Siena & Cortona

I wasn't able to post this picture last time because the internet was freaking out, but here is a sample of some of the stone carving progress I've made. It was kind of scary as I was doing it b/c our teacher came up and grabbed my chisel and hammer from my hand, then slapped my hand down on the slab, and I almost kind of thought he was going to chisel around my hand, but then he drew around it. He came back around 20 minutes later, pointed at me, rubbed his hands together, then pointed at the furnace, so I went to go warm my hands. He almost reminds me of my Grandma Alli b/c we don't understand him, so we just do what he says from carving, warming up, and eating pastries that he gives us. 

The day after stone carving we had our weekly field trip to another city and we went to Siena. I have started to realize as we go to these smaller towns, how much nicer it is to visit the smaller towns as opposed to Florence or Pisa, because it feels so much safer and honestly, the churches seem to be so much prettier. Our bus ride to Siena was miserable because the bus had the heat on too high, and when we asked the bus driver to turn the air up, he thought we said we were cold, and turned the heat up even more...death! So when we got off the bus and it was snowing in Siena, no one really complained. We met our new tour guide and she quickly told us how Siena is divided into 17 different districts, each with their own colors and animals. She happened to be part of the porcupine district, which I found really funny, but apparently the rivalries between the districts is a big deal. When we first got there we got a great view of the multiple churches we would be going into. 

View of Cathedrals in Siena.

The first church we went into  first (the one on the left) was really well known because it had the head and finger relics of Saint Catherine of Seina. The city of Siena is a lot more protective of its churches and of prayer, so we weren't allowed to take a tone of pictures inside- sorry! 

Basilica Cateriniana Di San Domenico

After walking around the inside, we made our way to Piazza Salimbeni, which is a dividing piazza among multiple districts, and it also contains multiple palaces (not exactly what we would consider a palace, but they belonged to wealthy families). 

Piazza Salimbeni

Next we made our way to the hall of the town records dating back to the 1200's. I didn't realize we weren't allowed to take pictures so I sneaked y'all one! It was kind of crazy being in the huge rooms full of these documents that are almost 1000 years old, and how little security there was...it was a little mind blowing! From the terrace of the record halls we were also able to get a good view of the main Piazza in Siena which is shaped like a seashell because it belongs to the district of the seashells (yes, one of the district's "mascot" is a seashell)

Records in Siena.

Main Piazza in Siena.

After we headed to a Palazzo before our last stop to the main church at the top of the hill. Once we got into the church I was just kind of in awe...it was humongous! Literally I don't think I've ever been a church this big, and to top it, it turns out the nave, which is the long part of the church was suppose to be the trancept, which is the short part of the cross that makes the church. (Churches in this time were built like a cross- the trancept was the short part, the nave the long). On top of that, I feel like every church we go in to is more ornate than the next...I was just kind of walking around saying to everyone "I don't understand how they built this!?!??!"

Palazzo Chigi Saracini

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta.

interior of the cathedral.

more interior.

amazing wall murals...looks like it keeps receding- "trompe l'eiol"

 Now as you all can imagine, going into all these different churches made me wonder what its like in a synagogue built around the same time...and then, what do you know, our tour guide mentioned the synagogue in Siena! It turns out it was just down the street from where we were eating lunch, and so me and my friends made the trip down there. Unfortunately, the synagogue was only open to tours on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays and we were there on a Sunday so I didn't get to go inside, but I am determined to go in one while I am in Italy!

This way to the synagogue!

Me outside of the synagogue in Siena!!!!

Thursday was spent in class, but yesterday afternoon we took another field trip to Cortona, a small town only 40 kilometers away. All I can say is none of the pictures I took do it justice. The town is on the edge of a hill, and the drive up there was winding up and down the hillside, and I just couldn't take my eyes off the window because every turn was more beautiful than the next! We finally had our favorite tour guide Giovani back, and he took us into the museum of Cortona as well as a church, but again, we weren't allowed to take a ton of pictures. 

Town hall in Cortona.

Giovani trying to sneak us in an old house. Love him!

It will be sunflower season soon!

MAEC: Museum of Etruscan Architecture in Cortona -I translated from Italian for you :)

Church in Cortona.

Interior...very old- notice the rafters...not so straight!

Confessional booth...first one I've ever seen in real life- I had to take a picture!

Once our official tour ended in Cortona, we were allowed to roam the streets, so most of us broke of and just wandered around to look at the views, and tried to practice our Italian by buying meats and cheeses...I chose chocolate. Giovani told us about this amazing chocolate shop, so we were determined to find it! We walked in and the woman gave us free hot chocolate (which is much thicker and chocolate-ier than what we are use to. We probably spent 20 minutes just looking around at everything, and finally made our decisions...I bought some of the chocolate bars pictured below as well as a cannoli and an espresso cream in a chocolate cup! Needless to say it was all delicious!

All homemade chocolate cookies and pastries in COCAO.

ALL HOME MADE CHOCOLATE

Cortona from the edge of the hill- even better in person!

Clara and I in Cortona!

Cortona at sunset!

This Tuesday the entire center will be heading to Rome for a few days- so excited to see the Forum and Colosseum! From there, me and 7 other friends, as well as some students from CSU will be boarding a plane at 8 in the morning to go to Barcelona! I'm so excited for a high of 68 (Castiglion Fiorentino has now made it up to 45 degrees), architecture by Gaudi, Van  Der Rohe, the Salvidor Dali museum, and possibly even a chocolate museum?

Ciao! Ce Vediamo! (see you soon)

Girls trip to Pisa & Lucca

This past weekend was the first trip I took with some friends out of town on our own to Pisa and Lucca (I'm glad I ended up going because that would have been really embarrassing if I named my blog after a city I didn't go to!).

"You have Harvard, we have Pisa"- Michele

So Friday morning at 7 a.m. Clara, Chloe, Alli, Katelyn and I all trekked down to the train station in the snow remnants to board the 7:51 train Florence. Once we got to Florence we then caught a train to Pisa Centrale, the main station in Pisa. We arrived in Pisa around 11 a.m. and we were thrilled when we stepped out of the train station...NO SNOW! This was the first time we saw actual ground in over 10 days. 

We navigated our way to the bed and breakfast we booked (we figured we would let other check out the hostels before we tried it). We rung the bell for the "Michele Guest House" (of which we thought was pronounced like "Michelle"). We kind of stood around for a minute when a hefty woman across the street on the second floor leaned out of her window and flagged us down to come on up. We all just kind of look around at each other and all were thinking "Oh god, no thank you crazy lady across the street!".Michele (pronounced Mikel-eh) then came outside to greet us, and explained that the rooms we were in were actually across the street, but that he lived at the address he gave us. He was a very nice, knowledgeable man, and along with running a B&B, he is also a photographer and he designs and builds custom bathrooms. We were made aware of all of this when he took us through a tour of the entire guest house to show us all his custom bathrooms and photographs he has taken.The B&B was very nice, especially for only $33/night...we got free breakfast, a private bathroom, normal sized showers...that were HOT, free wifi and Italian TV! We were so excited we almost didn't want to leave the room, but after all the places Michele told us to go, we made our way out to go eat lunch and see the sights in Pisa!

Our suite in Pisa

The photo tile of the fox that can watch you in the bathroom...Michele's pride and joy!

Our first stop was lunch, which was yummy (as usual)...I ordered tortellini which is what we as Americans call ravioli, so I was a little surprised when I got my plate, but nonetheless delicious. The best was the tiramisu we got to end the meal- SOO good. It came with a mocha sauce on it...yeah I'm sure your mouth is watering now!

First Tiramisu!

After we made our way to...yes, of course, the leaning tower. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be so lean-y...IT'S SO LEAN-Y! So the 5 of us spent about 30-40 minutes trying to take all sorts of poses in front of it, and I have posted a few of them. We weren't able to go in, but we did go in to the Cathedral right next to it, which was much prettier than any of the other churches we had been inside of yet. I think it's kind of weird that some of the smaller towns have much prettier sights, but because they are not major cities, they are not as well known. After wandering around for the rest of the afternoon, we called it a night and got some pizza right around the corner from where we were staying, and spent the rest of the evening watching Italian Wipeout. :)

Leaning tower and cathedral

First view of the tower...it's so leany!

Cathedrale de Pisa

which one is leaning?

touristy leaning tower pic!

 Saturday morning we got on a train to Lucca, only 30 minutes away, and got our first dose of creeps at the train station. It was nerve racking waiting for the train to leave, but once we were moving we were fine. Lucca is beautiful! I had never heard of it before, but it is definitely worth a trip! It's a small town that is still 95% intact (only 5% of Pisa's original architecture is still intact). It even has the surrounding stone fortress walls, which it only takes about 40 minutes to walk around them (that tells you how small it is).

We first went up into the main tower that use to be a bell tower, which gave an amazing panoramic view of the town. I really didn't know that Italy had that many mountains, but it was beautiful to see all the roof lines and the mountains off in the distance. We went to a couple other beautiful churches throughout the day, and just walked up and down the main street where all the shops and businesses are. We stopped to have a snack at this bakery/bar where all the intellectuals were known to have gone- I tried my first cannoli- delish! Around 5 we headed back to Pisa to stop back at the B&B. We then slowly made our way to dinner but crossing the bridge over the Arno and taking night shots of the river. My camera didn't take that great of pictures but I stole some of Clara's for your enjoyment :) We had a really nice dinner leisurely dinner (I tried octopus that Clara ordered- not bad!) and it was just a really good end to our first trip on our own. 

Cathedrale de San Martino

Cannoli from Di Simo Caffe

Caffe we went to that many intellectuals are known to eat at.

Remains of the Roman Ampitheatre

Cathedrale de San Frediano in Lucca

Interior of San Frediano

Exterior remaining walls surrounding Lucca

All the girls on top of the walls of Lucca.

Stairs up to the top of the tower in Lucca

Lucca from the top of the tower.

Me, Chloe and Alli on the bridge over Arno in Pisa.

Clara, me & Chloe at the Osteria in Pisa

On top of the tower in Lucca...Props to Clara balancing her camera on a tree limb.

View of Lucca from top of the tower.

Sunday morning we were debating to go to another town nearby, Viareggio, to see the beginning of the Carnivale parades, but because they started so late in the afternoon we decided come back another weekend (hopefully the day after my birthday!)

The process of getting train tickets and getting back was very stressful- lots of gypsies asking for money in Pisa, and Clara's money got eaten by a ticket machine in Florence, but we made it back safely in 3 hours.

Today was my first full stone carving class and it was rough, but slowly I am getting the hang of it. Its just so nerve-racking because one false movement and you could mess us the entire piece. We don't go next week because we will be in Rome, but I will keep y'all updated on my progress and once I decide on a design for my final piece (I am also welcoming any and all ideas). The one thing I have definitely gotten out of this class that I think only the 5 of us in it understand- how amazing all these hand carved churches and statues are...they are 1 million times more impressive once you've actually tried it yourself!

Tomorrow we have a class field trip to Siena, so it will be nice to see somewhere other than Florence.  And it is official...my spring break will be spent in Paris, France, Dublin, Ireland, and London, England!Till next time! Ciao!

Arezzo, Frozen Pipes, Laundry & Firenze Round 2!

Since last post a lot has happened within the cold walls of the Santa Charia study center and the town of Castiglion Fiorentino- last Friday we were suppose to go to the town market held every first Friday of the month, but due to the excessive snow and low temperatures (17 degrees with the windchill) it was cancelled. As well as this, the antique market that was suppose to take place in Arezzo, the next town over from us, was cancelled Saturday morning. So most of the day Saturday was spent sleeping, as well as taking a leisurely train ride to Arezzo and wandering around.

Town square in Arezzo...still under snow!

The first thing you have to understand about Italian culture is siesta, which you probably all think is a wonderfully thing, but poses challenges when you are a tired college student trying to visit other cities. Siesta takes place from 1-3/4 p.m. everyday. Basically everything within a town except for cafes will close up shop so they can take a nap. But, as tired college students, we did not think this through, of course. So when we decided to take the 11am train to Arezzo (only a 15 minute ride) and sit down to get some lunch (best pizza I've had so far!) and then leave the restaurant around 2...well...we kind of just had to walk around in the snow for a few hours, ha ha.

Best pizza- olives, artichoke, hot salami & prosciutto!

By the time we got back from Arezzo, it was time for our own nap just before dinner...where we then found out that the pipes in the center had frozen, as well as in in the reserve water tank, and we were to be without water for...oh, I don't know...at least 12 hours...no showers, toilets, sinks or drinking water...oh and did I mention it felt like 17 degrees outside, so the walk to a functioning restroom would not be pleasant. 

Luckily the water was on around 11 the next morning, but I was very concerned (and thirsty) for the 15 hour stretch. Later that afternoon my 2 roommates and I decided to do good ole' fashioned laundry on our triple layer clothesline in our room...it was an experience, considering doing laundry in a machine had been a challenge to learn 3 years ago, and sometimes I still call my mom. 

Laundry day!

Sunday night one of the local bars, the Velvet Underground hosted a super bowl watching party for us from midnight to 4 am, but I crashed out after about the first quarter- sorry America!

Monday was spent all day in studio (those are usually pretty uneventful days) but Tuesday we had and architecture history class and then I had my first stone carving class of the semester! The guy that teaches is named Alberto Bruni (you can look him up)...he speaks 0 English but is really talented. He's only been carving for about 20 years, but he has carved multiple bicycle/tricycles out of a single piece of stone. Since I am the only girl out of the 5 of us in the class, he said in April I get to ride the tricycle! So excited! He also hold a Guinness Book of World Records title for carving the longest chain out of single piece of stone 

THE tricycle!

Yesterday we took our second class field trip to Firenze and we went by the Baptistry of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (with the Duomo) and the Museo di Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore. We were not able to go into the Baptistry, but we walked around and looked at all the different entrances and got to see 2 of the 3 doorways cast in bronze. Next we went on to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore which was beautiful, but is also the home of Brunelleschi's dome...pretty amazing feat that he was able to construct the dome and all the machines to help build it. We then went into the Museo del Opera which houses a lot of the original sculptures from the Cathedral. We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves- we first went to find lunch on our own, and somehow, without even looking for it, yes...we ended up at the pizzeria that the cast from Jersey Shore worked out. Worst pizza I've had yet, but we had to the touristy American thing. We then went to the Italian markets, first the real ones (which were waaaay too pricey) and then to the cheaper ones...I got an authentic floppy European hat to keep my head warm, and a larger purse for field trip days (and now I can say "oh...this- I just bought it while I was in Florence").

Baptistry, Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore with the Duomo.

Bronze-cast doors to the Baptistry

The inside of Santa Maria del Fiore

The inside of the Duomo!

Pizzeria from the Jersey Shore.

Chloe, Clara & I in out European floppy hats!

We won't be back in Florence for another couple of weeks, but this weekend is my first "trip-on-my-own" with my friends Clara, Chloe, Katelyn & Alli. We are leaving for Pisa in the morning and then will spend Saturday in Lucca (apparently they have really good chocolate- yum!) I will have plenty of updates from that, as well as our field trip next week to Siena. Ciao!