Posing with a knight at San Gemignano!
Here I am today at San Gemignano in Tuscany. You can see the grape vineyards in the background.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Day 8: Tuscany
Posing with a knight at San Gemignano!
Here I am today at San Gemignano in Tuscany. You can see the grape vineyards in the background.
Day 7: Florence
Buon Giorno from Florence! I finally got my luggage on Thursday at noon. We were a little late leaving for Florence but we made it before dinner time and most importantly, I have all my clothes!!!!
Thursday evening my friend Caitlin and I had dinner at a pizzeria named Nuti. I had pasta with pesto--absolutely delicious! It was very fun to be able to visit with Caitlin and who would have guessed our paths would cross in Florence??
Yesterday I visited the Duomo and several other beautiful cathedrals. It is amazing to see what was built hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Our class saw the "David" sculpture at the Academy. It was breathtaking and quite larger than I expected. We also went to the Basilica de San Croce where Michelangelo is buried. After that we climbed to the top of the mountain overlooking Florence and went to a monestary called Miniato de Monte. There we heard Gregorian chants by several monks. All of our days have been so busy!
The food here is wonderful. I find myself frequently grabbing a pizza as they are so delicious and relatively cheap here. They make them in personal size and are also shareable with another person. The gelato (ice cream) is to die for. There is literally a Gelateria on every corner, sometimes several in a row. I've been trying all sorts of flavors like Bacio (chocolate with hazelnut), Caramel, and Limone. I'm attempting to try as many flavors as possible while I'm here--and I definitely don't feel guilty about it with all the hiking I'm doing every day.
Today we went to a town about 45 minutes away by bus called San Gemignano. It is a medival town located up in the moutains. The architecture is amazing. I have plenty of pictures to share!! San Gemignano overlooks Tuscany. The rolling green hills filled with vineyards, the quaint little houses scattered throughout the orchards...etc. It really is one of the most beautiful views.
Market day (today, Saturday) in Florence is really something to see. The streets are lined up and down with many tents housing things like leather (which Florence is known for!), scarves, ties, and touristy souvenirs. I've been trying hard to save my money but my eye caught a few special items. Since the dollar is so weak in the U.S., everything is so expensive here. A bottle of water is almost 4 dollars!
Tomorrow we leave for Podova. While there we will be visiting Venice. I'm not sure what else is in and near Podova. We'll be there for two days. I'll update this as soon as I can. Hope everyone is doing well at home! I miss everyone!
Ciao :)
Thursday evening my friend Caitlin and I had dinner at a pizzeria named Nuti. I had pasta with pesto--absolutely delicious! It was very fun to be able to visit with Caitlin and who would have guessed our paths would cross in Florence??
Yesterday I visited the Duomo and several other beautiful cathedrals. It is amazing to see what was built hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Our class saw the "David" sculpture at the Academy. It was breathtaking and quite larger than I expected. We also went to the Basilica de San Croce where Michelangelo is buried. After that we climbed to the top of the mountain overlooking Florence and went to a monestary called Miniato de Monte. There we heard Gregorian chants by several monks. All of our days have been so busy!
The food here is wonderful. I find myself frequently grabbing a pizza as they are so delicious and relatively cheap here. They make them in personal size and are also shareable with another person. The gelato (ice cream) is to die for. There is literally a Gelateria on every corner, sometimes several in a row. I've been trying all sorts of flavors like Bacio (chocolate with hazelnut), Caramel, and Limone. I'm attempting to try as many flavors as possible while I'm here--and I definitely don't feel guilty about it with all the hiking I'm doing every day.
Today we went to a town about 45 minutes away by bus called San Gemignano. It is a medival town located up in the moutains. The architecture is amazing. I have plenty of pictures to share!! San Gemignano overlooks Tuscany. The rolling green hills filled with vineyards, the quaint little houses scattered throughout the orchards...etc. It really is one of the most beautiful views.
Market day (today, Saturday) in Florence is really something to see. The streets are lined up and down with many tents housing things like leather (which Florence is known for!), scarves, ties, and touristy souvenirs. I've been trying hard to save my money but my eye caught a few special items. Since the dollar is so weak in the U.S., everything is so expensive here. A bottle of water is almost 4 dollars!
Tomorrow we leave for Podova. While there we will be visiting Venice. I'm not sure what else is in and near Podova. We'll be there for two days. I'll update this as soon as I can. Hope everyone is doing well at home! I miss everyone!
Ciao :)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Day 3: Sorrento
Buona Sera! It is now the end of Day 3 of my trip. Unfortunately American Airlines lost my luggage, along with all of those who transferred to JFK from BWI with me (and went on to Rome). It's been awfully miserable without the majority of my things. Luckily I had one spare outfit in my carry-on and had a lot of toiletries in my backpack! The luggage was supposed to arrive at our hotel today via a courrier but they brought the wrong peoples' luggage. They brought some from people who are from Pasadena, Maryland! They were on the same two flights as me. Hopefully we get the suitcases tomorrow. There is an 80% chance we get them tomorrow, according to the hotel front desk. PRAY FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
On to the fun stuff.... Italy is GORGEOUS!!! There are really no words or no pictures to do it the justice it deserves. The only way to understand is to experience it first hand. I've already taken almost 300 pictures in just three days. Thanks to Dad I have 8g of camera memory. I have plenty of stories to tell everyone when I return. As part of the class I am taking here we are keeping a personal sketchbook and many of us are also using it as a journal. I've been taking advantage of bus and train rides and any spare time by writing in the sketchbook in attempts to remember everything possible. Someone on the trip has been nice enough to loan out his laptop to those of us who did not bring one. We're stealing some wireless. Once we get to Florence there should be internet cafes and I will write more then. The hotel I'm at now in Sorrento is on the top of a moutain and the town is a bus ride away so I haven't had much access to technology other than a few minutes on the borrowed laptop here and there.
CIAO FOR NOW!
On to the fun stuff.... Italy is GORGEOUS!!! There are really no words or no pictures to do it the justice it deserves. The only way to understand is to experience it first hand. I've already taken almost 300 pictures in just three days. Thanks to Dad I have 8g of camera memory. I have plenty of stories to tell everyone when I return. As part of the class I am taking here we are keeping a personal sketchbook and many of us are also using it as a journal. I've been taking advantage of bus and train rides and any spare time by writing in the sketchbook in attempts to remember everything possible. Someone on the trip has been nice enough to loan out his laptop to those of us who did not bring one. We're stealing some wireless. Once we get to Florence there should be internet cafes and I will write more then. The hotel I'm at now in Sorrento is on the top of a moutain and the town is a bus ride away so I haven't had much access to technology other than a few minutes on the borrowed laptop here and there.
CIAO FOR NOW!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Italy: Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Music
Hello Everyone! I created this blog in hopes that it will provide my friends and family an easy and fun way to learn about what I'm doing while on a study abroad trip to Italy. The dates of my travel are May 24 to June 12, 2008. I can't wait to go! My itinerary is listed as follows below:
May 24: Depart for Rome
May 25: Arrive Rome before noon, transfer to Sorrento via Naples (Hotel Villa Fiorita)
May 26: Pompeii/Herculaneum. Dinner at Tasso's, Sorrento
May 27: Amalfi Coast (Amalfi, Ravello, Positano)
May 28: Non-instructional day (Naples, Ischia, or Capri)
May 29: Arrive Florence, city orientation tour (Duomo, Lungarno, Ponte Vecchio, Orsan Michele, Via Calziuoli, Piazza Santissima Annunziata) (Hotel Eden)
May 30: Academia + "David," Oltrarno, Santa Croce, Palazzo Pitti + Boboli Gardens, Santo Spirito, Piazza Michelangelo, San Miniato + Vespers
May 31: San Gimignano (Piazza della Cisterna + Piazza de Duomo), Santa Croce
June 1: Arrive Podova, City center and piazzas, Venice (Hotel Al Cason)
June 2: Non-instructional day (venice, Racenna, or Bologna)
June 3: Arrive San Remo (Casino, Russian Orthodox Church, Piazza Cristoforo Colombo) (Hotel Rosa Dei Venti)
June 4: Tour (Hanbury Gardens, Visionarium at Dolceacqua, Winery, Apricale)
June 5: Non-instructional day (Monte Carlo or beach)
June 6: Arrive La Spezia noon, Cinque Terra in PM (Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso) (Hotel Firenze e Continentale)
June 7: Arrive Rome noon (Circus Maximum, Campidoglio, Forum, Coliseum, Pyramide)
June 8: Piazza de Popolo, Ara Pacis, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Quirinal, Spanish Steps (Hotel Primus Roma)
June 9: Vatican: St. Peter's + museums, Janiculum, American Academy, Trastevere
June 10: Ghetto, Campo de'Fiori, Piazza Navona
June 11: Tivoli: Villa D'Este, Farewell dinner
June 12: Depart for Home
Here is the link to the program: Italy: Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Music
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