Lazy Sundays

Since our group has been on the go constantly, some of us decided to just hang in Siena for the weekend and do absolutely nothing. We kicked off the weekend with a group dinner at our apartment where Giusy taught us how to make her famous Carbonara. It was nice to finally not set an alarm and have to worry about catching a train, plane or bus, but rather wake up whenever, stroll to the corner cafe grab a macchiato and a panino then lounge in the campo for hours. It was the first weekend it was warm and sunny and on Saturday they had the annual Mercato where they fill the campo with white tents and vendors come from all over to sell fresh meats, wine, cheese, honey, jewelry, hats, crafts, etc. So we just spent the majority of the day wandering between the stands and mooching off the free samples of deliciousness, split a bottle of wine and watch the sunset behind the Piazza.

Snow on a Volcano?

The second half of the traveling seminar we went to Catania, Sicily. We were all very excited to head south to the beach, except, we get there and it is pouring rain. However, that doesn't deter our adventurous group, so through the downpour we explored the gorgeous city of Catania. It has been completely destroyed 4 different times in the last 2,000 years. Destroyed several times by volcanic eruptions from Mt. Etna, it is slightly different than other Italian cities we have visited. It was built with a Spanish Baroque influence in the architecture, smaller cobblestones, and lots of vegetation.

Sicily is known for its seafood, desserts, and other baked goods such as Arancini which are fried balls of rice mixed with other fresh ingredients such as mushroom, spinach, ricotta or ragu. So the entire time we were there, we had fabulous meals and sweets such as cannolis, marzipan and chocolate almond nugget bars.

The second day we decided to climb Mt. Etna, and I think I am cursed to have to snow follow me wherever I go because when we got to the top we were in the middle of a whiteout blizzard. Of course, while everyone else was wearing pants, hats and gloves, I came in shorts, nike mid-calves and a thin rain jacket! We couldn't see anything unfortunately but we did make a snowman named Etno, roll a snowball down into the crater and steal lava rocks. I also had 2 elderly men stop along the trail, remove their hats, and use them to rub my legs while saying I was crazy!

Rommma

Overview: We just returned from our traveling seminar where we were gone for 6 days, the first half spent in Rome the off to Catania in Sicily. We had class everyday we were there, and we did a walking tour covering everything from the Colosseum to the Vatican to the Pantheon and even a private tour of the Government Building. Rome is amazing, very different than Siena or Florence. Everything around you seems to be an ancient ruin when you are in the heart of the city. The skyline is gorgeous - speckled with domes, crumbling columns and more vegetation than I had seen in any major city. The majority of the time we were there it rained but it was still great!

Night life: The first night I met up with my Bowdoin friends Chris, DJ and Kaitlin. We went out to a fabulous dinner on Gnocchi Thursdays, followed by one too many servings of Limoncello, then met up at a night club with a bunch of other Bowdoin kids who are also studying in rome or came for the weekend - it was great to have a huge reunion (the pic with all the people).

Art: We saw a Caravaggio exhibit which was AMAZING!!! He was a Baroque artist who reinvented the use of dramatic lighting. How the exhibit was set up was the rooms were almost completely dark except for several spot lights on each painting that mirrored the light sources in the painting. The other art highlight was the Sistine Chapel - after taking Art of Renaissance Italy last semester where we spent a week of class discussion and then writing my final paper on the ceiling, it was so cool to actually see the frescos in person!

"Drink Slow.. But Drink A Lot!"

After a very late Friday night where our group caught the last, 4:30 am bus leaving the discoteca and successfully jammed close to 100 screaming, sweaty Italians and us onto a 48 person charter bus (welcome to italy, where laws don't apply), we decided to lay low on Saturday.

However, since we are in the heart of the Tuscan countryside, Sunday of course had to go on a group wine tasting tour. The two small buses left from the city center and took us about 45 minutes out into the country side where we just passed vineyard after vineyard after vineyard! The gorgeous green, gold and red rolling hills of Tuscany were being illuminated by the breaks in the daunting storm clouds creating the most amazing views we have ever seen.

We made several pit stops to other small towns along the way. First in Montepulciano, Casa Vecchio, then San Geminiano. All about a tenth of the size of Siena with one main street located on top of a small hill. We stopped at two wineries where we learned how each vineyard made their own wine (all explained in Italian) and then at each place we tried about six different types accompanied with bread, meats and cheeses. If anyone is coming to Italy, let me know and I will give you the name of this tour - it was only 38 euro, and you have to ask for the tour guide Alessandro (he provided the title for this blog)!

Duomo and Taste of Home

Sorry it has been a while since the last post - summer job applications got in the way!

Last week was a pretty low-key week then we headed to Florence on Thursday for class to climb all 463 steps of the Duomo. After spiraling around and around then scaling nearly vertical stairs we reached the top and had an amazing view! You can see all of Florence and the surrounding Tuscan hillsides.

That night I stayed with my friend David who is on the NYU Florence program. Instead of doing the traditional Italian pasta feast, we decided we were both a little homesick for some American dishes - so that became our theme for the weekend. Starting with dinner, we cooked gourmet turkey burgers, mashed potatoes and salad. Then the following day found an American diner that served omelets, pancakes, bagels with blueberry cream cheese, milkshakes - everything you literally can't find anywhere in Italy. I then met up with some of the girls on my program who had also stayed in Florence with other friends and we went on the hunt for Italian leather jackets. Sure enough we found a perfect shop with great student discounts where we all left looking like a stylish group of biker chicks.