Rugby and Roma

       Soccer or calcio is the sport of choice in Italy, however rugby is also commonly played by Italian men. One does not typically associate rugby with Italy but a good number of Italians seem to enjoy playing it just as much as they like playing soccer. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a rugby match in Citta di Castello with Molly and Patsy. We were invited to attend by one of John Rose’s English friends also named John; he was the head coach of the men’s senior team. When he invited us to come watch the senior team, I imagined a bunch of older men running around the field; I didn’t realize that “senior” meant the older guys in their 20s. The match took place in the outskirts of Citta dI Castello, in a field that had been turned into a “pitch” for rugby. The grounds were muddy which according to John, makes the game more fun. We met a few of the players and the captain of the team, who was a very large line-backer looking guy, with lots of muscle and an air of authority about him. Upon arriving, we were greeted by several young boys who did not leave our side until the end of the match. Before the match, we were asked to take a picture with the entire team for good luck! It was a great souvenir to bring back from my very first rugby match! The actual match was very interesting to watch. I had never watched a rugby match and I knew nothing about the rules. I quickly learned that rugby is one of the manliest sports in existence. The sport combines mud, sweat, dirt, muscle, tackling, blood, rough physical contact, fighting for the ball, charging, and proof of one’s manhood by playing with no pads. Unlike American football, one half in rugby last for a full 40 minutes with little to no time-outs. The players play hard for the full length of the half. The match ended with a victory for Citta di Castello!

       This past travel break, Patsy and I decided to go to Roma! We bought a train ticket, booked a hotel and went with no plans! We found out that this was not a good idea when we arrived in the Roma Termini with no idea where our hotel was and no idea of the location of the tourist office! We eventually found our hostel after walking out of the way to get to it, only to find out that it was right down the street from the Termini. Our hotel room was a very nice two person room that ended up being very good for what we paid for it. After settling into our hotel, we decided to go see the Spanish Steps and the Piazza Spagna. I had seen this piazza during the day, but at night it really came to life. The street lights lit the lane filled with lovers and culture seekers. Contrasting with the elegant display in the Gucci window across the street, we were a stereotypical pair of American “tourists.” We had McDonalds in one hand and a maps in the other, and bewildered confused grins on our faces trying to hide the fact that we had no idea what we wanted to do. Though, we had a lot of fun walking up and down the streets near the Piazza Spagna, examining all of the designer store windows. The Trevi Fountain, much like the Spanish Steps, looked completely different at night from the day. There were still tons of people crowded around it as always, but it was more beautiful at night with the lights making the water sparkle. We sat by the fountain for a good solid hour and watched the people who were around the fountain. There were many nationalities present at the fountain. I thought about how many people had stood by this fountain since it was built in 1762. I watched as every person threw a coin into the fountain over their left shoulder in hopes of returning to Roma one day. My guide book said that about 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain every day. We ended our first night in Rome eating at a trattoria on a back street close to our hotel. It was very traditional and there were not many tourists in there at all.

        The next morning we got up and went to The Colosseum, the standing symbol of Imperial Rome. Even through the pouring rain and flooding, it stood majestically through it all. One of my favorite movies is Gladiator, the tale of a general who was forced to become a slave but won the heart of the Roman people. The Colosseum was reconstructed digitally in this film, and according to historians a viewer can get a good look at what the Colosseum would have looked like back in ancient times. I was never able to get so close (as I did this past weekend) to the hypogeum or underground tunnels that housed the animals and slaves while it was being used. The underground passages have been a lot more excavated than they used to be. Watching the movie Gladiator sparked my interest in the games and uses of the Colosseum. The Colosseum was the source of entertainment for people in ancient times. They did not have movies and TV so historical accounts and “battles” were reacted for the people, even if that meant a person or an animal was brutally murdered. The most popular forms of entertainment involved an “animal hunt” in which a wild beast was chased around the arena and killed.  Many exotic animals were imported from Africa, Asia, and other locations to be used for the cruel games. Gladiators and slaves would fight each and animals often to the point of death. Also mass capital punishments were performed in the Colosseum for the public to see. Even through the rain, I was in awe of such a massive building that had withstood the test of time. The rain started to pick up and eventually the Colosseum walkways began to flood and we had no umbrella. Patsy and I were forced to buy tourist umbrellas so that we could leave the Colosseum without getting drenched. The streets of Rome were flooded and water poured into our boots; we were freezing and drenched from the lovely weather of Rome! All we could do was laugh because we had been told that Rome was supposed to be sunny and warm.

       We continued our duck weather day in the Vatican. I had seen the Vatican before, but I had never seen all of it. Patsy and I decided that life in the Vatican is a secret because we saw a few monks and nuns, but we never saw them doing anything but walking somewhere mysteriously. The other secret about the Vatican is why the Pope is never present. There were many tourists in the whole of the Vatican, some on a pilgrimage to the center of faith, and some wanting to catch a glimpse of this historic powerhouse. The Vatican museums are an impressive collection, the result of many years of collecting done by the various popes. One thing that I thought was interesting was the extensive Egyptian collection in the Vatican. We walked through all the museums. My two favorite sights were the Sistine Chapel (of course) and the Rafael fresce including The School of Athens. I sat and observed the two paintings in particular, using my analyzing skills learned in art history. We decided that we need the Bankers to come with us everywhere and be our personal tour guides. We went to St. Peter’s Basilica on the last night. There were not many people there, and the atmosphere was very eerie. The last time I enter the Basilica, there were thousands of people, but this time there were only about 40. I could feel God’s presence in this cathedral even though I am not Catholic, but Protestant. I really enjoyed taking in the splendor of the elaborate details that had been constructed in the church since it was first built. I finally understood why the Catholic Church had such elaborate churches, because they wanted to make God’s house worthy of his presence there. Even though in the bible it says that the church is the body not the building, back then it was a cultural thing for the Catholic Church.

       We did lots of tacky tourist shopping in Roma! There were plenty of tourist traps everywhere to keep us entertained and out of the rain! There are certainly no shortages of peddlers trying to selling you something, putting things in your face and constantly hassling people. I think I was asked by 50 men if I wanted to buy an umbrella! My broken record response for everything was “no grazie!”  Most of weekend consisted of aimless wandering around in the Eternal City. No plans equaled a nonexistent schedule which was nice, but we didn’t get to see as much as we would have preferred. We had dinner on the last night in the piazza beside the Pantheon. The Pantheon itself was closed for renovation, but we still got to enjoy the view of half of it from the piazza. There were guitar players and musicians all around. We decided to eat dinner in a café in the Piazza. The fountain spouting and the candle light made the evening charming, a great way to end an interesting weekend in Roma.

New Friends, Faces, and Experiences!

       My time in Sansepolcro is drawing to a close. Most of the leaves have fallen off the trees and classes are beginning to come to an end. Signs of winter are setting in, with the colder winds blowing in, and Christmas decoration are already hung up in the town. The group is busy planning our big Thanksgiving feast for all our friends and our newly made “family.” We have all grown close as a group! I have gotten to know all these girls on a new level and each one has something amazing and unique to offer. This semester has certainly been unlike any other that I have had. Although I have experienced many new things during my stay in Europe, I still have a few more weeks and a few more blank pages in my diary to fill.

       It was time to celebrate on Friday after a semester’s worth of work that paid off in Color Theory! We presented our final projects and portfolios to our friends and faculty and a few other guests. Molly decorated a beautiful analogous color scheme chair that matches the green lounge perfectly! Laurin, Emily, and I each did a project that required us to mix the colors of two famous paintings and incorporate them into our own design or a design chosen from one of the two paintings. It was interesting to learn the process of color mixing throughout the course. I learned exactly how many colors can be create from the three pigment primaries. The many hours of sitting down in the studio late at night (with music blaring to keep us awake) equaled success! We all will miss Dr. Banker a lot! She taught each one of us an infinite amount about color, Italy, art, and other things! I have never had a teacher like Dr. Banker. I would describe her as an eclectic, cultured, interesting, and obviously well educated woman in everything that she does! No other professor I have ever had made her own clothes and jewelry!

       With one class over and only a few more to go, we were ready to kick back and relax! On Friday evening, we were all given the opportunity to have dinner with a host family. Brianna and I were picked up by Daniela, a lovely young Italian woman who spoke very good English. She took us to her parent’s house on the outskirts of Sansepolcro, where we ate dinner with them. Upon arriving we were greeted warmly by her mother, a very Italian looking woman with a beautiful smile! We were later joined by her father, a very friendly man who spoke no English. This experience was one of my favorites since coming to Sansepolcro:  it was nice to observe Italian family life and be part of it for a night. I was able to use my Italian during my visit because Daniela’s parents did not speak English. I surprised myself with how much Italian I remembered from class; I was actually able to carry on conversations with them and they understood me! Daniela’s mother outdid herself with the amount of food that she provided! There was of course pasta as well as pork, salad, and smaller side dishes. During dinner we talked about America and Italy. Daniela and her family want to come to the U.S., so naturally I suggested that they come to Ocean Isle Beach! They liked the idea very much! We surprisingly talked about politics, which is normally an off-limits subject in America, but my family was insistent that we had a much better president than Italy’s Berlusconi. We talked about our families, interests, and hobbies.  I was very interested to learn that Daniela and her father like to ride horses! That was definitely one thing we all had in common! During dinner we watched an Italian game show.  I did my best to understand what the rules of the game were and what they were saying; I wasn’t very successful in my pursuit. After dinner Margo, the families German Shepherd dog found her way into the kitchen. She was an older dog but she was obviously the princess of the household and her daddy’s girl! Daniela’s dad tried to show us all the tricks that he had taught Margo, but in spoiled dog fashion she ended up getting the treats anyway after many failed attempts to get her attention. After Daniela took us home, we spent the latter part of our evening at Gerasmo’s playing Scopa, Spades, and Shanghai (Italian version of pick-up sticks). The café was hopping by 11:30 and the crowds started to pour into the streets and into all the bars! It was just another Friday night in Sansepolcro.

       On Saturday morning, we took our bus to Gubbio. In the morning we went to the Mausoleum of the 40 innocent martyrs who were shot by Nazi soldiers in 1944. Two Nazis were killed in a public bar in Italy during WWII.  Hitler had given a general policy that for every Nazi killed that 10 Italians had to be killed.  He had the Nazi troops round up 120 Italian citizens in Gubbio and held them captive in a school nearby. Forty people were chosen to be killed and other people were chosen to dig a grave. The victims were bound and lined up against a wall to be slaughtered one by one. The bodies were left behind disrespectfully, only covered by a covering of soil. Later the Mausoleum was erected to pay homage to the innocent victims who were murdered. This site was very chilling, especially the wall where the victims were shot. Bullet holes from 1944 are still visible in it. During the early afternoon, we took a chairlift up to the top of a mountain in Gubbio. Riding up and down on it enabled us to see gorgeous views of the valley and the city of Gubbio. On the way back from Gubbio we stopped on the side of the road to look at an ancient rock that dated back to prehistoric times. The rock contained the rare element of iridium. Before going back to the palazzo we went up a mountain on the outskirts of Sansepolcro to a monastery that was given to St. Francis when he retired. The monastery still functions today. Three monks live and work in the serenity of the monastery. We were given a tour of the monastery by Sara’s father Luigi Andreini. I got to see the bed (which was really a stone) on which St. Francis slept. Luigi explained that St. Francis was very short in stature, as most monks were during that time, which explains why all the doors looked as if they were for hobbits instead of people.

       We had yet another cooking lesson with a lovely elderly Italian couple. They taught us how to make onion soup and tiramisu from scratch. I have not ever had much experience with cooking but I cannot wait to go home and try out these new recipes. I am particularly excited about cooking for the Thanksgiving feast that we are going to have at the end of this month. We are inviting nearly one hundred people to a huge feast to show the Italians how we celebrate Thanksgiving. It will be my first time away from home on Thanksgiving but I hope it will be just as special shared with my new family and new friends!

She Yodeled Back to the Lonely Goat Herd…

       Cows, yodeling, hippies, and great times; these are just a few words that describe one of the best weekends of my life, or perhaps the best weekend in my life. We arrived in Switzerland late on Thursday night two bus rides and six train rides later. Writing a paper was much less stressful than watching your next train going by as your very late Italian train is inching into the station. I would describe this whole weekend as being completely insane and ridiculous fun!

       It is quite amazing to go from Italy to Switzerland in only a day and to be in a completely different world. Upon arriving in Switzerland everything was in German, the people looked different (many actually had blonde hair!) and it was colder. We arrived in Interlaken around 12:30 and we walked to our hostel called Balmer’s. We were very tired so we just went to bed. At this point I had not really experience Switzerland because most people had gone to bed by 12:30 (unlike Italy where the party is just getting started around this time). There is a law in Switzerland that there must not be loud noises after ten at night. In the morning I awoke to the most beautiful surprise seen directly outside my window; the snow capped Swiss Alps glistening in the morning light. I had never seen anything so magnificent in my life, the night before I had not seen these mountains because it was dark and I was so exhausted from traveling. After breakfast, we proceeded to Lauterbrunnen by train. Lauterbrunnen was a small mountain valley town with traditional German architecture and mountains on either side of it. Walking around, we browsed in a few stores, most of which sold cheese or other food products. The smell of the cheese did not tickle my fancy but I did find some Swiss chocolate. One of the nice things about Switzerland was that English was spoken everywhere; it was strange at first not to hear Italian but then it was quite nice to understand everyone. Most Swiss have to known many different languages to communicate with the many different people that come through Switzerland. As people were walking onto the bus, the driver said hello in French, English, German, and Italian. We went to Switzerland with no itinerary, and most of the trip was spent wandering around Switzerland. I spent half of my money on train, bus, and gondola tickets going back and forth across the Swiss Alps. Traveling around Switzerland enabled us to find random places that most tourists don’t know about. We ended up eating in a pub in Steckelberg, where we ordered French fries and chicken nuggets.

       We stayed in The Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald, a small little village up in the mountains. We had to take a gondola up to reach it.  Our first impression of our hippie hostel was a group of shirtless guys running around on the playground and playing Frisbee. It looked really fun but it was not what we expected at all. We explored our new home for the next two days. This hostel could be described as a hippie commune; all the beds were pushed together, all the windows were open, and the bathroom was downstairs and we later found out that it was co-ed (which was a bit awkward especially for Meredith girls!). Despite all of the “amenities” that were foreign to us, the location and view from the hostel was the selling point. Gimmelwald is officially my favorite place in Switzerland! It was how I pictured Switzerland; cows, goats, and sheep grazing on the mountain side with bells hung around their necks, green hillsides leading down to a beautiful valley, snow capped mountain tops painted into the background, and Alpine style houses. Everything was very peaceful until we turned a corner where groups of Asian tourists were chattering on about the cows and sheep. They were snapping pictures of everything including us because they wanted a picture with American girls.

       This weekend was full of new experiences; the hostel was certainly one of them. The “night-life” in the hostel was non-stop, every night the hippie commune came to life with guitar strumming and singing, people playing cards and talking, and people downing beers and clapping along to the accordion folk music. I have come to the conclusion that hostels have their own atmosphere and population of people that inhabit them. There was even a hostel cat named Shadow, who decided to take up residence in my bed for the evening on the last night of the trip. He stayed at the end of my bed the whole night, cuddling under the blankets beside me. At one point in the night I forgot I was in a hostel in Switzerland and not at home in my bed snuggling with my cat Dutches. While in the hostel I met many Australian and American backpackers who were on excursions around the world. At night we hung out with our newly made acquaintances, playing Uno and Spades and discussing the differences between American culture and Australian culture. The Australians were fascinated with our North Carolina accent and they asked us about country music, in response we pulled up YouTube and let them listen to Zac Brown Band’s rendition of “Chicken Fried.” They were amazed at the music video and were asking us questions about the South. I’m not sure if they left with the impression that we are hick rednecks in North Carolina or not!

        This trip was very different from any other travel break that I have been on since I have been in Italy. I was a lot more adventurous on this trip and I was a lot more dependent on myself. Hiking in the Swiss Alps was a work out and I felt more like a “world-traveler” hiking through the snow beside cliffs that looked out into the Swiss Alps. This trip felt more like a camping trip without a tent. I have not done a lot of hiking in my life but this trip inspired me to do a lot more in the great outdoors. The weather was rather cold and I was glad that I had brought many layers to put on, especially on top of The Schilthorn. The Schilthorn is a platform on top of a mountain peak with a panoramic view of the Titlis, Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, over the Bernese Alps and the Jura mountains up to the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest. The Schilthorn is at an elevation of more than 10,000 feet.  There is a rotating restaurant on top of the Schilthorn called the Piz Gloria. We ate at this restaurant which was rather pricey but it had some of the best hot chocolate that I have ever had! We hiked down the mountain which took us about 3 hours and 20 minutes.  The hike was very scenic although it was cold and the terrain was very steep.

       I was very sad to leave Switzerland! I wish I could have had more time in the beautiful Swiss Alps but coming home to Italy was familiar. Going back to the US will be exciting but Italy will always remain as a second home to me! Going to Italy will not be going to a foreign country from now on; instead it will be like coming home!

Digging A Little Deeper

After being immersed in the local culture for quite some time now, I begin to notice things that a tourist would fail to recognize. During the time I have been here, I have noticed how fashion and the desire to buy things is what the culture revolves around. This is also the case in the United States, but stores are much more accessible and at one’s fingertips in Italy. Much like everything else in the US, Americans go big or go home, and this includes shopping, When the average American goes shopping it becomes an all day event spending a large amount of money in the mall or shopping center, but trips like this do not happen on a daily basis, usually they occur every couple of months (for the average American woman.) Because the shops are much more accessible in the small streets of Sansepolcro, a common hobby in the streets is to window shop and look and browse in the shops on a daily bases.  The Italians are very conscious about their sense of style; even the guys are well dressed. On a typical Friday night, the streets are lined with a sea of people dressed in black and grey; no, this is not a funeral, black is the chic color to wear in Italy. All the shop windows in Sansepolcro are full of dark colored clothes, and a bright colorful color scheme is rarely seen on anyone is Sansepolcro except Dr. Banker. The way to stand out in a crowd in the crazy hullabaloo on a Saturday night is wear a bright red coat and to sport a mane of bright blonde hair. Needless to say, I did not get the “wear all black memo” prior to coming to Italy.

Italian men are a different breed from the good ol’American boys we have at home. The guys here in Italy appreciate the female form and they have an appreciation for women no matter what their size, shape, or age! Italian men are certainly not shy when it comes to expressing their approval of the other sex. The world of dating in Italy is much different from that in the US. From what I have observed, Italian men are much more emotional and brooding in general than men in the United States. I have experienced this species called the Italian male in Lo Scorpione, the local discoteca. The men there will come up to a girl not matter who she is with and ask her to dance. Watching these guys “score” to get girls on the dance floor is quite humorous. The issue of personal space is not an issue to the Italian suitor. The style of dancing is much more touchy-feely and a little more in my personal space than I prefer. The cultural difference in dancing is interesting, but not disgusting and disrespectful like the dancing performed in the clubs in America. Many of the guys would put their face right to mine and they would try to pull me close to them; one guy even also most bit my face in an attempt to perform an extravagant dance move.  I fixed that by showing them how to have more fun dancing at a greater distance. At one point in the evening I had seven guys around me, showing them how to shag dance! It was so much fun and crazy at the same time with the language barrier.

The discoteca was certainly fun on Halloween, but my favorite part of the evening was the Halloween festival that we gave for the kids in Sansepolcro. We spent all day Saturday decorating the palazzo and Patsy spent the day baking delicious cookies! Halloween is not a big holiday as it is in America, so we wanted to show the kids how American children celebrate Halloween. The decorating committee was very crafty working with a low budget and limited supplies. The result of all of our hard work was a wonderful experience for the children of Sansepolcro and their parents alike. There were various activities for the kids to do at stations set up; there was leaf etching, trick or treat, coloring, noodle necklace making, etc. The most popular event of the night was the “Go Fish” game. This was my favorite game played as a child at various Halloween festivals and parties. Many more kids showed up than I expected. The palazzo was jam packed for the party, but we would not have wanted to have it any other way. The funniest moment of the night was the “after-party” while cleaning up in the kitchen. I had my IPod on the speakers playing its mass variety of music. The song “Boogie Shoes” came on and the kitchen turned into a disco! We all started dancing and cutting up. The star of the show was Sara’s husband Patrizio! He would have given Michael Jackson a run for his money. He jumped in the middle of our circle and started breaking it down! We told Sara that she needed to take him to the disco, she replied and said “yes only with me!” It was hilarious!

Patrizio is not only a talented dancer, but also an amazing cook! Last week he gave us all a cooking lesson on how to make different kinds of pasta from scratch. He brought his many cooking tools and each one of us a chef hat. We took part in the cooking and preparing process, kneading the dough and cutting the dough into pasta. We made gnocchi and long thick fresh pasta. Going back home to food in America is going to be a hard adjustment, mainly because the food here in Italy is so amazing. I am coming back to Italy to marry an Italian man that can cook me the food of this amazing country! Another thing I will miss when I go home is the beautiful eccentric architecture of Italy. When I look out of my bedroom window here in Italy, I look down and see a small backstreet, where each building in the alley is a different color and each building has its own character. When I have a house of my own I want a balcony with iron rails much like the ones on the houses here and I want to have the charming open air windows and large shutters.  The ancient Italian architecture comes from the Greeks. Greek influenced Roman architecture is still visible today in many buildings all over the world. The peristyle columns come from the Greek temples and are visible in courthouses, capital buildings, and many other import buildings. The architecture of Italian villas and buildings are built for a Mediterranean climate, one that get a lot of rain and the houses are built to withstand a lot of heat. The commercial buildings in Italy are often transformed old palazzi that have been remolded, unlike the many new modern buildings that are seen in the United States. I love the old and new together, but I especially like the fact that they have preserved the buildings and that pieces of history stand. An example is the Palazzo Alberti, a 16^th century  palazzo that has been used for many things, but that still remains instead of being torn down to make a new building.

As mentioned in all of my travel journals, I am learning a little but more about myself everyday and about the world in which I live. So far I have done things that I thought I would never be able to do on my own. Last night I booked my own flight to London and I have been making my own plans to travel around Europe. When I come back I will be a different person, but in a good way. Instead of just looking at things from an American point of view I will remember how people did things in Italy. Learning about the world is addicting and I now have been bitten by the travel bug, my only cure will be to see the entire world before my time on this earth comes to a close.

Under The Tuscan Sun in Val d’Orcia

I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand.  ~Leonardo da Vinci

This past weekend the group took an excursion to the Tuscan countryside of the Val d’Orcia. The scenes viewed were the most beautiful landscapes I have viewed since coming to Italy. The rolling hills seemed to go on forever, the golden sun falling upon the vineyards. The tranquility of nature is found in the Val d’orcia. We were also very lucky to be under the Tuscan sun for the majority of the trip. We stayed in a monastery that had been converted into an agriturismo called Sant Anna in Camprena, where much of The English Patient was filmed. When watching the movie after our return, it was neat to see the very room we sat in with the old fireplace and the same table that we played cards on during our stay in the monastery. The view from our window was into a courtyard that can also be viewed in the movie. The courtyard veranda looked out into the mountains and the Tuscan landscape. Although there was no heat in the monastery, there were plenty of warm blankets to wrap up in at night. There was always a fire going in the huge old fire place and there was a constant crowd sitting and chatting around it. The food was great and the experience was one that could not be obtained staying in a five star hotel in America. Dinner was every night at eight. Upon the hour everyone would make their way to the dining hall complete with two long tables and many strange faces sitting on either side. The atmosphere of the room became that of family reunion, the ice broke and so did the silence. Before we knew it, the dining room had been converted into a karaoke bar. No one escaped the “opportunity” to sing. It all started when John Rose asked the strangers if they were good at singing. The night ended with John Rose’s rendition of “God Save The Queen.” I am finding that TV is over rated and unnecessary to have a good time. The past weekend I stayed in the simplest place I have ever stayed with the bare minimum and I had the most fun making conversation with people and playing games. Sitting by the fire one night, we all played Mafia (which is pretty ironic considering that we are in Italy!). Dr. Webb was “killed off” by the towns’ people even though she had a pretty convincing testimony of her innocence.

The weekend involved a tour of many small Tuscan towns together with the fine city of Siena, which is a large tourist attraction in the Val d’Orica. Each town had its own little charming aspects. For our first meal together in the Val d’Orica, we went to a winery and restaurant in Montepulciano. The Fattoria Pulcino is famous for its olive oil and other classic Tuscan products. The property houses an old historic olive cantina and a wine cellar. The building was formerly used as a monastery then it became a private estate in the 16^th century. The business could be considered a farm; they even have a wonderful view behind, which looks like a scene from the Bennett farm in Pride and Prejudice, complete with chickens, sheep and goats. The restaurant’s entrees are customary Tuscan dishes, thick spaghetti noodles (that are hollowed out on the inside), and many other kinds of pastas. The family run business was started by a woman who still runs the business despite her age, along with her family. The meal was unforgettable but the Italian boys sitting at the table behind us managed to live up to the Italian stereotype of open adoration. One of them came over and grabbed Molly asking to take a picture with her, exclaiming, “Bella” and “your red hair is beautiful!” That was quite amusing to watch. After eating we took the bus into the city of Montepulciano. We were of course there to “see the historical sites” but for some reason we ended up spending the two hours searching for the Piazza Grande, where New Moon was filmed. After a hike up to the very top of the city we all recognized clock tower and square from the movie. We literally ran into the square and began snapping pictures and imagining where Edward Cullen might have been standing in that very square.  

One of my favorite places we went on the first day was the home of Iris Origo , the author of the WWII account called The War in Val d’Orica,  called La Foce. Meredith Hyatt explained the history of the La Foce home and how during WWII it was not so peaceful. The Origos stayed in the estate during the war to help refugee children and to help Allied soldiers and escaped prisoners of war. The estate and land were peaceful and my most beautiful pictures were taken here. There was a gorgeous dirt road lined with cypress trees and the famous picture opportunity of the Strada per Monticchiello. A few of us thought it would be funny to frolic through the open field on the side of the mountain and sing “The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years…” Our “tour guides” were two friendly white sheep dogs that greeted us immediately off the bus. They followed us around the property, staying by our side and occasionally rolling over to insist on a belly rub. These dogs were by no means deprived of attention, surrounded by 10 girls doting over them. Animals in the Val d’Orica were very common and they roam where ever they want in the towns. The animals are just as much a part of the community as the people are. The cats are especially friendly, more than once I was sitting on a stair well, only to have a cat just come and plop down in my lap, with the expectation of attention. Animals are allowed in restaurants in Italy. I have been in a restaurant where a dog was sitting at a table eating its own plate of food with its owners. During the Palio horserace in Siena horses are brought inside the church to be blessed by the priest. As Dr. Webb said, “Any country that lets a dog in a restaurant and a horse in a church must be a good country.”

The next day we visited a beautiful old monastery called the Sant’ Antimo in the countryside where monks could enjoy God’s most beautiful creations. A peaceful walk around the grounds left my soul and mind refreshed. There is just something about the smell of the morning dew on the grass and the sun reflecting on the golden hills that made me realize how amazing our Lord is. During our visit to the monastery we met the most precious little British boy named Rufus. He had blonde curly hair and blue eyes and a lively personality. Everyone laughed and said he was an image of my future child. Afterward we loaded onto the bus and set off to Bagno Vignoni, where hot springs flow still and where Roman baths ruins still remain. The visit to Bagno was short. The next stop on our list was Montalcino, a hill side town famous for its red wine called Brunello, so of course we had to sample it. After Montalcino was Pienza, another beautiful hillside town. Pienza was slightly more crowded than the other towns had been but it was still quite charming. My favorite part of Pienza was the side street on the edge of the city wall overlooking the beautiful Tuscan landscape.

On Sunday the final destination on our itinerary was the famous city of Siena. I really enjoyed Siena, and I want to go back one day for the annual Palio horserace that takes in the Piazza del Campo. The horserace is a 90 second bolt of 10 horses to the finish line. All of riders ride bareback and many people and horses can get hurt during this race. While in Siena we saw the main tourist sites, the most memorable being the Cathedral of Siena. Walking into the cathedral is overwhelming because there is so much to see. One cannot view everything there is to see in one trip. The Duomo as it is called was begun in the 12th century. The structure is one of the great examples of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture.

Jack Frost Nipping At Your Nose in October

      I imagine myself a princess of the middle ages, sitting in my Italian castle; it is winter and the cold winds drift into the stone room through the open window, the drafty air surrounds me. Now replace winter with early fall and a beautiful silk gown with a baggy old sweatshirt and t-shirt piled on under a robe complete with “royal slippers” and sweatpants. Fashion is thrown out of the window these days; the goal is to put on as many layers as possible to stay warm in this drafty old museum. We are comfortable bums indeed! The new “fashion accessory” of the palazzo has become the huge soft wool blankets. I never go anywhere without mine; It is all the rage! The past week, I wasn’t sure if I was in Ireland or Italy! The typical forecast last week was rain with a chance of more cold rain! I now know why UK inhabitants like tea so much! I think I consumed more than two cups a day to help keep warm. I am now regretting the shorts that sit in my drawers, wishing they would magically turn into a ski jacket and long johns! This cold weather is not what I am used to until about December. Christmas at the beach is usually warm, no colder than 40 degrees!

       Besides tea and coffee, the new seasonal drink of choice is hot chocolate. The hot chocolate in Italy is more like chocolate soup that you eat with a spoon! Fabrizio has the best hot chocolate with 32 different flavors to choose from on the menu. I have sampled only a few but I hope to try many more! My favorite so far is the white chocolate with fruits of the forest. This past weekend, I sampled various kinds of hot chocolate at the EuroChocolate festival in Perugia! The endless amount of chocolate was a dream come true for any sweet tooth! I sampled little taste of what Heaven has in store for me; a feast of free samples and every kind of chocolate that I could ever imagine! Every European chocolate vendor was lined up in the streets of Perugia. The crowds multiplied by the hour, until it was impossible to walk without holding onto the person in front of you, forming an elephant train. The crowded gathered in this Umbrian town to sample chocolates from all over the world. My favorite part of the festival was the Mayan exhibit showing where chocolate originated from in the Americas. This exhibit was especially interesting to me because I have visited the Mayan ruins in Tulúm, where the first cacao plants originated. There were samples of the bitter raw powdered cacao. I dared to try this bitter sample; it was certainly not the chocolate that Hershey makes! It was interesting to learn about the origins of chocolate. I learned that the cacao tree was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the Americas. The pods of this tree contain seeds that can be processed into chocolate. The Mayans and Aztecs mixed ground cacao seeds with various seasonings to make a spicy foamy drink. When the Spanish conquistadors came to the Americas, they brought the seeds home to Spain. Chocolate was introduced to Europe, resulting in new recipes and flavors of chocolate. Since then, new technologies and innovations have changed the texture and taste of chocolate, but it still remains a favorite in most countries in the world.

       Although the chocolate was good, I still miss other kinds of American candy, especially now that Halloween is drawing near! My grandmother did send me candy corn for my birthday! It was a nice little taste of home! The candy corn made me miss some of the American fall activities that I will be absent this year in Italy, such as The Barn Party with Crusade, The State Fair, and Halloween. This past Monday, I was asked to give a presentation to my middle school class about Halloween in America. I started off the presentation with an explanation of the history of Halloween and how it has become more of a secular commercial holiday in the USA. I explained that children in America like to dress up and go “Trick-or-Treating” from house to house, collecting a pale full of candy. I continued by showing them pictures of pumpkin carving and apple-bobbing, both of which were foreign concepts to these young Italians. The kids got a good kick out of my attempt at charades, to show them how apple-bobbing works. The kids asked me how older kids celebrate Halloween. I showed the class videos of a haunted house and told them that a lot of people like to watch scary movies on Halloween to get scared. The reactions were hilarious after they viewed the video; they just didn’t know what to think of this American tradition!

I have enjoyed my experience here in Sansepolcro thus far and I am excited to see what happens next. My experiences here continue to shape my views of the world and the people in it. I have learned about how to live in another culture, and going back to American culture is going to be strange. I am now used to hearing mostly Italian accents and the common activity of taking a daily stroll up and down Via Settembre. I love the people of Sansepolcro and the Italian culture! I feel like a citizen of Sansepolcro and it will always be engraved in my heart as a second home! 

Viewing Toscana from the Back of a Horse

Last week has been one of the slower ones. The many sleepless nights of studying paid off as we handed in our final art history exam with mixed emotions; sadness to say goodbye to the wonderful Bankers and relief for having one less class. We are reaching the half way marker of our stay in Italia. It is hard to believe that I have been in this wonderful place for six weeks now! Each day of my stay in Italy has led to new insights about me and the world around me. Prior to coming to Italy, I lived in my small Meredith College bubble, only associating with people who were just like me, but now my bubble has been popped and I am seeing what this world has to offer. When reflecting on everything, I have learned so much in Italy. I have become a much more mature and independent adult with an expanded view of the world. I am now not afraid to try things on my own. All the professors here push us out of our comfort zones and force us to depend on ourselves, rather than our parents or other adults. I am the adult now! One of the most frightening thoughts upon arriving in Italy was the thought of traveling around Europe without an adult. This opinion changed after I learned how to plan my excursion to Florence. I am currently working on my travel plans to visit Switzerland more confidently than ever!

Public speaking is not my forte, and the thought of giving a presentation to a bunch of middle school students sounded oddly terrifying to me. My memories of middle school were ones of humiliation and awkwardness. I reverted back to my middle school self a few seconds before going in front of the class and I constantly remind me that I was “the big kid” coming to talk about my college experience. I found humor in my generalizations about middle school students as I was greeted by the warm, welcoming, curious faces of Mrs. Chiara’s English class. I soon realized that I really was the “cool kid” in their eyes. For our Italy Today Service Learning Project, I gave an English presentation of my life in America and of my favorite activities. I observed the differences between schools in America and schools in Italy. The first thing I noticed when I walked in the classroom was that every two students shared a computer instead of each having his or her own. This made me realize how limited the resources are in the Italian school system. The Italian schools have their curriculum and schedule set up somewhat differently than that in America. Students go to school on Saturdays, but have shorter class hours than American schools. Students also are expected to know many different languages in the Italian school system, unlike the American school system where language is mainly an elective. Once the presentation concluded, the questions were non-stop asking me about my friends, if I drove a car, if I played sports, etc. I explained that we do not walk to places in America as Italians do in Italy, and that most middle class kids in America have their own cars. I flipped through the pictures on my facebook album of my family and friends and of course my pets. The English skills of the middle school children were surprisingly advanced. Animals proved to be the universal mediators. No matter what culture is mentioned in the world, the love of animals is worldwide. The remainder of the class was a discussion about everyone’s pets and what their names were. Right before leaving, the boys of the class had one more question for me. In a mischievous manner, they asked me if I had a boyfriend. This question made my day!

The weekend was greeted warmly by the Ragazze Americane! The celebration of a much deserved break was expected! The local discoteca opened Friday night, which also happened to be Patsy’s birthday! We were all excited to experience this much talked about phenomenon and we were not going to miss out on the fun. We were excited to get dressed up in our best outfits, which was a much needed change from our outfits from the previous day, suggesting that we didn’t have time to shower or change because we were stuck staring at a computer screen the entire night. As Granny Clampit would say, “we all clean up right nice!” We headed over to the disco around 12:30 a.m. because the party doesn’t get started until about 1 in the morning. There was loud techno music pumping from inside and I could see the strobe lights from the door. We walked down the stairs into a scene from a music video. The dancing was combinations of crazy MC Hammer moves, combined with wanna-be Usher impersonator. I was delighted at the absence of the nasty bumping and grinding that takes place in American clubs. This discoteca was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be, but I became deaf once the music started getting louder. The other girls and I had the most fun dancing to Lady Gaga and other exotic techno music that sounded like the beat of an African tribal drum. The strobe lights were disorienting and I felt as though I was in a dream, I would not recommend that an epileptic ever enter into the Scorpione.

The celebration continued Saturday! We were received by the mayor of Sansepolcro in the Town Hall on Saturday morning, when he recognized Meredith College as a part of the community of Sansepolcro. We continued the morning cleaning every crevasse in the palazzo for the night’s open house celebrating Meredith’s one year anniversary in the Palazzo Alberti. Many guest showed up to visit the palazzo and to see what Meredith was doing here in Italy. The guests were provided with a tour of the Palazzo, including the banquet room which is rarely opened. The room contains a famous fresco by Cherubino Alberti. To our great pleasure, our new friend Fabrizio, the wonderful café owner, showed up to greet everyone and to bring us flowers as a congratulations gift.  Fabrizio has been such a blessing to all of us here in the palazzo; he constantly helps us with our Italian and not to mention his wonderful coffee that helps us survive all those long nights of studying. Out of all the cafes in town, his seems to be the most authentic and the most welcoming. There is always a crowd standing around the bar and there is rarely an empty table outside under the awning.

No matter where I go in Sansepolcro I always find such pleasant people. Today I went to a horse stable with Patsy where she volunteers. While visiting the barn I ended up helping with the horses and eventually, I got to ride. The owner of the barn, Chiara is very sweet and a very talented jockey! I met several people at the barn who forced me to practice my Italian! I love how laid back the Italian businesses are compared to businesses in the United States. I was able to help out and pet the horses without a lot of fuss or opposition; the general mood of this barn was very pleasant. One very sweet man, who boarded his horse Penelope at this barn, asked me to ride her on the trail ride for him. She was a black trotter with a chestnut undertone. Once all the horses were tacked up, we headed out onto the trail, which wasn’t what I was used to at all. The “trail” consisted of many roadsides and public roads that cars were sharing with us. There were many narrow paths that wound through the woods going straight uphill or down a steep rocky road. Much like the people, the horses here in Italy have to be in much better shape than the horses in America if they have to walk up and down terrain as extreme as I rode today. Although the trails were tough, the views were amazing; scenes that make a beautiful postcard look mediocre. There were mountains, fields that stretched on forever, vineyards lined with the classic Toscan trees, and stucco houses with beautiful roofs. Penelope was a great trail companion, and I found out that she is four months pregnant with a foal. My experience riding was great, and the kindness that I have found in Sansepolcro really speaks highly of the Italians’ generosity and of their welcoming attitude.

I’m On a Boat…In Venice!!

A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him. Arthur Symons

       Wisps of salty breezes and  beauty unsurpassed describe Venice. It is almost too good to be true how can an ancient city could have been built in the middle of a body of water, maybe that is the romance in itself, the imagined becoming one of the wonders of the world. Stepping out of the train station was a view from a post card, gondolas floating along the Grand Canal under ancient bridges that Casanova would have waltzed along. Upon our arrival, the 4 o’clock sun was reflecting off of the water making it sparkle; the enchantment of the Venice really became apparent.

       This past week, my parents came to see me and to travel around Europe. This was their first time ever coming to Europe and I had the pleasure of showing them around the Palazzo and Sansepolcro (both of which they thought to be amazing). I felt like a proud parent showing everyone where I lived and the beautiful town that I have had the privilege of calling home in the past month. I took them to many of the local restaurants around Sansepolcro and showed them where the good shopping was( wherein my mom and Corey took advantage of this opportunity). Watching my brother try to order entrées that only exist at Olive Garden really made me laugh! I was able to teach my family about life in Italy and how the cultures were different. My family was able to join our art history class on an excursion to Assisi with the Bankers as our personal “tour guides.” My parents were able to see how interactive the program really is and The Bankers assured that my family wasn’t left out of the academic discussion! In Assisi we saw the Basilica of St. Francis (whose sainthood celebration was on my birthday October 4^th.) Assisi resembled the small charming town in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, complete with a Fortress on a hill that looked like a castle. The limestone walls had ivy running down the side and there were flowers of colors in every window seal. The best pictures were the alley ways with winding cobble stone paths.  We all sat on the elevated wall outside the Basilica, while the Bankers gave a short lecture on the history and significance of the much loved St. Francis. He was founder of the Franciscan Order of monks and was born in Assisi, in 1181. St. Francis was really the first hippie; he was one with nature, he lived like a peasant, and his most used aphorisms were peace and love. Francis was best known for his commitment to helping the poor and living a simple life himself. I think the world has a lesson to learn from St. Francis and his example of generosity and lack of any materialistic desire.

       After returning from Assisi on Wednesday, the next excursion to look forward to was Venezia! My family, Patsy, and I all left early on Friday morning for Venice. Many modes of transportation later we arrived in the world’s only floating city. Our first full view of the city was from a water taxi winding through the Grand Canal. The concept of having to take a boat to get where we were going was quite amusing. Our final destination was the Grand Hotel Jolanda di Savoia. The term “princess for a weekend” was rather fitting considering the experience we were blessed to have during our stay in Venice. Our room looked like a guest room that would have belonged in Versailles. Patsy and I explored the Square around our hotel, browsing the tacky tourist stands with random assortments of masks and I love Venezia t-shirts. On Friday night we ate at the restaurant in the hotel which won the award for the best desert I have had so far in Venice: A fabulous banana split with real ice cream! We walked on the street-lamp-lit boardwalk towards Piazza San Marco. The best surprise of the trip started with a melodious sound from a string quartet that was playing music from the Titanic. They were situated under the barrel vaulted ceiling of the open-air Gran Caffè Quadri across from the Ducale Palace. I used to play the violin so I have a special fondness for strings. Drawn into the café like a moth to a flame, we sat down and became entranced by the sheer display of emotion and talent combined to create fine art for the ears. This level of performance and ability is normal found in the Trans-Siberian ocrastra and here we were listening to it for free. A small crowd gathered around the café and eventually many people were out of their seats dancing to the Italian classic “Volare!” It was one of those perfect scenes from a movie complete with a soundtrack of a “Lovely Bella Notte!” 

       The sun was coming up over the water, and the view from our window called us into the streets of Venezia.  The hotel arrange a “free” excursion to tour a glass factory, or more likely “we will give you a free tour so you can come look at stuff only celebrities can afford!” The factory no doubt was amazing! We saw an artisan create a glass sculpture of a horse with ease, faster than an Olympic runner can finish a mile! We were taken to a showroom where glass was on display some to be shipped to Tiffany’s and other wealthy clients. I looked at the price of a beautiful horse statue and it was about the same price as Meredith’s tuition! After the escape from the relentless salesman we continued on to the San Marco Square and took our picture with all the pigeons. The San Marco Square houses the oddly leaning clock tower and the Basilica San Marco, the most beautiful and ornate church I have seen so far in Italy!  Next was the Guggenheim Collection where Picasso’s works were held. Wake Forest has a palazzo right beside the Guggenheim; those students seem to have such a hard life! To be perfectly honest getting lost was my favorite part of my Venezia experience. Only then did I take time to stop and observe the people around me and how different life is in Sansepolcro compared to Venice. This was the largest variety of people I have seen yet in Italy because most of the people in Venice are tourists. I observed the clashing of some cultural ideals while waiting in line to enter a popular restaurant near the Rialto Bridge called The Trattoria alla Madonna. Americans and British are very aware of the  social “cue” to wait your turn when in a line, but some of the Italians were oblivious to the meaning of a line and just walked right into the restaurant and asked to be seated. The humorous melt-down reaction of one British lady made the longer wait worth the while!

       I will always remember the weekend I spent with my parents in Venice. My birthday was so much fun being celebrated in Italy with the people I love! My parents surprised me on Saturday night by having the whole entire restaurant sing to me in their best broken English! After turning purple from embarrassment, I enjoyed my chocolate cake! Everyone here in the palazzo made my birthday special as well! Fellow birthday girl Margarita cooked a beautiful lunch as usual and John Rose made a birthday toast! On Monday night going to the Compass Rose with everyone for my favorite cheese burger was one of the best birthdays ever! The trend of having the restaurant sing to me continued! All the presents I received were lovely and I felt so appreciative to have spent my birthday with such wonderful people!

What Will Happen Next?

       Time is flying here in Sansepolcro and I am trying to grasp every minute of it. The evidence of fall is becoming clear as the colder winds blow in and the trees are being to change color. Even though I will be missing my annual autumn trek to the North Carolina mountains to see the leaves, somehow I feel as though these Tuscan hills will be just as beautiful. The kids are beginning to go back to school and class here in the Palazzo is in full swing complete with midterms, papers, and homework. With all this school work, my daily escape is to venture across the street to Café Gerasmos and order a grande café latte with lots of sugar!

      Daily life in Sansepolcro feels like hometown living. I walk down the familiar streets and wave to the various people I have come to know since arriving in Sansepolcro: Andrea, Stella, Sara, Elena, and several others. It has only been four weeks but those weeks have felt like a lifetime now. I have become a lot more confident in my Italian and more aware of how things work in Italian life. Now, I walk into a café order what I want and continue on. Compare that to my first week in Sansepolcro where confusion was a consistent state of being and the change is apparent!  I am reminded constantly that I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I make an effort to enjoy being outside as much as possible.  Staying inside is such a waste of time when the weather is gorgeous! A few times I have taken a bicycle out to ride around town down the back alley ways. In these secret nukes and crannies the hidden treasures of Sansepolcro are found, things that cannot be found anywhere else.  An open window pouring out a pleasant smell of freshly baked bread is around the corner, beside the quirky doors and windows that don’t match anything else on the building, and the friendly dog comes near looking for a friendly rub. Last week, John Rose held a very interesting English conversational session for the locals. We were invited to attend and contribute to the conversation. I realized that my own English is constantly being tweaked by him in conversation and by Dr. Webb in writing, so by the time I leave Sansepolcro I will indeed have a much fuller knowledge of Italian and proper English.

       Everything in Italy seems to be a little more formal than America, especially the way of dress. I rarely see an Italian in sweat pants and a t-shirt. The most common sight is a well dressed woman in form-fitting pants a button-down shirt and high heels. Only in Italy have I seen the “man purse,” a high-fashion bag that is usually worn as a sling across the body. The common fashion-forward styles for men seen on the streets of Sansepolcro are a high contrast to the khaki shorts and sporting event t-shirt that are worn by the average American college male. Finger foods are also a foreign concept to the Italians who always eat with a fork and knife even French fries. When not standing on ceremony I like to kick back and relax by listening to my grammatically incorrect American beach music. Listening to Jimmy Buffet belt out, “Cheeseburger in paradise, medium rare with mustard be nice!” certainly made me start craving a “huge hunk of meat!” The only problem was that I wasn’t exactly on the familiar beachside where I could obtain one in just about every restaurant on the causeway: I was in Italy! After searching the town for a decent piece of American cuisine we finally struck gold at the local Irish pub, the Compass Rose. We could hardly wait to get our hands on the golden burger complete with a real bun with seeds! We learned quickly that Italians don’t drown their food in sauce and condiments the way most of us do in America. The plate only came with one packet of ketchup for fries and a burger! I am making a trip this week to PAM, the local grocery store, to buy my own bottle of Heinz 57!

        On Saturday morning the group got up early for another excursion with the Bankers.  A one hour and thirty minute journey over the mountain and through many small country towns brought us to Urbino a famous Renaissance university town in the north-eastern part of central Italy! The road to Urbino was a winding route on the side of the Alps with a bonus of a panoramic view of Tuscany at its finest in the fresh mountain fog. Urbino is a walled city nestled on a sloping hillside. The University of Urbino was founded in 1506 and has about 22,000 students and is known for its humanistic studies. The Bankers specifically chose Urbino for our excursion primarily for its beauty and secondly for its classical style architecture. The Ducal Palace was the main sight we were interested in viewing. The Palazzo Ducale was built in the 15^th century by Federico II da Montefeltro. The palace designs reflect Federico's devotion to classical and humanistic studies. The palace is home to the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche which houses famous Renaissance pieces by Raphael, Piero della Francesca, and Viti. The palace had many interesting things that I never realized a palazzo would have. The stairs to the entry way were very flat and spaced out, this being for horses to come up the stairs and into the palace as the rider pleased. Oddly enough the most interesting thing to me was the bathroom and the water filtering system which I thought was very advanced for the time period in which the Palazzo was built. Urbino is now an elegant city full of culture and many different kinds of young people. While we were there we saw two weddings going on, and thus two happy couples starting their life together in a beautiful city!

       This week I am looking forward to my family coming to Italy! It will be their first trip across the pond and they will be staying in Sansepolcro for a week! Patsy and I are looking forward to traveling to Venice with them while they are here. I have learned new lessons every week and each week I become more comfortable and confident in my abilities as a world traveler. I wonder what will happen next?

A Walk Through History, Good Shopping, and Art Museums Galore

          This past weekend, I had the privilege of traveling to Florence, The most famous artisan city in the world. We finished classes on Friday around 10:30 and left for the train station in Arezzo. This was my first time ever traveling by train, and it was about what I thought it would be. The train is an interesting specimen of culture because one can see just about every type of person aboard. There is the Italian business man yelling into his phone, the excited backpacker waiting to get off at the next stop, and loud schoolchildren bantering back and forth about their latest crush. The train brought excitement of leaving behind school work and normal everyday life in pursuit of a new destination: Florence. I have traveled to Florence before but it was when I was younger and I was with a set program with no freedom to see what I desired. Upon arriving in the Santa Maria Novella Train Station, It was very apparent that we were not in small quiet Sansepolcro anymore. The crowds were enormous and the tourist piled in by the train loads to come see the famous culture-drenched Firenze.

      We left the train station and started our very long trek to our hotel all the way across the city. After fighting crowds, almost getting run over, and being distracted by every store and restraint that we wanted to go to we finally made it to our hotel. We spent our two nights in Florence in a very beautiful old convent (which most of the Meredith girls are used to anyway). We were on our own in Florence to make our own plans. This first excursion was a great way to get independent travel experience. I learned that smaller groups are easier to travel with for reasons of keeping up with everyone and making plans of what everyone wants to do. My group (Meredith Hyatt, Emily Melton, and Patsy McQuaid) was very successful in doing what everyone wanted to do plus a few things.  We went with a general plan of what we wanted to see then went with the flow based on what everyone felt like doing. Firenze is the keeper of the world’s most precious paintings and artifacts from the Renaissance. With such a great honor, Florence has become the Mecca of art lovers, history buffs, and culture seekers alike. Student passes, that we purchased at the Uffizi, enabled us to skip the long lines to see most of these famous pieces of history. On Friday after resting from the long journey, we went to the Palazzo Pitti. The Palazzo Pitti is a palace that was built in the second half of the 15th century by Filippo Brunelleschi for Luca Pitti. The palace was later sold to and used by the Medici family as their main residence. The palace is now a museum of art and other artifacts of the Medici family. The palace was beautiful, especially the architecture which was a classical roman style. All of the buildings and palazzos in Florence were absolutely phenomenal, still standing as they were in the 15^th century. As Fanny Burney put it “Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! There's no looking at a building after seeing Italy.”

       We continued our sightseeing adventure early on Saturday morning, starting with the Uffizi. This was by far my favorite museum because of the vast number of diverse pieces ranging from the early middle ages to the late renaissance and later. The emergence of the Renaissance was visible through the progression in style from the religious two dimensional medieval altarpieces of Giotto to the realistic neoclassical pagan reversions of Botticelli. I was excited to be able to view Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and La Primavera. These famous paintings are main attractions that everyone comes to see. Although I have viewed the Birth of Venus many times in a book or on a poster, seeing it up close made me in awe of the Venus’s grace and the beauty of the pastel water against her glowing pale skin. I also noticed things about many paintings that I had never noticed when looking at them in a book. Behind Venus there are white horses running along the shore. After venturing through the many galleries at the Uffizi I felt like a distinguished and cultured scholar of art. To give our brains a rest from intensely analyzing priceless paintings we found the market of San Lorenzo and did some shopping. Firenze is famous for the leather market of San Lorenzo. I learned how bartering works in a market when purchased a leather jacket from a vendor. I felt accomplished as I left the market with my jacket that I have always wanted for a price much lower than I had originally planned to pay. My leather jacket and I spent the rest of the day bonding as it went everywhere around Firenze with me.

       After getting a pizza with pepperonis (which is rare in Italy) we decided to go burn it off by climbing the 467 stairs to the top of the Duomo. The hike up was exhausting but the view at the top was a beautiful panoramic view of the city. I meet a few new friends at the top of the Duomo who went to Stanford and were studying in Switzerland. After climbing the Duomo we headed over to the famous political Piazza della Signoria where the most activity is found in Florence. In the piazza there are several magnificent sculptures and statues such as the “Perseus with the Head of Medusa” by Cellini. After taking pictures, we got gelato at a very nice gelateria where I made the mistake of ordering a medium cone that was much larger than what I imagine a “medium” cone to be.  I became a “woman vs. food” attraction in the square when as I took on the huge cone, a few people stared at me while others cheered me on, it was quite a hilarious sight! A huge storm came out of nowhere and the crowds began to disperse, so we ended up going to the Borgello just down the street.  I felt scandalous upon entering having never seen so many naked people (sculptures) in my life! There is something about a sculpture that is just capturing; it is not a flat painting but a 3D figure that appears to be a living piece of marble. The highlight of the Bargello is Donatello’s David which is a more feminine boyish version of David than Michelangelo’s David. Donatello’s David almost poses in a sassy stance with one hand on hip and a big sword in the other hand.

       We ended our last day in Florence by going to the Galleria Accademia and the Museo Archeologicp. Viewing the David for a second time since my last trip to Florence was as glorious as the first time I saw him. The rippling muscles and the tall 17 foot confident stance is what make David my favorite masterpiece. Michelangelo represents the raw strength of God’s power through the strong powerful hands of David. After standing in awe for about thirty minutes we left the Accademia and went to the Museo Archeologico. To my surprise I actually enjoyed the museum especially the morbid mummies. The Egyptian artifacts were some of the exact ones that I had seen in National Geographic Magazine. We headed to the train station and caught a train back to Arezzo. We were ready to get back to Sansepolcro on the 6:30 bus, which turned out to be non-existent. We were stuck in Arezzo for 3 hours so we ended up eating at an Italian Chinese place.  The experience was interesting but we were ready to get back to our familiar Sansepolcro.  My first independent travel weekend was educational and fun, and I am learning more and more with each new experience.

Changes In Latitudes , Changes In Attitudes

       According to Jawaharlal Nehru, “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” This past week in Sansepolcro consisted of just that, the widening of my mind through new discoveries and new life lessons that are priceless. My previous trip to Italy was strictly from a tourist point of view; I went to the touristy spots and only saw what most people define to be “Italia.” I fell in love with Italia back then when I threw a coin over my left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain hoping to return to Rome as the legend suggests. Consequently here I am back in Italy scheduled to return to Roma shortly.  I have returned to Italy not as a tourist but as a student, ready to live in Italy not just visit.

       Prior to coming to Italy I had never heard of Sansepolcro and wondered why this location was chosen for us to spend an entire semester. Sansepolcro is famous for its beautiful art museum called Museo Civico. Sansepolcro is also known for being the hometown of the famous Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca many of whose paintings hang in this museum. Some of the greatest opportunities of study abroad are now available to me in Sansepolcro. By walking outside, my textbooks come alive from the pages. My art history professors, The Bankers, refuse to let us just look at the Madonna della Misericordia by Piero in the book, they insist that we view how rich a gold the background is compared to the ultramarine of Mary’s cloak.  When viewing The Resurrection also by Piero, a feeling of triumph is aroused as I view Christ stepping out of his tomb defeating death while the sleeping soldiers lie at his feet. It is one thing to look at some fresco on the wall in a museum but it is quite another thing to experience and analyze it, to go deeper into the meaning of what the artist was thinking when he painted such a picture.

        The Bankers have a quote for art history class that has become my motto for this whole study abroad experience, “You cannot know without seeing and you cannot see without knowing.” They use this to explain the artwork, meaning that you cannot know the picture fully until you have experienced it and you cannot experience the picture standing in front of it if you do not know about it. To me this explains how we learn and define who we are in the world around us. We think we know about ourselves and our culture through others’ descriptions, the media, and from living in the US, but we cannot fully understand our own culture. It is not until we leave the US and take a good look at ourselves from a different lense that we understand what we are really like compared to the rest of the world. I have been learning about myself and about being an American. It is funny to sit in the café and play the game, “lets see if we can pick out the American tourist.” No doubt we are usually successful in picking out the “I look like I am going to climb Mount Everest” back packer or the “let’s try to fit in as much as possible but fail” tourist. Getting to take on a different lifestyle than the one I left in America has been such an interesting opportunity. I have been meeting several people during my time in Sansepolcro, people from all different nationalities. In one evening I met two Australians named Josh and Nick, a Norwegian girl named Julie, and several other Italian guys and girls. From talking to so many different people I realize how large the world is but how people in general are so much alike. Some of the best learning experiences have come from the mistakes I have made in trying to figure out this new culture. I have learned that Italians do not typically drink milk with shots of espresso and that eating pizza with your hands is just as bad as not eating with your mouth closed. Trying to order marinara dipping sauce (which doesn’t exist in Italy) looked like a skit from SNL. Limited vocabulary and lack of knowledge for what is normal resulted in a huge bowl of cold tomato sauce in the middle of our table accompanied by confused stares. Maybe eventually I can go somewhere and not so easily pass as an American.

      Upon my return to Italy I have been able to see things that I would never see in the USA or even in the touristy spots in Italy. Sansepolcro was bombarded last week by men in tights parading around with big sticks and instruments, and it has been very enjoyable. Meredith students were asked to participate in the annual festival in Sansepolcro called the Palio de Balestra. The Balestra is a weeklong medieval festival with traditions that date back to the14^th century. The events, which include an opening ceremony, a sbandieratori flag presentation and a local cross bow tournament (between Porta Romana and Porta Fiorentina which are the two parts of Sansepolcro) all lead up to one final crossbow tournament between Sansepolcro and Gubbio. The Balestra dates back to 1594 and was started as a means of practicing and refining crossbow archery. The result of the competitive Balestra produced protectors of the town with great aim and a dangerous weapon. The people of Sansepolcro still take this local tradition very seriously. I was able to experience the tradition first hand as a maiden dressed up on the sidelines of the opening ceremony. Each one of us was given a renaissance style gown and matching doughnut-looking hats to match. I was given a red velvet skirt with a dark blue velvet off the shoulder blouse to match; a costume to make any renaissance fair junkie excited. All the costumes were beautiful and each one of them varied in style. Everyone was ready to shed their costume after parading all around the town twice behind the drummers and the flag carriers. The parading and cheering became a daily phenomenon last week in Sansepolcro. The girls became particularly fond of the flag boys, who were very good looking and talented. We hope to acquire lessons on how to twirl flags properly from them.

       My overall experience in Sansepolcro has been a wonderful one, full of learning opportunities and excitement, but it hasn’t been a walk in the park. My classes here are just as hard if not more difficult than the ones at Meredith: learning a new language with no background experience as well as adjusting to a new way of living have not been easy. The good moments have definitely outweighed the difficult moments, and growth only comes from being moved outside of my comfort zone. I look forward to seeing how I will grow over the next semester.

 Ciao,

Meredith