Crazy Carnivale part one

Hello everyone,

I'm so sorry for the increasingly lengthy periods between my posts. It's not my intention to keep you sweating for the news of my next adventure... it's just I'm actually getting pretty busy and between classes, homework, conversing with my host family and various activities like my internship and Spazio Conversazione (a group where Italians and American students speak Italian and English together) I rarely have the time, or the energy for that matter to keep you all informed.

In any case, I'll make up the lost time soon, hopefully but for now, tales of Venice will have to suffice.

Venice, or Venezia in the original Italian, is an interesting city. Although it is one of my favorite cities I've visited, several aspects of life their projects a very eerie and slightly depressing feeling.

First, of course, is the fact the city is sinking. When we arrived with a group of thirteen people (our hotel rooms were fantastic, 13 people in spaces meant for 9, just wonderful) we traveled to the Piazza in front of the Church of San Marco and we watched as the water rose up to people's ankles. Twice a day, high tide comes in and marks the city with countless puddles. It is frightening to think that in another hundred years, parts of the city will be abandoned and unusable. In several hundred years, perhaps most of the city will be underwater. As such, the city gave off a face like a person who knows they don't have long to live and lives their life to the fullest...

And boy do they ever life to the fullest. Carnivale is one of the most enjoyable, exhilarating and unique experiences I've ever had. Upon our arrival we set our bags down and set out for dinner and the search for our masks.

The second slightly unnerving aspect of Venice is the presence of so many masks. To see so many different artistic and quite beautiful representations of the human visage is truly strange. We browsed through several different mask shops, unluckily for us most had closed for the night before we arrived. Mom, Dad, be thankful I only brought a small amount of money with me this weekend because I could have quite easily dropped several hundred Euros on one (or two) masks for myself and several for gifts back home.

As it was, I found a very reasonably priced mask, in my opinion, for twenty Euros from a street vendor. The style of mask, I later learned is a Casanova mask as it doesn't have the incredibly long nose like most men's masks but instead has a square jaw and a three pointed hat as part of the mask itself. Don't worry everyone, I'll include a picture in the second part.

After some of us found our masks, we made our way to the famed Rialto bridge that night and joined a large group of people in the square listening to music, dancing and generally having a good time. When the music ended, we returned to the hotel where we divided into the groups staying in and going to sleep (or those with some common sense, as we were checking out at 10:30 and it was already past 2) and those who wanted to go back out. As it happened, everyone found their common sense and realizing we were all exhausted from the train ride and the crazy day promptly fell asleep.

So ended day one of the Venetian adventure. Part two will come very soon, I promise.

Ciao for now

John

Perugia

Hello viewers,

I have returned after an illness, two crazy weeks at school, an internship meeting with a local organization here and a detour last weekend to Venice for the last weekend of Carnivale...don't worry, we'll come to that later.

Since my blog is now out of order chronologically I'll clarify the dates of my trip to Perugia.

January 30th was the all school trip to Assisi at the end of which several friends and I, having planned ahead and made reservations beforehand, left the bus going back to Florence and instead the cheapest train I've ever been on. (Seriously, I've had panini more costly than the ride from Assisi to Perugia)

Upon arriving the four of us checked into the four person hostel where we were staying for the night and began to walk around as the sun set. Scoping out a place to eat for dinner we came upon one restaurant that came highly recommended by the front desk of our hostel.

Dinner was great. I turns out gnocchi, quail, red wine and the best jokes the four of us could think of make for a fun time.

After dinner we wandered around the city, mentally marking the spots we wanted to make sure to see the next morning before returning to the hostel to sleep.

Upon awakening we quickly set out to see several different museums and attractions in Perugia thanks to a museum pass that included several of the more popular attractions. We saw a great deal of religious renaissance art as well as several churches and the Etruscan well, one of the oldest wells in Italy that predates the Roman Empire.

Also included in our tour of the city was an outdoor market, several small balconies where we could look out on the city and the countryside surrounding it. I could just make out Assisi in the distance. The two city states were bitter enemies in the Middle Ages and constantly at war with one another. As I looked across the valley towards the small city on the hill I could imagine armies marching across the plain to war.

More recently, Perugia is famous for its chocolate. After a visit to a chocolate shop we went to a small cafe that served some of the best hot chocolate I've ever had. (Melted chocolate and orange so thick I had to eat it with a spoon...like chocolate soup) After that we traveled on the mini metro, a transit system something like a love child between a subway and a monorail. As we moved toward our train station, we were treated to one last glorious view of the city at sunset before we boarded a train to Florence.

Upon returning, I realized once again that I had large amounts of reading that had once again been relegated to Sunday evening to be completed. Oh well, such are the dangers of traveling Italy, I suppose. And anyways I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thankfully, now I am relatively caught up with the blog and I will post pictures and stories of the excursion to Venice for the last weekend of Carnivale within the week.

For now, however, I say goodnight and I'll talk to you all soon.

John

Neve?

Hello everyone,

I don't know if the pictures accurately represent what I'm seeing outside my apartment window. My host mother today came into the room, pointed at the window and launched into a stream of quick Italian. Not catching everything she said, I thought wondered if I wanted the windows open. I quickly replied "No, no"... but she pulled the blinds back to show me that it had begun to snow outside.

Blast, and that was a word that I thought I wasn't going to have to learn/use here. I guess this is just the quota that the mighty snow gods have deemed my lot. Although there isn't a foot (or two or three) like you all have at home, I just wanted to let you know that even I can't escape the weather.

Talk to you soon,

John

Assisi

As you all can see, the region of Umbria, where the town of Assisi is located, is famous for its dramatic conditions. Although we drove through two hours of rain on the bus, as well as being poured on for the first parts of our tour through the town, later that day we were greeted with beautiful views of the surrounding valley and towns.

The first part of our tour focused on the history of Assisi while we were still on the bus. According to our guide, Assisi was one of the many towns that fought incessantly throughout the Middle Ages, especially with the neighboring town, Perugia (more on it later). After we arrived we took a guided tour through the gigantic Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi. The Basilica was gigantic... and very cold. We walked through the famous frescoes depicting the life of St. Francis, toured through the second level of the Basilica and visited the tomb of St. Francis himself.

After the tour, we were given time to ourselves, where we walked up into the small town of Assisi and ate lunch. Our tour guide told us that the town's golden age was in the Middle Ages and has long since passed. Since an earthquake damaged much of the city in the 1960's (I believe), much of the population has moved into the surrounding valleys where modern conveniences (Like indoor plumbing and electricity) can be found. She also told us that Assisi, although it is a very large site for pilgrims (2nd only to Rome, if I remember correctly) it also is famed for its delicious sausage. Boy was she right...

After lunch, a group decided to make the trek up the hill to the Rocca Maggiore, an ancient fortress overlooking the town and the valleys below. Luckily, as we were climbing, the rain finally let up and the sun broke through the clouds for a few minutes resulting in the breathtaking views like the one at the beginning of this entry. Standing at the foot of the ancient castle and looking out over windswept valleys and the sun shining, I once again felt overwhelmed at the wonder and splendor of Italy.

(For all of you who know my secret desire to be lord of a Medieval village/town, this felt like the first step. Just saying. Now all I have to do is find enough money to buy a castle on a hill somewhere...)

As we came down off the hill, the group stopped for a delicious (albeit slightly pricey) snack in a chocolate shop. As we walked down the twisting streets back to the bus I stopped for one last picture of the Church. Although almost everyone boarded the tour bus to go back to Florence, I was instead headed to the nearby city of Perugia, the neighbor and perpetual enemy of Assisi, for the remainder of the weekend.

I'll write again tomorrow...

John

Being sick is twice as worse here...

Mi Dispiace tutti,

(I'm sorry everyone)

I know i've been neglecting to post several new entries that I'm working on during this past week. It's been several stressful days of work, class, and on top of it all, I'm getting sick.

So instead of writing about all of my adventures, I've just been sitting around and feeling kind of miserable. Being sick here is twice as worse here because not only am I sick, I'm sick in a foreign country where I want to be exploring instead of resting and sleeping.

However, I think this was actually really good timing. I'm not traveling anywhere this weekend so I won't be miserable and have to expose myself to the elements and can afford to laze about the apartment for several days recovering. Then once I get over this cold or whatever I have, I can get back to the adventures.

(Since I'll likely be spending most of Friday and Saturday in the apartment, I will definitely be able to finish some entries about my trip last weekend to Assisi and Perugia.

For now though, I'll just rest and recover.

Talk to you all soon

John

Bologna

Good Evening Viewers,

Sorry about the delay but it turns out schoolwork actually has a way of getting in the way of much more pleasurable activities...such as writing to all of you.

This past weekend, I visited the city of Bologna located about a hour north of Florence. Joining me on the trip were five others: Meredith and Sara from Syracuse University and Ben, Kobe and David from Tufts. We got to know each other during orientation as I roomed with the three guys when I first arrived and we all met the two girls later that week.

Our first experience on the way to Bologna was the super-fast, quick-moving, ludicrous speed bullet train. It took a little more than a half hour for us to arrive in Bologna despite the cities actually being 123 Km apart (which according to Google maps would take about an hour and a half driving.) Although the train moved really fast, there was no view because we were in a tunnel for most of the journey. Every so often I would look up and we would pass out of a tunnel and then into another tunnel. Kind of frustrating, getting your camera out to take a picture and then missing the scenery because you're moving so fast.

Upon finishing the scenery-less trip to the Stazione Centrale, we stepped outside in order to find our hotel. The second thing we hadn't planned on was the weather. Florence is by no means in Southern Italy and the temperature is consistently in the higher 40's, Bologna is an hour and a half north and is considerably less warm. Stepping out of the station was like going back to Syracuse... windy, overcast and kind of gloomy. Although we could see our breath like we were smoking heavily, we continued on to find our hotel nestled in a back alley near the city's center.

The rest of that day was spent looking around the city's center for famous landmarks including the oldest university in the world and the famous statue of Poseidon. We also walked around to see the Due torri (two towers), not the two from the book... sorry, and the Cathedral in the same square as the university. Although quite imposing from the outside, the cathedral was quite spacious (one of the largest I've been in) and beautifully constructed. When one of my friends asked about the scaffolding inside, a worker replied that the church is actually still under construction after about 600 years. As we looked we could indeed see where parts of the ceiling had unfinished portions of the beautiful frescos and were currently being worked on.

That night we sampled the delicious pasta that Bologna is famous for: the Tortellini and Tagliata Bolognese. The famed Bologna sauce had a variety of spiced beef or sausage meat and when we sprinkled the fresh parmesan on top... delicious.

The following day I woke up early and went with a walk through the street market with Meredith and Sara. The market was quite large and we spent a good couple of hours wandering through the variety of shops and stalls and looking for anything interesting or unique. When we began to get hungry, we traveled to find a small pizza shop not far from our hotel. Once again, Italian food did not disappoint and we quickly finished our delicious pizza.

Upon returning to the hotel we met up with the other three who had slept in and decided to make the trek to the Basilica of San Luca which came highly recommended by our helpful manager at the hotel, Giuseppe. After about 20 minutes on a bus we were greeted by a 4 Km walk up the side of a mountain. However once we arrived and saw both the beautiful church and the beautiful view of Bologna from the beautiful church, we all agreed that it was well worth the wait and the walk.

That night we once again sampled the delicious fare that Bologna had to offer before retiring early in order to catch our train the next morning. When we got back to Florence, 30 more scenery less minutes we all were relieved and elated when instead of putting more clothes on, it was actually warm enough to remove our jackets. As we got off the train we parted ways for the rest of Sunday to finish homework.

Although the adventure to Bologna was over I was glad I went and saw everything. I then made a mental note to travel South for the next trip. Hopefully somewhere on the Mediterranean...

Ciao for now as I hope to write again soon

John

"Not all those who wander are lost..."

For those of you who wonder about the title of this entry, the reference comes from J. R. R. Tolkien but also accurately describes the adventure I had this afternoon.

Following the end of my classes today, (2:45 p.m.) I traveled into the centro or downtown area of Florence to pick up the rest of my textbooks. At first I turned to head home and rest a bit before dinner, but looking at the early hour and knowing I would be loafing about until dinner (8:30p.m.) I decided instead to take some advice I'd received and simply "get lost" in the city.

One of my professors had recommended several sites across the Arno river and so I traveled from the Duomo to Ponte Vecchio in order to cross to the other side. Having not traveled so far across the river before, I didn't recognize any of my surroundings and simply decided to travel in the direction that looked most interesting. After walking for about five minutes I came upon a staircase that looked like it led to a hill and several private villas. (See first picture)

After ascending the stairwell I came upon a series of very narrow streets reminiscent of the pictures seen in guidebooks. These streets wound around and as I traveled upwards I caught a very brief glimpse of the city across the river. I then decided to continue upward in order to find an excellent view of the city.

After almost an hour of walking around these narrow streets and passing by an old fort, (Fort Belvedere), I saw a balcony in the distance where I could just make out people standing and gazing on the city below them. I resolved to make it to this balcony and continued to follow the street signs and curving streets until I reached another staircase (see picture two) leading up to a church as well as the balcony I had seen from afar.

This balcony turned out to be part of the famed Piazzale Michelangiolo and as I walked to the edge of the balcony a breathtaking and majestic view of the city greeted me just before the sun began to set. (See pictures three and four) I was instantly overcome by the beauty and splendor of the city that lay before me as it had for hundreds of years before my own country had even existed. At one point during my reflection on the balcony I was actually holding back tears, but I will continue to deny any such allegations when I return home...

During those moments spent on the hill, I contemplated the nature of humanity and our ever present mortality. I believe that God created us as mortal beings in order to increase the wonder and splendor of spending eternity in Heaven, but during those minutes I thought to myself that if one could spend eternity searching for beauty such as the city before me, a person could truly find a paradise here on earth. Perhaps this will be my version of heaven... If it is so I will consider myself more blessed than I already am.

The walk back to my apartment was blighted by the fact that my camera died seconds after I took some pictures of the city below Piazza Michelangelo. Fortunately, for both me and you this means that I'll have to make another trip to the piazza and take lots more pictures... woe is me.

As I am visiting Bologna this weekend with several friends, I won't be able to post again for a couple of days. However, when I return, I'm sure I'll have lots more stories to share with you.

Buona notte dall'Italia (Good Night from Italy)

John