Eating in Italy the right way

This weekend I did a trip to Palermo Sicily. This is something I have been wanting to do the whole time I have been here. This post is going to be dedicated to the food I ate while in the trip, mostly because that was a huge reason I wanted to go. Thursday was a holiday, so no classes. I left nice and early in the morning, arriving in Napoli around noon. Napoli (Naples) is the birth place of pizza, so of course we had to have lunch there. Then we continued on to Palermo. Palermo is the home of cannolis, gelato, aranchini and many other things. I have found gelato that is fantastic so that I wasn't worried about finding. I am happy to announce that I found all of my food and they were all pretty darn good. So here are the pictures and a few more details about them.
This pizza right here was amazing. It was from a pizzeria with the nicest people in it. They didn't speak a lick of English ( always a good sign!). The oven was a wood burning bread oven that looked like it had been there since the place was build decades ago. The flavors were so good. Words can not explain this pizza. Other than the pizza though there is nothing in Napoli but garbage.
Once in Palermo, I was on the hunt for two things- arancini and cannoli. Arancini is a rice ball with either ham and cheese filling or ragu filling. The ones I found were the ham and cheese. It was incredible. The fact that they are deep fried probably helps.I had only one food left to find, and I was fearing that it would be the hardest. For the fact that cannolis come from Palermo, they were not sold in very many places. In the end I wandered into a bar and found mini cannolis worth trying. It was as good as any cannolo I have had, but not amazing. So that was probably the least favorite food of the weekend. Overall it was a great success of a last weekend in Italy.

Venice

The wonderful Lauren Held made her way to Italy from Madrid. We spent the weekend making very unhealthy but delicious Italian food. On Sunday we took a train up to Venice, well because who doesn't want to do that. The weather was cold and by now I would think that it would make sense to dress warmer. I keep just not doing for some reason. Other than that the day went pretty well. We got off the train and wandered through the back allies to make it to San Marco Square. Afterward Lauren was able to have her first Italian pizza. The pizza was good but the waiter was not the most pleasant. In the words of Lauren- he was salty. After lunch we had to have dessert. We then had a friends day filled with shopping, in Italian style. There was hot wine and crepes involved. The biggest attraction of course is the Gondola ride. I have been before but I am so glad that I went again.

Prague!

This was my first trip to the Czech Republic, and it was wonderful! The trip getting there wasn't so amazing. The bus ride ended up taking around 13.5 hours. Luckily I can sleep through just about anything. The Swiss Alps at night covered in snow are breathless, but there are no picture because no camera would be able to come anywhere near as breath taking. Now I knew Prague was going to be cold, but I did not prepare for how cold. Europe's temperature decided to take a nose dive the weekend I travel north. Despite freezing tempetures I had an amazing trip. Friday morning I had the best breakfast that I had since being in Europe. Well I had it every day. The morning was occupied by a walking tour of the city. The tour guide took us to all of the big monuments- the Powder Tower, the city hall, the shopping center, the National Theater and the Clock Tower.
After the tour we were taken to a bagel shop. It was so good. I have not had a bagel since before leaving the states and I missed them so much. The food overall in Prague was really delectable. The oldest synagogue is located in the old Jewish Ghetto of Prague. This was a new experience for me. The men were in the main chamber while women were outside looking through slits in the wall. The ladies were all very nice. One even took the time to explain to me the different traditions of the religion. I was very glad to have gone, and had the opportunity to learn more about a new religion. Afterward we took a nap in our very warm beds before dinner. Dinner was in a large local restaurant. The food was fantastic. Italy is supposed to have good food but as far as I have seen the really good stuff is up north. I had a potato soup in a bread bowl. Normally I am not a fan of Rye bread, but this was good.
Saturday started out with another walking tour to different parts of the city. We visited the St. Charles bridge, the John Lennon wall, Starbuck and the Prague Castle. The castle was much less of a castle than I pictured. It was much more like a palace or a fortress. The view from the top was spectacular. There were colorful fall tress speckled through the old city. It did make me miss having a fall.The rest of the day was used to explore the city on our own. There was a Christmas market in the main square. There were glass blowers and metal workers making decorations right there. There was a large variety of foods. I of course tried all of them. For our evening entertainment we took three tours with Ivan. He is a strange and slightly awkward man who is pretty funny. The first was of the underground of Prague. The whole city used to be an entire floor lower. There was a problem with flooding so to fix the problem the streets were filled in to raise the level. You can see small allies, homes and wells.
The second tour was of the hidden microbreweries of Prague. The first two were most defiantly hidden, the third was not. The first two beers were good and the third was not. Along with us on the tour was a very nice German couple who were enjoyable to talk to.
The last tour was a ghost tour. The tour guide was very awkward and not very interesting. This one was free because we had taken the other two. She was not a good entertainer, so even though she knew her information, she didn't capture us. The stories was interesting. The next morning I got up early to get as much out of Prague as possible. Sadly not much is open on Sunday at 9 am. So I got some coffee and enjoyed being in Prague. It is a good thing that I did because that 13 hour bus ride home was harsh, but so worth it!

Vespa Riding in Chianti

This was a trip that I splurged on. It was a bit expensive for being only one day, but I couldn't leave Tuscany without riding on a Vespa. I was very happy when my mother decieded to go along with us, as well as her good friend Becky. They are a blast and I was glad to spend time with my mom. Up until the day of the weather was calling for rain all day. When the day came it was cloudy but not raining. Throughout the day it did get a bit cold, but there were only a few drops the whole day. At points it was even beautiful out. We were picked up in Florence, then driven to a farm in Chianti. I got my dog fill, which makes me very happy! There were about 6 dogs in total and almost 80 horse. There were a few cats too but they don't matter all that much. When we were being given the scooters, my mother was not. She was worried about not being very good at driving, but they were not even going to let her try. So I offered my scooter just for her to try out on. She actually said no. Of all people my other said no they told me not to. Of course she did try and she did wonderfully. She even got to drive her own. Getting used to the scooters was pretty easy, getting used to the cars on the road, not as easy. We mostly took little dirt roads that had very few car, and some pretty wonderful views. For lunch we stopped at a small restaurant that had no one else in it. The chef was so nice to us and completely adorable. He must have been almost 70 years old and gay. The food was so good. When we complimented him on it he showed us how to make it and gave us the recipe. On top of that we all enjoyed a bottle of champange for the newly wed couple in the group. Afterward we headed to a small town within a castle to have a wine tasting and to look around. Despite the dreary weather, ever step of the trip was fun. I was so tired after the day that I was ready to sleep as soon as we were back. This trip was well worth it.

Fall Break: part 2 Paris

Milan and Madrid had gone so smoothly that we had gotten spoiled. On any trip there is bound to be any number of misfortunes. The Paris Beauvais Airport is an hour and half north of Paris. We did know this before going, what we didn't know is that there was only one bus company that offered trips to and from. Since they were the only ones, they can charge much more than we were expecting. I feel that 15 euros each way is completely absurd, but walking that was not an option. From the bus we walked about 4 miles through the city seeing the Arch de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Both were lit up beautifully in the night time. Once if became about 11:30 at night we were beyond starving and still unable to find a reasonable priced location to eat. So we found a Kebab place got our food to go and ate on the side of the road. This was kind of wonderful. The food was fantastic, and well priced. The view was marvelous; the Eiffel Tower and the Paris streets. Dinner on night one was a success. Finding the hotel was not such a success. I blame Orbitz. They told us the hotel was 2.3 km from city center Paris. The hotel was not even in the city of Paris so the address we had be googling was incorrect. We did make it safe and sound a little after 1 am. So the new obstacle was to figure out the metro without the help of our tour guide, Lauren Held. I will proudly saw that we got ourselves to the Palace of Versailles all on our own. I have been before, but was glad to go again. This estate is one of the most gorgeous along side the Louvre.
The palace has so much history and interesting stories. The King and Queen had their own sleeping chambers. On top of that, the Kings had a viewing area where people of the court could watch the King raise with the sun. I would not want that. Being queen doesn't sound all that appealing anymore. Even though it was already fall the gardens were spectacular. The flowers had all been removed and the grounds keepers were in the process of moving the tropical trees indoors. We enjoyed a lunch of french bread on the wall overlooking a small section of the gardens. From Versailles we traveled straight to the Eiffel Tower. In total waiting time we probably spent around 2 maybe 2 1/2 hours waiting for elevators. The lines didn't seem to be that long but once we finally reached the 3rd floor our afternoon had been spent. This was one of those monuments where if you have done it once you have done it. I most likely will not do it again for many years. To my surprise there was a set up on the top floor of an apartment. I did not remember this or did not know this but the designer of the building included one apartment for himself and his daughter at the top of the archway to the 1889 world fair. Imagine walking up all of those stairs to get home.
The next day was our last day in Paris as well as the last day of our trip. On the itinerary was the Luxemberg gardens, crepes, the Pantheon, St Micheal's church, the Notre Dome and the arch de Triumph.The Luxemberg Gardens are a gorgeous plot of land in central Paris. Even as late as we were there in the season the flowers were still out and in bloom. It was just a nice place to wander and enjoy the nice fall weather.
Next we stopped for crepes. Even though it was still only about 11 am we got dessert crepes. I was sadly disappointed. I got a nut and caramel crepe with whipped cream and I found it to sweet so anyone would probably find it that way. From there we walked the city and found St. Micheal's (which is no longer there) and the Norte Dome. We walked along the river looking at the little green box sellers that set up shop on the river wall. It is a strange feeling when I find a place that I have been years ago and there is a memory that goes along with it. Across the river we went to find the Louvre. This is one of the most gorgeous buildings. The glass triangle isn't too appealing but never the less I love the outside of it. Being the cheap people we are, we did not go inside.
Now Paris doesn't look all that big on a map, but it is. The walk from the Louvre to just past the Eiffel Tower took far too long. Nina and I had read a book about a French Jewish girl who was taken to the Velodrome d'hiver. The French Police acting under order from the Nazis rounded up all of the Jews in Paris and took them to this indoor track to be held for almost 8 days without food and water or proper restrooms. Later the dome had a fire and the remaining parts were torn down. The memorial is very limited and small. Had we not known what to look for, we most likely would not have noticed it. I am not sure if it is just something that with time has lost the meaningful touch. Or it maybe it is so small because the French do not want to recognize that it happened. The way that we found out was through the book Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. I would suggest reading it.
The trip rounded up with a bus trip to the airport, a flight to Bolonga and an over night stay in the train station. The smell was horrible and the people were strange, but the three of us made it back saving a few dollars. Although not as much as we had though as the bus ticket cost 6 euros to the city center, a complete rip off. These bus companies are making bank off of the Ryanair flights in Italy.

Fall Break: part 1 Milan & Marid

The week long trip started in Milan. There were two reasons for this: none of us had been to Milan and the cheapest flight left from the Milan airport. We left the Florence train station at 8:30 with a four hour ride ahead of us. In Milan there was a nice little hike waiting for us to get to the cathedral. The Milan Cathedral is done in a Gothic style and is beautiful, but more for the mass size of it rather and the aesthetic qualities. The other main attractions are the original painting of the last supper and the shops with all of the fashion shops. Unbeknownst to us, there is a waiting list three weeks long to get into the museum containing the last super. So that was no longer on our to do list. After a day in Milan of walking and a little sightseeing, I took my first Ryanair flight to Madrid to see the wonderful Lauren Held. She, despite her best efforts, was late to fetch us from the airport. Here we are in front of the mayors house (this may or may not be what this building actually is). The move from Italy to Madrid came with slightly colder weather. I am not sure if it was just getting colder ( it was late October so it is possible) or the city was just more cold. Either way, I was completely incapible of dressing properly for the weather. On Sunday we started our day at the market. The market is filled with all sorts of goods including clothes, leather products, crafts and jewelry. I did get myself a cute little clay pig that will hold change. He is so adorable. Afterward we went on a hunt for food. And this time was one of those times when you can not for the life of you find what you are looking for. The restaurant is either to expensive or doesn't have food that everyone will like or it is closed or something. So after about an hour long hunt we ended up right were we started at a restaurant for the menu del dia. It is one of those meal where you pay a set price for your choice of 2 plates, a drink and a dessert. The food was fantastic. I choice a pealla ( pronounced pie-YAY-a) and a ham omelet with a custard for dessert. Just like the locals do, we sat eating for almost two hours simply enjoying ourselves. After such a large meal we walked to see the royal palace, which looks surprising like the English one.
On Monday our tour guide had class so we were released into city on our own. But first there was a breakfast worth mentioning. I am incapable of choosing just one item on a menu. As a solution I split two breakfasts with Lauren. This was probably good since the one was not by any means healthy. The first was a to die for french toast croissant covered in bananas and strawberries. So good. And gone so fast. The second was an American Breakfast Plate including eggs, pancakes and bacon. Back to the day. We were directed to two museums one of which was closed and the other which was an adventure. The Riena Sofia Museum is where Pablo Picasso paintings are housed. However we started our way from top to bottom. The art was contemporary and very much not my style. To make it more interesting we would add stories to pieces trying to make it more interesting and well this works.


This was by far my favorite piece. The is a person with a pencil and all of these colors and ideas come out of the tip interconnected and interweaving. By the time we made our way back down to the second floor and the famous works we simply were ready to leave. We met back up with our tour guide and the rainy day turn gorgeous for a walk through one of the many parks in Madrid. It was so nice to be in fall weather and trees again. There are no trees in Florence and the trees in the park were such an array of colors. It was a little bit of home in Europe.
While in Spain one must do all of the traditional things like visit land marks and try the local cuisine. This includes churros and chocolate. Sounds amazing right? Epic let down. They were not as good as I had hoped. Never the less I continued to eat my whole batch of 7. For the sake of culture, I tell you. Tuesday we really didn't do much other than hang out. While this isn't what visiting a foreign city is all about, it was nice to be with friends enjoying the city with no pressures to rush here or see that. Tuesday was also the sad day of good-bye to both Lauren and Madrid. That evening we flew to Paris.

Midterms

This past week was midterms week. It probably was twice as much studying I have done since getting here. But I killed my tests. It was one of the easiest group of tests. Being used to going to the quarter school, I feel like I should be done with these classes. Some of them I am glad I have more time in and others I could be ok with being done with. With that week of studying comes a week off- can we adopt this at RIT? During this week I am going to visit Milan, Madrid and Paris. I was supprised to find out how many people from our program were doing a trip that included Paris and Spain. They seem to be the hot places to be this break. The reason I am so excited about its is that I will be seeing my roommate in Madrid! It is always nice to see some after so long. As if I wouldn't be excited about that when I return my mother will be in Florence waiting for me! These next two week are what I have been looking forward to!

Perugia and Eurochocolate

I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to the international chocolate festival. I'm not really sure maybe it is because deep down I knew that I would love if far too much. The train took about three hours from SMN station to Perugia. Once off the train, I was not exactly sure where I was going, but that is part of the fun. We walked in the general direction of the festival. We found ourselves in the old part of the city filled with archways and cute stairways.
After about 45 minutes of wandering, we found a very promising crowd, along with some very breath taking views of the city. The historic district where the festival is held is at the very top of the hill. First order of business was to order food, as we don't know much Italian we used our broken Italish (does that work like Spanglish?). The food ended up being pretty good, but I'm not exactly sure what I ordered. After wards we bought the eurochocolate card. The card is a punch card that you take to different vendors to get samples at. And it came with a chocolate picture frame, which I just don't understand. Other than that there were a lot of people and of course a lot of chocolate. I really had a good time and was glad that I went.

Pisa & Lucca

This was another one of SAI included trips. I had never heard of Lucca, but of course have I have heard of Pisa and the famous leaning tour of Pisa. The previous trips had been fully book, so I was very surprised when only about 25 of the 100 seats were filled for this trip. Since there were so few students, were rented bike in Lucca and toured the city by bike. This made me very happy. This summer I started getting into biking, partially because it was the cheapest way to get to work but I also enjoy it. Lucca still has its original city walls that are very thick, wide enough to have a large walkway on top.The first stop was a church, which now does not surprise me since I found out there are 51 churches inside the walls. Just a few too many for even my tastes, and I LOVE old churches. The first church we saw was the main cathedral, much smaller to the Firenze standards. And yes I did take this picture while riding a bike. I myself am impressed with my ability. From there we traveled to a church that had a women over 500 years old preserved inside. I am not sure what the story behind her was, but I did notice that she was very short. Ancient Italians were quite small. In the tour we also saw the old site of the ampa theater, now a ring of houses. It is the first square I have seen in Italy that has been an oval.After the tour we were given free time, and use of the bikes. I used this time to explore the city, play on swings and find some food. The city is one of the most adorable things ever. There are trees everywhere and real Italian people enjoying the nice weather.I enjoyed Lucca so much. I would request going to anyone who is in central Italy. Now before I make this blog way to long I am going to talk about Pisa. For how famous it is, there really isn't much there. The tower obviously is interesting, but once you've seen it once you've seen it. The tower again is open for climbing, although it is expensive and not good for the tower, as it is leaning heavily to one side. Luckily I had not been inside the cathedral next to it, and it was a massively gorgeous church. It was funded by the Medici family of Florence, they were that rich. Also around the tower there are hundreds of stalls selling all types of souvenirs you could think of. Be sure to take funny looking pictures when near the tower. It is kind of obligatory. I have been before and still took part.

Dolce- My kind of Italy

My school works in association with a culinary school in Florence, and that means that there are a lot of kitchens to be used. The best way to use them: bake. The work shop only had 16 people, all girls, and one teacher. We made three dessert, all from Italy.
Biscotti:

• 400gr flour
• 200gr sugar
• 200gr shelled almonds
• 3eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• vinilla
• baking power
• salt

Instructions:
Make a mound with the flour, sugar, almonds, vanilla and baking powder. This part is just a mound on the counter. Don't bother with bowls. Add the eggs and the egg yolk and mix with hands. When well combined, make small loaves and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 180 ° C for 15 minutes. Once brown remove and cut into diagonal cookies and return to oven until toasted (5 to 10 minutes). I personally like to skip the re cooking, but then again biscotti does mean dual cooking.

Florintina Soccer Oct 2

On October 2nd the Florence soccer team played Torino at the home stadium. Unfortunatly they lost, but the experience was amazing.
The fans are not like those at home. The crowd cheers and sings all game long. I would like to go to a game where they win before I leave.

Livorno Oct 1

I decided to take a day trip while my roommates were away on a tour. First I stopped at the market to pick up some snacks. It just happened to be the first Saturday of the month so the best biscotti was there. It is a little expensive but I splurged. I also picked up some apples for lunch. The train took about an hour and a half to get to Livorno. Once there, however I had no idea where to go. So I walked around a little until I found a sign pointing to il mare. The ocean was about a 45 minute walk away from the train station, however when I found the water I didn't find where I could go in. I was in a port. Livorno is a small town but it is a very popular stop for cruise ships. The walk along the water was enjoyable. I did start to get a little to warm ( its October and the weather is still high eighties) when I found the smallest beach I had ever seen. The sand covered maybe 15 feet between two walls. The water felt nice on my feet, and I took a break to sit and rest. There was an abnormally high amount of beach glass on this beach and I had fun looking through it. On I moved to a new location further down. It was not a beach but a group of rocks sticking out of the water. From my perch I could see a boat race and could feel the ocean breeze. It was a wonderful day. On top of the sites, I was able to use my Italian. Everyone in Florence speaks English better than I do Italian. In Livorno they didn't. I had a short but completely Italian conversation with two nice ladies. I am not sure they were telling the truth but I was complimented on my ability to speak. My day was spent wandering and enjoying being in Italy. It most certainly was a day well spent.

Switzerland and Germany 22-25 of Sept.

My original goal had be to post once a week so that everyone could see what I was doing. Obviously I have fallen dismally behind. No worries though, I am determined to catch up. In the next two weeks or so I shall be updating the blog on some of the different places I have been and the wonderful things I have seen.
The trip to Switzerland and Germany was planned by the school (for an extra cost of course). The itinerary was as follows:

• Thursday: Travel- board the bus and take a very long trip to the hotel in Switzerland
• Friday: Geneva Switzerland- tour the UN and see the city while eating a quick lunch then board the bus to travel to a chocolate factory
  
• Saturday: The Swiss Alps- completely mind blowing and unbelievable, I am in love with this country.
  
• Sunday: Oktoberfest- sadly I didn't get the chance to see much of the city, but the trip was designed for college students.

Now comes the detailed record of the weekend. It was of course amazing and I had a blast. Thursday night we boarded a charter bus with the idea that we would reach the hotel around midnight, in actuality it was 4 a.m., close enough right? During the trip some interesting things did happen though. When we stopped for dinner, we stop at a rest stop. This however was not a normal rest stop. There was a full sit down type restaurant inside with wonderful food. There also was a sandwich shop and a Burger King, clean restrooms and a continence store. This stop would be the king of all rest stops in the States, but here it is normal. I think that that is something that most defiantly should catch on back home. Another exciting detail was once over the French boarder (which cost 200 euro to cross!) the bus entered a very long tunnel. No really the tunnel was over 8 miles long, taking over ten minutes to go through. The amount of time that was taken in order to travel under the Alps was unbelievable, however I would not want to do it very often. It made me a little nervous.
Friday morning was a little rough from the lack of sleep but who could be anything but excited when in a country for the first time. In a strange situation, the tour bus got a flat tire, so the group took public transportation to reach the United Nations. The United Nations in Geneva is said to the second largest location following the NYC one. I personally felt that the campus was much larger but the buildings that were in use would be less square feet than the NYC campus. We were given a tour of the different areas, and even though I have been on United Nation tours before in New York I learned new facts about the UN. The campus really is pretty set on the lake. Geneva is also very picturesque sitting in the green countryside in along side the water. The weather was wonderful and I regret not having more time in the city to explore. Next was the chocolate factory, which sadly was owned by Nestle, but was still a wonderful experience. Cailler chocolates sold to Nestle in the depression in order to stay in business in hard times. They still are an all Swiss chocolate. Along with that a very delicious one as well. The whole group was in a chocolate coma afterword. After the break in the chocolate factory we boarded the bus to head to the Swiss city of Fribourg. After dinner some of the group went on a night walk of the old city. The streets were old and twisted but in a very different way from Firenze. The city had so much charisma and love. The locals were friendly and warm (and some very drunk). The city can't be explained with words. No picture could ever give the full effect and it is of course worth a thousand words, so I shall not try too hard to convey how amazing it was to walk through those streets. If you are ever looking for a town to visit in Switzerland or even Europe in general, go to Fribourg. It is small, but full of character.
Saturday the bus drove (with enormous amounts of skill) deep into the Swiss Alps. These roads probably do not see many tour buses judging by the single lane and tight curves. The bus driver was pro though. The view was unbelievable: crystal clear streams, emerald green grass, adorable little cottages and so much more. A lift took the group up the mountain eight at a time. It took over an hour, but thankful I was in the first group and I was able to hike for that time before lunch. As I said before I am in love with Switzerland. The view is breathtaking and inspiring and marvelous and every other positive word out there. No picture I took will give you the full view. After lunch I hike with some friends to a lake that was nearby. The lake wasn't exactly a lake as it was the end of a hot summer, but were the lake used to be was visible. It is my hope that one day I will be able to go back and hike all over the mountains and see the lake in the spring. Everything is thrown out of proportion because my senses are not used to looking at objects so large. The tip of the mountains loomed thousands of feet above me, I was a speck in the whole landscape. It was just so incredible. I did not want to leave but at least I was able to experience them, and now I know to go back.
Sunday was dedicated wholly to Oktoberfest, and originally I thought "how on earth am I going to spend 8 hours doing nothing but drinking beer?!". My perceptions of what was going to happen at Oktoberfest were wrong, to a degree. First of all everyone was dressed up, there were people from 80 to kids not even old enough to walk dressed up. Second, it was not just a giant park with tents. The tents are actually buildings, but other than that there were also vendors, games and rides. To me, it really felt like the New York State fair, at first. Once inside a beer tent, there weren't so many similarities. The steins are huge, and the food is fantastic. But what was the best thing of the whole day were the drunk locals. They would sing and dance and yell. The Germans sang German drinking songs, and the Italians did the same, just as the Australians did. Everyone is there for the same reason to have fun and enjoy a national tradition. By the end of the day however there were of course those people who were too drunk and a few fights. Before leaving Germany I had to at least see something else, so I went to a near by church, which was built in the 1400's guessing by its Gothic characteristics. On the bus ride home, we stopped for dinner in Austria, so technically I have been there. I even bought a souvenir.
Overall the trip was fantastic, but too short. In every place I found myself thinking I wish I had more time. Hopefully I will be able to return later this trip, and later in life. These places, view and traditions are what I love about traveling. I hope to do lots more in the future.

Tuscan Weekend Sept 16-18

Through my program there are several included trips, some day long ones and one weekend long excursion. The trip was from Friday through Sunday.
Friday we left the city, heading toward the coast to see the city of Tolemea. This was the most adorable fishing town. The old city walls still stand from when it was a castle that stood on the rocky peninsula. The water is sparkling on three sides, the sun shines brightly and the breeze blows coolly. Set in a Mediterranean bay, the town now holds boats, ranging from not so expensive to so very expensive. The higher paths offered a breath taking view and down below there are some majestic trails along the water. It is not a large town, but it has character and so much charm. For dinner we ate at the hotel, a five course meal. The first was brushetta, followed by pea soup which wasn't too bad. Next was tortellini in a seafood sauce, followed by a fish dish, ending with tirimisu. It wasn't my favorite meal, too much fish for my tastes. However it was nice to have local food.
Saturday we drove to a sea side village where old tombs had been discovered from different eras. They ranged from age and size depending on how much money a family had. The largest was over ten meters long. We were able to go inside, however the lights didn't work so what we saw would be what they saw when ever putting a body in, darkness. We did get to peak with a flashlight though. The rest of the day was spent at the beach, which was a bit too long. But the weather was nice and the water was perfect for swimming. For dinner that night we had the same meal, but at a lesser quality of the night before. It was disappointing at least and gelato was necessary afterward.
Sunday was reserved for a horse show. On the way there the bus driver got lost and we found ourselves on a dirt road. Dirt roads are not very big nor are they meant for tour buses. To say the least it was interesting. Once at the organic farm, we watch a show that displayed how the cows were captured one by one in order to be branded. The cowboys also taught some people to lasso. Although it wasn't a horse show, it was still interesting. Afterward there was a wonderful dinner (including no beef). The starter was a cheese with balsamic viniger and olive oil. Next came a wonderful serving of turkey and potatoes, Finishing with a cookie dessert. Throughout the whole meal we had our share of wine and delicious bread. This was hands down the best meal of the trip.

Il Duomo- The Cathedral of Firenze

The Duomo is kind of the center of the city. I use it as my land mark no matter where I am going since it is visible from most of the city. It is a massive structure that consist of three buildings total. There is the cathedral, the tower and the baptistery. All three were redone when Firenze was the capital of Italy in 1865. Along with the Duomo, many other churches received face lifts. The Duomo is covered in marble, three colors. Red, white and green representing the colors of Italy. The majority of it is white, the most common stone. There is the least amount of red as it is the most rare. All of the stones are harvested from Tuscany. It truly is a beautiful structure.

In order to get into the church for free, I attended the Saturday mass. If you want to climb up into the dome, then it costs 8 euro. The mass was held on one of the side alters, that is off of the main alter. I felt like my head was on a swivel. There was so much detail to look at and admire. I plan to return until I have had my fill of the gorgeous building.

Cioa Italia!

I have finally made it! And the trip here was long. It feels like every time I travel what can go wrong happens to me. NYC was a hot mess after our little tropical storm over the weekend, so I was late getting into the airport. And the airport was having its own issues with all the flights that got changed. However I did make it through even though I was not calm by the time I got to my gate. Once boarded I am saying final farewells before the no more cell phone phase starts, and the goodbyes lasted long then expected. I am pretty sure my mom got at least four, every time I thought we were leaving... and then we wouldn't. In the end we took off an hour and a half late. My connection in Rome was an hour and a half after the original landing time. Thankfully there were at least 20 other students on the connecting flight so the airline made sure we got on it. Both flights were pleasant. On the first flight I met a very pleasant Italian women who was in the process of moving from Rome to NYC with her fiance ( her wedding was that coming weekend!). She was so nice to me, using her Italian to ask the flight attendants about my connecting flight and even walking with me in the Rome air port to catch the flight. This is Rome, not that you can tell.
I land in Florence almost two hours late. Alitalia lost almost twenty people laugage, and some of these girls had four bags so I didn't exactly feel bad. So I wait in line and give them information to send it to my apartment (this ended up being wrong but that was a later issue). So I make it to my apartment at 3 pm and I could not get in. My keys do not look like US keys and it didn't help that I was on the wrong floor. The way the floor counting works here is that the floor that is on the street level is 0 then going up, but I didn't know that yet. Luckily my roommates were home and let me in.
So I am in my apartment and this long long day has just happened. The obvious next thing to do is to get Gelato! And let me tell you it was fantastic. Walking this city is one of my favorite things to do. There is so much charm and charisma. My next post will have more happy details I promise!

Growing up

This seems to happen to me more and more often, I feel old. Now this is rubbish since I am still obviously young, a child, but for some reason I keep finding myself doing adult things. I do not me inappropriate things, but the mature right thing, without guidance from a parent or teacher. The most recent action that made me feel aged was to take the GRE. Only people further in life take those. In actuality I am at the perfect point in life to take these. I am a senior in college, with the desire to continue my education. But see that is where the problem lies: I am a senior in college. When did that happen?

As a child I always was looking for the next big thing to come (usually summer or the weekend) and then I got to highschool and I would look forward to things like a trip to visit family or the holidays. And the big events of life started to happen; I got my licens and I went to prom, then off to college. And for most of my life that is where the imagining stopped. I always just wanted to get to college. Well now I have been here a few years and I only have one left. What then?

This is a problem for me. I took 4 years and many campus tours before settling on the right one for me. This time around I have about 5 months, 4 of which I will be Italy for (YAY!) to figure out what school best fits my personality and career goals. I am at loss as what to do. Most of my friends are a year behind me ( a downside to graduating early). So they have little advice. My advisors are not worth talking to as they have failed me at every point of my education. And my mother only has a limited knowledge of the subject. Since I am so busy trying to prepare for 4 months abroad, I have not had enough to devote to the topic. So for now my mantra is that things will work out. And I am scared to death that they wont. But to everyone else I am trying to look like I have it together, because that is the only choice I have.

If anyone has advice on:

• How to not grow up
• How to pick the right grad school
• How to land free school
• Or how to not go broke in Italy

Please let me know because I could use the advice!

Congratulation Mary and Eric

My brother Eric and Mary have been dating for around 6 years now. Just recently they got engaged. They went to Vegas for a medical conference that Mary was attending. At the Bellagio , in front of the water show, Eric got on one knee and proposed. And well, of course she said yes. I am very happy for them and know that they will have a happy life together.

I can't wait until next fall when I can celebrate with both of you. And thank you Mary for having me as a brides maid. I am truly honored!

White Water Rafting

For my birthday I wanted to do something exciting with my friends. The idea came from a coupon book that I have. It has a buy one ride and receive the next free. We didn't end up going to that one, but it was a good idea anyway!
We went to the Black River in Watertown, NY. We were told that the rapids were going to be a slight 5 (out of a possible 7), because of the constant rain this spring. The water was super cold but the air and the sun were nice.
Sadly we only lost one person the whole ride. It of course was the one person who was worried about falling out. After the ride there was a bbq with some delicious food.
All together it made for an amazing day!

Getting Ready

There is a few months before I leave for Italy, however I must start getting ready. One of the most important things that I need to do is get a visa. I will need a Scheun Visa as I am a student stay between 90-360 days. And the first step to being eligible is to have a plain ticket.

It is hard to know when the best time to buy is. About 6-8 weeks before departure is generally best, however there are a lot of other factors that come into play. For me the fact that I am staying in Italy so long has an affect on the price. In gener
al though there are many reason that the 6-8 week window will not work . Gas prices have a huge impact on the prices of tickets. If the prices jump the so will ticket prices.

The best way to navigate these waters is to keep a close eye on prices. As soon as dates are set, look up prices on a few different sites. Never trust that what you are looking at is the lowest price. There are a lot of different sites that work different ways that may be able to offer a better fare. Once you have a range of what the price looks like now, follow the movement of prices are time passes. If they start to rise then it may be an indicator that you should but. If they start to fall that could mean hold off. There is no guarantee on a price while shopping for air fare.

For students and professors, there is a web site out there that often has lower prices. Student Universe.com for the most part has better prices for students. They also have hotels, rail and trips available. Even though it is generally cheaper, they are not always at the best time, and are not always the best value. Be sure to shop around and be knowledgeable about what the average is. If you do this then you are on your way to finding a cheap flight.

Spring in Rochester

The weather is starting to turn nice in Rochester! One of my favorite places to go is Pittsford where you can wander the canal and all of the little shops near by. To get the most out of the nice weather, I decided to go for a bike ride with one of my close friends. The canal trails are well kept and perfect for taking long bike rides on. I had an amazing trip and can not wait for my next adventure!

Italy

I have been accepted to FUA in Florence for the fall semester! It will be four months of food, wine and Italian culture. Currently I am studying Italian so that by the time September comes I will be ready to hop a plane and submerse myself in the culture and ambiance of Florence. The housing is apartment style dorms, which I will be sharing with two of my close friends, Maureen and Nina. The school is in central Florence in the older part of the city. The gelato is calling my name :)
http://www.saiprograms.com/florence/fua

Skating Event to Raise Money for Golisano Children’s Hospital

RIT’s Women in Business club organizes annual fundraising effort

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The third annual Skate for a Cause, hosted by RIT’s Women in Business club, will raise money for the Golisano Children’s Hospital.

March 24, 2011
by Vienna Carvalho-McGrain
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The Women in Business club at Rochester Institute of Technology must have a direct line to Mother Nature. While many of us have spring on our minds, the students in this organization are capitalizing on the spring snowfall by hosting the third annual “Skate for a Cause” fundraiser on March 26 in RIT’s Ritter Arena. The general public is welcome to skate from 5-7 p.m. and RIT students can skate from 10 p.m.-midnight. A $5 donation per person covers admission, skate rental and hot chocolate. The session for the general public features music by WITR-FM (89.7) and entertainment by the RIT Juggling Club.

This year’s event benefits the Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong.

“The event is really fun to host and it is a great feeling when we are able to help out a good cause,” says Kara Shierly, communications officer for RIT’s Women in Business organization.

Last year, proceeds from the event were donated to the Rochester-based organization Joining Hearts and Hands to complete a classroom in Kenya at the Hannah’s Hope school. The building is named for Hannah Congdon, a Fairport High School graduate killed in a car accident in 2007.

RIT’s Women in Business club is an organization for female students in all stages of their educational careers. Through networking, educational events and community service, the organization creates and strengthens skills in leadership, business, education and life management.

Taken from: http://www.rit.edu/news/story.php?id=48199