Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Ultimo Giorno
It's my last day here in Florence. It's been quite the emotional roller coaster and I'm having a way harder time with the prospect of leaving than I thought I was going to. It's all so real now. Tomorrow I'll be back in the states. Last night was essentially the last night I slept in my bed here because I have to leave for the airport at 5 am. We're all trying to cram in all those last minute things while also trying to just relax and enjoy each others company. It's making for a day that seems like it's moving through super glue, because everyone is going every which way so nobody is actually getting much done, but at the same time is flying at the speed of light. I don't know if I'm really ready to fully reflect yet, but I promise when I get back to the states that I'll do one more post. For right now, I'm just going to soak up the last of this Tuscan sun before I fly away home....
Monday, April 26, 2010
There was a Great Big Moose
Today was my second to last day of my internship, and my last day with this particular class. To commemorate this occasion, I taught the kids a camp song: There was a Great Big Moose. If you don't know it, you should probably google it or something because it's a) fabulous b) going to make this story a whole lot funnier. So I'm teaching the kids this song, which goes repeat after me style. I sing the first line "there was a great big moose" and the line that comes back to me was the most adorable and hilarious thing I've ever heard. Insert rolling R's all over the place and try to imagine what "moose" would sound like if it was spelled with a couple of U's. Needless to say, fun was had by all. The kids got really into it. And then when class was over, they gave me a card a girl had made on behalf of the class and wished me buon viaggo (a good trip). So cute!
After my internship, I went on a 2 hour bike ride with Vittoria along the Arno outside of Florence. The countryside is SO BEAUTIFUL here. I never get sick of getting out of the city and seeing the hills that surround Florence. They're beyond picturesque! And it's always really nice to just hang out with Vittoria, especially since I'm leaving Thursday MOLTO PRESTO (very early). I have to be at the airport when it opens. Woof.
Thursday. Wow. I can't believe it. At times this semester absolutely crawled by, but right now it seems like it flew.
I definitely am not done with Italy though. I don't know precisely when, because I've obviously got another whole year of UVM fabulousness to enjoy, but I could see myself coming back for a while. I love speaking Italian (you've all been warned!) and think that's going to be one of the strangest things about coming back- everyone speaking English all the time. I mean, it's definitely going to be great early in the morning when I just want to stumble around and mumble unintelligible things, because speaking Italian before my coffee is just not feasible, but other than that, I really like it. It's like a puzzle, putting together all the pieces I know to form conversations. Keeps me on my toes! Plus, Italian is one of those languages that just always sounds great. Take for example, the word for pot hole: la bucca or (le bucce). So descriptive, and so nice sounding. Or chingiale- don't you just want to hug it, whatever it is? NO! It means WILD BOAR!
After my internship, I went on a 2 hour bike ride with Vittoria along the Arno outside of Florence. The countryside is SO BEAUTIFUL here. I never get sick of getting out of the city and seeing the hills that surround Florence. They're beyond picturesque! And it's always really nice to just hang out with Vittoria, especially since I'm leaving Thursday MOLTO PRESTO (very early). I have to be at the airport when it opens. Woof.
Thursday. Wow. I can't believe it. At times this semester absolutely crawled by, but right now it seems like it flew.
I definitely am not done with Italy though. I don't know precisely when, because I've obviously got another whole year of UVM fabulousness to enjoy, but I could see myself coming back for a while. I love speaking Italian (you've all been warned!) and think that's going to be one of the strangest things about coming back- everyone speaking English all the time. I mean, it's definitely going to be great early in the morning when I just want to stumble around and mumble unintelligible things, because speaking Italian before my coffee is just not feasible, but other than that, I really like it. It's like a puzzle, putting together all the pieces I know to form conversations. Keeps me on my toes! Plus, Italian is one of those languages that just always sounds great. Take for example, the word for pot hole: la bucca or (le bucce). So descriptive, and so nice sounding. Or chingiale- don't you just want to hug it, whatever it is? NO! It means WILD BOAR!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Let us Reeeejoice
Yesterday was the last day of classes. REJOICE! Not that I haven't loved every minute of suffering through the Black Death and looking at more Botticelli paintings than I ever knew existed, though their existence as true Botticellis is still unclear, but I am quite glad to be done. I am now in a strange state of limbo where I don't really have anything to do and so thus can do anything. Except today. Because it is raining. So i decided to be productive and in one fell (brutal) swoop do ALL the internship journal entries I haven't been doing plus write my reflection paper. I got the journal entries done.....
Last night there was a dinner and a feste at school to celebrate the last day of classes. It was actually really fun. I had spent the entire afternoon in the giardino making boats out of cardstock with Charlie and then later also Kelsey, so it was just a giardino filled day. If you're wondering, the boats are beautiful. We will hopefully be hanging them from the wisteria when the rain abates. As for the feste, we were all pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. Good thing, since we had to miss a dinner with our host families to go! And afterwards there was dancing. So. Much. Fun. Such bad music for most of the night, such bad dancing (we busted out everything from the shopping cart to the lawn mower) but so amazing. Towards the end of the night, the music got a little better but by that point everyone was just in too goofy of a mood to do anything but be utterly ridiculous. It was really nice. And then when it was winding down we just moved the party to the piazza which is now a HOPPING place to be at night now that the gazebo bar is open. And yes, that's exactly what it sounds like. A bar. In a gazebo. Intended for Italians so the drinks are WAY too strong. But it was definitely a fun night. I gave a lovely toast to Savonarola, because boy am I going to miss his scary face glaring down at me every morning as I go to school. Somehow the lucky Catamount and the UVM Boulder just don't have the same oomf knowing that they didn't turn a significant portion of a generation of Florentines into God-fearing, art-burning religious fanatics. But I guess I can make do in exchange for bagels, hippies and going barefoot.
Last night there was a dinner and a feste at school to celebrate the last day of classes. It was actually really fun. I had spent the entire afternoon in the giardino making boats out of cardstock with Charlie and then later also Kelsey, so it was just a giardino filled day. If you're wondering, the boats are beautiful. We will hopefully be hanging them from the wisteria when the rain abates. As for the feste, we were all pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. Good thing, since we had to miss a dinner with our host families to go! And afterwards there was dancing. So. Much. Fun. Such bad music for most of the night, such bad dancing (we busted out everything from the shopping cart to the lawn mower) but so amazing. Towards the end of the night, the music got a little better but by that point everyone was just in too goofy of a mood to do anything but be utterly ridiculous. It was really nice. And then when it was winding down we just moved the party to the piazza which is now a HOPPING place to be at night now that the gazebo bar is open. And yes, that's exactly what it sounds like. A bar. In a gazebo. Intended for Italians so the drinks are WAY too strong. But it was definitely a fun night. I gave a lovely toast to Savonarola, because boy am I going to miss his scary face glaring down at me every morning as I go to school. Somehow the lucky Catamount and the UVM Boulder just don't have the same oomf knowing that they didn't turn a significant portion of a generation of Florentines into God-fearing, art-burning religious fanatics. But I guess I can make do in exchange for bagels, hippies and going barefoot.
Monday, April 19, 2010
All it takes is a bicycle and a scarf
The market on Sunday was an absolute blast. Sam, Charlie and I wandered around for 5 hours looking at all the stuff, and the people, and bought some pretty great things. We spent probably 45 minutes at one stand where every item of clothing was 1E and the man just kept dumping more clothes on the pile. I got a neon yellow shirt with a cowboy and indian themed comic strip on it...with the text in italian! Big win. I also may have bought parachute pants. And by that I mean I did, and I've already worn them and have fallen in love. They were the one crazy Italian item of clothing I've been eyeing all semester and I finally did it. And got tons of compliments so apparently I needn't have worried so much!
Today I went over to Kelley's (Professor Di Dio, my advisor at UVM) apartment in Florence for prosecco with Natalie (former TREKkie of mine) and Maggie (current SUF grad student). It was so much fun! So nice to sit and chat with people from UVM who know me back home (well besides Maggie). I think that's been the strangest thing here. Most of my friends go to Syracuse and so vaguely knew each other, or at least know the same people, places, things. There's only two boys here from UVM and I kind of know one of them, and don't know the other at all. So essentially, to everyone I meet, I'm just a student in Italy. No one knows who I am, what I do, or where I'm coming from in the States. In some ways it's freeing (and believe you me, I've taken full advantage of that freedom) but sometimes it's strange to be such a blank slate. Having an afternoon with UVMers really made me appreciate everyone there a lot and made me really excited to see them. But oddly enough, it didn't make me homesick. I am having the time of my life here, and have grown so much over the semester that I don't regret coming in the least. Having the chance to see people from home so that someone besides me can tell the difference was possibly what made it so cool without making me homesick. It pretty much made my week that when I rolled up in bici Kelley remarked "Look how Italian you look with your bike and your scarf! Omg!" Success. I don't know if Italian is exactly how I look, but at the very least, it's nice to think I no longer stick out like a sore thumb. Of course I would reach that level of anonymity (oddly enough, something most of us strive for here in public settings) just days before leaving. But at least I reached it. I may still scream American sometimes, but it's cool to think of just how adaptable we really are. Although thank goodness it's going to get hot soon after I return home, because if I brought my scarf inducing paranoia of catching a cold by exposing the back of your neck back to the States, I might drive myself insane even before making everyone else crazy.
Which makes me think....there are some very "Italian" worries/hang ups/commonalities that I've been mulling on. I think I would like to share them now. Keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Nonetheless, indicators of a true Italian:
*insane driving habits that require a total lack of respect for anything smaller than your vehicle
*puffy, shiny winter coats (worn at all times, see fear of catching your death)
*a lack of concern for timeliness or punctuality....I call this "Italy-time"
*the equation of amount of food fed to/consumed by a person with the amount of love you are giving/receiving
*fear of catching your death which causes-
*the constant wearing of a scarf
*horror at the mere suggestion of wet hair
*constant wearing of slippers
*the insistence on a down winter coat even when it's reaching mid 60s during the day
You think I joke, but I kid you not. :)
Today I went over to Kelley's (Professor Di Dio, my advisor at UVM) apartment in Florence for prosecco with Natalie (former TREKkie of mine) and Maggie (current SUF grad student). It was so much fun! So nice to sit and chat with people from UVM who know me back home (well besides Maggie). I think that's been the strangest thing here. Most of my friends go to Syracuse and so vaguely knew each other, or at least know the same people, places, things. There's only two boys here from UVM and I kind of know one of them, and don't know the other at all. So essentially, to everyone I meet, I'm just a student in Italy. No one knows who I am, what I do, or where I'm coming from in the States. In some ways it's freeing (and believe you me, I've taken full advantage of that freedom) but sometimes it's strange to be such a blank slate. Having an afternoon with UVMers really made me appreciate everyone there a lot and made me really excited to see them. But oddly enough, it didn't make me homesick. I am having the time of my life here, and have grown so much over the semester that I don't regret coming in the least. Having the chance to see people from home so that someone besides me can tell the difference was possibly what made it so cool without making me homesick. It pretty much made my week that when I rolled up in bici Kelley remarked "Look how Italian you look with your bike and your scarf! Omg!" Success. I don't know if Italian is exactly how I look, but at the very least, it's nice to think I no longer stick out like a sore thumb. Of course I would reach that level of anonymity (oddly enough, something most of us strive for here in public settings) just days before leaving. But at least I reached it. I may still scream American sometimes, but it's cool to think of just how adaptable we really are. Although thank goodness it's going to get hot soon after I return home, because if I brought my scarf inducing paranoia of catching a cold by exposing the back of your neck back to the States, I might drive myself insane even before making everyone else crazy.
Which makes me think....there are some very "Italian" worries/hang ups/commonalities that I've been mulling on. I think I would like to share them now. Keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Nonetheless, indicators of a true Italian:
*insane driving habits that require a total lack of respect for anything smaller than your vehicle
*puffy, shiny winter coats (worn at all times, see fear of catching your death)
*a lack of concern for timeliness or punctuality....I call this "Italy-time"
*the equation of amount of food fed to/consumed by a person with the amount of love you are giving/receiving
*fear of catching your death which causes-
*the constant wearing of a scarf
*horror at the mere suggestion of wet hair
*constant wearing of slippers
*the insistence on a down winter coat even when it's reaching mid 60s during the day
You think I joke, but I kid you not. :)
Friday, April 16, 2010
Last Regular Old Weekend
Incredible. This is my last regular old weekend in Florence. I still have nearly two weeks, but next weekend is finals, and I do in fact have a final presentation next Saturday, not to give, but to listen to other people give. Making this my last normal weekend. As "normal" as any weekend here can be at least! Not many plans as the mountain of finals work under which I'm buried will not avalanche off of me until Wednesday, but after that I will be DONE except an Italian written and oral....and let's talk about how much I'm studying for that. My LIFE here is on big study session for Italian oral exams.
So to catch you up....
I pretty much owned my Botticelli presentation. Thank goodness because now it means I don't really have to do much for my final paper besides make my presentation dictation read like an essay. Big win. Cinque Terre. AMAZING. I will try to upload photos following this post. I took nearly 300- many are just slightly different angles of the same exact thing but I have seriously never seen anything so beautiful, which is saying a lot here. We departed Florence at 7:30 am and it was freezing and raining. We were all vaguely miserable and contemplating not getting on the train because it was an all day hike, and what fun is that in the pouring rain when it's 45 degrees? No fun at all. But, fortune smiled upon us. By the time we reached the first Cinque Terre (which means Five Lands) it wasn't raining. We started hiking to warm up and by the time we reached the second town, about 30 minutes away (the shortest hike) the sun was coming out. In something you only see in the movies, the sun bursted through the clouds, it warmed up about 20 degrees, and we were all able to see the Cinque Terre as they were meant to be seen. My favorite town by far was Vernazza, the 4th town. We had time there to sit on these rocks that looked out upon the sea and ate the best fruit gelato I've ever had (Kiwi-banana and pineapple!) while soaking up the sun. The towns were amazing- colorful houses literally built into the faces of steep mountains. In between the towns there were often single houses or small clusters of houses situated on the very top of a mountain. They must have the most incredible view ever seeing as their houses looked as if they could topple into the sea at any moment. It was also really nice to hike and be out and about in the woods, walking through olive groves and forests. My host dad and sister were just asking me what I liked most about Florence, and I had a really hard time picking what I liked the most, as there are so many things, but when it came to what I missed in the states (due to it's lack in Florence- of course I miss everyone at home like crazy) it was definitely nature.
Last night was the end of the year art show at school. Interestingly enough, someone from the advanced painting class did a gigantic panel painting of a close-up of dog fur because she too missed nature while being here and thought that the highly pervasive dog culture was as close to nature as Florence gets. In other news about the show, I had two watercolors displayed! It was really cool to have my work hung, and now I have two framed pieces to bring back to the states!
I've also been doing some storytelling through our volunteer program (ie my host mom) this week, which has been really fun. There's a whole bag of flashcards and storyboards and costumes that you take to a school and you and a partner do the flashcards with the kids to prep them, read the story while dressing up, and then do it again while making the kids dress up and interact. Soooo cute. The first day I did it, the teacher liked it so much she asked me and my partner for our phone numbers so she could call us to have coffee with her sons to help them with their English! And yesterday the kids liked it so much that they asked me and my partner for our firma (autographs)! Talk about feeling like a celebrity, when 25 Italian school children run at you with pens and notebooks!
So to catch you up....
I pretty much owned my Botticelli presentation. Thank goodness because now it means I don't really have to do much for my final paper besides make my presentation dictation read like an essay. Big win. Cinque Terre. AMAZING. I will try to upload photos following this post. I took nearly 300- many are just slightly different angles of the same exact thing but I have seriously never seen anything so beautiful, which is saying a lot here. We departed Florence at 7:30 am and it was freezing and raining. We were all vaguely miserable and contemplating not getting on the train because it was an all day hike, and what fun is that in the pouring rain when it's 45 degrees? No fun at all. But, fortune smiled upon us. By the time we reached the first Cinque Terre (which means Five Lands) it wasn't raining. We started hiking to warm up and by the time we reached the second town, about 30 minutes away (the shortest hike) the sun was coming out. In something you only see in the movies, the sun bursted through the clouds, it warmed up about 20 degrees, and we were all able to see the Cinque Terre as they were meant to be seen. My favorite town by far was Vernazza, the 4th town. We had time there to sit on these rocks that looked out upon the sea and ate the best fruit gelato I've ever had (Kiwi-banana and pineapple!) while soaking up the sun. The towns were amazing- colorful houses literally built into the faces of steep mountains. In between the towns there were often single houses or small clusters of houses situated on the very top of a mountain. They must have the most incredible view ever seeing as their houses looked as if they could topple into the sea at any moment. It was also really nice to hike and be out and about in the woods, walking through olive groves and forests. My host dad and sister were just asking me what I liked most about Florence, and I had a really hard time picking what I liked the most, as there are so many things, but when it came to what I missed in the states (due to it's lack in Florence- of course I miss everyone at home like crazy) it was definitely nature.
Last night was the end of the year art show at school. Interestingly enough, someone from the advanced painting class did a gigantic panel painting of a close-up of dog fur because she too missed nature while being here and thought that the highly pervasive dog culture was as close to nature as Florence gets. In other news about the show, I had two watercolors displayed! It was really cool to have my work hung, and now I have two framed pieces to bring back to the states!
I've also been doing some storytelling through our volunteer program (ie my host mom) this week, which has been really fun. There's a whole bag of flashcards and storyboards and costumes that you take to a school and you and a partner do the flashcards with the kids to prep them, read the story while dressing up, and then do it again while making the kids dress up and interact. Soooo cute. The first day I did it, the teacher liked it so much she asked me and my partner for our phone numbers so she could call us to have coffee with her sons to help them with their English! And yesterday the kids liked it so much that they asked me and my partner for our firma (autographs)! Talk about feeling like a celebrity, when 25 Italian school children run at you with pens and notebooks!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Spontaneous Grand Adventures
Sadly, this weekend is the weekend of Botticelli. I have my final presentation coming up on Tuesday and as I will be in Cinque Terre all Sunday, most of the work needs to get done now. However, I am in Italy and don't particularly give a flying fig about Botticelli and thus I shall relate to you the wondrous adventure I had yesterday instead of doing Botticelli. I was sitting in the giardino, and my friend joe asked me to go on a turtle hunt with him as we have turtles that live in the giardino. He needed it for his Italian project on tree climbing, as clearly a good reason to climb trees is to avoid the threat of a wild animal attack, such as that posed by a turtle. This led to paninis and beer in the piazza across the street from school to fuel up for a short stroll to Piazzale Michelangelo where there was another great climbing tree Joe needed a picture with. The short stroll ended up being a 3 hour walk which took us around the Boboli Gardens (which I have yet to actually go IN) in a "giro" that my host mom had recommended that morning at breakfast. Of all the crazy coincidences! After that, we went to Fu Qui where I had a dinner date with the ladies and had some pretty decent Chinese food. It was nice, but was probably the last Chinese food I'll be eating in Italy. Oh! I nearly forgot the great fortune which I took as an omen that this Chinese food experience would be better than our last! We arrived at the villa and i realized that I had lost my keys. The only place they could have possibly been was inside the villa but it was closed. Just as I'm started to realize I'm in trouble, two ladies leave the villa. They see me freaking out and ask "did you lose your keys?" (in italian) and I'm all "SI!" One of them opens the villa, goes behind the desk, and pulls out my keys! If that's not buon fortuna I don't know what is! After dinner I came home and, since it was the first night that actually stayed warm, did yoga on the roof terrace and drank tea. It was absolutely lovely. I didn't get much Botticelli done, and it was all totally spontaneous, but it was one of the loveliest, simplest days I've had in a while. I think lovely simplicity is something I am going to strive for more often. We all get so caught up in "where did you go this weekend?" "what did you see/experience/do?" that we forget that Florence is in it's own right a beautiful city not only for tourists, but for people to live and be in. Not every day needs to be packed full with things from Frommer's must see list to be absolutely beautiful and vale di pena (worth while).
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Fun "Facts" about Crete
I can't believe I forgot my list of fun "facts" about Crete!
1. The people of Crete use mopeds the way we use our feet and/or bicycles. They ride them helmet-less in short sleeves while conversing with passengers and passerby's alike, parking anywhere they feel and hopping on and off said mopeds as if they were skateboards and not motorized vehicles.
2. They cannot/will not express themselves through dance, despite bumping party music at any and all clubs/bars/cafes (this was pointed out to us by a Latvian traveler staying in our hostel). They are however pretty efficient with car horns (this we noticed- I've never received so many good natured honks in my life).
3. They may not be able to dance so well, but man can the people of Crete parade.
4. "Chips" ie french fries, should be considered a food group in Rethymno. Everything and anything comes with a side of chips.
5. You cannot flush toilet paper on the island.
1. The people of Crete use mopeds the way we use our feet and/or bicycles. They ride them helmet-less in short sleeves while conversing with passengers and passerby's alike, parking anywhere they feel and hopping on and off said mopeds as if they were skateboards and not motorized vehicles.
2. They cannot/will not express themselves through dance, despite bumping party music at any and all clubs/bars/cafes (this was pointed out to us by a Latvian traveler staying in our hostel). They are however pretty efficient with car horns (this we noticed- I've never received so many good natured honks in my life).
3. They may not be able to dance so well, but man can the people of Crete parade.
4. "Chips" ie french fries, should be considered a food group in Rethymno. Everything and anything comes with a side of chips.
5. You cannot flush toilet paper on the island.
Buona Pasqua e Buon Giorno Firenze!
Ciao a tutti e Buona Pasqua! Such an eventful weekend I barely know where to start. Probably the beginning....
Getting to Greece took planes, trains and automobiles. By this I mean we took TWO planes, TWO trains and TWO automobiles (not in that order- it was actually trains, planes and then automobiles). It was quite the adventure but when we finally rolled into Rethymno 14 hours after we left Florence, it was all worth it. Crete was absolutely gorgeous and so different from anywhere else I've ever been. It's such a laid back place. Old men sit in cafes sipping coffee at all hours of the day. Young people sit in shockingly hip and chic outdoor lounges that line the streets drinking frappe (essentially iced coffee but it's made with nescaf and is whipped) or beer while chatting and smoking. Always smoking, that was the one thing I didn't love. But the outdoor lounges were amazing- one day we ate lunch in padded, cozy patio recliners! Oh, and the food. Delicious. I ate chicken souvlaki 3 times because it was so amazing! I also tried lamb on Easter (the traditional easter dish) and had grilled octopus that was practically an entire octopus minus the head grilled and thrown on a plate. It may have been the best octopus I have ever tasted. I even had eggs and toast Greek style for breakfast on Easter which was such a treat- veggie omelet packed with tomatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms with a freshly grilled pita. Started that day off right! And we needed to be eating great food to keep our energy up for the serious beaching we did. I am currently a delicious golden brown thanks to the 2 full afternoons I spent on the beach, basking in the sunshine and occasionally cooling off in the sea. Everyone said the Mediterranean is too cold this time of year to swim, and it was a bit chilly, but swim we did! I only got in half way and didn't fully submerge, but still- it was a great way to spend Easter if I couldn't be home.
And here you're thinking that this was the end of the adventure. However, this is where you would be wrong. Nobody mentioned to us before we left that Easter Monday is the busiest travel day of the year. And that the trains back to Florence might be full. Funny story because they were! We rolled into Rome at 8:30 pm after traveling since 9 am only to find there was no possible way to get back to Florence before 5 am. So, after some deep breathing, we bought tickets for a 6:50 fast train, grabbed our bags and started walking. We stopped at a hotel, convinced the guy that 6 of us could sleep in enough beds meant for 5 (a moot point really, since the 3 of us who slept sideways on one queen sized bed only got 3 hours of sleep anyway) and got us some dinner and drinks. I fortunately had a class this morning that I could skip so I got to come home and eat breakfast and chill for a bit before going to class. But Sam went straight to her site visit, rolling suitcase and all. The wolf pack is pretty hard core is all I'm saying :)
This actually is where this particular adventure ends. No worries- there will be more to come. There's still Kelsey's birthday and Cinque Terre coming up in the next week. But for now I'm pretty content to just be back in Florence finally and have a little time to chill....I have to steal these moments of solitude because there are just too many adventures to go on to have these moments often.
Arrivederci!
Getting to Greece took planes, trains and automobiles. By this I mean we took TWO planes, TWO trains and TWO automobiles (not in that order- it was actually trains, planes and then automobiles). It was quite the adventure but when we finally rolled into Rethymno 14 hours after we left Florence, it was all worth it. Crete was absolutely gorgeous and so different from anywhere else I've ever been. It's such a laid back place. Old men sit in cafes sipping coffee at all hours of the day. Young people sit in shockingly hip and chic outdoor lounges that line the streets drinking frappe (essentially iced coffee but it's made with nescaf and is whipped) or beer while chatting and smoking. Always smoking, that was the one thing I didn't love. But the outdoor lounges were amazing- one day we ate lunch in padded, cozy patio recliners! Oh, and the food. Delicious. I ate chicken souvlaki 3 times because it was so amazing! I also tried lamb on Easter (the traditional easter dish) and had grilled octopus that was practically an entire octopus minus the head grilled and thrown on a plate. It may have been the best octopus I have ever tasted. I even had eggs and toast Greek style for breakfast on Easter which was such a treat- veggie omelet packed with tomatoes, onions, peppers and mushrooms with a freshly grilled pita. Started that day off right! And we needed to be eating great food to keep our energy up for the serious beaching we did. I am currently a delicious golden brown thanks to the 2 full afternoons I spent on the beach, basking in the sunshine and occasionally cooling off in the sea. Everyone said the Mediterranean is too cold this time of year to swim, and it was a bit chilly, but swim we did! I only got in half way and didn't fully submerge, but still- it was a great way to spend Easter if I couldn't be home.
And here you're thinking that this was the end of the adventure. However, this is where you would be wrong. Nobody mentioned to us before we left that Easter Monday is the busiest travel day of the year. And that the trains back to Florence might be full. Funny story because they were! We rolled into Rome at 8:30 pm after traveling since 9 am only to find there was no possible way to get back to Florence before 5 am. So, after some deep breathing, we bought tickets for a 6:50 fast train, grabbed our bags and started walking. We stopped at a hotel, convinced the guy that 6 of us could sleep in enough beds meant for 5 (a moot point really, since the 3 of us who slept sideways on one queen sized bed only got 3 hours of sleep anyway) and got us some dinner and drinks. I fortunately had a class this morning that I could skip so I got to come home and eat breakfast and chill for a bit before going to class. But Sam went straight to her site visit, rolling suitcase and all. The wolf pack is pretty hard core is all I'm saying :)
This actually is where this particular adventure ends. No worries- there will be more to come. There's still Kelsey's birthday and Cinque Terre coming up in the next week. But for now I'm pretty content to just be back in Florence finally and have a little time to chill....I have to steal these moments of solitude because there are just too many adventures to go on to have these moments often.
Arrivederci!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Vado a Creta!
Tomorrow morning, in my first venture out of the country since arriving in Italy, I am going to Crete with my wolf pack of ladies. It should be fabulous. It's also the first time I've gotten on a plane since getting here, so it hasn't quite hit me yet. I think it will though when I'm at the train station at 5:30 am tomorrow with a backpack and smile and nothing else. The to do list consists of the following: eat lots of Greek food, make friends with the crazy hostel owners, go to Knossos, sun tan on the beach for copious hours, visit produce markets and explore Rethymno (where we're staying), and drink raki (the Mediterranean/Turkish version of grappa flavored with anise). We're boxing it, we're checking it, and it will hopefully be a weekend we'll never forget. I will most certainly update everyone on how it was upon my return to Florence. For my last 3 weeks....we're not talking about that. Focusing on Crete...
In other news, I had the greatest gelato of my life today at a place called Cavini- they had soy coffee gelato which was fluffy and wonderful and cioccolata fondente senza latte (milk free dark chocolate) that was basically frozen fudge. The combination was epic and I may have found a new favorite hang out spot. Heavenly!
In other news, I had the greatest gelato of my life today at a place called Cavini- they had soy coffee gelato which was fluffy and wonderful and cioccolata fondente senza latte (milk free dark chocolate) that was basically frozen fudge. The combination was epic and I may have found a new favorite hang out spot. Heavenly!
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