Spring Break: Northern Italy

After a very blustery trip to Venice, the girls from K-State headed out in search of a Spring Break paradise. Our travels began with a short jaunt to Vicenza. The famous architect Palladio was very active in that region and we were determined to see some of his work.

We learned a lot during this trip...you really need to do your homework. We were told that you could see all sorts of Palladio's work with just a short walk through town. However, we had all of our Spring Break luggage with us. Luckily we all had backpacks, but they were quite heavy. After a little bit of a wild goose chase, we made it out of town on a bus to see the Villa Rotunda. Unfortunately, we hadn't researched the opening hours and arrived a few minutes past the afternoon closing for siesta. Chris Curtis, a boy from K-State joined us for this part of the journey. Ever the optimist, he quipped, "Once you've seen one side of Palladio, you've seen them all." This picture was taken through the iron gate and luckily for us, each side of the building is identical. We returned back to the train station to continue our journey to "fair Verona where we lay our scene..."

We found our hostel and ditched our bags as soon as we could. We only had an evening in Verona and so we were eager to fit as much in as possible. One of the attractions of Verona is that is the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. This balcony is supposedly Juliet's balcony and hundereds of lovers flock here each year to pin love notes on the walls.

Our next day was spent travelling to Milan and exploring the city in the later afternoon. We visited the Duomo, one of the first Italian Gothic churches that we have been inside. The height of the interior was very impressive and much taller than all of the churches we had been to. Adjacent to the Duomo is the famous Gallery with shops like Prada...and McDonald's. We ate dinner on top of Rinascente, a department store with rooftop views of the Duomo. Unfortunately they were doing renovations, and our views were extremely limited.

For something that is used so often and in such an industrial way, the train station in Milan is truly beautiful. The lobby is made of carved marble and has such a sense of grandeur. It recalls a different era when the train was king of transportation. The train shed is made of steel and glass and was quite revolutionary structurally for its time.

We finally arrived in Riomaggiore, one of the towns considered part of the Cinque Terre. All five towns are located rather remotely on the coast and only the trains connect all of the towns, as the mountains are too rugged and treacherous. We rented an apartment and when we checked in, we found out that we had been upgraded to a top floor apartment with views of the marina. Later walking around the town and looking at postcards, we found our terrace on the postcard for Riomaggiore! We opened up the shutters and windows and were lulled to sleep by the sounds of waves crashing on the rocks below. We had a kitchen and we were able to cook a few dinners there, something that was both economical and a lot of fun. Rick Steves would be proud of us, as he highly recommends cooking for yourself and consuming regional specialties. The region around Cinque Terre is known for creating pesto, so we had both red and green pesto with pasta.

The Cinque Terre is also a national park and there are hikes that connect each of the towns. They vary in difficulty from being able to take a baby stroller to some pretty steep climbs. We only hiked to the next two towns and then I took the train back. The first portion of the hike is only supposed to take 20 minutes, but we stopped and took a lot of photos, so it took us much longer.

The world really is a small place because we rounded a bend in the path and found one of our fellow K-Staters from the Orvieto study abroad program watercoloring. We ran into that same group of K-Staters the next day at the beach in Monterosso. We saw that there was someone swimming in the freezing cold Mediterranean and wondered what crazy person would be out there only to realize that we knew him!

The sunsets were very beautiful and we were able to sit on our terrace and soak up a few rays. I really am a fan of Italian shutters. They allow air to come into the room but keep a lot of the light out, allowing for privacy. Shutters also create a sense of life for a building facade, as the shutters are almost never in the same position.

The towns of the Cinque Terre are very colorful. The boats and the buildings are in much brighter hues than in Castiglion Fiorentino. The color of the water also changed greatly depending on the light, from bright blue to a deep blue to a shade of grey.

We ended our Spring Break with a few days in Florence. We took that time to get to know some of the backways of the city. We also climbed the dome of the Duomo. I am not really claustrophobic or afraid of heights, but the climb up and down is not one that I would want to do on a daily basis. We were in Florence for the Spring Equinox and met our History of Science professor, Giovanni, to witness the Equinox at the church Santa Maria Novella. The cosmographer of Cosimi de Medici set up a series of solar experiments to more accurately determine time. He discovered that the Julian calendar was off by 12 seconds a year, which adds up over the course of 1,000 years. Thus, the Gregorian calendar was implemented.

Our last night in Florence we went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel called Trattoria il Trebbio. It was the best meal that I have had while in Italy. It took us over two hours to eat it, as the service is conveniently slow. I ordered gorgonzola ravioli and was stuffed by the time that my pork steaks arrived. It was a family run affair and a bit of a one man show. The maitre'd was seating people, taking reservations, taking orders and serving food. We were seated right away and only a few minutes later they were telling people it would be an hour wait. We were pleased to see that local Florentines were eating at this restaurant, unlike all of the other tourist traps that we had been to before. As we got our bill, I was going to tell the maitre'd how great everything was. I got out, "This was the best..." before he wrapped his arms around me and plopped two fat kisses on either of my cheeks. Rather red in the face, I realized that the poor man had been running around and was glad that somebody appreciated his hard work. I will definitely be going back.

We had many wonderful adventures and learned a lot by trial and error. I feel more prepared for my aftertravels when I will be leaving Italy for other parts of Europe. However, we were very glad to arrive back "home" at Sta. Chiara. I also gained a new appreciation for my country and the freedoms and liberties that I have taken for granted.

See You on the Lido!

This will be the first installment of my adventures of the past few weeks. Everyone at Santa Chiara journeyed to Venice on Tuesday, March 9 and we stayed there until Saturday, March 13. We were "blessed" with the opportunity to see Venice in a light that many tourists and even Italians have never seen. Forget the wonderful Tuscan sunshine, we were blinded by a blizzard!

Venice used to be a thriving port city and at its peak, a population of over 200,000 people. Unfortunately today, there are only about 60,000 residents. I think this is due to the inconvenience of transportation, as they are completely reliant on boats. Also, there are very few professions other than tourism, as over 6 million tourists a year flood the city. That is a flood that may do more damage to Venice herself than the waters that flood San Marco square.

We had the pleasure of visiting the church of San Marco with Paolo Barucchieri, the founder of the school at Santa Chiara. Paolo's father was involved in the art world and on the threat of the invasion of the Nazi's, Paolo's father hid crates of priceless art in their home. There is a jeweled screen that is enormous behind the main altar. Paolo told us that was one of the pieces his father kept in their home!

Venice is unlike any city in the world and has attracted many unique characters throughout the years - from sailors to musicians and artists and a very special patron of Modern Art...Peggy Guggenheim. Tony's wife has been a curator and is a lover of art and especially loves Peggy Guggenheim. We were very lucky that she accompanied us to Venice and gave us a personal tour of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. We saw artwork by Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock and many other artists. Venice is the birthplace of Vivaldi and we were very lucky to be able to attend a concert of his Four Seasons and some other pieces by Mozart. The musicians were animated and provided almost a theatrical performance while playing their instruments.

Rather than a metro or bus system, Venice has "vaporettos"...slow moving ferries that make occaisonal stops along the banks of the Grand Canal and routes to the surrounding islands such as Lido (where our hotel was located), Murano (famous for its glass) and Burano (famous for its lace). Because of the blustery weather, I found myself dreading every time we had to take a jaunt on the vaporetto as I felt motion sick due the violent rocking and constant slamming into the piers at each stop.

Venice also has some touches of Modernism in a bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava. Also, we visited a gallery that was designed by Renzo Piano and took a rather unrewarding trip to the cemetery island to see a mausoleum built by a "famous" architect. As I have been discovering, great architecture isn't necessarily designed by "famous" architects. I find myself being amazed more by the vernacular architecture that came to fruition through necessity.

Overall, I have to say that I didn't really enjoy Venice. I feel that the weather had a significant impact on our perception of the city and hampered the need to wander the many alleys to get a true feel for the city. Luckily I will be heading back to Venice with my family, so I hope that I will have a better time once the weather cooperates.

Siena: Cold, Rainy and Carsick

On Wednesday, we took our field trip to Siena. It was a rather cold and rainy day and the ride up was not the greatest. I began to feel carsick only moments outside of Castiglion. The bus driver was having problems with the defrost and it was very hot and steamy. Mercifully, I fell asleep with my head against the cold window and that helped cool me down and prevent any actual sickness. I still felt queasy most of the day. That combined with the less than perfect weather to put a damper on my mood. Needless to say, I think I need to revisit Siena and give it another chance.

After arriving in Siena, we went to the Campo and Palazzo Pubblico, one of the main attractions for which Siena is known. The Campo is a large, sloping piazza that twice a year holds a horse race called the Palio. In the Palio, 10 of the 17 neighborhoods in Siena compete. It is a lottery system to decide which 10 compete and a lottery for which horse each neighborhood gets to ride.

On nice days, the Campo is filled with people sitting and relaxing on the brick pavement. It is rather a unique place and like I said before, I think I need to go back to experience it as it is meant.

As with every other Italian town, Siena has its own Duomo. It is in its very own distinctive Sienese Gothic style. Siena and Florence have always been in competition with each other, as both were banking towns. The Sienese wanted to expand their Duomo so that it would be larger than the Duomo in Florence. Their plan was to use the main nave as the smaller portion of the cruciform shape and to extend the new nave perpendicular to the existing portion. After a short period of construction, the Plague hit Siena and the project was never completed. Had it been completed, it would have been one of the largest churches.

The cathedral in Siena is known for its pavements. Tony said we were pretty lucky to have been able to see as many portions as we did because in an effort to preserve the floors, they are covered up for most of the year.

Connected to the Duomo is the Piccolomini Library. There were only a few books on display that contained illuminated texts with Gregorian chants. The ceiling was beautiful! I am glad that Josh pointed out the little door into that room, because it would have been easy to miss.

Siena, like many Tuscan towns, contains a Medici fortress. Surrounding the high walls of the fortress is a nice green space containing fountains and treelined paths. It will be nice to return during warmer weather when all of the fountains and water features are operational. To get a little perspective on how fortified the walls really are, Alli is standing against the wall in this picture.

It is going to be several weeks before I post another blog. On Tuesday we are taking an extended field trip to Venice and that is the spring board for our Spring Break. During Spring Break, the girls from K-State and I are going to Vicenza, Verona, Milan, Turin, Genoa, the five towns of Cinque Terre and are ending with a few days in Florence. We won't be returning until March 21, so look for another blog post later that week. Ciao!

Lucca, Pisa, and Viareggio

Well, Ciao from the Mediterranean coast! We had a wonderful weekend staying in Lucca with a day trip to Pisa and Viareggio. Tony took us to Lucca, and guess what?! No rain! It was forecasted as a 90% chance and we didn't even see a drop.

Tony loves classical music and his favorite composer is Puccini, who just happens to have been born in Lucca. This is a photo of Tony posing outside of Puccini's house. There are Puccini concerts every night and us girls decided to try and attend. However, it was 17 euro, too rich for our tastes.

Lucca is a Roman town, complete with its own ampitheater. However, this ampitheater has been converted into a "mixed use" building. There are shops on the first level occupying the arches and apartments up above.

Lucca is a very flat city. Although it is nice not having to climb hills, it makes landmarks, like campaniles and domes, more difficult to navigate by since they are not readily visible. There are very few cars allowed inside the city walls, so many residents ride bikes.

There are several places to rent bikes and one happened to be less than a block from our hostel. Us girls rented bikes, complete with baskets and brrrring-brrrring bells. It was an interesting experience since I haven't been on a bike since my tragic bike accident in 6th grade. Amazingly enough, it all comes back pretty easily, just as the saying goes. We rode our bikes around the city walls that have been turned into a park, complete with old men playing dominoes and couples making out. It is 4 kilometers around the walls and we went around twice. I now remember why I had a gelled, extra wide bicycle seat back when I was ten.

We stayed at a hostel in Lucca that was more like our own apartment, especially since there were no other guests the first night and couple with a baby joined us the second night. We felt very safe in the city. The next morning we were off to Pisa to do our touristy visit to the Duomo there. We did not go up into the Campanile (the Leaning Tower) because it cost 15 euro! However, the Duomo was free to enter and was quite beautiful. Almost every square inch was decorated and the distinctive Pisan marble stripes lined the arches.

We left the touristy Campo of Pisa and walked towards the center of town and saw a courtyard designed by Vasari. We also saw a church that had been raised from the Arno River. The town of Pisa was actually quite pleasant once we escaped the mobs of large tour groups...and it isn't even the 'high' season yet.

We were hungry after our walk and found a little bar that has been open since 1898. The had row after row of delicious treats for all to enjoy. I had a really hard time choosing which decadent snack to select.

We then travelled to Viareggio and visited the coast. It was a rather warm day and we were able to take off our winter coats while walking along the beach. Some of the girls dipped their toes in the water and got a little wetter than what they bargained for. I am not one for sand between my toes and freezing water, so I took some rather hilarious photos of the happenings.

Our last day in Lucca we made the trek up the Torre Guinigi. It is a medieval watch tower that has several trees growing out of the top. It was a rather perilous hike up some open riser metal stairs, but it was well worth the journey. It offered us a panoramic view of the misty mountains and sleepy town.

The tower walls had moss growing on the walls and provided a softness to the otherwise formidable stonework. Overall, Lucca has been my favorite little town to visit, besides Castiglion, of course.

Assisi and First Project

Our first project was due on Sunday. It was our task to select a space within Castiglion Fiorentino that needed a little modification in some way. We did some analysis of the space and then developed a "Modest Proposal." My space was a courtyard that is located between two high schools: one is the arts based school and the other is the technical school. My proposal was to add some stairs to make an outdoor classroom and a place for the students to hang out between classes.

This was our first experience of spending an extended amount of time in studio all working to create a final project. It was also my first time watercoloring and I am pretty surprised at how well it turned out. We will have to see what my professor Tony has to say.

Our field trip this week was to Assisi. Of course, we were prepared for rain. However, we were pleasantly greated with grey skies that in the afternoon turned into partly cloudy, blue skies. It is truly amazing what a few sun rays can do to liven up a town and my mood. I had been to Assisi in 2004 while it was raining and only saw the middle and lower churches of San Francesco. This trip we got to see several of the other churches in town, including Santa Chiara or St. Claire, the namesake of our study center. The body of St. Francis' dear friend St. Claire was entombed in the crypt and had been found under the altar uncorrupted during a more recent renovation. However, when they exhumed the body, her face began to rapidly deteriorate. They sent her body to France to have a wax mask made to preserve her likeness. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in the churches. Our tour guide told a story of an American tourist that asked her why there were so many statues of cats in Assisi. She was puzzled by the question and then responded that to him those statues may look more like an American housecat, but those are Italian lions!

After lunch, we were left to our own devices. Some of us walked up to the Rocca Maggiore, a ruined fortress. The views from the fortress site were absolutely breathtaking. On one side, the town spills down the hill into a valley below, not unlike the Salt Lake Valley. On the other, a mountainous wilderness is punctuated by the occaisonal watchtower and hilly pasture where sheep can be found grazing. It was a very stark divide between civilization and the primeval forest.

The sun had finally been able to break free from the clouds and was streaming "God rays" down onto the valley floor below. The play of light and shadow, as well as the recent rains, made the colors extra deep and gave great contrast.

Assisi turned out to be one of my favorite field trips that we have been on so far. The town was very quaint and a new vista was around every medieval bend. The streets were stepped in some instances where they were too steep. They were even steeper than the hills in CF!

The town of Assisi is very linear in plan and has a great deal of elevation change. It made navigating fairly easy, as the next stop on the tour was visible from the starting point. In the distance, you can see San Francesco. The church is actually a Papal basilica and is property of the Vatican. The Romanesque church that was built in the middle is very luxurious with many frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue, Lorenzetti and many others. Our tour guide, and myself, felt that St. Francis would be appalled at the wealth that went into the church. The tomb of St. Franics is in the lower church, which was built later and is more along St. Francis' aesthetic. The upper church is Gothic in style and is the location that was damaged by a severe earthquake that killed several monks and fresco restorers. While we were in the middle church, a man wearing a hat was walking around inspecting various aspects of the building. It turns out that he is in charge of the very prestigious restoration team. Some of his friends and colleagues were among those who died when the upper church's ceiling collapsed.

Well, sorry this took so long to update. We have been having internet difficulties. I hope to update you on my weekend travels to Lucca, Pisa and Viareggio within the next day or two, so stay tuned. But for now, that's all folks.

Bella Roma

We made it back safe and sound on Sunday after travelling to Rome and Pompeii. We were exhausted after our journey and were very happy to return to our 'home' at Santa Chiara. Alli has a pedometer and kept track of the miles that we walked each day. In total, we walked 60 miles in 6 days. The maximum for a single day was 14 miles, 2 of which were done in the Vatican Museum winding our way to the Sistine Chapel! While at the Vatican, we made a visit to St. Peter's Basilica to see the splendid architecture. However, as we walked in, we found the basilica was set up for Mass with pews in the main nave and curtains on the right side of the church covering Michaelangelo's famous sculpture of the Pieta. I grabbed a program and used my limited Italian to decipher what was happening. I opened the front cover and written in red, it said that Pope Benedict XVI was saying Mass in celebration of the 15th World Day of the Sick! We crowded our way to the end of the barricades and landed behind some exuberant Asian tourists. We had a view of the main altar and decided to stay around to see if Mass would begin soon. All of a suddern, the Asians in front of us decided to leave, so I wedged my way in to the very front. A few moments later, Mass began and seemingly docile nuns lept up onto their chairs to get a better glimpse of B16. From my vantage point, I was able to take some pretty good photos considering how far away I was from the action. This was the point in the trip that it would have been beneficial to have lugged the telephoto lens with me! A very kind man that had a ticketed seat in the congregation offered to take a photo with my camera. It is to him that I give credit of the photo above.

We went back to St. Peter's another day to try and climb the dome and get into the crypt, but the line was too long for us to wait. I know that I will be back when my family comes to visit, so I was not too disappointed.

The day that we saw the Pope we had a scheduled tour of the Vatican Museum. The company we booked our tour with didn't know that the museum was closed that day. Personally I found it to be much more rewarding to go back to the museum on my own time and linger or skip past less engaging pieces. This sculpture is entitled Laocoon and I just love the way emotion is seen throughout the body form and facial expression.

Another site that I went back to numerous times was the Colosseum. The first time was on a tour with a large group of people and guess what...it was raining! Rain followed us on the first few days and it even snowed on the way to Pompeii, but the weekend turned out to be much warmer and we had blue skies for our photographs. So, I went to the Colosseum at night to see it lit up and again in the morning to see it with good sunlight. I have heard that it is good to get the audioguided tour if you enter the Colosseum and your ticket also allows you to get into the ancient Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. Another thing that I will be taking my family to when they visit.

At night, the Colosseum and many other Roman sights take on a different glow and are worth visiting at various times of day. For example, the Trevi Fountain is illuminated at night and hundreds of tourists, and annoying street venders selling fiber optic statues of the Colosseum, crowd the steps.

The Pantheon is another site that is worth visiting at different times. The sunbeam traces a path around the coffered dome throughout the day. I had been told that the dome was so tall that the rain evaporated before hitting the multicolored marble below. That is not true because the first time we visited...it was raining. Raphael the artist, not the turtle, is buried at the Pantheon.

Our scheduled itinerary with K-State ended on Friday at the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Our History of Science professor Giovanni (it seems like everyone is named Giovanni here) got us into the site without having to pay the entrance fee and took us to the archaeological labs that are not open to the public. The scientists there were very proud of their findings and got great joy out of our ooohs and aaahs. They had a loaf of bread, slightly charred, that was almost completely whole. They had large quantities of a type of pea that is no longer found on Earth. They had wax tablets and textiles and a basket! It was truly astounding at what we saw on the shelves and in open containers.

Mt. Vesuvius was shrouded in snow and provided an ominous reminder of the fate of so many people trapped in the city and along the coast. Of course, one of the most famous artifacts from Pompeii is the casts of the imprints left by people buried in the ash and hot gasses. The scientists have learned a great deal about the people that lived and died in Pompeii and yet there is much more to be excavated. The Italian government has run out of money for the project and so the scientists are just trying to preserve what has already been uncovered with the hope that the things left buried will be safe for a few more years to come.

All in all, Rome was a very rewarding trip. It gave me a sense of confidence in my navigation skills and I gained a little more insight on my host country. Rome is a very different place from Castiglion Fiorentino. I am glad that I can visit such amazing wonders in such a short journey, but I know that Castiglion Fno (as the train sign abbreviates) is where I am supposed to be. In Rome, I tried to practice my Italian with different vendors and many times they would just answer back in English. It came across to me as kind of an insult, as I felt I was labeled as a foreigner even though I am trying to immerse myself in their culture. It was very strange to be able to eavesdrop on a conversation of complete strangers speaking English as they were walking down the steps of the Piazza di Spagna. I much prefer the sometimes awkward exchanges with the locals, such as Bruno the owner of the laundromat or the Moretti bus driver taking me to my first watercolor class. Rome, minus the typical sites that define it, could be mistaken for any other large city.

After just getting back, we will be travelling to Florence on Wednesday. It is also time to make final Spring Break plans. Several of us had wanted to go to Greece, but due to its economic situation and recent transportation strikes, I am rethinking my options. The economic downturn is being felt here too, as there is a train strike scheduled for Friday, the day we were going with our professor to the nearby town of Cortona. The key words of this trip are "Be Flexible."On our last day in Rome, we made a short excursion to Santa Maria in Cosmedin. In the portico of the church, the Bocca della Verita, or Mouth of Truth, can be found. It is rumored that if you stick your hand into the mouth and are a liar, your hand will be bitten off.

Also at the church, a relic of St. Valentine can be found in a side chapel. It was kind of a happy coincidence as the day that we visited the church was Sunday, February 14th!

"Who's performing at half-time?" "Yes."

I am sorry that it has been so long since I have updated my blog. We have had a very busy week. Last Wednesday we went to Florence for our field trip. We got to see a lot of buildings, but didn't get to spend a lot of quality time absorbing the architecture. The only thing that we were absorbing was the incessant rain that seems to only appear on travel days.

When I was here in 2004, I hadn't learned about the architecture, only about the history surrounding it. I was much more appreciative of the things that I was seeing this time around. We got to see Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce and the Pazzi Chapel, Palazzo Strozzi, and the Palazzo Vecchio. After lunch, we went to the History of Science Museum to meet our proffessor for a tour. They have several of Galileo's original scientific instruments. They also have Galileo's right middle finger. I guess even in death he is giving the finger to the all those who thought he was a heretic.

This weekend was jam-packed with activities. On the first Friday and Saturday of the month, the nearby town of Arezzo has an antiques fair. The main streets are lined with all types of junque. There was jewelry, furniture, books, instruments, and even African masks. We walked around for several hours and our professor Tony took us into some buildings that we had only passed by on our previous tour. There are several works of art from famous artists even in this small town. This crucix was done by Cimabue.

Sunday was also a day of fun. Carnivale began last weekend and lasts for the next three Sundays in preparation for Lent. Children dress up in silly costumes and spray confetti or silly string on innocent bystanders. Foiano is a nearby town that has held a Carnivale parade since the Middle Ages. Our group ventured over to Foiano by bus and joined in the festivities. There are four neighborhoods that compete with their floats and each year they are bigger and better. It is quite interesting to watch the mechanized floats squeeze through the narrow and crooked streets. They fold up to fit through the narrowest opening and unfurl their wings/tentacles/appendages in more open streets. Many of us got confettied by small children who quickly scampered for cover behind their parents. One of the local artists that teaches at Santa Chiara was in charge this year for designing a float. It was Alice and Wonderland themed and had people of the neighborhood dressed as cards leading the procession. The music they danced to was "Poker Face" by Lady GaGa and a few AC/DC songs.

So, after we returned to Castiglion Fiorentino, we relaxed for a little while. A few of us went to the local pub, The Velvet Underground (lovingly referred to as the VU) to watch the Super Bowl. We talked about staying until halftime and when I asked about the halftime entertainment, it turned into a bit of an Abbott and Costello moment. They didn't play any American commercials and it started after midnight our time. I was kind of rooting for the Colts, because I know that Lauren would want me to! We made it to the Saint's first field goal, and then headed for home.

Tomorrow we leave for an extended trip to Rome. Our History of Science teacher is taking us to Pompeii on Friday. We are going to see the research labs that are on-site. Look for a new post next week after we return on Sunday.