I've been in Firenze, Italy for a little over (scratch that about two weeks) and I can safely say this is my first chance to not only have the time to start writing my blog, but also to have a do-nothing day. So to get started, I'm just going to begin with the top ten stories of the week.
**Brownie points if you know this question, why do countries call so many cities and/or countries different names rather than their originals? For instance, a lot of countries (not just the U.S.) decides to call Firenze – Florence and for that matter Italia – Italy… me and my roommate Kelly have been debating the answer to this question for some time now.
4. Now I’m not one for the mushy love stuff, so I wasn’t actually jumping for the clouds when I heard we were going to the Casa di Giulietta, but I heard it’s a place you must go to so you can touch Giuliette’s right breast? Maybe I’m not in the “know circle”, but I was not aware this was a trendy must-do thing in Verona. Therefore, I willfully go along with my group of girls like any good ole’ tourist would do. First of all, let me just take you off track for a moment, the Italians drive like maniacs. I’m that girl you see in America that walks out in front of you because in my perspective I have the ride-away. However, when in Italia, the cars have the ride-away. So when walking in Italia, walk with caution and be quick on your toes. Second, the necessity of riding in a cab is sometimes inevitable. They too, drive like maniacs. Now, being in Italia I fully expect this to be the case. Did I think I would get in a cab and be holding onto Kelly for sweet beautiful life? No. The cab driver nearly got into a wreck with an Italian man, afterwards spoke what seemed like unpleasant foreign words to one another, quickly said “oh.. sorry” to his passengers (us) and kept driving to our destination as if nothing had happened. I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to get out of a car, and I mean that in all seriousness. Finally, to our destination, the Casa di Giulietta. Now, when I think of Giulietta’s house, I think of a beautiful quaint brick building filled with people who believe in ever-lasting love and all that jazz, but this casa was not quite what it seemed. The walls of the entrance was filled with letters to Giulietta written by people stuck to the wall with gum and the statue of Juliet was disturbingly being felt up for goodluck by everyone waiting in line to take a picture. Maybe that is to be expected, but I was not prepared for a tacky tourist trap that I couldn’t wait to get out of. However, I will say it was worth doing it for the sake of saying I’ve done it. So, after I grabbed Giulietta inappropriately and posted my trendy letter, “All you need is love,” attached with my mint gum, I skipped along my way to another ponte – bridge – and up to another castle, Castele San Pietro, and saw another fantastic view of the city. I swear, every walk you get the chance to take to see a view of any city in Italy is well worth the short breath.
5. I have not properly introduced my fabulous instructors, because this next story just shows how fabulous they truly are. Gabriella Merriman is a professor of the Italian language at the University of Alabama. To describe Gabriella, she dresses in a funky, cool style that not many can pull off, with an energy about her that always puts you in a good mood. Lidia Ciccone is a new professor of the Italian language at the University of Alabama. I haven’t gotten to know her as well, but she seems like she’d show me a good time! The two took us to a small town called Donta in Collina, a small town in the countryside. We were invited to cook at a professor’s house named Gabriella who teaches at the school we attend in Firenze – and note that there are many, many Gabriella’s in Italy, each and every one unique of coarse -Gabriella opened her home up to 20 Alabama students teaching us how to cook authentic Italian dishes. To name them all would make me hungry, but I can name my two favorites. The first was an appetizer she made for us to eat while we chopped and stirred, fried sage. When I say sage, I literally mean a full sage leaf plucked from her very own garden and fried in a pan. You may think it sounds strange, but it was delicious. The second dish I loved was the dessert. It was similar to a vanilla crème pudding with a texture of whipped crème, served with il cioccolato salame (it’s not actually chocolate and meat, it just resembles what looks like salami). I’m not sure if I’ve had a better dessert, and I can say I’ve had my fair share of i dolci in my days. In all, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be my favorite day in Italia. Our group really seemed to bond with one another this day and was happy to just enjoy the simplicities of good food, good friendships and good people.
Half the Noodles My Size
7. Tuesday, June 8, Gabriella and Lidia took the group to a wine tasting in Chainti – and although I have been to Chianti before (poor me), it’s definitely worth another trip. This time we went to the Castello di Verrazzano, which I still to this day can not tell you what this place was all about. Our professor made him speak in Italian, which makes perfect sense - we are here to learn the Italian language. But it was very difficult to get the full effect of this the Castello di Verrazzano when I really had no idea what this man was saying about the wines produced there or the history of the castle. However, I can tell you the wine tasting at the end was more than delightful. I still, as usual, tried to understand the meaning of the wine and what it really smells like and what it really tastes like, but I failed once again. However, I did not fail at eating the enourmous amounts of prosciutto and salami that was offered. Gabriella at one point said, “I like Hillary because she never says no.” Which is true, when in Italia. One thing to keep in mind, if you are on a diet you might as well just forget about your weight watcher points and leave the scale at home because the food here is impossible to pass up. I literally have never been a fan of gelato, but in Italia I probably eat it every other day. Gelato is like the Starbucks of America, you can find one on every corner, try spending your entire day in constant sun and heat and pass up that gelato store on the next street. Trust me, just manga manga manga!
8. Yet another group adventure, provided by Gabriella and Lidia, was a walk to Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte, and boy was it a walk! This church is situated just above the Piazzale Michelangelo, and it is known to have one of the most beautiful views of Firenze. I know I keep using words like “beautiful” and “breathtaking” and all those flourished words, but this city, this country is nothing but. I can honestly say from all the hills I’ve climbed and stairs I’ve nearly suffocated on, I am still not to the point of coming close to thinking, “I’ve seen enough views of Florence,” because it never ceases to amaze you. If you ever visit, take full advantage of the alluring charm Italia has to offer, because you’ll never see something like this in America
That’s just a taste of what I have thankfully gotten from studying abroad to Italy thus far, and look forward to (keep your fingers crossed) keeping you updated! Next stop, Positano, Pompeii and Capri!
BEST CAPPUCINO EVER!
No comments:
Post a Comment