From across the pond

June 10-17 (oops)

2010-06-16T03:37:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to pull away

My personal favorite

View from the tower in Siena of their Duomo and the Basilica

Statue of Paul - I imagined him to be skinnier for some reason

It was the oddest thing in southern Italy it was constantly hazy everyday no matter where you were - not ideal for scenery shots

This was once under 20 feet of volcanic ash - crazy huh?

Town of Positano from the beach - I don't think that mountain can hold anything else

Another one from Amalfi

My hostel/cabin in Sorrento - not bad really for 11 euro per night if you ask me

Thursday June 10 - Left for the Amalfi Coast (portion of southern Italy) with my roommate around 5 from Florence and made it to Naples to transfer trains. We decided to get dinner there - glad I didn't stay too long. Naples was not the most pleasant of places in Italy, trash everywhere, dirty clothes covering the streets, little kids playing in piles of cardboard and trash. Needless to say we didn't venture out too far. We got on a train to Sorrento and made it there around 10:30-11pm and found our hostel (which ended up being a cabin in the woods). Now the night gets interesting. We decided to walk around and find a place to sit down and relax for a bit so we found a hotel that had an outdoor sitting area. When we were about to leave, one of the people that worked there asked what we were doing to night. Told him probably going to call it an early night and go to bed but he insisted that we went to the city center with him (where everything is). So I figured "when in Rome (but in this case Sorrento)" and we hopped in the car with him and one of the chefs at the hotel. Roberto turned out to be a real nice guy, we walked around Sorrento (which is really just one street) and met some of his friends, grabbed a late night snack and made our way back to our cabin.

Friday we decided to go to the Island of Capri which was just a short ferry ride from Sorrento. It was a pretty cool place, very expensive, very beautiful, the works. We took a boat tour around the island where we went to the Blue Gratto (major bust in my book). Sure it was cool and all but I wouldn't do it again or advise anyone else to. After that we found a beach, kicked it for a couple hours, then made it back to Sorrento where we spent the night walking around some more and checking out different places in town, ran into some other people in our program who were down there with a tour group from Florence then called it a night. Overall, Capri was great and all - good scenery and famous people live there but it was a bit too expensive for my liking.

Saturday was great. We woke up, grabbed some breakfast on the way to the bus stop, and made our way to Positano (about a half hour bus ride). I'm not going to lie, I don't think there was any kind of straight away the entire 25km. Mad props to the bus driver and everyone who was on board that didn't vom. This place was incredible - warm water, sandy beaches (in contrast to the rocks that have been at all of the other places), great food, the world cup was on, and it wasn't very expensive. We met up with some friends from the tour group and got boat to go swimming through caves and cliff jumping - it was cheaper if there was more people so we figured why not. First stop, cliff jumping. We pull up and our driver tells us to get out and go up - so we did. 4 of us ended up jumping off the taller one and let me tell you, 35 feet looks a whole lot like 100 feet when you're toes are hanging over the edge. Next stop, swimming through caves. Same drill - he stops the boat and tells us to go out. It was really cool until we noticed jelly fish were everywhere so I sped it up a little bit and got to the boat as soon as I could. Last bus back to Sorrento was at 6:30 so me and my roommate hung around the beach, watched a little bit of the world cup, then made our way back. USA vs. England was on tonight and the tour guides from Florence rented out a patio and a couple of projection screens so we tagged along with them. The game was intense - especially when there are 75 Americans and 1 guy from London (the tour guide) watching it. Needless to say he went nuts when they put one away right at the start. After the game I got some fish and chips, walked around, checked out a few places, then made my way back to the cabin.

Sunday: We decided to go to Pompeii to check out the ruins and climb Mt. Vesuvius but had to make sure we were in Naples by 6:50 for the last train to Florence. It was a really cool town. We didn't go to the city just the ruins of the ancient city that was buried in 79AD after Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Covered in 7 meters of ash it wasn't excavated until a couple hundred years ago. So there's some history for you. We walked around the Ruins for a couple of hours which was really cool to see. I think they said that 3/5 of the town is uncovered and it's neat because you can see them work at it and the parts that haven't been dug up. We just missed a bus going to the volcano so the next one wasn't for 20 minutes which would put us in a tight spot with trains to Naples (by tight spot I mean we would miss the last one there that would put us there on time). So we decided to do it anyway and "figure it out later" which became the theme for me the rest of the week. We get to the transfer spot on the mountain where we hop into a truck that takes us a little higher where from there you can walk to the rim. This is also the place where you pay at. My roommate didn't have any money on him - literally not a single euro. So he went back down and figured that would be best for him anyway since he was now guaranteed a train to Naples and I told him that I'll go on up and try to meet him in Naples at the train station. So I go up knowing that I won't be able to be back down in time to make a train if I stay with the group that took us. So I ditched them. Walking around the volcano I saw some people who weren't with us and asked them how they got there. Apparently there is a parking lot on the other side of the mouth of the volcano where people can come on their own with their cars. Now up until now, plan A was to get a train to Rome, find some Americans at a bar or something and try and crash at their place, then catch an early train to Florence in time for class Monday morning. Plan A was quickly changed to getting a ride with someone who drove up here themselves to the closest train station. Made my way to the parking lot and found a taxi who was waiting for a group to come back from the volcano and take them to the train station in some town I hadn't heard of nor remember the name of so I tagged along with them (thankfully there was one extra seat in the van). Made it to the train station, already had a ticket, 20 minutes later I was at the Naples train station, ran into my roommate at the ticket line and had 25 minutes to spare. Somehow everything worked out. From there we went straight to Florence and got back to the hotel around 10:30.

Monday, June 14 (my birthday mind you): had class where one of my professors had some kind of cake because he remembered that it was someone's birthday but confessed he didn't know who. After class and lunch a group of us went to a town called Siena which was like an hour away. It was a neat, smaller, town with a few cool churches, a duomo, a tower you can climb to see a view of the whole city, and an huge plaza in the middle with places to eat and whatnot. It was a quick and fun trip to a place that I wanted to go to since we got here (since we learned about Catherine of Siena in our history class - I try to make things relevant). Got back just in time to find a place to watch the Italy vs. Paraguay match. There were probably 500-600 people at this park right on the river watching it on a huge projection. It was incredible. When Italy scored you would have thought they won the entire tournament. People screaming and jumping and throwing anything they had in their hands at the time. It was a blast. After the game some of us ended up at a kabab place and that was where I had my birthday dinner (very memorable let me tell you - reheated fries and a kabab). In all seriousness thought it was pretty good. Now I'm 22.

Tuesday: I had my history final today which wasn't anything too much to worry about. I tried not to let schoolwork get in the way of things I wanted to do and I think it worked out. Still don't know what I got but it's whatever. Then I decided to go walk around a bit through the markets which is always a treat. Walked through the city for a little while then some of us had dinner outside of the Piazza De'll Republica - mainly because there was someone playing live music in the square. Dinner took a while (a common theme in Italy) then I went back to a cafe next to our hotel to watch the second half of the Brazil game/attempt 1 at studying for my politics final. Called it a really early night because I wasn't feeling too hot (sore throat, head ache, hot flashes, the works).

Wednesday: Woke up around 9 to study (test at 11:30) and felt a little better. After a shower I was ready to go so I set up camp at a cafe near our school and looked over my notes a few times while people watching. One thing I miss about America is being able to understand people talking around me. Took the test, finished relatively quickly, and caught a 2:30 train to Modena which was about an hour away. From there I took a 15 minutes bus ride to Maranello where the Galleria Ferrari is. This town was crazy - Ferraris and Lamborghinis everywhere, on display, people driving them around, people test driving them. It was an exotic car fantasy world and I was in heaven. I walked through the museum for about an hour and a half - looked through every car about 5 times and even got to sit in some of them. It was sweet because there were no ropes or glass panels to keep people away or anything like that. Just Ferraris everywhere. Found out the last bus that I could take bake to the Modena train station was going to come by around 7:45. 7:56 rolls around and so does the bus (punctuality is not stressed here - other than situations such as this it really works for my advantage). The bus ended up taking me to the Modena bus station which was 2 miles from the train station. It's 8:17 and the train leaves at 8:34 (this is the last one to Florence for the night). A bus to the train station isn't coming for another 15 minutes so I book it. Strap my backpack to me while holding my phone in my hand with the map app opened so I know where to go (that thing saved my life many times this trip). I get the the train station with 3 minutes to spare, buy my ticket, find my platform and hop on 45 seconds before the doors close. The train connected in Bologna and I was sitting in my chair sweating profusely for that 25 minute ride (I feel bad for whoever sat there next because I don't think they get cleaned too often). Make it back to the hotel around 10 and I'm good to go. Realized I hadn't eaten dinner yet so I go out for a while and grab something to eat. A bunch of us ended up at this really cool outdoor place that someone had free admission passes (to avoid the cover) and hang out there for a while. Dinner always tastes good when you're really hungry and that was happening more and more often.

Thursday: Last day for a lot of people. I went to all of the places, churches, and museums that I hadn't been to yet (Santa Croce, The Uffizi, Mercato Centrale, and The Bargello. Turned out it was a good day for museums because it poured down rain all day (at one point it was hailing). As much as I like museums I think it would have been a better idea to spread these out more throughout the month but oh well, can't do anything about it now. We had dinner at our hotel as a program which was really nice - I'm talking 5 course meal. That lasted a pretty long time with the food, the stories, toasts, updates, and "remember whens". Then the professors hung out with us for another few hours which is always a lot of fun getting to just hang out with them and not talk about school, class, homework, readings, or tests - reminds you that they enjoy teaching abroad just as much as we enjoy studying abroad (it also helps that they are getting paid to do it). People laughed, people cried, I had another kabab. All in all it was a great last night with the whole program.

June 7-9

2010-06-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

This week is flying by faster than I had ever imagined. I can't believe it's almost Thursday which means I only have about a week left. It seems like I got here last week but I remember thinking about how I have so much time here and I'll have plenty of time to do everything I want to do. Well now I still have plenty of stuff I want to do with little time I have left - funny how that works out. Monday I think I was in an Interlaken coma all day. I definitely needed just a day of rest which turned into me falling asleep at a park for a couple of hours. I walked around a bit and made a couple of phone calls then called it a night (trying to save money I had a quarter pound of cheese I bought the other week for dinner...bad idea).

Tuesday was a full day of walking/exploring/taste testing (which is just an excuse I give myself for trying all kinds of coffee). I got to check out places in Florence that I had never seen before, gone into stores that I hadn't even acknowledge and talked to people who knew very little english. It was a lot of fun and I got to go out of my comfort zone a bit. That's funny just in the fact that I have a comfort zone in Florence that I need to get out of. At night we had a program tour of the southern portion of Florence which pretty much took up the entire night since it was so far away and covered so much ground. Although I was glad I got to go up to the top of the Michelangelo again and see the sun setting it was a little too much walking for my liking. After realizing that I still had some homework to do I finished that reading and attempted to get a decent night sleep although our hotel has no air conditioning.

Today (the 9th) we had an afternoon class as well as a morning class for History. Typically my schedule has been to have lunch, take a nap, then go out for the day but this put a little curveball in my routine. So instead of taking my typical nap I was in class - fighting the urge to close my eyes (I'm sorry if you're reading this Dr. Carter, it's nothing against your lesson I was just really tired). After that I thought it would be a good idea to go out and pick up some Florentine treats for my sisters - fail. I walked around for like 3 hours getting distracted and going through museums and came back with nothing (sorry Tess and Jill). But I did get to see Michelangelo's statue of David which was incredible. It was funny watching the ladies who worked there yell at people who were taking pictures for a little while. I ended up just getting a coke for my walk back home which isn't exactly what I set out for. Oh yea, and I got a pastry - I worked up an apatite walking around so much. Maybe next time I'll be a little more successful in my ventures. One cool thing that I stumbled upon was that in the plaza right across from our school it was like the cool place to be for Italian teenagers. There must have been a couple hundred people just hanging around talking, juggling a soccer ball, and hanging out all while drinking a beer or something of that sort. It was so weird to watch and observe such a large crowd of teenagers with alcohol readily available (there was a stand) but at the same time being so chill and so quiet and so coherent (there was no one throwing up or being obnoxious or anything like that). Just enjoying spending time there with each other. Try to pull that one off America. Kids these days. e

Not too many interesting picture from this week so far (at least nothing that I haven't put up already). But I did catch a little boy on video drinking a beer his dad was giving him. And when I say little I mean maybe 4 years old. Put this on youtube and it's guaranteed to go viral within a week's notice.

2010-06-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Donatello's Mary Magdalene @ the Duomo Museum - I stood in front of it for about 12 minutes just staring at it

The Colosseum in Rome - I could walk around it all day

Paragliding in Interlaken - pictures can't do it justice

45' jump while canyoning in the Swiss Alps - nbd

150' repel to start off the day - the rope was hooked on to a highway guard rail...still don't know how I feel about that

extreme

Taking a break to take some pictures while riding scooters through the Swiss Alps

John and Trey (respectively)

Okay, it's safe to say that it's been a while since I've updated anyone who cares on my whereabouts and whatabouts in Europe. The past 7 days have been a blast from Rome to Switzerland and everything in between. Our entire program went to Rome on Monday and Tuesday in place of class. That place just blew me away with all of its history and remnants of ancient civilization - it was mind boggling to think about everything that we learn about growing up happening on the ground I was walking on. Went through the Vatican and saw the Trevi fountain on Monday - both of which were just jammed packed with people (a common theme throughout Rome). Lunch was on UD so that was a treat as was dinner the next evening. Went to a place that was showing the Duke Notre Dame lacrosse game, met some guys that play for Villanova (or apparently beat Notre Dame earlier in the season so there was some bitterness in their hearts while watching) so that was a good time then called it a night. The next day was filled with churches and other historical sites in Rome. Spent a couple hours in and around the Colosseum and couldn't seem to stop staring at it - needless to say I was bummed I had to leave it. I kept thinking about Gladiator (2000) and looked for traces of Russell Crowe's biceps. Spent some more time hanging around at the Trevi fountain then made my way back to the hotel we were staying at to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner. A short 3 1/2 hour bus ride and we were back in Florence.

The rest of the week was spent in Florence going to different museums and catching up on some schoolwork. I did manage to find a place to trim my hair due to the increasing temperature in Florence. It was a barber shop ran by an elderly Italian guy who spoke very little english so that was an experience - especially when I found out that I agreed to a 9 euro clean shave.

Switzerland. Probably my favorite place in the world. The scenery is breathtaking and everyone is your best friend. It was in the 70's the whole weekend and you could still see snow on top of the mountains (which were in every direction). Interlaken is a funny little town settled in between two lakes that are surrounded by mountains. For being such a popular place for college tourists to go to it was so chill and laid back and not crowded at all. We rolled in around 9 or 10 and got settled in our hostel room then walked around a bit before crashing for the night since we had to wake up pretty early to sign up for things. 8am hits and me and Trey Stuckenschnieder were all set to go for paragliding and canyoning. Paragliding was sweet - we drove 3000 feet up a mountain to the "launch point", clipped in with our guide and took off. Before I knew it I was flying around over mountains and across lakes. 20 minutes later we do a hand-full of corkscrews and land. Such an incredible view and really cool experience. Canyoning was a bit more extreme. 12 of us drove an hour away to a canyon, suited up in our canyoning suits (intense wetsuits), and repelled down a 150 foot cliff to get to our starting point in the river. So for about 2 1/2 hours we were wading through a river, jumping off of 45 foot cliffs, sliding down rocks, and having the time of our lives. Our guides led us through everything with somewhat vague detail on what exactly we were supposed to do. A common bit of advice was "don't f*** this up or you're done for, cancelled" - pretty comforting if you ask me. The water was bone cold but it really only affected our hands and face (everything else was covered). All in all it was a great day. Back at the hostel (which was really a college kid's haven complete with an outdoor grill/patio, living room, dining room, basement bar, and rental equipment) they had the Italy/Switzerland friendly match on so a bunch of people crowded around the t.v. and watched that then headed to bed. Woke up the next morning at 4am to someone in our room pleading for a bucket as he vomits all over himself. Then again at 6am. And again at 8am. Needless to say it was a very broken night of sleep but surprisingly I felt very well rested. Found out I had to catch a 1:30 train out of Interlaken so I had around 3 1/2 hours to kill so me and Trey decided to rent mopeds and ride through the Swiss Alps (doesn't everyone want to kill time doing that?). It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life. The scenery was beautiful, the air was clean, and we had absolutely no POA, just riding through the mountain back roads. We stopped at some place for lunch about 35 minutes outside of Interlaken then headed back. I returned the scooter, bought a knife, and hoped on a train to Florence. It was rough having to leave and honestly if I didn't have a midterm the next day I probably would have stayed.

Wow, hopefully I won't have to fill you in on an entire week again. But it was fun thinking back on it. We'll see what this week has in stock - I literally have no plans yet. I like it.

Day 12/13: Touring Tuscany

2010-05-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

Mario's front yard - tough life right?

Mario - the owner of the last vineyard who gave us a tour

Jerry and his dog Russell (just a guy on the tour)

First stop on the winery tour

Barrels and barrels filled with aging wine

At a stopping point on the bike ride looking back at the castle

A view from the top of the castle

Okay, crazy busy weekend. Yesterday, the 29th, my roommate and I went on a Tuscan bike tour. Little did we know that from the meeting point we took vans to a castle winery like 40 minutes away. The group of us (about 15 people) got a tour of their estate and learned the history of the family and the castle we were at. The people on the tour with us were crazy (in a good way). One couple was traveling around the world for 6 months, another was traveling through Europe for their honeymoon, another had just gotten engaged and they thought they should go on a 4 month stint around the world before they settled down, and one guy was traveling in between events he was DJ'ing in Egypt and Barcelona. Then we started the bike ride - it was beautiful. Riding through the rolling Tuscan hills was second to none. Then after about 8 or so miles we stopped for lunch at this family restaurant in a town I'd never heard of. We got salad, pasta, bread, water (which is never free), dessert, and coffee all included in the tour price. It was incredible. Then we made it back to the castle where we said our thank-you's and good-bye's to the family and made our way back to Florence. Being that it is the gelato festival this weekend in Florence we thought it was a good idea to stop by a couple of places and try out their product - we approved. Knowing that we had an early morning the next day I decided just to hit the hay and try to get a good night sleep. Plus I was kind of worn out from the ride - haven't exercised in a while.

Today, the 30th, was a full planned day - 8am-8pm with winery tours in the Tuscan region. There is this thing called Cantine Aperte (meaning: open cellars) where all of the winery's in the Tuscan region open their property to the public and show people around their estate, their vineyards, and the process in which they make wine. It was really fascinating and I might have even learned a thing or two. Everyone was so nice and super friendly - probably because their life was to work on a vineyard overlooking hundreds of rolling acres. After the second stop our group of about 25 stopped at a small town called Pienza for lunch and a little break. Someone told me that this place was know for cheese so I couldn't resist making a purchase. The last winery we stopped at was great. By far my favorite people. The owner was this 80 year old man who got all dressed up for us in a suit and had, showed us around everything and flirted with anything in a skirt - but it was okay because he's old and it was more cute than creepy. The scenery was unreal. It literally looked like a painting. Words can't do it justice, not even photos. It was everything you think about when you think of Tuscany and I was in the middle of it. Winding roads, rolling hills, vineyards and pastures as far as the eye can see and not a trace of commercialization. The thought of a Walmart made me sick to my stomach. After a 2 hour bus ride back to the hotel I think I'm ready for some deep sleep. Our program is leaving at 6am for Rome tomorrow for two days so I'm going to need all the sleep I can get.

Day 10/11: catching my breath

2010-05-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

Cool bike shop I go in like every other day - they have to think I'm plotting to steal a bike or something by now

Mercedes garbage truck - they clean the streets in style

For being so high up with only a short railing I'm surprised that there are not any accidents (or people throwing stuff off of the top...which was pretty tempting)

View from the top - like I said, everything

Inside of the dome from about half-way up the walk to the top

Yesterday, the 27th, was another day in Florence. Instead of class our group walked around the eastern section of Florence noting important structures, churches, statues, and museums. It was a good mid-week break from class. This walk-about brought us to lunch back at the hotel and after that I thought it was about time I climbed to the top of the Duomo. It was an incredible sight from up there - you could see every part of the city from one point. The walk up there is a bit difficult though filled with narrow staircases, 2-way spiral stair cases, and elderly people needing to take a break for some air (probably wishing they had their oxygen tanks dragging behind them). Another 486 steps and I was back on solid ground. Decided to go to the Piazza d'ell Indipendenza to get a cup of coffee, a delicious blackberry tart, and do a little reading. It was funny to watch people in the Piazza interact with each other. Groups of people would sit down in a circle in the grass and have a beer, or couples would share a bottle of wine. It's funny because there's no public intoxication law so everywhere you go people are just casually having a drink as if they were carrying an Ice Mountain. Another interesting observation I made was that the garbage trucks in Florence are Mercedes-Benz - not much more to say about that, just found it kind of funny. Dinner consisted of left over pasta from lunch that was chilling in the fridge - which is why I spoiled myself the next night.

Today, the 28th, was a rough morning for me. I wanted nothing more than 3 more hours of sleep when I woke up for class but you gotta do what you gotta do. One double shot of espresso and I was ready to go - until after lunch when I passed out for 2 1/2 hours (a much needed siesta). This weekend is the Gelato Festival in Florence and my roommate and I took full advantage of it. In every Piazza there were tents up selling gelato for really cheap. So I bought 5. I think my mom is afraid I'm getting fat over here - and she's probably more right than wrong but hey, what am I supposed to do? Me and my roommate asked the guy at the front desk where a good place to get a steak was and he gave us his recommendation which turned out to be really good and not too expensive. The only thing was that I'm pretty sure our waiter thought we were gay...there was not much we could do to avoid that in the situation. Since we're going on a bike tour in the morning tomorrow we thought it would be a good idea to stay in and call it an early night. We found a website to watch free movies, decided on A Nightmare on Elm Street. Probably won't use too many nights to watch movies but I think it was what I needed. Busy 4 days coming up. Got to get some sleep.

Day 8/9: Florence, Pisa, and Lucca

2010-05-26T15:12:00.002-07:00

The Ponte Vecchio - over priced jewelry and coats but still looks really cool

Florence city-scape

The Duomo - everything leads to it

A view looking back at Lucca from the wall that surrounds it

Mark that one off the bucket list

Yesterday, the 25th, was a pretty chill day in Florence for me. Instead of class our program went on a tour of a section of the city - seeing the sights, talking about the history of it and wandering the streets. A good break from class to be honest. After lunch, I wandered over to a different cafe in a part of town I'm not too familiar with past our school to do some reading for the next day's class but ended up sitting there getting lost in 2 Corinthians for a couple of hours. Me and my roommate signed up for a wine tasting at some guy's winery in town and it ended up being really interesting - learned all sorts of things about wine ediquitte, what a good wine looks like, how different regions produce certain kind of wines, what meals and menu items go best with certain kind of wines, the history of some famous Tuscan wine...everything. I came out feeling more than informed. After that it was around 8:00 and I thought I'd go to a place on the other side of the river, Piazzale Michelangelo, which is way up on a hill a good ways away from the city center. Turned out it was about a 45 minute walk from my hotel (didn't expect that) but was totally worth the hike. The view was incredible. Once I got back around 11:00 I crashed and went to bed.

Today (the 26th) I had class at 8:30, got an espresso then had class again at 11:30, then had lunch at the hotel at 1. A very standard weekday morning which lets me relax a little and attempt to strike up conversation with someone at the cafe (which usually goes about as far as me asking them if they speak english [in Italian of course], them saying no, and that is that - but that's not always the case). For the rest of the day my program decided we wanted to see Pisa (and the infamous leaning tower) and another smaller city called Lucca. Since it was a bigger group we decided to split it up and go at different times to make traveling easier so me and my roommate went right after class with a few other people and made our way to Pisa. Literally nothing to do there except act like you yourself and all of your might are holding this falling structure in its place (but we expected that). So after a short stint in Pisa we hopped on a bus to Lucca which was just 3o minutes away. It was a good break from busy and loud Florence (which I didn't know how busy and loud it was until I got to Lucca). Similar architecture but just a lot quieter and more peaceful. It's an interesting town because it is completely surrounded by a wall which fortified the whole city. After walking around, finding a place for dinner and getting some gelato we found the next train back to Florence. I have no idea where this day went - from class to now seems like 2 hours (it's been 11 by the way). Well that's about all I have for now - I'm exhausted and could use a good night's sleep.

Day 6/7: Venturing out a bit

2010-05-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

Cinque Terre - Honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been...a close second to the gypsy village

These are all over Italy: It symbolizes an unbreakable love between significant others

A view from the fifth town in Cinque Terre looking back at where we started

Another one of the communities in Cinque Terre

Okay, been a little while now - Sunday was the definition of a full day. Pretty much the whole group of us went to a coastal region called Cinque Terre which is made up of a huge national forest and five little towns within hiking distance from each other. This place was absolutely beautiful with mountains, the Mediterranean, and villages as the setting. We all got on a train at 7:30 in the morning and it took a couple of hours to get there and by the time we hit the third town everyone was ready for lunch. There was a steady flow of people throughout the whole trail and the town we stopped at didn't have too many places to eat so seating was tricky. On our last stop I was in the ocean when all of the sudden I heard someone yell my name from behind me - turns out it was Trey (Bryce's brother who is studying in Milan). Definitely did not expect to see him there! So I got to hang out with him and his friends for the rest of the trip then made my way back to Florence around 7pm. Got home around 9:30 and crashed for the night.

Yesterday (Monday) we had class again then I went and found a plaza to do some reading. A couple hours later I realized I was almost late to a church service I wanted to check out at at 6:00 at San Lorenzo. It was an incredible building with so much culture and history with it. Although I haven't been to too many masses before and couldn't understand a word they were saying it was a really cool experience and I'll try to go to another one sometime soon. Later at night I ran into the tour guide from Cinque Terre and he recommended a good gelataria and I couldn't turn that down - 2 euros later I was more than convinced that pistachio and coffee were meant to be together. Walking around Florence at night is still one of my favorite things to do - there's more culture to be experienced without the tourists running around with maps out asking people if they speak english. It's a lot more relaxed and a lot less crowded which is a good change of pace. My plans keep changing day by day as far as my weekends go but I think by the end of this week I'll be an expert on Tuscan wine with a Tuscan bike tour on saturday and a Tuscan winery tour on sunday. So much to do, so much to look forward to - I can't believe it's already been a week.

Day 4/5: It's not called soccer

2010-05-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Plazza dell'indipendenza

Area around the Duomo - shops and cafes

fantastic marketing by a gelateria (I was sold)

Inside of the market

The past couple of days I feel like I've really gotten to know my way around. At least to the point where I don't need to stuff my face in a map at all times. Yesterday we went on a group tour of a section of the city for class which was kind of pointless but at least it took the place of class for the morning. Afternoon hit and I was in need of a nap - 2 1/2 hours later I felt more than rested (I like this whole siesta thing, I'm trying to make a habit of it). There's a place across the street I like to go to get work done and do some reading so I got a coffee and hung out there for a couple of hours. It was definitely more of a chill day for me. At night the city looks completely different and it's cool to see the churches, cathedrals, and rivers lit up and without all of the tourists.

Today (Saturday) I got to sleep in which was far overdue - followed by a shower and I felt like a million bucks. For the first part of my day I set out to explore a different part of town and ran into some cool plazas, fresh markets, cafes, and parks. The market I stopped at was really cool - people would back their van/truck into their spot, set up a couple of tables and put out their fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and breads. The market probably took up the size of half of a football field. The cafes are interesting because every one of them offers breakfast, lunch, pastries, bakery items, coffee drinks, gelato, and alcohol - the variety is crazy for such small stores. Also, you don't pay until you leave the cafe - so you just order, stay for however long you desire, and then tell someone else what you got and pay. Then I decided to finish my school work (which is just reading that is due before the next class). 8:00 r0lled around and me and my roommate were starving so we found a place to get a burger and watched the UEFA champions league finals match where an Italian team was playing so that was packed and a lot of fun and kind of smelled like BO but thats expected. Italy is a really cool place and I find myself enjoying it more and more as I become more familiar with the culture, customs, and city.

**photos brought to you by my iphone

Day three:walkabout

2010-05-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

A park I stopped at outside of Giardino della Fortezza

My first gelato

Vespas, scooters, and bicycles line the streets

These bike paths are along every street - it's awesome

First day of class was today and it seems like it's going to be really interesting. For taking a history of the renaissance and reformation course I'd say I'm in the right place. I have an hour and a half between classes so I went to a park just outside of our school to sit, read, and witness dove rape. The birds here are very persistent in trying to find a mate and at times I even felt bad for the females. Enough of that though. After classes and lunch (everyday for lunch the people who run the hotel/dorm we're staying at provide a huge meal for us, it's great) I wanted to get a feel for the layout of the city so I grabbed my backpack and stuffed a map in my pocket (like I need one) and set out. There was a cool park outside of some fort, where I was told very sternly that I was not allowed to go into, so I sat on a stone bench and got to read for an hour or so. So far there are three things that I love about Italy 1) everyone kind of speaks english if you give Italian a shot, 2) there are as many coffee shops in Florence than there are Mcdonald's in NYC if not more, and 3) EVERYONE rides a cool old school bike, literally hundreds are chained up on every street. So after my 5 hour excursion I thought I'd look at a map to see where all I had gone - turned out I didn't venture out very far, it just seemed like I did because I stopped so many times either in a cafe or a gelato place, even a couple bike shops (I couldn't resist). Oh well, I'll have plenty of time to see the whole city - although I feel like I could stay in Florence the whole month and still not see everything. Overall there is just a lot of walking around whether during the day or at night and I've taken a nap everyday which I plan on keeping up on.

Day two: Gypsy encounters

2010-05-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

So the flight across the atlantic...not as enjoyable as I expected. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of legroom compared to those not in emergency isles, the food was actually pretty good, and American Airlines played some quality flicks (Up In The Air - starring George Clooney and 17 Again - starring Zac Efron and Matthew Perry). But for some reason I only saw about an hour and a half of shut eye, it was cold, and my legs were begging to be stretched out. I met some people on the plane that were going to Florence through other various study abroad programs and went through the Rome train station with them (it helped that one in my program kind of spoke Italian). Gypsys were everywhere though; trying to steal my train ticket, my lunch, and my soul (okay maybe I took it a little too far there but really). Thinking we should save a few Euros we decided to walk from the Florence train station to the hotel we're staying at and during that walk it decided to rain. Thanks to my spidy sense I wore my rain coat though. Florence is cool, it seems a lot bigger on a map than it actually is so that's good on the feet. I'm hoping to have a lot of down time tomorrow to walk around, get some espresso, take some photos, and just relax for a bit.

Cheers for now.

Day one: getting there

2010-05-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well I'm at the Columbus airport now waiting for my 3:05 flight to Chicago and have around a half hour to kill. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous but that might be due to the lack of sleep and the fact that I didn't pack until Midnight. It was a good final afternoon at home though - went to breakfast with my mom, purchased necessary toiletries, got a hair cut from my Aunt Anne, and wrestled around with Jim. My mom, Jill, and I met my dad at the airport to say our final goodbyes and went through check-in faster than expected so we got to hang out for a little bit.

News update: a drug dog literally just came up and smelled my bag for about 10 seconds.

Oh well, I should probably start paying attention to the boarding call. The next time I post I'll be 4,500 miles away.

This is only a test...

2010-05-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

*work done by Adam Eckley

Well since I'm going to be out of town for a while I figured I can keep anyone who's interested up to date on my life. I'll be in Italy from May 18-June 19 taking classes, seeing the sights, enjoying the cuisine, and meeting new people. My goal is to end up in Interlaken, Munich, and Monaco on weekends and otherwise becoming accustomed to the culture in Florence. I'm really excited to have this opportunity and don't want to waste a minute of my time abroad. Well, like the title says, this was only a test post and I don't even know if anyone is going to follow this but hey, it gives me something to do!

These photos have nothing to do with the post or my trip to italy. I just wanted to mess around with the "add image" feature for this blog site and show off some sweet craftsmanship.