"You are too far to walk... I come get you in my car"

This past weekend I went to Siena and San Gimignano with 3 girls from DU, Sara Jenny and Sheila.

Saturday morning I got up to get ready and I finally found the mosquito that has been eating me alive in the bathroom. I tried to kill in but being vertically challenged I couldn't get it on the ceiling ... so I showered thinking that the mosquito would not come into the shower because with most insects if their wings get wet they cant fly... NAY The mosquito tried to dive bomb me in the shower TWICE even though hit it with water... I felt like I was in a combination of birds and psycho ... not fun!

Anyway I get dressed and meet the girls at the bus stop only to realize it is the wrong one and watch the 492 bus pass us .... so we get to the right stop and wait for the next one only to miss our buss to Siena by 6 MINUTES! which meant waiting another hour and a half for the next one!!! finally we get on the 10:30 bus. Let me just say that traveling by bus is the way to do it ... it might be a little longer but it is cheaper and you get to see all of the country side and IT IS GORGEOUS !!!

3hours later we were in Siena... we decided to find our hotel right away so we could have the rest of the day to do as we wished. I pulled out my directions and we got on the # 30 to San Rocco and some how missed our stop and are forced of the bus in the middle of nowhere! So I go up to the only person on this little country road and ask him for directions. He says it is down the street on our left. So we walk and walk and walk and there is no Villa di Cavaglioni and suddenly we are in the middle of this intersection with sign pointing to neighboring towns and no idea where we are or where our place is.... so I made sure I put the # of the place in my phone before I left and in Half English and half Italian I try to tell here where we are and when you are in the middle of Tuscany with no street signs it gets hard! so she finally understands and says "You are too far for walk... I come get you in my car" so not even 10 minutes later this little old woman pulls up and we get in ... she explains where we went wrong and shows us where we should have gotten off.

She promptly gave us a tour of the Villa that has been in her family for centuries it was HUGE! and BEAUTIFUL! her land was acres of rolling farm land they made there own olive oil and wine on the premise ... she pointed out her sons little cottage that was about 50 m away on the grounds and seemed quite happy he was still so close. Then took us into the sitting room where all of the crests to all 20 provinces of sienna were displayed on plates. However the crests that are enemies of her family were strategically placed behind the door and out of view.

after settling into our room we hopped on the bus back to the center of Siena. We walked around and took our time strolling in and out of shops. We made our way to Il campo, the main piazza in Siena and then to the Il Duomo which was supposed to be bigger then the rival one they were building in Florence but they never finished it but it is gigantic none the less. After the Duomo we went to St. Catherine of Siena's sanctuary which is my confirmation saint! I saw the room she slept in and her chapel and the cross she was kneeling at when she received the stigmata. I gave an offering, lit a candle and said a prayer. It was almost surreal that I was actually there and standing in front of it because when you pick a saint even though you research who they were and there life there is still a sort of disconnect but not anymore since I was standing where she was just a few centuries ago.


After St. Catherine we went in search of food and a wine bar we went to a rick steve's recommended restaurant and were the 2nd to last people to get a reservation!! apparently it is a local fav.... I had the house wine we split an appetizer of mozzarella wrapped in eggplant and truffles DELICIOUS!!!! and I ordered the veal ... Sara had some sausage that was absolutely to die for! I don't even know how to describe it but it was unlike anything i have had before and it probably is how sausage is supposed to taste. Then we split a dessert, gelato with fresh peaches cooked in brunello di montelcino! YUM!

after dinner we walked around looking for some inkling of a night life ... a band was setting up outside a pub and we were stopped by an Aussie having a beer who was so happy to here someone speaking English. he told us he is living in england and flew in to meet his mom in Italy but is sick of her so he came to the pub for a B.

We said good bye to the Aussie and went back to il campo and split a bottle of wine ... only to be bothered by what we thought was a harmless cute old man but unfortunately this was not the case. he started talking to us and then told us how pretty we were and then tried to kiss Sara and I so in avoidance we stuck out our cheek ... ugh! he just would not go away and then he tried to kiss Jenny and Shiela but I told him no he finally left us alone. soooo creeepy! after the wine we made it back to the hotel ... only to realize it was going to be SUNDAY and Italy comes to a screeching halt on Sunday! which meant the bus taking us into town was at 9:40 or 11:30 and the bus to San Gimignano left at 9:40. so we decided to wait until breakfast to ask anna maria if there was any other way besides a taxi to get into town.

The next morning we woke up to an awesome spread of coffee juice bread and the most awesome croissant I had EVER eaten! And during breakfast anna maria comes up and says I have talked to my friend and she will drive you into town ... she is going that was anyway. I am telling you this woman is AMAZING! so we bought some wine and olive oil from her and her friend drove us into town.

On the way into Siena we learned that she and Anna Maria had been friends for over 50 years! She lives in Florence now though and was only here visiting for the weekend. She then advised us on our trip to San Gimignano and told us not to bother with the wine tasting at the vineyard and just to stay in San Gimignano. but they said "I am sorry do what you want I am being a mother!" haha!

so we get on the bus to San Gimignano and transfered in Poggibonsi and 1 hour later we were in San Gimignano! (the bus ride through the wine country was breathtaking!) And the view from San Gimignano was even better. Alabaster is a natural stone found in the area so there was tons to craft work with the stone and there are tons of artisans painting, weaving and sewing home made soap ect. (Mom i wanted to buy you a table runner and alabaster napkin holders but the didn't really match ) The bell towers were amazing!!! and the view from the top of the city cant even be put into words ... i don't even think the pictures will do it justice! I bought a leather purse and pashmina here they are amazing!

Later we eventually sat and had some wine ... I had my first glass of Brunello Di Montelcino (only the best wine in Itay) And I have fallen in LOVE! I think I am going to buy some 2006/2007 bottles while they are cheap and just keep them for ten years... because i think the 1991's - 1996's are just now ready and they go for 200 € a bottle ouch!

around 6 we got back on a bus to siena grabbed a quick dinner and waited for the bus back to rome.... I was in search of a beverage that wasn't inflated with tourist prices... so jenny and I ran across the street to a hotel leaving sara with a bags ... refusing to pay 4 euros for a can of coke we returned empty handed only to find out that the creepy guy from the night before somehow was in the area again and tried to kiss sara again!!!! hahaha she got him to go away and all was well. not too much longer a bus pulled up and we got on ... because public transportation is NOT labeled here you just have to instinctively know! .....so 5 minutes after the we were settled in the driver came up and told us in italian he was not going to rome ... I cant imagine what would have happened if he didnt tell us! haha we would have woken up 2 hours later in florence!

but the Roma bus came and I was safely in my apt by midnight!

all in all an AWESOME weekend

pictures to come!

Ostia Antica .. I got to get me one of those

So Saturday I went to Ostia Antica which is a quaint little town centered around some ruins.

Ostia used to be a city and like most ancient cities it had a wall around it. Now many historians attribute the wall's function to protection however i think they are severely mistaken. The true reason is that the ancient romans knew that at some point in the future people like you and I would like to visit and admire their city and to keep the roman economy thriving they built a wall so someone could place a ticket booth at the only entrance and exit to the city and capitalize on it.

Also, all of the blurbs I read about Ostia before I went said "nice place to bring a picnic" in which we decided not to .... well apperently "nice place to bring a picnic" means there is NO WHERE TO GET FOOD SO BRING LUNCH! anyway Ostia was beautiful the ruins were amazing and the fact you can actually touch them is even better (as you can see in my pics I took FULL advantage of that). It kinda made me want to become and archeology major .. but then I came back to reality seeming as I don't like sweating in the hot sun or digging so the combination of the two is a big no....

After the ruins we hopped back on the train for a few stops and went to the BEACH!!! I CAN OFFICIALLY SAY I WENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA!!!! wooooot! It was breathtakingly gorgeous!!! and it is only 45 mins away and free to get to... so I think that from now on when everything in closed on Sunday and all I do is sit in the appt and do homework I am going to pack lunch and do my homework on the beach on the sand with special tanning properties!

off to class! baci!

La Nottebianca 2007: Until the moon becomes the sun

Soo after our excursion on friday we pretty much rested alll day saturday for the nights festivities!

so I now understand why everyone that I asked what exactly is La Nottebianca they reply It's crazy.... because you can not put it into words.

To semi sum it up: it is a night for artisans to diplay work or preform, museums are open all night and are free, there are concerts and prefomances until 5 am and the metro and busses are running all night and the streets are all closed. and when the preformances are are over all of the pubs are packed...

the night started out at 8 pm with:

the castello di sant' angelo: I was about 15m away from the angel on top and the veiw of the city from the top at night is amazing!

from there we went to the museo criminologico: it is the criminology museum of rome it catalogs all of the torture devices (the chair in the pics) , early finger printing, guns, swords, illegal items ect. really cool!

From there we went up the tiber to the piazza del popolo: here there was performances from around the world. from china to south american and everywhere in between. we didn't stay for it all cause there was soo much to see but we did stay for a good hour.
I saw:
- chinese acrobats
- slapstic comedy from south africa
- trapeze and rope artists from france
- tightrope walker
- a couple from australia who renacted mission impossible in the air like the rope artists from france
- pole climbers from russia
- and an italian and french act where the french guy would bounce rubber balls to the tempo of the italian guys piano music (It sounds lame but it was really cool)

from there we went to the monument to vittorio emanuel... (here you can see the pictures of the massive crowd)

in this area there was a rumba concert Unfortunately we stopped from something to eat and drink and by the time we got out it was over but a least we could here the music...
so we started walking to the colosseo when on the way we saw these people playing some sort of rock music between the sewsaw thing ... then they stopped playing and another stage lit up and there were drummers then after they were done a spot light lit up and over head hanging from a crane in the form of a mobile were people playing classical music and a woman singing opera! then the rock stage lit up again and the drummers started and it was a whole opera between good and evil ... like nothing i had ever seen before .. they were from france (hard to explain again check out the pics) after jill and leah left for home and kate amanda and myself pressed on...


from there we walked the rest of the way to the colosseo and the concert was over :( but they were playing dance music over the stereo anyhow so we got drinks sat planned our new direction and danced a little

we decided to walk to the trevi so we were sitting on the trevi when some guys from naples told us to jump in a go for a swim in which I replied you first ... then they said they would get arrested but we wouldnt and then I said i would loose my visa ... so we started talking to them for a little untill they left for the train station (they had to catch a 7am train back home) they spoke little english so I got to use my italian alot I was amazed at my ablility to translate ... anyway they gave their # and told us to call them when we are in naples

then we caught a bus home and my head hit the pillow a 7 am!

If beauty was wine Tivoli would be wasted....

On Friday, after much debate the roommates and I decided to go to TIVOLI. Ever since I went the first time I have been DYING to go back! ...

So we left the appt around 10:30 got on Metro line A, switched to B, and got off at the second to last stop around 11. From there we took a Cotral bus to tivoli for 2 euro. When we were looking at the bus schedule it looked like the next bus was at 11:45 but thanks to Italian tardiness we were 15 minutes early for the 10:20 bus.... I know

from there It took about 45 mins to tivoli I was surprised because the bus was pretty much packed and we keep stopping and picking up more people but whether standing or sitting some how we all fit. The bus was full of all locals except for 2 other families of tourists besides us.

When we arrived it was around noon so we decided to have lunch and it a strike of pure genius Amanda Kate and I went to a macelleria/latteria and bought a quarter kilo of salami , some mozzarella and a half loaf of bread and we sat on a bench and made our sandwiches while Jill and Leah ate at a resaurant. so we had lunch for 2.50 euro each instead of the 8 euro it would have cost at the restaurant go us!

After lunch we went to the Villa D'Este which was the home of cardinal Ippilino D'Este and in an effort to live a modest cloister life he lived in a mansion and had a HUGE roman garden with around 400 fountains... Anyway the beauty of this garden can not be expressed in words nor do the pictures do it justice... everyone should see this garden at some point in there life!

After Villa D'este we took a 10 minute walk to Villa Gregoriana which is a newly renovated (2002) park that goes through ruins and the two waterfalls of Tivoli. It is a one and a half hour hike up and down ancient stone stairs through ruins and waterfalls and caves... it was absolutely gorgeous! check out my pics the first waterfall is a 120 m drop and and the second one with the three streams of water I hopped the fence and touched the water so now I can say I went in it!(bad habits i picked up from aunt jo-anne) anyway the hike would have been so grueling but all of the attractions were 5 to 10 minute one way excursions that were small uneven ooooold stairs that you had to walk down to get to only problem was once you were done you had to walk back up .... needless to say my thighs and calves felt grrrreat the next morning but it was worth every step! now I understand why the romans never invented the stairmaster...

After the hike we were in desperate need of sustenance and VINO! and we stumbled upon the restaurant that I ate at the first time I was here. family owned comeplete with with the little grandmother that makes the fresh pasta!! still as delicious! i had the spinach and cheese ravioli... it is the grandmom's specialty ... and to appease you Sonya YES i took a picture of it!

after dinner walked back to the bus stop ... and the park near there was having a concert it was rumba music and all the italians were doing the electric slide!!! funniest thing I ever saw! we started doing the dance on the sidewalk next to the bust stop. the bus came around 9:30 and we were home by 11. we pretty much immediately went to sleep to rest up for la notte bianca!

Have a nice trip .. see you in the fall

So I think it is an inevitable fact that coming here has made me clumsier ... I don't think a day goes by that I don't trip over a stupid uneven cobblestone. and after seeing soo many Italian women gracefully stroll the streets in stilettos it makes me feel bad that i can't even master flats or flip flops :( But I am am determined to be able to walk in my heels with out fear of killing my self before the end of this trip!

Which brings me to a funny story (you'd appreciate this Helen!)
So on thursday after my last class I left for home it was getting dark so i decided to take the bus home instead of walking (even though after waiting for the bus for 40 mins walking would have been faster). Finally, the bus came and because it had just stopped raining an hour before class ended I stepped in a ginormous puddle which made my one flip flop slightly slippery... So as I am hurrying to cross the street cause i have like 5 second before the mopeds make me into roadkill ... all the while the guys on the mopeds are shouting every variation of ciao bella, where are you going in such a hurry ... I SLIP OUT OF MY FLIP FLOP!!! and had to run back pick it up and then the light had turned green so i had a split second to decided to go back to the side i came from or run across to the other side ... so a ran across to the other side. meanwhile all the catcalling had turned into laughter and jeering and honking and commanded the attention of everyone on the sidewalk to a couple guys on the mopeds called me Cinderella .... needless to say I was red in the face and walked as fast as I could the rest of the 2 blocks to my house.

In conclusion I am glad I am here to entertain the masses...

"Biglietti per favore senora e senorina"

So this morning I had my first encounter with the ticket checkers that come on the bus to make sure every one had there tickets ... they do it every couple of weeks at random, i think they rotate bus lines... any way when the guy got on he said "Biglietti per favore senora e senorina" to me and the woman sitting across from me who had to be late thirties... in which she fashed him a rude look mumbling i am not that old yet! and he blushed. Anyway my man sitting behind her recieved a 50 € ticket!! ouch! he kept saying he thought he had it on him he must have taken it out of his wallet but the officer didnt care .. i guess they hear that a lot.

I am off to my 9:30 class which is the on site one however the first class is in the classroom .. oh which class room??? goooood question cause the prof neglected to put that part in there ... so i am off in search of my class or at least others in it also ...

Rome wasn't built in a day but i walked it in one!

Satuday was amazing!!
I walked ALL over...
So my two roommates Kate and Amanda and I decided to go see the trevi during the day walk around Rome for a couple of hours and then go see it again at night...
I was excited cause the last time that I was in rome I only saw it at night . We took the metro there then from the trevi walked to the pantheon then to the monument to victor and emanuel then to the sared area then piazza nuovo then to the colosseo then back to the trevi then home!
my pictures say it much better ... http://picasaweb.google.com/SaporeLaDolcezza

Sunday there was really nothing to do since everything is closed! I have deemed that homework day...

Monday was my first day of class and it went well i really love my prof he is this little italian man that has worked all over the world and has soo many stories to tell.. kinda reminds me of poppop

Yesterday the internet in my appt wasnt working :( I hope it is not a permanent thing..

I am now off to my next three classes... I am in class from 2:15 till 6:30 not too bad ...

ciao