San Gimigniano

On Saturday we had a field trip to San Gimigniano. Its a tiny walled city that used to be an independent city state in the middle ages until the Florentine army conquered it in 1356. It was the most medieval place I've been so far in that there were a lot of towers and the entire city wound up and down a hill while remaining completely inside the fortified outer wall.
First thing we did was climb the tallest tower and the view was amazing. Next we looked at frescoes painted on the walls of the cathedral in the central square. We weren't allowed to take pictures and all the girls had to wear these disposable things because their sun dresses were too revealing. After that we had lunch in an olive grove with a woman playing the harp. My life is not real. San Gimigniano was all in all an awesome trip.

Superbike World Championship Imola 2009

This past Sunday me and a couple friends took the train out to Imola to go to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari to watch the Superbike World Championship. It was ridiculous. The walk from the train station was pretty straightforward and we didn't get lost because you could hear the bikes half a mile away. When we got to the ticketbooth we had to contend with Italian scalpers who wanted to sell us passes that would get us into the Paddock (way out of our price range even from a scalper though very tempting). They seemed desperate, however, and even dropped the price to 50E from 70E which was a really really good deal but we had already decided the cheapest seats (standing room on the field) were already expensive enough being 35E. This also all happened in Italian which made it even more confusing. We got our tickets and entered the raceway but our section was on the inside of the track so we went through this tunnel just as the bikes were coming around for another lap above us. It was awesome. They were so loud and fast it was ridiculous. Standing right there you could barely see them pass. They also get so low on the turns and are so close to one another its insane that nobody crashed while we were there. After one turn they came out going uphill and because they began accelerating again they all broke out into wheelies once the hill leveled out going 100mph at least.

We saw about four races and it was hilarious to see the Ducati superfans go crazy when the Ducati team won both of the SBK races. About half of them had no shirt, the rest wore assorted red Ducati logo shirts, some had airhorns, some had flags, and all of them went nutz when the racers made their victory lap. On the podium they played the Italian national anthem and people around us were waving their hands conducting in the air. Then the announcer yelled something about champagne (prounounced loudly and like Christopher Walken on SNL) and they all started spraying bottles everywhere. It was hands down the most fun day trip I've had since I've been here.

Wine Festival in Chianti

This one is a little late but here are some pictures from the wine festival we went to in Greve in Chianti the weekend before last. It was a way too much fun. For ten euro you were given a wine glass and a card with eight stamps for wine tastings from the various producers' booths set up in the piazza. We got there at about noon and the bus home was at 5:30. Plenty of time to pace our wine tasting. The problem, however, was that a "taste" constituted a full glass of wine and most booths never stamped your card. It was almost a challenge to finish all of your stamps.

(This is a picture of Bess and I chewing our wine, if you're gonna taste wine do it right)

We took a break halfway through our fun to have panini at a booth set up down the street and we grabbed a picture with the guys behind the counter. They had this whole roasted pork which was amazing. We also stopped at another booth selling peach sangria which was delicious as well, even if not a good choice given that we maybe only had 3 stamps at that point.


In the end we all made it back alive, albeit our bodies soaked through with wine. The following weekend we went to a prosciutto festival in Parma which didn't quite live up to Chianti but you can never have too much prosciutto, parmesan, and champagne.

Roma

Last Friday we went to Rome on a field trip with our Art History professor. It was awesome. We rode the train in to Termini Station then started our tour of Rome by taking the subway to the Colosseum. From there we made our way to the Forum stopping by the remains of the Emperors' palaces on the way. The Forum was cool especially since I had not been there since I was eleven. It was hot, however, and even though Professor Reynolds tried her best to lecture in the shade it was brutal after a few hours. We were all very glad to stop for lunch. After lunch we walked to the Pantheon and then were free to do as we pleased.
Most of us stayed in Rome to spend the night so we immediately went off to explore the rest of the city. Since we were so close, I went to find the street my aunt and uncle used to live on a few blocks from the Pantheon. I found it right away along with the cafe that used to make the best hot chocolate when I was little. We stopped for a gelato and went on our way.
Friday we saw the Trevi Fountain and then checked in to our hostels. That night we saw Piazza della Repubblica and the Spanish Steps. We had dinner there and then meandered our way to Piazza Navona which took a long time since we kept getting turned around. At one point we asked an older couple which way to go and they told us to turn around when we saw a sign with an arrow pointing to where we came from and I hit myself on the head and yelled "Accidenti!" After Piazza Navona we met up with the rest of the group in Campo D'fuori and went to a bar.

We got up early the next day to walk to Villa Borghese from Via Nazionale (a semi long walk) but almost not early enough since lauren forgot to wake me up and we had a reservation for 9am. Borghese was beautiful and we hung around the fountains for a little while before heading down to go to the Bone Church (Caprician Monks or something) which was creepy but awesome. It was a crypt and everything is fashioned out of human bone. We had lunch at the bottom of the hill in Barberini and then took the subway to the Vatican. The line was long and we almost left but it turned out that it wasnt moving because they werent open to the public until 2 so we waited and it didn't take long at all. One of the girl's skirt didnt cover her knees so they made her tie a scarf around her waist. I refilled my water bottle with water from a fountain outside which I deemed holy water. It was tasty. We got back to Termini in time for a 5pm train back to Florence, exhausted but satisfied we did everything possible in Rome in a little more than 24 hours.

Freshman Fifteen?...More like Junior Thirty

I wish I had more pictures of the food but hopefully these will suffice. Food at the villa is amazing. These two sweet Italian women, Sandra and Eleonora, make it all for us down in the kitchen. Then they send it up to the dining room in a dumbwaiter. Our dining room is pretty ill as well and we all eat together. We even eat with the professors which seemed strange at first but is actually awesome. Everyday a few students are assigned scullery duty and have to set the table, put the food out, and clean the dishes. At lunch its 4 people and at dinner its 2 people since the home stay kids go home for dinner to eat with their families. Anyway, this is what we had for dinner tonight. Pasta with a cheese sauce, deviled eggs with capers, croquettes, melon, salami, cheese, and salad. I didn't take pictures of lunch but that meal is usually a lot bigger with more than one course and wine. Desserts are awesome as well. So far we've had this berry cheesecake, nutella pie, homemade gelato, and fruit cobbler.For dessert tonight we had these coconut balls rolled in cocoa powder and espresso. I'm hoping to finally gain my freshman fifteen...even if two years late.

I Primi Passi in Firenze

So part of our orientation was walking around Florence on Saturday hitting all the major sites to get our bearings. That included the Duomo, Gli Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Repubblica, and a few other things. Today we were let loose to go do whatever we wanted. A bunch of us took the bus into town together and we got off at the Duomo to find someplace to eat. Me and my friend Gina decided to go back to this salumeria which is supposed to be awesome but it was closed when we got there. Instead we met up with my friend from home, Halley, and the three of us found this hole in the wall pizza place (Pizza e Co) which had 1E slices. Clutch. The guy behind the counter was really nice and spoke with us in Italian. His name is Pasquale and he gave us directions on which street markets are the best for what and even told us if we ever needed a place to stay his uncle owned the shop and could help us out. Their pizza place is only a year old but he says business does well only that most people are too stupid to realize that good pizza doesn't have to cost 4E. He was an awesome guy and we're definitely going back. Anyway we were waiting on the corner just outside when a bunch of American students walked by and looked lost. After a little while one turns to me and says "Scusi." They thought we were Italian. It made my day. Next weekend we take a field trip to Rome and then have a wine tasting on Sunday.

Gardens and View

Here are some pictures of the Villa grounds and the view from the gardens. The gray part over the wall is the entire city of Firenze and the Duomo.