The Final Week, More or Less

The semester finally ended and boy was it a long, drawn out, exhausting end.  Just these past few weeks, we’ve had assignment after assignment due, on top of a trip to Barcelona that we planned before spring break. We had a ten page Italian film paper, an 8-10 page Renaissance art paper and a 10 minute presentation, a five page evolution paper and a 15-20 minute presentation, and three finals.  I really wish this stuff had been spaced out a little more or that they had warned us that we would have this much due alongside a free weekend, but whatever. 

I managed to get through all of this to be able to meet mom and dad in La Spezia this past Wednesday, which was really nice.  They had an amazing B&B in La Spezia with absolutely fantastic hosts.  Once I got there, we pretty much just had dinner and relaxed in the apartment.  The next day, we hopped the train down to Montarosso al Mare, the last town of Cinque Terre.  It was a very beautiful city, although at this point all of the Italian cities start to look the same.  Apparently the only way to truly see the beauty of the Cinque Terre is by ferry, but the waters were too rough for the ferries to be running. 

We walked around the city, stopping in the souvenir shops to look at the shirts and whatnot along the way.  We eventually wandered back down to the beach just in time to watch a group of kids trying to jump across the water to a rock that was about 3 feet away from the dry part of the beach.  Several of the kids hesitated a little too much and got their feet wet while a few others just weren’t paying attention and got wet up to the knees.  After we walked a little further down the beach, we saw two other ladies encounter the same problem.  See, the beach had a slight hill that the water almost never crested.  However, every once and a while, a large enough wave would come up and rush over that hill and soak anyone who was standing there.  Apparently it happened to mom the first day that she was there and she had to walk around in wet tennis shoes!

The day after we went to Montarosso, it was time to head back towards Arezzo to pick up our suitcases, say goodbye, and head to Florence.  Unfortunately, we were stuck on a train with some EXTREMELY annoying Italian middle schoolers that were screeching and kicking chairs the entire time.  They were being very rude and very loud, but it seems to be a very common theme amongst the younger Italians. 

It was a long day of travel, but it was really great to see the Bruschis one last time.  They were an amazing host family that definitely made Italy a home away from home.  Federica and Francesca were extremely helpful and Stefania was absolutely amazing.  She definitely filled in any time I was missing mom! It was a hard goodbye, but hopefully I’ll see them again. 

By the time that we finally got to Florence, we were all exhausted.  It’s funny how sitting on your butt all day can wear you out so much.  Our B&B host in Florence was a bit of a sleaze ball and the apartment wasn’t great, but the view from the tower was absolutely spectacular.  I’d seen the Duomo quite a few times at this point, but this was the best way to see it.  Not only were we right up on the dome, but the nighttime lighting was perfect at this level.  I would highly recommend it!

 

Our first real day in Florence was one crazy adventure.  We started out with the plan to buy our Firenze cards to be able to have an expedited entry into the various museums.  Unfortunately, our first stop to get the cards (the Uffizi) was a bit of a bust, so we headed next door to get one at the Palazzo Vecchio, which is where the fun really began:

I was walking in the lead, trying to see where the entrance to the ticket office was, and dad was apparently following right behind me.  Mom, being mom, wasn’t watching where her feet were and fell into a hole instead of walking on the level ground between the pillar and the dropped floor like dad and I had.  She had a very spectacular fall and scraped up and bruised her knee, in addition to further injuring her hip.  Every time she starts to feel better, she has another fall!

After a bit of recovery time, we continued with our plans for the day, which included the Uffizi Gallery, lunch near the Duomo, dad and I climbing the Duomo, and the leather market.  The Duomo wasn’t nearly as crowded this time around, which was really nice.  We only had to squeeze past people once or twice, which was much better than standing chest to chest with people like we did before, waiting for the path to clear.  On the way back down the stairs, we had a very funny American gentlemen who was cracking jokes the entire way down.  By the time we go to the bottom and went to get mom out of our decidedly not-so-great B&B, mom was asleep and her knee was stiff again. 

Once we got her moving, we headed towards the leather market, where I finally bought a purse.  I’d been looking all semester, but I’d never found one that I really liked.  Thankfully, I found one!  We had dinner right there at the leather market in the Mercato Centrale, which is absolutely delicious.  It’s built into an old warehouse with the bottom floor as a sort of merchant’s area and the top floor for us hungry people.  It’s kind of like that one wall of Whole Foods with the pizza and sandwiches and whatnot, but it’s the entire top floor of the building.  We had some amazing hamburgers and chips before heading back towards the B&B for the night. 

Sunday was our last day in Florence and pretty much our last day in Italy.  We got up early and went to see the David at the Galleria dell'Academia and to the Capella Medici, which is the burial grounds of several Medici family members.  Mom had been wanting to see something specifically Medici (despite the fact that Florence is basically the Medici family) so this was a perfect site that wasn’t too far from the B&B.  Afterwards, we had to drag our luggage to the train station for storage since we couldn’t get a late check out and it was quite the trek.  Normally, it’s only about a 10 minute walk from the Duomo to the train station, but dragging 5 suitcases and 3 backpacks along with us made it horrendous.  Not to mention, there was a 10K race running around the Duomo, so we had to push our way through the crowds, which made it even worse. 

Next, we headed back towards the Duomo to visit the Baptistery and the Museo del Opera, which is the buildings works commission of the Duomo.  The Baptistery was gorgeous, with very Gothic frescoes all over the ceilings and an intricate design on the marble floors.  It was definitely a sight to behold.  The Museo holds most of the original sculptures from the façade of the Duomo and even some from the Bell Tower.  The best part was that there were benches throughout the museum, which was very nice on our poor tired feet. 

By the time we finished the museum, it was sprinkling outside so we shot across the backside of the Duomo to Magnums, where we made a custom Magnum bar.  Thankfully, we only got one to split because it was incredibly rich, but also really delicious.  We got vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate coating, and pistachio, almond, and honey comb toppings. We sat there, enjoying our Magnum bar while watching the rain come down.  Eventually we headed towards the train station to catch our train to Rome for the night.

Our official day in Italy was an exhausting whirlwind, but it was amazing. We saw the last few highlights of Florence, had some good food, and enjoyed some down time.  

Mom and Dad Arrive in Italy

On Friday morning, mom and dad finally made it to Italy!  In case you didn’t know, this is mom’s first time out of the country other than to Cozumel on a cruise and to the Azores when she was two.  Dad, of course, has been everywhere.  Anyway, I met them at the airport in Rome so I could help them get back to Arezzo.  Unfortunately, they didn’t recognize their own daughter when they finally saw me.  I mean, I was holding up a handmade sign that said MOSES and everything, but still nothing. (I was going to print off a professional looking sign, but they stole the computers and printers out of the monastery)  After they finally saw me (after raising my sign as high as I could reach), we hopped on the Leonardo Express train to get to the train station in the center of Rome.  Despite having traveled for over 15 hours, they still had another 3 hour train ride before we got to Arezzo. 

We sat on the very hot train for just under three hours.  As I worked on a little bit of homework and then listened to the music, mom and dad passed out.  Especially dad.  In all fairness, they hadn’t exactly gotten a whole lot of sleep on the airplane, but it was still entertaining for me.  Not to mention, mom’s complaints about train bathrooms were hilarious.  She didn’t realize that they literally just dump straight onto the tracks so there’s a bit of a breeze coming up the hole!

By the time we finally reached Arezzo, we were all pretty tired so we headed straight towards their B&B.  We managed to check in mostly okay.  I translated most of what the woman was saying for mom and dad because she did not speak a lick of English, at least until she started trying to tell us something about some fee to the booking website.  I’m not entirely sure why she felt the need to tell us about this, especially considering it was obvious that we weren’t really understanding.  I had to call Colin, our GRD, to come to the rescue.  Apparently it wasn’t anything important, but we wanted to be sure that mom and dad didn’t still owe anything.  He was definitely a lifesaver!

Mom and dad were in desperate need of a nap after that, so I left them at the B&B while I headed back to do homework.  We met up again for dinner at a restaurant called Il Cantuccio, which is absolutely delicious and their cheesecake is to die for.  Mom and dad were falling asleep at the table, so I went back to the monastery and half-way worked on homework.  Mostly it consisted of staring at my rather horrible essay before deciding it wasn’t going to get any better, submitting it, and then watching Get Smart to make myself feel better, which then lead to watching Stardust until 2 am.  Probably not the greatest decision in my life, but oh well.

Today, mom and dad walked over to my family’s pastry shop for breakfast and they fell in love with them, just like my newfound muffin top and I did.  They both had one of Stefania’s delicious muffins and a cappuccino.  We walked to the Saturday market that I haven’t visited since the first weekend that we were here in Arezzo, which was a lot of fun.  It’s a huge market and we actually did find some fun things to buy, including a polka dot blazer.  For lunch, we stopped at Bar Stefano for some pasta before separating again so I could work on a paper for art history (which I’m supposed to be doing right now, but it’s not going real well.  I need another two pages but I’ve run out of things to say and my introduction is going nowhere).   Anyway, we met up again for a tour of the monastery where most of the students live and I study and hang out. 

We then went for a little walk down the Corso Italia which is the main shopping street of Arezzo and then stopped to get some stuff for a snack that ended up being pretty much dinner.  We bought mozzarella, (extremely hard) bread, some Pecorino cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pesto to go with the tomatoes that mom had bought at the market and just had a little snack while it rained.  It was nice and peaceful, listening to the rain and sitting with my family.  We were full at this point, but mom and dad would need something with a little protein so we ventured out into the rain to get some piadinas (they’re like a cross between a wrap and a quesadilla, but delicious).  

View out Mom and Dad's window

Anyway, mom and dad headed back to their B&B and I headed back to the monastery, where I am currently sitting and procrastinating on doing my homework, like an awesome college student.  Unfortunately, this the only productive thing that I can do while procrastinating, and its time has come to an end as well.  Oh well, here’s some pictures of mom and dad’s super exciting first day in Italy as a parting gift:

My Final European Adventure... for now!

So where was I? Oh, that’s right… BARCELONA!

This past weekend was my last trip in Europe, at least for the foreseeable future.  While it was not my favorite place that I have visited over the past four months, it was still a good trip.  Honestly, the best parts were the amazing food and spending several hours just sitting on the beach in the sun. 

We started off the trip kind of rough, considering we had to get up at 5 am to catch a train to get to Bologna to catch our flight.  Quite the adventure, right? By the time we got to Barcelona, we were already exhausted.  After checking into our hostel, we went to get some lunch at a local restaurant and it was AMAZING.  If you’ve never had paella, I would highly recommend it, especially if you are in Spain.  It’s a really simple dish, but it was sooooo good.  I had the Chicken Paella, which is basically just chunks of marinated chicken in rice that cooked in tomato sauce with all sorts of vegetables and juicy goodness.  Totally worth all those starch-filled calories. 

After we finished eating, we hopped on a bus to go to the beach, which was amazing.  We sat on the sand and just watched the water for a while before getting up and walking down the boardwalk.  There were a ton of Indian men selling mojitos, beer, and these gorgeous squares of linen that had really beautiful patterns on them.  I purchased on that has a green mandala on it that I absolutely love, although I really wanted one with elephants on it.  Oh well.  We did have a bit of a shock when we saw this older gentleman walking down the beach completely naked.  I wouldn’t have been that surprised other than the fact that he was literally the only person that was walking around naked.  And he wasn’t even going in the water, he was just walking down the sand and occasionally pausing to just look out at the water.  Rather odd, if you ask me.

We eventually left the beach and headed back into the city center, where we saw a Flamenco dance.  All of the singing was in either Spanish or Catalan, I honestly don’t know which, but it was still really cool.  From what we could gather, the show was about a love triangle between a woman and two men.  The dancers were really great.  The woman was amazing, especially when she wore this dress with a long, fluffy train.  She was whipping it around and up and it looked really cool.  The men, on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic.  The skill that they had and the speed that they moved at was phenomenal.  Most of the singers were really great too, although the one woman sounded like a dying goat, which was a bit unfortunate.  Overall, a really cool experience!

The next day, we went on a Modernism walking tour of the city.  Definitely not the highlight of the trip, but we did get to see a lot of the city and some really cool buildings.  For a while, the buildings in Barcelona could not have any color on them.  I can’t remember exactly why this is, but it was still really interesting.  After this color ban was lifted, the buildings were covered in mosaic tiles that are absolutely beautiful to see.  At the end of the walking tour, our guide took us to a local restaurant for some tapas, which are basically just appetizers.  However, they were absolutely delicious.  We had a bit of a variety, including Bravas potatoes, croquettes, meatballs, and chorizo.  It was all so good, although not quite enough food.  On the bright side, by the time we ate, it was almost three o’clock, so we didn’t have that much time until we could eat again. 

For dinner, we went to the Hard Rock Café.  I know, we ate American food in Barcelona, but we’d already eaten all of the typical Spanish food and it sounded really good.  And it really was, although it was a surprisingly small restaurant.  We had met an Australian kid on our tour of the city, and he came with us to Hard Rock café.  He didn’t entirely understand why Hard Rock is such a big thing, although to be honest, neither do I.  However, it’s good food and the music is great.  He was a really nice guy doing his gap year in Europe, although he was also a bit of a baby since he had just turned 19 in February.

Next, we went to this really cool fountain show in the main square of the city.  It’s kind of like the show in Vegas, but it changes colors and is set to different kinds of music, including rock n’ roll and classical.  It was absolutely gorgeous to see, although we only stayed for about 20 minutes.  Honestly, how long can you admire a fountain changing colors and making different shapes? And at that point it had changed to classical music that didn’t quite fit with the fountain’s colors and movements.  But who am I to judge! Afterwards, we just headed back to the hostel since we had been out for most of the day.  No, we did not hit the nightlife that Barcelona is famous for, but I do not regret it in the least. We did, however, see a group of break dancers near the fountain show.  They were really energetic and fun to watch, definitely a great part of the Barcelona culture.  

On our final day in Barcelona, we just went back to the beach.  We spent a while just sitting on the sand and enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves.  There was a nice breeze that kept it from being too hot so it was absolutely perfect.  While the others slept, I read what was left of my book and enjoyed the sights.  Eventually, we got up and headed to a fresh food market that was just down the road.  We ate some empanadas (they were cold but delicious), some fresh strawberries, and some amazing churros.  They were fresh and delicious and completely bad for us, but oh my god were they good.  We got some traditional sugar coated churros and some chocolate ones as well.  Afterwards, we walked along the harbor, looking at the various people selling random things.  They had everything from knockoff shoes and purses to keychains and Flamenco fans.  Unfortunately, it was then time to head towards the city center again to catch the train to the airport. 

I know it sounds odd, but the Barcelona airport was my favorite one this entire trip.  It was enormous, but still very clean and quiet.  When we walked through security, it was like we were walking into a mall.  There was an enormous circle filled with various shops for clothes and food, and there was even an entire wine store! Despite the size of it, it was practically silent.  Alright, that’s all I’ll say, since it is just an airport, but still!!!

Overall, it was a pretty good trip.  There were a few downsides and it certainly wasn’t my favorite city, but I definitely enjoyed the time on the beach.  It was nice to have a little bit of relaxation considering all of the work that I have due in the next two weeks.  Why they made this a free weekend is beyond me, but whatever.