S I A P R E S E N T E

Cortona, Assisi, Spoleto, Orvieto, and some Venezia

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:48:10 -0500

Franciscan Convent in Cortona

Franciscan Convent in Cortona

Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi

Portico at Basilica di San Francesco

Roman amphitheater in Spoleto

View from hotel room in Spoleto

Italian Gothic church in Orvieto

Venice!

With gondolas!

Piazza/Basilica di San Marco

Cortona, Assisi, Spoleto, Orvieto, and some Venezia

Catching up on Things: Umbria, Venice, Torino

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:23:59 -0500

I think I forgot I had this thing for a little while. Anyway, sorry for the absence, here is one giant post about everything.

Chillin’ With Saint Francis

A few weeks ago, the Italian classes took a trip to Umbria, the region right next to Tuscany. The beginning classes all went together to Cortona, Assisi (Saint Francis’ Hood), Spoleto, and Orvieto. It was all pretty much like a Medieval Disneyland. Each of the little towns we went to looked like they were stuck in a time capsule, it was incredible. In Cortona, we saw the Franciscan convent where Saint Francis spent some of the end of his life meditating/praying. It was absolutely gorgeous, nestled into the hillside. We weren’t able to go inside the convent itself, but we saw his little prayer cell that was completely preserved. After, we went to Assisi and saw the Basilica of Saint Francis, which was incredible. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The entire structure is actually composted of two churches, an upper one and a lower one, each representing the heavenly and earthly worlds, respectively. The upper church is filled with frescoes by Giotto, depicting the life of Saint Francis. It was incredible to see these pieces in person. The entire basilica is COVERED in art. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures inside the church, but definitely google it, its pretty remarkable. The next day we visited Spoleto and Orvieto. Spoleto is a medieval town as well with Roman ruins. It was insanely gorgeous, there’s really no way I can put it into words (see pictures in the following post). On Sunday we went to Orvieto and saw a massive Italian gothic cathedral. Again, see pictures.

Venice: One of the Best Weekends of My Life

It deserves all the hype. Venice was the most magical place I have ever seen. Combine the romance of Paris with the intrigue and mystery of the Italian Renaissance and Carnivale, and add some of the purest and clearest sunlight, and MAYBE we can create an extremely trivial description of this place. I feel like I can’t even write about Venice, it was so beautiful. The first day we explored: saw the Piazza/Basilica di San Marco, and had a tour of the city and various churches and monuments. Saturday was by far the best day of the trip. We spent the entire day at the Biennale, possibly the most important globally recognized contemporary art exhibition today. It happens every two years, and features the best contemporary art made by the best artists throughout the world. Each region represented has its own pavilion. My favorite pavilions were the German pavilion (duh… these guys win awards at every Biennale, and won the grand prize this year), and the Korean pavilion. I wish I took pictures to show what each hall looked like, but I have such trouble taking photos of art. They never turn out the way I want them to, and there really is no better way to experience these things than in person. But I bought the catalogue from the entire exhibition so if you’re interested I’ll show it to you (also not reallyyy sure who the “you” that I am addressing here is since I have no idea who actually reads this). Anyway, the Biennale was an absolutely stimulating and incredible experience. I hope I can go back many times throughout my life. It is such an important (maybe the MOST important) part of the global art scene today. I can’t even believe how happy (no, maybe elated) I was on this day. On Sunday we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum (daughter of Solomon R. I think), to see her collection of modern and surrealist art. This is definitely one of the best museums I have ever been to. Her collection is displayed in what used to be her house, and features some of my favorite people (Miro, Picasso, Magritte, Dali, etc.). So yeah, Venice was ridiculous in the best sense of the word. I really realllyyyyyyyyyy hope to go back there sometime in the nearish future.

Being a Film Snob in Torino

This last weekend my Italian Cinema class went to Torino for the film festival. Torino is an awesome place! Way more metropolitan than Florence, with big boulevards and even a subway system (!). Some parts looked like a European Midtown. Since it was once ruled/occupied by the Savoy Dynasty (some French people), most of the buildings look very similar to those in Paris, combined with more traditional Italian porticos. Some of my friends were calling it “Pan-Europe”, since it kind of looked like a somewhat nondescript European place. We saw films for the entire weekend (and did a little shopping…), which was really cool. The festival does a retrospective on one director every year, and this year they were featuring the films of Robert Altman. The first day we saw a cute French film (to be specific: a French film with Italian subtitles; try that one on for size), which was a little exhausting since my proficiency for reading quick/colloquial Italian is at the same level as my EXTREMELY elementary French. Later that night we saw the Robert Altman film, Shortcuts, which was incredible, awesome, and disturbing all at the same time. Definitely a new favorite though. Saturday we saw the film Bad Posture which was pretty amazing as well. I really hope it gets the attention it deserves in America. It really captures the image of youth culture today, in my opinion. Everyone should go see this when it comes out. Then later that day we saw Moneyball, which I actually really liked. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is in it, who is obviously incredible, and actually Brad Pitt wasn’t as ridiculous as I thought he would be. The movie was exactly what I expected: a feel good blockbuster-y film with somewhat gratuitous shots of Brad Pitt aggressively working out and a cute/emotional estranged father daughter relationship, set against the backdrop of a kind of romanticized and dramatic view of the injustices of major league baseball. But I did enjoy it for sure. On Sunday we saw two weird films, the first isn’t even really worth mentioning, and the second was called Wrecked, which was pretty much just an hour and a half of Adrien Brody telling us that he is a good actor (aka pretending to be the guy from Man vs. Wild after getting into a massive car accident that leaves him stranded in the woods).

And so, THAT is what I’ve been up to! Now to delve into the infinite abyss that is Conference Work for the next three weeks.

Ciao,

Rach

Photo

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:45:59 -0400

My host family's living room

Grapes at the vineyard in Chianti

Tim Curry Tour Guide: Count Niccolo

View of Chianti

Skeleton relic of second century saint

Roman amphitheater ruins at Fiesole

Cinque Terre!

Cinque Terre!

Bathing beauties

Stephanie and Me in Cinque Terre

Swimming in the Mediterranean (Read: Spending the Weekend in a Windows XP Desktop Background)

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:26:21 -0400

And yet again, another life changing experience…

Last weekend, the girls and I went to Cinque Terre (a series of five small towns nestled into cliff sides along the Italian Riviera) to celebrate Meredith’s 21st birthday. Although we only spent a Saturday and Sunday there, I have to say, it was absolutely one of the best weekends of my life! I felt like I was living in a post card! We stayed in a hostel about 15 minutes from Cinque Terre in a small adjacent town called Biassa. On Saturday we settled into our rooms (there were 8 of us and we shared two rooms) and then took a little bus into the most famous of the five towns, Riomaggiore (I posted a picture of this place on facebook). First we took a hike up these steep steps that brought us to a point that looked over the entire coast! It seemed like with each activity everything got more beautiful! The water was a color unlike anything I had ever seen… It legitimately looked like a sapphire. Absolutely breathtaking. And the color of the ocean was only emphasized by the steep dark gray cliffs and brightly colored houses and buildings on the coast. Seriously, google image this place, make it your computer desktop background… you won’t be disappointed. After we went on the walk, we found a little beach nearby. It was less of a beach and more so a rocky coastline (think Catalina coast) where we decided to set up camp for the rest of the afternoon. The pebbles were a little hard to walk on, but it was so relaxing and wonderful to lay out by the ocean. That night we went to a wonderful restaurant in Riomaggiore for Meredith’s birthday dinner and had AMAZING calamari fritti (when in Rome… err, the Italian coast), and incredible prosecco. We ended our night playing ESSENCE (I taught all my friends how to play… they absolutely LOVED the game!), and hanging out under the stars (we saw some shooting ones… seriously it was all too perfect) outside our hostel.

On Sunday we took a train from Riomaggiore to Monterosso, which is the last of the five towns, known for its beach (there is a train that connects all of the five towns to make it easier for people to get from one place to the other, since each area is known for different activities… all together Cinque Terre is actually designated as an Italian national park/forest). The beach at Monterosso was unlike anything I had ever seen. The water was SO clear! I couldn’t get over it! Immediately we all jumped in the water and had such an amazing time. The temperature was PERFECT, and the waves were subtle but still so much fun. We could all tell that each of us were at our happiest at that moment, swimming together. It was such an incredible experience and I am SO excited to go back to Cinque Terre in the future. As my Italian language teacher Anna said today, “Cinque Terre… que magico!!!” It really, really was.

This is my "I still can't believe this is my real life" post

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:24:00 -0400

Again it seems I have quite a bit to catch up on. Every day is filled with awesome and exciting things, and the weekends are like complete whirlwinds!

Last weekend, the school organized for us to visit a winery in Chianti, owned by (literally) a Count. This guy was a complete caricature. A large man with a british accent, smoking a pipe. I felt like I was in the Italian version of Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was hysterical. All of us were fully aware that this was probably a “shtick” he does for all his visitors, but we totally bought into it anyway. It made the whole day so much fun! When we first arrived, he took us into the wine cellar where all of the barrels are held, and showed us around the entire vineyard. It was so cool to see the wine being made right in front of us! After, we had an incredible lunch (and way too much wine) in the main villa where he and his family live. He took us on a tour of the entire house (mansion), and told us stories along the way about the famous and fabulous people that used to come to stay in his home. Apparently it was once occupied during World War Two by SS officers (creepy), and he showed us three books in his grandmother’s old room (completely preserved… like a museum. also kind of creepy) all signed by Mark Twain. It was absolutely surreal. Finally, at the end of the tour, he brought us into the villa’s personal chapel, once used by his family and other visitors. He opened up this small chest just underneath the main altar, and inside was a full skeleton of a saint from the second century! This had to have been one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The relic was completely dressed in imperial Roman garb, and decorated with jewels and dinnerware. It was insane! I absolutely loved this trip. Every step of the way got weirder/cooler, and our Tim Curry-esque tour guide made for some wonderful jokes when the day was done.

Last week was great as well. School is going really well and I am feeling very secure with my class choices for this semester. I love my Italian cinema class. So far we have watched Bicycle Thieves (which I LOVED), and Rome Open City, which was very intense but super interesting. My studio art class is extremely challenging. We have to keep a sketchbook and make sketches every day, to be critiqued on Mondays by our professor and fellow classmates. It’s extremely intimidating, but I guess I am learning a lot.

On Friday, my friends and I all went to a club that was actually featured on the Jersey Shore (they filmed the last season in Florence… you know, so that they could fully immerse themselves in their “home” country or something). It was called Twice, and it was really gross. It was one of those things that we kind of had to do once (haha), and I don’t think any of us plan on going back. I am discovering that I am not sure I am a “club” kind of girl. Although I am excited to compare my experience with european clubs to ones in America.

Saturday we spent the day recovering from our Jersey Shore night, and later went out to dinner at this fabulous tiny restaurant, kind of removed from the center of town. I loved that we got to explore a new area. It was a little bit past the Uffizi, near the Ponte Vecchio, but kind of away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown area. The restaurant was incredible! It was so small, with about 4 other couples eating there, and one chef! Apparently his family owns the restaurant and lives right above it. After dinner they gave us complimentary prosecco and tiramisu! The tiramisu was so amazing and fresh. We saw him whipping the cream and marscarpone right in front of us. It was such a wonderful night!

Today, I went on a day trip with some other classmates to Fiesole, a small town just outside of Florence, known for its Etruscan and Roman ruins. We saw ruins of an Etruscan temple, Roman baths, and a Roman amphitheater nearby. After, we went to an archaeological museum, hiked to a vista that looked over all of Florence, visited a gorgeous Romanesque church, and climbed up a huge hill to see a convent. The convent was especially interesting, because attached to it was a museum that held artifacts gathered from missionary trips the nuns and friars took all over the world. Perhaps most interesting was the room that held all the Egyptian artifacts, including a fully intact sarcophagus and mummy (I couldn’t help but wonder how these people managed to bring that home…). We also got to see the hill where Leonardo da Vinci tested his first flying machine!

On a social note, I am really enjoying the new friends that I have made here. I have a little group of girls that I hang out with all the time and they are all so amazing! I wish I could have gotten to know them when I first got to Sarah Lawrence. I feel like it would have made my first two years so much better, socially. Their names are Meredith (we live together), Berlin, Clancy, Mia, Stephanie (I was already friends with her at school… she’s how I met Corey!), Melinda, Jillian, India, and Ally (duh). It is so great to feel so secure with my group of friends here… especially because I constantly crave girl companionship since I am so used to The Six (y’all better be reading this) back at home. I just love hanging out with them, going out on weekends and spending time with them at school. They have all contributed so much to the amazing time I am having here. I described them to Rachel McAndrew on facebook the other day as my “souvenirs” I am bringing back for us. Needless to say, they all thought that was pretty creepy, but understood and agreed with the sentiment.

So, at the risk of sounding completely cliche, I must admit that things pretty much get lovelier and more perfect each day here.

Also, definitely thought I would be sick of Catholic churches by now, but it seems I just can’t get enough of ‘em!

Pictures to come!

Ciao,

Rach

Somewhat Lost in Translation, and Meeting Michelangelo (Sort of...)

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:31:00 -0400

It’s been a little while since I last wrote, so I have some stuff to catch up on!

After my first full week living in Florence, I am starting to get into the swing of things. Living here is definitely exhausting… it is so difficult navigating a new city while also trying to adapt to a new culture, and learn a new language at the same time. I have been met with many challenges (and I am sure there will be many many, more), and it is a bit intimidating how independent the SLC program forces you to be, especially with their homestay situation. I’ve been struggling a bit to feel comfortable in a very different, and at times alienating environment. Sometimes I wonder what kind of experience I would have if I were in a more “traditional” abroad program (you know, the ones where a bunch of girls from Arizona State live in a great flat together in the center of town, maybe take a few language classes, and spend time meeting other American students at clubs mostly frequented by the cast of The Jersey Shore, and the like). But then I remember that immersion is exactly what I want, and precisely what I am getting…

Last weekend (Friday night) I went to a weird techno music festival (the school got us tickets), which was sort of fun. It was definitely cool to see Italian kids my age in a confined location. The music wasn’t really my thing, but I had a great time with my girlfriends. Got a bit (and by “a bit” I mean completely) lost on the way home, but we figured it out eventually and walked literally across town, following a group of kids who noticed how lost and forlorn we looked on a random street corner and offered to help us.

On saturday two teachers from the school (the anthropology and art history professors) took us on a tour of the Palazzo Vecchio and later the Accademia dell’Arte to see Michelangelo’s David. The Palazzo Vecchio was absolutely stunning. The anthropology teacher took us on a tour of most of the building, and we saw so many incredible paintings and sculptures, and learned how each specific image in some way glorified or was significant to the Medici family.

And of course, the Accademia was incredible. Seeing the David was a truly remarkable experience. Once again, seeing something in person that I have been studying for so many years was extremely overwhelming. Yes, I was THAT girl, who had an embarrassingly emotional experience walking up to the sculpture and seeing it for the first time. Maybe I am exaggerating… or I doubt anyone else in the gallery cared to notice how paralyzed I was, as they were all, you know, standing in front of what has been historically known to be the artistic image of bodily perfection. But in any case, it really is hard not to become completely astounded walking around the entire piece and viewing it in person. It was incredibly powerful. I am excited to go back within the next few months and see it again (probably a few times).

This week we began our classes! I decided on the History of Italian Cinema class (spanning from neorealism to the films of Fellini), and Studio Art. I am excited that I am steering away from art history this semester. I feel like branching out and exploring new subjects will in some way be a richer experience for me, rather than studying medieval art this semester, which I have kind of had my fill of. Studio Art will be quite interesting as well. It will be cool to actually attempt to MAKE art, rather than just study it. I feel like doing something more visceral, rather than cerebral, will help me get out of my own way, and maybe calm me down a bit. My schedule is super full, with studio art meeting three hours a week three times a week, and cinema meeting twice a week, plus a screening on a separate day (and my Italian language class every day). However I’ve still found time to wander around my neighborhood, get drinks with my friends (Hey! I can do that now!), and eat way too much gelato.

Ciao ragazzi!

Rach

Pescia photos, continued.

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:42:43 -0400

So tired...

View from the top of Montecarlo in Lucca

Sunset in Lucca

Stephanie, Ally, Rachel

Pescia photos, continued.

Photos from Pescia

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:31:00 -0400

Ostrich on our way to Collodi

The Whale from Pinocchio

Giardino Garzoni

Giardino Garzoni

View from the top of the garden

Pontito, destination of our hike

Along the way

View from the top

Tired hikers

Photos from Pescia

Channeling Diane Lane, or That Time I Scaled a Tuscan Mountainside

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:07:00 -0400

Ciao ragazzi!

After about five long days in Pescia, I have arrived back in Florence and settled in with my homestay! The last week in Tuscany was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Each day was packed with amazing activities and outings. I don’t think I will be able to cover everything we did, but I will talk about some of the highlights!

In Pescia, we stayed at a beautiful villa/bed and breakfast comprised of about five different farm houses (where the bedrooms were) and one main kitchen/restaurant. The villa grows its own specific wine that we drank at our first dinner at the villa. It is served in very small amounts because it is extremely potent. We dipped homemade biscotti in the wine (it looked kind of like apple cider vinegar). The villa looked exactly like I expected… olive orchards, pommegranate trees, vines covering yellow walls, the works! It literally looks like a painted image on a platter my mom probably bought in Santa Barbara.

We began our Italian classes this week, and had a three hour lesson each morning. My teacher is amazing, her name is Anna, and is very enthusiastic! The three Italian teachers commuted from Florence every morning to teach us (they will also be our teachers here in Firenze as well). After our Italian classes, we would go on excursions through Tuscany.

The first highlight of the five days was our walk to Collodi, the town where the author of Pinocchio lived. On our hike there from Pescia we picked wild blackberries, and saw an ostrich (pictures above). The hike was strenuous but fun, and definitely made me feel a bit better about the (at least) 5 course meals we were eating each day, and the two glasses of wine per meal habit I have developed… Once we arrived in Collodi, we visited a sculpture garden/park based on the original Pinocchio story, and it was extremely quaint and beautiful. After, we walked across the street to a gorgeous 17th century villa and garden called Giardino Garzoni. This was truly one of the most magical moments of the last five days. The pictures could not possibly illustrate the beauty of this place. It reminded me a little of Versailles, but with an overgrown, rustic, Italian feel. We got to spend about an hour wandering around the grounds, as it was closed to the public so that our group could view it privately.

Possibly the most intriguing part of my walk around the garden was when I stumbled upon a pathway with a sign that read “Viale dei Poveri”, which means “Street of the Poor”. Along the way were inset sculptures of impoverished Italian people; a soldier in a tattered uniform, an old begging woman, and even a young woman with a dead child in her arms. It was a really interesting illustration of how the bourgeois romanticized the poor through the art in their homes. As I was wandering around the garden with Stephanie, we imagined all the debauchery that must have gone on deep in the garden during parties and events. It reminded me of Fragonard’s painting, The Swing.

The next day we took a bus to a nearby village called Stiapa and went on a hike to a medieval town called Pontito, with a population of literally 35. This hike might have been one of the most intense experiences of my life. We walked through the gorgeous Tuscan forest for a bit, but towards the end of the trail, things got a little harder. Pontito from afar looks like an upside down fan, situated in a vertical way, set into the landscape of the mountains. On our hike, we had to literally CLIMB up the mountainside to get to the town. The trails at certain points became tiny little pathways along extremely steep cliffs, and we had to turn sideways to walk along them! I was dripping with sweat by the end of it, completely bitten up by bugs, and my legs were in SUCH pain! It was pretty relieving and exciting though to reach the village, which (again), was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen, but once we got up there, we had to climb to the top of the vertical town itself to get to the church bell tower. Once we saw the breathtaking view of Tuscany though, the hike was completely worth it.

Another major highlight of the week was our trip to Lucca, another nearby town, and its central medieval fortress called Montecarlo. We had a private tour of the 14th century fortress, led by this ADORABLE old Italian man named Walter, who actually OWNS the entire monument! Possibly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen (you know, in my long 20 years of living…) was the sun setting over the Tuscan countryside from the top of one of the towers at Montecarlo.

Today I moved into my homestay back in Florence. I am living with another girl on the program named Meredith (she is incredibly sweet, and from California!), and we are living with an older couple right by school and Santa Croce. The husband is an artist and lives part time in another town close by (I think that is where his studio is), and the Signora owns a contemporary art gallery across the Arno! I am absolutely thrilled to be living here! I cannot wait to visit the gallery… hopefully I will be able to work with her in the space, or even just observe her. She speaks very little english, so Meredith and I have been struggling a bit to understand her and speak with her in Italian, but I know my language will improve so much living here. She might purposely be trying not to speak English too much so that we are forced to become more comfortable with Italian, which is a little difficult, but I appreciate it. The apartment is absolutely stunning- art LITERALLY from floor to ceiling. So stylish! I think I will really love living here.

PICTURES ABOVE!

More to come…

Rach

And one labor protest later...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:09:42 -0400

Here we are.

Flying from JFK to Paris was actually not too bad! I took a Klonopin with the intention of falling asleep for the duration of the flight, but instead I kind of just entered this weird calm daze. I guess in the long run it was fine because it made the flight much easier.

When we got to Paris, we had to transfer by a shuttle to a different terminal for our connecting flight to Florence (yes Father, you were right…), but we had plenty of time and it was very easy. I got to practice some of my french at the airport (and by this I mean saying “merci” to every TSA agent I encountered). The flight from Paris to Florence was on a plane the size of about a lego, but despite my drowsiness it was pretty easy.

Once we got to Florence, my friends Stephanie, Melinda, and I hopped right in a cab that took us to Santa Croce, where Sarah Lawrence’s headquarters is located. We were MAJORLY deterred though, by a HUGE labor protest marching around the entire piazza! The cab driver couldn’t even get into the main square to drop us off at our street (adjacent to the church), and he just dropped us off and we had to fend for ourselves. And by “fending for ourselves” I mean running around an extremely crowded march, lugging two huge suitcases along cobblestone streets, amongst Italians blowing whistles and chanting. It was kind of a nightmare, but most certainly a “cultural” experience.

Finally we found SLC, and settled in. The rest of the students arrived, and we all went out to lunch with some Italian kids that work for SLC, kinda like tour guides for our orientation weeks. I had the most incredible meal, to be expected. Gnocchi with fresh pepper and cheese, fresh mozzarella and greens, and thinly sliced pork in a cream sauce. It was perfect. We finished off the meal with espresso, which I am confident I will soon become addicted to.

After lunch I wandered around town with a few other girls. We went to the Duomo which was absolutely breathtaking. I can’t possibly do it justice through a blog post. It was overwhelming in the most incredible way to see a place I have been studying essentially for the last 6 years in person. So powerful. I am excited to spend many afternoons just looking at it and the unbelievable craftsmanship. I then wandered deeper into the heart of the city, got a little lost (in a great way), and stumbled upon the Arno river. It was magical to have it unexpectedly pop up on a casual little walk.

This was kind of a long post, and I will upload pictures to compliment my first few days soon. We are heading to Pescia (a small medieval town about an hour outside of Florence), for the first part of orientation. I won’t have internet there, but I update once we get back to the city.

Ciao! (can I say that yet?)

Rach

Is this thing on?

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:12:55 -0400

Someone teach me how to use tumblr…