Dear Erin, why do you suck at updating your blog?
Well, that's a fair question. It's probably due to the 60+ degree weather, the midterms I'm supposed to be studying for, and the twenty bazillion e-tickets I have to print with no printer. But I swear, I've been thinking about updating. It's just I don't get any wireless internet in the Boboli Gardens (ie, the library) so my options are limited. I can't stand to be in my apartment for long periods of time. I find myself going to three grocery stores after my night class just to stay outside and avoid the textbooks waiting for me back in my room. I can't sit still. I'm here, then there, then back again. It's like the ADD I had as a kid (Mum and Dad, I totally had ADD. It all makes sense now!) all over again, but just like then I'm not going on Ritalin.
Part of this is probably due to 'midterms' which is just a fancy way of saying 'first round of finals'. The thought of taking an exam in any of my classes here is snort-worthy. My school doesn't even have a library, and for a girl who comes from a school with eight of them, how could they possibly expect me to take this seriously?
Also, how could we be expected to do midterm work in a school that only has two printers? When printing a paper becomes a saga that lasts you through the entirely of your triple shot cappuccino, you know that's a problem.
One of my professors sees eye-to-eye with me on this one. Our final in his class consisted of making a picture scrapbook and commenced with him suggesting places we ought to go to for Saint Patrick's Day.
Is this even a real school? I'm beginning to wonder. I learn, but then they go and sell beer in my school cafeteria for lunch.
That's Italy for you.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Safer than Volterra
Hey, want to know a hill town in Tuscany that's close to Volterra but not infested with Twilight tweens? That would be San Gimignano. I went two weekends ago (yes, I know I am rather behind in my postings!) with practically everyone I know in Florence. It took a train ride and a bus ride to get there, but no one really minded because it was finally WARM.
All that boasting I did before I went about Florence being so much warmer than Buffalo? Yeah, well, it's warmer outside maybe, but the fact that by law the heat can't be on for more than twelve hours a day, and the fact that that heat can't be warmer than 70 degrees, and the fact that Italian houses just aren't made for holding in heat made for some bleak indoor experiences. Like, the sort where I slept in woolen sweaters with the feather down comforter pulled over my head.
February got steadier warmer, and then that first weekend of March spring burst forth in a triumphant ray of sun and 60 degree weather. It seemed like the perfect time to see the Tuscan countryside. Which it was.
A few words on the town. San Gimignano is a medieval city like Bologna, and it was powerful until the late middle ages when the plague came and killed almost everyone. The town never recalled its former glory, but the surroundings vineyards and beautiful landscape have made it a hot spot for tourists in more recent days.
The town entrance.
Quintessential Italian yard. Or that's what it looked like to me.
Gelato eating. There's this really famous gelato shop in the city, but was it open when we were there? of course not! So we had to settle for second string. The city had a ton of this little viewing piazzas in it. This one in particular had this woman playing a harp in it. Now, there was like, ten girls who went on this trip, so we were all chatting and whatnot, and then she says to us "this is a public place! I can't play when you're being so loud, this place is for everyone!". That was a new one for me, being told by a STREET MUSICIAN that I was making too much noise. But we tried to be a little quieter. She started playing again, and it was all well and good until she started to sing.
This woman was a good harpist. Not a good singer.
I particularity wet myself silently laughing, and had to leave before she noticed. But not being getting a picture of her.
Remember, this is a space for everyone!
Medieval fountain. I wanted to drink the water (in Florence and Rome, the water in the fountains is clean enough to drink) but then I realized that it was a medieval fountain, and people had probably been doing their wash in there for hundreds of years. And there were goldfish.
Random wine bottles. I thought it was cute.
And that, my friends, is San Gimignano in a nutshell. Check out the facebook album for more pictures, if you'd like http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=160559&id=561287236.
All that boasting I did before I went about Florence being so much warmer than Buffalo? Yeah, well, it's warmer outside maybe, but the fact that by law the heat can't be on for more than twelve hours a day, and the fact that that heat can't be warmer than 70 degrees, and the fact that Italian houses just aren't made for holding in heat made for some bleak indoor experiences. Like, the sort where I slept in woolen sweaters with the feather down comforter pulled over my head.
February got steadier warmer, and then that first weekend of March spring burst forth in a triumphant ray of sun and 60 degree weather. It seemed like the perfect time to see the Tuscan countryside. Which it was.
A few words on the town. San Gimignano is a medieval city like Bologna, and it was powerful until the late middle ages when the plague came and killed almost everyone. The town never recalled its former glory, but the surroundings vineyards and beautiful landscape have made it a hot spot for tourists in more recent days.
The town entrance.
Quintessential Italian yard. Or that's what it looked like to me.
Gelato eating. There's this really famous gelato shop in the city, but was it open when we were there? of course not! So we had to settle for second string. The city had a ton of this little viewing piazzas in it. This one in particular had this woman playing a harp in it. Now, there was like, ten girls who went on this trip, so we were all chatting and whatnot, and then she says to us "this is a public place! I can't play when you're being so loud, this place is for everyone!". That was a new one for me, being told by a STREET MUSICIAN that I was making too much noise. But we tried to be a little quieter. She started playing again, and it was all well and good until she started to sing.
This woman was a good harpist. Not a good singer.
I particularity wet myself silently laughing, and had to leave before she noticed. But not being getting a picture of her.
Remember, this is a space for everyone!
Medieval fountain. I wanted to drink the water (in Florence and Rome, the water in the fountains is clean enough to drink) but then I realized that it was a medieval fountain, and people had probably been doing their wash in there for hundreds of years. And there were goldfish.
Random wine bottles. I thought it was cute.
And that, my friends, is San Gimignano in a nutshell. Check out the facebook album for more pictures, if you'd like http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=160559&id=561287236.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Salvation Ain't Free
The Stairway to Heaven costs eight euro and has over four hundred stairs, but the view is totally worth it.
Wednesday, me and my roommate Kara decided to do one of the most touristy things you can possibly do in Florence: we climbed the duomo.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=158692&id=561287236&ref=mf
(if you want more/better) pictures
The duomo is one of the first images that pops up when you google search 'Florence', and for good reason. The cathedral is MASSIVE I would know, because I have to walk past it multiple times a day when I have class. The cathedral was started in the 1200s, but wasn't completed until the 1400s when architect Brunelleschi was able to devise a way to construct the massive dome. From what I've gathered, this dome is pretty much an architect's wet dream. The duomo's dome (and yes, 'duomo' means 'dome' in Italian) is the largest dome ever built until the modern era, which basically means no one could recreate anything like it until the discovery of physics. Brunelleschi was an absolute genius.
And so, after waiting nearly two weeks for a clear day, Kara and I climbed to the top of this masterpiece and beheld our adoptive city.
See the crowning structure on top of the dome? That's where the viewing area was. Also, interestingly, Michelangelo's David was originally one of a projected twelve sculptures made to ring the outside of the structure at the top of the dome.
This, and the next two pictures are off the breathtaking fresco painted on the inside of the dome. When I saw this the second or third day here, my jaw literally dropped and I stared up at it awestruck for a good fifteen minutes. Seeing it up close was amazing, though my pictures don't really do it justice.
This is San Lorenzo, the church near my school. Kara and I spent a while looking for the buildings we had been to from the top of the dome and searching for our apartment buildings.
One of the dome's giant white ribs (for lack of a better term, I suck at architecture sorry Alex!). It was so strange, at the top of the dome, we couldn't even see the rest of the building underneath us.
Though our shaking legs at the end merited an emergency gelato run, the steep price and stairs of the duomo climb was definitely worth it! Near the sun atop the church, for the first time ever, I understood why people feel closer to God in sacred places. I don't affliate myself with any particular religious doctrine, but I know if some divine power does exists, it has been here.
Wednesday, me and my roommate Kara decided to do one of the most touristy things you can possibly do in Florence: we climbed the duomo.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=158692&id=561287236&ref=mf
(if you want more/better) pictures
The duomo is one of the first images that pops up when you google search 'Florence', and for good reason. The cathedral is MASSIVE I would know, because I have to walk past it multiple times a day when I have class. The cathedral was started in the 1200s, but wasn't completed until the 1400s when architect Brunelleschi was able to devise a way to construct the massive dome. From what I've gathered, this dome is pretty much an architect's wet dream. The duomo's dome (and yes, 'duomo' means 'dome' in Italian) is the largest dome ever built until the modern era, which basically means no one could recreate anything like it until the discovery of physics. Brunelleschi was an absolute genius.
And so, after waiting nearly two weeks for a clear day, Kara and I climbed to the top of this masterpiece and beheld our adoptive city.
See the crowning structure on top of the dome? That's where the viewing area was. Also, interestingly, Michelangelo's David was originally one of a projected twelve sculptures made to ring the outside of the structure at the top of the dome.
This, and the next two pictures are off the breathtaking fresco painted on the inside of the dome. When I saw this the second or third day here, my jaw literally dropped and I stared up at it awestruck for a good fifteen minutes. Seeing it up close was amazing, though my pictures don't really do it justice.
The bell tower.
This is San Lorenzo, the church near my school. Kara and I spent a while looking for the buildings we had been to from the top of the dome and searching for our apartment buildings.
One of the dome's giant white ribs (for lack of a better term, I suck at architecture sorry Alex!). It was so strange, at the top of the dome, we couldn't even see the rest of the building underneath us.
Though our shaking legs at the end merited an emergency gelato run, the steep price and stairs of the duomo climb was definitely worth it! Near the sun atop the church, for the first time ever, I understood why people feel closer to God in sacred places. I don't affliate myself with any particular religious doctrine, but I know if some divine power does exists, it has been here.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Fat One
La Grassa. The Fat One. This is what Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna province north of Tuscany, is known as. Bologna has consistently tied with Paris as the number one place I wanted to visit while in Europe (though it has the convince of not only being in Italy, but also being only an hour away by train). Why? I'll tell you why, Bologna is the 'Fat One' for a reason, and that reason is food.
So, even though it was raining last Saturday morning and my two travel companions were wary, and despite the fact that everyone else we knew was going to Bologna the next day (Restaurants are not open on Sunday here. There was no chance in hell I could be persuaded to be in Bologna on a Sunday), I was adamant. The food was waiting for me.
But even though I had gone to Bologna for food, as soon as I set foot from the train station I was taken by its charm. Unlike Florence and Venice, Bologna is not a tourist haven. There are no Japanese tour groups numbering in the thirties wearing headsets gawking in front of me as I'm trying to scurry to class. There are no street vendors trying to sell me men's boxers with David's ballsack thoughtfully plastered on the front. Yet, the city is still bustling. The presence of roads wider than twenty feet (and the huge increase in traffic as a result) definitely threw me at first. But by the time we found our first cafe, I had fallen completely for the russet and golden buildings and covered sidewalks. In some ways, Bologna reminds me of Buffalo. A better dressed, better tempered Buffalo. I'm not used to the tourist economy. No one willingly visits Buffalo unless you're there for family, college, or passing through to the falls or Toronto. And after living in a city whose number one industry is tourism, I can say that few other things in the world are quite so unappealing as the tourist industry. It destroys the character of places. This revelation hadn't occurred to me until I was in Bologna, away from tourism for the first time in weeks.
It was a welcome change.
But anyway, here are the pictures, and I'll let them speak for themselves!
(Apparently half of pictures have been cut off, but I have no idea how to fix that so it stays that way. But! In an effort to decrease uploading time, all my pictures are also going to be on facebook from now on so here's the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=157748&id=561287236. I take more pictures than I post, so I'll post all the links from now on)
The fountain in the main Piazza involving Neptune and his... friends.
Harlot-y mermaid friends, that is. The fountain caused a spark of controversy when it was unveiled. Can't imagine why. Did I mention this is within view of the cathedral?
We found a sephora in this old pharmacy, and it was pretty cool. I took many pictures, because my roommate Arielle loves products the way I love food.
The colours in Bologna are all wrong for the buildings. It was one of the first things I noticed. In Firenze, the buildings are mostly green, lighter yellow, and grey. In Bologna, they are mostly yellow and red. It was just a slight change, but I was surprised by it.
The inside of a lovely church, made even lovelier by the free admission. I love my guidebook even if it makes me look like super tourist.
Okay, we didn't realize this was an art exhibit until after I saw the sign in the picture. We honestly thought that someone was hanging their clothing to dry in a tree outside Giorgio Armani. Drying clothing is serious business in Italy, because there's no dryers to be found unless you want to pay to use them.
Oh man. The first cafe. More of a gelato/dessert cafe than a usual cafe. This is another reason why I love my guidebook. The allure of pumpkin cinnamon and ginger gelato was too much for me and Amanda and Arielle to resist so we went and it was FABULOUS. The prices were excellent, the gelato amazing. This was the part where I melted into a puddle. These melting moments, for the record, happen at least once a week (yesterday's was when I bought violet knee high heeled boots for 70 euro marked down from 145), and it's how I know coming here was the best idea I ever had.
Something Sarah and I will probably make when I get home!
Chocolate tree with nut leaves. I bought some dark chocolate here as I was dangerously low, and it is some of the best chocolate I've ever set my lips upon.
Bologna is a medieval city, and this is one of the their medieval towers. Florence has some medieval relics as well, but it's mostly been overcome by Renaissance style buildings and art.
Oh man! We found this awesome science museum (also with free admission, thanks to my book) run through the University of Bologna. There is a HUGE student population there, like, one fifth of the population huge. Apperantly there's killer nightlife because of it, and this, with the want of another gelato, will probably be enough to lure me back.
A random art display in the museum, snakes made of crystal. I think it puts a new spin on the tempting serpent icon. Bologna has quite a bit of artwork around, actually. Again due to the university.
I get excited when I see Latin. I'm not bothering to translate for you though.
The covered walkway/my friends losing me for the eighth time. Arielle said it was a good thing my coat is so green so they can find me. It's like a leash for errant children, except visual and more dignified.
The restaurant we ate it. It was phenomenal, though I've eaten just as good in Tuscany. I had homemade tagliatelle with a Bolognese ragu. The meat was perfectly seasoned, it was lacking nothing. Divine.
My SUPER EPIC appetizer that was actually more than my entree. A collection of cured pork products and regional cheeses to make any nordic princess proud (it looks like a viking feast to me). Definitely worth the price, even just for the visiaul presnetaion. The other couple at the table beside us was openly gaping. I love making fellow dinner guests envious of my order.
So that, in a nutshell, is Bologna! Other than a spot of rain, the day was perfect. Although we barely made the last train leaving before five in the morning we still made it! But if we had been stuck there until five, I have a sneaking suspicion that I would have been totally fine with that.
So, even though it was raining last Saturday morning and my two travel companions were wary, and despite the fact that everyone else we knew was going to Bologna the next day (Restaurants are not open on Sunday here. There was no chance in hell I could be persuaded to be in Bologna on a Sunday), I was adamant. The food was waiting for me.
But even though I had gone to Bologna for food, as soon as I set foot from the train station I was taken by its charm. Unlike Florence and Venice, Bologna is not a tourist haven. There are no Japanese tour groups numbering in the thirties wearing headsets gawking in front of me as I'm trying to scurry to class. There are no street vendors trying to sell me men's boxers with David's ballsack thoughtfully plastered on the front. Yet, the city is still bustling. The presence of roads wider than twenty feet (and the huge increase in traffic as a result) definitely threw me at first. But by the time we found our first cafe, I had fallen completely for the russet and golden buildings and covered sidewalks. In some ways, Bologna reminds me of Buffalo. A better dressed, better tempered Buffalo. I'm not used to the tourist economy. No one willingly visits Buffalo unless you're there for family, college, or passing through to the falls or Toronto. And after living in a city whose number one industry is tourism, I can say that few other things in the world are quite so unappealing as the tourist industry. It destroys the character of places. This revelation hadn't occurred to me until I was in Bologna, away from tourism for the first time in weeks.
It was a welcome change.
But anyway, here are the pictures, and I'll let them speak for themselves!
(Apparently half of pictures have been cut off, but I have no idea how to fix that so it stays that way. But! In an effort to decrease uploading time, all my pictures are also going to be on facebook from now on so here's the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=157748&id=561287236. I take more pictures than I post, so I'll post all the links from now on)
The fountain in the main Piazza involving Neptune and his... friends.
Harlot-y mermaid friends, that is. The fountain caused a spark of controversy when it was unveiled. Can't imagine why. Did I mention this is within view of the cathedral?
We found a sephora in this old pharmacy, and it was pretty cool. I took many pictures, because my roommate Arielle loves products the way I love food.
The colours in Bologna are all wrong for the buildings. It was one of the first things I noticed. In Firenze, the buildings are mostly green, lighter yellow, and grey. In Bologna, they are mostly yellow and red. It was just a slight change, but I was surprised by it.
The inside of a lovely church, made even lovelier by the free admission. I love my guidebook even if it makes me look like super tourist.
Okay, we didn't realize this was an art exhibit until after I saw the sign in the picture. We honestly thought that someone was hanging their clothing to dry in a tree outside Giorgio Armani. Drying clothing is serious business in Italy, because there's no dryers to be found unless you want to pay to use them.
Oh man. The first cafe. More of a gelato/dessert cafe than a usual cafe. This is another reason why I love my guidebook. The allure of pumpkin cinnamon and ginger gelato was too much for me and Amanda and Arielle to resist so we went and it was FABULOUS. The prices were excellent, the gelato amazing. This was the part where I melted into a puddle. These melting moments, for the record, happen at least once a week (yesterday's was when I bought violet knee high heeled boots for 70 euro marked down from 145), and it's how I know coming here was the best idea I ever had.
The brownie I had been craving for weeks.
Something Sarah and I will probably make when I get home!
Chocolate tree with nut leaves. I bought some dark chocolate here as I was dangerously low, and it is some of the best chocolate I've ever set my lips upon.
Bologna is a medieval city, and this is one of the their medieval towers. Florence has some medieval relics as well, but it's mostly been overcome by Renaissance style buildings and art.
Oh man! We found this awesome science museum (also with free admission, thanks to my book) run through the University of Bologna. There is a HUGE student population there, like, one fifth of the population huge. Apperantly there's killer nightlife because of it, and this, with the want of another gelato, will probably be enough to lure me back.
A random art display in the museum, snakes made of crystal. I think it puts a new spin on the tempting serpent icon. Bologna has quite a bit of artwork around, actually. Again due to the university.
I get excited when I see Latin. I'm not bothering to translate for you though.
The covered walkway/my friends losing me for the eighth time. Arielle said it was a good thing my coat is so green so they can find me. It's like a leash for errant children, except visual and more dignified.
The restaurant we ate it. It was phenomenal, though I've eaten just as good in Tuscany. I had homemade tagliatelle with a Bolognese ragu. The meat was perfectly seasoned, it was lacking nothing. Divine.
My SUPER EPIC appetizer that was actually more than my entree. A collection of cured pork products and regional cheeses to make any nordic princess proud (it looks like a viking feast to me). Definitely worth the price, even just for the visiaul presnetaion. The other couple at the table beside us was openly gaping. I love making fellow dinner guests envious of my order.
So that, in a nutshell, is Bologna! Other than a spot of rain, the day was perfect. Although we barely made the last train leaving before five in the morning we still made it! But if we had been stuck there until five, I have a sneaking suspicion that I would have been totally fine with that.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Bologna
Soo... I have six hours of class tomorrow and homework to do still, so please accept this video instead? Even though I still haven't reported about last weekend and it's practically next weekend?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Dead Stuff
There is a perverse truth to living in Florence: the more you explore, the more you realise that for every sight you see, there's at least three more you haven't seen. So me and a few other people decided to grab the bull by the horns and ditch out homework for grander notions. So this past Monday (yes, this post is long overdue, I know) we went to the Santa Croce church, which is a convenient three minute walk from my apartment. Now, Santa Croce's claim is fame is the excessive amount of famous dead people buried there. Among them are Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo, and other, less important persons.
The church from inside the grounds.
the Medici crest on one of the tombs on the floor. These signs are all over Florence, it's a little ridiculous how many there are.
Rawr, lion! And skull and cross bones.
Michelangelo's tomb. The statue sitting on the left is for painting, the middle for sculpting, and the far right for architecture. His tomb is definitely the most blinged out of all of them.
Beatrice, Dante's love, who was not actually buried in Santa Croce but since she's dead too I figured I'd add her here. Lovers can leave notes to her in baskets near her tomb.
I like taking pictures of arches and I don't know why! Everywhere I go, if there is an arch, it invariably ends up in my latest photo album. Maybe I was an arch in a past life, or something.
Old music that the monks used.
So this is all for now. I have more pictures of the inside of the church, but I don't feel like spending an hour uploading them when I know that I have a whole slew of Bologna pictures waiting for their chance to be posted. Oh, weekend adventures are something!
The church from inside the grounds.
the Medici crest on one of the tombs on the floor. These signs are all over Florence, it's a little ridiculous how many there are.
Rawr, lion! And skull and cross bones.
Michelangelo's tomb. The statue sitting on the left is for painting, the middle for sculpting, and the far right for architecture. His tomb is definitely the most blinged out of all of them.
Galieo's tomb.
Beatrice, Dante's love, who was not actually buried in Santa Croce but since she's dead too I figured I'd add her here. Lovers can leave notes to her in baskets near her tomb.
Machiavelli's tomb, my personal favourite.
I like taking pictures of arches and I don't know why! Everywhere I go, if there is an arch, it invariably ends up in my latest photo album. Maybe I was an arch in a past life, or something.
Old music that the monks used.
So this is all for now. I have more pictures of the inside of the church, but I don't feel like spending an hour uploading them when I know that I have a whole slew of Bologna pictures waiting for their chance to be posted. Oh, weekend adventures are something!
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