Ciao Bella

The time has come to say good-bye. We have spent an incredible month in the beautiful country of Italy. We visited ten cities, took countless train and bus rides, walked more than ever, and ate our weight in pasta and pizza. This month has been full of memories and new friendships. We are a random group of people with our quirks and differences, but our trip would not have been interesting otherwise.

Even though at the beginning I didn't like our apartment, it has become home in Siena. Siena has been the perfect place to call home for the past month. In the beginning, it was daunting to wander the winding medieval streets in hopes of getting where you wanted to go. A month later, I have gotten to know this city all too well. We have our favorite restaurants, where the cheapest pizza, the best Chinese and kebab places are and of course the best gelato depending on what flavor you're looking for. We traveled on our own to many different towns, navigating the trains, the buses, maps and cities without getting too lost.

Of course this was a STUDY abroad trip so there was an academic component to the trip as well. The classes were interesting and thought provoking.  As we contemplated philosophy and Boethius while looking out over the Tuscan countryside or discussed St. Catherine on the grass outside her basilica, Marcus Arelius over a cappuccino, Iris Origo while driving though Val d'Orcia and the Renaissance at the Fortezza we got to know our professors on both an academic and personal level.  

It is bittersweet to say goodbye, it's been an beautiful adventure. This month has been fantastic and I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish my undergraduate career! I'd like to hope this will not be the last time I'm in Italy, so until next time Italia, Ciao!

I'm Not Goin' to Pisa!

Contrary to Jessie's declaration earlier on the trip "I'm not GOIN' to Pisa!" yesterday we (Jessie, Mike, April, Steph and I) decided to venture out on one last day trip before our time comes to a close in Italy. We met Mike and grabbed a taxi to the train station for our 2 hour ride to Pisa. The ride was pretty uneventful aside from our many controversial discussions that always seem to happen on trains. We've covered everything from Evolution to Abortion and many things in between. 

When we arrived in Pisa, we found a map and figured it was a straight shot to the Tower. We stopped for lunch at one of the worst restaurants we've eaten at so far. The only good thing about it was that it was cheap. Steph and I got pizza and to our dismay it tasted like frozen microwave pizza. Not on par with any other Italian pizza!

Then we headed to the other side of the city to find the tower. Somehow along the way we turned off the main street and followed another we thought might be parallel to the main one. But as we came to the city wall we realized it was not. So we decided to walk on the outside of the wall around to the next entrance and find the Tower. Luckily our sense of direction was right and soon enough we saw the tower in the distance. 

Of course the whole area around the tower was swarming with tourists taking the many typical tourist pictures holding the tower up, etc. The best/worst picture we saw being taken was a British man who ran up and stripped down to his underwear for a picture. I will not go into detail about how he posed…but it was quite comical to see him strip, take the picture and get dressed in about a minute flat. After we too took the typical tourist pictures with the tower (fully clothed!), we headed back to the train station.

It was a quick visit to the city of Pisa. Aside from the tower, there is really nothing else to see there. The city itself was the smelliest and dirtiest city we've visited. It really wasn't pretty, the food was bad and it was incredibly hot!  

The train ride home was again uneventful and full of conversation. After we got home and got cleaned up the five of us tried a new restaurant for dinner called Zest. It was my favorite meal of the whole trip. The food was top notch, our waiter, James, was adorable, charming and from England and the dessert was to die for! I had cheese ravioli with tomato sauce and lemoncello tiramisu. We're going to try and squeeze in one more visit to Zest before we leave in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday!!

Until next time, Ciao! 

Twenty-Seven Days and One Left

June 22: Travel starting at 1 pm in Savannah

June 23: Arrive in Italy, 5 hour Bus from Milano to Siena, Group dinner, Gelato

June 24: Tour of Siena with Jack, Class with Dr. Belzer, Cooking Class

June 25: Climbed the Tower in Siena and Toured Palazzo del Popolo, Torture Museum, Salad for Dinner, Gelato

June 26:  Tour of the Siena Duomo, Class with Jack, Wine tasting at Jack's, Gelato

June 27: Firenze - Market, Duomo, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, Uffizi, Dinner by the Duomo

June 28: Firenze - Ponte Vechio, Souvenir Shopping; Bus to Siena, Hail Storm, Egg Drop Soup for Dinner, Gelato

June 29: Pre-Palio Events, Horse Lottery and Prova 1 in the evening

June 30: Contrada Scavenger Hunt and Prova 3 in the evening

July 1: Prova 4, Contrada Scavenger Hunt, St. Catherine's house and church, Class with Dr. Belzer and Prova 5

July 2: Palio Day, Dinner at Nona Ginas

July 3: Class with Jack, Cooking Class 

July 4: Ospedale Tour, 4th celebration at the Belzers (made Chili)

July 5: Travel to Salerno, Visit Herculaneum and the MAV

July 6: Paestum, Mozzarella Farm, Beach

July 7: Slept in, Waterfront in Salerno, traveled to Rome via train, rain storm in Rome

July 8: Explored Rome, Pantheon, Several Churches, Met Camilla, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, Trevi Fountain, Lunch and Tiramisu, Met Jessie, Chinese dinner and explored the city at night

July 9: Colosseum, Train station to Siena, Jessie cooked dinner

July 10: Class with Dr. Belzer, Market, Fortezza, Class with Jack, We cooked dinner

July 11: Train to Verona via Empoli, Firenze, and Bologna; Juliet's Courtyard, Explored the City

July 12: Train to Venice, St. Mark's square, Rialto Bridge, Souvenir Shopping, Lost Jessie, Waterbus to Train Station, Train to Verona

July 13: Train to Firenze, Bus to Siena, Home, Chinese for dinner (ran into the Belzers and Adele - tour guide from Salerno)

July 14:  Slept in, Souvenir Shopping, Homework, Dinner at Medieval Place, Campo

July 15: Belzer Girls came over and watched Letters to Juliet, Class with Jack, Mike cooked dinner

July 16: Tuscany, La Foce, Pienza, Class with Dr. Belzer, Cooking Class

July 17: Train to Pisa, Lunch, Got Lost, Found the Tower, Train to Siena, Dinner at Zest, Campo

July 18: Contrada Scavenger Hunt, Souvenir Shopping, Group Dinner

We have one full day left in Siena. I'm sure it will be spent packing, eating at our favorite restaurant, reminiscing on the month we've spent here and of course getting one last scoop of gelato!  

A Day in the Country

A few days ago our group spent the day driving through the Tuscan countryside, visiting La Foce (pronounced La Fochay) and the little town of Pienza. 

Although the bus ride was rather bumpy and made most everyone sick, the views were absolutely incredible. As we wound through the countryside the rolling hills of greens and browns, the cedar lined ridges, the rows upon rows of sunflowers, the villas and farm houses on hill tops and hay bail dotted fields were breath taking! Steph was probably irritated with me as I pointed my camera over her shoulder to snap pictures as we drove along. I'd say okay, this is the last one I promise and we'd go around another corner and the view was just as beautiful as the last one. 

A few years ago I took Ethics in History with Dr. Belzer and we read War in Val D'Orcia by Iris Origo (highly recommend it!). It is the diary of Iris Origo during World War II, living in the Val D'Orcia at her Villa, La Foce . She was a wealthy British-American who grew up in Italy, married a well off Italian man and made her home at La Foce. She aided the Partisans, housed escaped British POWs, and took in twenty plus orphans among many other heroic actions as the war literally was on her doorstep. It was amazing to see the place I had read and learned about before me in beautiful condition. We could not tour the house itself because it is still occupied, but we toured the gardens and some of the grounds. BEAUTIFUL! 

We ate lunch just down the road at a restored restaurant. It was a sort of community center during the Fascist period and was closed down for a number of years after, but has recently been reopened.

The rest of the afternoon we spent in Pienza, a small town on a hilltop in Tuscany. It is famous for Pecorino cheese and is where Pope Pius II was born. The main church there is covered in his crest. The church was built on a slope so it is slowly slipping off the hill. Inside the church there are cracks in the walls and along the floor where you can see the evidence of this. Pienza was very small but charming with lots of colorful flowers along the streets and in window boxes and many beautiful places to look out over the countryside. 

After about an hour ride home, we had only thirty minutes or so before our last cooking class of the trip. Our meal was delicious as always. The antipasti was toast with a three cheese (gorgonzola, marscapone, and fresh cheese) walnut spread topped with pears and honey, the first course was homemade spinach ravioli with butter sage sauce, the main course was a Tuscan Chicken and finally dessert was panna cotta with berry sauce.

Now you're almost caught up, just a few more posts!  Until next time, Ciao!