Spring Break!

So it's finally spring break! Exams are over and I am heading to Rome tonight where I will fly to Barcelona tomorrow night. I will be spending a couple of days in Barcelona and then heading to Amsterdam and then off to Prague. I can't wait and am really excited to go! We have a lot of stuff planned for each place that we are going and we will be really busy. Just wanted to let you all know that I will be MIA for about 10 days since I probably won't blog while I am away. I will keep a journal so I remember what I need to blog about :) So for now, ciao!!

Sweet Dreams of Sour Pickles

That was what Guenter said to me one night. Apparently it is a German saying, but it could just be a Guenter saying. Anyways, the rest of my time in Panicale was wonderful. Saturday morning Elida made what she called a cowboy breakfast - eggs, beans and toast. Anything Elida makes is wonderful! I ate so much this weekend that I think I will need to get my fair share of exercise in this week. After breakfast, I went with Elida to her friends house to open up her green house and water the plants. Their house from the outside was so cool! There were two sections of the green house, one smaller than the other. The smaller section had a wooden rocking chair, a rocking bench type thing, and a little area where she could put tea and something to eat. It was really cute! In the bigger section there were tons of different kinds of plants. There were citrus trees, and anything ranging from tomatoes to cosmos. Outside the green house there were some strawberries and roses. I walked around their property a bit and discovered a pergola (I think that's what they're called) which I absolutely loved! It fit so well with the feel of their house and it was really cute. After we were done watering the plants, we went into the walled part of Panicale. It's pretty small, but quaint and adorable. Elida took me to meet one of her friends that runs the bar/caffe in town. All the people that came in were very nice and friendly and a couple of them even started talking to me a bit in Italian. Elida then showed me around the rest of the town and we walked by all three of the restaurants that are within 50 feet of each other. Elida is banned from one of them, but so is about 90% of Panicale. She showed me where her mom's house is that she lived in when she was in Panicale for about 1 1/2 -2 years. We made it back home and I read a little of my book (Juliet) and walked around their property for a bit taking pictures. I couldn't get enough of it and absolutely loved every minute of it. I felt like I was at my home away from home. I also loved all of their dogs and was playing with them quite a bit. I definitely got my share of dogs while I was there, which was great. I helped/talked to Elida while she was making her homemade crackers and lemon meringue pie. I made sure I watched her make all of the food, so that I could try to make it once I get home. A couple of people came over from dinner. They are from Maine and we bonded a bit over how we are so used to cold weather in March and that we couldn't complain about the nice weather we were experiencing in Italy. They were very nice and I enjoyed listening to them chat with Elida and Guenter about some of their friends and other people in town. Elida makes friends so easily that some of the stories she has are comical to listen to. For dinner, we had chicken that was boiled with some vegetables - kind of like a chicken soup - and artichokes. Everything was of course delicious! And then for dessert, we had the lemon meringue pie. Now, before then I had never had that before, but Elida definitely turned me onto it. I absolutely love it! Dad, you're going to have to get her pie crust recipe because it is great!

This morning Elida made waffles and she had some real Vermont maple syrup to have with them. Made me feel like I was at home. It was something that I couldn't make in my apartment, so it was definitely a treat. I studied a bit for one of my midterms before we went back over to her friend's house to open up the doors of the green house again. When we came back I bet you can guess what I did. Yup, played with the dogs. I was usually either with the dogs outside, or with Elida in the kitchen. However, I tried to focus myself on studying for a bit of time, which I did. I did some color coding and managed to get a chunk of studying done. I'm not sure how much I actually know, but I still have time tomorrow to really crank out the studying. I was fortunate to skype my dad, which was really nice. He got to talk to Elida and Guenter a bit and it was really nice to be able to have the four of us talking. Elida had grilled some eggplant, peppers, and sausage for lunch and it was delicioso! Mi piace molto! Elida was extremely nice and thoughtful and had made me some sausage and artichokes to bring back to Siena. She also gave me the leftover eggplant and peppers that we had for lunch. On top of that she had made some bread and gave me BOTH of the loaves she had made! I was blown away. Thank you sooooooo much Elida for everything and all the food you cooked for me! :) And thank you Guenter for the laughs!

I have to say watching Elida and Guenter interact with each other is so sweet! You can tell that they really love each other. They both joke around with each other and they just seem so perfect together. They each had little remarks that they would say to each other, as any married couple would. Elida always called Guenter either "amor" or "amorcito" (love, or little love). I thought it was adorable and loved it. You can't help but smile when you're with them and they will always make you laugh. I am so glad that I was able to visit them and I will definitely be making another trip to Panicale while I'm here. :)

Hope you all have sweet dreams of sour pickles :)

RIP U. Dave. Hopefully a part of you is traveling with me and experiencing what you didn't have the chance to see. <3

Made it to Panicale!

I decided to go to Panicale this weekend, even though it is the weekend right before midterms. I have been wanting to visit Elida and Guenter for a while now and I thought that this might be the only weekend I would be able to make it up here. It's nice to get away from Siena just by myself for a weekend and enjoy the feeling of a really small town. I took a bus to Chiusi this morning and the countryside that we passed was incredible. I tried to take a few pictures with my ipod, but it just doesn't capture the beauty of it all. Everything you would think of in the Italian countryside was there, but seeing it in person is so much more breathtaking. I made it to Chiusi where Elida picked me up. On our way to Panicale we made a few stops. One of them was at the butcher shop outside Chiusi. Elida knows everyone, not just in Panicale, so when we went into the butcher shop, it was like her and the workers were good friends. The drive to Panicale was also beautiful. Panicale sits on top of a hill looking out on other small towns and a beautiful lake. The road up to Panicale was very windy with lots of switchbacks. It was really cool and different than anywhere I've been in Italy. Once you get to the top of the hill, you are at the small walled part of the town. I haven't been in it, but Elida said she would take me tomorrow. Elida and Guenter live on the other side of the hill and their house faces a beautiful view of the valley and more hills. They have 100 olive trees and they line the driveway and surround their house. Their house is like a little oasis and I feel like I'm in paradise right now. Everything that is here reminds me of Italy and I definitely feel like I'm in an Italian house. It's just so cute and I love it!
They also have 4 dogs, all of which I absolutely adore. I think I've taken about 10 photos of each dog haha. One of them is a jack russell terrier whose name is Moki, which is the name of my neighbor's golden retriever. They also have a black lab, and 2 other dogs that I'm not sure which breed they are. I am definitely getting my dog time in since I haven't even really been able to pet one since I've been here.
For lunch Elida made a typical summer Italian dish. I forget what it was called, but it was roast beef with basically tuna salad on top (Elida said it was mayonnaise, which was homemade, with tuna), salad, and some vegetable that I don't know the name of. It looked like spinach, but didn't taste like it. Anyways, all of it was very good! I would have never thought of putting roast beef together with tuna salad. 
At around 6pm we went to drop Elida's car off at a repair shop and then went to get gelato nearby. This caffe had made their first batch of gelato today. It was the beginning of the season for gelato for them, so we decided to try it out. I got nutella and I completely forget what the name of the other kind was. But both were delicious! We got home and Elida started to make some crackers. She had already made the dough for it so she just had to roll it out, cut them, and bake them. She just makes everything from scratch and it's all really good food. For dinner we had lasagna and green beans. Delicious! I want all of her recipes :) Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow!

Per noi!

So I volunteered again today (I do it every Tuesday) and it was great! I had gotten out early from Black Death which was nice since I had to walk farther to get to the bus stop I needed to be at. As I was waiting for the bus, a woman asked if bus number 3 had come yet. I told her no and was really excited that she took me for Italian. Maybe it was my leather jacket or just the fact that I was sitting at the bus stop. I got even more excited when I realized that I had understood what she was asking me. I wish I could have replied in more detail to her, but at least I got across that no buses had come by since I had been there. Once I got on the bus, I immediately saw the puppy that a guy was holding in his lap. All I wanted to do was sit there and pet it and take pictures, but I figured that would be a bit weird. The guy was also on the phone, so I didn't want to disturb him. It was a yellow lab puppy probably 2 months old. So adorable! I died a little inside when I got on the bus. I ended up getting off at the same stop this guy got off at and was a bit disappointed that I was going in the opposite direction as him. haha
Anyways, I made my way to the school where the volunteering is, got changed, and went into the gym to play with the kids. They were as crazy as ever and running around like mad men. However, today was special. It was "parent's day" I guess. All the parents were invited to play with us today. It was really fun to see the kids interacting with their parents and to see how happy all the kids were that their parents were there too. Since a couple of the games we played were parents vs. kids and I was on the kids side, a few of the children came up to me and asked "c'e un bambino?" (are you a kid?) At first I said no, but decided later to just say yes. I felt like a kid while I was there so why not. Technically I'm not a kids, but I didn't know how to explain that to them, so it was easier to say that I was a kid like them. The kids were full of energy today and I was exhausted by the time I got home tonight. In the second session (the one with the older kids) one girl kept running over to me and giving me a big hug. It made me forget all the stress that's been building up with midterms and made me feel so much better. I couldn't help but smile when I saw her running over to me and anticipated her bear hug. She surprised me the first time. I was just standing there, and all of a sudden I feel her arms around me squeezing me tight. Little kids always know how to make my day better, whether they know it or not. I am so glad that I am able to volunteer at this gym and that I am getting the most out of my time here. I'm sure I've already said that, but each time I go, I'm sure I will always think that. It puts me in a different world. One where I don't have to worry about really anything and where I can just have tons of fun with some crazy kids. :)
 Per noi! (For us! - it's the cheer we do at the end of every session).

Lucca!

So as I stated in my previous post, I went to Lucca today for a day trip. We got there around noon and just started walking around. We walked on a path that went with the wall that goes around the town. It was amazing! I loved Lucca! I could have studied abroad there and been extremely happy. I think what I really liked about it was that there were so many people out running, biking, walking, you name it. There were just a lot of people exercising. It was a nice change from Siena, where people look at you like you're crazy when you run. In Lucca, it was normal. It's one aspect of Siena that I don't particularly like. People usually only walk around to go to work, go shopping, or go to school. They don't just walk around to get exercise. It made me happy to see so many people running and biking. I do have to say that where we were walking was the perfect place to go running. I would love to run there and I can understand why so many people run. It takes to around the outside of the town via the wall. Another nice thing about Lucca was that it was quiet and peaceful. Siena is a small city, but there are a lot of people bustling about. It was great to have fewer people and fewer cars around. There was a street that I swear could have been put in Burlington, VT. As we were walking down it, I got the feeling of Church Street. It was great!
We went to get lunch at a really cute place. Our waiter brought over our drinks and ended up spilling one of the drinks on me. It took him a second to react. He just stood there staring and then just said "No. Oh no. No." I was totally fine and I kind of laughed it off. I mean, there wasn't much I could do. I went into the bathroom and tried to dab up my jeans a bit. Eventually I just stopped trying and went back out to the table. Since it was a really nice day out, the sun managed to dry my jeans by the time we were done eating. I was wearing a white shirt though and a bit of the drink got on it, so I'm hoping that washing it will get out the spots. The waiter was really sweet and when he brought the check to us, he told me that he had paid for my meal. It was really nice of him and I was pretty happy that I only had to pay for my drink. :)
After we just walked around the town a bit and went to see a couple of churches. We mainly just wandered and made our way back to the wall where we sat and relaxed for a bit. We saw lots of dogs just running on the grass, which was great to see. It was nice to see open areas of grass, since Siena really doesn't have that. We went back into the town and got some gelato before heading back to the train station. I basically got a sundae. It was soft serve yogurt with strawberries, nutella, and melted white chocolate. It was amazing! So good! I want another one right now. I want to go back to Lucca solely for that. Mom, Dad - I think we should make a detour to Lucca on our way to Florence :) You guys would love it! I'm so glad I went and it was a much needed trip out of Siena. Very relaxing and exactly what I needed :)

Questa settimana

So this week has been a little crazy. I feel like I've had a lot to do, but am also starting to freak out about midterms which are in 2 weeks. I realized that tomorrow I will have to start studying or at least type up my notes to organize them. However, despite how stressed out I was, I started my volunteering on Tuesday. After my last class, I went to a nearby gym to play with little kids. It was great! I absolutely loved it! The kids are adorable and it's so cute to listen to them speak in Italian. It's nice to spend time with younger kids since I spend all my time with adults and people my own age. I volunteer for 2 hours every Tuesday and it's just a nice break from everything. I can relax and have fun and not worry about having to speak perfect Italian. I get to basically be a kid again. I am really excited to be able to do this and really get the most out of my time here in Siena. There are two different sessions, the first with kids ages 4-5 and the second ages 5-7. The kids were pretty hyper and excited to be running around. So, I was really tired afterwards and went to bed pretty early that night. Originally I had wanted to volunteer at the hospital just outside the city center, but the hours for that didn't work out with my schedule. I was a little bummed out, but once I went on Tuesday, it made my day that much better. Little kids manage to do that to me. :)
On Thursday it was the festa della donna (women's day). Men would give flowers to their girlfriends or mothers. It was really cute. I saw one guy surprise his mom with flowers and it was the sweetest thing ever. He waited for her to come out of a building near the duomo and held the flowers behind his back. He gave them to her and gave her a big hug along with them. It's nice to see that some of the Italian men are really sweet and care about their moms like that. Thursday night we went out to Barrone Rosso (the club we go to almost every Thursday or Saturday). They didn't let any men in until 12:30. It was really weird having just women in the club and I didn't really like it that much. At midnight, there was a stripper and I have never seen women go so crazy before. People were pushing and shoving and it was completely insane! Not to mention, the stripper was just weird. I was confused and didn't like it all. It was funny how everyone flocked to him afterwards to get pictures with him. Once the guys were let in, my friends and I were relieved haha. I have to say I've never been so happy to see men before, even if they were creepy. I guess that's what dancing with just women for an hour does to me. :)
Anyways, this weekend it is the chocolate festival. Yes, the chocolate festival. Apparently it is the very first one here in Siena. I went yesterday and it was amazing! I got some chocolate and I had the truffles I had gotten last night and it was the best chocolate I've ever had. I will be going back tomorrow to get more and to get some chocolate for my mom (since I know she loves dark chocolate so much) and Lauren. I will probably get some for other people too, don't worry! I can't wait to get chunks of chocolate to bring back and save for the rest of the time that I'm here. So excited! I couldn't go today because I went on a day trip to Lucca. I'm going to do another post just on Lucca, so I won't write about it much here. So, tomorrow I will definitely be going to the chocolate festival once I get up and then doing homework and skyping for the rest of the day. I love Sundays...
Oh well. In a week I will be going to Panicale to visit Elida and Guenter, which I am really excited about! I can't wait to go see them and their town. It will also be really nice to get away and have some time to myself for a weekend. :)
Time for a few shout outs since I know certain people read my blog all the time. A. Lynn and U. Dave: I hope everything has been going well with you both. Buon fortuna ("good luck") U. Dave! And Nanny and Grampie Bob: I will definitely have to get a hat or some sort of article of clothing for Grampie :) Don't worry Nan, I've already got a couple of things picked out to get you. And Nan - I may even call you when I am at Elida and Guenter's house :) I heard that UVM beat Stony Brook (right team?) which is great! Hopefully everything back home is going well!

School in Italy

I had to write another post because I found out some interesting information about going to school here in Italy and I wanted to get it down before I forgot it. I asked Francesca about school and how long middle and high school students were in class. She told me from 8:30-1:30 and some of them go back after a 2-3 hour lunch break. They only go back if they are taking extra classes or certain types of classes. They also go to school on Saturdays because they end so early. College is quite a bit different in Italy than in the U.S. Francesca just came back from a week long break. Her classes just started up again and will go until the end of May. Then in June and July she has exams. Then I think she has a bit of time off. She told me that she had lectures from October to December, then exams in January and February. I don't know if I could handle 2 months worth of exams! But she said that they are used to it since it's what they've grown up with. After exams, they also only get a week off. It makes me appreciate getting more time off after exams/between semesters. I'm not sure if they do semesters here or if they have a longer break in the summer. I assume they do since exams end in July and classes don't start until October. Maybe they have August and September off as their summer break. I just found the differences between U.S. schools and Italian schools interesting and it's cool to compare cultures and see what it's like here. So, I figured I would share it with you all. Buon giornato!

Firenze

On Saturday, I went to Florence with a few girls in my program (Katya, Amy, Mary, Florence, Marissa, and Jillian). We just went for the day, which was really nice. We didn't have to pack a bag or worry about hostels. We mainly went shopping because we will be going to Florence later on in the semester with our art history class and seeing all the sights then. We made our way to the market and probably walked around it for a good 2 hours. Each stall/tent that was set up would have someone talking to you as you walked by trying to get you interested and come over. Some of the things they said were completely ridiculous and veered us away instead of luring us in. The main thing you have to know when going to the market is that you have to barter with the owners and not settle for the price they give you. And if you tell them what you're willing to pay and they don't like it, just walk away. Sometimes, they will yell after you saying "Ok. I'll take it." Other times, they don't. My main purchase of the day was my leather jacket. I went to Florence knowing that that was what I really wanted and I was determined to find one. I found one I liked and went into the shop to try it on. The really nice thing about this particular shop was that the owner wasn't haggling me to get me into the store and wasn't being over zealous on the selling of the jacket. He told me what kind of leather it was and had me feel other types of leather to compare. He also showed me that the jacket basically fitted me perfectly and how it should fit for future reference. He was super nice and helpful and didn't pressure me at all to buy it. After I got it, I was extremely happy for the rest of the day and didn't need to get anything else. There was also a food market behind the market which was insane. I walked around in awe, wishing that we had a food market like it in Siena. We left the market and just wandered around a bit and found a Zara store. I love Zara! It's probably one of my new favorite stores. I found out that there is a Zara in Boston - even more of a reason to go to grad school there! I ended up getting a pair of jeans from there because I needed a new pair. They fit great, except for the length, but I am willing to put up with rolling them up until I get home. We did a bit more shopping and eventually got gelato on our way back to the market. As I was eating my gelato, a couple of girls obviously from America saw me and Marissa eating it. No joke they said to us "OMG ice cream! Where did you get it?" Seriously? 1) Nobody calls it "ice cream" here in Italy. It's gelato. Come on. 2) Congratulations. You figured out what I was eating. 3) There are billions of gelaterias in any city in Italy, especially in Florence. Just walk down a street and walk into one that looks good. I know, it might seem a bit harsh to say that, but I guess it was also the way she said it. I just needed to get that off my chest. Anyways, it ended up being a really good day and a pretty awesome weekend. It was nice to chill at home and get a bit of R&R after traveling for the past 2 weekends. I also had the apartment to myself which was great! I could wake up whenever I wanted and not worry about making too much noise. I played my music and danced my heart out. What a weekend! Sleep, music, friends, sun = awesome!

Music concert

I just went to a classical music concert about 5 minutes from my apartment. IES had 10 free tickets, so I didn't have to pay to go to this concert. The building it was in was gorgeous! It's so cool that a lot of concerts in Europe are played in beautiful halls and are just amazing to be in. There was a guy who played piano and a woman who played violin. Unfortunately, where I was sitting I didn't really get to see them actually play their instruments, but the music was beautiful. It was kind of nice to just hear the music and close my eyes every once in a while to really get the feel of it. Since I used to play piano for a while, whenever I closed my eyes I focused in on the piano and I could picture his hands moving and the directions they were going in. After hearing him play tonight, it made me miss playing the piano. So, maybe when I get home I will find some sheet music and get some use out of our piano. At the very end, the woman on the violin played a solo song which I was able to watch her play. I was mesmerized by her and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Her hands moved so fast and so easily and it was incredible to watch. She has played all over the world, including for the Queen of England. She has an impressive resume and she's only 28! I'm really glad I was here in Siena for tonight and was able to go to this concert.
Earlier today I basically just sat out on the piazza. It was gorgeous out today! I think it was close to 70 and no clouds in the sky. I got up and went for a run which was great. I needed to get a run in today since I haven't really run much this week. Then, I packed a lunch and went to eat out on the piazza with a lot of the people that were still in Siena. We had a picnic and sat on the piazza for a good 3-4 hours just soaking up the sun. Mom, don't worry I managed to find some sunscreen (thanks to Lindsay) that I put on, so I didn't get sunburned. :) The thing I couldn't believe was that a lot of Italians were still wearing big bubble coats and warm clothes that I would have died in. They gave us weird looks for wearing skirts and t-shirts, but I'm not going to sweat to death in my fleece coat. No thanks.
Tomorrow I am heading to Florence to do some shopping and I'm hoping to get a leather jacket there. We are just spending the day there, which will be really nice. It will be a nice relaxing weekend where I don't have to worry about hostels and packing a bag. And spending some time in Siena is always nice too. :)

Pictures from Rome

Sistine Chapel!

St. Peter's Basilica from the outside

Making our way up to the top of St. Peter's dome. These were all mosaics. So cool!

One of the views from the top of the basilica

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

One of the many domes inside St. Peter's

Colosseum :)

Throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain.

View from Castel Sant'Angelo