Gregorian Chanting

Yesterday we headed to Santa Croce because there was a free Gregorian Chanting Concert. I don't really know how to explain what we saw and heard except to say that it was beautiful and actually, extremely medatative. The environment of the concert itself added so much to what we heard. The chanting took place in the refectory of Santa Croce where they have this increbibly large and beautiful fresco with different stories from catholicism including the Last Supper and the Cruxification.


(http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/images/Firenze/Santa%20Croce/800/Refectory-Jul05-DC3586sAR800.jpg)

With the amazing art and music, the whole experience is something I will never forget.



After the concert we decided to check out a new gelateria around the corner from the famous Vivili's. The gelato I think was a little more icecreamy but the flavors were wonderful. I had a chocolate with pistacio and pepercinos (it was really spicy) and a carmely flavored one. I also had a bit of ricotta and fig which I have to say rates pretty high on my list right now. As we were sitting outside eating, we realized that the Gelateria also had a wonderful window presenting (and teasing us) with all of the other desserts they make. I think one of these day I will buy this....



jealous?

It was bound to happen....

When more than half of the people your class are sick and half of the people in your apartment are sick you will eventually get sick. It sucks but it was bound to happen. Luckily I'm still in PLP (Prepatory Language Class) so I only have class for 4 hours a day and I was able to sleep it off with some good quality nap time. But Friday, my lovely nap on the couch was interrupted with Nutella sillyness when Sam, Avery, and Gaby came home from Art class. We took some very classy pictures which I hope you all enjoy...just keep in mind I was still sick, and possibly not right of mind....cough cough.


Avery, Gaby, and Sam all showing Florence pride with purple and Italy pride with the Nutella


Me, playing the bongos.


A lion. RAWR!!!

by the way, I'm better now. Just a little congested :)

Adventure #1: Chianti and Salsa Dancing

After posting "Adventure #2" I realized that I never posted anything about our first adventure. This adventure took place the Saturday before Pisa and Lucca and was just as wonderful....

The Saturday after our big school field trip we decided to wake up super early, try to find the bus station, and go Grieve in Chianti for a wine festival. The bus ride over, of course was beautiful. It was drizziling outside so the ground was wet and the sky grey and cloudy but it was still beautiful. The hills seemed to go on forever and they were filled with every color of green imaginable. I remember taking an art class (or possibly a science class) and the teacher said that the human eye can only recognize a percentage of color because we can only see a certain wavelength or something and I think I decided as we were driving through Tuscany that the hills contained every color green reconziable to man and more. All the shades from yellow green, to moss green, blueish green, green with a little red so that it has shades of brown... every single green you can find on the color spectrum was outside my window. And then there were the houses which were more like mansions, and they seemed to grow out of the landscape and fuse with the hills. It was beautiful.

When we got to Grieve it was still raining and we had no idea where we were going so we just wandered until we found a market where they had fresh fruit, vegetables, clothes and purses. It was like a huge flea/farmers market. It was wonderful, but still drizzing so we decided to find sheltor and we ended up at this café facing the piazza where the wine festival was going to take place. We had arrived at about 9 and the festival didn’t start until 11 so like anyother Italian, we got some coffee and a brioche and just sat and chatted and when we weren’t talking we were watching all the people go by. We ended up hanging out until 11:30 and when we decided wine tasting it was POURING! But its ok, cause we all got a glass of wine, and huddled underneath the little stands talking to all venders and other tourists. By the end of the day, I had tried a lot of different wines, mostly chiantis but it was a good experience because I could compare all the different flavors within one group. I also tried a really good dessert wine that tasted carmely.

After a long day of wine tasting we took the bus back to Florence and napped for a bit and then we all decided (around 10) to go salsa dancing. We all got dressed up: makeup and hair and some how I was convinced by the girls I live with to wear high heel shoes. And you know what I put on my red patent leather high heeled shoes and went out because I looked good and I had been watching all the Italian woman do it here so easily, But soon enough I realized this was a horrible idea because:

1. I am NOT graceful and I am NOT a crazy Italian woman.
2. It was raining
3. Florence is paved with cobblestones which makes walking in tennis shoes uncomfortable.
4. We were walking over to the San Spirtito area, which is on the other side of the Arno, which is also…..ON THE OTHERSIDE OF THE CITY!!!
5. And finally, we didn’t actually know where this place was meaning we were going to get lost.

We ended up spending a good hour wondering around, sometimes going in circles, sometimes just simply going the wrong way. And honestly, after this adventure I can actually tell my grandchildren: I walked in the rain, up hill both ways in high heels to go dancing because at one point, we were actually walking up a dirt hill to NOWHERE! Fully pissed, I was ready to give up when our luck changed and finally someone was able to give us useful directions.

After that, the whole night changed. I ended up having so much fun that I want to learn how to salsa and I want everyone I know to learn how to salsa so we can practice together.


My first Italian coffee and brioche


hanging out in the rain before the wine festival




our awesome goody bags/wine glass holders. Very fashionable.


At the salsa club with the mates

Adventure #2: Pisa and Lucca

Last Saturday we took another adventure to Pisa and Lucca. Our journey started at the train station where like in all good train movies we ran to catch ours just as it was leaving.

(courtesy of John, short for Viet Triet)

The trip was about 50 minutes and once we got to Pisa we walked through the city (and through all the beautiful clothing shops) towards the leaning tower. It was a little weird when we got to the tower only because its something you always see photos of and for me it was something I never expected that I would actually see in person. But I did…which is cool, and now I can say I saw the “Leaning Tower”. I can also say, like every other person there and every person that every been to Pisa, that I took some very ridiculous pictures with the tower. The best one is the one with all of us kicking the tower…we’re NIJAS, and we made ninja noises the entire time we were taking the pictures, HIYA!!!!

(photo skills of some random guy with Gaby's camera)

After Leaning Tower pictures Gaby and I wandered off to find gelato…of course, and we found a lot of really cool buildings. My favorite was in the plaza with all the University buildings and it had grey with white pictures painted all over. There were paintings of women, which reminded me of the ladies that are always on the front of the ships.



(courtesy of Gaby)

Some more pictures from Pisa...







After exploring, we found the group and decided to take the train over to Lucca because it was still pretty early in the day. This train ride was a lot more scenic....there were all these cool towers and castle looking buildings in the hills.

The train station in Lucca drops you off right outside of the walls and you walk over a tiny little stream and though some tunnels and then up some stairs to the top of the surrounding walls where there is a walking path that is above the city. We arrived in early evening when everyone was taking their walk and biking around. It was really pretty. I know I say that all the time, but Lucca has been my favorite town so far, it really is beautiful. I actually didn’t take any pictures because it was too beautiful and I didn’t want to ruin it. Sometimes, a lot of the times, I feel like taking pictures ruins everything, because they are never as pretty as what I really see, so sorry guys you’ll just have to visit Lucca for yourself...but I will post a few pictures my friends took, just to tease you.

Our first stop was gelato…again***and after all that wonderfulness we realized that we came to Lucca on the perfect weekend. It was the third Saturday of the month and they were having their monthly antiques fair which was very interesting because different places have different meaning of “antiques”, but in general I think antiques are just fancy junk that can be sold for a lot more than just regular junk and in Italy, compared to America, their junk is usually a lot older.

All around Lucca there were benches with cute little old ladies gossiping like little girls. They were always squeezed on a little bench and while we were waiting for everyone at the antiques fair we sat like little old ladies on the bench. (another picture of John's)

After going through the antiques we realized that Lucca was also having a festival for the famed composer Puccini who was born in Lucca. I admit that I did not know who the heck Puccini was before this night but I will forever remember him because he will be associated with the best festival food I had ever had. So good that Sarah, John, and I got separated from the group because out of the corner of my eye I saw a cute little stand making doughnuts. As I got closer I realized that they weren’t just doughnuts but magic doughnuts dipped in Nutella! Now you have to understand something, I love Nutella (it is brown crack) and it had been banned from our house a week before because we had eaten so much. So seeing this wonderful creation, a doughnut dipped in Nutella, I was in heaven. It was a fresh, right out of the fryer dipped in sugar and then Nutella and passed out while still warm and creamy. It was beautiful mess, We all had Nutella all over our faces when I we were done but it was wonderful and tasty and hit the spot.

(courtesy of John)

Of course after Gelato and Nutella dipped doughnuts we decided that we should actually eat something other than sweets so we walked around a bit and then found somewhere to eat. Always interested in trying something new (and something other than pasta!) I ordered the guinea fowl with oil and grapes. It was very tasty....and a perfect end to our adventure in Pisa and Lucca.

One more picture of the church in Lucca...
(courtesy of John)

***Rule of Gelato: Early on I decided that Gelato is glorious and in order to make the most of my time here I decided that I would try at least one different flavor of Gelato in each city I visited. I consider it a souvenir (an edible souvenir) of all the places in Italy that I go to. If I happen to go to two different towns in a day then according to the “Rule of Gelato” I must eat two gelatos. It’s a tough rule to live by, but it’s something that must be done.

Fiesole

A week ago (un settimane fa…) we took a short bus ride to Fiesole, which is a small Etruscan town above Florence for Stefy’s birthday. It was a nice afternoon trip with a lot of walking. We visited a cemetery and then walked around the outside of Etruscan ruins. Afterwards we walked up a huge hill to go to the church and see the view of Florence. It was beautiful… but like always, my pictures don’t translate the beauty. It was an overcast day, so the sky was grey but the light was still nice. You could see a lot of the center as well as the countryside that surrounds the city. If it was a clear day it would be a very nice place to watch the sunset, but for us the sun setting over the city was more like a slice of orange in the cloudy sky.

FIELD TRIPS!!!

Last Friday we had our first field trip of the year to Volterra, San Gimignano and Machiavelli's house. Volterra is famous for being the center of Etruscan civilization, a civilization that predates the Romans in Italy. One of our first stops was an Etruscan museum. The museum had a huge selection of amazing artifacts that were created by a civilization that today still remains a mystery. It was so amazing to actually see all these things, all of the things that have been found... pots, jewelry, coins, things that look like toys, tools, stone carvings...everything, because these were things that weren't meant to be seen in museums but were meant to be used every day. It was a pretty interesting place and the view from the city was amazing.

San Gimignano was a little more turisty, but just as beautiful. The view of the city, as you drive up reminds me of a modern day city but when you get closer, you actually realize that this is not a modern skyline but a medieval skyline with buildings made of stone. It was pretty cool, but by far my favorite part was going to Machiavelli's house.





For dinner we drove to the house that Machiavelli lived in when he was exiled from Florence. This is also the same house that Machiavelli wrote his famous book "The Prince" in. The house it's self is beautiful. It's located in the countryside surrounded by vineyards and when we drove up it was just starting to get dark and rain. It was the first rain we have had in Florence and everything smelled wonderful and fresh. After we arrived, we took a tour of the house and the cellar where they actually produce wine. This part was really interesting, but at the time I was incredibly hungary so all I could thing about was food. When we finally sat down we had bread waiting for us and a few minutes later we were served Antipasti (Appetizers). For this course we had about 5 different bruschetta (1 with pate, 2 different olive kinds, 1 with tomatoes, and 1 with a cheese and meat). Being the curious person I am, I tried them all, even the pate...which was I must say very delicious. After a while Primi Piatti (first course) was served. For this we had a very traditional Tuscan soup with beans, spinach, and little pieces of bread. It was a very thick soup, the kind of soup that warms you from the inside out. For Secondo Piatti (Second Course) was had mixed meat: chicken, beef and sausage with a side of potatoes and some house wine. By now, I was getting a little full, but I'm a marathoner, not a sprinter so I'm in it for the long run and the last course, dessert is something I always have room for. Dessert was simple, we had little shot glasses of carmel colored dessert wine and biscotti. The dessert wine was a little to much for me a first. It tasted a little to much like liquor, and not wine but after dipping a few biscotti in it, the flavor grew on me.

All in all, dinner was the favorite part. Just sitting down and taking our time to enjoy the food and the company is something we don't do much in America. Food in Italy is an event and I like food.

the Duomo

The Duomo is one of the first things you see when you get to Florence because it is HUGE, pictures do not do it justice. I mean the thing is magnificent! Before I came to Florence, before I even knew I was going to study abroad in Italy, my Italian teacher showed us pictures and honestly I was not impressed. I can tell you now though, it's amazing. Whenever I walk by it I feel like a tourist all over again because I am simply in awe with the architecture, the design...everything!

Also, all roads lead to the Duomo. I swear if you look down half of the streets, you will see a glimse of the thing. This is a really good thing because let's just say, I get lost.... a lot and because I don't really like maps, I usually find my way by familiar landmarks (meaning I can't give directions because I don't know street names). So if I get lost in Florence I just find my way to the Duomo and then I know I can find my way home.

Every year on September 9th, the anniversary of the day the first stone was laid, the Duomo allows visitors to climb up to the top. This was an amazing experience because you can see the entire city. Here are a few favorites below...again, compared to seeing it in person (which I highly recommend), these pictures are nothing.

Oltrarno

Oltrarno means the "other side of the Arno" which is the major river that runs though Florence. Although the "otherside" could technically be either side of the Arno, depending on which side you are on, the "otherside" actually refers to the side that is less touristy, the side opposite the center. We didn't explore to far Oltrarno, but from what I hear has some really good Italian food without the crazy prices.

The few pictures I've posted aren't actually mine (but a combination of Gaby and John's)....but I was there, and if I actually remembered to charge my camera, they would probably look a lot like these.



The Arno

The Ponte Vecchio, which literally means "Old Bridge". Today, all the stores that line the streets are these tiny (but completely filled) jewelry stores.

And this one is for Katie Walsh who I will (eventaully) buy this book for...I found it!

My First Days

The first few days of Florence were pretty hectic, we spent the first week or so in a hotel (if you can even call it that) and stayed busy with school stuff for most of the time. I am now moved into my apartment and after getting lost in the city quite a few times, Florence is starting to feel more like a home than vacation spot.

I don't have any pictures of my apartment yet, but there are some posted on my "landlady's" website, www.florenceapartment.org. Our place is the 1st apartment, and although it doesn't look quite as nice as the pictures make it out to be, it is still quite amazing, in a quirky Italian way. The best part of our place, which we have named "Casttelo Nutella" because of the crazy amounts of Nutella we have eaten in the last 4 days, is the kitchen. It can fit all of my roommates (all five of us!) with 2 people cooking comfortably. I think I lucked out again with the roommate situation because so far they all seem very sane. All four of them, Sam, Avery, Gabby, and John are Art Studio majors planning on studying at the famous Academia (the Academia's gallery is where Michelangelo's original David is located) which is amazing because our house is already starting to fill up with their work. I even have a very nice (and somewhat creepy) drawing my roommate Gabby made for me in her life drawing class. Also, and most importantly, they love to cook and eat. We have already made two family style meals and I have a feeling there will be many (hundreds) more in our future.

All of the roommates eating our first dinner in the apartment (from left to right: John, Sam, Gabby, Avery, Me, and the ghost)

Sam, John and Avery waiting (patiently) for dinner

and by the way did I mention that I live right across the street from the most beautiful synagoue I have ever seen. And if I ever get lost, it's blue dome allows me to find my way very easily....


and right next door to us is the Carabinieri, the Italian military police. I guess this could be both a good thing...and bad thing, we'll see what happens :)

Thank you all!!!

First off, I just want to thank everyone for the amazing send-off, I couldn’t have wished for anything better.

I've posted a few pictures from my last day at work as well as my going away party.
Last day at work :(

My Poppy making tons of delicious food for the 500 people that attended my going away party.

My wonderful roommate and her very lovely boyfriend.

"Hey girl hey"

My Uncle Tim, who is only going to visit me in Italy so he can see Ferraris, my cousin Billy, and my Grandpa.

The Girls

Uncle Denis, Bob, and Brittney

My Uncle's fighting for the #1 position

Making delicious marshmellowy frosting for my delicious cupcakes.

(one) of my last meals.

And this one needs no explanation...just me, D, and Katie Walsh before I left.

Also, if you want to see some even BETTER pictures from my festa check out Zane’s website at http://www.pbase.com/devonshire/saras_going_away_party.

Love you and miss you all!