I am a mountain man.

The end is drawing near, and I don’t like it one bit. According to Delta.com my departure is now in 11 days and that’s definitely 11 days too soon. I have had the best time of my life and met so many great people, it’s going to be hard going back the US and trying to re-adjust to everything that I left behind. Of course, I miss everyone at home and I can’t wait to see you all, but I just wish I could bring you all here instead. Italy has been more than anything I had ever expected, and definitely in a good way. I have truly received a gift with this opportunity and I’m glad I was able to take full advantage of it.

I had a sort of bucket list of things to see and do in Italy and in Europe while I was here, and one of the last things on my Italy list was to see the Italian Alps. Yes, the beaches are nice and the countryside is beautiful, but I’m definitely a mountain man at heart. Give me some mountains, a backpack, a tent, and some trails and I’ll be good to go.

 Into the Alps!

Goglio, Italy

This past weekend I was able to fulfill that desire. Some friends and I rented cars and drove all the way to the Italian Alps for a night of camping. It was, without a doubt, the best decision I’ve made since I’ve been here. I’ve been a little tight on funds the past few weeks, but my splurge on this trip was definitely worth the earful I’ll get from my parents when I get back.

 The Guys

 Riale, Italy

 The trail to Switzerland

Look how blue the glacier water is!

We hiked through two national parks on our adventure and camped out on the side of a mountain. The whole experience was just unreal! I had so much fun hiking around in the mountains and navigating the narrow, twisting alpine roads. At one point we found a glacial lake at the top of some mountains and we were only 3 km from the Swiss border.

 View of the mountains from out campsite

We camped out for just the one night and then headed back to Florence on Sunday for the Fiorentina vs. Udinese soccer game. We made it just in time and what a great match it turned out to be. Fiorentina won 5-2 and we had fun singing watching the Italians sing the Fiorentina song and celebrate a much needed victory.

This week I’ve had papers due and I have a final exam tomorrow. It’s so weird to think that the end is so near. This weekend I think I will be taking my roommate back to Cinque Terre on Friday and then maybe I’ll celebrate my last weekend in Florence by renting a bike for a day or two. I love this country and I love this culture (minus the part about not dryers) and I’ll go ahead and apologize in advance for any reverse culture shock symptoms that I exhibit when I get home.

Ciao for now!

Look for at least one more update of my Italian Spring Adventure before my return the states.

Mangia, Beve, l'Ama Forte!

Buonasera a tutti!

(Forewarning: this blog post turned into a novel because it covers a few weeks worth of trips, so get comfortable!)

I’m still on the catch-up train right now with my blog posts. So much has happened since my last post, but I’m going to try and catch everyone up to speed in one quick post.

But first, I hope everyone had a Buon Pasqua (Happy Easter) this past Sunday! Coincidentally, Sunday marked the 3^rd month that I have been here in Italy and I have only about three weeks left before I head back to the United States. It was kind of a sad realization that this amazing semester is about to come to an end, but like all things great and wonderful it had to end at some point right? I have been scurrying around the past few days trying to plan out my last two weekends in Italy. Some things from this semester feel like they were an eternity ago, while other times I feel like I just got here and there are still so many things that I haven’t seen or done.

Anyways, now time to get you caught up. The last time I posted it was about my trip to Sicily and Lamezia Terme. The weekend after my Sicily trip I had my last overnight excursion with API. We visited the town of Siena on Saturday (the forever rival of Florence). Our city tour guide was awful, but at least we got to see some pretty cool stuff on our own. In the main church in Siena there are the relics of Saint Catherine; her skull and one of her fingers are preserved in wax. It was a little crazy, but still interesting to see. The main square of the town is also where they hold the annual Sienese horse race (Palio do Siena). The city is divided into 17 sections, each with its own animal mascot and every year the city sections race a horse in the race for bragging rights over the other sections of the city. Our tour guide was a part of the Elephant sector (she reminded us of this fact at least 20 times). Siena was really pretty, but I still don’t understand how it was such a competitor to Florence because it was so much smaller. Maybe I’m just partial to Florence because I have called it home for so long.

After Siena, we went to a traditional thermal bath for some relaxation that afternoon. By thermal spa, I mean a big resort with a lot of speedo clad Italians and lots of warm pools that smelled like rotten eggs. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. At least it was relaxing to just sit down for a while. That night we stayed in a town somewhere between Siena and Perugia that no one knew the name of. It was a little odd because we got there so late at night and left so early in the morning that we literally only saw the inside of the hotel while we were there. It’s kind of a shame though because it was actually kind of a nice town; too bad I can’t tell you which town it was.

On Sunday, we started our day with a tour of the town of Perugia. Unlike our bossy, repetitive tour guide from the day before, our tour guide in Perugia was hilarious because she was so hung over from her son’s rugby party the night before. She was definitely the sassiest Italian that I’ve ever met, and her city tour was awesome.  Apparently the city of Perugia went through a lot of oppression by the Pope throughout their history, so it’s the only city in Italy that doesn’t acknowledge the rule from Vatican City. Also, part of the old city is actually underground from where the Pope once built his private palace on top of the city center. Today, the city is known more as the chocolate capital of the country (and the location of the Amanda Knox trials as our tour guide pointed out) than for its history of anti-Catholicism.

(apparently there was some kind of children's festival going on and these were the mascots)

Our last stop for the weekend was at Castello Verrazzano in the Chianti region of Italy. This was definitely my favorite part of the weekend and probably my favorite experience from my time in Italy so far. We had a group wine tour from Gino, the head winemaker. I literally could have listened to him all day long; he made me laugh, he made me cry, he made me contemplate, but most of all he made me jealous of his job. We toured the winery’s facilities and were then served a three-course meal with several wine tastings and a class on how to properly exam wine. It was the perfect ending to a pretty great weekend. The best thing I took from the wine tour: “mangia, beve, l’ama forte e non teme la morte.” Eat, drink, love strong and never fear death. One of the truest toasts I’ve heard in my life.

The weekend after was kind of a quiet weekend. On Friday there was a transportation strike so we couldn’t really leave the city so we made a day trip to IKEA. It was kind of an odd feeling to go to a giant Swedish store, but it also felt a little bit like home for the first time in a while because the whole inside of the store was identical to all the ones I have been inside in the US. My roommates and I tried out every recliner and couch in the seating department and then bought some lingonberry jam and juice ot take home with us. Saturday, we found out we could rent rollerblades in Cascine Park so it’s pretty easy to figure out what we did that day. Afterward, we attempted to go to a Florentine rugby game, but one of the referees didn’t show up so it got cancelled.

This past week was a lot of fun because we had a lot going on. Wednesday, Florence hosted the TRL awards. It’s the Italian division of MTV, but we got to go to a huge, free concert in Piazza Santa Croce. It was a lot of fun, I just wish I would have known more of the songss because it was all Italian artists.

Thursday, my roommate, Derek’s, mom and brother got into Florence so we had to make sure to show them around the city. We also took Derek’s brother out a few nights in a row to show him a good time.

On Friday, Derek took his family on the grand city tour of Firenze, and Johnny and I went on a day trip to Cinque Terre with our friend Danny. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen while I’ve been in Italy. It only took us a few hours and a couple of trains to get there, and once we got there we were able to hike around between all the towns. It felt so great to go hiking! The one thing I’ve missed about home is how easy it is to just go outside and go camping or hiking. It such a long day with a lot of walking, but the trip was definitely worth it.

Saturday, we went with Derek and his family to Pisa. For whatever reason, I was just in a really terrible mood that day so it was probably the worst day trip I’ve ever gone on. In Pisa, the only to see in the entire town is the leaning tower. We literally rode the one hour train there, snapped like 20 pics for about 45 minutes, and then we got right back on the train and went home. I’m sure Pisa is a nice place, but I just wasn’t feeling it so much that day.

That afternoon we went to a rugby game, and this time the two teams actually played. It’s a good thing Johnny was there to explain most of the rules, otherwise I would be have been pretty much clueless the entire time. It was kind of neat to be the only non-Italians there, and now I can say that I’ve seen a rugby match.

Last Sunday was Easter her in Florence, and one of the biggest holidays celebrated by the city. Buon Pasqua! Easter morning we went the “blessing of the eggs” ceremony and then watched the explosion of the cart. It was pretty awesome. It was the third time I had seen fireworks here in Italy and, let me just say, Italian love their pyrotechnics. The rest of the day we enjoyed brunch with some friends from our program, which basically meant that we ate chocolate and drank mimosas until we had to get ready for Easter mass. We made it to the Easter mass in the Duomo and it was a great service. P.S. Italian children act just as restless in church as American kids do. Not helping that fact, a bird had found its way into the humungous church and the kid in front of me was having a joyous time watching it hop around between all the seats. For Easter dinner I FINALLY got my Bistecca alla Fiorentina! We took Derek’s family to a little osteria on the other side of the Arno and had a great steak dinner. It was one of the best Easters I’ve ever had; I just wish I could have shared it with my own family.

 Buon Pasqua!

 Ponte Vecchio at sunset on Easter

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

Phew, that was a lot. But now you’re caught up on my Italian semester! This week is going to be a busy week because I have two papers to write for final projects in my architecture classes. It’s so hard to focus to write TWO 8-page papers. It’s going to be rough.

This weekend I am supposed to have my last trip with API to Lucca for the day, but the roommates and I are in the process of planning our own camping adventure in the Italian Alps. We also have the Fiorentina soccer game on Sunday. So much work and so little time!

Anyways, I’ll let you know how it goes. It’s so crazy to think that my time here is almost done!

Ciao for now!

Manga! Manga!

The number one thing I have learned while living in Italy is the virtue of patience. I guess I was a pretty patient person back home, but I’ll admit sometimes I would get frustrated when things didn’t go according to plan or ran behind schedule. I just don’t like to have any kind of uncertainty. Well, in Italy nothing is EVER guaranteed to go according to plan. It’s not something that makes me hate Italy or the culture, it’s just something that I have come to realize and respect about the Italian lifestyle. If Italy wasn’t as quirky as it is, well, it just wouldn’t be right.

I’m writing about patience to preface my next blog adventure: Sicily and Calabria. I have been living in north/central Italy for the past 2 ½ months and this was my first trip to southern Italy. It was like visiting a whole different country. In the southern regions of Italy there is hardly any public transportation, the Italian dialect is very different, and everything is much more traditional than what I have become accustomed to from the more touristy parts of Italy. Even though it sounds like I’m about to go on a rant about how inconvenient everything, I’m not. To be honest, I loved the slower culture of southern Italy because it hasn’t been tarnished by the multitudes of tourists that flock to other cities like Florence, Rome, Venice, and Milan with their “I need it now” demands and strict time schedules. Sicily and Calabria we just so relaxing, closer to the way I had originally envisioned my Italian experience to be.

To start our adventure in Sud Italia, Johnny and I flew in to Palermo and picked up our rental car at the airport. We originally booked a smart car to drive across the Northern Sicily coast, but the rental company upgraded us to a bright yellow Fiat Panda – much more touristy of course. It was probably a good thing though, because we ended up sleeping in the Panda for the first night so we didn’t have to pay for a hostel. It was hard enough to sleep in a Panda, there is no way we would have made it if we would have tried to recline the seats in a smart car.

On our first day in Sicily we explored Altavilla Militia – the town that my mom’s family is from. We had breakfast at the only bakery that was open that morning (the beginnings of experiencing the laid back Italian lifestyle) and I was amazed at how cheap everything was. It was the first time I had been to a town that wasn’t frequented by tourists. I had a HUGE croissant filled with Nutella and a cappuccino and it only cost me €1,60 – back in Florence the same breakfast probably would have cost me about €4.

 In the hills outside of Atavilla militia

Downtown Altavilla Militia

View of Palermo from the Piazza in front of the church

We walked around the small town and found the church and graveyard my mom had told me about. Technically the graveyard wasn’t open that day, but we managed to sneak in and do some family exploration before we got caught by the maintenance guy. He had the thickest Italian accent I’ve ever heard but we did manage to communicate with him enough that he actually walked us around the graveyard and helped us look for my relatives. We did manage to find the some relatives of with the “Barone” name and even a tombstone with the “Scimeca” name on it. It was such an awesome feeling to have travelled half way around the world and then be able to actually find my relatives! As soon as I told my mom about what I had found, she told the rest of her family and it was pretty exciting to get confirmation from them that I had found the right graves. Definitely an experience I will never forget.

 This is the guy who helped us find the graves, can you even see him? he's so camouflaged haha!

The rest of the day we drove our little, yellow Panda down the coastal highway of Sicily’s northern coast making a few detours to traverse mountains and put our feet in the sand. Overall, Sicily was beautiful! It’s such a unique place with all the mountains, beaches, colors, and people.

 Termini Imerese

 Cefalu

 Crazy Italian Autostrada in the sky

 going up to San Fratello

That Italian autostrada looks like a toy from San Fratello

That afternoon we took the ferry from Messina to Calabria (the toe of the boot on the mainland of Italy.) The drive through the hilly and mountainous terrain of Calabria was beautiful I just wish it would have been a little clearer so we could have seen more of the mountain tops. Also, for some reason, almost half of Italy’s newest autostrada in the region is underground so we spent a lot of time driving through winding tunnels.

 S. Giovanni and Italian toe of the mainland

 Last view of Sicily and Messina

Coming down mountains of Calabria towards Lamezia Terme

We finally made it to Lamezia that evening and manage to find the shop that Johnny’s uncle owned. This was the start of the best cultural experience I’ve had in Italy. His uncle was such a typical little Italian man. He greeted us all dressed up in his three-piece suit with his overcoat, hat, and (of course) smoking a cigarette. It’s just the Italian way. He immediately close up his shop for the evening and rush us home to his apartment to meet Johnny’s aunt. Did I mention that he didn’t speak any English? His aunt made us both big plates of pasta and gave us each a Coca-cola (because we’re American and apparently that’s all we drink) and then his uncle went out and bought a whole tray of dessert pastries and gave us beer and dessert wine. It was fantastic.

The next day we met some more of the cousins, still no English, and we ate lunch at one of the cousin’s wife’s brother’s restaurant (I know, it’s confusing.) I have never eaten so much food in my life. They have us burschetta with these fried bread things, then a huge plate of pasta with meat sauce, then TWO Florentine steaks each, a side of French fries, and all the beer we could drink. I had to roll out of the restaurant. After lunch his uncle took us to the family’s beach resort just outside of Lamezia Terme and he showed us around the whole place and explained everything to us. It was definitely his pride and joy.

Johnny and his uncle at the beach resort

That afternoon Johnny and I managed to get some time to ourselves, and away from any more food, and we went exploring around the city. We drove up to the famous castle and saw some of the local markets and back streets. Lamezia is definitely a beautiful city that is worth a stop.

view from the castle

That night, some of the cousins drove us up to a pizza restaurant on top of a mountain in a vineyard and we had ate even more food. I was about to bust at this point. I guess it’s just the Italian way, but they DO NOT want their guests to ever complain about being hungry. The whole experience was probably the best I’ve had in Italy since I’ve been here. It was so great to spend time with a true Italian family and have to speak Italian for two days rather than being able to get away with mostly English like I’ve been used to in Florence.

In southern Italy all the Italians go to work a little later, around 10, still take an afternoon break from work, usually 1-4, and then are home for merenda, around 6, in the afternoon. Most of the schools in Italy only go from early morning until lunchtime so that the kids can go home and spend the rest of the day with their family. Family is such a huge part of family tradition for Italians and it was awesome to finally be able to experience that part of the culture which is (mostly) missing in other cities in the country like Florence and Rome. Everything in southern Italy ran on a little slower pace and maybe wasn’t quite as convenient as most American would like it to be, but the patience that I’ve gained from this whole experience has allowed me to better appreciate and understand this aspect of the culture.

Alright guys, I know this was a long one and I hope you liked it but I’m still behind in my posts so I will be working on my next post ASAP so I can have it up sometime this week. I miss everyone back at home and I know everyone at MSU is getting ready for final exams – so GOOD LUCK everyone! It’s crazy to think I only have 3 more weekends here until I will be heading back to the good ‘ole U.S. of A.!

Ciao for now!