January 30-31, 2009
went on an overnight field trip to Urbino with my Architecture in Context class. We had to catch a bus at the Santa Maria Novella train station (literally five minutes from where I live) at 6:45 in the morning. That wasn't a whole lot of fun, but the trip to Urbino took about three hours so we were able to nap some. Urbino is this little fortress town up in the mountains of Italy. We had to drive over snowy mountains to get there. The city is completely walled in, and only 4,000 non-students live within the city walls. The University of Urbino has a large influence in the city. They have dorms right outside the walls and several different schools of study within the walls. Friday night, we stayed in the dorms. When we got to Urbino, we had some free time to wander and find some food. Then we met to see a museum. I have no idea what the museum was called, but the architecture of the place was as much part of the exhibit as the paintings and couple of sculptures it housed. When we finished looking at the artwork, we went down in the basement. The basement was pretty much untouched (except for one creepy room with these projections on the walls and weird music playing) so it was like exploring ancient ruins or something. The rooms all connected really strangely as if twelve different architects hollowed out different parts of the mountain and then realized they all needed to be connected. Most of the rooms had what looked like the remains of some sort of rainwater collection system. One rooms overlooked the bottom of a well so we could see all the coins people had thrown down there. Although where we entered, the basement was underground, when we walked to the other end, we were looking out windows several stories in the air; I guess cuz it was built on a mountain. It was really neat.
After the museum we were on our own for lunch, and then we went to the dorms. After being assigned rooms, we got a tour of all the dorms. None of the dorms were what we would consider traditional. At first, they seemed similar to the buildings at UMass Dartmouth because they were all made of concrete in sort of abstract rectilinear forms, but once we got to go inside and explore them, I realized they're way cooler than UMass. The dorms we stayed in were singles that all opened to outside. Since everything in Urbino is on a hill, there were walkways connecting the rooms, but you always had to go in the opposite direction to get where you wanted, which was kind of annoying. For instance to go up, you had to go down first, or to go right you had to go left. The other dorms weren't as confusing. A common theme in all of the dorm buildings as well as in each individual room was the idea of rooms opening up to rooms above and below. One of the rooms we got to see had a living room that was about two or two and half stories tall. You walked in halfway up and could go down to the living room and some of the bedrooms or up to a balcony and the rest of the bedrooms. All the dorms had access to some sort of green space. There were roof terraces all over the place. It was an adventure trying to figure out how to get into each space because they were so three-dimensional, and sometimes you could see one from another but had to go to the other side of the building to get onto it. There were a few lecture halls mixed in with the dorms as well as a cafeteria, but it was closed for maintenance.
After we had seen all the dorms and played on just about every roof terrace we could find, Franco (our teacher) took us back into Urbino to eat dinner at one of the University's cafeterias. It only cost 4 euro to get a large roll, a first course, a second course, a side dish, and two pieces of fruit. For the first course, I chose the pasta with pesto sauce. I got an omelet as the second course. I think it was supposed to come with meat, but I didn't get that. I had thought that the meat alone was the second dish and the omelet was the side dish, so I wound up without a side dish, but I still had plenty of food. While at the dorms, one of the students had told us where the night life is, so after dinner we headed to the pub he had told us about. We had a few drinks with Franco and played some foosball. Two Italian kids came along and completely whipped the butts of the Americans playing. After Franco and most of our class left the pub, some of us went to out with the two Italians, Paolo and Simone. They took us to another pub that had a big room in the back for dancing. We didn't stay there for long, because Paolo wanted to take us a big club that all the Urbino kids go to. We had to walk so far to get there. We went outside the city walls to an area that actually looked pretty modern. Just when we were starting to get sketched out and wonder if it hadn't been such a good idea to trust Paolo (even though there were 8 of us, 6 of whom were boys, and only one of him), we reached a little strip mall. It was really small and unremarkable. We couldn't see how a club could be located there, but as we walked around the back, kids started appearing out of nowhere. It was like something out of a movie. Clusters of college-aged kids just popped out of the darkness. The club wound up being in the back underneath the strip mall and it was actually really cool with lots of European techno music. Paolo got us in for free. It was fairly crowded while we were there, but when we left (which was probably just after 2), people started pouring in. I was amazed that the busiest time is when I would expect most places to be closing, especially in a small place like Urbino.
Saturday we got free breakfast at the dorms and then went into the city to visit some of the buildings restored or designed by Giancarlo de Carlo, who played a large part in making Urbnio look the way it does today. We saw a public library and a former convent and the schools of the University of Urbino. The first one we saw was really cool. I think it was the school of education, but it had this big auditorium in the middle that could be expanded by joining it with the lecture halls above. There were I think three lecture halls above with wooden panels along one side that could be opened so that the lecture halls looked down on the auditorium. There were also louvres in the ceiling that could be opened so that light could pour in from the skylight above. After seeing all the schools, we got to wander on our own again before heading back to Florence.
January 29, 2009
only had one class because the other two were cancelled. One of our studio teachers was sick on Wednesday and the other teacher told us he also wouldn't be coming in Thursday so that he could get better. We were all amazed that a teacher would call out sick ahead of time, but they seem to have a much more relaxed attitude about work here. The photography class that a bunch of my friends are taking was cancelled both this times this week because the teacher was sick, too. Since the sick studio teacher also teaches my Architecture in Italy class, that was also cancelled. With all these unplanned free time, I decided to go see some of the sites of the city we'll be focusing on this semester. In the morning, Kelly and I walked over to the piazza that we're all supposed to be analyzing. Eventually our project will be to redesign the piazza. The main piazza is just this huge open paved area, but just off of it is this smaller piazza with a flea market. Although the flea market is kind of poor looking, it's really cool. People sell new and used clothing, costumes, toys, knickknacks, and all sorts of fruits and meats and things. As Kelly and I were looking around the main piazza, we saw this little kid bring a hunk of plastic to his dad. It looked like a big piece of a broken tail light or something. The dad took the plastic from the kid and chucked it, but it hit me square in the chest, and I was only standing about ten to fifteen feet away from him. I had been looking down at my sketchbook when he actually chucked it, but Kelly said there was no way he didn't know he was chucking it at me. Of course he came over and apologized profusely, but it was super weird.
went to Italian class, had lunch, and booked spring break tickets. When we finally finished finalizing our spring break plans, Kelly, Izzy, Nikul, and I decided to go check out the church and piazza (Santo Spirito) we were supposed to have visited with our Architecture in Italy class. During the day, the piazza has a flea market which I had seen when I went running earlier, but in the evening, it gets a little bit sketchy. We didn't feel unsafe at all, but we saw cops who appeared to be searching a couple of kids for drugs or something. We couldn't go in the church because it was during Vespers, but I plan on going to mass there on Sunday, so I'll get to see the inside.
had family dinner. It was in our room again, and every single person from studio came, so we had 27 people eating dinner in our small living room meant for 7 people. After dinner, some people went out, but a bunch of us decided to stay in and watch Finding Nemo.
only had one class because the other two were cancelled. One of our studio teachers was sick on Wednesday and the other teacher told us he also wouldn't be coming in Thursday so that he could get better. We were all amazed that a teacher would call out sick ahead of time, but they seem to have a much more relaxed attitude about work here. The photography class that a bunch of my friends are taking was cancelled both this times this week because the teacher was sick, too. Since the sick studio teacher also teaches my Architecture in Italy class, that was also cancelled. With all these unplanned free time, I decided to go see some of the sites of the city we'll be focusing on this semester. In the morning, Kelly and I walked over to the piazza that we're all supposed to be analyzing. Eventually our project will be to redesign the piazza. The main piazza is just this huge open paved area, but just off of it is this smaller piazza with a flea market. Although the flea market is kind of poor looking, it's really cool. People sell new and used clothing, costumes, toys, knickknacks, and all sorts of fruits and meats and things. As Kelly and I were looking around the main piazza, we saw this little kid bring a hunk of plastic to his dad. It looked like a big piece of a broken tail light or something. The dad took the plastic from the kid and chucked it, but it hit me square in the chest, and I was only standing about ten to fifteen feet away from him. I had been looking down at my sketchbook when he actually chucked it, but Kelly said there was no way he didn't know he was chucking it at me. Of course he came over and apologized profusely, but it was super weird.
went to Italian class, had lunch, and booked spring break tickets. When we finally finished finalizing our spring break plans, Kelly, Izzy, Nikul, and I decided to go check out the church and piazza (Santo Spirito) we were supposed to have visited with our Architecture in Italy class. During the day, the piazza has a flea market which I had seen when I went running earlier, but in the evening, it gets a little bit sketchy. We didn't feel unsafe at all, but we saw cops who appeared to be searching a couple of kids for drugs or something. We couldn't go in the church because it was during Vespers, but I plan on going to mass there on Sunday, so I'll get to see the inside.
had family dinner. It was in our room again, and every single person from studio came, so we had 27 people eating dinner in our small living room meant for 7 people. After dinner, some people went out, but a bunch of us decided to stay in and watch Finding Nemo.
January 28, 2009
did some laundry now that our washing machine finally works. As I was hanging it out to dry on the clothes line on our miniscule balcony, I saw a little old lady across the courtyard leaning out her window to hang her clothes. The courtyard is just this tiny little square completely enclosed by the buildings around it. From our room, I can't see any door into it from the ground floor, so no one can really go into the courtyard. The rooms in our buiding have little balconies, but the other three sides just have windows. It's kind of neat that even though almost no one can actually go into the courtyard, there could still be interaction between the people who live around it.
did some laundry now that our washing machine finally works. As I was hanging it out to dry on the clothes line on our miniscule balcony, I saw a little old lady across the courtyard leaning out her window to hang her clothes. The courtyard is just this tiny little square completely enclosed by the buildings around it. From our room, I can't see any door into it from the ground floor, so no one can really go into the courtyard. The rooms in our buiding have little balconies, but the other three sides just have windows. It's kind of neat that even though almost no one can actually go into the courtyard, there could still be interaction between the people who live around it.
January 24
went to Pisa and Lucca on a trip organized by school. At Pisa we got to see the leaning tower and take all the requisite touristy pictures. We also got to go in the church and the baptistry. While we were in the baptistry, a singer came in to demonstrate the acoustics. He sang several notes into the main dome. It was really cool to hear, almost like an organ playing. In Lucca we were supposed to ride bikes around the city, but it was raining too hard. We were there during the time that most of the shops and attractions are closed for lunch and siesta, so we thought we weren't going to have anything to do. Luckily we found a few things that were open. We got to climb this tower in the middle of the city. It was several stories higher than anything around it, so we had a great view of the whole city. There are trees growing on top of the tower which is pretty cool. Of course, it was super rainy so the view is probably even better in good weather. When we got down from the tower, it was late enough that the church our guide had wanted to take us to was open. In the church we got to see the 700-year-old body of a 13-year-old saint that was miraculously preserved. The trip was a little bit miserable because it was so cold and rainy but we did get to see some really cool things.
January 25, 2009
went to mass at Santa Croce with Pat. I really liked Santa Croce. The interior felt even more impressive than Il Duomo for some reason. The mass was all in Italian again, but it's really cool to try to understand it anyway. Since we know what's supposed to be said during mass anyway, Pat and I were saying we'll probably learn more Italian from going to mass each Sunday than from going to restaurants and bars where people tends to speak English to us.
walked around a new part of Florence with Nikul to find sites for a project we have to do for Architecture in Context.
went to Pisa and Lucca on a trip organized by school. At Pisa we got to see the leaning tower and take all the requisite touristy pictures. We also got to go in the church and the baptistry. While we were in the baptistry, a singer came in to demonstrate the acoustics. He sang several notes into the main dome. It was really cool to hear, almost like an organ playing. In Lucca we were supposed to ride bikes around the city, but it was raining too hard. We were there during the time that most of the shops and attractions are closed for lunch and siesta, so we thought we weren't going to have anything to do. Luckily we found a few things that were open. We got to climb this tower in the middle of the city. It was several stories higher than anything around it, so we had a great view of the whole city. There are trees growing on top of the tower which is pretty cool. Of course, it was super rainy so the view is probably even better in good weather. When we got down from the tower, it was late enough that the church our guide had wanted to take us to was open. In the church we got to see the 700-year-old body of a 13-year-old saint that was miraculously preserved. The trip was a little bit miserable because it was so cold and rainy but we did get to see some really cool things.
January 25, 2009
went to mass at Santa Croce with Pat. I really liked Santa Croce. The interior felt even more impressive than Il Duomo for some reason. The mass was all in Italian again, but it's really cool to try to understand it anyway. Since we know what's supposed to be said during mass anyway, Pat and I were saying we'll probably learn more Italian from going to mass each Sunday than from going to restaurants and bars where people tends to speak English to us.
walked around a new part of Florence with Nikul to find sites for a project we have to do for Architecture in Context.
January 22, 2006
went running in the morning.
went on a walking tour through the area around Santa Croce for my Architecture in Italy class. The piazza in front of Santa Croce always has different activities going on, and today was a chocolate festival. Once we were done with class, Nikul, Ash, Pat, Kelly, Izzy, and I walked around the chocolate festival. We all got hot chocolate (I got the orange flavored hot chocolate), which was really good. It was really thick as if they just melted chocolate. There were so many cool things there. Some vendors had animals, instruments, tools, and all sorts of things made out of chocolate.
went to Italian class.
learned about and sketched Palazzo Rucellai (the building that houses our school) and Piazza de Rucellai during studio. Even though today was my day with the most classes, it was really like I only had one. That's what's so cool about studying here, that we explore the city so much more than sit in lecture.
had family dinner at the other boys' place and then went out exploring Florence with some of the gang. We went to this one hippie pub that was pretty cool and checked out some other places around the city.
January 23, 2009
went to Fiesole with Nadia, Izzy, Pat, Jarrod, and Nikul. Fiesole is this little town up in the hills above Florence that's supposed to have amazing views. Unfortunately it's always foggy so a camera can't come close to capturing it. We took the bus up to the main piazza in the center of town and explored the surrounding hillside. The hills were soooo steep. We ate lunch at this little pizzeria and then attempted to go to the museum and Roman ruins. The place was going to close in 45 minutes, though, so we didn't think it was worth it to pay the 6 euro. Instead we walked around the outside and peeked over the walls and between cracks to see the ruins. We were all pretty sastified with what we could see for free. Then we explored some more and talked to a couple different old Italian men. Each one told us a different little fact about the area, but none of them spoke English, so it was interesting to try to figure out what they were saying. When we were all too cold and tired to enjoy the hillside anymore, we hopped on a bus back home.
went running in the morning.
went on a walking tour through the area around Santa Croce for my Architecture in Italy class. The piazza in front of Santa Croce always has different activities going on, and today was a chocolate festival. Once we were done with class, Nikul, Ash, Pat, Kelly, Izzy, and I walked around the chocolate festival. We all got hot chocolate (I got the orange flavored hot chocolate), which was really good. It was really thick as if they just melted chocolate. There were so many cool things there. Some vendors had animals, instruments, tools, and all sorts of things made out of chocolate.
went to Italian class.
learned about and sketched Palazzo Rucellai (the building that houses our school) and Piazza de Rucellai during studio. Even though today was my day with the most classes, it was really like I only had one. That's what's so cool about studying here, that we explore the city so much more than sit in lecture.
had family dinner at the other boys' place and then went out exploring Florence with some of the gang. We went to this one hippie pub that was pretty cool and checked out some other places around the city.
January 23, 2009
went to Fiesole with Nadia, Izzy, Pat, Jarrod, and Nikul. Fiesole is this little town up in the hills above Florence that's supposed to have amazing views. Unfortunately it's always foggy so a camera can't come close to capturing it. We took the bus up to the main piazza in the center of town and explored the surrounding hillside. The hills were soooo steep. We ate lunch at this little pizzeria and then attempted to go to the museum and Roman ruins. The place was going to close in 45 minutes, though, so we didn't think it was worth it to pay the 6 euro. Instead we walked around the outside and peeked over the walls and between cracks to see the ruins. We were all pretty sastified with what we could see for free. Then we explored some more and talked to a couple different old Italian men. Each one told us a different little fact about the area, but none of them spoke English, so it was interesting to try to figure out what they were saying. When we were all too cold and tired to enjoy the hillside anymore, we hopped on a bus back home.
January 17, 2009
went out to do some sketching for studio. After several hours of sketching in the cold, my fingers were too cold to draw anymore, so I found my way to a 99 cent store to buy some gloves. On my way, I saw all these vendors set up in front of Santa Croatia. They were all set up under tents, and all their wares looked homemade. One tent had leather products, including the tiniest pairs of shoes I've ever seen. Each shoe was probably about the size of my thumbnail. There was also a woman with a loom set up weaving.
January 18, 2009
went running along the river Arno. I went pretty far down and I'm pretty sure I wasn't in Florence anymore. All of Florence is really nice looking, and even though there are some beggars, you really don't see much poverty at all. Further down the river, though, it gets so poor looking. I saw little camps of people living in crates and makeshift shelters. I also passed this little tent market, but the people and the wares looked almost Native American.
went to church at San Miniato al Monte. The mass was in all Italian and Latin and much of it was Gregorian chanting. The chanting was really cool, but it definitely made it harder to follow the mass. No one really seemed to know when to sit or stand, either. It was a neat experience, but I definitely wouldn't want to go there regularly.
January 19, 2009
went running again. This time I thought it would be cool to run up the hill to San Miniato al Monte. That was not the brightest idea I've ever had. The hill feels like a mile long straight up. And every time you think you reach the top, there are 3 more flights of stairs. It was definitely a good workout.
January 20, 2009
got out of studio a little bit early to go watch the inauguration. We all traipsed over to the Red Garter to watch. There were so many people there, a lot of them from our school. Even though I didn't vote for Obama, it was still really cool to be in a foreign country, uniting with so many other Americans to watch the swearing in of a new president.
left the Red Garter and went to get dinner with Alex, Nikul, Kelly, and Izzy. We went to this little Mediterranean place that serves Mediterranean food and Italian food. I got ravioli which was sooooo good.
went out in search of dessert with Nadia. We found a waffle place that was still open (because I had been wanting a waffle allll day), but all the gelato places were closed. Waffles are pretty popular here as a dessert. I got mine with chocolate and it was delicious. Since it was still really early and our Wednesday classes don't start til 1:30, we decided to go visit the other boys (the one apartment of archies who don't live in our building) for a little while. Their room is really cool in a modern European, all-IKEA kind of way. It's also wayyyyy quieter than our apartment, so Nadia and I decided to take a nap there while the boys went out for a little while. I was so glad to finally get some quiet sleep.
went out to do some sketching for studio. After several hours of sketching in the cold, my fingers were too cold to draw anymore, so I found my way to a 99 cent store to buy some gloves. On my way, I saw all these vendors set up in front of Santa Croatia. They were all set up under tents, and all their wares looked homemade. One tent had leather products, including the tiniest pairs of shoes I've ever seen. Each shoe was probably about the size of my thumbnail. There was also a woman with a loom set up weaving.
January 18, 2009
went running along the river Arno. I went pretty far down and I'm pretty sure I wasn't in Florence anymore. All of Florence is really nice looking, and even though there are some beggars, you really don't see much poverty at all. Further down the river, though, it gets so poor looking. I saw little camps of people living in crates and makeshift shelters. I also passed this little tent market, but the people and the wares looked almost Native American.
went to church at San Miniato al Monte. The mass was in all Italian and Latin and much of it was Gregorian chanting. The chanting was really cool, but it definitely made it harder to follow the mass. No one really seemed to know when to sit or stand, either. It was a neat experience, but I definitely wouldn't want to go there regularly.
January 19, 2009
went running again. This time I thought it would be cool to run up the hill to San Miniato al Monte. That was not the brightest idea I've ever had. The hill feels like a mile long straight up. And every time you think you reach the top, there are 3 more flights of stairs. It was definitely a good workout.
January 20, 2009
got out of studio a little bit early to go watch the inauguration. We all traipsed over to the Red Garter to watch. There were so many people there, a lot of them from our school. Even though I didn't vote for Obama, it was still really cool to be in a foreign country, uniting with so many other Americans to watch the swearing in of a new president.
left the Red Garter and went to get dinner with Alex, Nikul, Kelly, and Izzy. We went to this little Mediterranean place that serves Mediterranean food and Italian food. I got ravioli which was sooooo good.
went out in search of dessert with Nadia. We found a waffle place that was still open (because I had been wanting a waffle allll day), but all the gelato places were closed. Waffles are pretty popular here as a dessert. I got mine with chocolate and it was delicious. Since it was still really early and our Wednesday classes don't start til 1:30, we decided to go visit the other boys (the one apartment of archies who don't live in our building) for a little while. Their room is really cool in a modern European, all-IKEA kind of way. It's also wayyyyy quieter than our apartment, so Nadia and I decided to take a nap there while the boys went out for a little while. I was so glad to finally get some quiet sleep.
January 15, 2009
Our first studio project is to analyze a map one neighborhood of Florence, so we didn't have to go to studio today. Instead we were allowed to just go out and roam our assigned neighborhoods with our groups. I'm working with Pat and Nikul on the San Spirito neighborhood. Before we started exploring, we got hot drinks out of a vending machine. It was really cool. After you put your money in and make a selection, it spits out a little cup, drops a stirrer in, and fills it with whatever you ordered.
had "family dinner" and then went to a club with most of the gang.
January 16, 2009
had a field trip to Chianti as the culmination of our orientation. We went to a vineyard called Vignamaggio up in the hills. The views were amazing. We got a light lunch and got to try two different kinds of wines. I passed on the wine tasting, but the tour of the vineyard was pretty cool. "Much Ado About Nothing" was filmed entirely at this vineyard, which was also where the Mona Lisa lived and had her portrait painted.
Our first studio project is to analyze a map one neighborhood of Florence, so we didn't have to go to studio today. Instead we were allowed to just go out and roam our assigned neighborhoods with our groups. I'm working with Pat and Nikul on the San Spirito neighborhood. Before we started exploring, we got hot drinks out of a vending machine. It was really cool. After you put your money in and make a selection, it spits out a little cup, drops a stirrer in, and fills it with whatever you ordered.
had "family dinner" and then went to a club with most of the gang.
January 16, 2009
had a field trip to Chianti as the culmination of our orientation. We went to a vineyard called Vignamaggio up in the hills. The views were amazing. We got a light lunch and got to try two different kinds of wines. I passed on the wine tasting, but the tour of the vineyard was pretty cool. "Much Ado About Nothing" was filmed entirely at this vineyard, which was also where the Mona Lisa lived and had her portrait painted.
January 12, 2009
first day of classes. I had Italian 1 and Architecture in Context.
went out to the Joshua Tree and the Discoteque to celebrate Liz's birthday.
January 14, 2009
got up early and went running. Word of advice, don't try to go running through windy lanes in the rain. There were so many cars that I had to keep jumping into the gutter, which gets REALLY slippery when it rains.
went to the grocery store with Nadia to pick up a few things for the dinner we're preparing tonight. On the way back, we saw an Italian street fight. An old man and a younger Vespa driver got into some sort of an altercation. Two other Italian men were trying to calm them down, but as the Vespa driver walked back to his Vespa, he kicked the old man's car and they started fighting again. It was very entertaining to see Italians arguing cuz it sounded so much more angry since we couldn't understand them. We had to go around the block to go home so we didn't get caught up in it.
walked throughout the San Niccolo neighborhood and up to San Miniato Church and the lookout. The view from the lookout at the top of the hill is AMAZING. No picture can do it justice (especially since it was foggy). I'm planning on going to mass at San Miniato this Sunday despite the intense hill we had to climb to get there.
had movie night with the roomies.
The city is unbelievably noisy at night. Quiet hours (by law) officially start at 11:00 but that seems to be when the city gets the noisiest. Street cleaners come through every night, as do the recycle and trash trucks. As one of my roommates said, these trucks sometimes sound like a helicopter landing in our street. And we can hear people outside talking and singing as if they're in our apartment. The weird thing is that they don't seem to open their shops very early, so we can't figure out why there's so much clanging and talking so early in the morning. The quietest time of the day seems to be around lunch time or maybe a little later. Since it's so hard to sleep with all the noise at night, we're always glad for a little quiet time to nap in the middle of the day (although we'd all always much rather be going out exploring the city while it's still light out).
first day of classes. I had Italian 1 and Architecture in Context.
went out to the Joshua Tree and the Discoteque to celebrate Liz's birthday.
January 14, 2009
got up early and went running. Word of advice, don't try to go running through windy lanes in the rain. There were so many cars that I had to keep jumping into the gutter, which gets REALLY slippery when it rains.
went to the grocery store with Nadia to pick up a few things for the dinner we're preparing tonight. On the way back, we saw an Italian street fight. An old man and a younger Vespa driver got into some sort of an altercation. Two other Italian men were trying to calm them down, but as the Vespa driver walked back to his Vespa, he kicked the old man's car and they started fighting again. It was very entertaining to see Italians arguing cuz it sounded so much more angry since we couldn't understand them. We had to go around the block to go home so we didn't get caught up in it.
walked throughout the San Niccolo neighborhood and up to San Miniato Church and the lookout. The view from the lookout at the top of the hill is AMAZING. No picture can do it justice (especially since it was foggy). I'm planning on going to mass at San Miniato this Sunday despite the intense hill we had to climb to get there.
had movie night with the roomies.
The city is unbelievably noisy at night. Quiet hours (by law) officially start at 11:00 but that seems to be when the city gets the noisiest. Street cleaners come through every night, as do the recycle and trash trucks. As one of my roommates said, these trucks sometimes sound like a helicopter landing in our street. And we can hear people outside talking and singing as if they're in our apartment. The weird thing is that they don't seem to open their shops very early, so we can't figure out why there's so much clanging and talking so early in the morning. The quietest time of the day seems to be around lunch time or maybe a little later. Since it's so hard to sleep with all the noise at night, we're always glad for a little quiet time to nap in the middle of the day (although we'd all always much rather be going out exploring the city while it's still light out).
So far, I've only really talked about what I've done here, but I'm sure some of you are interested in the difference in their culture and the ways they do every day things.
One thing we've noticed that we do really differently is the way we shop for food. Everyone here seems to shop every day, so food is never sold in bulk. There also don't seem to be any big families (which might partly be because we're in the city). Because I have six roommates, we shop for a lot more people than the average Florentine, so we stick out even more.
Packaging of food is not like it is in America. Like I said before, quantities are smaller, but bottles are also taller and skinnier. Milk is sold in rectangular paper containers sort of like quart cartons, but with caps. Eggs come as 4, 6, or 10. Mozzarella comes in balls. I haven't seen any cheese except parmesan sold in blocks.
Shops all have tiny store fronts and then expand in the back. Stores, restaurants, and pubs are usually on the first floor with apartments and hotels above. The apartments and hotels have their entrances on the ground level, too, but only take up a small portion of the ground floor, enough for stairs and maybe an elevator. Then the ground floor stores, restaurants, and pubs kind of sprawl into the rest of the free space in a sort of weird, serpentine, cavernous way.
The cars are also really different. The streets are tiny and the cars literally park bumper to bumper, so all the cars are teeny tiny and the front wheels must be able to turn completely sideways. We even saw a one seater car. I've started taking pictures of cars because they're so fascinating. The police cars look like little mice or bunnies because they're tiny and then they have two blue lights (and sometimes a third white one) that look like little ears. I'll put an album up on york soon if anyone's interested.
I haven't eaten a traditional Italian lunch yet, so I can't say too much about the food. They don't eat much breakfast, but they take several hours to eat a several course meal in the middle of the day. A lot of the shops shut down during that time so everyone can eat. Then they eat a small dinner much later than we do at home.
It's warmer here than in America, but the Italians still bundle up as if it's freezing. Scarves are a big thing and they don't really have brightly colored coats and backpacks as much as we do. Style is much more muted and sort of a dressed up casual. Patterns aren't a huge thing either. Boots, solid colors, scarves, and nicer dark-colored coats are the norm. I haven't really seen any Italians wearing baggy clothes or sneakers, either.
One thing we've noticed that we do really differently is the way we shop for food. Everyone here seems to shop every day, so food is never sold in bulk. There also don't seem to be any big families (which might partly be because we're in the city). Because I have six roommates, we shop for a lot more people than the average Florentine, so we stick out even more.
Packaging of food is not like it is in America. Like I said before, quantities are smaller, but bottles are also taller and skinnier. Milk is sold in rectangular paper containers sort of like quart cartons, but with caps. Eggs come as 4, 6, or 10. Mozzarella comes in balls. I haven't seen any cheese except parmesan sold in blocks.
Shops all have tiny store fronts and then expand in the back. Stores, restaurants, and pubs are usually on the first floor with apartments and hotels above. The apartments and hotels have their entrances on the ground level, too, but only take up a small portion of the ground floor, enough for stairs and maybe an elevator. Then the ground floor stores, restaurants, and pubs kind of sprawl into the rest of the free space in a sort of weird, serpentine, cavernous way.
The cars are also really different. The streets are tiny and the cars literally park bumper to bumper, so all the cars are teeny tiny and the front wheels must be able to turn completely sideways. We even saw a one seater car. I've started taking pictures of cars because they're so fascinating. The police cars look like little mice or bunnies because they're tiny and then they have two blue lights (and sometimes a third white one) that look like little ears. I'll put an album up on york soon if anyone's interested.
I haven't eaten a traditional Italian lunch yet, so I can't say too much about the food. They don't eat much breakfast, but they take several hours to eat a several course meal in the middle of the day. A lot of the shops shut down during that time so everyone can eat. Then they eat a small dinner much later than we do at home.
It's warmer here than in America, but the Italians still bundle up as if it's freezing. Scarves are a big thing and they don't really have brightly colored coats and backpacks as much as we do. Style is much more muted and sort of a dressed up casual. Patterns aren't a huge thing either. Boots, solid colors, scarves, and nicer dark-colored coats are the norm. I haven't really seen any Italians wearing baggy clothes or sneakers, either.
January 11, 2009
went to mass at Il Duomo with Nadia and Izzy. After we sat down, one of the priests came up to us and invited us to sit in the pews clustered right around the altar and asked us to help with the collection during mass. The mass was all in Italian but it was really cool. The priest was so welcoming despite the fact that we're American tourists and at least one of us is obviously not Catholic. (Nadia is Muslim and wears a scarf.)
walked around the city taking pictures. sights included Il Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, and Piazza della Repubblica.
went to the grocery store with some of the roommates. I hadn't gone with them before so this was my first time seeing all the different foods and the differences in the way they shop. Rather than being a big store with lots of aisles, the store snakes around with little alcoves off to the sides.
stayed up til midnight with the whole gang so we could toast Liz's 21st birthday.
went to mass at Il Duomo with Nadia and Izzy. After we sat down, one of the priests came up to us and invited us to sit in the pews clustered right around the altar and asked us to help with the collection during mass. The mass was all in Italian but it was really cool. The priest was so welcoming despite the fact that we're American tourists and at least one of us is obviously not Catholic. (Nadia is Muslim and wears a scarf.)
walked around the city taking pictures. sights included Il Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, and Piazza della Repubblica.
went to the grocery store with some of the roommates. I hadn't gone with them before so this was my first time seeing all the different foods and the differences in the way they shop. Rather than being a big store with lots of aisles, the store snakes around with little alcoves off to the sides.
stayed up til midnight with the whole gang so we could toast Liz's 21st birthday.
January 6-7, 2009
My journey to Florence took 29 hours. Dad and I left the house 10:00, January 6, 2009. We drove to Rahway, NJ to change some cash to euros and pay a quick visit to Christy at her school. Then we drove to JFK for my first flight. The airport was super confusing and disorganized, but I eventually got through the luggage and security process. Five other girls from my architecture program were also flying out of JFK so I met up with them in the airport. Our flight was supposed to leave a little after 7 but we was delayed for a little while due to poor weather in Paris. The flight to Paris too fooooorever but we got two meals :-). The first was a whole little dinner which included ravioli with shrimp. I never would have thought to put those together but it was really good. We also got a little snack later. The French really love their chocolate, though. Almost everything included chocolate. When we landed in Paris, we had to walk through miles of airport hallways and security and customs and baggage checks and who knows what else, but we finally reached our gate only about 10 to 20 minutes before it was scheduled to take off. Two flights of RWU students came from Boston, and one met up with us for the flight to Rome. The plane taxied to the runway before the crew realized that we had baggage on the plane for passengers on a different flight so we had to go all the way back. It turned into this big fiasco where they decided to put the passengers on the plane instead of trying to take their luggage off but then there were no seats for those passengers and bla bla bla. By the time we finally took off, we had been sitting there for over 2 hours. The flight from Paris to Rome was another long one. Apparently there was food on this flight, too, but I missed it cuz I was sleeping. We landed in Rome, collected our luggage and all the students from RWU, and had a 3 to 4 hour bus ride to Florence. Once in Florence, we were put in taxis to our individual apartments. My apartment has 7 people. My other roommates are Carolyn, Margaret, Liz, Ash, Emily, and Nadia. In the same building are 2 other rooms (10 kids) of RWU architecture students. The only other people who live in the apartment are the landlord and his family. The 8 other RWU architecture students live together in an apartment a little ways away. We arrived at our apartment about 9 pm Florence time, 3 pm home time. We got there before the other Boston flight, so we all went out to dinner together.
January 8, 2009
orientation all day at a really nice house/mansion/villa up in the mountains
explored the city
had "family dinner" with all the students in our building
went out to the disco with other Roger Williams kids
January 9, 2009
orientation in the morning: learned some speed Italian, tour of the school and some surrounding streets
went to the phone store to get a phone (learned my way around a lot better)
went to see the apartment where the other archies live
had another "family dinner" with most of the archies
explored the city in search of gelato.... apparently only restaurants, discos, and bars stay open at night
January 10, 2009
went up to school to buy books and sign up for some field trips like a soccer match and climbing the Dome
tried (and was only somewhat successful) to go running with Ash and Pat. We explored the city, trying to find a way out to the country. We wandered up into the hills, but all the roads are walled in so we weren't able to find a way into the meadows and groves. There were amazing views of the city. We ran a little bit up some hills (almost getting run over by the crazy Italian drivers) and explored an abandoned house.
went to get gelatto with Pat, Nikul, Ash, Mike, and Dan. We stopped by an awesome wood shop straight of Pinocchio. While we were eating our gelatto, a Palestinian protest came through. Nikul, Ash, and I joined it for a few minutes until we got distracted by the market. Ash and I each bought a new scarf from one of the little carts.
no "family dinner" tonight. had dinner with just the roommates
went out to The Gate pub with a small group. I ordered using all Italian for the very first time. On our way back we went into the bookstore pub (this really cool bookstore where they have live music... super popular with the local Italians) to check it out for a few minutes before they closed.
My journey to Florence took 29 hours. Dad and I left the house 10:00, January 6, 2009. We drove to Rahway, NJ to change some cash to euros and pay a quick visit to Christy at her school. Then we drove to JFK for my first flight. The airport was super confusing and disorganized, but I eventually got through the luggage and security process. Five other girls from my architecture program were also flying out of JFK so I met up with them in the airport. Our flight was supposed to leave a little after 7 but we was delayed for a little while due to poor weather in Paris. The flight to Paris too fooooorever but we got two meals :-). The first was a whole little dinner which included ravioli with shrimp. I never would have thought to put those together but it was really good. We also got a little snack later. The French really love their chocolate, though. Almost everything included chocolate. When we landed in Paris, we had to walk through miles of airport hallways and security and customs and baggage checks and who knows what else, but we finally reached our gate only about 10 to 20 minutes before it was scheduled to take off. Two flights of RWU students came from Boston, and one met up with us for the flight to Rome. The plane taxied to the runway before the crew realized that we had baggage on the plane for passengers on a different flight so we had to go all the way back. It turned into this big fiasco where they decided to put the passengers on the plane instead of trying to take their luggage off but then there were no seats for those passengers and bla bla bla. By the time we finally took off, we had been sitting there for over 2 hours. The flight from Paris to Rome was another long one. Apparently there was food on this flight, too, but I missed it cuz I was sleeping. We landed in Rome, collected our luggage and all the students from RWU, and had a 3 to 4 hour bus ride to Florence. Once in Florence, we were put in taxis to our individual apartments. My apartment has 7 people. My other roommates are Carolyn, Margaret, Liz, Ash, Emily, and Nadia. In the same building are 2 other rooms (10 kids) of RWU architecture students. The only other people who live in the apartment are the landlord and his family. The 8 other RWU architecture students live together in an apartment a little ways away. We arrived at our apartment about 9 pm Florence time, 3 pm home time. We got there before the other Boston flight, so we all went out to dinner together.
January 8, 2009
orientation all day at a really nice house/mansion/villa up in the mountains
explored the city
had "family dinner" with all the students in our building
went out to the disco with other Roger Williams kids
January 9, 2009
orientation in the morning: learned some speed Italian, tour of the school and some surrounding streets
went to the phone store to get a phone (learned my way around a lot better)
went to see the apartment where the other archies live
had another "family dinner" with most of the archies
explored the city in search of gelato.... apparently only restaurants, discos, and bars stay open at night
January 10, 2009
went up to school to buy books and sign up for some field trips like a soccer match and climbing the Dome
tried (and was only somewhat successful) to go running with Ash and Pat. We explored the city, trying to find a way out to the country. We wandered up into the hills, but all the roads are walled in so we weren't able to find a way into the meadows and groves. There were amazing views of the city. We ran a little bit up some hills (almost getting run over by the crazy Italian drivers) and explored an abandoned house.
went to get gelatto with Pat, Nikul, Ash, Mike, and Dan. We stopped by an awesome wood shop straight of Pinocchio. While we were eating our gelatto, a Palestinian protest came through. Nikul, Ash, and I joined it for a few minutes until we got distracted by the market. Ash and I each bought a new scarf from one of the little carts.
no "family dinner" tonight. had dinner with just the roommates
went out to The Gate pub with a small group. I ordered using all Italian for the very first time. On our way back we went into the bookstore pub (this really cool bookstore where they have live music... super popular with the local Italians) to check it out for a few minutes before they closed.
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