Spring Break and this Past Week

There is just so much to say about Venice and spring break that I don’t even know where to start/ I’m probably not going to spend eight hours writing a blog post about it. I’ll just sum it up with everything was amazing. We were in Venice with school from Tuesday until Friday, when Jessica, Erica, Karina and I left for Paris. 

We were in Paris until Monday when I flew back to Rome and the rest of the girls went onto England. I met up with Kristin (a real old friend from back home) in Rome and we explored Italy for a week. We covered Rome, Venice, Florence and Pisa in a week, and by the end we were dead tired. The best part of spring break was getting to see a familiar face and really get to spend time with an old friend, someone that really knew me and I could be totally myself around (not that I’m not myself with my friends in Castig, it’s just different). 

Torture Museum. Florence.

The worst part of spring break was definitely the Monday that I left Paris and met up with Kristin- it was the most hellish day of traveling of my life. I had to wake up at 5AM, jump a turnstile on a Parisian metro and take four different metros to get to the bus station to take a bus to the airport- that was surprisingly the easiest part of the day. I was asleep on the plane before it even took off! I got to the airport in Rome, but Kristin was coming into a different airport, so I had to take a bus from the airport to the train station and another bus to the airport that she was coming in to. Then Kristin’s flight got delayed so I had to take a taxi from the airport to the hostel to check in and hang out for a while until late that night. Then I took a bus from the hostel to a train station and took a train to the airport to meet up with Kristin. Lets just say that by the time that I saw Kristin at the airport gates I was near tears. It was a rough day for sure; seeing Kristin was the turning point and everything started getting better after that. We had to take a car from the airport to our hostel and the man was really nice. He was joking with us the whole time saying that I should come and give tours for him while he drives people to their hotels because I knew the city better than he did. He was a really sweet guy, another bright spot in my day.

New experiences that I haven’t blogged about: going to Venice and Paris.

Venice.

           Venice was great. I had heard a lot of really negative things about Venice, like you always hear that it is really nasty and everything smells really bad, but honestly it wasn’t worse than any other Italian city that I’d been to. Venice was awesome because instead of roads they’ve got canals and instead of cars they all have boats. It was kind of refreshing to be walking down the street and not have to worry about getting run over by a car. They had great little shops with amazing knick-knacks. We went to the islands of Murano and Burano when Kristin was in town. Murano is known for its glass making and blowing. They can do some of the most amazing things with glass and I saw things that I would have loved to have purchased but I knew that there was no way that it would make it to America in one piece. Burano is a gorgeous little island because everything is so colorful there. The houses are all difference colors and you could tell that it was just a homey little town because all the residents were out in the streets talking to each other about daily life. That island is known for their lace making and there was some gorgeous lace just about in every store. I would have loved to get some, but I couldn’t really think of any use for lace in my life.

Venice.

           With school and Kristin I got to see some pretty amazing things. I went to Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Cathedral, and the Peggy Guggenheim museum. 

St. Marks was absolutely gorgeous- totally covered in gold and jewel mosaics because it was a private church for the Doge (Venetian ruler) and the wealthy. I got to see gold plated bronze horses that are five centuries older than Christ- it was pretty awesome. I feel like I can always find something that takes my breath away. Kristin and I just had an absolute blast in Venice because it was so much calmer than Rome, where we had just come from. It’s a definite change of pace going from Rome to Venice, a nice one. The weather was also much better the second time around when I went with Kristin.

St. Marks. Venice.

            Paris was a lot of fun and I fit so much into two days of being there, it was kind of ridiculous. I saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triumphe, Sacred Heart Church, Notre Dame, Saint Chappell, the catacombs, Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb, and other things that I am sure I am forgetting right now. 

Notre Dame. Paris.

           We stayed in a nice hotel that was in a sketchy neighborhood- Moulin Rouge was a few blocks away if that helps explain. One of the best pieces of advice I’d have for an American tourist trying to get to our hotel at night is to just not look into any of the windows of the stores/bars you walk past. Not only are there strange things in them, but also strange people who are all in various stages of dress.

Moulin Rouge. Paris.

             The Eiffel Tower is bigger than I thought it would be, because I always here how people are disappointed when they see it because they think it is going to be bigger. We got to see it both during the day and at night, and it was gorgeous during both. At night (8PM and 9PM) they turn the “twinkle lights” on and the tower twinkles with a million little lights, it’s really awesome to see. We went all the way to the top and it was little unnerving because there really isn’t much structure to the building because there’s so little to it. It’s just you in the elevator and the world… nothing really between. One thing that I read that I find interesting is that even though the building is so large and heavy, with the construction of it the tower only exerts the same amount of pressure on the ground as a person sitting in a chair. Kinda cool, huh?

Paris.

The Louvre was huge. Way more than anyone could ever see and fully appreciate. We were only there for about two hours and we didn’t know that it closed so early so we didn’t even get to see the main highlights (the Mona Lisa and Hamurabi’s Code) before they started herding us towards the exit. There was a ton of really neat stuff though. I guess my favorites of what I did see were the Egyptian section. It was really neat to see a lot of the ancient stuff especially since I’ve always been really enamored with ancient Egypt. 

Saint Chappell. Paris.

Notre Dame was huge and beautiful, but I think I like Saint Chappell better. The entire thing seemed to be made of glass and it was beautiful to see it with the sun shining in. I was really thankful that Chris told me to go there because I loved it! 

The catacombs were also really net. It did take a few minutes to get used to though. Walking around with piles of human bones surrounding you is definitely not something that you do every day. It was net to see how many bodies/bones they crammed into such a small place and how artfully they could arrange some of them.

Basically Paris was lots of walking in two days and cramming week or two’s worth of exploring into 48 hours. If I go back later when my sister and mom come to visit then I definitely want to go to the Louvre again and also go see Versailles, which I didn’t get to go see this time. I’ve heard the Versailles gardens are worth the trip on their own, they’re so beautiful.

Tomorrow I’ve got plans with Liz to go over to Castiglion del Lago, a little village centered around a lake. We’re going to go hang out and soak in some sun, picnic in the park and hopefully get to get in the water if it isn’t too cold. But now that spring break is over and this weekend is coming to pass we have four weekends left and then my trip with sister and mom. I really need to start panning and figure out what I want to do with my time left here. Things on the to-do list are Capri and Cinque Terre for sure- two beach locations. Other than that I don’t really know what I want to do. We’ll see if anything pops up that catches my attention. I’ve also heard that Lake Como (on the northern border of Italy close to Switzerland) is gorgeous and so worth going. Time is really flying by here. It doesn’t seem like I’ve already been here for over two months. The program ends in 33 days and my flight back to the states is in 40. I can’t believe that this semester is going by so quickly; I honestly thought things couldn’t go by much faster than last semester, but they sure are.

Spring break was a doozy. I had an absolutely amazing time traveling around Italy with Kristin. Two weeks of traveling though (a week in Venice with school, weekend in Paris, then spring break) totally wore me out. This week has been all about recovering from spring break and getting back into the swing of school, or at least what we consider school over here. We only had classes on Tuesday and Thursday this week- I didn’t go to Florence on Wednesday with the rest of the group because I had already been to the museum they were going to visit. Instead I stayed at the center with Katie and Micah and we watched a movie, hung out and worked on some miscellaneous schoolwork. It was kind of funny because I made it all the way until dinner on Friday and then I realized that we didn’t’ have school the next day and that it was already time for the weekend- it was definitely one of the fastest weeks here in Italy.

The weather here has really become amazing. It was great during spring break and Kristin got a week of amazing weather while she was here. Right after she left it rained for a day and now the weather has only continued to get better. Everyone at the center has shed their jackets and sweaters and has turned to t-shirts and shorts. It’s really funny because apparently Italians aren’t big on wearing shorts, so it’s kind of scandalous here or something. We were talking to the Eurospar (grocery store) the other day and the six of us got honked at NINE times! It was hilarious and at the same time kind of annoying. Everyone stares at us wearing shorts too, and it’s not even like we were wearing short-shorts; they are the shorts that everyone wears in College Station, the Nike running shorts. Who knows, I guess we know for future reference though that if we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves to wear pants.

Yesterday (Friday) I hung out at the center in the courtyard and soaked up some of the amazing weather with Jillian, Erica, and Karina. Then we took our trip to the Eurospar. Today my roommate, Liz, and I went to Arezzo to shop around at the antique fair. They have one there the first weekend of every month and it takes over the entire town. You couldn’t believe the amount of antiques that this little town has to sell! They had everything from silver flatware, to crystal glasses, to furniture, to jewelry. There was something there for everyone. I saw this really cool bracelet that I thought Catherine (my sister) would love, but the guy wanted 40 euros for it, and I was like, “I like it, but not THAT much,” so I passed. It was really neat though. It was black metal with crystals and there were three skulls on it. It was kind of something I could imagine her wearing to work at Paul Mitchell or something. Who knows, she also could have hated it! Hah! Something I did find, fall in love with, and then purchase was something for my dad. It was at a stand in the Arezzo town square near the end of our journey throughout town. I was walking by the table and a glass case caught my eye and when I realized what was in it I thought to myself that I had to get something from it for my dad. I looked at everything in the case and chose out something that I thought was neat and also hope that he likes. I am being kind of vague about it because I want it to be a surprise to him when I get back. I did do some research on it when I got back to the center though and found the exact thing online selling for over fifteen times what I paid for it (and I paid what I though was a pretty penny for it!). I’m pretty proud of my find and I hope he thinks that it is awesome as I do!

A pair of the earrings I bought. You can also see the sun I got at Castilion del Lago.

At the antique fair I also bought two cheap pairs of earrings (not really antiques, but cute!) and Liz bought a broach for her hat and an adorable headband. It fair is definitely something that I am glad that I went to and I kind of wish I had gone earlier in my stay. It was awesome and antique-lovers back home would be way jealous of the amount of antiques for sale.

When we got back to Castig we were walking back to the center and there was a wedding party for a couple that had just gotten married at the church right next door. The bride had the most gorgeous dress and Liz and I definitely creeped on them while they were taking photos outside. We were more jealous of the background of their wedding photos than anything. A Tuscan backdrop probably takes the cake for more gorgeous setting for a wedding. Katie told me that she saw the bride and groom in Cocoa Palm (the gelato store) later eating gelato and that she was still in her gown! Talk about eating carefully!

If you’re reading this then you’re probably my family or some of my close friends. I love and miss you all and I’ll be back soon! Gotta stock up on some good Italian souvenirs before I do though. Sorry for the lack of posting, I’ll try and get better these past few weeks. Ciao!

Milan

This past weekend, Katie and I went to Milan and it was so amazing!

We started off the weekend going to Florence with class and we went and saw the Jewish synagogue there. It was influenced by the Mores, so it really just looked like a huge mosque. It was neat to see a change in scenery from the catholic cathedrals that we always go to, but I think I prefer the cathedrals. We did not get to take pictures inside (we weren't allowed to take ANYTHING inside) or I would have taken lots of photos to show the absolute difference between the synagogue and the cathedrals we've visited. First of all when we entered the synagogue we had to go through this massive metal detector/ security device that they typically have at airports that blows air at you to determine if you've got anything dangerous on you. We had to leave everything outside in lockers- cameras, phones, backpacks and purses, they weren't letting anyone get in with anything. My professor said it was a good indication of how safe the Jews feel in Europe.

Synagogue in Florence, Italy.

Katie and I went from the synagogue to get lunch and hopped on a train to Milan. Since we didn't want to spend 3 hours and 45 minutes taking one of the slower trains, we shelled out the extra 20 euro and got on one of the 'EuroStar' trains that only took us an hour and a half to get there. The trains are a LOT nicer than the normal 'regional' or 'intercity' trains that we always take. It was a nice chance of pace, not a lot of students or younger people on them, they were mostly businessmen and women. We napped on the train since we had to wake up at the crack-o-dawn to catch the train to Florence. We made sure to set an alarm though because we were scared that since it was just the two of us that we might both fall asleep and miss our stop.

When we got off the train we walked over to our hotel which we made sure to get close to the train station. We didn't want to have to haul all our stuff across the city to get the hotel. Our hotel was The Best!!!.... literally... the hotel was called Hotel The Best. Haha, they try with English and really make it sound funny sometimes. We dropped off all of our stuff and started walking around and shopped on Corso Buenos Aires close to the hotel. There are TONS of shops on that road and we made a night of it. Later we had dinner- a Burger King was conveniently located next to our hotel so we said 'What the hell' and had food that we were missing.

When we got to the hotel we hung out on the balcony and enjoyed the cool weather because our room was pretty hot and we couldn't figure out how to turn the heat down. I showered and when I came back out Katie was laying on the top of the bed and she looked miserable. The room was trying to bake us alive. We ended up having to turn off heater all together since we didn't know how to turn it down and we slept with the balcony door slightly ajar. While I was laying in bed though I had that feeling that I was going to wake up in the middle of the night and someone was going to be creepily standing at the foot of the bed. Thankfully we were on the third floor though so it would have been quite a climb to get up there.

The next morning we woke up at 8:30 and went downstairs for breakfast. We got croissants, butter, jelly and honey, as well as orange juice and cappuccinos- which Katie can't start her day without :-p. It was great to have a breakfast that we didn't really have to pay for- although I know they fit it into the room price somewhere. We headed out for the day and stopped at the front desk to talk to the receptionist that talks English. We asked her if she would call the church/museum for us that houses Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" and make a reservation for us in my name. When we asked her she laughed at us and told us that we had to have a two month in advance reservation and that it would be impossible to get in to see it. So at least we knew that and didn't waste our time going over there and get turned away.

This is a large open-air market that cropped up overnight in the parking lot outside of our hotel room.
We stopped there after lunch before we went to the duomo.

We started off by walking to the metro station and we bought one day passes for three euros. Milan has a pretty extensive metro system so we relied on it to get us around everywhere that we needed to go. We headed to the duomo- the huge Cathedral- and it is GORGEOUS! It is huge and in the gothic style and I absolutely loved it. Probably my favorite cathedral that I've been in so far... right up there with St Peter's! We went inside and saw some pretty amazing stuff. There is the body of one of the saints and it's in a glass tomb and has a metal mask on the face... kind of creepy, but neat!

Duomo. Milan, Italy.

Duomo. Milan, Italy.

Outside the duomo in the piazza, Katie and I got accosted by some African men that were insistent about putting bracelets on us. We have been warned and I was kind of prepared from my experience in Pisa, but still it was a little unnerving. More than anything it is just annoying though because they wont leave you alone and insist that you take the little string bracelet from them. I just took one and put it in my pocket and walked away and continued to take pictures and ignore him. Katie unfortunately got someone that was a little more insistent. He grabbed her hand and tied it on her wrist while she said "no" about fifteen times. Then once its on her they ask for a donation. Of course she said no because she wanted nothing to do with it. Thankfully we got away relatively unscathed. Now we have "friendship bracelets" and every time that we look at them we remember that "Africa loves us," something that they told us several times.

Carnival celebration. Milan, Italy.

Outside in Milan they were celebrating carnival everywhere, so there was confetti flying and all over the streets and it looked like Halloween on crack! Kids and adults were dressed up and faces painted. There were even face painting station all around, even outside the Prada store! Hah! The weather was gorgeous so we got to walk around and have a blast. We had lunch outside the duomo in this little Luby's-like diner- it was great! We got pasta- of course- and pineapple! It was awesome to have a fruit that we don't get often/I haven't had since I've gotten here.

After lunch we headed over across town to the Monumental Cemetery. It's the kind of cemetery that people pay tens of thousands of euros to get a plot in, and the tombstones were anything but ordinary. One guy had an entire bronze statue reproduction of the Last Supper that was about 30 feet long and 10 feet high; tons of them had little tomb buildings; one had a reproduction of Trajan's column, and my favorite of all was a man who's leg was getting attacked by Medusa's head covered in snakes, while holding a plane propellor. It was interesting and I really wish I knew the story behind it. We spent about an hour walking around the cemetery looking at all the amazing tombs and the hundreds of thousands of crypts that run through tunnels along underground buildings.

Tomb. Monumental Cemetery. Milan, Italy.

Inside Trajan's Column tomb, Monumental Cemetery. Milan, Italy.

Trajan's Column tomb, Monumental Cemetery. Milan, Italy.

Monumental Cemetery. Milan, Italy.

Medusa, propellor tomb, Monumental Cemetery. Milan, Italy. 

Last Supper tomb, Monumental Cemetery. Milan, Italy.

After the cemetery we took the metro back to the shopping district close to the duomo. We started on the street that has Prada, Dior, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc. It was fun to look at all the stores that we couldn't afford anything in. We also go to see people that brought their dogs into these stores. Can you imagine bringing your dog into the Louis Vuitton store in America? I could only imagine what they would say... definitely nothing nice. Along that street we saw two Ferraris, an Aston Martin, and a Maserati. It was funny because it appeared that they only let the "worthy" cars drive down that road. We definitely didn't see any clunkers there.

Expensive cars in the streets of Milan.

After the unreasonably expensive street we went to an area that had stores that we were more likely to purchase things at. We went to the Gap, Sephora, and United Colors of Benniton. I bought three tshirts from the Gap, which Katie teased me about because she said that I could buy in America. Katie bought an adorable dress from United Colors of Benniton and then we decided to go look for a hairband for me because mine broke when I was in Rome... and that's where the day got really interesting.

We went into Accessorize (which is Italy's version of a Claire's); most things in the store can be bought for less than 15 euro and most of it is the kind of stuff that twelve to fifteen year olds love. Okay, so we walked in and I didn't see a hairband that I liked so we continued to look at other things and made out way into the back corner of the store where the saldi (sale) section was. We were back there probably for a total of 60 seconds. I picked up a goofy hat and was about to try it on but a security guard (a big muscly dude) walked up behind us and I thought that he might not be happy if I tried on the hat. Stores in Italy are weird about you touching things in the store if you aren't going to buy it. Katie looked at a set of earrings and then we put it back and left the corner. The security guard stayed back there and was rearranging everything that we had touched. We moved down the wall and were looking at other things and the security guard walked over to us and was like "Come back here." I was a little taken aback but was like... okay... So we walked back there and he holds up an empty thing where there was probably a piece of jewelry and he said "Where is this?" Katie and I look at each other and I are like "Uh, we have no idea." And he was insisted that we had taken it and told us to empty our pockets and show him our bags (Katie had her bag with her dress in it). He searched our bag and looked through my purse and was still convinced that we had taken this. I looked at Katie was said "We're seriously getting frisked in a Claire's right now!" It was really annoying because we could tell that we were getting profiled because we were young and Americans. It took about five minutes before we were like "Dude, we didn't take the thing and we're leaving." We walked out with nothing more than a funny story to tell and a little bit less of a happy attitude. As I told Katie, if we were in America I would have just said, "sorry I didn't take it" and left, because I know in America that they can't search bags. However, since neither of us know the laws in Italy we thought it best to not end up in Milano jail.

Considering what had happened the rest of the night was pretty uneventful. We did a little more shopping and took the metro back to the hotel. We had dinner that we took back to the hotel and fell asleep watching Casper. We were absolutely exhausted because we woke up early and had been walking all day. We slept like the dead.

We woke up early Sunday morning, grabbed breakfast and hopped on the train back to Castiglion. It was a great weekend and I'm really glad that I went with Katie. We've got ridiculous stories and things that we can joke about. Now when she's in a sad mood I just look at her and say, "Hey Katie, remember... Africa loves you," and she laughs. It was definitely a good weekend! :)

Trip to High School

Today we went to the local Castig high school and talked to the students so they could practice their English and interact with native speakers. IT was so fun! Going there we thought we were going to be speaking to a younger group (about 12 years old) and an older group. However, the first group turned out to be 18-20 year olds- so definitely no warm up with the younger children. It seems that we talked about everything! School, hobbies, movies, places to travel, siblings, pets, going out, sports, etc. As for holidays- they seem to celebrate Christmas the same, with Santa Claus and family meals.They don't have the Easter bunny, so explaining that was fun, they definitely had a laugh. They have a variation of the tooth fairy, but it's a mouse instead. And as for Halloween, they dress up and celebrate, but they don't trick-or-treat because apparently the older generation of Italians will throw water out of the windows at people.

Another thing was funny- they brought up drinking and we told them that the drinking age in America is 21. When we were talking to the 18 year old group they told us the drinking age is 18, and then when we talked to the 16 year old group they told us the drinking age is 16. Katie and I had a good laugh about that. Both groups said that the drinking age isn't really an issue and that the bars/pubs don't care. It explains why I see people in bars that look like they are 12 years old. But going to the high school and interacting with the locals is definitely one of my favorite things we've done so far. We've got some pretty sweet new Facebook friends now too! Hah!

Siena

Snow on the nearby hills. 

On March 2nd, the Texas A&M group went to Siena (a close by town in Tuscany). When we left Castig in the morning there was snow on the hills nearby. Thankfully it was much warmer and sunnier in Siena. I slept on the bus ride there, which was about an hour long. Our tour guide for the day was the same one that we had in Arezzo, Giovanni. He's really funny and constantly talking and telling stories to break up the non-stop art and architecture talk. His wife is originally from Dallas and he works as a cabinet maker in addition to being a tour guide.

Relics of Saint Catherine.

Our first stop was Basilica Cateriniana di San Dominico. It was a church dedicated to one of the patron saints of Italy, Saint Catherine. The most interesting thing about the church (at least to me) was that inside, Saint Catherine's mummified head is displayed as a church relic. It was kind of gross, I'm not gonna lie.

Afterwards we stopped at a nearby convent that is built on the site of Saint Catherine's house. We got to see some gorgeous frescoes and mosaic floors. We also got to see enormous choir books that are hundreds of years old.

We went to Siena's town hall which used to be a palace and also serves as a museum. Paintings covered every wall, ranging from medieval to renaissance styles. The room I remember most is a more recent set of paintings dedicated to the resorgimento.

Duomo. Sienna, Italy.

Duomo. Sienna, Italy.

The last stop on the tour was the duomo. It is in the gothic style and is absolutely beautiful. Inside, the columns and walls are made up of stacked limestone and marble to give the cathedral a striped effect. The duomo was built at the same time as the Florence cathedral in competition, but lost because its location on a hill caused architectural problems.

Piazza del Campo.

When our tour ended, Micah, Jillian, Katie, and I went and picked up a quick lunch and ate in Piazza del Campo. The piazza is famous for the yearly house races held there called the Palio. We ate and basked in the sun absorbing the warmth- something we rarely get to do.

The walk back to the bus was an event. Micah, our resident boy scout, decided to take us on a shortcut which took us off the map and into the abyss. Thankfully a woman we saw helped us find our way and we were actually the first people back. We to witness an awkward public make-out session while waiting for the bus to show up. Italians are way different about PDA than Americans it seems. They really have no shame- it may just be the younger kids though.

When we got back to Castig, all four of us roomies took a nap until dinner, which we almost missed if Adrian hadn't come to wake us up. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.

Rest of My Trip to Rome

Rome: Day 2

Yes, I slept until noon, don’t judge me! Haha I was tired and I rarely get the chance to sleep in. Liz and I quickly for ready and ran downstairs and found a pizza place nearby to grab something quick to eat. We had to meet up with the group soon to start a tour, so we were booking it.

Our tour took us to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s. The museum was massive and seemed to go on forever. It housed hundreds of sculptures, paintings, tapestries, and marble funerary pieces. There were several large granite tubs that I think were used for bathing, and when I say large it was probably about eight feet long by four feet wide. All I could think was ‘dang, I’d love to have a bathtub like that!’

The tour of the Vatican museums ends in one the most famous rooms on Vatican soil. I’ll give you a hint: think Michelangelo. If you thought Sistine Chapel- ding ding ding, you are correct!

Walking in was one of those “Am I really here,” “Am I really standing in one of the most famous chapels in the world?” moments. In my head there was just utter silence and absolute awe. Michelangelo’s painting of the last judgment behind the altar was enormous. It showed Jesus at the top directing the division of the masses. There are two books being held by men. The smaller of the two is the book of names of people who were to ascent to heaven; the larger of the two books is filled with names of those to be drug down to hell. In hell there is the man who is in charge of the collection of souls- I forget his name; however, what I thought was funny was that Michelangelo painted him as one of his enemies who had ridiculed his work. He was painted with the ears of a donkey and a snake wrapped around his body biting his genitals. The painter’s was of getting back at his critic, a piece of artwork forever on the apse of a chapel for thousands to see every day.

And when standing in the middle of the chapel- looking up- there it is. One of the most famous paintings in the world. Michelangelo’s Creation of Man. God and Adam reaching towards each other with outstretched fingers. Try not to be jealous folks, I was there! I would have taken a million photos had we been allowed to, but to preserve the integrity of the paint and vibrant colors they removed even the possibility of a flash going off by banning photography all together. We spent about 20 minutes in the chapel and about 18 of those I spent with my head tilted back looking at the ceiling.

From the Sistine Chapel we exited and walked down a set of stairs that lead us to the right side of St. Peter’s Basilica. We entered though massive doors. When I walked into the basilica all I saw was massive expanse. It claims to be the largest church in the world and standing there realizing how small I was inside left me with little doubt they were lying. Once you enter, on the right is Michelangelo’s Pieta- a sculpture that he did when he was my age. It made me feel really accomplished, HAH! The content of the sculpture is far from rare, but the way he did it, the small change was what made it famous. Michelangelo carved into white marble Mary holding the body of Jesus after his removal from the cross. Instead however, of showing Mary in the elderly state she would have been in while having a son being 33 years old, Michelangelo depicts Mary as quite young. The tour guide told us that he carved it showing Mary seeing her son’s impending and unavoidable future. The sculpture is behind bulletproof glass because several years ago a man ran up to it with a hammer and started destroying Mary’s face (which has been restored with no visible difference).

Everywhere in the massive basilica are carvings, paintings, sculpture and ornate design. There is no way to describe everything! Instead of staying for the last 20 minutes of the tour which would have taken us out onto St. Peter’s square, Jillian, Erica, Carina and I stayed for mass in St. Peter’s. I know I’m not catholic, but once again I couldn’t miss the opportunity. Go big or go home, and mass in St. Peter’s is about as big as it gets. I just mirrored everything that Jillian did and sat quietly while all of the Catholics took communion.

A humorous thing happened while I was at mass- when everyone stood up and started shaking hands with those around them I was thinking “okay, we do this in Methodist church, I’ve got this.” It wasn’t until the end when I overheard Jillian that I realized I had been saying the wrong thing. Everyone else was shaking hands and saying “Peace be with you,” and I was saying “Nice to meet you.” The other girls thought it was really funny when I told them after mass was over. Overall it was a pretty cool experience- my first time going to mass and it happens to be at the Vatican and in Latin.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. We did some walking around and window shopping before heading back after dinner. Jillian, Liz, and I had Dixie cups of wine while watching American TV dubbed over in Italian. Undoubtedly the best part was Liz’s English narration of what was going on and being said.

Rome Day 3:

The third day in Rome was kind of a blur. We had the same tour guide from the first day and we went to some more secondary sites- the Church of San Clemente (built upon 1^st century ruins of pagan temples), the Church of the Four Martyrs, and the Church of Saint John in Lateran. The last church is where the heads of Saints Peter and Paul are preserved as relics.

After eating lunch- we had Burger King- we went to the MAXXI museum. It’s modern art museum and has only been open for 3-4 months. I’m just going to say that it was not my cup of tea. It was one of those museums that is huge, four stories tall with all white walls- and the entire thing holds about 20 pieces of artwork. And on top of that the artwork was just weird. I a fan of museums with dinosaur bones it seems.

After the museum Jillian and I went off and did some shopping on our own. She bought a pair of sneakers and I bought some tights- things I haven’t work since elementary school. We had dinner just the two of us and enjoyed being away from a large group. I went to bed early that night in hopes that my feet could recover from all the walking.

The rest of the trip (Friday and Saturday) we spent down on the Amalfi coast. We saw some amazing scenery, gorgeous beaches and I put my toes in the Mediterranean. We stayed in Sorento, a little beach town with a lot of tourist activity. It was a pretty low-key weekend. Lots of walking around and window-shopping and on Saturday we went on a bus tour around the coast to see all the pretty sites. We stopped in Alamfi and Positano- two gorgeous beach cities. I bought some purple river pearl earrings and a pair of coral rose earrings. They were really cheap and they’re real! I was excited about my purchase.

On Sunday on the way back to Castiglion we stopped in Naples. One of the more interesting experiences of the trip. The city is run by the Camorra- their version of the mafia. They run every aspect of the town and it’s gotten pretty run down over the years. There were peddlers everywhere and I was on constant guard of my bad. The entire point of going there though was to show us that everything isn’t as picture perfect as it is in Castiglion. We also went because we are reading about the Camorra in our history class. It was pretty interesting overall, but I was ready to get out of there and be home by the time we got on the train. It was one of the most exhausting weeks of my life, but so much fun!

Rome- Day #1

I want to apologize that it has been a while since my last post. I was in Rome for the week and we didn't have any internet access. Also, it may take me a little bit to get everything posted from this past week because I am trying to be somewhat thorough with my blog because it was such an awesome trip.

Okay, so here we go.

The Rome trip was fantastic. When I got home I was absolutely exhausted because we were go, go, go all day, every day. We probably walked about ten miles minimum while we were gone. We left Castiglion Fiorentino (Castig) really early on Tuesday morning and we got on the train to Rome. Luckily I have mastered sleeping on the train, which requires clutching my backpack so nothing is taken while I am asleep. Also luckily, my backpack mostly serves as a pillow because other students are always around ensuring that I wont get pick-pocketed.

When we arrived in Rome we walked through the massive train station and met the bus outside, which drove us to our hotel. This was our first encounter with Roman drivers and how absolutely terrifying they can be. It appears to me that they don't believe in lanes and that they are all constantly late for very important meetings. For those people on vespas and motorcycles- which are more numerous than cars- they apparently get the right to drive like maniacs without any consequences. They don't stop at red lights, they'll drive on the sidewalk or median, and will zoom between two "lanes" of traffic without giving it a second thought. Now just imagine a group of 40 American students on their first day in Rome trying to cross the streets. The phrase "right of way" is an utter joke to Roman drivers.

We dropped our bags off at the hotel- Hotel Primavera- and had about an hour to hunt down something to eat. Katie, Luke, and I went to a little pizza shop near Piazza Navona (more on that later). The pizzas are huge rectangles and we communicated to the shop owners in broken Italian and with hand signals which one we wanted and how big of a piece. They heated it up in the brick oven and then weighed it to determine the cost of the slice. Then they fold it in half and make it into a pizza sandwich. This was the typical run down each time we got pizza in Rome, which was frequent because it was cheap and everywhere.

After lunch we wandered around for about a half hour looking at historical buildings and random painted people in Piazza Navona. Our first Roman tour began at 1:45PM. We left from the hotel- the guide, who was thankfully American (no accent) had lived in Rome for 12 years, so it was not a struggle to understand him. We saw the plaza in which Caesar was assasinated, ruins of Pagan temples, the Jewish ghetto, and blocks upon blocks of Roman ruins. We walked around the Roman Forum and saw pre-Christian temples, pillars, and arches.

We ended the tour at the Colosseum- yes, THE Colosseum. Take a moment to absorb that. The Colosseum built in 80AD which housed gladiator fights to the death, that was systematically flooded to house naval battles, and the Colosseum that still stands in Rome today, almost 2000 years later. It was breathtaking and one of those 'Wow, we really are in Italy" moments.

The tour guide explained that the massive structure still standing is believed to only be 1/3 of the original structure. I can only imagine the immensity of the original, whole thing. One of my favorite things about Rome was the amazing preservation of the historical and ancient sites. While some of the things are in ruins, I still find it amazing because they're 2000 years old, and sometimes even older!

As a side note- near the Roman Forum stands a church that Peter and Paul- the biblical Peter and Paul- were imprisoned. Sometime in the first century AD a great fire ravaged Rome. Blame was initially placed on Nero, but to remove blame from himself he shifted it to the Christians- more specifically the two well known ones currently living in Rome.

The walking tour was three hours long, and yes it did prompt the singing of the Gilligan's Island theme song. After the tour a group of 9 of us (Katie, Micah, Jillian, Luke, Braulio, Vincent, Adrian, Melissa, and I) went to dinner. Meal of choice? Chinese food. I know a lot of people would wonder why on earth we would get Chinese food in Rome. That's like getting Mexican food north of the Red River... weird. However, we've been studying immigration into and out of Italy in our LBAR 332 class and we knew that there is a significant Chinese immigrant population in Italy- notably Florence, Rome, and Venice. The idea of some authentic Chinese food and a chance of pace from pizza and pasta was something we could not pass up. I ordered sweet and sour chicken with chicken fried rice- yeah, yeah, it's not a very adventurous choice, but you've got to be careful what you order at a restaurant with the word "squirrel" on the menu.

After thoroughly enjoying our dinner, the group of us walked around Rome wandering in the general direction of the Trevi fountain. After some wandering around and a few minutes of choppy conversation with the locals (asking for directions), we finally found the fountain. It. Is. Breathtaking. First of all you have to remember that the thing is massive. It's not your typical fountain by any means. It was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732 to cover the entire wall of Palazzo Poli. It is immense and absolutely goregous. We did the typical throw a coin over your left shoulder and make a wish. It was cheesy, but 'when in Rome...'

From the fountain, six of us went on a gelato hunt. Fortunately the gelateria we found just happened to be in the plaza in front of the Pantheon. We did not get to go in that night, because it had closed at 7PM, but we got to walk around the front where all the columns are and we peeked through the doors and saw the oculus in the ceiling.

We walked back to the hotel and I told myself that I was going to go to bed early. It was about 9:30 and I had already been awake for 15 hours. I was determined to get some sleep so I would be functional in the morning. But then... a group decided to walk to Vatican City (about a mile away from our hotel) and see it at night. Honestly, how could I pass this up?!

The walk over there wasn't too bad- just the typical cold and wind that everyone had learned to combat by dressing in lots of layers. On the way we saw Castel Sant'Angelo, or Castle of the Angels. If you have ready Dan Brown's Angels and Demons or seen the movie then this building should be familiar to you.

We took a left at the castle and went down Via della Conciliazone- the road that leads straight into St. Peter's square. The road was built, I believe, in the 1930s by Mussolini. Before that, there was no straight shot to get to the Vatican, but those wishing to go there had to wind through neighborhoods. St. Peter's Square is massive. Walking towards it I was thinking in my head "okay... I thought it would be bigger." When we walked into the square though I felt dwarfed by the surrounding 284 columns topped with statues of saints. An Egyptian obelisk stands at the center of the square, a reminder of the once great expanse of the Roman Empire. I took tons of photos of St. Peter's Square and the Vatican. It was a great view because there were virtually no people in the square with us- very rare. We walked around taking photos for about an hour and a half and then finally headed home. I went to bed around midnight- much later than I had intended, but it was totally worth it.

Shopping Trip!

Thursday I didn’t do much besides go to classes and do schoolwork; besides the general wandering around town and hanging out with friends here.
On Friday all the architecture students (26 of the 36 A&M students) were busy finishing up their projects and no one really wanted to go anywhere so I stayed at the center and read and hung out. Didn’t really leave the center for anything but walking around and a gelato break with the arch kids.

On Saturday though, that’s when we had a lot of fun.
We had heard/read in an Italy travel book that there was an outlet mall outside Florence. We found it online and nearly had a heart attack when we saw the list of stores they have there: Burberry, Fendi, Gucci, and Valentino just to name a few.
Jillian and I went with two students from Kansas State. We took a train from Castig to Rignano Sull’Arno and then took a taxi to the mall. The taxi ride was only about five minutes and was 3 euro for each person, which I thought was pretty cheap. The alternative would have been walking on the highway with no shoulders/sidewalks.
We walked through all the crazy expensive stores and looked at all the things that we couldn’t afford. It was still a lot of fun though. We saw a beagle in Burberry and a baby wearing Gucci- definitely made me want to vomit. I guess the parents can tell the kid later. “Hey, sorry… we can’t pay for your college because when you were little we bought you this great little Gucci outfit.” It was ridiculous.
We did find one store that we could actually afford things in- Diesel. Jillian found a really cute hot pink purse and some cute shoes. While she was trying on the shoes there was a pair that caught my eye. And I was like… No, I can’t pull those off, they are a little too ridiculous. Jillian convinced me to try them on though and I loved them. They are so ridiculous, but decided when else and I going to be able to buy and wear such ridiculous shoes- Italy is definitely bringing out my adventurous side! Hah!



After we got back from the outlet mall we had dinner here at the center and then we went out to two of the bars here in Castig. The music selection is always interesting here. It seems that they get music about a decade after it comes out in the US. We were at a bar called “Bar 2000” and they were playing “Barbie Girl”, “I’m Blue”, and other random songs from my middle school years. It’s also interesting to watch the locals. When a song they know starts playing they belt it out, but I guess we were doing that too when the DJ started playing songs that we loved.
The night ended with the watching of Paranormal Activity 2. While watching that movie is a terrifying experience in the first place, watching it in a pitch black, 15th century monastery is even worse! I’m pretty sure some of my friends (the guys) didn’t get any sleep last night.
And today… Sunday. I’ll probably catch up on all my schoolwork prepare for our week-long trip. We leave for Rome on Tuesday and we wont be back until next Sunday. I am debating whether I am even going to take my computer. I think I need to though because of all the grad school stuff- need to check emails and whatnot.
Today I’ll also probably try and finish plans for Spring Break and maybe try and plan something for the weekend after we get back from Rome. We shall see!

Cold & Rainy Perugia

Today we went to Perugia (wish is about an hour by bus). The weather was pretty miserable because it was raining and cold. We went to the National Umbria Museum and saw a lot of Medieval, Gothic, and Renaissance artwork. It was hard to sit through Paolo's talking about the artwork because it was so early and the weather was just awful. By the time we got 3/4 of the way through I was just thinking "okay, okay... there's the Virgin Mary holding Jesus in every one of these... can we move on?"
After the museum we went and had pizza, about the only reasonably priced food that you can get without shelling out some serious euro. Of course there was all the fun and laughing to be had as usual with the group that I hang out with. I'm really starting to make good friends here, which makes me happy. As Chris told me before I left, I needed to "play nicely with the other kids," and I am! Hah!
A group of us decided that we are going to go back to Perugia when the weather is better so we don't have a sour taste in our mouths about the place. It was a really nice town and there were some gorgeous view, the weather just killed it today.

We've started making plans for this weekend. I heard someone say they found a Prada outlet store somewhere nearby and that they were going. In one of my books that Catherine got me for Christmas I saw that there is an entire outlet mall near Florence that sells brand name stuff like Dior, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton. It's 10 euro to get there by train and I know I probably won't buy anything because I don't plan on spending lots of money on things I don't need, but why not go and look? It's going to be a great time! :)

The weather here in Castig tonight is pretty gross. It's pouring down rain and it hitting the windows is really loud. I already wrote my paper for LBAR 332 and now I am going to write my timed essay for my A&M grad school interview. Tomorrow I have my interview via Skype. I am really excited, I hope that I can overcome the disadvantage that being out of the country and not actually being able to attend puts me at.

Off to do some writing!

Ciao loves! :)

Monday- Valentine's Day in Italy

Yesterday was a great day! I didn’t have class until after lunch, so I slept until 10:30 to store up some sleep for the rest of the week. For lunch we had soup for the first course (seems we have soup every day for lunch- not my fave but it’s still good). We also had tuna salad- different from what Americans would think of it as, an assortment of vegetables, and toast with tomato on top. Lunch can sometimes be pretty odd! Haha! The staff surprised us with Valentine’s Day treats for dessert. In addition to the fruit that we get at the end of every meal we also got little dessert pastries.

After lunch we had a core meeting and Sharon (Paolo’s wife who helps him run the center) told us about our Wednesday trip to Perugia and next week’s trip to Rome. These past few weeks have gone by so quickly! I cannot believe our first extended trip is next week! Basically we are going to Rome for three nights, then Pompeii the next day; then we are staying in Sorento for two nights. On the way back from Sorento to Castig we are stopping in Naples (not staying for long though because it is somewhat dangerous there- especially for tourists).

After core meeting I finished up some sketches of things that I wanted to make in jewelry making class. At 2:45 we met downstairs and took a Castig school bus to the jewelry-making studio. It is the studio of Andrea Roggi who is our art teacher for lack of a better term. He is a famous sculptor who’s work is on display all over the world. His pieces typically include topless women, which is interesting culturally because you’d never really see that kind of open display of sexuality in America. I’ve been told that one of his pieces is in College Station. I am curious. If I can find it somewhere on google I’ll put a link or picture up.

Being in Andrea’s studio was awe-inspiring. Suddenly the sketches that I had previous been so proud of I wanted to burry deep in my pocket and never let him see. His work was all over the studio- both finished and unfinished. Katie, my roommate, and I agreed that being around so much of his work was intimidating. As we sat at the table molding wax into future jewelry pieces (which is MUCH harder than it sounds) he was ten feet away welding and creating huge bronze sculptures. It was pretty amazing. For my first day of jewelry making I had planned to keep it simple- but my drawing as anything but when trying to create it in wax. I finally got my first piece done and then finished two smaller pieces- one for Chris and one that I will add to something else later. He told us that next time we meet our pieces would be in bronze. It will be exciting to se how it turned out. We have the choice to use silver, gold, bronze and copper for our jewelry, but since bronze is cheapest we started out with it. Maybe later when my skills are honed a little more I’ll make something in silver.

The ride to and from the studio made me absolutely fall in love with where I am. It is hard to put into words just how amazing it is here. It is even harder to capture it in a photo- at least with my poor photography skills. The weather was amazing and the skies were clear. As we drove away from the walled-in city we saw the bell tower that lovingly (HAH!) wakes us up in the morning, the watchtower from the Roman ruins of the city, and if we looked closely enough- the courtyard of Santa Chiara. I am so in love with this little cit that I am calling my home for the semester.

After class we had dinner (amazing pasta, spinach, and pork). *We found out for sure that yes- they will sell us the cookbook from the center at the end of the semester for ten euro. I’ll be able to bring a little bit of Italian culture home and share it with my friends and family!*

Planning for spring break is taking over the lives of students here. I’m lucky because one of my best friends, Kristin, is coming over to visit me during that week. We’re staying in Italy so I don’t have to stress about all the country hopping that my friends are doing. However, I am going to Paris for the first weekend of spring break before Kristin comes. I’ve already booked my flight over there- I think it was about a $50 ticket. Not to shabby if you ask me. We’ll be leaving from Venice where we’ll have just finished a trip on Friday morning and we’ll head to Paris for the weekend (sounds luxurious, doesn’t it?!). When the rest of the group heads to England, I’ll head back to Rome and meet up with Kristin for a week of exploring Italy together.

After booking my flight, we watched a movie in Italian that was required for class. It was supposed to show us the lives of Italian families on the eve of the holocaust. It was unanimous between the ten of us watching it- the movie was horrible! We have about six or seven of these “required” movies left, yikes! We are going to try and convince the professor to let us watch Inglorious Basterds next time. Really historically accurate, right? Hah!

We finished off the night at Regiro’s, or “Pirate Bar,” for a Valentine’s Day party/ a A&M student’s birthday party. We got two of the four rooms closed off for us. The back one we pushed all the tables against the walls so we could dance- which Italians in Castig have to mayoral permission for; and we brought an iPod to play all of our favorite American music. About an hour and a half into the party some Italian guys came in and started dancing. It was interesting to watch the cultural difference. When they were dancing they were hopping up and down, clapping, and chanting “hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!” We all had a pretty good laugh about it, but I’m sure they thought our dancing was weird too!
Best part of the night you ask?... Definitely doing the Aggie War Hymn in Regiro’s at midnight! Amazing day!

Pisa!

These past few days have really been great. On Friday morning we left really early for Pisa and explored the town and did some window-shopping before we headed over to the historical area. We saw the Baptistery, the Cathedral, the cemetery, and the Campanile (the meaning tower). It was a group of four so it was really relaxing and we didn’t really have to worry about losing people and dealing with a big group. We made a ruckus in the Duomo Museum taking photos and we got yelled at (in Italian) for getting on the grass in the cemetery. We’re troublemakers in Italy apparently.

Pisa was gorgeous. Everyone told us that it wasn't really worth a weekend trip because there wasn't much to do, but we were glad we went. It was a good introduction to weekend traveling for us. Now we know the low-down on hostels and stuff like that.

Speaking of hostels... ours was GREAT! We booked on hostelworld.com and I was pretty nervous because all you hear is horror stories from people. I read the reviews and felt pretty confident that it wasn't going to be absolutely horrible. Our room was a private one and not dorm style which is what people always here about. It was like a small hotel room with four beds crammed inside. They had a computer that we could use and WiFi (which is more than we can say for the internet here at Santa Chiara). So first experience in a hostel was overall pretty awesome. No complaints except that our window opened up to Piazza Garibaldi and it was pretty noisy in the room. We survived though!

One thing that we found kind of obnoxious in Pisa was the vendors. And I don't mean have a cart and try and get you to come and look at their stuff kind of vendors. I mean these African guys that have arm-fulls of things and will follow you down the street trying to get you to buy their crap. They are insistent! It's so annoying! Ugh. We all were pretty unanimous that they were our least favorite part of Pisa.

We came back to Castig in the early afternoon. On the train ride back we had a stop in Florence to change trains and in the train station me and one of the other girls stopped to get lunch… at McDonalds. I know… I know… but comforts of home are great to have! And it was the first time that I've had something other than pasta or pizza for a main part of the meal in weeks. We savored every bite!

The rest of Saturday was pretty low-key. Just hung out and did some reading. And of course we had another lazy Sunday. That seems to be how it goes here, at least the four of us in our room. Things will change though when we get to doing some serious weekend traveling.

Things that I've started to miss from home:

-Peanut Butter. Apparently they use Nutella as a substitute, because they sell it absolutely everywhere and they put it on and in everything.

-Queso. My family and friends can totally understand this one.

-Diet Pepsi. Although they have it here, it tastes a lot different. They also have Mexican Coke here instead of American Coke, so everyone really loves that here.

-Hot breakfasts. I would pay a lot to have a hot breakfast. Something like scrambled eggs or an omelet or something. The only thing I have had for breakfast these past three weeks are croissants and random pastries. There is one place that we know for sure serves hot breakfast but they are shut down right now (we think the owner is in the hospital, but we're not sure).

-Aggie sporting events. I miss basketball a lot. The girls are doing so well this year too, it kind of sucks that I am missing their amazing season. Thankfully I can somewhat regularly check on scores and stuff.

-Reliable internet. Enough said.

And of course I miss my friends and my family. I have refused to get homesick yet. I keep telling myself that it is FAR too early because I still have a long time here to go. I refuse to leave the "honeymoon" stage of adjustment and into the "resentment" stage where I am angry and want to go home. I am keeping myself busy mentally and physically so I don't fall into a rut and get homesick. It isn't hard to keep myself busy though cause I am in Italy and there is always something to do, and since I'm living with 80 some-odd other students, there is always someone to hang out with.