So for my final trip of the semester, I headed to Venice again. But this time with my parents! They came in for the end of the program on Wednesday, saw my concert Thursday (more on the end of school another time), helped me move out on Friday, and then Saturday we headed to Venice. Despite it being my third time I saw a ton of new stuff.
Saturday we more or less got in (our train was really late, well, not as late as one of the trains coming into Centrale which was over 200 minutes late), walked around a bit, and had dinner at one of my mom's favorite places from my parents' visit two years ago (by the way, Saturday was my mom's birthday). It was this enoteca with the crazy owner (I believe) who would walk away while half mumbling things. But we had a great dinner.
Sunday we went and saw the Peggy Guiggenheim collection. Peggy Guiggenheim was an American heiress who collected modern art. She has multiple Picassos and Pollacks and other well known modern artists. It's in her old house too so we saw many places where she was a learned about her crazy life (look her up!). After that we headed to see Maria Della Salute, a church I'd wanted to go in since my first trip to Venice but never made it to (well, Aaron and I tried but it was closed in the afternoon). Then we headed to see the Doge's Palace which was beautiful and interesting. Best part...you get to walk across the Bridge of Sighs. Win.
Monday was really cool because my parents had scheduled a cooking class. We went to the island of Lido (where there are cars) to this professional chef's house (she catered the wedding in Venice for one of the producers of Grey's Anatomy and has been featured in Bon Appetite, she's that good) and she taught us how to make a few seafood dishes. We had a full five course meal for lunch which was fantastic and we got all of the recipes to try out again when we get home. After we went to see San Giorgio which is on its own island and my parents had missed before (I taught them how to take the vaporettos around Venice) and the church where the artist Titan is buried and has many of his major works.
Tuesday was a lazier day after all the craziness. We wandered the Rialto markets (the fish markets were pretty cool), saw the church with Tintoretto's "food fight" Last Supper (Rick Steves' words, not mine...but he was accurate), and took two of Rick Steves' walks in his Venice book (one of which we did backwards, turns out that Venetian streets aren't always the same name depending on what direction you're coming from). We also ended up during one of the walks at La Fenice, Venice's opera house. We went inside and the ticket came with a free audio tour. La Fenice means the phoenix and like a phoenix La Fenice has actually burned and risen again from its ashes, not once...but twice. First in the mid-1800s and again in 1996. It was really beautiful though. We finished with a dinner near our hotel and packed for Wednesday.
Wednesday morning (today) we had a water-taxi to the train station, way earlier than our train, but it was raining so we just hung around the station until our train came. We headed back to Milan and now we're waiting for morning (aka, 4:15) for the car to the airport and then our flights to Rome and to Chicago. Fingers crossed the weather is good!
Showing posts with label market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label market. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Roma!
So we had another long weekend and my friend Allie and I jetted off to Rome (yes, we took a plane...it is cheaper and faster than a train actually).
We got in Thursday evening, had some dinner at a cute restaurant near the Colosseum (we were about 10 minutes from there in our hostel) and got to see the Colosseum all lit up at night. It's beautiful at night and I loved getting to see that.
We got up on Friday and we hit practically everything. We saw the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine during the day. Then we spent forever trying to find the entrance to the Roman Forum and walked around three quarters of it (it's huge) before figuring out that the Roman Forum is no longer free, it's a combined ticket for the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. We were saving our pennies for the Vatican but we got some nice views of the Forum as we walked around. We saw a bunch more ruins, Capitoline Hill, and the Vittorio Emanuelle Monument and then headed to the Pantheon which is beautiful and a must see in Rome.
After the Pantheon we decided to have a quick pick-me-up and we headed to Giolitti...best gelato in Italy. I went there last time I was in Rome nine years ago and my dad and cousin Anna insisted I go back. It was still as good as I remembered.
Next we hit the Piazza Navona for some people watching before getting lunch. After lunch we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We climbed the steps and watched the sun set over Rome from the top. We then met up with two other friends from our program that happened to be also be in Rome (one was Allie's roommate). We went for a cappuccino at the oldest cafe in Rome and then Allie and I headed back to the hostel...exhausted from the large amounts of walking we did (Milan's public transportation is way better than Rome's).
Saturday morning we woke up super early, had breakfast, and took the metro out to the Vatican. We met up again with our friends and went through the Vatican museum. We only had to wait an hour in line but it was pouring rain so that wasn't fun. We were very happy to find that there's a really good student discount for the Vatican museums. Last time I was there I only remember seeing the Sistine Chapel but we saw pretty much the whole museum. Besides the Sistine Chapel I enjoyed seeing the Raphel rooms and his famous frescos including my friend Allie's favorite "School of Athens."
We ate lunch when we finally finished with the museum and then head to St. Peter's. The sun came out and we had a great time seeing the church, Michelangelo's Pieta, and a lot of people in interesting hats (not all clergy...although we saw a cardinal in the Vatican museum and three Bishops in St. Peter's Square.
We walked over to Castel Sant'Angelo and saw the outside, plus a nearby palace before taking our friends to...you guessed it...Giolitti! We had some wonderful gelato before heading back to our hostel. We wandered a bit and ended up finding the Roman Theatre ruins which were cool to see, especially since it was night and they were all lit up.
Sunday we slept in and relaxed after our two really big days. We hit up the Campo dei Fiori to see some markets and look around. We also headed back to the Piazza Navona for people watching before getting our final gelato at Giolitti. We headed back to the hostel, made it through the thunderstorm that had hit Rome, and headed back to the airport (luckily the storm didn't last long and our plane was only delayed slightly).
It was a wonderful trip to see the Eternal City and I took a lot of pictures that will be up soon, but first I have to head to pick up Aaron at the Milan airport! He'll be here for a week and we'll see Milan, Torino, and Venice! I can't wait.
We got in Thursday evening, had some dinner at a cute restaurant near the Colosseum (we were about 10 minutes from there in our hostel) and got to see the Colosseum all lit up at night. It's beautiful at night and I loved getting to see that.
We got up on Friday and we hit practically everything. We saw the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine during the day. Then we spent forever trying to find the entrance to the Roman Forum and walked around three quarters of it (it's huge) before figuring out that the Roman Forum is no longer free, it's a combined ticket for the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. We were saving our pennies for the Vatican but we got some nice views of the Forum as we walked around. We saw a bunch more ruins, Capitoline Hill, and the Vittorio Emanuelle Monument and then headed to the Pantheon which is beautiful and a must see in Rome.
After the Pantheon we decided to have a quick pick-me-up and we headed to Giolitti...best gelato in Italy. I went there last time I was in Rome nine years ago and my dad and cousin Anna insisted I go back. It was still as good as I remembered.
Next we hit the Piazza Navona for some people watching before getting lunch. After lunch we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We climbed the steps and watched the sun set over Rome from the top. We then met up with two other friends from our program that happened to be also be in Rome (one was Allie's roommate). We went for a cappuccino at the oldest cafe in Rome and then Allie and I headed back to the hostel...exhausted from the large amounts of walking we did (Milan's public transportation is way better than Rome's).
Saturday morning we woke up super early, had breakfast, and took the metro out to the Vatican. We met up again with our friends and went through the Vatican museum. We only had to wait an hour in line but it was pouring rain so that wasn't fun. We were very happy to find that there's a really good student discount for the Vatican museums. Last time I was there I only remember seeing the Sistine Chapel but we saw pretty much the whole museum. Besides the Sistine Chapel I enjoyed seeing the Raphel rooms and his famous frescos including my friend Allie's favorite "School of Athens."
We ate lunch when we finally finished with the museum and then head to St. Peter's. The sun came out and we had a great time seeing the church, Michelangelo's Pieta, and a lot of people in interesting hats (not all clergy...although we saw a cardinal in the Vatican museum and three Bishops in St. Peter's Square.
We walked over to Castel Sant'Angelo and saw the outside, plus a nearby palace before taking our friends to...you guessed it...Giolitti! We had some wonderful gelato before heading back to our hostel. We wandered a bit and ended up finding the Roman Theatre ruins which were cool to see, especially since it was night and they were all lit up.
Sunday we slept in and relaxed after our two really big days. We hit up the Campo dei Fiori to see some markets and look around. We also headed back to the Piazza Navona for people watching before getting our final gelato at Giolitti. We headed back to the hostel, made it through the thunderstorm that had hit Rome, and headed back to the airport (luckily the storm didn't last long and our plane was only delayed slightly).
It was a wonderful trip to see the Eternal City and I took a lot of pictures that will be up soon, but first I have to head to pick up Aaron at the Milan airport! He'll be here for a week and we'll see Milan, Torino, and Venice! I can't wait.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Jetting off to España: Barcelona and Ibiza
I just have to say that I love three day weekends. So much travel time! So, in honor of our first three day weekend that there wasn't an IES trip I was going on my friend Allie and head jetted off to Spain.
We left Thursday evening for Barcelona. Our plane was delayed so it was pretty late when we got in. Luckily, the Spanish (or in Barcelona it's mostly the Catalans) stay up super late (even later than most Europeans). We checked into a hostel, got some dinner, drank some Sangria, and headed to bed after that.
We got up on Friday morning and went on a bike tour of Barcelona! We went with Fat Tire Bike Tours which I would highly recommend to anybody who likes to bike (and can bike obviously; it's a pretty easy bike though) and wants to get an idea of what to see. My roommates had told us about it so we decided to go and it was definitely worth the twenty euros we paid for it (which was a pretty good deal in my opinion for a four hour, guided bike tour in English). We saw the outsides of things but that was fine because we just went back to the places we wanted to see more of.
We started the bike tour at the Plaza Sant Jaume which is the political center of Barcelona to today and includes the city hall. We also saw Plaza del Rei which is where the palace Ferdinand and Isabella lived in. We saw where they tied people to the wall and poured boiling oil on them during the Spanish Inquisition (which was all Isabella's idea...although Ferdinand really didn't stop it. Isabella hated the Catalans and since Ferdinand never stood up for his own people no Catalans today will name their children Ferdinand or Isabella). We also saw the steps that Christopher Columbus scaled many times to ask Queen Isabella for the boats to find "Asia" and instead he found the new world. We saw the Music Palace which looks like Gaudi (the famous architect of Barcelona, if you don't know anything about him look it up) but was done by a contemporary. It's gorgeous to see even from the outside. My Aunt Kathy told me that it's nice to see inside as well (she gave me a bunch of ideas before I went to Barcelona and I was so glad that this one was on our bike tour) but we didn't get around to that. We kind of saw the Barcelona Cathedral but there was a festival in the way so it was hard to see. However, I learned that in order to be a cathedral the church must have the remains of some saint. Well, Barcelona took this to heart and collected over 700 body parts of saints. Crazy!
We saw the Arc de Triomf, and yes, Barcelona has one too. Theirs is red brick and very pretty. I think I liked it more than the Paris Arc de Triomph because it was in a much more serene area. You could walk the area around it and you weren't fearing for your life. We got to bike right underneath it which was fun. We then went to the Parc de la Ciutadella right next to the arc where the Gaudi Cascades are (which Gaudi was only an apprentice on but when it was being finished he'd become famous so he gets a lot of credit now). It's a beautiful park and was fun to bike through. We got to see the outside of the only bull fighting arena in Barcelona that still hosts bullfighting. Bullfighting was never a Catalan thing and was imported. They hated it so the government decided to be nice and ban it, however, the Catalans don't like following the laws so the next Sunday they held a bullfight. Apparently you can go any Sunday from April to September and see a bullfight there but they are going to try and ban bullfighting again in 2012. Other laws we learned about in Barcelona that are never followed:
-It is illegal to bike without a helmet on (nobody on the tour had a helmet on...)
-It is illegal to smoke in any bar or restaurant (there was smoking in every bar and restaurant)
-It is illegal to walk around with shorts and no shirt on. However, take off those shorts and you're not in violation of any law.
After that we went up to Sagrada Familia which is Gaudi's cathedral that has been under construction forever. It's pretty crazy looking but really cool at the same time. I loved it, it was just so unique. Interesting fact about Gaudi, he was killed from injuries he sustained after being hit by a tram. He designed the Barcelona tram system. Talk about irony. He also sold all his assets to keep working on Sagrada Familia and moved in there for the last few years of his life (before the tram accident). I also learned that when Franco was in power he hated anything Catalan and would burn down all Catalan buildings (he also allowed Barcelona to be used to bombing practice). However, Sagrada Familia is all stone and couldn't be burned down so instead Gaudi's workshop and all the blueprints were burned. The current plan for Sagrada Familia has been created from still existing pictures of Gaudi's plans but are probably rather inaccurate because Gaudi always designed as he went.
After Sagrada Familia we went to Port Olympic which was built up for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. They added a ton of beach with sand they imported from the Sahara desert so that Barcelona has the most beach front of any city in the world (and they kinda cheated for it). Then we biked to the beach, had a wonderful lunch on the beach, and biked back to the Fat Tire store (after everybody on the tour had consumed sangria...). It was a great way to start the day.
After the tour we wandered a bit and ended up at La Rambla which is one of the main streets through down. We saw a theater, a lot of street performers, and went into this indoor market my Aunt Kathy told me about that had so much beautiful food. We wandered around taking pictures before heading to the Barcelona Cathedral again. We were able to get a few better pictures and then I got to go in. I saw all the chapels with various saint remains buried in them including Saint Cecilia (patron saint of music), Saint Ambrose (patron saint of Milan), Saint George (patron saint of Spain...they refer to him as Sant Jordi they love him so much), and Saint Eulalia who was tortured to death for three days in the streets of Barcelona back when Christianity was illegal because she refused to renounce her beliefs. She was only thirteen when all of this happened and seven years after Constantine came to Barcelona and declared Christianity legal.
We then went to another indoor market, a less touristy one, chilled by the Arc de Triomf, and went to dinner. We had gotten recommendations from our guide from the bike tour and ironically ended up at the Mexican restaurant she recommended. We figured if we were missing Mexican food that Spain would be the best, and most ironic, place to get it. After that we were so tired from biking (it was about seven miles according to the Fat Tire website) that we went back to our hostel and slept like rocks.
We got up on Saturday and headed back to Sagrada Familia. We waited in line for about an hour to get in but it's so beautiful on the inside. My friend Allie wasn't a fan of the outside but she even agreed that the inside was beautiful. Gaudi loved his columns and his stained glass. We also went under the church into the crypt where there's a museum about the progress of Sagrada Familia that was interesting. We then took the metro up to the Park Guell which is the park that Gaudi designed. It's really nice and has some cool architecture including a long, serpentine bench. There are also fantastic views of the city up there. I really want to go back and see even more of it.
We met up with three friends who were also in Barcelona for lunch before heading and getting our backpacks from the hostel. Our plan was to see the magic fountain they have but we failed to realize that it's only on at night and that it's under construction. However, it turns out we were by the National Palace and the Olympic Park so we wandered those for a bit. We actually got up the hills by escalator which was cool and nice since we had our heavy backpacks on. Finally we had to catch the aerobus and our plane to the island of Ibiza off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.
Ibiza was gorgeous the minute we saw the water. We ended up in a pretty nice hotel because the place we originally booked got shut down early due to lack of occupancy (it was the very end of high season) and they moved us at no cost. It was pretty awesome and we had water views. We went to dinner, chilled a bit, and then went to sleep.
Sunday we slept in which was much needed. Then we spent the whole day relaxing on the beach. We walked a bit, wandered through a small bit of the town right on the water, but mostly just had a nice time relaxing before getting and early dinner and heading to the Ibiza airport for our flight back to Milan. After all our beautiful sun in Spain we were sadly met with fog, rain, and cold in Milan. However, it's good to be "home" after a long trip. But I can't wait for the next one!
We left Thursday evening for Barcelona. Our plane was delayed so it was pretty late when we got in. Luckily, the Spanish (or in Barcelona it's mostly the Catalans) stay up super late (even later than most Europeans). We checked into a hostel, got some dinner, drank some Sangria, and headed to bed after that.
We got up on Friday morning and went on a bike tour of Barcelona! We went with Fat Tire Bike Tours which I would highly recommend to anybody who likes to bike (and can bike obviously; it's a pretty easy bike though) and wants to get an idea of what to see. My roommates had told us about it so we decided to go and it was definitely worth the twenty euros we paid for it (which was a pretty good deal in my opinion for a four hour, guided bike tour in English). We saw the outsides of things but that was fine because we just went back to the places we wanted to see more of.
We started the bike tour at the Plaza Sant Jaume which is the political center of Barcelona to today and includes the city hall. We also saw Plaza del Rei which is where the palace Ferdinand and Isabella lived in. We saw where they tied people to the wall and poured boiling oil on them during the Spanish Inquisition (which was all Isabella's idea...although Ferdinand really didn't stop it. Isabella hated the Catalans and since Ferdinand never stood up for his own people no Catalans today will name their children Ferdinand or Isabella). We also saw the steps that Christopher Columbus scaled many times to ask Queen Isabella for the boats to find "Asia" and instead he found the new world. We saw the Music Palace which looks like Gaudi (the famous architect of Barcelona, if you don't know anything about him look it up) but was done by a contemporary. It's gorgeous to see even from the outside. My Aunt Kathy told me that it's nice to see inside as well (she gave me a bunch of ideas before I went to Barcelona and I was so glad that this one was on our bike tour) but we didn't get around to that. We kind of saw the Barcelona Cathedral but there was a festival in the way so it was hard to see. However, I learned that in order to be a cathedral the church must have the remains of some saint. Well, Barcelona took this to heart and collected over 700 body parts of saints. Crazy!
We saw the Arc de Triomf, and yes, Barcelona has one too. Theirs is red brick and very pretty. I think I liked it more than the Paris Arc de Triomph because it was in a much more serene area. You could walk the area around it and you weren't fearing for your life. We got to bike right underneath it which was fun. We then went to the Parc de la Ciutadella right next to the arc where the Gaudi Cascades are (which Gaudi was only an apprentice on but when it was being finished he'd become famous so he gets a lot of credit now). It's a beautiful park and was fun to bike through. We got to see the outside of the only bull fighting arena in Barcelona that still hosts bullfighting. Bullfighting was never a Catalan thing and was imported. They hated it so the government decided to be nice and ban it, however, the Catalans don't like following the laws so the next Sunday they held a bullfight. Apparently you can go any Sunday from April to September and see a bullfight there but they are going to try and ban bullfighting again in 2012. Other laws we learned about in Barcelona that are never followed:
-It is illegal to bike without a helmet on (nobody on the tour had a helmet on...)
-It is illegal to smoke in any bar or restaurant (there was smoking in every bar and restaurant)
-It is illegal to walk around with shorts and no shirt on. However, take off those shorts and you're not in violation of any law.
After that we went up to Sagrada Familia which is Gaudi's cathedral that has been under construction forever. It's pretty crazy looking but really cool at the same time. I loved it, it was just so unique. Interesting fact about Gaudi, he was killed from injuries he sustained after being hit by a tram. He designed the Barcelona tram system. Talk about irony. He also sold all his assets to keep working on Sagrada Familia and moved in there for the last few years of his life (before the tram accident). I also learned that when Franco was in power he hated anything Catalan and would burn down all Catalan buildings (he also allowed Barcelona to be used to bombing practice). However, Sagrada Familia is all stone and couldn't be burned down so instead Gaudi's workshop and all the blueprints were burned. The current plan for Sagrada Familia has been created from still existing pictures of Gaudi's plans but are probably rather inaccurate because Gaudi always designed as he went.
After Sagrada Familia we went to Port Olympic which was built up for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. They added a ton of beach with sand they imported from the Sahara desert so that Barcelona has the most beach front of any city in the world (and they kinda cheated for it). Then we biked to the beach, had a wonderful lunch on the beach, and biked back to the Fat Tire store (after everybody on the tour had consumed sangria...). It was a great way to start the day.
After the tour we wandered a bit and ended up at La Rambla which is one of the main streets through down. We saw a theater, a lot of street performers, and went into this indoor market my Aunt Kathy told me about that had so much beautiful food. We wandered around taking pictures before heading to the Barcelona Cathedral again. We were able to get a few better pictures and then I got to go in. I saw all the chapels with various saint remains buried in them including Saint Cecilia (patron saint of music), Saint Ambrose (patron saint of Milan), Saint George (patron saint of Spain...they refer to him as Sant Jordi they love him so much), and Saint Eulalia who was tortured to death for three days in the streets of Barcelona back when Christianity was illegal because she refused to renounce her beliefs. She was only thirteen when all of this happened and seven years after Constantine came to Barcelona and declared Christianity legal.
We then went to another indoor market, a less touristy one, chilled by the Arc de Triomf, and went to dinner. We had gotten recommendations from our guide from the bike tour and ironically ended up at the Mexican restaurant she recommended. We figured if we were missing Mexican food that Spain would be the best, and most ironic, place to get it. After that we were so tired from biking (it was about seven miles according to the Fat Tire website) that we went back to our hostel and slept like rocks.
We got up on Saturday and headed back to Sagrada Familia. We waited in line for about an hour to get in but it's so beautiful on the inside. My friend Allie wasn't a fan of the outside but she even agreed that the inside was beautiful. Gaudi loved his columns and his stained glass. We also went under the church into the crypt where there's a museum about the progress of Sagrada Familia that was interesting. We then took the metro up to the Park Guell which is the park that Gaudi designed. It's really nice and has some cool architecture including a long, serpentine bench. There are also fantastic views of the city up there. I really want to go back and see even more of it.
We met up with three friends who were also in Barcelona for lunch before heading and getting our backpacks from the hostel. Our plan was to see the magic fountain they have but we failed to realize that it's only on at night and that it's under construction. However, it turns out we were by the National Palace and the Olympic Park so we wandered those for a bit. We actually got up the hills by escalator which was cool and nice since we had our heavy backpacks on. Finally we had to catch the aerobus and our plane to the island of Ibiza off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.
Ibiza was gorgeous the minute we saw the water. We ended up in a pretty nice hotel because the place we originally booked got shut down early due to lack of occupancy (it was the very end of high season) and they moved us at no cost. It was pretty awesome and we had water views. We went to dinner, chilled a bit, and then went to sleep.
Sunday we slept in which was much needed. Then we spent the whole day relaxing on the beach. We walked a bit, wandered through a small bit of the town right on the water, but mostly just had a nice time relaxing before getting and early dinner and heading to the Ibiza airport for our flight back to Milan. After all our beautiful sun in Spain we were sadly met with fog, rain, and cold in Milan. However, it's good to be "home" after a long trip. But I can't wait for the next one!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Milano Happenings
Here's some various things that have been going on since I've been in Milan:
Italian Class:
I have this every week day for 2 1/2 hours. It's pretty cool and we learn a lot, I feel decently comfortable ordering a bar (bars in Italy are for many things besides alcohol such as breakfast food or lunch food). One day we went in groups to Cattolica (the university) and had to ask Italian students (in Italian) various questions about themselves and about different Italian hand gestures.
I've also moved myself up when people ask me things in Italian outside of school from saying "non parlo italiano" (I don't speak Italian) to "non parlo italiano bene" (I don't speak Italian well). I think it's an improvement.
Wednesday, September 8th:
I went shopping for the first time! I discovered OVS which is a well priced, quality store that I've decided I love. I got two shirts, two sweaters, and a scarf to expand my wardrobe some since it's pretty small (I got here in one suitcase, remember?).
Thursday, September 9th:
It was Vogue's Fashion's Night Out in Milan so I headed to go see some of it. I only spent about an hour there and apparently we missed out on the awesome area, but the part we went to the stores were open later than usual and had DJs and other fun things going on. I ended up getting a bag for carrying books and such in at this place called Carpisa which I've seen a lot of women with. It's very well priced and I can say I bought something at Fashion's Night Out in Milan!
Friday, September 10th:
Well, you can read about Venice below, but I had my first horn lesson! My professor's name is Ermes Pecchinini and he seems very nice. He was complimentary about my playing and wants to work mostly on expression (which I expected since Italians are very expressive with music). I don't have another lesson for two weeks because of his traveling but I'm looking forward to it and am motivated to practice, particularly my expression.
Tuesday, September 14th:
My 4 euro for fruit last week was a rip off. I got two kilos of fruit (these yellow things I can't name and nectarines) for 3 euro! Yay!
Wednesday, September 15th:
I decided to culture myself and toured the Brera which is an art museum made mostly of Italian masters from the Renaissance to very early Impressionism. I enjoyed it a lot. They also have a small modern collection which was donated including a Picasso painting. I saw many Madonna con Bambino (Madonna and Child) and tried to count for my dad but, alas, I lost count. There had to be at least fifty and the museum wasn't tiny but it was a lot smaller than the Art Institute of Chicago.
We went out for aperitivo again. I love this tradition. Especially because we do it the student way where we stock up on lots of finger food/appetizers and count that for dinner. For a buffet of finger foods and a drink it was only 9 euro which is great since the drinks were 7 euro alone.
Thursday, September 16th:
Registered for classes! Yay! I have 4: horn lessons, Music Performance Workshop, Italian 100, and a literature class called Finding the Author: Italian Masterworks in Translation which I'm actually rather excited about. I'm also excited that I have no classes on Thursday and I'm done at 11am on Tuesdays. Time to explore Milan? I think so! I've already started my lists. If you've been to Milan before let me know what you liked and I'll try to get to it! Suggestions are always welcome!
~
Other observations about Milan:
-It is not touristy. After the visit to Venice I've realized how much I love that most people in Milan are Milanese. Of course, we do get tourists. Often times they come up to people in the program to help them get somewhere (they're normally really bad at the metro). But it's much more real here with the fewer amounts of tourists.
-Speaking of the metro...it's crowded. And, apparently prone to striking. Oh joy. At least they still operate during the morning and evening rush hour (I can't even imagine how crowded it will be then)
-Even though I know the euro is more than the dollar, things (at least food-wise) seem cheaper here. At the market especially (see above) but at the grocery story we go to there are really good prices on pretty quality food. I buy a lot of pasta. Good thing I walk a lot and always take the stairs.
-They LOVE their dogs. And I love them for it. I see golden retrievers sitting on the metro with us and on the way to Venice this long-haired dachshund had its own seat. It was rather adorable. However, I'm unsure if it's in good Italian manners for me to pet a dog if I happen to be near it. Right now I'm just hoping for a dog to approach me first so I don't feel weird. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to strike up a short conversation in Italian with the owner!
Italian Class:
I have this every week day for 2 1/2 hours. It's pretty cool and we learn a lot, I feel decently comfortable ordering a bar (bars in Italy are for many things besides alcohol such as breakfast food or lunch food). One day we went in groups to Cattolica (the university) and had to ask Italian students (in Italian) various questions about themselves and about different Italian hand gestures.
I've also moved myself up when people ask me things in Italian outside of school from saying "non parlo italiano" (I don't speak Italian) to "non parlo italiano bene" (I don't speak Italian well). I think it's an improvement.
Wednesday, September 8th:
I went shopping for the first time! I discovered OVS which is a well priced, quality store that I've decided I love. I got two shirts, two sweaters, and a scarf to expand my wardrobe some since it's pretty small (I got here in one suitcase, remember?).
Thursday, September 9th:
It was Vogue's Fashion's Night Out in Milan so I headed to go see some of it. I only spent about an hour there and apparently we missed out on the awesome area, but the part we went to the stores were open later than usual and had DJs and other fun things going on. I ended up getting a bag for carrying books and such in at this place called Carpisa which I've seen a lot of women with. It's very well priced and I can say I bought something at Fashion's Night Out in Milan!
Friday, September 10th:
Well, you can read about Venice below, but I had my first horn lesson! My professor's name is Ermes Pecchinini and he seems very nice. He was complimentary about my playing and wants to work mostly on expression (which I expected since Italians are very expressive with music). I don't have another lesson for two weeks because of his traveling but I'm looking forward to it and am motivated to practice, particularly my expression.
Tuesday, September 14th:
My 4 euro for fruit last week was a rip off. I got two kilos of fruit (these yellow things I can't name and nectarines) for 3 euro! Yay!
Wednesday, September 15th:
I decided to culture myself and toured the Brera which is an art museum made mostly of Italian masters from the Renaissance to very early Impressionism. I enjoyed it a lot. They also have a small modern collection which was donated including a Picasso painting. I saw many Madonna con Bambino (Madonna and Child) and tried to count for my dad but, alas, I lost count. There had to be at least fifty and the museum wasn't tiny but it was a lot smaller than the Art Institute of Chicago.
We went out for aperitivo again. I love this tradition. Especially because we do it the student way where we stock up on lots of finger food/appetizers and count that for dinner. For a buffet of finger foods and a drink it was only 9 euro which is great since the drinks were 7 euro alone.
Thursday, September 16th:
Registered for classes! Yay! I have 4: horn lessons, Music Performance Workshop, Italian 100, and a literature class called Finding the Author: Italian Masterworks in Translation which I'm actually rather excited about. I'm also excited that I have no classes on Thursday and I'm done at 11am on Tuesdays. Time to explore Milan? I think so! I've already started my lists. If you've been to Milan before let me know what you liked and I'll try to get to it! Suggestions are always welcome!
~
Other observations about Milan:
-It is not touristy. After the visit to Venice I've realized how much I love that most people in Milan are Milanese. Of course, we do get tourists. Often times they come up to people in the program to help them get somewhere (they're normally really bad at the metro). But it's much more real here with the fewer amounts of tourists.
-Speaking of the metro...it's crowded. And, apparently prone to striking. Oh joy. At least they still operate during the morning and evening rush hour (I can't even imagine how crowded it will be then)
-Even though I know the euro is more than the dollar, things (at least food-wise) seem cheaper here. At the market especially (see above) but at the grocery story we go to there are really good prices on pretty quality food. I buy a lot of pasta. Good thing I walk a lot and always take the stairs.
-They LOVE their dogs. And I love them for it. I see golden retrievers sitting on the metro with us and on the way to Venice this long-haired dachshund had its own seat. It was rather adorable. However, I'm unsure if it's in good Italian manners for me to pet a dog if I happen to be near it. Right now I'm just hoping for a dog to approach me first so I don't feel weird. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to strike up a short conversation in Italian with the owner!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday Adventure, Market, and Pavia
My first Italian class went very well. My teacher's name is Linda and she will run off in Italian and then tell us just to try and understand what we can. I think this might be a pretty effective way for me to learn actually because it helps me to hear it a lot if I'm trying to speak it. The class lasts two and a half hours but we get a fifteen minute break, ours ended up being half an hour (Linda gave us the return time). Despite being a beginning Italian class we are expected to speak in Italian as much as possible. Luckily she taught us a bunch of classroom phrases we may need, such as asking her to repeat something or ask what something means.
After class a group of us got some sandwiches for lunch and then we embarked on a journey. We headed for to the Castello Sforzesco (known as the Sforza Castle in English) which is where the ruling family of Milan (the Sforzescos) once lived. It is gorgeous and I took tons of pictures (they are up on facebook and Google - links on sidebar). We then walked through the park that is by the castle (apparently the second city park in Milan) to the Arco de Pace which is similar to the Arc de Triomph in Paris.
We then took the metro over to the Duomo and I finally climbed to the top! Okay, well, not the total top because there is renovation going on and I believe normally you can go higher, but I was on top of the main roof. It was beautiful up there and there were amazing views of the city. Again, many many pictures. We spent a long time up on the top, just relaxing and looking over the city (our feet also hurt and needed a break).
Yet, we continued on our awesome tour and took another metro out by my apartment to go to Cimitero Monumentale (or Monument Cemetery). Basically, it's the huge cemetery and everybody buried there has some elaborate tomb or grave with this beautiful statues and engravings. There are some famous people of Italy buried there although I did not knowingly find any of their graves. The place was huge and I wanted to stay longer but we needed to head out (plus it was closing soon) so I must make a trip back and see even more. I saw a picture of one that reminds me of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and I want to go see that one. I took a ton of pictures of everywhere we went and it was a fantastic time.
On Saturday morning I got up and went to the market on our street. We saw them setting up on Tuesday (the other day of the week for market) but could not go. I wandered around the whole thing (it goes a few blocks past my street as well) and saw everything there was. I bought a bag to carry my books in for school (so my horn can go on my back). I also bought fruit and for four euro I got a kilo of these yellow fruits I've tried and liked but cannot name for the life of me, two peaches, and then he threw in a bunch of green grapes. I had held off buying fruit at the store so I could go to the market and it was so worth it.
Then I met some people at the train station and we went to Pavia which is a half an hour south of Milan and has the third largest duomo in Italy (I guess it's bigger than the Milan Duomo). Pavia is also a very ancient city. Besides seeing the Duomo we saw a restored bridge that had been bombed out in WWII, more churches, and some of these torre medaevile (medieval towers) that are all over the city. And of course we got some gelato...yum!
We also wandered a bit (aka, got slightly lost, but Pavia is a small town) and ran across a European market. It seemed to be a special event and I got to eat some yummy Sicilian pasteries (according to my RA, Sicily has the best food - she's originally from Florence but her boyfriend is in Sicily and she has been to visit him). Then, we started heading back towards the train station and ran across the equivalent of Civil War reenactments in Italy...I think (after research) that it was a reenactment of the Battle of Pavia in like 1525 or something like that.
Sunday is going to be my day of relaxation after all this craziness. But don't worry, more is already planned!
After class a group of us got some sandwiches for lunch and then we embarked on a journey. We headed for to the Castello Sforzesco (known as the Sforza Castle in English) which is where the ruling family of Milan (the Sforzescos) once lived. It is gorgeous and I took tons of pictures (they are up on facebook and Google - links on sidebar). We then walked through the park that is by the castle (apparently the second city park in Milan) to the Arco de Pace which is similar to the Arc de Triomph in Paris.
We then took the metro over to the Duomo and I finally climbed to the top! Okay, well, not the total top because there is renovation going on and I believe normally you can go higher, but I was on top of the main roof. It was beautiful up there and there were amazing views of the city. Again, many many pictures. We spent a long time up on the top, just relaxing and looking over the city (our feet also hurt and needed a break).
Yet, we continued on our awesome tour and took another metro out by my apartment to go to Cimitero Monumentale (or Monument Cemetery). Basically, it's the huge cemetery and everybody buried there has some elaborate tomb or grave with this beautiful statues and engravings. There are some famous people of Italy buried there although I did not knowingly find any of their graves. The place was huge and I wanted to stay longer but we needed to head out (plus it was closing soon) so I must make a trip back and see even more. I saw a picture of one that reminds me of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and I want to go see that one. I took a ton of pictures of everywhere we went and it was a fantastic time.
On Saturday morning I got up and went to the market on our street. We saw them setting up on Tuesday (the other day of the week for market) but could not go. I wandered around the whole thing (it goes a few blocks past my street as well) and saw everything there was. I bought a bag to carry my books in for school (so my horn can go on my back). I also bought fruit and for four euro I got a kilo of these yellow fruits I've tried and liked but cannot name for the life of me, two peaches, and then he threw in a bunch of green grapes. I had held off buying fruit at the store so I could go to the market and it was so worth it.
Then I met some people at the train station and we went to Pavia which is a half an hour south of Milan and has the third largest duomo in Italy (I guess it's bigger than the Milan Duomo). Pavia is also a very ancient city. Besides seeing the Duomo we saw a restored bridge that had been bombed out in WWII, more churches, and some of these torre medaevile (medieval towers) that are all over the city. And of course we got some gelato...yum!
We also wandered a bit (aka, got slightly lost, but Pavia is a small town) and ran across a European market. It seemed to be a special event and I got to eat some yummy Sicilian pasteries (according to my RA, Sicily has the best food - she's originally from Florence but her boyfriend is in Sicily and she has been to visit him). Then, we started heading back towards the train station and ran across the equivalent of Civil War reenactments in Italy...I think (after research) that it was a reenactment of the Battle of Pavia in like 1525 or something like that.
Sunday is going to be my day of relaxation after all this craziness. But don't worry, more is already planned!
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