nearby. It was pretty funny. Showing other people around Florence, made me realize how much I do love fLORence now. I'm really appreciating it now, not that i wasn't before, but Im really starting to feel like its becoming my city, and not a foreign city to me.
Later that night after walking forever to find an apparitivo restaurant, we found Kitch or Kitsch. It was amazing! Such a fun and decorative atmosphere. A drink and all you can eat Italian buffet for 8 euro. Very good deal. We went to 2 other bars afterwards, and walked many streets that night which was fun. Mark, who studies in Milan, kept commenting on how much he loved Florence after being there for like the first hour, which made me think about how happy I am about the size of the city I picked. Its not tooo big, but definitely not too small. Florence is a great size for studying abroad. Especially after hearing about Hillie's commutes living and studying in Rome...mine are a piece of cake compared to hers. We ran into our Moraccan friends on the bus ride home, too.
Today, consisted of sleeping in, going to an American diner with Myra, going to Oblate, a public library in Florence to begin the midterm studying, meeting Sierra for mass at the duomo in english, which we had the wrong time for, but at least we got there. I went out to dinner later with Myra, Lauren, Sierra, and Julianna, and Lauren, Myra, and I got some gelato at a place near Lauren's apartment and then I walked home.
Mom and Dad are in Austria now, I heard from them tonight, and they will be in Florence Tuesday night!
Monday, October 12, 2009
it actually got cold! (freddo)
Today was the first day since I've been here that it actually felt cold. It rained alot in the afternoon and I was very glad that I brought my jacket to school and decided in the morning after seeing the grey clouds that I would wear socks and close toed shoes. I like it that it was cold today, I hope I see a change of seasons. Today's classes were fine. Our teacher was sick in art history this morning so our TA had us watch a movie on Leonardo da Vinci's last supper. In Italian were are learning the past tense now, now that is a little more challenging.
We had a delicious dinner tonight because Kiera's mom and boyfriend are in town. The lasangne with pesto sauce was to die for! And we had lamb, spinach, and potatoes. We also had tiramisu for dessert which I learned how to make last night with Ludovica and Vittoria. It was fun learning how to make it and see how to make it since I'd never done that before.
Midterms are next week and I have another Health and Nutrition test on Thursday... I cant wait for that test to be over.
We had a delicious dinner tonight because Kiera's mom and boyfriend are in town. The lasangne with pesto sauce was to die for! And we had lamb, spinach, and potatoes. We also had tiramisu for dessert which I learned how to make last night with Ludovica and Vittoria. It was fun learning how to make it and see how to make it since I'd never done that before.
Midterms are next week and I have another Health and Nutrition test on Thursday... I cant wait for that test to be over.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
By some miracle my wind internet is working in the apartment again so now I can try to catch up with the lack of updates. I don't feel like my Sicily pictures fully explained what that trip was like, as those were only like 15 of the 80 pictures, but I do know you all have lives, so I won't overblog the experience. I would like to explain a little more though, that you didnt hear about.
Corleone is the third city we winded through via autobus (yes, for you Godfather buffs - Corleone) where our hotel was. The fields and the views were breathtaking. I felt like I was in an Italian trance. PLus side to bussing is how much of the countryside you are able to see and its really neat driving through the towns. These towns in Sicily are much smaller than Florence and appear poor as well. S staying in a hotel with friends was fun and we had a huge dinner that night with antipasti of salami, cheese, olives, bread with anchovies ( i tried them, but eh they are very salty), we each got a slice of pizza, and some pasta, and then they bring out breaded chicken and fries. Kind of odd. We were all very full. But thats nothing new here.
Saturday morning we were up really early. During breakfast we got a history on the Mafia and a current update from Professor Piombino. We then went to Cinesi to meet the brother of a guy named Peppino Impastoti who resisted the Mafia through public communication. It was intense. From there we went to Monreale where there is this really, really, really old Cathedral and cloister. There were cool mosaics there. Friends reported back that the cannolis were the best in the world, but Im not a big fan of those. I had gelato instead after lunch. I tried a different pizza than margherita! It was called norma and had eggplant on it. So good!
.After that we went to the site of te 1947 Mafia massacre on the farmers of the Albanian village. There were three survivors who recounted their stories. It was really heavy stuff. It was weird to contrast the gorgeous landscapes with that horrible event, and imagine these 80 something year old men as young farmers and little boys, and envisioning and being at the site of the massacre. We heard about the lives of their families and how poor they were, and the impact that the mafia had on their lives. The whole reason we went down to Sicily, well one we of them, was to join the current farmers and resistance movement against the mafia by helping the farmers in the fields. Many Italian students from Tuscany do this as a sign of resistance of the mafia, We met some Italians who were our age that were in Sicily to do this. They were very nice and I tried to speak Italian to them later that night when we saw some of them outside of a bar.
The guys who work on the farming cooperative that we were supposed to farm with offered to take us out for the night in Corleone so we accepted. We were all pretty tired, but wanted to see this aspect of the city since we are usually under an agenda and going from place to place on bus. It was very low key, smaller city, beautiful garden with large trees that we strolled through, and we passed restaurants and a kind of carnival looking area that was small. There was a candy stand and a white awning that looked like a spot where merchants might selll things during the day. The fashion of Corleone boys is even crazier than Florence. They all had those crazy hair cuts in crazy styles. We mostly tried to talk to the Italians from Florence and a few locals outside a bar, and ourselves.
Sunday, We had to be up at 6 to hit the road. We ate breakfast quickly and then went to the grape fields where we were supposed to form. It was gorgeous and the grapes looked so good. From there we headed to Palermo where we arrived to hot weather that I wasnt aware would be the case.We saw a bunch of old churches and building things that really don't have too much significance to talk about. We had a greasy lunch in Palermo at the second oldest restaurant in Italy called Antica Foccaceria San Francesco. They guy who owned it refused to pay the Mafia's protection fee and was therefore, literally, in mortal danger. He now has 5 Carabinieri - the equivalent of Secret Service - with him at all times to protect his life. The Mafia is still a big, big problem around here, and once again learning more about this was one of the coolest aspects of the trip.
Our train left at 4pm. We had sleeper cabins. It was a really cool experience to take a train along the Sicilian coast, I did some Italian homework, and we all hung out. In order to get the train to the mainland the broke the cars apart and put them on a ferry and rejoined them on the other side. I roomed with Emily and Maddie and was on the second bunk, and had a terrible nights sleep, but we made it back to Florence. The next 2 days were a little rough recooperating but then this week really shaped up and was a lot of fun.
I joined a gym that I hope I end up using more. More planning and figuring out of locations to go in November, and with who, and coordinating is coming together more. The trip Im most excited about besides fall break coming up in greece is going to Vienna and Salsburg in November. We are going to do the Sound of Music tour too, and Ive heard amazing things about Salsburg.
Tuesday night I went out to Lions Fountain with my roomate and some other friends. Its an Irish bar in Florence and they had the medals from the soccer tournament we played in 2 weeks ago. Cal. State Univ. were the champions. We went to another bar, and Twice for a little bit, but nothing more than that.
Wed. I got to see one of my mom's best friends and her husband. I met them at their hotel which was luckily only 10 min walk from school, and the three of us went out to dinner to an extremely nice and bonafide Tuscan restaurant called Cibrero. It was great to see them, and it felt extremely comfortable and I'm really glad we made it happen. I got home and studied for lmy Italian quiz, which I think I did well on.
I'm running out of steam with this long of post, as you probably are too, but I have to say that my best night in Florence was Thursday. Instead of going to bars, and discotechs, and seeing Americans, we went to this Piazza by school that has a little bar and we hung out there where many Italians usually are. My goal was to speak Italian with some locals and it happened by the end of the night. Before I knew it, I was speaking to 4 Italians/ Moroccans and we all played soccer in the piazza together. They have become our friends now and last night after I got back from the day trip tp Pisa and Lucca, Catherine and I hung out with Salah, Madi, Salah, and the name cant pronounce. They are very nice, and we went to a bar that had a lounge area and just talked. It was challening at times because their English was not the greatest except for one of them who did a lot of translating, but I also was forced to try much more italian. I loved it. It made me realize how much easier it has been for me to communicate with my host family since they speak English, but it was a great change of pace to be around Italians instead of all Syracuse students.
Pisa and Lucca were cool, but not my favorite cities of Italy.
Thanks for reading, if you hung in there with this super long post!!
BIIG hug, I miss ya'll but had a much better week in Florence :-)
Corleone is the third city we winded through via autobus (yes, for you Godfather buffs - Corleone) where our hotel was. The fields and the views were breathtaking. I felt like I was in an Italian trance. PLus side to bussing is how much of the countryside you are able to see and its really neat driving through the towns. These towns in Sicily are much smaller than Florence and appear poor as well. S staying in a hotel with friends was fun and we had a huge dinner that night with antipasti of salami, cheese, olives, bread with anchovies ( i tried them, but eh they are very salty), we each got a slice of pizza, and some pasta, and then they bring out breaded chicken and fries. Kind of odd. We were all very full. But thats nothing new here.
Saturday morning we were up really early. During breakfast we got a history on the Mafia and a current update from Professor Piombino. We then went to Cinesi to meet the brother of a guy named Peppino Impastoti who resisted the Mafia through public communication. It was intense. From there we went to Monreale where there is this really, really, really old Cathedral and cloister. There were cool mosaics there. Friends reported back that the cannolis were the best in the world, but Im not a big fan of those. I had gelato instead after lunch. I tried a different pizza than margherita! It was called norma and had eggplant on it. So good!
.After that we went to the site of te 1947 Mafia massacre on the farmers of the Albanian village. There were three survivors who recounted their stories. It was really heavy stuff. It was weird to contrast the gorgeous landscapes with that horrible event, and imagine these 80 something year old men as young farmers and little boys, and envisioning and being at the site of the massacre. We heard about the lives of their families and how poor they were, and the impact that the mafia had on their lives. The whole reason we went down to Sicily, well one we of them, was to join the current farmers and resistance movement against the mafia by helping the farmers in the fields. Many Italian students from Tuscany do this as a sign of resistance of the mafia, We met some Italians who were our age that were in Sicily to do this. They were very nice and I tried to speak Italian to them later that night when we saw some of them outside of a bar.
The guys who work on the farming cooperative that we were supposed to farm with offered to take us out for the night in Corleone so we accepted. We were all pretty tired, but wanted to see this aspect of the city since we are usually under an agenda and going from place to place on bus. It was very low key, smaller city, beautiful garden with large trees that we strolled through, and we passed restaurants and a kind of carnival looking area that was small. There was a candy stand and a white awning that looked like a spot where merchants might selll things during the day. The fashion of Corleone boys is even crazier than Florence. They all had those crazy hair cuts in crazy styles. We mostly tried to talk to the Italians from Florence and a few locals outside a bar, and ourselves.
Sunday, We had to be up at 6 to hit the road. We ate breakfast quickly and then went to the grape fields where we were supposed to form. It was gorgeous and the grapes looked so good. From there we headed to Palermo where we arrived to hot weather that I wasnt aware would be the case.We saw a bunch of old churches and building things that really don't have too much significance to talk about. We had a greasy lunch in Palermo at the second oldest restaurant in Italy called Antica Foccaceria San Francesco. They guy who owned it refused to pay the Mafia's protection fee and was therefore, literally, in mortal danger. He now has 5 Carabinieri - the equivalent of Secret Service - with him at all times to protect his life. The Mafia is still a big, big problem around here, and once again learning more about this was one of the coolest aspects of the trip.
Our train left at 4pm. We had sleeper cabins. It was a really cool experience to take a train along the Sicilian coast, I did some Italian homework, and we all hung out. In order to get the train to the mainland the broke the cars apart and put them on a ferry and rejoined them on the other side. I roomed with Emily and Maddie and was on the second bunk, and had a terrible nights sleep, but we made it back to Florence. The next 2 days were a little rough recooperating but then this week really shaped up and was a lot of fun.
I joined a gym that I hope I end up using more. More planning and figuring out of locations to go in November, and with who, and coordinating is coming together more. The trip Im most excited about besides fall break coming up in greece is going to Vienna and Salsburg in November. We are going to do the Sound of Music tour too, and Ive heard amazing things about Salsburg.
Tuesday night I went out to Lions Fountain with my roomate and some other friends. Its an Irish bar in Florence and they had the medals from the soccer tournament we played in 2 weeks ago. Cal. State Univ. were the champions. We went to another bar, and Twice for a little bit, but nothing more than that.
Wed. I got to see one of my mom's best friends and her husband. I met them at their hotel which was luckily only 10 min walk from school, and the three of us went out to dinner to an extremely nice and bonafide Tuscan restaurant called Cibrero. It was great to see them, and it felt extremely comfortable and I'm really glad we made it happen. I got home and studied for lmy Italian quiz, which I think I did well on.
I'm running out of steam with this long of post, as you probably are too, but I have to say that my best night in Florence was Thursday. Instead of going to bars, and discotechs, and seeing Americans, we went to this Piazza by school that has a little bar and we hung out there where many Italians usually are. My goal was to speak Italian with some locals and it happened by the end of the night. Before I knew it, I was speaking to 4 Italians/ Moroccans and we all played soccer in the piazza together. They have become our friends now and last night after I got back from the day trip tp Pisa and Lucca, Catherine and I hung out with Salah, Madi, Salah, and the name cant pronounce. They are very nice, and we went to a bar that had a lounge area and just talked. It was challening at times because their English was not the greatest except for one of them who did a lot of translating, but I also was forced to try much more italian. I loved it. It made me realize how much easier it has been for me to communicate with my host family since they speak English, but it was a great change of pace to be around Italians instead of all Syracuse students.
Pisa and Lucca were cool, but not my favorite cities of Italy.
Thanks for reading, if you hung in there with this super long post!!
BIIG hug, I miss ya'll but had a much better week in Florence :-)
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