Time is FLYING by. The fact that it is already March makes me a little nauseous...I'm exactly halfway through my program! When did that happen?! Again, sorry for being silent for two weeks now, it's been an absolutely crazy time. I've been so busy with classes and midterms were last week which were brutal, naturally. I'm also sure many of you have heard about the terrible tragedy that occurred a few weeks ago now, which was terribly upsetting and unnerving. My thoughts and prayers are with the Durkin family, I cannot even imagine what they are going through.
On a happier note, Michelle came to Rome last week! Marie and I met up with her the night she arrived (Monday the 24th) at the Trevi Fountain and we walked around the city showing her some of our favorite spots, the Spanish Steps, the Roman ruins, and Vittorio Emmanuelle II to name a few. We got to catch up a bit which was so great. It was so wonderful to see her, like a little piece of home. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend too much time together because that was midterm week which was absolutely horrendous. We did get to get lunch the next day but because of studying, classes, and Italian we ended up not being able to meet up again which was a bummer. We weren't too worried though because next week I'll be staying with her in London!
That's right, spring break is right around the corner...SO weird. We our last Italian class on Friday!!! I have to say, it's actually kind of bitter sweet. On the one hand, I'll be able to do so much with those extra 15 hours a week, and I won't have any classes on Fridays, which means weekend travel. That being said, I have loved the classes. I would venture to say that not only are they the best language courses I've taken, but two of the best academic courses I have ever taken. Both of my teachers have been fantastic, genuinely interested in us doing well, and really willing to do whatever it takes to help us understand. They make class fun, some days they let us just talk in Italian for a half an hour if we're particularly excited about something, like a trip we just took or something we did the day before and this I think, is really where we learn to speak. I was actually thinking about it today and I took French for 9 years, ages 9-18 and I'm better in Italian then I ever was in French. Pretty crazy.
This past weekend was one for the books. After the stressful midterm week we needed to get out on Thursday night so we all went to a club called Nur Bar we've been to a couple times. Marie has befriended a promoter who texts her when there are events at certain bars and clubs and lets us all in for free which is awesome because cover fees are always between 10 and 15 euro. Rome nightlife is not cheap...that is the only downside of the city I'd say, though I think that's true of most cities.
On Friday, me Marie and Emily went to this new place we've found with THE BEST paninis (and cheap!) called Sanwicheria. I got one with artichoke paste, this really thinly sliced Italian brisket, lettuce, olive oil, and thinly sliced parmasan. You literally watch them slice this parmasan off a HUGE block, and the meat as well. It is unbelievable. I also forgot to mention that prior to these paninis we got gelato, but not just any gelato. We recently discovered that the most famous gelateria in Rome is 5 minutes from our house. It is insanely good. It literally has ruined other gelato for me. They also hand make their whipped cream which is the best part. So good. That night we went to a pasta place by school with all the girls and our Catholic guy friends. It was incredible, the boys found it so credit to them. I got gnocchi with tomato sauce and buffalo mozzerella. Melt in your mouth and the mozzerella was fantastic. We went to a club we go to a lot that night and all had a great time. However, we had to be up and at the Roman forum by 9 am for a 4 hour site visit for our Art and Architecture class. That was a bit rough, but between the two sections of the class, almost every one of my friends had to be there so we made it fun. I also had not been to the Roman Forum yet, or inside the Colosseum because I knew we'd be doing it with my class. It was really interesting especially inside the Colosseum, it was different than I expected. It's so massive with a maximum capacity of 50,000 people.
That night we had Chinese and I met up with one of my best friends at Loyola, Chris! He is studying in Cork, Ireland and Rome is one of their program's included trips. We took him to Chinese with us which was great because it gave us a chance to catch up. I've missed my Loyola friends a lot so it was wonderful to have even a little bit of time with him. Naturally, we had to show him Rome at night so we went to a new club near Villa Borghese we'd heard about. We think it's the best one we've been to yet, probably because it was almost all Italians.
The next morning after only 2 hours of sleep, we woke up bright and early at 6:15 to make our 6:50 train to Florence! I was beyond excited, as the last time I was here I was 15 and it was where I thought I was going to be studying for five years. It was a really easy train ride, only a little over an hour and a half long. I went with Marie and my friends Emily, Meghan, and 3 of the Catholic boys. We had beautiful weather which was a fantastic surprise because the weather said rain! We got there and wandered around and decided first to go into the Palazzo Pitti which is a museum that we explored for a bit but also has beautiful gardens that we wandered through for hours with gorgeous view of the city. When we finished there we were all starving. We found a place to get paninis which were SO good, I got one with turkey, mozzerella, and truffle spread. We walked over to the Ponte Vecchio which was just as beautiful as I remembered. I had flashbacks to walking across it with Dad the first night we got to Florence. Exhausted from the trip, but not wanting to miss anything the two of us walked around Florence at night while everyone else went to bed. For me I still think it was the best night of the whole two week trip.
We wandered around the open air market in one of the piazzas trying the bread and cheese and looking at all the fresh food they had to offer. After lunch we went inside the Duomo got in line to climb up the bell tower. I think we all almost died, but it was so well worth it. Such an incredible view from up there it was amazing. We went into church of Santo Spirito which was beautiful and had gorgeous art. We also went to see the David! That was definitely one of the highlights of the day. It is absolutely massive, bigger than I would have ever imagined and so beautiful. The attention to detail is astounding. At the end of the day we made the trek up to Piazza Michelangelo which is a piazza that overlooks the city. We were up there just before sunset and the views were breathtaking, definitely worth the walk. I will post pictures soon! We finished with a great dinner and then back on the train to Rome at 9. It was a long day but we had a great time and were so lucky to have such a beautiful day. Florence is still one of my favorite cities of all time. It is so beautiful and so quintessentially Italian. Part of the fun is just wandering around and seeing what you come across. It's also such a small city its very easily navigable and walkable. We didn't get to go to the Uffizi (again!) so Marie and I are really thinking we're going to go back, maybe just for half a day, because the train ride is so easy.
Now one more week and then spring break! Could not be more excited for Barcelona, London, and Paris!!
More to come
baci baci (we learned in Italian today this is their equivalent of xoxo! it means kiss kiss literally)
Monday, March 3, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Tuscany!
Duomo in Orvieto
Marie and Nicole with the wine barrels 
Orvieto!
Mini wine bottles sitting on the wall
Siena!
Siena duomo
Lounging in the piazza
Florence from afar
From the castle
Marie and Nicole with the wine barrels Monday, February 17, 2014
Days 32-40
This past week has been one of the busiest yet! All last week was filled with papers and homework, not to mention the constant presence of those 3 hour long Italian classes. Maria Grazia had a friend come stay with her for two night last week named Francesco. He was apparently her guide in museums at some point but is only a little older than me, I think 26 or 27 and is studying to get his PhD in contemporary art. It was an interesting couple of days, watching the two of them speak reminded me I have a long way to go still on my Italian! They just speak so fast! It was fun though and he was a really nice guy.
Friday morning we were up bright and early for our trip to Tuscany!! We had to be at the school at 8 am, which meant trekking across Rome with our bags at around 7:15. In only a few hours we were at our first destination, Orvieto, which is actually in Umbria. We had to take a tram up the steep mountain into the town which was beautiful. The views were absolutely breathtaking. It did not seem at all touristy to me, I think it's a popular spot amongst Italians but not so much tourists. We visited the Duomo at Orvieto which was beautiful, the facade was absolutely gorgeous and the inside was mostly medieval art and architecture. Then we had free time to walk around and get lunch. There is a group of 8 of us who are really close, and we wound up in this little restaurant where I had maybe the best meal I've had out since I've been here. I got gnocchi with an artichoke sauce that was literally melt in your mouth. SO good. Then we decided to go find a place to sit and bask in the sun, it was THE most gorgeous day we've had since we've been here, sunny and 65. We passed a wine shop on our way and decided to each get half a bottle of wine to take with us. We made friends with the owner, Giovanni, a little old man who spoke almost not English but loved talking to us, and said he likes American students because he thinks we are very smart. The woman who ran the wine shop was also incredibly friendly. This is not something you always find in Rome, being that it's a big city so it was a pleasant surprise. As we were walking around we came across this wall kind of tucked away overlooking the valley. It was one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen (will post pictures!) The 8 of us sat there for about two hours and drank wine, talked, laughed, and were just happy. We all agreed it was the best day we've had since we've been here, and the best Valentine's day any of us had ever had. It was one of those perfect afternoons I don't think I'll ever forget.
At 3:30 we got on the bus to head to Siena, about another 2 hours away, give or take. We got there and checked in and had some free time, and then they took us to dinner. Another four course meal which was delicious, but heavy I thought. There was great antipasti, TWO pasta courses, and then (shoutout to Dad because I know you'd appreciate this) a meant course with a pork chop wrapped in prosciutto which I could barely eat I was so full, dessert, and naturally, lots of wine. We were all so exhausted we went right to sleep afterwards.
We were in Siena all of Saturday. It was so weird for me to think that I had been there five years before, and now I was there studying abroad in my junior year of college...crazy! It was on that trip I decided to study in Italy and now it's a reality. Absolutely crazy. We went to the museum there which had mostly medieval art, but my favorite thing was the house of St. Catherine of Siena, which was really interesting just to see, but also had beautiful paintings on the walls depicting her life. We also went back to the Siena Duomo, which I remembered correctly, is incredibly ornate and beautiful. I was really looking forward to going back there. After that we had time for lunch and we went to a GREAT lunch. We got fried artichokes and then this vegetable soup called Ribillito which apparently they are known for. It was really think, almost a puree but not quite, kind of in between that and a very thick stew, it was so good. Also had I think the best wine I've had all trip there, I took a picture of the label so I'll remember! We walked around for a bit but then had to get on the bus for the wine tasting! It was about a 2 hour bus ride toward Florence. All of a sudden right when the sun was beginning to set we were overlooking the duomo and the entire city. It was the most incredible view, and I had no idea that we would be passing through! I don't even have a good picture because I was so shocked and awed when we were passing through it took me a minute to realize I should probably get my phone out! We drove up a hill to a gorgeous 13th century castle in the Tuscan countryside. He gave us the history of the house first, the Medici had actually used it for meetings. Then he gave us a tour of the wine cellar with all the barrells and took us through some of the castle and told us about the current owner. The woman who owns it now inherited it from her parents. Her mother was Austrian and her father was Italian and they met on a train when her mother was 20 and he was 60! They met, fell in love, and had 4 kids. He bought the castle as a gift for her and they began making wine there. He died about 20 or so years later and she actually died fairly soon after them leaving the children. Three out of 4 of the siblings wanted to sell the house and business but the youngest wanted to keep it and keep up her parents legacy, so she and her husband and there kids now do that. The man giving us a tour was the cousin of the husband of this woman. He was really entertaining and engaging, it was perfect for a large group of college kids, most of whom had never been to a wine tasting. We sat in the tasting room and they gave us an antipasti plate with cheese, salami, bruschetta and bread with tapenad, and one with just olive oil because they make that there too! We also got a little lesson on olive oil which was cool. The wine was really good, we tried a white and two reds and his whole approach was to teach us about the grape itself, so we tried a red that was a sangiovese blend and one that was 100% Sangiovese. Then at the end they gave us a sweet desert wine that I really liked that you dip biscotti in. We ate dinner there after because they also have a restaurant, and it was great. Again, I think we had four courses, the best though was pasta with boar meat, another specialty of the area. It was amazing and a really fun dinner all around.
The last day we went to San Gimignano, which I was really excited to see because last time we went to Tuscany we talked about going but didn't end up getting to it. We went to mass in the duomo there which is also really pretty, but again more a medieval style. The mass was really nice, all in Italian, but there was a children's choir that was really cute. We got a lot of free time to walk around and hang out and it turns out that there were carnivale festivities going on! in the piazza all the little kids were dressed up (our Italian teacher was explaining how it is like halloween for them) and they were throwing confetti everywhere and then as we were about to leave there was a parade with music and big floats and everything coming through this little hilltown. Confetti and silly string ALL over it was so much fun. It was a beautiful town, I really liked it a lot. Also some really great gelato! None of us wanted to leave Tuscany. It was the best weather we've had, and it's always harder to leave a beautiful place on a beautiful day. It was an amazing weekend and I was so incredibly excited to be back in Tuscany. It is so peaceful and relaxing there, life just moves slower. And I've never seen a more beautiful place.
That being said, coming back to Rome felt like coming home, which I think is a good thing. Back to work again this week, but will hopefully do something fun this weekend!
Will keep you posted!
xoxo
Friday morning we were up bright and early for our trip to Tuscany!! We had to be at the school at 8 am, which meant trekking across Rome with our bags at around 7:15. In only a few hours we were at our first destination, Orvieto, which is actually in Umbria. We had to take a tram up the steep mountain into the town which was beautiful. The views were absolutely breathtaking. It did not seem at all touristy to me, I think it's a popular spot amongst Italians but not so much tourists. We visited the Duomo at Orvieto which was beautiful, the facade was absolutely gorgeous and the inside was mostly medieval art and architecture. Then we had free time to walk around and get lunch. There is a group of 8 of us who are really close, and we wound up in this little restaurant where I had maybe the best meal I've had out since I've been here. I got gnocchi with an artichoke sauce that was literally melt in your mouth. SO good. Then we decided to go find a place to sit and bask in the sun, it was THE most gorgeous day we've had since we've been here, sunny and 65. We passed a wine shop on our way and decided to each get half a bottle of wine to take with us. We made friends with the owner, Giovanni, a little old man who spoke almost not English but loved talking to us, and said he likes American students because he thinks we are very smart. The woman who ran the wine shop was also incredibly friendly. This is not something you always find in Rome, being that it's a big city so it was a pleasant surprise. As we were walking around we came across this wall kind of tucked away overlooking the valley. It was one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen (will post pictures!) The 8 of us sat there for about two hours and drank wine, talked, laughed, and were just happy. We all agreed it was the best day we've had since we've been here, and the best Valentine's day any of us had ever had. It was one of those perfect afternoons I don't think I'll ever forget.
At 3:30 we got on the bus to head to Siena, about another 2 hours away, give or take. We got there and checked in and had some free time, and then they took us to dinner. Another four course meal which was delicious, but heavy I thought. There was great antipasti, TWO pasta courses, and then (shoutout to Dad because I know you'd appreciate this) a meant course with a pork chop wrapped in prosciutto which I could barely eat I was so full, dessert, and naturally, lots of wine. We were all so exhausted we went right to sleep afterwards.
We were in Siena all of Saturday. It was so weird for me to think that I had been there five years before, and now I was there studying abroad in my junior year of college...crazy! It was on that trip I decided to study in Italy and now it's a reality. Absolutely crazy. We went to the museum there which had mostly medieval art, but my favorite thing was the house of St. Catherine of Siena, which was really interesting just to see, but also had beautiful paintings on the walls depicting her life. We also went back to the Siena Duomo, which I remembered correctly, is incredibly ornate and beautiful. I was really looking forward to going back there. After that we had time for lunch and we went to a GREAT lunch. We got fried artichokes and then this vegetable soup called Ribillito which apparently they are known for. It was really think, almost a puree but not quite, kind of in between that and a very thick stew, it was so good. Also had I think the best wine I've had all trip there, I took a picture of the label so I'll remember! We walked around for a bit but then had to get on the bus for the wine tasting! It was about a 2 hour bus ride toward Florence. All of a sudden right when the sun was beginning to set we were overlooking the duomo and the entire city. It was the most incredible view, and I had no idea that we would be passing through! I don't even have a good picture because I was so shocked and awed when we were passing through it took me a minute to realize I should probably get my phone out! We drove up a hill to a gorgeous 13th century castle in the Tuscan countryside. He gave us the history of the house first, the Medici had actually used it for meetings. Then he gave us a tour of the wine cellar with all the barrells and took us through some of the castle and told us about the current owner. The woman who owns it now inherited it from her parents. Her mother was Austrian and her father was Italian and they met on a train when her mother was 20 and he was 60! They met, fell in love, and had 4 kids. He bought the castle as a gift for her and they began making wine there. He died about 20 or so years later and she actually died fairly soon after them leaving the children. Three out of 4 of the siblings wanted to sell the house and business but the youngest wanted to keep it and keep up her parents legacy, so she and her husband and there kids now do that. The man giving us a tour was the cousin of the husband of this woman. He was really entertaining and engaging, it was perfect for a large group of college kids, most of whom had never been to a wine tasting. We sat in the tasting room and they gave us an antipasti plate with cheese, salami, bruschetta and bread with tapenad, and one with just olive oil because they make that there too! We also got a little lesson on olive oil which was cool. The wine was really good, we tried a white and two reds and his whole approach was to teach us about the grape itself, so we tried a red that was a sangiovese blend and one that was 100% Sangiovese. Then at the end they gave us a sweet desert wine that I really liked that you dip biscotti in. We ate dinner there after because they also have a restaurant, and it was great. Again, I think we had four courses, the best though was pasta with boar meat, another specialty of the area. It was amazing and a really fun dinner all around.
The last day we went to San Gimignano, which I was really excited to see because last time we went to Tuscany we talked about going but didn't end up getting to it. We went to mass in the duomo there which is also really pretty, but again more a medieval style. The mass was really nice, all in Italian, but there was a children's choir that was really cute. We got a lot of free time to walk around and hang out and it turns out that there were carnivale festivities going on! in the piazza all the little kids were dressed up (our Italian teacher was explaining how it is like halloween for them) and they were throwing confetti everywhere and then as we were about to leave there was a parade with music and big floats and everything coming through this little hilltown. Confetti and silly string ALL over it was so much fun. It was a beautiful town, I really liked it a lot. Also some really great gelato! None of us wanted to leave Tuscany. It was the best weather we've had, and it's always harder to leave a beautiful place on a beautiful day. It was an amazing weekend and I was so incredibly excited to be back in Tuscany. It is so peaceful and relaxing there, life just moves slower. And I've never seen a more beautiful place.
That being said, coming back to Rome felt like coming home, which I think is a good thing. Back to work again this week, but will hopefully do something fun this weekend!
Will keep you posted!
xoxo
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Villa Borghese pictures!
Near the Spanish steps 
Views from Villa Borghese
Days 25-32
Hi everyone! So sorry I've been so silent, it's been mostly a lot of school work, not too much to report and I wouldn't want to bore you with posts about my numerous essays and worksheets. But, I am still in Rome, so as always, I can't even be too upset about it. It's been a month today I believe, the time is FLYING by I wish it would slow down a bit! We finished our first Italian class!! Very exciting, but we had to leave our wonderful teacher Stefania. All of a sudden I realized that we've spent 60 hours with her in the past month...So it was pretty weird to say goodbye and know we won't see her every day anymore. As long as those classes are, Stefania made it bearable and was always so patient with us as we made mistakes or struggled to find the right words, or (god forbid) slipped into English. Now we have another month of the next Italian level, again for three hours a day, five days a week. It is incredibly helpful, and I don't even hate the classes, but the time commitment is brutal. Between the commute to and from the school and the homework and the actually class it's a solid 4-4 1/2 hours out of my day, not to mention the time I'm in my other classes, so the weeks are pretty much shot. It will be nice when they're over in March.
It's been raining a lot here, like literally every single day of this past week. I think today was the only day it was sunny and beautiful all day, and unfortunately I was researching a paper. It's been a good weekend though otherwise! Almost all of our group was gone, a big group of kids went to Switzerland, a few of my good friends went skydiving over the Swiss Alps and the others went skiing. Some of the boys from Catholic went London, so it was just me, Marie, Lara, Sophie, and Alyssa, four of my closest friends here, left in Rome. We had a great time, on Friday night we went to our neighborhood pub right next to our house with everyone and our waiter friend brought us all free bruschetta. We had a nice long dinner and then all went out and had a really fun night. The next morning Marie and I met Alyssa who suggested going to the top of the dome of St. Peter's because we've heard the view is fantastic. We got to the Vatican, however, and the line to just get into St. Peter's was absurd, down the block outside the Vatican itself. We weren't sure what was going on since it was just a regular saturday, but it was not looking like we were getting anywhere near St. Peter's so we said we'd come back another weekend and went to do the next thing on her list, which was climb to the roof of Villa Borghese, which is in Piazza Del Popolo and the mansion of a former cardinal, not too far from school. It has a beautiful view of the city and Rick Steves describes it as Rome's "central park" of sorts, though we didn't make it into the garden area, we mostly just took in the stunning view and walked around until we somehow wound up at the Spanish Steps and walked home from there. It was a beautiful day to just walk around and take in the beauty of the city (I will post pictures!)
Marie, Alyssa, and I went to meet our Italian Program director, Aurora, for an "appertivo" or happy hour, she had organized. It was a really fun, cool place with lots of Italians. Basically you go in and they have a big buffet of all kinds of stuff, different kinds of pasta, polenta, cous cous, beets, were just some of the highlights, and they assume you'll get drinks so they don't charge you for anything. Marie and I ended up getting these fancy martinis that were really good. We're thinking this might be a spot we'll want to come back to later on.
This week brings more work and more Italian, and hopefully no more rain, though I feel like that might be wishful thinking. And on Friday we leave for Tuscany for the weekend with our school! I cannot wait, it will be a great change of pace and I love Tuscany. I know we are going to Siena but I'm not sure where else...Will keep you posted!
Ciao!
xoxo
It's been raining a lot here, like literally every single day of this past week. I think today was the only day it was sunny and beautiful all day, and unfortunately I was researching a paper. It's been a good weekend though otherwise! Almost all of our group was gone, a big group of kids went to Switzerland, a few of my good friends went skydiving over the Swiss Alps and the others went skiing. Some of the boys from Catholic went London, so it was just me, Marie, Lara, Sophie, and Alyssa, four of my closest friends here, left in Rome. We had a great time, on Friday night we went to our neighborhood pub right next to our house with everyone and our waiter friend brought us all free bruschetta. We had a nice long dinner and then all went out and had a really fun night. The next morning Marie and I met Alyssa who suggested going to the top of the dome of St. Peter's because we've heard the view is fantastic. We got to the Vatican, however, and the line to just get into St. Peter's was absurd, down the block outside the Vatican itself. We weren't sure what was going on since it was just a regular saturday, but it was not looking like we were getting anywhere near St. Peter's so we said we'd come back another weekend and went to do the next thing on her list, which was climb to the roof of Villa Borghese, which is in Piazza Del Popolo and the mansion of a former cardinal, not too far from school. It has a beautiful view of the city and Rick Steves describes it as Rome's "central park" of sorts, though we didn't make it into the garden area, we mostly just took in the stunning view and walked around until we somehow wound up at the Spanish Steps and walked home from there. It was a beautiful day to just walk around and take in the beauty of the city (I will post pictures!)
Marie, Alyssa, and I went to meet our Italian Program director, Aurora, for an "appertivo" or happy hour, she had organized. It was a really fun, cool place with lots of Italians. Basically you go in and they have a big buffet of all kinds of stuff, different kinds of pasta, polenta, cous cous, beets, were just some of the highlights, and they assume you'll get drinks so they don't charge you for anything. Marie and I ended up getting these fancy martinis that were really good. We're thinking this might be a spot we'll want to come back to later on.
This week brings more work and more Italian, and hopefully no more rain, though I feel like that might be wishful thinking. And on Friday we leave for Tuscany for the weekend with our school! I cannot wait, it will be a great change of pace and I love Tuscany. I know we are going to Siena but I'm not sure where else...Will keep you posted!
Ciao!
xoxo
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Buffalo farm & soccer match pictures!
Making the mozerella!
Hangin out with the buffalo!
Baby buffalo! So cute
Roma vs. Parma! Forza Roma!!!
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