One Month Later

Christmas Duomo

 

 

 

Please excuse the long delay. A lot has happened since the last post. It actually feels really weird to be writing in this blog again. As you all probably know, I did eventually make it home. It all started on Friday, when we were all in Florence. We were pumped at first to finally be seeing snow, but that faded quickly when cars were spinning out of control, buses were being abandoned, and trains were no longer running, which forced us to have to walk the 1.5 hour walk from Sesto to Florence. Woof. Then, my initial flight on Sunday was canceled due to the snow, and about 8 hours of waiting and calling in the Florence airport, I was on a train to Rome to leave for Washington D.C. the next day. Thank God too, because travel conditions were terrible, and I swear Rome was about the only airport that was flying out of Europe before Christmas. Despite the horrific travel experience (The Florence airport deserves to be burnt to the ground), this was still the best three months or so of my life. Hands down. The amount of experiences, memories, friends made, foods eaten, and sights seen have been unbelivable. This trip exceeded my expectations far and away, and I would go back in an instant. I am extremely thankful and blessed to have had this amazing opportunity, and feel like it truly made me a slightly different person with a different perspective on things. I will definitely be going back to Florence on day, hopefully sooner rather than later, and already miss it. Here are a couple of my top things from studying abroad.

Snowy Villa. The amount of snow was actually ridiculous

Top 5 Cities I Visited in Europe
1) Florence
2) Edinburgh
3) Amsterdam
4) Barcelona
5) Rome

Top 5 Desitinations I went to
1) Cinque Terre
2) Oktoberfest
3) Christmastime in Florence
4) Mediterranean Sea
5) Vatican City

Top 5 Meals
1) Guesta Pizza
2) Pesto Gnocchi in Cinque Terre
3) Bruno's Lasagna
4) Thanksgiving Dinner at the Villa
5) Too many other ones to count

Favorite Church: Cathedral in Sienna.
Runner up: St. Peter's in the Vatican

Favorite Museum: Bargello Sculpture Museum in Florence
Runner up: Uffizi in Florence
Biggest Dissapointment: Accademia in Florence (all they have is the david)

Favorite Gelato: The Geltao at San Gimignano
Runner up: A close runner up, Igloo Gelato in Sesto

Favorite Bars
1) Kikuya!
2) Shots cafe
3) Friends Pub
4) Full up
5) Twice

Favorite piece of art: DaVinci's Annunciation in the Uffizi. Unreal

And I can't really think of any other awards to give out. Thanks again to all who took the time to read this and follow my adventures. It definitely made taking the time to write this worth it. Take care!

Matt

Villains. Farewell

SNOW SNOW SNOW

It just so happens that the biggest snowfall in Florence in over twenty years happened yesterday. On the day where the vast majority of villa kids planned on leaving. Needless to say that isn't happening anymore, due to Italy's incapability of dealing with snow. We probably got around 7 inches yesterday and the town fell apart. Buses stopped running and were abandoned, cars just slipping all over the place, no taxis, trains either not showing up or 250 minutes delayed. And planes canceled. I have friends who were supposed to leave this morning but now can't leave till Monday or even Tuesday. THANKFULLY, by some miracle, I am on a flight that leaves on Sunday morning, which is good news. The Florence Airport closed this morning, but it reopened and the majority of flights are in the check in or expected phase. Which is great. However, definitely won't be at rest until I see a flight that has departed for Frankfurt. It does appear that my travel plans will go ahead as planned. I have some pictures from this blizzard up on facebook, but I'll put some on here when I'm back home. We had to walk all the way from Florence to Sesto yesterday, about a 1.5 hour walk, due to the lack of transportation. Just hope everyone can get home / back to the states by Christmas. See you all soon

CORRECTION: Might not get home Sunday. It's looking very questionable, 50-50 shot. Wish me luck

Last week in Italy

One week left. Definitely will miss all this.

Ridiculous. I honestly can't believe that I only have one week left here. I feel like I say this every semester, but this truly was the fastest semester I have ever experienced. I really don't even know what to write about right now, but I haven't posted in a long time so I figured I'd give it a go. There's really not too many plans in the works for the remander of the semester. This past Saturday a group of us spent the day in Bologna, which was a city I really wanted to get to. It was neat to see everything, and I definitely could've seen myself studying abroad there. Big college town. We capped of the day by going to a "Bloody Beetroots" concert saturday night. It was a great time. Real rowdy, and probably the best live show I've ever been to. Can't really ask for more than that.

Even though there is only a week left, I'm feeling ready to go home. Obviously there are things I'm going to miss, however, such as

Not having to walk far at all to class, 60 degree weather in December, all my friends here at the villa, the fact that I'm living in Italy, getting delicious meals made for me everyday, and many, many others.

But I'm ready. Seeing Christmas decorations up everywhere (All the streets in Florence have lights strung across them, it's really cool. I'll try to get some pictures up on Facebook in the near future) really makes me excited to get back and see friends and family for the holidays. I'm ready to drink milk again. Haven't had a glass since I've been here. I'm excited to see snow, as odd as that sounds. I'm excited to spend an entire month of winterbreak reconnecting with friends and family. I'm excited to see Steph. It's the exact definition of bitter-sweet. I'll always remember my time in Italy, the experiences I've had, the people I've met, but I'm ready to be back home. I'll be back here someday, which I'm already looking forward to. I'll write one more post before I go, or when I get back to the states. But thank you all for following my adventures in Italy. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to share them for you. Plus now I won't have to retell everything that I've done here. You can just refer to the blog!

 By the way, our "caretakers" dog Blake passed away right after fall break. However, she just got a new puppy on Friday. This is Tessa! Shame that we only get one week with her

One of the many trees in Florence

Big tree in front of the Duomo

Runnin Around Mafia Town

Trapani, Sicily

To this day I still have no idea why we didn't go to Palermo. Last weekend a group of us decided "hey, let's go to Sicily...in November." Granted we had a good time, but it definitely wasn't the trip that we all thought it was going to be. The best part about it might have been the hotel/hostel we stayed in. There was a group of seven of us, and we basically had an apartment, with a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, etc. all to ourselves. And right on the beach too. So that was a lot of fun, and was a big change of pace form what we were used to. What wasn't a lot of fun were two things. Well four actually
1) Really bad weather. You could tell that the air was warmer down in Sicily, but it was gloomy and windy the entire time we were there. And the nice weather was the main reason we went to Sicily to begin with
2) Ghost town. Literally. Basically everything was closed, all the time, and half of the things that were closed don't open up until Spring. And hardly anybody in Sicily spoke English. Plus their Italian accent was way different in Tuscany, so it was hard to understand them and communicate with the people
3) Palermo would have been more fun. We had two kids from the villa go to Palermo, and they said it was a lot more touristy / more things to do. They said it kind of reminded them of Vice City, which was pretty funny.
4) Lack of Mafia. Which probably was a good thing. Who knows, maybe we encountered some members without knowing it. But we did have a rule that no one could say that word (mafia) while being in Sicily, just to be on the safe side.

Beach. Best part of Trapani

What was great was the beach. It was a really cool looking beach, and the city was literally surrounded by the Mediterranean. Just being by the beach / the beach air / the beach smell was great, and very refreshing. Sicily in general kind of reminded me a lot of Mexico. A lot less touristy version, but same concept more or less. To put it in perspective. Especially during tourist season in Sicily.

Another good part of the trip was that we really had no plans. Our only set plan was to take a boat out across the Med. (30 mins or so) to the island of Favignana, since my buddy's ancestors came from that island. That island was a weird place. Guaranteed we were the only english speakers, and non-Italians in general on that island. So obviously people were not friendly and glared at us the entire time. Made me feel really uncomfortable and out of place. So needless to say we didn't stay there too long. It was kind of cool though, because that was definitely the most foreign place I've ever been to. So I'd say it was worth it. Also the boat ride out there was awesome, just being out on a boat in the Mediterannean. But back to the part of having no plans. That was great. It was super relaxing and refreshing, a nice break from Villa life, with literally nothing to do. Those are the kind of vacations I'm really starting to like. Just exploring the city and finding things you normally wouldn't come across, chatting and enjoying your time with the friends you're traveling with, and eating great food.

Far end of Trapani. You could take a cable car up those hills, but obviously it wasn't running

The food was also one of the highlights. Sicily has great food. We went to the same restaurant for dinner twice because it was that good. Each night we had wine, a big mess of Sicilian appetizers (sort of like a sampler plate that had things from crab cakes, to this really good eggplant, deep-fried prawns, and some things we had know clue of what they were). Then, both nights, I had the Sicilian Pesto. Their noodles were different, and it wasn't really pesto, but it was so good. The eggplant in Sicily, and the tomatoes, are unreal. And they included both of those, something spicy, a whole mess of Basil, and a little red sauce in this "Pesto". It was really good. Also, I was a bit daring and tried CALAMARI, CLAMS, and MUSSELS for the first time in Sicily, and liked them all. Big steps for me in the food department.

Friday night we managed to find all the Italians in Trapani. After about a half hour walk from our hostel, we got to this bar everyone told us to go to. And for good reason. It was PACKED. Honestly everyone in Trapani was there, and no one spoke english which was great. It was great because as the night goes on, and once I get a little buzzed, I'm tremendous at Italian. So I was chatting the night away with the locals. All in all, it was a vacation filled with great food, and super relaxing. But definitely go in the summertime or early fall if you were ever considering Sicily

Now, shortly before Sicily, our program went on an olive oil making demonstration, wine cellar and making tour, and a tasting out in the Tuscan countryside. Here are some pictures

Grapes drying to be made into desert wines. Best smelling room in the world

Pressed that day. Fun Fact, fresh olive oil is green. Really green

Section in the wine cellar. From 1925. Whomp

Thanksgiving

Hello. Just wanted to get a quick update on here. I'll put up a longer post, maybe tomorrow or Friday, about our trip to Sicily this past weekend. But for now I wanted to talk about my brother coming to visit and Thanksgiving time at the villa. My brother flew in on Saturday, and was here till Friday so needless to say there was a lot of funtivities. Both Saturday and Sunday we went to the Florence Wine Tasting Event at Palazzo Piti. Ten euros for unlimited, really, really good wine. It was great. We also got a chance to see HP 7 in ENGLISH, which was awesome. They have intermission in Italian movie theaters so that was weird. But the movie was by far the best on to date I'd have to say. Tremendous.

So what did we do. Well, I got into Florence almost every day / night to walk around with him, hang out, talk, catch up, all those good brotherly things to do. Definitely had a lot of good bonding time. He also got the chance to go out to the bars with me and my friends one night, so it was nice that Mike got to meet them all. We went to a couple really great panini places, and focused on that and pizza since he was not as inclined to have pasta. We went out for a nice dinner on Tuesday I think, to this place called Mamma Gina's, which was tremendous. We had a solid, multiple course meal that was great, and recommended by my boss from this summer as being the best food in Florence. We really didn't do that much sight seeing wise. Just a lot of walking around, eating, drinking, and talking. It really was a good time

My brother also had the chance to come to the villa on Wednesday for a fantastic lunch, and hang out in Sesto all day and then some of my friends joined us out to eat for dinner. THEN, there was Thanksgiving. Unfortunately all the pictures of me and Mike hanging out / at Thanksgiving are on his camera. So I'll have to edit this post with pictures once I get ahold of them. Thanksgiving was great though, it was definitely nice to have some family with me, and the villa did a great job of making it seem as close to home as possible. The food was amazing, possibly, dare I say it, even better than back home. Definitely the best Turkey and stuffing I've ever had, with homemade pumpkin pie, turkey soup, mashed potatoes, and some other goodies. Like I said, they did a great job of replicating a large, family, Thanksgiving style dinner. Hats off to you Villa.

Other than Sicily this weekend, and my brother coming to visit, I've been pretty busy getting things done. A lot of papers and what not that I've been neglecting have finally started to catch up on me, and with less than 3 weeks left, dear god not much time left here, I got to get the ball rolling. No other trips are planned, other than a possible day trip to neighboring Prato. I've decided I want to spend my last weeks here in Florence and Sesto as much as possible, and enjoy my temporary hometowns to their fullest. So check back in later this week for an update on the Sicily trip.

P.S. Badgers being in the Rose Bowl would happen the semester I am away from college football....still, definitely excited about it.

EDIT: Photos

Bruno and Co. going to town

Brother, myself, and villa buds

Setting up the tree at the villa

Long time, no post

And I'm likely to keep it that way. At least until next week. I've been really busy lately, getting school work and such done. PLUS, now my brother is in town. So all of my free time is going to be devoted to going into Florence to hang out with him and the like. We went to the Florence Wine Tasting event on both Saturday (when he arrived) and Sunday, and it was fantastic both times. Then, after wine tasting on Saturday we went to go see Harry Potter. Which was great. Hands down my favorite one thus far. Super accurate / intense the whole time. We then went to a really old restaurant that I like to go to, and his old self was too tired from traveling to do anything after that, so he went to bed. Then yesterday, wine tasting again around 4, then we made a Brittish friend at wine tasting, and she came with us to eat at Guesta Pizza, which easily has the best pizza in Florence. We then went out to this bar that had some live music going on which was great as well. Today I need to do a whole mess of homework, and he is going to museums and wandering and such, so I will not be seeing him until Tuesday

I'll start posting more after this weekend. We have thanksgiving dinner here Thurdsay which Mike will be attending. Then he leaves Friday morning, as do I. Me and some of my villa friends will be headed to Sicily for the weekend, which should be a great time.

When in Rome

Villa group at the Colosseum

This past weekend we went to Rome. Another fantastic weekend of studying abroad. Rome is a pretty amazing city. There was way too much to go do and see in two and a half days, and I would very much like to go back at one point in my life. Just the whole combination of having all the ancient ruins and sights to see, plus the Vatican, plus a great night life made Rome one of the best weekends of the year so far. We went as a whole program, and were there from Thursday through Saturday. Other than the 4 hour bus ride, it was a great day. So here is a day by day breakdown.

We got on a bus at 7:15, and arrived at our hotel, which was actually really nice for a change, at around 11. We then switched our game plan around and toured Ancient Rome on Thursday as opposed to Friday due to a potential public monument strike. Which never happened. The Italians are always threatening to strike and never actually follow through with it. Anyways, we split up into two groups and had a tour guide take us through the various ancient ruins of Rome. We spent the vast majority of time touring the Forum. It was definitely one of the neatest things I've ever seen. Just ridiculous to think about how well preserved it is, and how old some of the things we saw actually were. Pretty neat to be walking around the same areas that Ceasar and other ancient Romans did. So we toured the Forum, and saw the Colosseum from the outside and walked all around it. HOWEVER, due to too much jabbering from our tour guide, our particular group did not get a chance to go inside due to lack of time, which proved to be fatal since we did not have time to go back inside whilst in Rome.

Forum

More Ruins

I really don't know what else to say about the ruins and Colosseum. It just is kind of mind boggling to realize how advanced the ancient Romans were and how they were able to create these monumental buildings and how they had developed such a dominant society so long ago. Honestly just walking around in a history book. Then, we toured this church called San Clemente. Again, it was like walking around in a history book. It was kind of three things in one; a 16th century church built over an 11th century church built over some ancient cult ruins. It was really neat to get to see, but I was really tired by this point so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I should have. So then we went back and napped. And then we went out to a club in Rome that someone I once worked with recommended, and it was a good time. Again, the Rome nightlife was great. END OF DAY 1. FALSE, not end of day 1. Before dinner / going out we went to see the Trevi Fountain at night. Great choice. By far the coolest fountain I've ever seen, plus seeing it all lit up at night was great, and there wasn't nearly as many people running around as there was during the day.

Middle part of the Trevi at night

Bridge to the Vatican City and St. Peter's in the distance

The next day was a trip to Vatican City. I again really don't know what to say. It was amazing. St. Peter's is by far the most impressive religious building / structure I've ever seen and been inside, and the Vatican Museum was unbelievable and held the most ridiculous treasures possible. And the Sistine Chapel. It was one of those moments where you literally couldn't speak. Left me speechless. Just amazing that someone could've painted something that gorgeous. It was a great life experience to make the trip to the Vatican City, and I definitely saw some unbelievable things. We then continued the day by going to the Trevi Fountain yet again to see it in all its glory during the day, then proceeded to go to a "Bone Crypt" that my parents discovered. It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a crypt in a church that is made ENTIRELY of human bones. Skulls, ribs, femurs, everything. There were corpses and skeletons in said crypts, and the bones were arranged in a really odd manner, including various chandeliers and lamps made out of bones. After that interesting experience, we went to the Spanish steps, walked around, and took some pictures. Finally, we hung around in the Piazza Navona for a while, which was also pretty neat. We closed out the day with a trip to an ice bar. It was ok. I was expecting bigger things. They gave you a parka type deal, and it was super cold inside. It was pretty cool, with the bar being made entirely out of ice and what not, including all the tables, chairs / stools, and even the cups themselves. Kind of a novelty. END OF DAY 2

Day 3 was more of a relaxed day. A couple of us headed on over to ancient Rome again, and walked around the Forum / the Colosseum. Then, we made our way to the Pantehon, which was under construction, but was still a pretty neat site. It houses the tomb of Raphael, so that was pretty cool to see. And it was a pretty cool building in general. Then we hopped on the bus and went to the Borghese musuem, which was also a fun trip. We saw many works of art by the likes of Titian and Raphael, and a whole slew of statues by Bernini that were also really cool. Then we took the bus and went home. END OF BLOG. Enjoy the following photos. Go to Rome.

The Vatican's "Map Room" with a gold ceiling.

Raphael's "School of Athens"

Inside of St. Peter's

Outside of St. Peter's

Trevi during the day

Portion of the Spanish Steps