New post, finally

After traveling and internet problems, I finally am having a chance to update. Free travels have been alot of fun, but they are so tiring. I got back from Spain and southern France last night. I really enjoyed Spain. I got to go to the three largest cities in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia). I also went to Toledo, the former capital of Spain. It was great to be able to use my Spanish skills. Communication was a breeze. I had feared that it might not be, but it was fine. France was a different story. I could hardly understand a word that they said to me... Madrid was by far my favorite city from this trip. We even got to see a bull fight. It was so exciting. I had no idea what was going on, but I made friends with a woman sitting behind me and she explained it. The Spanish culture is very exciting. They don't eat dinner until near midnight and go for chocolate and churros around two. The chocolate and churros were amazing! Toledo was very different from the rest of Spain, in that you could really see the moorish influence in the architecture. Barcelona, on the other hand, felt very international and had a French flair. The French Riviera was beautiful, too. There is so much to say and so little time, so I will save the rest for when I get home.

My semester is coming to an end, and crunch time is here. There are so many assignments that I need to do, but there are so many other things that are more fun. I leave for the final free travel in less than three weeks! So much to do, so little time.

Finally, an update

It has been a long time since my last post, and many things have transpired. The internet has been down for over a week now, but we are finally back up on dial-up because the cable line was struck by lightning while we were in southern Italy. So...to southern Italy.
We left on the night of the fourth and took an overnight train to Reggio Calabria. This train was old and dirty. The air conditioning in our couchette did not work, so I sweated all night long. We arrive in Reggio Calabria at 6:15 the next morning. We went straight to get a pastry and a coffee, as usual, and then ventured into a museum. After the museum, we caught a ferry across the straights of Messina to the island of Sicily. We got to Taormina a few hours later and checked into our hotel. Taormina is a beautiful beach side town with a ancient Greek/Roman amphitheater. We wander through the tiny alleys and ate at cozy cafes the rest of the night. The next morning a few of us went snorkeling in the Mediterranean. That was a lot of fun! We drove to Catania that night to worship with the church that meets there. The next morning, we left early and drove to Villa Casale, a Roman villa with really good mosaics. We arrived in Agrigento that night to a hotel in the valley of the temples. The view of the temples from there was amazing. The next day, we had a long onsight class in the valley of the temples and then drove to Palermo. In Palermo, we visited several sights, but the most odd and interesting was the crypt of the Capucini monks. You should really look this up online. It was so creepy. That night we caught an overnight ship to Naples. This was a lot nicer than the night train! We arrived in Naples early and stopped at a cafe, as usual. We visited the National Archaeological Museum and saw many artifacts from Pompeii. That afternoon, we went to Pompeii. It was so interesting to see a city of ancient times preserved as if it was abandoned yesterday. That night, we stayed in Sorrento. The next morning, we got up early and caught a ferry to Capri. I loved Capri and the salad that they are known for! We had one more night in Sorrento and then headed down the Amalfi coast. We stopped in Positano and Amalfi, both small beach side villages. We caught the five o'clock train from Naples back to Firenze, where we were all glad to return.
Thats all for now, but I will try to write some about our trip to the Cinque Terre before I leave for free travel on Wednesday.

San Gimignano and Siena

On Tuesday, we traveled to San Gimignano and Siena. San Gimignano was the first destination on our journey. It is the perfect medieval city with tall thin towers and walls on all sides. This tiny town was once a thriving city, well, for its time. After lunch, we drove to Siena. Siena was once the richest city in Europe: like Florence it gained its wealth from banking. Until 40 years ago, it was on the main road to Rome. The cathedral from Siena is a must see. Its stripped marble is very interesting and the floor mosaics are amazing. The Palazzo Pubblico is also a very cool building. Around the square in front of the Palazzo is where the famous Palio di Siena occurs. I hope to go to it, seeing that it takes place twice a year on July 2(my birthday) and August 14. We leave for southern Italy on Monday night, so until I return expect a lull in the post.

Memorial Day

Yesterday was Memorial Day. It was odd to be overseas on such a patriotic occasion. We went to the U.S. War Memorial and cemetery in Florence for a special service that was being held there. There are close to 4,000 WW 2 soldiers buried here, both identified and unidentified. When you walk into the cemetery, there are rows upon rows of white crosses and stars of David, according to the deceased's faith. At the back of the cemetery, is a wall with the names of the men who lost there lives fighting in Italy. The service was very cool in that it was conducted in both English and Italian. At the end of the service, both the Italian and American national anthem was played. One thing that was slightly unnerving was how irreverent some of the Italians were. They talked through the whole service! Nevertheless, it was a special Memorial Day.

Fiorentina Game

Fiorentina played Sampdoria today in Florence. This was the final game of the season, and we got to go. The whole ordeal was pretty crazy. The buses to the stadium were packed. I'm talking no standing room left, at all. On our bus, there was a LOUD drunk man singing nonsense songs and saying that he was related to Savonarola. It was pretty humorous and annoying. We got to the stadium and wondered around for a while trying to find our seats. Each usher had a different idea of where our seats where located. We finally found our seats just as the teams came out. Traci had taught us some of the fight song, so we sang along when we could. The stadium is divided into several different sections to minimize contact between groups of fans. The visiting teams are seated in a cage-like area surround by huge walls and barbed wire. There were tons of guards around the field and some police with riot gear. Luckily, there was no riot. Fiorentina won the game, so that helped the situation I guess. European soccer is definitely taken seriously by many people. This was a really fun day.

Museo dell' Academia and Museo di San Marco

Today, we started early and visited two museums. First, we went to La Academia. This museum was built in 1870 to house the "David", and that is basically all that was there. There were a few iconic paintings, Michelangelo's "Prisoners", and the "David." David is way bigger than I expected, standing at a little over 17 ft. and weighing near 7 tons. This masterpiece really shows the greatness of Michelangelo as a sculpture. After viewing the "David," we walked to San Marco Monastery. This monastery is a Dominican monastery in which part of it has been converted into a museum. Many important people have lived here, including Savonarola and Fra. Angelico. The museum is almost exclusively devoted to the works of Fra. Angelico. Fra. Angelico was commissioned to paint frescoes in every cell. One of his most important works is "The Annunciation." His style was very different from other artists of the time. It almost has a surreal look.

Batistry, Duomo, & Museum of the works of the Duomo

Thursday was a big day for on sight classes. We visited one of the most important sites in Florence. When the Florentines planned Santa Maria del Fiore, they wanted it to be the largest cathedral in the world. It was for a while, but it currently stands in third place. It stood largely unfinished for years and was a great humiliation, until Brunelleschi came up for the plan of the current dome. The Baptistery was built many years earlier on the site of an ancient Roman temple. There is an amazing Byzantine style mosaic on the dome of the Baptistery. The museum holds many of the important works from the church. The original panels from the east doors of the Baptistery are housed here. In addition, Donatello's "Mary Madelene" and Michelangelo's second Pieta. It is exciting to see these works that I have seen in text books so many times.
Tomorrow, we have a full day of on sight classes. We are going to the Academia to see many works, including the David. After visiting two museums and a few churches, we will spend the rest of the afternoon/night at the American consulate, where there will be a special festival. I'm off to get some more gelato; fragole(strawberry) with limone(lemon) are my favorite flavors! Tourists beware that unless the amount you wish to pay is specified, they will rip you off.

Tuesday Market and Champion's League Final

Its been a while since I last posted, so I have alot to cover. On Tuesday, we went to Tuesday market. This is a local market where Florentines buy produce, breads, and cheeses, as well as, other household items. We were all assigned an item to find and buy in the market. The only problem was that our instructions were in Italian. Eventually, after asking many vendors, I discovered that ciliege means cherry. After everyone collected their items, we met together and had a pick nick. It was cool to get to try alot of the local specialties. We had free time that afternoon, so some of us ventured into the city.
Wednesday as just another day of classes, but Jeremy took some of us out to get pizza at Gallo's. This pizza is amazing! After dinner, a few of us went into Florence to watch the Champion's League final between AC Milan and Liverpool at a bar (not in the sense that you are thinking). This was definitely a new experience, in that people were shouting and singing in a language completely foreign to me. AC Milan won.

Firenze...

Florence is a great city! We got a basic tour of the city on Saturday. We walked almost six miles. My feet were killing me, but the views were well worth it. There are some amazing places hidden in this city. Everyone is familiar with the Duomo and the Piatza de la Republica, but there are some great places hidden down little side streets. I can't wait until I have some free time to go explore some more. Tomorrow, we are going to Tuesday market; that should be fun. Classes have officially started. I like Italian, but everything else just seems a bit tedious. I would rather just have fun all summer, but I know, Dad, that you're paying for an education.

Scandicci...

Yesterday, we began a little late with orientation. This took up most of the morning. In the afternoon, we walked to bus stop 27 and rode into Scandicci, the suburb that we live in. It is just like an Italian movie. We got capuccinos in a little cafe named Cafe Mario. It was picture perfect. Then, we explored the city. I think that I am going to love Italy! Last night, we ran up the hill by alot of giant villas. The hill was so steep! I have began planning my first free travel to the Blackforest, Switzerland, and Austria. Now, I'm off to Florence for the day.

European Arrival

Airline travel is ridiculous! I left on Tuesday from home, and my plane was on schedule. We were unable to land in Detroit due to bad weather, so we circled for a hour. Gas was low, so we were rerouted to Cincinnati. We never got off the plane but refueled and returned to Detroit. Upon arrival in Detroit, our plane was on the runway about to depart. We missed the flight! Luckily, four other people from our group missed it too. The people leaving from Little Rock did not even depart. After two hours of debating with a gate agent, we were booked on a flight to Frankfurt on Wednesday night. That was way better than what we expected because they told us it would be Thursday before we could get across the pond. The airport hotel was booked, so we had to spend the whole night in the airport, 19 hours in all! I was so tired. Finally, we left for Frankfurt. We arrived early and had a 9 hour lay over originally, but that flight was over booked so we had to wait 5 more. Lufthansa was not helpful at all! It was an overall bad experience of Germany. Many people were rude. We arrived in Bologna at 10:45, and the last of the Little Rock group was arriving. All of our baggage made it, amazingly! We got to the villa at 2 a.m. Needless to say, I showered and slept great.

Preparations

In three days, I will be off to Europe for the trip of a lifetime. All the packing and shopping are coming to a close, and excitement is high. I cannot wait for this trip to begin!