Catching Up

This past week was full of excitement and yummy food - just as life should be.

On Tuesday we all had the opportunity to participate in an Italian cooking class. It was held by the owner of a restaurant that we had eaten at the first week we were in Verona. While there, we made homemade tomato sauce, homemade noodles, ricotta-stuffed zucchini and grilled eggplant filled with meat and cheese. If your mouth isn't watering yet then I am not doing this meal justice.

The table all set up for us!

I got to help stir the sauce! Clearly feeling really proud of myself here.

Putting the dough through the noodle-maker
(that's a technical term)

                   Zucchini and Eggplant                             Homemade pasta and noodles

Sippin' on vino and enjoying our meal! 

There was something about tasting the freshly-made noodles that made the meal all the more satisfying (at least more satisfying than the grilled cheeses I make myself on a regular basis here).

I really enjoyed learning how to make all the different foods and would love to try out some of these recipes once I'm home!

If you're wondering what it looks like when 25 Americans try to make an Italian dinner, here it is!

Then on Saturday I had another amazing experience. We got the chance to ski in the Italian Alps! 

The group was split into beginner and advanced sections, and although I've skied before I put myself in the beginner group. In hindsight, I would've been better off creating my own little intermediate group. But I got to be in the Alps, so no complaining here. 

After a late lunch of pasta with bolognese sauce and french fries (they really know the way to my heart) we piled on to the bus sore, tired and in awe of the sights around us. 

The beautiful view from the hill

Some of the girls! 

(I'm in the back row, third from the left)

I enjoyed my lazy Sunday yesterday, because starting this Saturday I have trips planned for every weekend until I head home! It's going to be exhausting but I'm ready to take on Europe! 

Things You Hear At The Duomo

In Florence, we climbed 463 steps up the Santa Maria del Fiore, which has an amazing view of the city. However, climbing the stairs can elicit some pretty interesting and comical statements. Here are just a few of them. 

THINGS YOU HEAR AT THE DUOMO

Starring: Lisa Aronova, Maggie Briggs, Kristin Lanxon, and Chelsea McKinnis

Mantova

After being thoroughly exhausted when we got home from Florence last night, we woke up this morning and took a bus to Mantova (pronounced Mantua in English).

Mantova is smaller town, like Verona. It is home to two large palaces, and we got the chance to get tours of both of them.

The first was Palazzo Te, which was home to Federico Gonzaga II. The Gonzaga family once ruled over Mantova, when each town had it's own lords and dukes in the 1500s. This palace acted as more of a "summer home" for the family, and Federico even had a separate wing built for his mistress to stay in.

The most interesting part of the tour was getting to see the amazing fresco paintings in all of the rooms. Each one has an incredible amount of detail and great story to go along with it. Some rooms were painted with more sexually explicit images, which were meant to be used for Federico and his lover. Others had paintings of the giants of Greek mythology, which represented the power that the Gonzaga family possessed in the town.

A "secret garden" within the palace walls.

The opening at the end of the garden leads to a room that is the closest thing to a bathroom these people ever saw. It had six "bathing areas" that water would come out of. A fire was lit in the room and in a way it acted like a sauna for them. Even while in there, the people of this time period would always wear a thin layer, never letting the water actually touch their skin.

Must've been real stinky. 

After the palace we ate an enormous lunch. We're talking four courses, complete with risotto, shells in vodka sauce, potatoes, beef and turkey, and the most delicious chocolate brownie/cookie thing I have ever eaten. Ok fine, I ate more than one. 

After lunch we headed to the family's palace, which was much more well-decorated than the first. Both structures lack a lot furnishings of any kind because they were ransacked by the German army in the 1600's. However, the second palace had more ornate details and beautiful artwork on the ceiling. Seeing all of this still makes me wonder how these elaborate buildings were put together without any sort of modern technology. 

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside of either building. But the paintings we saw were so beautiful, and even without any heat inside there (how did people live there?) it was so interesting to walk around the palaces. 

Once we had walked around in the cold and the rain for some time, Claudio took us all to the factory outlet mall in Mantova. It has over 100 outlet stores, and we had a few hours to look around. Although most of them are high-end Italian brands and way out of my price range, it was really neat to get an Italian shopping experience! 

Next week we have a planned trip to go skiing in the Alps! I am so excited and can't wait to fall flat on my face. 

Ciao! 

Firenze

(I apologize in advance for the long posts. I just love sharing everything that I see and learn!)

I haven't written a week, mainly because throughout the weekdays everything seems too normal to write a post about. But then I have to remind myself that I'm living in Italy which isn't normal. However, it's still nice to feel like I'm settling into a routine here.

I was very proud of us this weekend, however. We had a planned day trip to Mantova, Italy through our program for today (Sunday). Since we had Friday and Saturday pretty open, most of us decided to take a short trip to Florence, (or Firenze as we say here in Italy).

Talking about taking a trip and actually making it happen are two very different things. From the train tickets to hostel reservations, trip planning was a learning process. But we made it there and back in one piece, and had a blast doing it!

Some people left Thursday night or Friday morning, but I went with a group of friends after class on Friday afternoon. We took a train from Verona to Florence. We had to make two transfers during the train ride and after only mild anxiety and confusion about which train to take we made all of them!

We arrived in Florence on Friday night and walked to the hostel we had booked, which was also where our friends who had gotten there earlier were staying. We walked through the main piazza, and that was when I first saw the duomo. Duomo is a term for Catholic Church, and in many cities in Italy you can simply ask "Where is the duomo?" and be pointed to the largest church in town.

The one in Florence is called Santa Maria del Fiore. Seeing it at night, it almost looked unreal. It was so massive and elegant compared to everything around it.

The duomo is so massive and even though I tried there was absolutely no way for me to capture the whole thing in one picture. 

We continued our walk and checked into the hostel. We saw our friends there, but the woman checked us in she said "Ok, five minute walk to your room" and put her coat on. We figured out pretty quickly that our room was in a completely different building. We were a little nervous but walked into a small apartment that had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. 1 bedroom was being rented out by two other girls, but we had the other two for the six of us. And having our own bathroom was a big plus. 

After getting settled we went out to a delicious dinner and had some drinks before turning in. We wanted to get lots of sleep so we would be ready to explore. 

On Saturday we woke up later than planned (anyone surprised?), and stopped at a cafe for croissants and cappuccinos (well I didn't have one. Italy has still not converted me into a coffee-drinker). The man working at the cafe gave us directions to where we wanted to go, and offered us a discount on sandwiches if we came back later in the day. Those €2.50 sandwiches we got to take on the train later were delicious.

After breakfast we headed to Galleria Della Accademia, which is home to a number of famous art pieces, but namely Michelangelo's "David." 

We walked around and admired paintings for a while, and then made our way into a hallway lined with half-completed sculptures on either side. All of the sudden I looked up and at the end of the hallway was the sculpture of David. I think that this might be the first time in my life I can use the word breathtaking and truly mean it. I was so surprised by the affect this sculpture had on me, but it was beautiful and so much more than I had been expecting. 

(We weren't allowed to take pictures in the gallery, which was very disappointing). 

The statue is of David from the biblical story David and Goliath. Sculpting began in 150 and took Michelangelo two years to complete. It towers over the public at 17 feet tall, and is considered one of the most perfect human sculptures in existence. 

We all just stared up at it for a long time, trying to take in the fact that we were in front of one of the most famous pieces of art in the entire world. It was absolutely beautiful.

After that we headed to the Duomo, and went inside walk around. The cathedral was massive and the bishop still celebrates mass there every Sunday! 

The first stone was laid in 1296. The original structure had a courtyard, which no longer exists, and it was in this courtyard that Michelangelo found the marble from which "David" is carved. 

I made sure to light a candle and say a prayer for my little niece :)

The cathedral was incredibly peaceful and filled with all kinds of beautiful artwork, including the ceiling. After walking around for a bit we decided we wanted to go the top, which looked out over all of Florence. 

There is no elevator, so we braved the 463 stairs up to the top. The original builders clearly didn't have tourists in mind, because the stairway was narrow and dark, and at times we walked up spiral staircases for what felt like hours. The entire time we were walking I kept thinking, "I paid €8.00 for this?!"

Halfway through the ascent we walked out onto a ledge that circled the entire dome ceiling, and were able to get a closer look at the artwork. I would be lying if I said that walking the narrow path suspended around the edge of a ceiling didn't make me a little nervous. But soon we were led back into the dark staircases and continued moving upward. 

The ceiling represents the ideas of Heaven and Hell, with earth sitting in the middle. At the very top of the dome sits the Risen Christ, surrounded by angels. 

Looking down from the ceiling! 

The term light at the end of the tunnel has never been more applicable. We were all tired, sore and sweating by the time we made it up and out of the dark staircase. But when we did, I was so glad that we had decided to go to the top. Seeing Florence from up there was incredible. 

                                               

  

We heard people speaking English while we were  up there so naturally we stopped and talked to them. We chatted for a while and then as they were leaving one girl overheard Kristin say something about Chi Omega, and the girl came back saying, "did you say Chi O?"

She's a Chi O too, so we all had to take a picture together! Such a small world. 

We didn't let the rain, the sweaty walk, or the fact that all of our belongings were strapped to our backs stop us from making it up there!

After spending a considerable amount of time taking in the view and getting way too many pictures, we walked all the way back down. This time, we circled the ceiling again but were even higher up, and I could have practically touch the painted ceiling if I hadn't been too scared to take my hand off the railing. 

After the duomo we decided to indulge in other treasure of Florence: leather. Florence is a large producer of leather, and the leather market is a must-see if you visit there.

The market made up of streets filled with vendors selling all sorts of goods - all made out of real Italian leather. It was pouring rain by the time we got there and we were shivering from the cold but we walked throughout the entire market, haggled, and made some good purchases! I couldn't resist buying a leather purse for myself. 

Once we were done with the leather market we warmed up with some tea, redeemed our offer for the discounted sandwiches, and headed for the train station. It was a whirlwind of a day but we saw so many amazing things. Florence is beautiful and has even more to offer than we were able to see, and I would love to go back there someday! 

On leaving Verona

Yesterday we had the chance to travel outside of Verona, and it was great to see some other towns in Italy.

Our entire program went on an excursion led by Claudio. We took a bus at 8:30 Sunday morning to Bolzano, which is about an hour and a half away. I have to be honest, I slept for most of the bus ride. However, I woke up as we were driving in and was amazed at the sights. We drove right past the Italian Alps, and I have never seen something quite so amazing (since mountains in general are pretty rare in Illinois).

Bolzano is a small town in northern Italy, close to the Austrian border. Because of this, a great deal of architecture has Austrian influences. Of course I left my camera at home, so my iPhone pictures will have to do for this one!

Bolzano's claim to fame is that it is home to the museum which houses Otzi the Ice Man. Otzi was a corpse discovered in 1991 in the Alps by a couple who were hiking. After extensive research, Otzi was found to be over 5,000 years old!

I loved walking through the museum and actually getting to see this ancient man! After that we were free to walk around the city and get lunch/take in the sights. Some of us had packed a lunch and just wanted to find a place to sit and eat. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, most places were closed. We finally came across a Burger King that was the largest fast food restaurant I've ever seen.

We tried to sit in the back and sneakily eat our own food, but soon a worker came up to us and started yelling at us in Italian. We're not sure what she said but she sounded angry so we packed up and left. And that was the day I got kicked out of Burger King.

We ate our sandwiches as we walked and saw some beautiful sights.  Bolzano is a cozy little city nestled in between the Alps.

Eventually we stopped to get tea, because it was so cold out!

After Bolzano we got back on the bus and headed to Trento, which is closer to Verona. While there, we toured a beautiful castle full of original fresco paintings, which Italy is famous for. 

After touring the castle we had a delicious dinner at a German restaurant that brews their own beer. It was definitely nice to have a break from pasta and vino! 

Although it was a long day, I learned so much about Italian history and am so grateful for the experiences I have been having! 

Visitors, Chocolate and Roommates, Oh My!

I have officially been in Italy for over a week now. In some ways it feels like we just got here and in other ways it seems like we've been here forever. Ether way, it's still completely surreal.

We now have a full week of classes under our belts and I think I'm really going to like all of them. In painting we started preparing our canvases and chose a picture we wanted to paint this semester. Here's to hoping I have any artistic talent!

On Friday after class Kristin, Chelsea and I had a special visitor! Our friend Reigan (and one of my amazing roomies for next semester!) came to visit for the day. They live in Holland and were taking a little vacation in Venice and decided to make a day trip to Verona.

It was so fun to show them around and really made it feel like it was our city - we knew facts about different buildings and were able to take them to the popular sight-seeing places. We walked around, had a chance to catch up, and had some wonderful tea!

My beautiful Reigan! 

Yummy tea 

(may or may not have pocketed some tea for the apartment)

This weekend in Verona there is a chocolate festival taking place! Believe me when I say that it is just as good as it sounds. 

Eating chocolate fondue over fresh strawberries! 

With my beautiful roommates at the chocolate festival! 

(Sarah, Lisa and Cecille)

While at the chocolate festival, we saw a huge table set up where they were attempting to make the world's longest chocolate bar (we think). There were TV cameras and a DJ with an announcer, and people constantly rushing melted chocolate to the table. We couldn't understand what was going on/see anything over the crowd of people so I'm sorry to say that I cannot tell you if the world's largest candy bar was made today. 

After a day of chocolate, we went grocery shopping and made an amazing dinner together. 

Chicken with basil topped with tomatoes and mozzarella, pasta with butter and oil and salad. 

And wine.

Tomorrow our program is taking a trip to Bolzano, which is a town that is about an hour and a half away. I can't wait to see another part of Italy! 

Buonanotte! 

Where in the World am I?

I thought it would be a good idea to show you exactly where I am in this world.

Here is a map of Italy, and I'm up there in Verona. Rome is about 315 miles away to give you an idea of how big the country is.

I know this picture is hard to see, but this is a map of Verona. My apartment is the red circle on the left. The purple dot is our school, Idea Verona which is just under a 10 minute walk. The big blue circle is Piazza Bra, one of the central town areas.

The bending river surrounding the city means that there are a number of beautiful bridges to walk across. It also means that all the bridges look the same and you can sometimes cross the same river three times before you figure out that you're going the wrong way (I've heard that's possible).

Verona is home to about 265,000 people. While it has always historically been an important town, it gained a notable amount of fame from Shakespeare, as it is the setting to such plays as Romeo and Juliet and Two Gentlemen of Verona.  

The city is basically tourist-free throughout the week which makes it feel more like home than vacation, which we all really like. I am truly loving living in this beautiful place. 

Ciao! 

Parli Inglese?

Now that classes have started, I'm beginning to feel like I actually live in Italy. Claudio does not meet with us every day anymore, and we are left to find our own way around Verona as well as feed ourselves.

Yesterday started with Italian 101. I am in a class with eleven other U of I students, and none of us have ever taken Italian before. Our insegnante, Elena, does not speak English, which makes for an interesting combination of hand gestures and drawings when trying to explain things. However, I think that this is actually a great way to learn the language, as I am forced to leave English behind and become fully immersed in Italian.

Italian class is from 9:00-1:15 every morning (or 9:00-13.15 because this whole town is on military time), and after just two days of that I am already feeling more confident about communicating with people throughout the city (see below for my interaction with my landlord).

After Italian yesterday I did not have any other classes, so I ran some errands around the city - which included stopping for gelato. The fact that I am already able to "run errands" already is so exciting, because I think that means I feel comfortable here.

My roommates and I all made dinner together, which was so much fun! Pesto cavatappi with cherry tomatoes, bread dipped in oil and parmesan (which is not an Italian dish at all, but rather just served at American Italian restaurants) and red wine. So much fun!

Later that night Kristin and Chelsea invited everyone to their apartment and a big group of us all met up there. Cecille, Lisa (two of my roommates) and I got so lost trying to get to the apartment. Later on the whole group of us tried to go out to a bar and again got terribly lost. This is something that would normally frustrate and scare me, but this place is teaching me to go with the flow and not worry so much. ( I never actually made it to the bar because we walked so much in the search for it that a few of us got tired and decided to go back home. Again, look at me just going with the flow here).

Today after Italian class our university threw us a small welcome party at a restaurant near the school. We had snacks and a drink called a Spritz, which is very common in northern Italy. The drink has white wine, orange liqueur, sparkling water and is served with an orange slice - and is delicious! It was so nice to feel welcomed by the staff here!

Three hours of photography followed and was a simple introductory lesson today, but I am excited for the days when we will get to venture out into Verona with our teacher and take some pictures (who thankfully speaks English).

After class my roommates and I braved the grocery store for the first time. It was a bit overwhelming (especially with trying to remember that prices are euros, not dollars!) but we didn't run into much of a problem until we got to the deli counter. I'm used to buying meat in pounds, not grams, and had no idea how much to get. I am getting very good at asking parli inglese? More often than not people say no, but the lady at the deli counter was so nice and didn't mind helping us as we pointed to what we wanted and she slowly sliced our meat until we gave her a thumbs up.

Tonight my roommate Cecille and I realized the light in our room was out, so I googled how to say "a light broke" and went and knocked on our landlord's door. She is this tiny little Italian woman who is old enough to be my grandmother. She brought her husband over, and one shattered light bulb and two blown fuses later we now have a bare bulb hanging from our ceiling.

As she left our apartment I said "Buona sera" which I thought meant goodnight. However, she turned around and shook her head saying, "Buona notte!" telling me that what I said should be used in the afternoon and buona notte is for going to sleep. It amazes me how even though we don't speak Italian and they don't speak English we were still able to communicate effectively.

There is a lot more connecting all of us than we think.

I am so exhausted from the non-stop days that we have been having and am really looking forward to staying in and relaxing with my roommates tonight.

Here are some pictures of our apartment!

              

Looking in from our front door. 

One bathroom for four girls, complete with washing machine and a bidet! 

The room I share with Cecille! 

My bed with a little bit of home hanging over it!

Be Free. 

My motto for the semester. 

Our cute little kitchen. 

The fridge comes up to my shoulder and that little white stove is up to my hips, in case you were wondering.