Since we last spoke, I managed to cook and eat an octopus. Granted, this was with the help of Cara, but still, I butchered that sucker. Here's the short list of things I learned whilst embarking on this adventure.
1. Even when the octopus is dead, its suckers still have some kick to them. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to be really really creepy.
2. When boiling your octopus, do not be surprised if it turns itself over in the water. Again with the creep factor.
3. When mincing your octopus, it can be messier than it first looks. Be aware, or you too will get octo-juice on your shirt.
4. The smell of an octopus cooking makes the meat completely unappetizing. Just FYI.
After the Great Octopus Adventure of 2009, the ever exciting ACCENT group spent the weekend in Roma. Let's just say that our ACCENT tour guide, Freya, is the greatest things that's ever happened to the art of being a tour guide. Anyone who tells stories about Pope Paul III by calling him "the pope with the cute sister" deserves an award of some kind. We were in town for just over 48 hours and we managed to go to...
The Borghese Villa Museum
Campo di Fiore
Castel Sant'Angelo
Trevi Fountain
St Peter's
The Vatican Museum and Apartments
The Sistene Chapel
The Colosseum
The Forum
... just to name a few. Let's just say that sleep was not on the list of priorities, especially on mattresses that were rocks. No, seriously. I'm not a picky sleeper and I was uncomfortable. However, we had the luxury of being able to take a stress-free shower for the first time in about a month. Ahhhh... glorious.
In Rome, I bought the most expensive non-formal dress I have ever bought. But it is gorgeous. Totally worth it.
THEN, most exciting, my parents came to Florence for a few days. :) :) :) :) Fantastic. We went bumming around the city, eating good food, seeing churches, being together again. It was wonderful to be with them, but it really made me miss my brother :( Ah well.
Next week is midterms, so right now is studying and finalizing my plans for FALL BREAK!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Man, I Suck at Keeping Up With This
Sorry for the long wait between this post and the last. I know you were all anxiously awaiting the further descriptions of my Italian adventures.
What have I been doing to entertain myself for the last week? Thursday I treated myself to a massive AMERICAN brunch. I deserved it. Small stack of strawberry buttermilk pancakes ((which comes with strawberry and blackberry jam for dipping)), fresh fruit salad, a big bottle of water and hot chocolate. Mm-mm-mm-mm good. And then, fat and happy, I went to take a nap. And when I woke up, I had the apartment to myself, since all my roommates had left for their overnight train to Munich for the weekend. Now this would have been lovely, except my only other friend in this city was also gone for the weekend. So I was alone until Sunday. Mwahahahahaha.
Friday I got up and decided it had just walked past the Duomo long enough. It was time to climb that monstrosity. Show it who's boss. There are 436 steps up, I know this because there are at least 10 signs in the 3 foot hallways saying "THERE ARE 436 STEPS. NO LIFT." You'd think the message got across the first time. Ah well. I was definitely a sweaty mess by the time I reached the top but o, was the view worth it.
((My photos are acting weird, I'll post picture when they decide to behave))
Saturday I decided to head out to one of my favorite places in the whole world: Assisi. This tiny hillside town managed to be the home of two saints: St. Francis and St. Clare. Guess why I love this town ;). It was exactly like I wanted it to be. I still want to retire there. I had a really great conversation with God while I was there. I am so supposed to be here right now.
The train ride to Assisi is about 2/2.5 hours long. In my total 5 hours on the train that day, I managed to read the whole new Dan Brown book. All 506 pages of it. Crazy. Insanity. AWESOME.
Somewhere in Assisi, I threw my back out of whack and have been dealing with that for the last couple of days. Today, it's all but gone, thank God, since we're going to the opera tomorrow night!
And tonight? I'm cooking an octopus with Cara :)
What have I been doing to entertain myself for the last week? Thursday I treated myself to a massive AMERICAN brunch. I deserved it. Small stack of strawberry buttermilk pancakes ((which comes with strawberry and blackberry jam for dipping)), fresh fruit salad, a big bottle of water and hot chocolate. Mm-mm-mm-mm good. And then, fat and happy, I went to take a nap. And when I woke up, I had the apartment to myself, since all my roommates had left for their overnight train to Munich for the weekend. Now this would have been lovely, except my only other friend in this city was also gone for the weekend. So I was alone until Sunday. Mwahahahahaha.
Friday I got up and decided it had just walked past the Duomo long enough. It was time to climb that monstrosity. Show it who's boss. There are 436 steps up, I know this because there are at least 10 signs in the 3 foot hallways saying "THERE ARE 436 STEPS. NO LIFT." You'd think the message got across the first time. Ah well. I was definitely a sweaty mess by the time I reached the top but o, was the view worth it.
((My photos are acting weird, I'll post picture when they decide to behave))
Saturday I decided to head out to one of my favorite places in the whole world: Assisi. This tiny hillside town managed to be the home of two saints: St. Francis and St. Clare. Guess why I love this town ;). It was exactly like I wanted it to be. I still want to retire there. I had a really great conversation with God while I was there. I am so supposed to be here right now.
The train ride to Assisi is about 2/2.5 hours long. In my total 5 hours on the train that day, I managed to read the whole new Dan Brown book. All 506 pages of it. Crazy. Insanity. AWESOME.
Somewhere in Assisi, I threw my back out of whack and have been dealing with that for the last couple of days. Today, it's all but gone, thank God, since we're going to the opera tomorrow night!
And tonight? I'm cooking an octopus with Cara :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Children and Art
I've been slacking in my blogging again. Sorry. However, you should take this a sign that I am really going out there and living life.
Ravenna.
It was brilliant. Beautiful. We visited two churches and a mausoleum, then lunch and some free time.
But the heart of all of these are the mosaics. Huge walls of mosaics with colors like you have never seen. In San Vitale, the mosaic took up the whole presbytery, so when you walked in, you are surrounded by these vibrant images of Bible stories and allegories of God's love. It was the least alone I have felt in a long time. There was definitely something there.
Sunday, I went to Collodi. I've had an itch to go to this town since reading about it in a travel book back home. There's not much in this town, but it's one major tourist attraction is o so worth it. Pinocchio Park. You get to walk through the story of Pinocchio as told by sculptures, fountains, and various interactive environments.
Can I get a "holla?"
It was fantastic. However. Getting home was a nightmare and a half. The one taxi for this mess of cities was busy, so I bought a bus ticket and waited. For three hours. Only to find that the buses don't run on Sundays. So I call the taxi guy again and get lectured all the way to the train station about how I just should have called him before. Seriously? Give me a break.
And today? I just may have gone to see the David. Maybe.
I love my life
Ravenna.
It was brilliant. Beautiful. We visited two churches and a mausoleum, then lunch and some free time.
But the heart of all of these are the mosaics. Huge walls of mosaics with colors like you have never seen. In San Vitale, the mosaic took up the whole presbytery, so when you walked in, you are surrounded by these vibrant images of Bible stories and allegories of God's love. It was the least alone I have felt in a long time. There was definitely something there.
Sunday, I went to Collodi. I've had an itch to go to this town since reading about it in a travel book back home. There's not much in this town, but it's one major tourist attraction is o so worth it. Pinocchio Park. You get to walk through the story of Pinocchio as told by sculptures, fountains, and various interactive environments.
Can I get a "holla?"
It was fantastic. However. Getting home was a nightmare and a half. The one taxi for this mess of cities was busy, so I bought a bus ticket and waited. For three hours. Only to find that the buses don't run on Sundays. So I call the taxi guy again and get lectured all the way to the train station about how I just should have called him before. Seriously? Give me a break.
And today? I just may have gone to see the David. Maybe.
I love my life
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday is the New Friday
It's the weekend!!!! For me at least.
Tomorrow a bunch of us ACCENT kids are off the Ravenna, and then on Sunday I think Cara and I are going to Collodi, a little town that is Pinocchio themed. AWESOME!!
This week, I finally sucked it up and stood in line to get the Amici gli Uffizi card. This card is brilliant. For 40 Euro ((yay student discounts!)) I can now get into every museum run by the Florentine Museum Coalition or whatever FOR FREE. That's right. I can go the the Uffizi as many times as I want and not pay for any of it. To celebrate, I turned around and got in line to get into the museum.
Let's just say that I am so glad it only takes 90 seconds to get from my front door to the Uffizi. I made many new friends that I am going to have to go back and visit. What, don't you make friends with artwork? Psh.
Last night, I went to the soccer game:: Fiorentina vs Sampdoria. We kicked them to China and back. 2 to 0. It was, however, a very confusing experience for me. There was a whole stadium full of purple wearing, frighteningly fanatic people. However, there was no riff ram, no smack it and flip it and rub it down. And then, just to rub it in, they all just left as soon as the game was over. Don't you people stay and sing the alma mater?
Speaking of songs, we got a translation of the Fiorentina fight song. Not all of these lyrics make practical sense. For example::
- "We have eleven athletes and one heart" - I feel that this is actually going to drag the team down. Also, how do they share this heart? I've got this image of the fates in Disney's Hercules where they pass their one eye around, drop it on the ground, pull hairs off of it, etc. Ew.
-"Fight everywhere with intensity and importance" - that's how riots get started.
Tomorrow, we're off to Ravenna. More after the weekend.
Tomorrow a bunch of us ACCENT kids are off the Ravenna, and then on Sunday I think Cara and I are going to Collodi, a little town that is Pinocchio themed. AWESOME!!
This week, I finally sucked it up and stood in line to get the Amici gli Uffizi card. This card is brilliant. For 40 Euro ((yay student discounts!)) I can now get into every museum run by the Florentine Museum Coalition or whatever FOR FREE. That's right. I can go the the Uffizi as many times as I want and not pay for any of it. To celebrate, I turned around and got in line to get into the museum.
Let's just say that I am so glad it only takes 90 seconds to get from my front door to the Uffizi. I made many new friends that I am going to have to go back and visit. What, don't you make friends with artwork? Psh.
Last night, I went to the soccer game:: Fiorentina vs Sampdoria. We kicked them to China and back. 2 to 0. It was, however, a very confusing experience for me. There was a whole stadium full of purple wearing, frighteningly fanatic people. However, there was no riff ram, no smack it and flip it and rub it down. And then, just to rub it in, they all just left as soon as the game was over. Don't you people stay and sing the alma mater?
Speaking of songs, we got a translation of the Fiorentina fight song. Not all of these lyrics make practical sense. For example::
- "We have eleven athletes and one heart" - I feel that this is actually going to drag the team down. Also, how do they share this heart? I've got this image of the fates in Disney's Hercules where they pass their one eye around, drop it on the ground, pull hairs off of it, etc. Ew.
-"Fight everywhere with intensity and importance" - that's how riots get started.
Tomorrow, we're off to Ravenna. More after the weekend.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Walk This Way...
Sorry this has taken so long. I have had a ridiculous couple of days. Yesterday, I went to class, came home and did some homework while waiting for the most recent bout of rain to pass, and then decided to take advantage of the sunshine. I headed out to the Bobogli Gardens, which are behind the Pitti Palace.
They were HUGE. Unrealistically huge. I think some Italian towns are smaller than these gardens. However, when I began this journey, I was blissfully unaware of this fact. Can you blame me? It looked a lot smaller on the map. I quite literally got lost for the better part of a half hour. And it was GLORIOUS. Nothing short of glorious. Every inch of these gardens are gorgeous, you are literally stumbling onto classical statues all over the place. By the time I found the exit, I was starving and my feet were insanely sore, but I did not care. Not at all.
Today we got up and met our bus at 8:00 AM, which was all but impossible, along with the KU kids, and we headed to Siena. Which is gorgeous. Points of interest about Siena::
1. It is known as "Medieval Pompeii." In the 1300s, Siena was the place to be. They had the largest cathedral in Italy, but they wanted to expand it. Like, two or three times the size. So construction started. And then, it was 1348 and someone invited the Black Plague. Which wiped out 75% of the city's population. Needless to say, they never quite got back up on their feet. So the whole city, with a few minor exceptions, looks like it did in 1348.
2. Siena essentially invented the fruitcake. Siena was beseiged by the dirty Florentines, and the town was going hungry since they couldn't trade for more food. So a nun invented this cake to soothe the pain in and give energy to the fighters. This cake involved ginger, candied fruits, and nuts. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
3. Siena is divided up into 17 neighborhoods. Who are crazy competitive. Twice a year, they have a horse race in the town square. And the winner gets to display their colors for a long time. The competitive nature was palpable even in September, very much between races. Sienese are crazy.
And we made a brief excursion to San Gimignano, a town with only one main street. HOWEVER, on this main street, there was both the Torture and Death Penalty Museum ((which was ... delightful)) and world famous champion awesomeness gelato.
Life is good :) My feet hurt, so I think tomorrow is going to be devoted to homework.
They were HUGE. Unrealistically huge. I think some Italian towns are smaller than these gardens. However, when I began this journey, I was blissfully unaware of this fact. Can you blame me? It looked a lot smaller on the map. I quite literally got lost for the better part of a half hour. And it was GLORIOUS. Nothing short of glorious. Every inch of these gardens are gorgeous, you are literally stumbling onto classical statues all over the place. By the time I found the exit, I was starving and my feet were insanely sore, but I did not care. Not at all.
Today we got up and met our bus at 8:00 AM, which was all but impossible, along with the KU kids, and we headed to Siena. Which is gorgeous. Points of interest about Siena::
1. It is known as "Medieval Pompeii." In the 1300s, Siena was the place to be. They had the largest cathedral in Italy, but they wanted to expand it. Like, two or three times the size. So construction started. And then, it was 1348 and someone invited the Black Plague. Which wiped out 75% of the city's population. Needless to say, they never quite got back up on their feet. So the whole city, with a few minor exceptions, looks like it did in 1348.
2. Siena essentially invented the fruitcake. Siena was beseiged by the dirty Florentines, and the town was going hungry since they couldn't trade for more food. So a nun invented this cake to soothe the pain in and give energy to the fighters. This cake involved ginger, candied fruits, and nuts. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
3. Siena is divided up into 17 neighborhoods. Who are crazy competitive. Twice a year, they have a horse race in the town square. And the winner gets to display their colors for a long time. The competitive nature was palpable even in September, very much between races. Sienese are crazy.
And we made a brief excursion to San Gimignano, a town with only one main street. HOWEVER, on this main street, there was both the Torture and Death Penalty Museum ((which was ... delightful)) and world famous champion awesomeness gelato.
Life is good :) My feet hurt, so I think tomorrow is going to be devoted to homework.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Museum Time!
It was raining again today and I was tempted to spend the day in again. But I decided that I can not waste another day here, 3 months is going to come and go before I know it.
I went on a museum hunt and found one, I kid you not, around the block from our apartment. The Borgello National Museum. I walk by it every day to and from school. Way to be observant, Claire. And it was cheap, only 2 Euro to get in. SCORE.
The Borgello is a three story mansion of a building with an open courtyard. It was absolutely gorgeous, even without the art in it. It used to be a Medici family possession and the walls are covered in coats of arms from all their close personal friends. Or their not so personal friends. Whatever.
I saw some awesome awesome art, but I will give you the two highlights.
#1:: This museum has one of the biggest collections of Della Robbia pieces in Italy. There are at lesat 50 different pieces in here. At least. Whole rooms have their walls just covered with them, and these are not small rooms. Check this monstrosity out.
((I thought you'd enjoy that, Mom.))
#2:: Donatello's David. In the flesh. He's been in hiding for a while to get cleaned up but it was totally worth it. The bronze was glowing. It was... surreal. I know I've seen great works of art before, but when you're 12, you don't get it like you do when you're 20. I've studied this sculpture for several classes and seen pictures in text books, and there it was. Crazy. Talk about your humbling experience.
You can probably tell that these last two pics weren't taken by me. We could only photograph in the courtyard. So here are some of my pics from outside.
Well, I'm off to get some homework done.
TTFN
I went on a museum hunt and found one, I kid you not, around the block from our apartment. The Borgello National Museum. I walk by it every day to and from school. Way to be observant, Claire. And it was cheap, only 2 Euro to get in. SCORE.
The Borgello is a three story mansion of a building with an open courtyard. It was absolutely gorgeous, even without the art in it. It used to be a Medici family possession and the walls are covered in coats of arms from all their close personal friends. Or their not so personal friends. Whatever.
I saw some awesome awesome art, but I will give you the two highlights.#1:: This museum has one of the biggest collections of Della Robbia pieces in Italy. There are at lesat 50 different pieces in here. At least. Whole rooms have their walls just covered with them, and these are not small rooms. Check this monstrosity out.
((I thought you'd enjoy that, Mom.))#2:: Donatello's David. In the flesh. He's been in hiding for a while to get cleaned up but it was totally worth it. The bronze was glowing. It was... surreal. I know I've seen great works of art before, but when you're 12, you don't get it like you do when you're 20. I've studied this sculpture for several classes and seen pictures in text books, and there it was. Crazy. Talk about your humbling experience.
You can probably tell that these last two pics weren't taken by me. We could only photograph in the courtyard. So here are some of my pics from outside.
Well, I'm off to get some homework done.TTFN
Monday, September 14, 2009
Rain Rain
It's been pouring down today. On and off, granted, but when it's on, it's not joking. I'm finally home from class and have bundled up in some thick leggings and a sweater and have prepared myself for a cozy night in.
Also, this afternoon, I bought Nutella. And let me just say, few things work as a better fix-all than Nutella. Maybe duct tape is better. But duct tape isn't edible. Not that I've tried it.
On the subject of grocery shopping, Italians do it differently than we do. Shocker, I know. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING in the country has preservatives. Which really has served to point out how much of the food in America does. Ew. Anyway, if you buy a peach today, you must eat it in 48 hours or else it will be growing a tupee. We have learned this from experience. So you must go shopping ever two or three days. This may be my American laziness speaking but - UGH.
My women's study class - blowing my mind. It's so wonderful and the teacher is everything you'd envision a women's studies prof to be. With an Italian accent thrown in for good measure.
My drawing class, on the other hand, is going to kick my butt. The mere fact that we're on our feet without a break for two and a half hours is enough. But he said I got better by the end of class. So I'm not a hopeless wreck. Yet.
Stay tuned. Same bat-time. Same bat-station.
Also, this afternoon, I bought Nutella. And let me just say, few things work as a better fix-all than Nutella. Maybe duct tape is better. But duct tape isn't edible. Not that I've tried it.
On the subject of grocery shopping, Italians do it differently than we do. Shocker, I know. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING in the country has preservatives. Which really has served to point out how much of the food in America does. Ew. Anyway, if you buy a peach today, you must eat it in 48 hours or else it will be growing a tupee. We have learned this from experience. So you must go shopping ever two or three days. This may be my American laziness speaking but - UGH.
My women's study class - blowing my mind. It's so wonderful and the teacher is everything you'd envision a women's studies prof to be. With an Italian accent thrown in for good measure.
My drawing class, on the other hand, is going to kick my butt. The mere fact that we're on our feet without a break for two and a half hours is enough. But he said I got better by the end of class. So I'm not a hopeless wreck. Yet.
Stay tuned. Same bat-time. Same bat-station.
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