medieval times...

Today we walked around Siena... 

The most interesting thing I noticed was

the city had different districts that are named after animals. 

Our guide was born in the silkworm district; each district is noted by various plaques and insignia that are placed all over the city. For example, in the silkworm district you will see ceramic tiles with a silkworm that shows you are in that district. We

also went to the Church of St. Catherine of Siena... the church was 

large and very ornate inside (like every Catholic church). This church also houses her chopped off head and one of her fingers, which is kinda weird. I don't fully understand the holy relic idea. 

After that we went to a museum and looked at some art, toured the duomo in Siena that holds

some art done by well known artists (painter of the Sistine Chapel, hint hint) and old manuscripts in it's library. The above painting was done by Pinturcchio, and was assisted by Raphael... you can see a possible self portrait of him in the right corner.

 After walking the town square,

  we ate a medieval style lunch, mainly salami from various pig parts, bread, and cheese. 

Later that night we met our instructors for dinner at a place in Siena where sometimes famous people go. 

I had stuffed calamari, veal and potatoes, rosso di montalcino, and lots of bread with olive oil. 

Overall it was a satisfying day!

      

Siena and Banfi Vineyard.

We have arrived in Siena! Excited to explore this tiny walled medieval town! 

On the way, we stopped at Banfi Winery... 

it supposedly has some of the best wine in Italy. 

Their wine is sangiovese grapes, and is 

located near Montalcino. 

We toured the winery and then had a wine tasting with 

a three course lunch at Castel Banfi. It was so delicious. 

We had cheese, thick rope-like pasta noodles with tomato & beef sauce, veal with potatoes, and biscotti with espresso.

The Tuscan countryside was absolutely beautiful.
If only I had a rich uncle with no children who would leave me a large sum of money so I could buy a castle in Tuscany and look at the green rolling hills everyday!

   

Adios to Roma...

Today was a lecture day... I won't go into it too much except to say that our lecturer Valentina Dorato was hilarious and very lively. Which is helpful on a hot afternoon in a classroom with no A/C and a stomach full of carbs. Today is our last day in Rome... we spent our last night eating gelato from Grom, eating pizza, and packing our things to get ready for Siena. I am not a city girl, but I have loved Rome. The history and the architecture have captivated me... it's a city that hold a lot of surprises in it's busy streets full of honking cars, piazzas with sparkling fountains, it's twisting cobblestone streets, and in the people that live there. I think even if I spent the whole
month in Rome, I would not have enough time to see it all. 

I need to pack all my junk to get ready for Siena tommorrow. Off on the next adventure!

A stroll with Rachel Roddy...

Today was by far one of my
most favorite days in Rome.

I didn't see any huge monuments that were 

built thousands of years ago, or get to shake the Pope's hand, or 

even eat my weight's worth of gelato. 

Today, I ate a bag of cherries, tasted some pizza, 

and walked around Testaccio with the food blogger Rachel Roddy at Rachel Eats.

Rachel is an English woman living in Rome who blogs 

about food and Italy. What's not to like???

We walked with Rachel through Testaccio to see the sights. 

And by sights, I mean a rugged-looking hill of broken pottery, the local market, and one of the oldest slaughterhouses still standing in Rome.

Testaccio's location is next to a large hill that is made of 

broken clay pots. In antiquity, much of the trade on the Tiber River took place here. The hill is made of the remains of the broken clay pots that stored various goods coming into Roma. We could see it as we walked around the neighborhood. 

We also saw the slaughterhouse... now housing an art museum and concerts, etc.  

Rachel took us to the Testaccio market, which had everything a stomach could possibly want (where the market is currently housed, you can see a portion of the old road that led into Rome). She bought a bag of delicious ripe deep purple cherries to share with us as we walked around. 

It could have been the fact I just had a fabulous weekend, the excitement that builds inside me being surrounded by history, or maybe just being in Italy period... but those cherries were the best damn thing I had ever tasted. 

After that we went to Eataly... I don't know how to describe it 

except to hesitantly say it's like a large supermarket supposedly full of Italy's best products.

You can buy wine, sauces, pasta, cosmetics, vegetables, oil, 

cookbooks, chocolate, pastries... you name it. 

 There are definitely a lot of products to peruse and I did buy a few things to make dinner and to take home. 

But shopping there was like being in a Costco at home.

I have loved being able to go to the open air markets to buy food, stopping in a particular shop, or even the local grocery store and asking

gray haired women (in Spanish because I can't speak Italian) what

cheese I should buy. 

Eataly doesn't give you that magic. It also takes away from

the local shops selling their products. 

But I think it's worth checking out if you are there. 

After Eataly we went home to eat gelato and then prepare dinner using our Eataly products. One of our classmates is a chef (and consequently the only man on this trip)and so we all 

whipped up a 'family' dinner. 

  

 

   

  

Long day on a southbound train...

Today we headed back to Roma after our weekend full of sun and sea. I was a little bummed to have to return to the city. Don't get me wrong... it's amazing I'm even in Rome in the first place. But I live in a small town, and I'll always feel more at home in smaller places. Our day was rather uneventful. A lady at the train station started yelling at us, asking for money. I am a fan of avoiding confrontation so we just walked away from her to a different platform. The ride home was long and boring... keep in mind that even in Italy, the train doesn't go through the most attractive part of the towns. When we returned to Rome, we jumped on a bus to take us back to Trastevere. On the way, a guy on the bus was calling us all sorts of terrible things and belittling us for being Americans. In some instances I can totally understand why locals don't generally warm up to us... I don't want to go into stereotypes because there are Americans out there who will jump feet first into another culture. We ended up getting off the bus early in the pouring rain and catching the tram back to the apartment. Slogging through the water and up the stairs, I just felt relieved to be back in my apartment. After all that unpleasantness, I had a quick trip to a pizzeria to get some dinner and a stop by the market. I am now in bed and feeling content. Ready for another busy week!


PS- Italy has CACTUS! Glorious, prickly, green, blooming cactus!
(I'm a little obsessed... I do live Arizona!) 

"How do you say it? Chink-y Terre-y?"

Today we scoped out the rest of the towns in Cinque Terre (so hard to pronounce the name!). 

We started in monterosso, which is the northernmost town of the five. There was a beautiful sandy beach which was 

dotted with chairs and umbrellas. We decided to hike from monterosso to Vernazza using one of the coastal trails. It was a beautiful hike, but had a LOT of really steep stairs. I have never sweat so much in my life! 

The hike itself isn't far, but it's really steep and can wind you pretty easily. 

The trail was covered in wildflowers, grass, overhanging trees, and you walk next to some beautiful vineyards. 

The views from the hills overlooking the towns are absolutely gorgeous. It took my breath away (which wasn't hard after climbing all those stairs). 

One weird thing we passed was a donation canister for food and water for the feral 

cats that I guess inhabit the hills above Vernazza. We 

saw a couple of the kitties lounging on picnic tables. 

Once we started the descent, we could see Vernazza. As we walked into town, we passed 

all sorts of little shrines for Catholic saints and there were two men playing

the accordion and violin to welcome the hikers into the next town. 

After the hike we guzzled water, ate some mediocre food at a touristy

restaurant, and then got some ice cold gelato (Nutella for me). 

We walked around the docks and the other girls decided they wanted to swim. 

I hadn't brought a bathing suit. 

After some deliberation I just decided to jump in the sea with the others. 

Even though my clothes were soaking and not fun to walk around in, 

I figure 'you only live once'. 

The water was cold and super salty.

It was worth it. 

After that we went to the next town, Corniglia. 

There are 365 stairs (one for each day of the year) to go to the town square. 

Corniglia is small, quainter, and doesn't have as many 

places to swim, but it was really cool. It also wasn't as crowded. 

After that, we went back to La Spezia to shower then headed to manarola for the evening. 

We walked alongside a cliff that overlooks the sea and then walked into town to get something to eat. 

I had a mess of seafood and squid ink pasta. So delicious. 

The only thing about today that was a little off kilter was when we got back to La Spezia, some drunk British guys kept following us around. We went to a gelato shop owned by a sweet elderly couple. 

One of the British guys decided to try and impress us 

by showing us his scrotum and the others were pulling on our braids or 

making really strange comments. Luckily they left after Hailey 

yelled at them and told them they were a bunch of morons. 

Oy vey. 
It was an interesting end to a great weekend. 
We are all wanting to stay longer instead of heading back to Rome, but I was glad I got to come for a couple days at least. I was also glad I found some other girls who wanted to join me. 
Well... off the bed! Have to catch the train back to Roma Termini early in the morning! 

Off to the coast!

Today is a free day, so myself, Brittany, Hailey, and Katelyn decided we needed some sea and sun for the weekend. So we headed out of Roma to Cinque Terre, a national park consisting of 5 towns in the Liguria region of Italy. These little towns border the sea on the Italian Riviera and are only accessible by train. There are no cars really in any of the towns, and they are linked by trails that go along the coast. For the weekend we are staying at Hotel Firenze Continentale in La Spezia; tonight we went to Riomaggiore for dinner and to take some photos and wander around. The sea is beautiful... the water is so clear and is literally turquoise. I have never seen water that looks like that. Brittany and I immediately headed to the harbor so we could go put our sore feet in the water. It smelled salty and the water was cold but it felt amazing!

 We ate dinner at a restaurant that is perched on a cliff overlooking the sea; even though it was us four girls it was a very romantic spot with fantastic food, views, and service. 

I had lamb with spinach, it was so delicious. Brittany and I split a bottle of wine that was a blend of syrah and cabernet which was fantastic. We sopped our bread up with lots of olive oil, and each of us were licking our fingers clean after eating. I could just feel the stress melting away and also had a moment of just feeling absolutely content. 

Italy is an amazing country; not just for the typical reasons (food, wine, art) but because the pace is a little more relaxed. The people are generally nice, and the way they live is also something I could totally get on board with. 

Well... time for bed! Lots to do in the morning!