Not that we've gotten lost, so much as spent a lot of time wandering around Florence. And I love every second of it. Sesto is about a 30 minute bus ride from Florence, and while that is quite annoying, I've managed to get to Florence every night since Wednesday. It's like Welcome Week, Italy style. We have kind of a go-to bar now that is right by the Duomo with cheap drinks, a pretty bartender, and an amazing view. It's already been a week, and I can tell time is going to fly by.
So, an update since my last post. Thursday night we went to our first Italian club, and it was definitely an experience. We met a group of Americans who had been here since January, so we ended up chatting with them and following them to the club they were going to. It was tons of fun, but not somewhere I want to go back to. Friday we spent the day in Florence. We got food at a cafe outside of the touristy part of town, walked down to a bridge and ate alongside the river. After hanging out there for an hour or so we made our way to the Ponte Vecchio and looked around the markets. I bought two shot glasses to continue my collection (that was started in Peru), and found some other things I might buy later if my bank accounts allow for it. We came back to the Villa completely exhausted, ate a delicious meal (the food they serve us is incredible), took a power nap, and went out into Florence for another night of adventures. Not wanting to pay for a cab, we took the last bus back to Sesto.
Yesterday (Saturday) was amazing. Every Saturday there is a HUGE market in Sesto, with meat, fresh fruit, shoes, bags, clothes, and everything else you can imagine. We ate some fresh food and marveled at the super-cheap, super-cute, super-Italian shoes, and almost everyone bought a pair (Mom, I know I was saying I don't need any more shoes, but they were 5 euro. And you can borrow them :) ). After we exhausted the market (slash didn't want to risk staying longer and buying more things) we took the bus up to Florence and navigated the train station to find our way into Pisa. The tower is absolutely crazy. You see pictures and say "hey, that's funny. A tower that leans. Cool," but seeing it is completely different. It's just so bizarre. It doesn't look real at all and I couldn't stop staring. The cathedral next to it is also breathtaking, but we didn't go inside because it cost money, and that is not something any of us have in abundance. We then made our way back to Florence and ate at a really cute, really delicious restaurant off the beaten track. I got margarita pizza--my first pizza of the trip--and it was incredible. On our way back we stopped at the bridge right across from the Ponte Vecchio and went down onto this little ledge that sticks out from the bridge. Maybe not the safest thing in the world, but definitely one of the most gorgeous views. My eyes can hardly handle everything they take in here. It is all so different and so amazing. It will never, ever get old. As for last night, well, we thought it'd be fun and economical to stay out until the first bus in the morning--aka 5:45 am. Let's just say it's 4:45pm now and I'm still beat.
Today is a homework and studying-filled day. We have a paper due tomorrow and our first test on Tuesday. Over 3 chapters. Yikes. Tomorrow I'll probably go to the National Library in Florence to study, but for today it's the Villa's library, which strangely resembles the Ref Room back in Ann Arbor.
Ciao for now,
Alison
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Felicità
I just finished my last class of the week, and let's just say four hours of Italian class every day is quite overwhelming. Sabina, my teacher, doesn't speak English to us at all, and it takes full concentration to completely understand what she is saying--something that gets tiring after four hours. The Villa is amazing though, even our classroom is gorgeous. I definitely don't mind the insane workload that comes along with packing an entire years worth of class into 6 weeks because the experience is so amazing. A few of us went into Florence last night and just walked around, and the Duomo is even more magnificent at night, when there aren't hundreds of people around, and when you turn a corner and BAM. Duomo. It's a completely different feeling seeing it when you're just walking around and hanging out with friends than seeing it on a tour. We must have stood around marveling at it for 20 minutes. We didn't do much else, but it was a GREAT night. We were all still caught up in the incredibleness of everything and got so excited about everything and were so happy the whole time. It was a completely amazing and indescribable feeling and I just feel so lucky to be here and be having the experience of a lifetime.
I'm realizing now how fast this trip is going to go. There is so much to do, we have so much planned, and there is so much more I want to do. The weekends are going to be AMAZING! Tonight most of us are going to go out in Florence, and tomorrow since we don't have class we're going to spend the day in Florence going to the museums, doing some shopping, and enjoying the incredible city. Saturday we're going to take a train to Pisa and spend the day there. We have our first test already on Tuesday, and as much work and studying that needs to be done, it is so much more important to enjoy the time I have here and embrace the experience. On my birthday we are taking a day trip to Siena and are thinking about possibly staying longer. The next weekend a couple of us are going to BARCELONA!!! The plane ticket was 50 euro roundtrip. Amazing. We also have trips planned to Venice and Cinque Terre. I can hardly contain my excitement and happiness when I think about the next few weeks.
For now, I am going to go outside, enjoy the CASTLE I live in, do some studying, and marvel at how awesome my life is.
I'm realizing now how fast this trip is going to go. There is so much to do, we have so much planned, and there is so much more I want to do. The weekends are going to be AMAZING! Tonight most of us are going to go out in Florence, and tomorrow since we don't have class we're going to spend the day in Florence going to the museums, doing some shopping, and enjoying the incredible city. Saturday we're going to take a train to Pisa and spend the day there. We have our first test already on Tuesday, and as much work and studying that needs to be done, it is so much more important to enjoy the time I have here and embrace the experience. On my birthday we are taking a day trip to Siena and are thinking about possibly staying longer. The next weekend a couple of us are going to BARCELONA!!! The plane ticket was 50 euro roundtrip. Amazing. We also have trips planned to Venice and Cinque Terre. I can hardly contain my excitement and happiness when I think about the next few weeks.
For now, I am going to go outside, enjoy the CASTLE I live in, do some studying, and marvel at how awesome my life is.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Beginning
Ciao i miei amici e la mia famiglia! I have only been in Italy for a couple of days and I can already tell it is going to be an experience of a lifetime. So much has already happened and has already exceeded the extreme expectations I’ve had, and I cannot wait to see what the next 7 weeks have in store for me.
I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of blogging (not that I’ve ever done it before), but I am going to do my best to stick through it and keep this up. Mostly because I have heard from experienced travelers that it is worth it, and because family members have expressed interest in keep updated on my experiences. And because of the 6 hour time difference and the thousands of amazing stories I will have at the end of this trip, I figure I can bear through the pain of knowing people are reading my writing, because ultimately, I know I will look back and be happy I documented everything.
So. To begin. I got a little emotional saying bye to my mom at the security gate in Chicago, and that was the first time I experienced any emotion other than excitement. I suppose I was scared; scared of going to a foreign country by myself where I only sort of speak the language, scared of not really knowing anyone else going, scared of failing the class (a full year’s worth of material jam-packed into 6 weeks still scares me a bit), but mostly scared that the trip wouldn’t live up to the life-changing-experience expectations that I had attached to the trip since day one. And I can happily say, that fear is no longer with me. For the whole 2 and a half hour wait I had at the terminal, an IU student who is also studying for 6 weeks in Florence pleasantly distracted me with casual conversation, travel tips, and a jiu-jitsu lesson (theoretical, not practical). As soon as I got on the plane I took Tylenol PM, watched the first half of No Strings Attached, and passed out. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep, but it was sleep. I had a short layover in Switzerland (I wished it had been longer so I could go out an explore the beautiful countryside), chatted with a Brazilian who had apparently sat near me on the plane, and boarded a short flight to Florence. I was able to meet up with Matt and we took a taxi to the Villa. He dropped us off on the side of a street alongside an old wall—surely having taken us to the wrong place, I questioned him and apparently, it was correct. It certainly didn’t look anything like I had imagined a 600-year-old Villa to look. However, as soon as we walked inside I knew it was the right place. I was ecstatic at the sight of an impressive lawn, but I about died when I looked through the iron gates into the formal gardens. I am certainly not talented enough with words to explain the grounds—look at my pictures on Facebook and keep in mind they don’t do the place justice. I am living in a 600-year-old castle and surrounded by gardens and grounds that go on forever. That first afternoon we spent a good couple hours exploring the grounds and the inside of the never-ending Villa. At night we explored around a little, but because it was a Sunday evening not much was open. A few of us did manage to sniff out the local gelateria and enjoyed the first of many gelato stops. That first day was all I could have hoped for—and we hadn’t even had orientation yet.
Yesterday (Monday) was even more incredible. We started off the day with a delicious breakfast of Italian bread and Nutella. Yum! We then had a quick program orientation, after which a couple of us went into town to a café to try some authentic Italian coffee. I had a shot of espresso, which was strong but delicious! After coffee we had a walking tour of Sesto Fiorentino (Sesto is the town we’re actually staying in—it’s right outside of Florence). The cool part? Our tour guide didn’t speak a word of English. It was a little hard to understand him because he talked super fast, but I was able to catch the main points. After the tour we got another incredible meal—I am going to be eating VERY well these next few weeks—and then got ready for our tour of Florence. We caught the train and met up with our tour guide outside the station. We all have unlimited bus passes and it’s only about a 20 minute ride into Florence so we plan to go back and forth a lot. Our tour guide for Florence spoke English, but gave most of the tour in Italian which was very cool. She was much easier to understand, so when I wasn’t marveling at my surroundings I was able to comprehend most of the tour. Our first stop was Chiesa San Miniato, a stunning church with an even more miraculous view overlooking all of Florence. After a history lesson and some marveling we walked into the heart of Firenze. The whole tour lasted about 5 hours, so we were all happy to sit down and enjoy the sun in a small piazza after. After another delicious meal we all sat down to plan our weekends. Nothing is set in stone yet, but the ideas that were thrown around were Cinque Terre, Capri, Rome, Barcelona, and Pisa on top of our already planned trips to Siena (on my birthday!) and Venice.
Today will be a little bit of a reality shock since we actually start class—four hours a day four days a week. Yikes. Plus I have an internship at an elementary school with two other girls for an hour every Monday morning. It will be a lot, but these past couple days have gotten me really excited to really improve my Italian and speak it and just learn.
Sorry this was such a long post! I don’t know proper blogging etiquette so if this was long and exhaustive, I apologize. I will [try] to update as things happen. Until then, have un bello giorno (a beautiful day)!
Lots of love,
Alison
I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of blogging (not that I’ve ever done it before), but I am going to do my best to stick through it and keep this up. Mostly because I have heard from experienced travelers that it is worth it, and because family members have expressed interest in keep updated on my experiences. And because of the 6 hour time difference and the thousands of amazing stories I will have at the end of this trip, I figure I can bear through the pain of knowing people are reading my writing, because ultimately, I know I will look back and be happy I documented everything.
So. To begin. I got a little emotional saying bye to my mom at the security gate in Chicago, and that was the first time I experienced any emotion other than excitement. I suppose I was scared; scared of going to a foreign country by myself where I only sort of speak the language, scared of not really knowing anyone else going, scared of failing the class (a full year’s worth of material jam-packed into 6 weeks still scares me a bit), but mostly scared that the trip wouldn’t live up to the life-changing-experience expectations that I had attached to the trip since day one. And I can happily say, that fear is no longer with me. For the whole 2 and a half hour wait I had at the terminal, an IU student who is also studying for 6 weeks in Florence pleasantly distracted me with casual conversation, travel tips, and a jiu-jitsu lesson (theoretical, not practical). As soon as I got on the plane I took Tylenol PM, watched the first half of No Strings Attached, and passed out. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep, but it was sleep. I had a short layover in Switzerland (I wished it had been longer so I could go out an explore the beautiful countryside), chatted with a Brazilian who had apparently sat near me on the plane, and boarded a short flight to Florence. I was able to meet up with Matt and we took a taxi to the Villa. He dropped us off on the side of a street alongside an old wall—surely having taken us to the wrong place, I questioned him and apparently, it was correct. It certainly didn’t look anything like I had imagined a 600-year-old Villa to look. However, as soon as we walked inside I knew it was the right place. I was ecstatic at the sight of an impressive lawn, but I about died when I looked through the iron gates into the formal gardens. I am certainly not talented enough with words to explain the grounds—look at my pictures on Facebook and keep in mind they don’t do the place justice. I am living in a 600-year-old castle and surrounded by gardens and grounds that go on forever. That first afternoon we spent a good couple hours exploring the grounds and the inside of the never-ending Villa. At night we explored around a little, but because it was a Sunday evening not much was open. A few of us did manage to sniff out the local gelateria and enjoyed the first of many gelato stops. That first day was all I could have hoped for—and we hadn’t even had orientation yet.
Yesterday (Monday) was even more incredible. We started off the day with a delicious breakfast of Italian bread and Nutella. Yum! We then had a quick program orientation, after which a couple of us went into town to a café to try some authentic Italian coffee. I had a shot of espresso, which was strong but delicious! After coffee we had a walking tour of Sesto Fiorentino (Sesto is the town we’re actually staying in—it’s right outside of Florence). The cool part? Our tour guide didn’t speak a word of English. It was a little hard to understand him because he talked super fast, but I was able to catch the main points. After the tour we got another incredible meal—I am going to be eating VERY well these next few weeks—and then got ready for our tour of Florence. We caught the train and met up with our tour guide outside the station. We all have unlimited bus passes and it’s only about a 20 minute ride into Florence so we plan to go back and forth a lot. Our tour guide for Florence spoke English, but gave most of the tour in Italian which was very cool. She was much easier to understand, so when I wasn’t marveling at my surroundings I was able to comprehend most of the tour. Our first stop was Chiesa San Miniato, a stunning church with an even more miraculous view overlooking all of Florence. After a history lesson and some marveling we walked into the heart of Firenze. The whole tour lasted about 5 hours, so we were all happy to sit down and enjoy the sun in a small piazza after. After another delicious meal we all sat down to plan our weekends. Nothing is set in stone yet, but the ideas that were thrown around were Cinque Terre, Capri, Rome, Barcelona, and Pisa on top of our already planned trips to Siena (on my birthday!) and Venice.
Today will be a little bit of a reality shock since we actually start class—four hours a day four days a week. Yikes. Plus I have an internship at an elementary school with two other girls for an hour every Monday morning. It will be a lot, but these past couple days have gotten me really excited to really improve my Italian and speak it and just learn.
Sorry this was such a long post! I don’t know proper blogging etiquette so if this was long and exhaustive, I apologize. I will [try] to update as things happen. Until then, have un bello giorno (a beautiful day)!
Lots of love,
Alison
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