Weekend in Tuscany

Two weekends ago Devin and I had a really awesome weekend in a little town in the Tuscan countryside called Montepulciano. It's a really cool old town built on top of a hill, so you can see for miles across the rolling hills of Tuscany. The town is also really beautiful; it has all these zig-zagging cobblestone streets and lots of old 

architecture. Like this church above, which was beautiful inside as well, and was just outside the town.

We stayed at an agriturismo place, which is a tourist industry in Italy. People who own vineyards can basically open up a little bed and breakfast on their land, which I guess is a simple definition of what agriturismo is. The place we stayed at was a few minutes outside of town, so we had to get driven there by our amazing host, Giacomo, or take the bus, which was a little complicated. 

But so worth it! The place we stayed at ended up being incredible. The villa that they had for rooms was really rustic and Tuscan, but everything was really nicely kept, and a lot of things had been modernized. 

The place was run by Giacomo and his mother, who made the best Italian food I have ever tasted! Everything they make is homemade and grown on their land. Giacomo makes his wine himself, and doesn't sell it because he believes that the chemicals that most wines you find in the store have ruin the wine. And he might be right, because his wine was also some of the best, if not the best I've had so far. He also makes his own olive oil, honey (which he gave me a free jar of to take home because I loved it so much-seriously it was so so amazing) and grows his own walnuts. 

The town was really cool to see, but being a bit of a distance from it made it hard to stay for very long, since the busses didn't run very often or very late in the evening. However, it was really worth it considering the place we got to stay at. The food, wine, and everything was just really amazing. And Giacomo was super nice, he even picked us up from the train station and his mother drove us there on our way back to Florence. 

We made a short stop in Siena on the way back, since it's on the way to Florence, and just did a quick few hours tour of Siena. Another really awesome medieval town, the streets are even more twisty, and the churches and architecture were breathtaking. It was a little cold the day we went though, so we may have to go back to enjoy it more. 

All in all, it turned out to be a really great weekend!

Kristine

Belated Rome Update

To the left is picture of a bronze altar in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in Rome. I saw a lot of historic sites and did a lot of walking around. Rome is a bit bigger than Florence and harder to walk around, which is why they have a Metro system. 

I have seen many of the major sites in Rome before, but it was cool to see them again. The large group I went with was not very conducive to sight seeing, so we broke into smaller groups. Traveling with other people isn't always as easy as it seems. 

The first day, we took the train from Florence to Rome, which took about three hours on a regional train. The EuroStar train is faster, but also costs more. When we got to Rome, we walked to our hostel and checked into the eight person room we had booked for that night. A few of the girls had gone earlier in the day as part of a class trip, so they were with their class while the four of us (me, Nicole, Drew and Andrea) walked around. 

The hostel turned out to be pretty nice for the price we paid. It was also really close to the train station, which was awesome. 

After checking into our hostel, we walked around Rome for a little bit, and then I met up with Devin after his class was done sight seeing for the day. Then we saw the Trevi Fountain, which is beautiful at night, and the Spanish Steps. 

We had the most amazing dinner that night, in a little piazza near the Spanish Steps. It was a little cold that night, but we sat outside anyway, under the little heating lamps that the restaurant had outside. Had some wine, prosciutto and salami appetizer, and tried eggplant parmesan in Italy! It was really good food and a nice night. 

The next morning, a few of the girls got up early to go the Vatican, and Drew, Nicole and I went at a little slower pace and took the Metro to Vatican City. 

I had been here before too, but not inside St. Peter's Basilica, which is so incredibly gorgeous. The inside is huge, and everything is so ornate and colorful. I had to keep walking around to see everything, and there was always something new to look at. There were a lot of statues, frescoes, and tons of other things to see. 

After that, we met up with the other girls and walked to the Vatican Museum where the Sistine Chapel is. The Vatican Museum takes a while to see, because its a maze of rooms that house

 artwork and statues, some of the rooms are painted from floor to ceiling with incredible detail. Then you get to the room where the Sistine Chapel is, and it's amazing. I don't really know how to write about how the Sistine Chapel looks, it sort of just is an experience of its own. 

After seeing the Vatican Museum, we walked around trying to find a place for lunch. Finally settled on a cheap pizza place and got gelato as well. Drew, Nicole and I decided to try see this island that is in the southern area of Rome, so we took the Metro to the Colosseum, where Devin was finishing up his class for the day. We all then walked to this island, which ended up being just a church, and we sat down by the river for a while. 

We walked some more because Drew wanted to walk up the river, and then it started raining, so we decided to sit in an Irish pub instead. We thought it was happy hour, but the waitress told us that it was "not today" which seemed a little arbitrary, so we had a drink and left.

The four of us had dinner at a cute little restaurant near the Trevi Fountain, and walked back to the hostel afterwards. We went out with the rest of the girls later, to a little bar near the train station. 

The next day we basically wanted to go inside the Colosseum, so we did that and then walked towards the Pantheon. Devin and I, after walking up the Piazza Venezia building with Drew and Nicole, wanted to grab a sandwich, so we ate overlooking the Colosseum and ancient ruins of Rome, which was really pretty (and sunny!) 

We made our way to the Pantheon then, got some gelato, and met up with Drew and Nicole at the Piazza del Popolo. We decided to get our stuff from the hostel at this point and catch a train back to Florence. 

Of course, we had to get some McDonald's when we were waiting for our train! When in Rome.....

Kristine

Another Update!!!

So, I finally am feeling better after being sick for about a week. Might have been the flu, but I'm not totally sure. 

Anyway, before that I went on a day trip to Lucca, on Sunday about two weekends ago. I've been there before when I was little, but walking through the streets of Lucca I didn't remember much. 

Lucca has a lot of churches. A lot. Like 100 or something. And the city is pretty small for a city, and its completely walled in. I love walled cities, they seem so much more quaint and protected. I guess they have to be quaint because its harder to wall in cities that are really big, like Florence. 

                 

 I stood on one of the walls, and it was pretty high up from 

the ground. There was also a nice view of the mountains in the distance and I like scenery with mountains. I really want to go to Switzerland to see the Alps. A few people went on a school trip to Interlaken, a city close to the Alps in Switzerland, and it was apparently really cool. 

Besides Lucca, I haven't been anywhere else besides around Florence and up to campus. However, I am going to Rome this weekend. A lot of the girls in my apartment, including my roommate, Nicole, were planning on going and then I found out that Devin also is going for a class trip, so it should be fun. I wasn't planning on going back to Rome, because the last time I was there I saw a lot of the major spots, like the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Sistine Chapel, etc. Rome is a realllly big Italian city, and a lot of it isn't 'nice,' I guess it's like New York in that way. So I wasn't planning on making a trip back, but it will be cool to see it again. 

                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                            I know this is going to sound...bad...but I am getting a bit tired of the food here. I know!!! I 

know it's Italy, and the food is amazing, but you can only eat so many dishes of pasta!!! And the only lunch options are seriously dry sandwiches with two slices of salami, or a mini cheese pizza that they heat in a toaster oven and doesn't taste very good. I want a cheeseburger! From Portillos! Or Chipotle. 

Besides that, I am looking forward to nice weather and doing some traveling. If anyone has any suggestions, I would gladly take them! Still thinking about Greece for spring break. 

That's all for now, 

Kristine

First Week In Firenze

I've been to all my classes now, and had Italian every day this week. I seem to be learning more phrases and words, but whenever I actually need to use what I learned I can't remember it. 

Funny story. I was at the grocery store, and was at the checkout when the cashier held up the lemon I had put on the counter. He started saying a lot of things in Italian that I didn't really understand and I got flustered to the point that all I could do was shake my head and make a confused face. It was really awkward. Eventually he realized I didn't

 speak Italian (of course this felt like five hours later and it was really five minutes) and he asked, very slowly, very drawn out, "do you want-a this-a lemon?" I said no and basically jogged out of the store. This probably doesn't sound that embarrassing, but when you're trying to pretend  you understand what they're saying, and then stand there dumbstruck when they wait for an answer...it's not good. 

Had some good experiences too though, most of my classes seem pretty interesting except for my music theory and aural comprehension classes. But those are always boring. My politics class seems really interesting; our professor is German and the class is about Western European Politics, so naturally, he's pretty qualified to teach the class. There's only five students in the class, so I feel like we will get a lot of individual attention. (a.k.a. can't skip class.) Not that I do this!!!

We watched the inauguration during this class (it happened to be at the same time) and it was interesting to see what a different perspective you get watching it from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It's amazing how our election affects so many people around the world, and can spark such debate and celebration. He mentioned once how our democracy is not true to the sense of the word, that democracy means "the people govern" or something like that in Greek, and that since America's president affects so many other countries and political choices around the world, the whole world should vote for our president...or something like that. It was an interesting point. Obviously, a democracy in that sense would be impossible in America's case...but it was interesting nonetheless. 

       Moving on from politics, I had to wake up this morning

 for my 9 o'clock class, which was not fun. My art market class seems really fascinating, we get to take trips to see real workshops around Florence, like a woodworker and gold gilder and silk weaver's workshop which all sounds amazing. 

Back to food, I had the most incredible pastry this morning with my cappucino, filled with chocolate and some kind of egg cream. It was seriously so good. I didn't know Italians had such good pastries. I must say, I'm beginning to enjoy the way they eat around here. 

Kristine

First Few Days in Florence

When I arrived in Florence, it was close to midnight. I was exhausted after a loooooong day of traveling, and I was standing in line to wait for a taxi to take me to NYU's campus. I didn't know much Italian, I learned to say "buona sera" on the trip, so I said this to my taxi driver when he came to take my bags. I was surprised he was so nice, even when I asked if he could speak English. He tried to give me a few facts on Florence as we drove around in the dark, of what few things I could actually see. We eventually got to NYU and I picked up my keys and an orientation packet and he drove me to my apartment. I lugged my two suitcases in through two big doors and up one tiny elevator, and was finally here. 

Since then, I have learned to be as inconspicuously American as possible. Traveling in large groups is a giveaway, as is speaking loudly in English. I have met both rude and lovable Italians, and have surprisingly been picking up basic Italian pretty quickly. At least the important things, like how to order food, and how to ask for directions. 

Our apartment is shared with 11 girls, and we live in a building with other Italian families. Most of the girls are really nice, and me and Nicole have made friends with a lot of them. 

It took me a few days to get my bearings, but by now I have a good general sense of direction, and can find my way to the Duomo and a few of the piazzas and campus without too much trouble. The city doesn't seem as big once you know your way around it. We also were given a short walking tour of our neighborhood, which wasn't too helpful, except we got free gelato and found a good place to buy fresh bread.

The bus tour we took today was probably the most tourist-y yet informative thing we have done so far. We saw so many of the great landmarks in Florence, and I got really good pictures overlooking Florence and of its churches and streets. 

Last night, we made a really good pasta dinner that cost us probably 2 euro for both me and Nicole, so we should definitely try making dinner ourselves as often as possible. 

I guess that's it for now, I will post pictures and things later. Feel free to comment! 

Ciao!