Ho Finito!

I took my last final yesterday and ate final lunch with all in the program. It's a rainy, miserable day in Siena today, but I am finished with the semester. I head to Rome on Thursday and back to the states on Friday!

Finals

Two papers down. One final today. A bunch more to go.

Thinking of Italy

Here I am again, in the break room, working on a final paper. It's raining, otherwise I'd be in the garden or playing basketball. Or sitting in the Campo, writing or reading or sleeping. The countdown is at two weeks and I still want to talk about the places I've visited, but I know that the one with the most influence is the one where I have somewhat rooted myself. I've found home in Siena. In late Italian dinners. Crisp spring weather. Sleepy sunday afternoons and the flow of the Italian tongue.

Lisbon II (Sintra and Cascais)

Cascais










Sintra

Lisbona

At this moment, I sit in the student lounge researching for one of my many papers (in this case the subject is Norman Architecture in Southern Italy). I hope to finish this particular paper today or tomorrow, while still beginning all the others I have to write. I don't lament, because I enjoy the challenge I have been given, but I also find myself reflecting upon my break only a few weeks ago. Lisbona. Barcellona. Amsterdam. Had I known before, I wouldn't have chosen to go so many places, for by the end I was exhausted. But I am happy, because I now can't think of a better place to have visited first than Lisbon.
Our stay in Lisbon lasted 4 nights and the better part of 5 days. And whilst there, we visited also Sintra and Cascais. If only there had been more time, I would've like to see Belem and Estoril as well, but no matter.
In Lisbon, we sampled the local fare - fish, meat, pastries. The fish is great, though at one restaurant it was served cold, bone-in on a sandwich, for which I was certainly not ready. My suggestion is to try and find a small restaurant if you can, though it is difficult in Lisbon. We were stuck eating a tourist hotspot one night - leading us to pay much more than we wanted (and also running into an apparently common practice of appetizers being laid out in the hopes that you will eat them, being charged after the fact). The historical center of Lisbon is beautiful - much more open than an Italian city, possibly due to the reconstruction after a huge earthquake in the 1700s. Unfortunately the Place do Comercio was under construction during our visit, but was still a grand site. From one point of the sea, one can walk a perfectly straight line through the heart of the city to one of the more impressive sites I have ever seen- O parque do Marques Pumbal. There exists a phenomenal view of the entire descent to the sea, past a grandoise park and through wide streets. Every road leads uphill in Lisbon, but when you experience a view such as that at Marques Pumbal, you understand why.

Some more Stockholm Pictures

Sorry for the delay

I am in Prague, spending my last days of travel while in Europe. I apologize for the lack of updates, but I have survived a marthon of travel. In the last month I have been to Stockholm, Rome (3 times), Lisbon, Barcelona, Amsterdam and now Prague. Of all of these, I may have found Prague to be the best, but I cannot possibly choose. I want to talk about all the places I've been, to give a full sense of each impact on me. But first, Stockholm.
This was around a month ago, so the details are not so strong, but to give an idea: Stockholm is a truly majestic city - very modern in its modern sector and very quaint and charming in its hisorical center. It is on 5 (or so) islands, connected by bridges and seperated by frigid (but also, almost, inviting) water. The Swedish people are among the nicest one can find (and among the most beautiful). A visit to Stockholm can be little but warm, even when there's only one day at the maximum (in our case) and sleeping in two different airports - (us again). One of the cooler things I have ever seen was the vodka ice bar in Stockholm. In order to enter one must don a protective coat (twice as thick as any other I have seen) and make sure not to stay longer than 45 minutes in this room made of only ice (a bar of ice and cups of ice as well).

Verona (cont...) and Firenze

To continue my tale of Verona: whilst in Verona we wandered the streets in search of palaces and plazas, mostly content, though the weather was poor. For the most part, Verona is a city like any other Italian city, but there are two features that make it particular, or special. In the city's main piazza (plaza), there are several historic buildings, and two ancient towers, but most importantly, on the walls of the buildings ci sono... there are murals of the renaissance, faded with time, but clearly present. Poi, a bit from the main piazza, there is a coliseum which can not match the one in Rome for size. But for completeness, there is no comparison, the coliseum in Verona is nearly intact. So much so that qualche volta (from time to time) they will hold concerts in its confines. And for the price of 6 euro (i believe) one can walk through the coliseum: the same place where roman citizens sat two thousand years ago.

Firenze
I know not what I will find in the other cities I visit while I am abroad, but I do know that to this point in my life I have not been in more awe than I was while in Firenze (this is Florence). I spent two days, and far more money than I had hoped, enjoying the splendor of this magnificent city. I hear the nightlife is superb, but did not know much of it, as my treks through the city's vibrant art center rendered me exhausted. We did enjoy, on both nights we were there, sitting a small bar in the piazza sipping martinis and listening to live covers of popular songs (mostly english, because the italians know more of American and British music than maybe some would suspect). This, however, is not important in describing the wonder of Firenze. Nor are the meals we ate (superb, but little difference from other Tuscan cooking) nor the hostel we enjoyed (at a great value of 14 euro a night per person). Invece, instead, the important element of Fiorentine culture is that of art. Mio amico ed io... my friend and I spent 40 euro apiece to visit museums in Firenze, of which we went to four. We visited the Duomo and climbed to the top; a truly breathtaking view. We marveled at the work of Michelangelo and how he molded his David to be a perfect human speciman while at the Accademia. We visited an old house of the Medici (this is one of the more important families in all of human history) and wondered aloud how Lorenzo created an entire world in pastel in a mural around one room of his house. And finally we found ourselves at Palazzo Pitti, standing, silently, in front of a painting by Benvenuti che si chiama... which is called Il Giuramento dei Sassoni (the judgement of the saxons). I can hardly describe how detailed, how perfect this painting was. Every inch of the canvas was obviously labored over to create a photograph rather than a painting, and even further, if you look closely enough, you may see it move. You may smell the sweat of prisoners facing their judgement at the foot of Napoleon. You may hear the water in the background, as all fall silent in wait for him to speak.

This weekend I embark to sample local pork, cheese, wine and olive oil.
The following weekend I will go to Stockholm.

Verona

On the way back from the mountains we stopped in Verona, a beautiful city in Veneto, so called the 'city of love' for its connection to Romeo and Juliet. The city's reverence for its image is evident as they hang giant hearts from every street. Other than this spectacle, the presence of Romeo and Juliet was merely a detail. I visited the house of the Capulets, and though it was interesting, even better was the view from the streets. Unfortunately unable to finish this now, I'll try to put up the pictures and finish later.

In Montagna

Sorry for the long delay. I've been quite busy here. I am taking 6 classes and helping with teaching some english lessons outside of the school. The lessons are of varying difficulties which has as much to do with the other students in the class as the subject matter or teacher. Happily I don't find myself frustrated by the learning curve. Perhaps an attribute to having experience much of the same at home; simply put, others don't tend to take these lessons as seriously as I do. Ma non mi lamento.
We returned from the mountains about a week and a half ago and though I returned with the flu, I am glad for the break we had. My excitement for my lessons of emigration and sociolinguistics has not been tempered by the first week of classes, therefore I can rightfully conclude that this will be a solid semester.
I have photos of the mountain, specifically from a nature walk, winding upward through the mountains finally ending at a small island of a hotel, l'unico, the only, source of warmth in sight. And warm it was; we drank warm wine with spice and ate chocolate cake. A great experience, hopefully you enjoy the pictures as much as I did it live.
Soon I hope to give some notes about Verona, where we also visited (beautiful) and Firenze where we are about to go.\

San Gimagnano

Last weekend, I and the guys took a trip to a truly unique city. The city of seven towers. San Gimignano. It's hard to tell the story of the city outside of pictures, so I will keep my words brief, and litter this page with some of the 83 pictures that I took.





The city sits atop a mountain, with a fortress of walls, the ancient protections of medieval times. The streets are cobblestone, wide and open. The people didn't come out when we were there; most likely because a tour group of 20 or so accompanied us: loud and obnoxious. But we quickly separated from them and greatly enjoyed our walk around the city. The panoramic view of tuscan fields was truly unico. Unique, impossible to find elsewhere.