Sicily

The last weekend of our break was spent in Sicily. I took a ferry from Naples to the city of Palermo which is located on the northern coast of Sicily. The boat ride was much better than I thought it would be. The ferry was huge and I stayed in a small "cabin" as they called them with four bed in it and a bathroom. It just so happened that 40 other American students who are studying in Rome for the semester were also taking a trip to Sicily for the weekend and three of them stayed in my room with me. So I made some new friends and we ate dinner at the cafeteria, explored the boat deck, and hung out in the bar area where there were comfy chairs, tvs, and drinks. It ended up being a really fun night and I got a good 6 hours of sleep before we got off the boat in the morning around 7am. I then took a taxi to the apartment where Kate, Amanda, and Christi had arrived the night before and we got ready to explore Palermo.


On Saturday afternoon, we took a bus all the way down to Syracuse. The ride was about 3.5 hours but the scenery was so beautiful which made the time pass quickly. We traveled east first along the northern coast so we had a great view of the sea and then we started heading south and saw all of the mountainous countryside and untouched beauty. When we got to Syracuse we took a bus to our apartment and got ready to head out and explore since I had to leave very early the next day to catch my 7:30am plane.

First stop was the ruins of the Temple of Apollo (picture) and we saw a puppet theatre and dropped by this art exhibition and got some free Italian books of poetry and then came back and looked in some stores before going to dinner. We ate at a restaurant called "Marea" which was located on a dock over the water. It had very modern furnishings and seemed fancy but the prices were reasonable and we had some great pasta dishes and desserts (picture). Then we came back to the apartment and Amanda braided my hair before we all went to bed. I had to wake up at 4:30am to catch my 5am taxi to the airport at Catania so I could fly to Milan then take the train from Milan to Bassano in order to get back to campus on Sunday. Everything ended up working out ok though and I was back to campus by 3 in the afternoon.

Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, and Sorrento

On the morning of the 14th I headed on a train down to Naples. It was only an hour and 10 min train ride from Rome and when I arrived I immediately found a bus that would take me to the hotel I was going to stay at. I muttered some italian to the bus driver so he would let me know where to get off and after 15 minutes I arrived at my seaside bed and breakfast. And I mean it was literally right next to the sea -- the only thing separating the building from the water was a road and a sidewalk. It was fantastic! I had such a great view of the water from my room and it ended up being a really great location to stay as I was near a lot of good restaurants, shopping areas, 2 castles, and the largest piazza in Naples. I went for a long walk to check out everything later that day and saw all the cute Italian couples next to the bay celebrating Valentine's Day. All of the restaurants along the water were decorated with red and hearts--it was so cute. Oh and I ate some excellent gelato :) of course.

The next day I went out to see what I could see in Naples. First I walked over to the castle nearest to me (Castel dell'Ovo) and took a gander which was neat then walked to the large square called Piazza del Plebiscito which has the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola. When I got there it was closed so I couldn't go inside but I took some pictures and strolled in the sun for awhile before going across the way to Palazzo Reale and Parco Castello. I got lost trying to find the Biblioteca Nazionale in Palazzo Reale but eventually found it and walked through the quiet halls. Then I headed outside and sat in the park for a little bit and from there I could see the second castle -- Castel Nuovo. I then went to a large indoor shopping area called Galleria Umberto I and looked around at some stores before walking along Via Toledo which leads up to the Capodimonte Museum and Park. It was really beautiful there--I had a good view of the city once at the top of the hill and walked through the museum and watched kids playing soccer and people walking their dogs int he park. I walked back down the hill to Piazza San Domenica Maggiore and took a stroll around Castel Nuovo before heading back to the hotel. It was a pretty good day overall -- but I felt like it was a great disappoinment compared to Rome. It was also extremely dirty and run down (at least the part I saw) and I didn't enjoy myself very much. But that night I ate at a great pizzeria called Rosso Pommodorro and had pizza with bacon and baked potato toppings. Delicious.

I had heard there was going to be rain on the forecast for the following day so I asked the hotel staff and it was confirmed that it was going to rain ALL DAY. Darn--I really wanted to take a ferry to the island of Capri but that didn't end up working out. However, it was nice just relaxing in the hotel room the next day, watching the rain fall and the waves crashing against the rocks. I did make an appt for a haircut though at a place that spoke English in the area. So at 5 in the afternoon I went and got my haircut and had a great conversation with a lady who was there and was friends with the owners. She was from the U.S. and moved to Naples about 5 years ago.

On Thursday it was my last day in Naples so I made the most of it by doing an exploration of the ruins at Pompeii, 3 towns on the Amalfi Coast, the city of Sorrento, and then back to Naples. Pompeii was absolutely amazing. I did a guided tour and was amazed to see the ruins of an ancient town destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius looming in the background. We saw the the baths, ruins of houses and shopping areas, and the main square and forum. I saw the theatre and the school where gladiators trained and learned about the aqueduct system and how they got around when it rained without a drainage system. It was very interesting -- maybe the most eerie part was seeing skeletons of some of the people who were poisoned by the gas from the volcano then covered in lava which later turned into rock.

Going on to the Amalfi Coast, I saw the most spectacular views. As we were climbing the mountains along the peninsula we stopped to take in the view of Mt. Vesuvius, the towns below, and the water. The first town we stopped at was called Ravello so I strolled around and took some pictures. During the winter season, not much is open on the coast because it is now mainly a tourist area so it was quiet but I think it was better that way. I then ventured to the town of Amalfi and saw the church of St. Andrew in the square and got a huge piece of pizza with fries on top and bought some lemon souvenirs. Driving along the coast, you saw lemon trees EVERYWHERE -- as well as oranges but mostly lemons--what the Amalfi Coast is known for. We then kept going to the last town on the coast called Positano. I was just amazed at everything I saw and my driver was able to tell me some great history about the region. Some of the highlights were seeing the ruins of lookout towers where people watched for pirate invasions, and the rock formation of the Virgin Mary, and the tiny Nativity Set towns that were splattered in the rocks along the road.

We went back down the mountainside at the end of the peninsula to the city of Sorrento where I spent an hour wandering and shopping in some neat crafty stores and then my driver took me to the port in Naples where I got on my boat headed to Sicily!

Rome in 2 days

My first destination for our week long travel break was Rome. I took a train to Rome on Friday night (11th) and arrived in Rome a little after 9pm. My friend, Kate Strittmatter, met me at the train station. She has been studying at John Cabot University in Rome for the year -- we've been friends since elementary school and just happen to be studying in Italy at the same time. Our adventures together in Rome began Saturday morning as we ventured to find "Tre Fontane Abbey" or Three Fountains Abbey. We were looking to find the Church of St. Paul of Three Fountains which was the place where St. Paul was rumored to have been beheaded by the Emperor Nero. Legend says that Paul's head bounced and hit the ground in 3 different places where fountains sprang up. Later on a church was built around these fountains. The bus ride took forever but we finally came to our stop and had to ask for directions to the church so at first we were led astray by 3 Italian men who argued over where it was in a Tabacchi shop but Kate and I eventually found our way to the church. It was truly amazing to see. We saw the column upon which Paul's head was placed before he was martyred and the 3 fountains inside of the church. On either side of the church of St. Paul were "Our Lady of Martyrs" church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and another dedicated to St. Vincent and Anastasius. After taking our time to look around, we sat at the cafe near the Arch of Charlemagne at the abbey entrance and had cappuccinos before going to Piazza Navona.
Piazza Navona is one of Rome's many squares. This one is particularly notable because it contains the Fountain of the Four Rivers which, if you have seen the movie Angels and Demons, is where the 4th cardinal was almost drowned.

Later on we had lunch at osteria pizzeria Margherita and ate some great pasta. We then strolled over to the Pantheon and peered through its great oculus. I think we looked in some shops and got some gelato before arriving at the Trevi Fountain which is ridiculously large and beautiful. The fountain is dedicated to the god of the sea, Neptune who is riding a chariot pulled by two sea horses (one calm and one wild representing the moods of the sea). It is tradition to throw a coin in over your shoulder to insure your return to Rome...so of course I did.

We then walked by Capitoline Hill and the ruins of the Roman Forum on our trek to the great Colosseum. It was just beginning to get dark so with the sun setting, we were able to get some great pictures outside the Colosseum!

We walked over to see the Holy Stairs which were located in the praetorium of Pontius Pilate when he was governor of Judea. That means, on the day Jesus was condemned to die on the cross, he ascended and descended these stairs. The actual stairs are protected by boards so visitors can kneel on them and make their ascension to the top. We also crossed the street and took a look inside St. John's Basilica. The sheer size of the churches of Rome absolutely amazed me. How a structure could be so large, decorated in detail, and gorgeous puts me at awe.

On our way to see "La Bella e La Bestia" we dropped into a few more churches including the Basilica of Saint Mary Major and then we stopped and ate some dried zucchini flowers and pasta at a restaurant before going to the theatre.

At some point in the morning we decided we wanted to go see "La Bella e La Bestia" (Beauty and the Beast) that night. Kate and I went to New York together for a Business Professionals of America trip during our junior year of high school and we saw the broadway performance there so we thought it would be neat to see it performed in Italian in Rome. We both thought it was fantastic! Overall it was a jam packed and fun filled day. On day 2 in Rome we ventured to Vatican City!

Sunday morning we went and saw St. Peter's Basilica which contains the famous "Pieta" sculpture done by Michelangelo. If I was amazed before by the size of churches, this one put them all to shame. You could spend a whole day going through this church and still miss something. Sunday mass was going on at the time and it was getting close to noon when the Pope was going to give his blessing to the people in the square outside so we admired the interior of the church and then headed outside to see the Pope pop his head out a window and address the crowd.

We went and found a restaurant for lunch that ended up being extremely fancy and it was hilarious because melodic music was playing and kate and I were one of the only ones in this restaurant. But we had some beautiful pasta dishes, I tried some of Kate's octopus in her pasta (which I did not enjoy), and we headed on our way to Piazza del Popolo, another large square in Rome. Unknown to us, a huge riot was going on at the time with many women protesting President Berlusconi's recent sex scandals. Later we found out from Kate's mom that over 100,000 people were gathered there. We fought our way through the crowd and walked up the hill to some gardens at the top and sat by a fountain and watched the protesters for a little bit (and Kate switched shoes with me cuz I was getting blisters--Thanks Kate!). Then we wandered over and walked down the Spanish stairs.

I had such a great time in Rome and saw so many amazing sights! I will definitely be going back later in the semester to do some more in depth touring.

Piazza Del Popolo

Travel Break

Our first week long travel break is next week! I am leaving for Rome tomorrow afternoon and staying with Kate Strittmatter who is studying at John Cabot University right now...then off to Naples for 4 days, and Sicily for 3 days. Can't wait to tell you all about it!

InterMilan vs. Rome Soccer Game

On Sunday this past week, a group of about 40 students went to see the InterMilan vs. Rome soccer game held in Milan at the San Siro Stadium. The bus ride was about 4 hours and we got to the game about 2 hours early so we split off into smaller groups and browsed the food stands and bought some InterMilan scarves so we could cheer them on. To put it lightly, the stadium was HUGE. It was originally built in 1927 but overwent a huge $60 million renovation when the World-Cup was held there in 1990. There are three separate tiers (we were at the very very top in the 3rd tier---lots of stairs to climb). The stadium can hold around 83,000 people, so about 12,000 more people than Kinnick Stadium.

We were warned extensively beforehand that Rome's team are huge rivals to InterMilan so we were suppose to steer clear of fights or riots. But I felt the teams were very sportsmanlike and there was only one crazy section of Milan fans who were lighting up red flares, waving huge flags and signs, and shouting things in Italian I could not understand. It was so weird to see people lighting up cigarettes and cigars in the stadium -- Italians are big smokers and there aren't laws like in the U.S. banning smoking from school property, restaurants, or other public properties.

Probably the most interesting experience while I was at the game was going to the restrooms. First of all, the toilets in the women's restroom were simply a hole in the floor. It was like a toilet seat at ground level. And there was no toilet paper--apparently you bring your own??? My friend Brittany and I were unaware of that before coming--she asked another lady in line who gave her a piece of newspaper while I was lucky enough to have some tissues in my coat pocket. And they don't provide soap at the sink....no wonder Italians are so fussy about not touching food with your hands....

Anyway, the game was great. InterMilan ended up winning 5-3 against Rome. It was really fun to shout the players' last names five times when they scored. (see video) There were also a big group of gentlemen from Israel who were sitting in front of our group who were really funny. They didn't know any Italian either but were having a great time jumping up and down, screaming, and just going along with whatever the Italians were doing :) We didn't get back to campus til 3am so I went straight to bed!

Venice!

A group of nine people including myself traveled to Venice for a day trip last Saturday and it was MAGNIFICENT. Wow, I did not see one thing that was not beautiful, intriguing, or quaint. We saw St. Mark's Square and went inside the church and did some looking around in the Gucci, Prada, Chanel, and Farrari stores. We saw a ton of mask shops while we were wandering around getting lost (the best thing to do in Venice) and so a few people bought masks for carnevale which is the popular festival starting up the last week of February and 1st week of march. (I will be going to a ball during carnevale in march so I'll let you know more about what that is later!). It was very cold while we were there--all the water makes it freezing during winter!--so we didn't take any boat tours or gondola rides. I'll save that for a warmer day. But overall, it was a great day wandering into cafes, gelaterias, and pizzerias and walking over zillions of tiny bridges crossing the waterways. The Rialto Bridge was especially amazing to see at night when we were heading back to the train station--this bridge is huge and it has stores on it and everything is lit up at night. I was surprised how walkable everything was--we saw a very large portion of the city in the one day we were there so I was happy to have familiarized myself--although it is inevitable you will get lost :) But after all, that is the whole point of going to Venice right?

Gourmet Dinner #1

This past Tuesday night, all 250+ students got all dressed up and took buses to Castelfranco for a gourmet dinner. It was the first of 3 gourmet meals we will be having throughout the semester. These meals are included in our tuition costs and the director of our program, Al Ringleb, generously pays for the wine. The dinner had a total of 5 courses. The first course is appetizers (antipasta) and we all mingled in a heated tent area attached to the restaurant building and browsed through tables of appetizers and tried this and that--everything I had was delicious.

Then after about an hour or so we moved into the dining hall where round tables that seated ten people were set up. We all found a seat and immediately began pouring our first wine that was at the table (a white chardonnay). We had gone through a crash course earlier in the day about dining etiquette so we properly laid our napkins on our laps, held our wine glasses by the stem, and worked our way through the silverware from the outside in (and millions of other rules). Our second course was a rice dish that was made with a purple lettuce that is in season this time of year. It looked unappetizing but was very delicious.

The third course was pasta shells filled with duck meat (it tasted like tuna though). Before the fourth course, we poured our second wine which was a red cabernet franc. Very dry--I almost had to choke it down. The fourth course was the meat dish--chicken, potatoes, and artichoke. And last was the dessert--creamy vanilla gelato with fruit sauce on top. Our dessert wine was the most delicious in my opinion-a very sweet Verduzzo di Ramandolo. And to top everything off, we ended the night with a small cup of espresso. The dinner was quite an event- we arrived at the restaurant around 8:00 and were not finished until midnight.