La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life

Ciao!


Beyond the obvious charm that Italy exudes, there is a certain, often indescribable, magical appeal to "The Boot." I experienced this during my travel break to Tuscany this past weekend. The most quintessential Italian villas and vineyards one would expect to see in Italy were more beautiful than any movie or picture can represent. Between Florence and Siena the atmosphere changes dramatically. On one hand, the grandeur that Florence boasts with its ancient cathedrals and timeless works of art engulf your thoughts. Standing in front of these breathtaking objects forces you to reflect on the history of Florence (once considered the center of the world). Knowing Michelangelo once walked on the same street you stand on is a crazy feeling. On the other hand, the country-esque, small town vibe that Siena provides creates an entirely different feeling. Walking the narrow streets of Siena under the warm Tuscan sun while sipping on their world-renowned Chianti creates a feeling of old-world simplicity. The atmosphere of these two ancient cities is connected through their history, yet they undoubtedly own their own piece of the historical pie. 

This weekend, Kate, one of my fellow CIMBA peers turned the big TWO ONE. Since she was traveling with our group to Tuscany, we figured a night out in Florence was appropriate (as if we needed a reason). There was a club offering a free bottle of Prosecco (if you do not know what this is, you're missing out) to Kate on her birthday. So on Saturday night, our sharply dressed group of ten went to Club 21 to kick of the celebration. This club was not exactly the craziest/busiest operation in town so we got the free bottle, toasted to Kate, and quickly moved on to the next place. The next club we went to was recommended by a bartender we met earlier in the evening. One word: outrageous. This club was packed with people dancing to techno/house/dance music that included popular songs of today. The night ended up being a blast! 

Celebrating Kate's 21st birthday

Touring the different sites of the Tuscan region provided a fascinating look into the ancient world. The architecture that man was able to create thousands of years ago is amazing. The outer cathedral walls are composed entirely of different colored marble. The statues represent some of the biggest names in old-world history. That being said, my trip was not entirely centered around history and the arts. If you know anything about me, it is the fact that I enjoy food more than most things in life. Over the weekend I discovered a Turkish dish called the kebab. No, not the typical "kebab" you would grill at home, but rather a burrito-like concoction of roasted chicken, lettuce, tomato, hummus, spices, and potato. While the dish varies from place-to-place, I never once ate a kebab that was not absolutely delicious (minus a slight onion condition on my first try). And yes, I did eat four kebabs in two days. 

Statue of David

The delicious kebabs

Overall, this weekend was a success! I am excited for the next two weeks for multiple reasons. First, we have our first formal dinner tonight. We get to wine and dine with our professors at one of the finest restaurants in the area. After this week concludes, I am off to London, Paris, and the French Riviera to travel with my mom. I'm looking forward to seeing some amazing places and not having to pay for anything! Gotta' love parents. 

"For us to go to Italy, and to penetrate into Italy, is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery, back, back down the old ways of time. Strange and wonderful chords awake in us, and vibrate again after many hundreds of years of complete forgetfulness." --D.H. Lawrence

Cinque Terre: The land of pesto, beautiful water, train strikes, and shady Mizzou students.

Ciao!

This past weekend I traveled with a group of CIMBA students to Cinque Terre, Italy. Cinque Terre is a region along the Italian Riviera composed of five villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The region is a national park as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

One word to describe Cinque Terre: Stunning

The group of six students that I traveled with stayed in the town of Riomaggiore, our very first hostel! Quite the experience. The hostel itself was not too bad but the shower was a different story. Apparently, it is acceptable to call a "shower" an enclosed area where a dribble of water flows through a shower head. I am not sure if anybody in our hostel was able to get completely wet during our showers. I guess I should feel pretty lucky if that is the worst part of staying in a hostel. That being said, I have no idea how elderly people manage to make it up the six flights of stairs to their homes. Our group had a hard enough time as it was and we are in shape!

My time in Cinque Terre was spent at the beach. I bought the hiking ticket, yet never made it to the hiking trail. I am still questioning why I bought the ticket when I knew all I wanted to do was lay on the beach and catch some sun. Oh well. My entire afternoon was dedicated to enjoying the crystal clear turquoise water and basking in the Mediterranean sun. - I managed to get a pretty good tan that afternoon! After we packed up and left the beach, we decided eating some gelato was a must. I ended up making two trips to the gelateria because the dark chocolate gelato was so delicious. Afternoon: Success!

After returning to our hostel and enjoying that -amazing- shower, our group of six was anxious to find a nice restaurant to wine and dine. We quickly found a swanky (by Cinque Terre village standards) restaurant to sit down, relax, and converse on the days adventures. The wine and food were both great. I ordered a pasta dish with lobster. I am pretty sure the lobster was freshly caught off the coast that day. After dinner we enjoyed a few drinks and explored more of Riomaggiore.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to check out of the hostel. If there is one thing I learned this weekend, it is that Italians like to go on strike. There was a national train strike on Sunday, meaning the train that was supposed to take us back to our bus was not coming. After a few hours of waiting in the rain with a mass of other students/tourists trying to get home, we managed to book two taxis to La Spezia (where our bus to CIMBA was). Situation resolved? Nope. Our taxis arrived late to pick us up and when they finally showed up, a group of students from Mizzou tried to steal them from us. They ran towards our taxis and insisted that the taxis were theirs. Ha! Being me, I nicely informed them that they were mistaken. As the rest of our group put their bags in the back of our car, the Mizzou students sprinted towards our other taxi and tried to hop inside. Both taxi drivers had the "what the f*** is wrong with Americans" look on their faces. After some arguing, the taxi driver finally resolved the situation by calling the number that booked the two cars. What a surprise, Ainsley's (student in our group) phone rang. We were finally off to La Spezia. After waiting four ours in the McDonalds at the train station, we finally loaded the bus and made it back to CIMBA.

Today marks our first full week of classes. I am excited to get into a routine again and even more excited for this upcoming weekend.

Agenda: Tuscany region for some wine tasting and to celebrate Kate's 21st birthday.

Sunday morning before leaving Cinque Terre. 

Mt. Grappa

This past weekend a group of us decided to hike Mt Grappa. This task sounded easy enough from what our CIMBA leaders had told us. After walking over an hour just to get to the mountain, we quickly discovered that hiking would be a greater task than anticipated. - This was the epitome of mountain terrain. The "trail"seemed to disappear at some points and was covered with shards of rock that made climbing extremely difficult. Needless to say, we never reached the top of Mt. Grappa and I'm not too sure if that will ever happen..

Other than that excursion, life in Italy has been both fun and relaxing. Saturday night we traveled to Bassano del Grappa. We explored the city, ate some gelato, and ended up having a drink at a very nice bar.  Lesson learned: don't (or for some, do) ask the locals in Bassano for directions to a club. They will lead you to the nearest strip club. Yesterday, we went to a nearby town by the name of Asolo (pronounced Oz-olo). The town is also known as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" because of the amazing views from the top of the mountain upon which the city sits. - The views definitely did not disappoint.

The common saying amongst the CIMBA students has been "When in Rome!" Everybody is ready and willing to experience new things. I look forward to many more fun times in the near future. We are currently booked for a hostel in Cinque Terre for the upcoming weekend and are in the midst of planning a wine tasting/bike tour of Tuscany for the extended weekend that follows.

Just one of the great views from Asolo. 

Break time on Mt. Grappa

Wine, pasta, and more wine..

The past few days in Italy have been quite eventful. I arrived at the Venice airport on Sunday afternoon and met up with five other students to make the journey from the airport to Paderno. Luckily, one of the CIMBA RA's was at the airport and ended up coming back to campus with us. - I'm about 99.9% sure we wouldn't have made it by ourselves! After a rather late arrival to campus, we were sent to an orientation to help get us settled in to our new home. We quickly discovered a bar is located on the other side of our campus (via a tunnel leading under the street). Let's just say one glass of wine to welcome in the beginning of our adventure ended up being more than one...

On Monday, classes began and the beginning of our semester was off to a great start. I have had the opportunity to meet a bunch of amazing people and I'm greatly looking forward to getting to know everyone better. Monday night was deemed gelato night. A group of about 20 students decided we would make the twenty minute walk to the next town, Crespano, and indulge ourselves with some delicious dessert. Twenty minutes later: the gelato shop was closed! Apparently in Italy, besides the fact they take three hour lunch breaks and enjoy a simple life, Monday is a common day to be closed. It was probably the most depressing thing to happen to me since my journey began. That being said, do not think our group accepted defeat. - We definitely did not turn right back around and head to Paderno. A group member spotted a pub right down that street that was open. Quick summary: This family owned pub pulled out all the stops for us. Our night was not such a failure after all. 

Every morning seems to be a dream. Waking up in such a beautiful part of the world is surreal! I never imagined studying in a place where I would be spoiled by the grandeur of the Alps rising exquisitely into the clouds above on a daily basis.

I am excited to see what the rest of the semester will bring. 

Just one picturesque view of Paderno.