Un Weekend Qua a Firenze

This weekend my friend Stevie and her roommate came down from Milan to see Florence, so I got to see them! We spent all of Saturday doing touristy things; the one downside was the twelve hours of POURING rain. Here is a view from my habitual spot in the covered statue display (I'm sure it has a real name, but I don't know it) in Piazza della Signoria, looking out at all the poor soaking tourists.


After the Uffizi, we went to the Medici Chapels--they're my favorite museum/church in Florence, and yet they don't allow pictures. No big deal. I'm not really upset about it or anything. After that we went to the Duomo:


The inside of the Duomo is too dark to be particularly photographable, but there are two photos that actually came out: a view of the nave of the cathedral and a votive-candle tree.



It sounds ridiculous, but I found the Duomo, which is AMAZING from the outside, relatively unimpressive on the inside (compared to the rest of Florence--I guess I'm getting spoiled). After that we went to the leather market at San Lorenzo (Stevie and Sarah got leather jackets) and then out to Florence's most famous Mexican restaurant for dinner. It would've been intolerable in the US, but somehow it hit the spot.

This weekend is the Bing Trip to Naples, Pompei, and the Amalfi Coast--YAY! Pictures next week :)

Parli Italiano?

I’ve realized that my blog is thus far long on photos and short on stories, so this entry will be photo-free. In general, Florence is wonderful; I’m so so so SO happy I decided to study abroad here. I live less than 10 minutes from Michelangelo’s David, I live within one hour of the Mediterranean and two of the Adriatic, and the province I'm staying in is famous for wine; that’s a good indication of just how amazing my quarter is. Perhaps my only source of stress, and my main source of stories, is my struggle with the Italian language.

The only thing I truly fear in Italy (aside from strikes) is dinner parties. My host mom has a lot of friends, and likes to have them over for dinner; so far, so good. They’re very nice, and the few who are over fairly often realize I have some trouble and speak slowly to me, and I am able to participate at least marginally in the conversation. But on the nights I’m beckoned to dinner in the dining room—not the table in the kitchen where we usually eat—I realize the night will be full of well-educated. rapidly-speaking Italians, making puns and telling jokes and discussing politics and the aging of cheeses in all sorts of ways I don’t understand. This was the case last night (and yes, the cheese discussion was real, and horrendously confusing, with everyone making all sorts of gestures that cannot possibly be related in any way to cheese but were clearly very important and expressive). At the beginning of the meal, when everyone said “Buon Appetito!”, my roommate and I were called on to supply the American equivalent. I tried to explain that there wasn’t one, exactly; the Italians were skeptical and kept rephrasing the question, thinking I didn’t understand. As the meal went on, things only got more complicated. I focused so intently on everyone as they spoke (both in the hopes of understanding ANYTHING and to be ready for the occasional question asked of me) that Francesca likened me following the conversation to someone watching a soccer game. (It might have been embarrassing if it weren’t so true.) When I left the table to go study, I tried to explain to the guests: “I have to read a book for my classroom about the history of Italy. There is an exam next week.” One guest politely asked if the class is on art history or general history. “General history, yes. From the Unification until today. I like it very much. And, the street near here named Cavour, and I did not know of Cavour—One day we have studied Cavour in class, and after I was learned what that means, I am happy.” Well done, me.

And now, I am off to be learned more for my classroom. Bacioni, a presto!

Le Cinque Terre

Okay, so the updating isn't happening quite as often as I'd intended... But here are pictures from our trip last weekend to Cinque Terre, five coastal towns in northwest Italy you can hike between.

When we first got to our hostel, they didn't have our room ready, but the company owns apartments all over the city, one of which could fit six people and vacant. Not knowing what lay ahead, we happily agreed to follow the receptionist--and ended up walking up a steep street and then up ONE HUNDRED SIXTY STAIRS to the apartment. We were all cursing her with what little breath we had left until she gave us the apartment tour--which included a balcony with a view of the Meidterranean. Yep, that's right. Here's the view:


That afternoon we went swimming in one of the other towns! Here's a picture of all of us, and a picture of a beach (not exactly the one we swam at, but one we walked by to get to the one where we swam):



After swimming, we went one town over and sat on the coast for a while. Just before we realized we were sitting EXACTLY where a huge ferryboat was about to dock, I took this picture of my feet making friends with the sea:


The next day we went hiking between our town and the next two towns! The houses were riiiight up to the coast. It was pretty amazing.


That's all for now. :)

Bologna e Lucca

This weekend I took two daytrips: on Saturday to Bologna and on Sunday to Lucca.

Bologna was a beauuutiful city. We went there partly to see a museum of art by Morandi recommended for the art history class that everyone I travelled with was in--at best, a horrifically boring museum. Then we walked the city, went shopping, had some delicious food (Bologna is famous for its food even with the Italians), and climbed 500 stairs in this old tower from which there were AMAZING panoramas of the city and the surrounding countryside of Emilia-Romagna (the province north-east of Tuscany). Below are some views of the city, and of the scary stairs we climbed, and of us viewing the views of the city:





On Sunday, Laura, Nell and I went to Lucca, a small medieval walled town in Tuscany. It was gorgeous, and very relaxed--a nice change after the urban life. Here's a picture of the wall, with Laura and me standing against it as a reference for size:

And, just as importantly, here is a picture of our delicious lunch at Trattoria Leo. Mine are the two things in the foreground: minestra di farro lucchese (a Luccan traditional bean soup) and Coca Cola Light (a Valerie Ross tradition).


Soon to come are more stories of Florence and pictures of my walk to school!

Soccer Photos!

This Sunday we went to a soccer game--Fiorentina (the Florence team) vs. Catania (a team from somewhere in Sicily). I took lots of pictures, and here they are!


Jenny, Emily and I showing off our team pride.


Here in Florence even the soccer stadium is pretty. (It really reminded me of the quidditch stadium in the Harry Potter movies... Okay, that reference didn't just happen, let's move on.)


The Sicilians were in a fenced off part of the stadium... Apparently the Italians don't mess around about soccer.


Both sides several times set off things that looked like smoke bombs; no one (except us) was perturbed.


Emily, Devon, Carolyn, and Amanda all like soccer!


Nell and I have exactly the same hair... weeeeird.

Finally Photos!

Sorry it's taken so long, but here is the first installment of Florence photos


My room from the door!








My room from the window!








My nighstand has all the expat accessories: eyeshade and earplugs, a book in English, a travel alarm (thanks Mom!), a "telefonino," photos of home, and American gum.








The courtyard in the Bargello, a museum in that used to apparently be the city prison.













The Arno and pretty buildings.













A few of my excellent and amusing fellow students: Alex, Nell, and Amanda.











The beach at Viareggio in southern Tuscany.

More to come soon!