Lately

Well, it's only been 5 days since the last post but it feels so much longer! I guess a lot of things have gone on since. On Wednesday, we walked down to the local vineyard and learned a bit how olive oil and wine was made. Afterward, we sat down to the LONGEST lunch ever. There were about 2-3 appetizers, pasta, another course, and dessert. Accompanying the meal were 4 different wines. It's been a couple months, and I still haven't acquired the wine taste, haha. Anyway, the Wednesday field trip was a little break from working on my project. I was pretty much living in studio until our presentation, which started 11am Thursday morning and didn't end until 11pm that night. Afterward, we all went out and listened to a Led Zeppelin cover band. The next day, I slept in late and hung around town, wasting time, not working on my essays by watching a replay of The Royal Wedding and then The Holiday. Today, I made my billionth trip to Florence for one last shopping trip. Also, there's a carnival in town! So after dinner, a bunch of us went out to it, mainly for this one crazy ride. I'm pretty sure you would not see something like this in the States, because it seems kind of dangerous. Basically, you're sitting on this bench that wraps around a circular thing that spins and rocks without a seat belt. I'm actually pretty surprised that no one's flown out of the thing!

Pictures from the vineyard thanks to Karina!

10 days

I'm going home in 10 days! Seriously crazy to think about. I ended up not going to Switzerland this weekend and have been in studio ALL weekend long. . . our project is due on Thursday!

On another note, spending Easter in Italy was nice. I usually don't celebrate it, and so it was interesting to see the processions that took place days before, and there was still something going on today! Yesterday, we had a really nice Easter dinner at the center. The table was set with flowers, jelly beans, malt balls, decorated eggs. We even got chocolate Reese's eggs with dessert. Sadly, no camera to capture it. :(

Almost to the End

There's only 3 weeks left, and the work is picking up pretty quickly. We have a studio project due on April 28, and an art history paper due on May 3. Two things don't seem like that much, but studio projects usually take a lot longer than the time we have had to work on it here! Anywho, Maegan is coming from Spain to visit this weekend, I'm going to Switzerland next weekend for Easter, and then there's only one weekend left!
Last Wednesday, we visited Pienza and Montepulciano. In Pienza, we had an arranged lunch, where the "best lasagna" was served. There was meat in it though, so I didn't have any. :( Montepulciano is known for its wine, and there was this really cool shop that had its entrance in the wine cellar. After walking through that part, the path led up to the actual store.
Today's field trip took us back to Florence, where we saw Michelangelo's David. I don't know how many times I've seen a picture of this sculpture, but it was so much bigger and more beautiful than I'd imagined in person. After lots of free time and sketching, we took an earlier train back to the center, where we found out the water wasn't working. . . great. At least it didn't last too long. 
Welp, it's back to studio. . or maybe sleep time. Yawn.

Happy April Fool’s Day!

No one has played any jokes, but today has been the most relaxing day!

I woke up around 10am, went to the market for fresh strawberries and bananas, had lunch, sat outside and read in the sun, took a nap, got on my computer, read a bit more, had dinner, and watched The Office.

Also, I just started Eat, Pray, Love, which is pretty good so far. In the book, she travels to Italy, so it’s totally fitting! I keep wanting to call it Eat, Live, Run (one of my fave blogs) though. . .

Florence again?

Today we had yet another field trip to Florence; this time, to visit two museums and a building that was once home to many families. Ohh gosh, it was the most boring trip ever. I had to wake up at 6:30 to catch an early train, so I was just really tired and sleepy most of the time. Add that to walking around listening to a tour guide go on and on about paintings we’ve already seen 23047 times.

On another note, I went running for the first time on Monday! The weather has been so nice, so it felt really great. Other than watching out for cars on the narrow roads, the routes are pretty good, some hills, some flat parts. I’ve been really slacking off on the workouts, especially due to spring break, so it’s been good to get moving again! Who needs a gym when you’ve got P90x and Insanity videos?

Now it’s time to get started on my essay that’s due tomorrow. . bleck.

Pictures are coming soon, seriously.

Spring Break 2011

Welp, it’s official that I have the worse luck with cameras. I received one in the mail the day before we left for Venice, had it for exactly one week and a day, and somehow managed to lose it in London. Even more upsetting than losing the camera itself is losing all the pictures. Oh well, things could have been a lot worse, like losing my passport.

Other than losing my camera, London was definitely my favorite city. Even when we first arrived the first night and were wandering around at 2 in the morning trying to find a bus to get to our hostel, I was still feeling excitement.

More on the trip and pictures later!

Feels Like Spring

My camera came in today! Thanks mom & dad!

Today was a pretty typical Monday. Studio and watercolor. When I stepped outside to go to my watercolor class, I was shocked at how warm it was! Probably around high 50-60 degrees. Pretty exciting, but we are leaving for Venice tomorrow! We’ll be there for a total of 3 days. And then spring break starts Friday morning. We’ll be going to Germany first, hitting Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Berlin. Next up London from March 21-23, then head to Dublin for the remainder of the trip. I’ll be back in Castig. on March 26.

. . . and here is what will be holding all of my stuff for 13 days.

Back to Florence

This morning we caught the 8:30am train for a field trip to see the Synagogue of Florence as well as Boboli Gardens. This was my first time inside of a synagogue, and it was pretty cool. We’ve been going to a LOT of churches, so it was interesting to see something different. Afterwards, we had lunch, which is always a time consuming affair; always gotta find the cheapest place! I ended up getting an eggplant/mozzarella panini that was “cosi cosi”. The Boboli gardens were nice, but nothing compared to Versailles! I sketched a few things, and then it was on to more important things. . .shopping! Just kidding. But not really. Our first stop was at a pen store, where I bought a ball point pen! Hopefully this will improve my sketches. . Next, we stopped at H&M, where we realized that we would not be able to make the 5:13 train, so it was settled that we would catch the 6:13 train, which would put us in Castig., at 7:26pm. . 4 minutes before dinner. Anyway, we went to 2 Zaras and a few other stores afterward, then went back to the train station a bit earlier because we had to buy our tickets back. –_- As soon as we got back to Castiglion, we sped walk/jogged back to the center and ran downstairs to dinner, where they were still on the first course. Perfect! 

More pictures from Paris by Kelsey!

beautiful tulips outside a flower shop

waiting for the metro

Paris version of Dillard's cosmetics section

Moulin Rouge!

Hall of Mirrors

Assisi

 

Today’s field trip took us to Assissi, where we visited the church San Francesco. Afterward, we had a little bit of free time to walk around before lunch. There were plenty of shops, but most of them sold a lot of the same things, so there wasn’t much variety. There were definitely three gelato/pastry shops that had the exact same display in the window. I wish I had my camera to capture the drool-worthy treats. Thanks to Kate for these pictures! Seriously, you couldn’t not walk in after seeing the rows of desserts. We had an arranged lunch at a restaurant called La Rocca. It’s always nice when you don’t have to pay for lunch! Since it was Ash Wednesday, there were a lot more vegetarians than usual! The first course was pasta with marinara, then we got fried eggs, potato wedges, cheese, and salad, and fruit for dessert, Santa Chiara style. After lunch, we went back to the church to sketch for a little bit, then walked around some, and it was time to go back! We didn’t get back until 7pm, seriously LONG day when it seemed like we didn’t see many things. Yawn.

Siena

So I'm still not having any luck with getting a camera in this little town. :( My best options right now are wait for my parents to ship me one, which may or may not arrive on time for spring break, or try to get one this weekend in Paris. Oh yeah, I leave tomorrow for Paris! We are leaving after studio tomorrow for Pisa, spending the night, and catching an early morning flight Friday morning. 

More Rome pics. . .some stolen.

       

So today we went on a field trip to Siena. It was only about an hour away from Castig. We took a tour around the city for a few hours, visiting some churches. Quick lunch, and then shopping instead of sketching. Unfortunately, we had to be back on the bus by 3:30, so there wasn't much time for walking around. Thanks for the pictures Clint!
 
   


Oh, and the best part of Siena? Grom gelato. Seriously the best gelato I've had in Italy.

Be back Sunday!

More Rome Trip Pictures!

Welp, my camera is still broken, but today I walked down to a little shop, and they might be able to fix it by tomorrow. . .so fingers crossed.
 
       

When In Rome. . Pompeii, Sorrento, Almalfi, & Naples

Whew, what a week! I'm so happy to be back at the center. We've been on the go since Tuesday! Unfortunately, my camera stopped working the second day, so I don't have any pictures pass our Vatican visit.
Short timeline of the trip:
Tuesday: arrived in Rome around lunchtime, checked into the hotel, got food, and went on a tour around the city
Wednesday: tour around Vatican!
Thursday: another tour around some churches in Rome, visited Zaha Hadid's MAXII museum
Friday: checked out of the hotel, rode to Pompeii and took a tour of an archaeological site, checked into our hotel in Sorrento, explored the city. . the water front was so nice.
Interesting story when we got back to the hotel . . . I decided to ride the elevator down to dinner with 4 other girls. Kelsey goes "everyone jump on the count of 3. . .1, 2, 3!" And we all jump.  All of a sudden we see debris falling from the lights in the elevator, we scream, and the elevator stops moving. Luckily there were people walking down the stairs and heard us; our professor's wife made sure we were okay, and then the waiting began. There were parts when it was funny, then not so funny when we realized we were seriously STUCK. We were in there for a good 40 minutes, and our professor was so nice, staying outside to talk to us the entire time, even bringing us chocolate wafers, haha. Well, we finally made it out just as the second course of dinner was being served. Definitely learned my lesson, and did not ride the elevator the rest of our time there! I probably will taking stairs only for a while too!
Saturday: took a bus to Almalfi, which was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, I have zero pictures, but I will steal some soon!

Sunday: visited Naples before coming back home; I was pretty creeped out most of the time here. . .making sure to hold onto my bag all the time, which kinda tells you what that city is like. Also had my first Neapolitan pizza, which was a disappointment, because it was one of the least favorite pizzas I've had in Italy. 

Some pictures I got before the camera died:

     

Done with School for the Week

Because we are leaving for Rome tomorrow!

Lunch 




Dinner




Time to go pack. . . be back Sunday!