Fall Break Day 4: Madrid

 Monday, October 25^th

This plaque marks the exact middle of Spain!

The train ride last night was such a great experience. We were all able to get a little sleep and had a great time in our little Harry Potter compartment. We arrived in Madrid at 7:21 on the dot (so nice to be in a place that is so punctual-Italy is awful in this respect!) and hopped on the metro towards our hotel. By this time, we’re kind of metro masters so what could have been a stressful situation (transferring three different metro lines), was totally under control. We got off the metro and followed the directions to our hostel. We checked in and were able to put all our bags in our room, before exploring Madrid for the day. We are staying in a 6 person room, and the other girls in our room arrived at the same time as us. They are from Denmark and were also traveling around Spain on their break. They were so sweet and their English was great! It was so much fun talking to them about our different adventures.

Churros and Chocolate! Yumm!

We found out there was a free tour of Madrid provided by our hotel that met in the main Plaza at 11:00, so we decided to go explore a bit before the tour. We stopped in a couple shops and then went to a churro restaurant that is recommended in every book as a “must try”. They serve HUGE churros and each person gets their own huge cup of thick chocolate to dip the churros in. It was so delicious and filling! After this, we met our tour group in the Plaza.

Me in front of the royal palace!

We had a three-hour tour of the city, with our tour guide Tom (what a cutie!). The tour included: Museums, famous facts, the royal palace, a huge beautiful park, and a great history of Madrid. It was BY FAR the best tour I’ve had so far in Europe. Tom was about 25-years-old, with a completely adorable accent, and had so much information! He had some great one-liners and totally geared his tour towards our age group. So much fun, and it was free!

The largest bank in Madrid. I wish the banks
in the U.S. looked like this! 

Tom, our adorable tour guide!
Had to get a picture! :)

After the tour, we found a great Tai Restaurant and I had a taste of my new favorite, delicious, out of this world, food; Pad Tai! Ahhhhhhh! So yummy! Hollandale may need to get a Tai Restaurant! After lunch, we wandered around a bit, finding some amazing city views, a huge beautiful cathedral, and some ancient ruins. For dinner, our hostel recommended a restaurant famous for their flamenco dancing, so we went back, got a little dressed up, and headed to towards the restaurant. I’m glad they mentioned that you must make a reservation days in advance to get in (there was a  full page waiting list!). After trying to pay off the hostess (in Spanish), we decided to give up on the idea of seeing Flamenco in Spain and head to another eating destination. After having some delicious Paella, we decided we were completely exhausted from a long day of touring and ready for some sleep in our floral, stiff, hostel accommodations. We went to bed, excited for all the great sights we saw, considering we spend only a day in Madrid. A great accomplishment, but very tiring!

*Note to self: In Spain, most museums and tourist attractions close down on Mondays. If we had known this, we would have scheduled Madrid for a different day. There are so many great museums and artifacts to see (especially the Prado), so if you’re ever traveling in Spain, keep that in mind! 

Fall Break Day 3: Barcelona & Night Train

Sunday, October 24^th

Our group at Park Guell
(Alicia, Natalie, Katie, Kristen, and me)

At the bottom, there is a huge plaza scattered with vendors and musicians of all kinds. What a great taste of the culture! We walked down steps from the plaza and were amazed by what we saw. The space under the plaza is all-open with huge columns holding up the plaza. The columns are completely decorated with crazy mosaic designs, as are the floor and ceiling. What a cool sight! The “underbelly” of the plaza spills onto a massive staircase. On it is a large mosaic lizard, which is one symbol of Barcelona. There are also other statues and walls covered in colorful, vibrant mosaics. There are two large mosaic buildings, also designed by Gaudi (he’s kind of a big deal!). So much to take in here! Definitely my favorite thing in Barcelona!

The bottom of Park Guell

This morning we took the metro to Park Guella. The metro in Barcelona is so handy and something we used the entire time we were there. Its very cheap (only about 1.40 Euro/person) and very easy to figure out! This is something Florence should highly consider! We hopped up the metro and were surprised to see a series of escalators that would carry us all the way up the steep, steep hill. Very cool to see so many escalators outside! After the escalators, there were dirt paths that winded way up to a beautiful cross that looks over the entire city (such great views!). Once a couple pictures had been taken at the top, we headed back down the opposite side to check out what Park Guell is really known for.

The mosaic lizard. It was so huge in person!
Very cool to see all the different mosaics!

After this, we took the metro across the city a bit to give Segrada Familia another try. After waiting in line for almost an hour, we were able to see the inside of the famous cathedral. Upon entering the building, our mouths instantly dropped. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen IN MY LIFE! Yes, yes, I know I have a lot of these moments, but this is the real deal! There were huge white columns, massive lifelike sculptures, and beautiful unique windows letting in a perfect stream of light. It was amazing! Like I mentioned earlier, Gaudi designed the cathedral and it is only about halfway finished. They predict the last stones to be set in 2026 (16 more years!). There was quite a bit of construction going on both inside and outside of the building, but will be SO completely worth seeing once its complete.

Inside "Segrada Familia"

Huge windows letting in beautiful light!

After this, we headed down the shopping district, only to find out that on Sundays in Spain, everything completely shuts down. Bummer! However this was probably for the best considering our suitcases are already busting at the seams and we still have an entire week left of traveling!

Outside Segrada Familia. It is just over halfway done!

We left the apartment at 8:30, took the metro to the train station and boarded our overnight train to Madrid. We had no idea what to expect but were hoping for a little compartment like on the movie “Harry Potter”. We were so excited when we arrived at our seats to find our own little room, with comfy seats that fold into beds. Even a door to shut and lock so there was no need to worry about our belongings being tampered with. We all did al little journaling together and then decided it was time to finally catch up on some sleep. What better way to do so than in our own little Harry Potter sleeping car on a train to Madrid, Spain. Sometimes I can’t believe the things I am writing! 

Our little Harry Potter room on the train

Fall Break Day 2: Barcelona

Saturday, October 23rd

Me on the rooftop of the building. So strange looking! 

Hola everyone!
We are having an amazing time in Barcelona. The atmosphere here is so great! We were out pretty late the night before, so we ended up sleeping in until about noon. Then we got ready, grabbed a quick coffee at starbucks and headed to the Gaudi museum, which was conveniently right up the street from the apartment we were staying at. There are quite a few Gaudi houses and museums throughout Barcelona but everyone reccommended this as the best. The museum was called "La Pedrera de Caixa Catalunya". This was Gaudi´s apartment and had displays that represented the changing times in Barcelona. There were so many floors, each twisty and unique. The building was shaped somewhat like an oval, with a huge couryard in the middle. We headed through each floor, touring his living quarters, maids quarters, working/design space, and a small movie viewing room where we viewed a movie of his life and designs. The top floor of the building is designed like an attic with the slanty ceilings and dim lights, with huge models of his buildings. It also showed the planning process he went through to make each unique building.

Then, we walked up a long spiral staircase to the roof top terrace. What a crazy sight! There were modern sculptures, each one more huge and obstract than the next. It looked like something out of a movie! We spend quite a bit of time on the roof, enjoying the view of the city, admiring the obscure work of Gaudi, and basking in the beautiful, sunny, Barcelona weather.

A look down into the courtyard of the house.

After the Gaudi museum, we walked to Sagrada Familia, which is a building is in the centre of Barcelona designed by famous architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. Work on the Cathedral began in March 1882 and is predicted to be finished in 2026. It was SO BREAUTIFUL! Because the line was so long adn it was closing soon, we decided to try it again tomorrow. After our failed Sagrada Familia attempt, we met up with Justin (the guys we´re staying with) and took a stroll with his friends down "Las Ramblas". "Las Ramblas" is often the first landmark that most tourists identify with the city. It is the central most Boulevard which cuts through the heart of the city center and is a vibrant and lively promenade filled with Barcelona action at its best. Basically, you walk down the middle of the street and view the many attractions along the Ramblas including live performances, human statue art, and artists that will draw your portrait or caricature. It is actually a very historic and cultural part of the city and I am glad we were able to spend some time here. An overall very chill and fun atmosphere.

My friends and I sitting on the comfy little
chairs in the attic of the museum. 

After this, we headed back to the apartment for a little "siesta" and then went out for a dinner at a restaurant named "Taller Tappa", famous for their Paella. I had garlic asparagus and seafood Paella. It was SO tasty and way too filling! After a long dinner, we headed back to the apartment to get ready to go out for the night. (It was already almost 1AM!). Before getting changed to go out, we decided to make sure everything was in order for the next day (hostel in Madrid, train times etc.). In doing so, we realized we were pretty tired from lack of sleep all weekend and should maybe stay in and have an "early night". 6:00am rolls around (how did that happen) and we were still looking up trains to Madrid. We finally decided to take a night train instead of our original plan to take a high speed train, and headed to bed. One of Justins roommates gave up his room for us all to sleep in, so the five of us crammed into his room and got a couple hours of uncomfortable shut eye, which I´m sure was a pretty funny sight. Three of us laying sideways, curled up on the bed and two on a twin mattress on the floor (the things we do to save a little money).

Love, Dana

Fall Break: Day 1: Barcelona

Friday, October 22nd

Our trip has begun! Last night we took a train from Florence to the Pisa, Italy airport (about an hour train ride) to catch our 10:10 pm flight to Barcelona. We flew on Ryanair, which is a very cheap flight company that is popular amongst travelers in Europe. When I say cheap, I mean dirt cheap. Our flight from Pisa to Barcelona was 15 Euro (less than 20 dollars!). My mom was a little skeptical about me flying with this airline: "What do they use to carry you? Some kind of a big bird with a rope or something?", but it ended up being a good flight. Lots of room and it lasted a little over an hour. So unbelievable how close everything is over here! After the plane, we took a bus into the city center of Barcelona (the airport we flew into was an hour outside the city. Much cheaper than flying into the main airport!). Then, took a taxi to the apartment where we're staying. We decided to stay with my roommates friends at their apartment, which is in SUCH a great location! So close to many attractions and to the night life. 

One of Gaudi's famous houses about one
block from the apartment we were staying at.
So cool looking! 

We were greeted by Katies friend, and his roommates, changed our clothes, and headed out for the night. Barcelona is known for their amazing nightlife so we of course had to check it out. We went to a huge club (we were kind of VIP! Our host for the weekend put our names on the official "list") and danced the night away. So different from anything I have ever seen! VERY CRAZY! 

This morning, we headed to the Picasso museum, which houses many of his original works. It was so amazing to see pieces of art work that I've been learning about my entire life. There was also another famous traveling exhibit set up that was connected to the Picasso museum. The artist, Edgar Degas, was a close friend of Picasso and actually inspired a lot of his work. He focused a lot on ballet and dancing, which was very cool to see. 

One of Picasso's paintings. 

After the museums, we shopped around a bit (what would a trip be without a little shopping?), and explored all the modern architecture that makes up Barcelona. After all this, we had tappas for dinner, which are small appetizer dishes usually costing about 3-4 Euro a piece. They were great because we could all order a couple dishes and taste test what everyone got. A great way to try many traditional spanish dishes! 

*side note: In Spain, everything happens a little different. They have "siesta" every afternoon from 2:00-4:00 where everything in the city shuts down and people go home to have lunch and take a little rest time. Definitely a different way of life than the United States. People typically will wait until 3:00 to have lunch, have a little snack at 7:00 or 8:00, and then have an actual dinner at 10:00 or 11:00.  Although things happen a little later in Italy as well, it was SO strange calling to make a dinner reservation for 10:30 AT NIGHT! 

After dinner, we took the metro back to the apartment we are staying at and partook in "siesta" (a little nap time in the afternoon. I love spanish tradition!) Then, we got ready and headed out for the night. We decided to eat at a restaurant down on the beach that was recommended to us by a friend. You get all dressed up and sit on a huge comfy bed to have your dinner. It was pretty fancy, but by far the best food I have had so far overseas. It was so amazing to be on the Mediterranean sea, sitting on a huge comfy bed, eating the most amazing dinner I have maybe ever had, with all my best friends from Florence. DEFINITELY a "soak it in moment". After dinner, we went to a couple different clubs that were also on the beach. Such a beautiful, and fun night!



*side note 2: I hadn´t relized how much Spanish I actually knew until we were in Barcelona. I took four years of Spanish in High School and have never really had the opportunity to test it out. It has helped to some degree with my Italian, because they are very similar, but it has been SO COOL to be actually speaking another language. So great I still remember as much as I do too! Thank you Señora Gordon! (notice I could do the little thing over the n because I am typing on a spanish keyboard in my Hostel! ha So cool!)

Fall Break Itinerary

Ciao a tutti!


My finals are officially DONE and we leave for fall break in a couple of hours. I thought it would be fun to post my itinerary for the week, so you could follow what I am doing each day (if I for some reason would be unable to find computer access). I will be traveling with five friends to Barcelona, and four the rest of the week. I hope you are all having a great week and CAN'T WAIT to share my experiences of fall break with you once I'm back! 


Thursday, October 21: We're taking a train from Florence to Pisa, Italy and depart on a plane for Barcelona, Spain. We will arrive in Barcelona at around Midnight. In Barcelona, we will be staying with my friend Katies friends apartments. SO incrediebly nice of them to let us crash at their place! 
Friday, October 22: Barcelona, Spain
Saturday, October 23: Barcelona, Spain
Sunday, October 24: Spend the morning in Barcelona and head to Madrid, Spain by train in the afternoon. We have a hostel booked in Madrid for the four of us, which could be interesting and HOPEFULLY a great experience!
Monday, October 25: Madrid, Spain
Tuesday, October 26: Spend the morning in Madrid and take an early afternoon flight to Tangier, Morocco! (Who would have guessed I would travel to Africa on my break?) In Tangier, we have a hotel booked, just to be on the safe side. This was our one "splurge" of the trip! So excited to check out this culture!
Wednesday, October 27: Tangier, Morocco
Thursday, October 28: Take an early afternoon flight out of Tangier, to Madrid, and transfer planes en route to PARIS! In Paris, we will be staying with another one of my roommate Katies friends. We really lucked out in this aspect! I wish I had more friends abroad this semester!
Friday, October 29: PARIS, France!
Saturday, October 30: PARIS, France!
Sunday, October 31 (Halloween): Take an early morning flight back to Pisa airport, and a train back to Florence after a great trip  :)

*If you have been to any of these AMAZING places, please feel free to post your favorites of your trip. Any suggestions on what we should check out would be great! 

Talk to you VERY soon!

Dana

A familiar face

Wednesday, October 20th

This week was a very busy week as it was midterms week here at the Florence University of the Arts. I had three finals today, which was DEFINITELY good to get out of the way! I feel like so much stress has been lifted off and am now ready for FALL BREAK next week (well I will be ready after my final final, tomorrow). 


Tonight I had the pleasure of spending some time with my cousin Josiah, who is also studying abroad in Denmark. I can not describe how nice it was to see a familiar family face. Josiah and his two friends have been exploring Italy for the past week (by car! Brave huh?), and made their last stop here in Florence tonight. We got some pizza at a little pizza shop I didn't even know existed and then, of course, had a little gelato! They said it was necessary to get it every day they were here so I helped them get their gelato "fix". It was so nice to catch up with my cousin and especially to hear about his travels. They all agreed Berlin was their favorite trip so far. Maybe I will have to make a little guest appearance in Northern Germany :) Thank you so much for stopping in to spend a little time with me Josiah! I know you had a pretty packed agenda but it was so nice to spend a little time together! It meant the world to me! Also very cool we were able to meet up thousands of miles from home! Love you!

Perugia Chocolate Festival

October 15, 2010

My friends and me by a group of promoters.
They were wearing "chocolate ravioli suits!" ha ha

Today we boarded a bus en route to Perugia, Italy for the European CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL! Can you believe such an amazing event actually exists? I guess I am living in a dream world, right? We arrived in Perugia at around 11 this morning feeling refreshed from a short morning nap on the bus. Like a lot of the cities in Italy that we’ve visited, the main city center of Perugia is built up on a huge hill. Luckily, they have recently installed a tram system to bus you up and down the hill. We boarded the tram and were speedily carried up the hill! It actually felt pretty futuristic, being in a little capsule and flying at high speeds through a tunnel. After the tram, there were a series of escalators to travel up (what a relief to no do any strenuous hiking!). 

Chocolate bananas! So Yummy!  :)

Once in the city center, the atmosphere shifted. There were hundreds of little white tents set up along the street with the most famous vendors in all of Europe showcasing their delicious treats. There was chocolate with nuts, chocolate dipped bananas, chocolate with rum filling, chocolate dipped cherries (my favorite!), gummy bears dipped in chocolate, fudge, cake, warm brownies, any kind of brand name chocolate bar you can imagine, and even hot chocolate to drink. Also, the more odd chocolate tasties: Chocolate sausages, Chocolate ravioli, and Chocolate liquor. There was an entire theme park dedicated to chocolate, complete with a Ferris Wheel, fun house, and other spinning rides. There were contests going on to compete and win huge chocolate bars that were twice the size of a family van. We all quickly grabbed the chocolate we thought looked the most delicious (like a scene from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”) and ate it, in silence, on a wall overlooking the beautiful rooftops and country side of Perugia. After that, we did it again, then a third time. After the third time, we were feeling a bit queasy so we decided to take a break and explore the town a little bit. We did a little shopping, then sat down and had a nice lunch (real food this time, no chocolate ravioli for us!). After lunch, we did a little bit more exploring, ate a little more chocolate, and then hopped back on the tram to meet our group. Although we had a fairly unproductive day, it was just what we all needed before beginning our intensive studying for midterms (this week! I can’t believe we’re already half way!). What a delicious day! J  

The view from our chocolate tasting spot!
Vellissimo! (Very beautiful!)

A huge "Milka" (brand of chocolate) Ferris Wheel

Chocolate Sausage!
A possible new feature at Hollandale Grocery? Consider it?

A great group of guys promoting hot chocolate and
chocolate ravioli! 

An awkward experience for the day. 

Before we sat down to have a bite for lunch, I decided to use a public restroom. In Italy, you have to pay to use the public restroom, so I dropped my 50 cents in the basket and proceeded to the stall. The woman working in the bathroom pushed a button to open the stall, and there was a loud sound of hydraulics, like she had opened a capsule on “Star Wars” or something (very futuristic town I must say!). I stepped inside the bathroom and the door closed behind me, trapping me in. I looked on the wall and realized I had 88 seconds to complete this task, totally achievable, right?! Wrong! I then looked around for the toilet paper, and unable to locate it, I pressed the button to open the door to ask the woman where it was. The door closed on my head in the process so I pressed the button a second time to open it again. This time she pointed to it, I grabbed a couple squares and proceeded to sit down on the seat, not watching the countdown on the digital clock. Just as I began to relieve myself, a siren begins to sound and the whole entire little space begins to get sprayed down by a sprayer on the back of the toilet. When I say whole entire room, I mean the whole entire room, including me, still sitting on the toilet with my leggings down. I started screaming, as the ice cold water (or toilet cleaner, or sewage water, or whatever it was) misted me down. As this was happening, the door automatically opened, exposing me to 4 people standing in the “lobby area”. I frantically pulled up my leggings the best I could (they were SOAKING!) and ran out of the bathroom as quick as I could. I am a little traumatized from this 88-second ordeal, and am not about to use a public bathroom anytime in the near future. Just thought I would share my “exciting” experience of the day with you! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT GLORIA! :)

I HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY! 

LOVE YOU! 

Awesome Video!

Hey everyone!

Today in my Intercultural Communication class, we watched this video titled "Where the hell is Matt?". It is one of the coolest videos I have ever seen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It gave me goosebumps! What a cool idea to incorporate all of these different cultures! Just click on the link below that says "Where the hell is Matt?" and it should direct you to youtube! Enjoy!

Where the hell is Matt?

Love, Dana

My new "Italian Family"

Hello everyone!


Just thought I would share some exciting news with you! The school I attend in Florence sponsors a program named "Italian Family Club". It is basically a language exchange program where they pair a student with a participating family, and they are then able to spend time together at the families home, or out and about. It is a very popular program and I thought I would sign up a few weeks ago in hopes of getting a "family". I was interviewed and then kind of forgot about it. I received an e-mail on Friday saying they had found me a "match" and I was to attend the annual "pairing dinner" on Monday night. You can about imagine how excited I was!


So last night, I had my pairing dinner and met my new Italian family! I was greeted by the parents, and their 15-year-old son Tommaso (it kind of sounds like Tomato). They also said that they have twin 10-year-olds that were not able to come. I am so VERY excited to spend time with some kids finally! Both of the parents are pretty fluent in English, thank goodness! I was pretty worried about that! 


The family lives about 30 minutes outside of Florence in a town named Scandicci. They said it was pretty small, only about 50,000 people. Imagine their surprise when the next sentence out of my mouth was "Oh that is not so small, my town in Wisconsin is only about 300 people!". Their mouths pretty much dropped! I will have to take the tram-way out to their town from Florence. Hopefully I can figure it out so I won't miss our first official meeting. They invited me to go to their town carnival and have dinner with them on Thursday night! They said the carnival is kind of "lame", but very fun for the children. The mom said that they have a garden outside of their apartment and is very excited to cook with me! The one stipulation of the evening was that they said from now on, we will speak in only Italian. I don't think they realize I am not to that point yet, but Hey, its worth a try I suppose! I am very excited for the more cultural end of things that will come along with this experience. I am also excited to work on my Italian and maybe even get a little help with my homework, from the 10-year-olds ha ha. 


I will keep you posted and hopefully have pictures up soon! I am so excited! 


Hope everyone is having a good start to their week! 


Love,   Dana

Assisi

Sunday, October 10th 
10-10-10

Assisi with the fortress in the background

The bottom portion of the town with a nice little
view of the valley and mountains in the way background

Today was another great day and a perfect time to end the weekend with. We Met at the train station this morning (like usual) and hopped on a bus to Assisi with our program, ISA. It was about a three-hour bus ride to Assisi, but most of us got a little nap in during the drive. Assisi is a town located in the Umbria region (just like Florence is in the Tuscany region of Italy), which is on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It was the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order. The town is dominated by two medieval castles.

We arrived to the town and had a two-hour walking tour, highlighting the main basilicas and temples of the town. So much history and beautiful medieval architecture! We saw the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, which is divided into a lower and upper church with fresco paintings of scenes of the life of St. Francis (they were painted by someone pretty famous, but I can’t seem to remember his name). 

The Basilica of San Francesco d' Assisi
There were letters carved into the lawn that stand
for peace, which is what St. Francis strived for.

An earthquake damaged the basilica in 1997, which also killed four people. There was a memorial set up in their honor near the door and the guide said there are a constant flow of flowers set up there in their honor. Besides the Basilica of San Francesco, we saw the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), which contains the tomb of St. Clare (it was her actual body covered in a layer of wax!) and more beautiful frescoes and paintings, and also the temple of Minerva.

The houses and shops were all so beautiful in this town and is much less touristy than any place we have been. It felt like a place I could actually see myself living. Everyone is so friendly and there are beautiful flowers hanging outside every window! There were also so many grapes and grape vines hanging outside peoples homes. This gave the town such a nice feel.

Grapevines growing outside someone's
house. So pretty! 

After our walking tour, we had free time to shop, check out more museums, and grab some lunch. A few of my friends and I packed a sandwich for lunch, so we ate that while looking at the spectacular view, and then did a little shopping. They had the cutest stores in this town, one selling soap, and other bath products, another selling bracelets of every color and width, and another shop that sold home décor items.

Santa Marie Sopra Minerva

It was so much fun to wander and gaze at all these beautiful little shops. We also took a short tour of a museum that is under one of the basilicas, that houses items from the Roman Empire. It was so cool to be able to walk in the underground tunnels and read about what each item was used for back before 100AD! Can you imagine! After our tour, it was time to meet back up with the group and head back to Florence after a very exhausting, but beautiful weekend! 

I love Italians.

A huge washing tub where every woman
in the town would gather on Mondays
to do the weeks laundry. This continued
until the early 1980's, before people in the
town had washing machines! 

Such beautiful flowers and
brick work on every single building! 

Sienna and San Gimignano

Saturday, October 9th

Maybe one of the prettiest pictures I have ever taken!
San Gimignano rooftops with Tuscany hillsides in the background! 

Sienna 

Today, we went to Sienna and San Gimignano, which are the two most famous villages in the Tuscany region of Italy (other than Florence), with ISA (the program I am here in Italy through). We took a bus to Sienna and had a two hour walking tour of the city. It is so beautiful and the weather is perfect! Our guide explained the history of the city which was so interesting! There are 17 different regions and whatever region you were born in, you live and remain in that section for the rest of your life. If you marry and move outside your birth region, you always remain a part of your region “at heart”. Each region is named after an animal (owl, goose, caterpillar, shewolf (I’m not sure on that one?) rhinoceros, dragon, etc.) and has there own flag and colors. 

Me in the center of Piazza del Campo!
Can you believe 40,000 people fit
inside this Piazza every year!?

Every year, there are two horse races called “Palio” and each region has a horse to represent them in the race. The race is held in the center of the city and is preceded by a huge celebration and parade. They race around a huge Piazza (Piazza del Campo), which is one of the most famous in all of Italy (and by far my favorite!). 40,000 people crowd into the Piazza for the race that lasts only a minute and a half. How incredible it would be to see this! Everyone dressed in their regions colors, waving flags and chanting/cheering their animals name. Definitely on my list of things to do before I die! We got salami sandwiches and a Panini shop and at in my new favorite piazza, in the beautiful sunshine, with a perfect breeze, ahhhh perfect moment! This is one of those “Come on Dana, focus on soaking this in! You need to remember this moment” moments that I’ve talked with a few of you about. So great!  :)

San Gimignano

Five of the famous towers in San Gimignano.

Then we got back on the bus and had a 45-minute ride to San Gimignano. We had no idea what to expect upon arrival, but had all heard amazing things about it. We walked up the hill into town and looked down to see the most amazing view of Tuscany. There were little villas, fields f grape vines in long, long rows on rolling hillsides (sorry, not trying to rub this in!). The weather is perfect and the sun is casting the most amazing rays that create contrasts with light and shadow areas. I feel like this was my first real taste of Tuscany, even though Florence in the capital city of the Tuscany region. Very exciting! 

A beautiful view of Tuscany!
Rolling hillsides and a vineyard! 

Then we went into the actual town to have a guided tour. San Gimignano is built on a hill and is surrounded by walls. It is famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which can be seen from several miles outside the town. While most ancient cities towers have been brought down by wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal, San Gimignano has managed to conserve 14 towers, which have become its international symbol. 

We only had a couple of hours here so we basically took the tour around, learned a little history about each tower and church, climbed a tower that over looks the country side (so gorgeous!) and finished the tour in the city center. The buildings are all very cute, like they’re out of some kind of perfect dollhouse. Lots of beautiful windows, vines and flowers. After the tour, we all grabbed a large cone of gelato at the shop that has been rated “top in the world” for the past four years in a row! Let me tell you, it lived up to its reputation! I got Chiocolato, Tiramisu, and Nutella! Yum! Overall, perfect day in a perfect place, with perfect weather, and perfect views… and perfect gelato! Oh how truly fortunate I am! Seriosly?! Who visits two such amazing villages in one day? With perfect weather? I guess that is just my life! J

The best Geleteria in the world 4 years in a row?!

A couple of beautiful dollhouse like buildings 

'Cause if you dream it might come true,
and when you dream, Dream Big!

Cinque Terre!

Friday, October (can you believe it?!) 8th

Me next to the second town, Manarola! So pretty!

A little “info” on Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre, (“The Five Lands”), is a section of coast along the central western coast of Italy. The fame of the area revolves around five small costal towns that are scattered tightly throughout the area. The towns are all connected by hiking trails that can be conquered by small children and older adults (we saw 4-year-olds and 70-year-olds). All of the towns share a withdrawn, vacationy feel but each one also has a slightly different feel to it. All of them are outstandingly beautiful, and anyone could look like a professional photographer if they started taking pictures here. 

The grey map of Italy shows where Cinque 

Terre is located (red dot). Each red dot on the 

green portion of the map indicates a town.

We started at Riomaggiore, and headed north.

SO PRETTY! PICTURE PERFECT! 

Today we are heading to Cinque Terre for a little day trip. We woke up at 5:30 to make the 6:37 train. We were so tired and all fell asleep once we got on the train. Fortunately, we all caught up on sleep. Unfortunately, we missed the stop to get off (that we didn’t know we had) at the transfer station in Pisa. We woke up on an empty train at the Pisa airport. After a quick deliberation as to whether or not we should take a plane somewhere for the weekend and skip Cinque Terre, we tracked down a conductor and eventually caught a train back to our transfer station. We missed the train to Cinque Terre by only a couple minutes so we had to wait for 45 minutes for the next rain. Then we took this train to the next station. This was actually all right because they had tables in every group of four, so we were able to play cards. Then we hopped on the train that took us to the first of the five towns in Cinque Terre. 

The third town on our trek, Corniglia!

The weather was perfect for hiking and the ocean looked spectacular, sparkling in the sunlight. The first and second trails were right on the side of the cliff, and I can see why they would close them down during rains season. One wrong step, or little slip, and you’re a goner! There is a little guard rail, or rope along most of the day but I wouldn't trust them all that much. We got lunch at a cute little restaurant in the third town, Corniglia, which is famous for their pesto. I got gnocchi with pesto, which was to die for! So fresh! One thing I loved about the towns in Cinque Terre was that they all had a distinct (amazing!) scent. One smelled like citrus, like someone was constantly peeling the biggest juiciest orange you have ever seen. Another smelled like fresh olive oil. A third smelled like Pesto, and other yummy types of pasta dishes (this must have been Corniglia).

Beautiful tuscan hillside, spotted with trees and grape vines  :)

After lunch, we purchased a couple bottles of wine and headed down path number 3. This path was a little more treacherous and was actually closed. We decided to be rebels and hop the huge gate, which was quite a strenuous process. It maybe wasn’t the best idea as there was a straight drop down a rocky cliff into the ocean if you were to fall, but we somehow managed to maneuver our way over the fence in one piece. Should we have done it? No. Are we glad we did? Absolutely. This path was the most fun because it was basically only us and a few other rebel adventurers we passed. Also, by far the most beautiful path! We looked around at some shops in the fourth town, and then continued on the path to the fifth. The path from the fourth to fifth town was pretty challenging. I must say the most embarrassing moment of my day was when I was slowly making my way up a steep path of hundreds of steps, sweating and panting, and a women who was probably 8ish months pregnant passes me with ease wearing a huge smile. I'm sure you can only imagine how that made me feel. Oh well, thats not even safe (thats what I keep telling myself so I feel a little less inadequate ha ha)!  

The sun beginning to set while sitting in our
little piece of heaven with a couple bottles of wine!
Perfecto! 

The fourth town (my favorite!), Vernazza!

We got to the highest point between the two towns that overlooks the ocean and fifth town. After a long day of trains, trails, steps, rocks, and more steps, it was time to sit back and enjoy the view (with our wine we had lugged up and down the hills all day… so worth it though!) After sitting there for a while watching the sky change colors as it was about to set, we headed back to the fourth town to catch a train back to the main station. Once back at the main station, we boarded our train, (a straight shot back to Florence this time, thank goodness!) and we all fell asleep. A short time later, we were shaken awake by the ticket collector asking to see our tickets. We thought the tickets we had purchased this morning were round trip tickets for the entire day, but this was apparently not the case! He said (in Italian, another woman sitting near us translated what we couldn’t understand, the best she could) that if we could not pay for new tickets in cash, we would be kicked off the train and meeting the police at the next station. So we frantically scrounged together 70 Euro, and somehow paid for the tickets plus the extra fee. Lesson two learned, find out what kind of ticket you’re buying before you buy it! All in all, everything turned out fine and we spent an amazing day in the quaintest little towns I may ever see. We even learned a lesson or two along the way!