La Finale Tre Settimane

There are only three weeks, less actually, 18 days, left which is completely and utterly absurd. Looking back it feels like I just got here, that it can’t three and a half months later. Other times though, it seems like the first few weeks and trips were so long ago, so much has happened since then.

Having only three weeks left isn’t exactly a bad thing, it has its positives and negatives. The negatives… well I have three papers all due next week, not one of which has been started yet, I’m getting around to that. Then the following week we have finals in all of our classes. Basically there is a lot that has to get done in the next few weeks. If my day goes according to plan I’m going to finally send postcards out today. I’m hoping that they will actually make it home before I do, we’ll see what happens. A positive though, we didn’t have one class this week because of the Volcano, our professor couldn’t get back to Italy from the states… Loyola gets snow days, we get volcano days.

There are definitely a few positive things to look forward to in the next few weeks. We have a school trip this weekend to Napoli, Pompeii and Sorrento, which includes a trip to Capri Island off the Bay of Naples. Then once we get back we have a final full weekend in Rome to enjoy. Some of my friends are traveling, but I wanted to stay in Rome for one last weekend.

There is a lot going on in these last few weeks. The month of April has been a crazy and busy one so far. It’ll be nice to have all of this work done and just enjoy the last few days abroad. With that said I think my procrastination has come to an end and that I’m going to start some work.

What April Has Been Like

Since I haven’t posted at all during the month of April I thought that now would be a could time. I cant believe how difficult updating a blog could be, I just never seem to be able to find the time. This is funny however, because all I really have is free time here.

A lot has happened since my last post. I’ve abandoned writing about all of my trips in chronological order and am skipping ahead to what’s going on now.

Dad visited over a month ago, for about two weeks. It was great because we did a lot of traveling from the Amafli Coast to Venice, Florence and Assisi. Mom came to visit during Easter week. We got to do a lot of great things. Two of the biggest highlights were going to St. Peters for Easter Mass and Castello Banfi, one of the largest wineries in Italy. Overall, it was really nice having my parents here, but it was definitely an exhausting three weeks.

Me and Dad in Amafli

Me and Mom in front of St. Peters

Since that I have done a bunch of traveling. Two weeks ago I went with a bunch of friends to Trapani, which is on the northwestern most tip of Sicily. We stayed in a really nice apartment and cooked a lot of our meals there. It was great because I could finally cook American breakfast, something that I have been really missing. The weather was perfect for all three days that we were there. Even though it was in the 60’s and 70’s the Italians were still in jeans, heavy jackets and scarves, we definitely got our share of weird looks since we were all in shorts and t-shirts.

Trapani, Sicily

This past weekend a group of us headed north up the Italian coast to Cinque Terre. This was the one trip that I knew I really wanted to do before even leaving the US. Cinque Terre is a collection of five towns all along the coast and connected to each other by trails through the hills. We got another apartment, which was one of the highest points in our town of Monterosso. This had to be one of the most beautiful places I have been while abroad. We spent all of our second day there hiking from town to town, up and down the mountains, through the woods and along the coast; it was a unique experience. It took about five hours to make it from our town to the last one. When we arrive in a new town we stopped for a different thing to eat and take in the surroundings. One time it was fruit, another time frozen yogurt, and finally focaccia pizza (a specialty of the area). After the hike we took a ferry back to our town, so we got to see everything from the water.

The view from our balcony in Monterosso

Vernazza, my favorite town in Cinque Terre

There was nothing better than waking up every morning and looking out from our balcony with a view of the ocean, the beach and a few of the other towns. We got to eat breakfast down in the town, right along the beach. It really felt like summer and there was no way it could better.

Dave Matthews Band Visits Rome

I have planned many events whether it was with the Evergreens, the Resident Affairs Council or even the tour guides. I have to say the best thing I have ever coordinated was for Rome Loyola to see the Dave Matthews Band in Rome. I started getting things together for this before we even got to Rome and a month and a half after arriving the day of the concert arrived.

None of us really knew what to expect, we were excited and almost all 18 of us had been to one of his concerts before, but that was always in the summer outside. This concert was inside in a basketball arena just outside of Rome.

We got inside, the venue was much smaller than we expected and these were the closest seats I had ever gotten to the stage. By the middle of the show we had all made it down to floor level and were probably about 25 feet from the stage, what was already a great show got even better. There really wasn’t any way that we could have gotten close, it was great. The set list was also really good. He played new stuff, classics, some of my favorites and some rare songs. Overall, this was one of, if not the best Dave Matthews concert I had been to and it was in Rome on the European Tour, when am I going to get a chance to see that again.

Why Rome is Awesome and Everyone Should Study/ Visit

My last few posts have been about my travels through Italy. I had been traveling for the past three weekends and at the end of each trip I could not wait to get back to Rome. This place really has become my home. Following my travels I had two weekends to spend in Rome before Spring Break. These two weekends helped me to realize why Rome is the best study abroad program and I now have my top ten reasons why Rome is Awesome:

10- I have visited almost every place/ piece of art that I have learned about/ covered in my class. Beats reading about it in a book in Baltimore.

9- The language. For one of the first times it has actually been imperative that I use what I have learned.

8- The weather. While its not 80 and sunny everyday, its also not 20 and snowing. I’ll take rain over that.

7- Walking. Rome was a city made for walking. I can walk almost anywhere, anytime and its always safe.

6- The Parks. Many of the old villa estates have been converted into parks that remove you from the fast paced city. Nothing but green fields, trees and tranquil surroundings.

5- No other city has quite the same character or charm as Rome. Small cafes, tiny narrow side streets, cobblestone streets and statues everywhere.

4- Romans love being Roman, they’re all very distinct and very nice. Its rare that you will find a restaurant that is not Italian. Unlike in other countries where you find varieties of restaurants, here its Italian all the time with the occasional kebab or Chinese restaurant.

3- The Nightlife. So many other places in Italy and Europe are dead during the week, not Rome. You can find somewhere to go and have a good time every night of the week.

2- The food. If its not fresh they wont cook it. Whether you’re eating at home or at a restaurant everything is fresh… Things just taste better here.

1- The history, what did you think it would be… Rome is a modern city rooted in its antiquity, like I said, Romans love being Romans and aren’t anywhere near forgetting where they came from. Walking past ancient buildings and ruins on a daily basis, the Coliseum and the Forum on the way home after a night out… nothing comes close to that.

Carnevale

Being in Italy during the Carnevale season and not visiting Venice might as well be a sin. We left on a Friday after our last class for Venice. We took the Euro-Star, the high-speed train, which instead of getting on the high-speed line was on a regular track. Needless to say we were an hour and a half late, the trip was off to a little bit of a rocky start.

We checked into our hotel on Venice mainland, which overcharged because it was literally just a place to sleep, but hey its Carnevale season everyone is doing it. At around 11:30pm we headed to Venice Island to check out what it was like. We were surprised to find that things were pretty dead. There were a few people who were dressed up, but there weren't too many people around. After exploring for about an hour we headed back to the hotel.

We got started around 11 the next morning and it was a totally different experience. I have never seen such large crowds in my life. There were people everywhere, many were dressed up but many people just had masks. It was a beautiful day out, warm and no clouds so we sat outside and had lunch. This was one of the best experiences because we could just sit there and watch all of the people go by. There wasn't just one type of person there. There were young people, older people, families and all different nationalities. It's crazy how something like this can draw so many people from different walks of life.

View down one of the canals

After lunch we just wandered the island. We had no real plan other than finding masks and making it to Piazza San Marco. The island was incredibly unique, the canals, the bridges, the mystique of Carnevale only added to the experience. The costumes that some of these people we wearing were very impressive. They were all extremely colorful, elegant and classical. By 5:00 we had finally made it to Piazza San Marco, thats how many people were there and how hard it was to make it through the streets. The Piazza was set up with a large stage and completely full of people. It was incredible how many people could fit on this small island.

One of the costumes for Carnevale

After, we wandered toward the water and took a water taxi back to where we started our day. There was no better place to be than on the water in Venice as the sun was setting. Once we got back on land we headed to a pub for happy hour until it was time for dinner. It's amazing how where ever you are in Italy you can always find a handful of Irish pubs. After this we got dinner at one of the biggest tourist traps I have seen, the worst part was that we didn't even see it coming.

Sunset on one of the canals

Carnevale has an amazing personality, during the day it is very interesting and relaxed, at night it turns into one big party. The island was still packed, but many of the piazza's now had DJ's in them just blasting music. Not only was this a lot of fun but it was again something I could have imagined. Overall, Carnevale was one of the best experiences I've had on this trip so far. The uniqueness of Venice and this celebration was amazing and something that everyone should do at least once in their lives.

Siena, Arezzo and Assisi

Ok so I apologize its been nearly a month without a new update. Over spring break I took time to collect my thoughts and here they are laid out in the next couple posts.

So, Loyola pays for 2 "educational" trips, (actually we pay Loyola to take us on these trips), one at the beginning of the semester and one at the end of the semester. We went on the first trip at the end of January, visiting Siena, Arezzo and Assis.

Siena was our first stop, three hours north of Rome in the Tuscan region. It was quite possibly one o the most miserable days to visit. It felt like it was in the upper 30's and raining the entire day. We toured the city, visited a few churches and the house of Catherine of Siena. By the end of the day the rain stopped and it became a little more bearable. It was a very interesting city, much different than Rome, much smaller, things moved a little more slowly and it seemed very peaceful. I definitely think it would be a totally different experience if the weather had been better.

After Siena we got back on the bus and headed to Arezzo for the night. The hotel Loyola put us up in was no two bit place, it was actually really nice. The next day we headed into Arezzo for a walking tour of the city. Again it was very different than Rome for many of the same reasons as Siena. We went to mass in one of the little churches, which was in Italian and very interesting and yes I could understand... some of it.

Later in the day we headed an hour and a half outside the city to a 900 year old castle in the heart of Tuscany. Castel del Trebbio was exactly what you think of when you think Italian wintery. It had a one lane road leading up to it with nothing else really around, just rolling hills. To top it off there was an 80 year old gamekeeper who had been in charge of the castle for over 55 years.

The Barrels in the cellar of the Winery

Then we obviously got to taste their wine, a pinot grigio and two types of chianti, which they are known for. Then after the tasting we made a quick stop to the store for gifts. Four bottles of wine and two bottles of extra virgin olive oil later we were on our way.

The guys with the gamekeeper at the castle.

The next day we headed to Assisi which is one of my favorite towns in Italy. The city literally sits on top of a hill and has the best views of the Umbrian countryside. We toured the Basilica of St. Francis, which was amazing. The paintings inside the basilica are one of a kind and indescribable. After we did a walking tour of the ancient city, got lunch and then headed back to Rome. Assisi was definitely the smallest, quietest and most relaxing of all the cities we visited, but it was extremely charming.

A view from Assisi

Overall it was a great trip. It's amazing how diverse Italy is and how each city and region really have their own personality.

Firenze

Florence was our first trip outside of Rome. There were probably about 20 of us, so it was almost the entire program that took the trip. Since I had a Friday afternoon class I left with a group of Loyola people after our class in the early evening. We took the Eurostar, Italy’s bullet train and were in Florence in about an hour and a half. When we checked into our hostel we were really surprised. Usually you hear that hostels are dirty, smell and just an overall unpleasant experience, this was not the case at all. The hostel was huge, the rooms were nice, clean, and the bathrooms were even nice.

After we checked in we met up with the other group of Loyola people who had gotten there earlier in the afternoon. It was a pretty relaxed night; we explored the city a little and met up with some of the Loyola Florence students. It was actually really funny because the Florence students planned a trip to Rome that weekend and we had planned a trip there. Saturday most of the Florence people were back so we got to see more of our friends and they showed us around.

We got up and out of the hostel around noon on Saturday. The group of guys I was with met up with the Rome girls and got lunch. We walked into a random restaurant and of course there were already a group of about eight Loyola Rome students, we were everywhere. After lunch we did some shopping, exploring and more eating. In Florence waffle/ gelato sandwiches seems to be their thing, so naturally I had to get one. It was one of the most unique experiences, two waffles and strawberry gelato in the middle. Definitely difficult to eat, the thing was huge. What I equate this to is a funnel cake. You see it at the carnival, want it, you’re going to eat all of it and then 3 bites in you’re full. That happened with this but it was worth it.

(Our Waffle Gelato Sandwiches)

All around the Duomo there are blocks and blocks of vendors selling everything from leather to ties and t-shirts. The sales were great and I couldn’t pass up the four ties for ten-euro deal. After the shopping we did the real tourist thing and did a lot of sight seeing. We went to the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and Piazza Michelangelo.

(Me on the Ponte Vecchio)

Getting to Piazza Michelangelo was a hike. It was really far from the city center but we had heard good things about it so we made the trip. Not only did it turn out that it was really far, but it was over 200 steps from the bottom to the top. Once we got there we all stopped our complaining because this was the most spectacular view of Florence, you could see everything and it was gorgeous. Of course we found more Loyola people up there. We had no idea that they were going to be there, but we caught them in the middle of a wine and cheese break before heading back down. After staying at the piazza for almost an hour we decided it would be a much better idea to take a taxi back to the hostel instead of walk.

(Evan and I at Piazza Michelangelo)

We were exhausted from walking all so what do five male college students do, take a nap naturally, for two hours. It was perfect because we woke up right in time for dinner. Jeff and I went with a few of the girls to this restaurant that they had heard about. Up until this point I never had that one standout, blow you away amazing Italian meal, but this meal was the one I had been looking for. It wasn’t anything complicated, just extremely fresh and well cooked. So what did I have you ask? I started with the beef carpaccio and for my entre I had grilled calamari on a bed of fresh grilled vegetables. There was a lot of zucchini in it and as I said before I was never a fan of it before and cant promise that I will be a fan of it when I get home, but it was awesome.

After dinner we headed to a famous discoteque, Space. This was the first time I’ve ever had to wait behind a velvet rope with a bouncer who had a clipboard. It didn’t open till about 12:30, but we made it in and it was quite the experience. At the end of the night we walked back to the hostel and what was right down the block? A McDonalds, so we had to go in. This was the first time in three weeks that any of us had any American food and it was great, Italian can do McDonalds pretty well. We kept the American food rolling the next morning with a trip to an American diner, such a novelty over here. I’m not a huge breakfast person but it was so nice to have apple juice (which isn’t too popular here) and French toast.

Later that afternoon we caught our train back to Rome. It was so nice to get back and it was so weird because I was homesick for Rome. I couldn’t wait to get back to my house, be in my room, use my shower and of course Paolo’s cooking. Overall Florence was good but I like Rome so much better. It feels more like home, things move at a fast pace (which says a lot for Italy because nothing is done with a sense of urgency) and it seems more Italian. In Florence it seemed like everyone spoke English. I don’t know if its because its smaller so the city is more condensed so you notice it more, if there are more English students or if most people actually speak English there. It really was a great trip, but at the same time it showed me Rome was the perfect choice.