Hey everyone! It has been awhile since my last update, and believe it or not, a lot has happened since that unforgettable trip to Milan! I have visited three more cities (one of which I am returning to tomorrow!) including Venice, Modena and Ravenna.
We'll start with Venice. This trip was the epitome of a spontaneous trip. We decided on Tuesday morning (February 17th) that we should go to Venice for the last day of Carnevale. We left after class, took the 5 o'clock train and were in Venice around 7 that night. I made some spaghetti that we mixed and ate on the train, which in and of itself was quite the adventure! But it worked out and we were quite full when we reached Venice.
Unfortunately that meant that it was dark when we arrived, but to me the city was beautiful all the same. I have never seen anything like it before. Flor and I bought our masks as a stand outside of the station and we continued on our way to the more central piazzas. I had heard similar things about Venice as I had heard about Milan. That it would be disappointing and I shouldn't get my hopes up, and who knows maybe I listened a little and my expectations were set low, but as far as I can tell the city far exceeded an expectations I had going in. I expect that when I return (I am planning on making at least two return trips) it will prove to be one of the more beautiful locations Italy has to offer. Even if you don't find it to be beautiful, I don't think you can go and not walk away with an appreciation for the architecture and layout of a city built on the water.
The night proved to be a bit clammy while we were there, but the people came out to celebrate Martedi' Grasso nonetheless (Fat Tuesday). The costumes were hilarious, we were not among the classy elite who come from all of the world in hand stitched, elaborate gowns and masks. Instead we were mingling with the regular folk, the youngster who come from all over as Teletubbies, iPods, Elvis and Chickens. It was a fun crowd to say the least. Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) was full of people and all of the surrounding porticos were bathed in lights. The Beatles cover band created an incredible atmospher and sounded amazing. I loved that no matter what language any given person we saw spoke, everyone sang the Beatles together. It's funny how certain bands that represent certain things have the ability to bring people together.
There was, of course, one small snag in our night. Our friend left her wallet, with her passport inside, in one of the public bathrooms. She didn't realize this until after the bathrooms were closed for the night, but luckily when we went back to the bathroom and banged and banged on the door someone came and told us they had found the wallet and given it to the police. She was incredibly lucky, but hey what's a spontaneous trip without some kind of crazy adventure?
We took the 3am train back to Bologna and were all home and in bed around 5:30 that morning.
Now, on to my calmer day trips! We went to Modena, which is about an hour away, in order to find some delicious Balsamic vinegar because that is where it is all made. The city was very small and quiet, not much to see. We went to a restaurant that looked like one of those cute little ma and pop places you dream of finding down the side streets of Italy. But BEWARE. This was no such place. Well, technically it was, but not the kind we were hoping. There was a set menu of about 3 items and when we said we didn't want a second plate the waiter seemed quite angry with us. He hadn't explained that along with the set menu, there was a set price of 15 euro, whether you ordered the second plate or not. So we each paid 15 euro to eat a subpar plate of pasta and an average dessert. Lovely. So now we know: No menu outside means PROCEED WITH CAUTION! We continued our search for aceto balsamico after lunch, but to no avail. All the places we were pointed to were closed for the day. We turned back to the train station ready to hang our heads when we noticed a wine shop which tons of balsamic on display. Jackpot! The shop owner was extremely nice, explaining the difference between all the different types of vinegar. And the cherry on top was that we walked out the door with free Baci candies in addition to our balsamic vinegar.
The last of the day trips I have taken up til now is Ravenna, where I am planning to return tomorrow. Ravenna, which used to be the capital of the Roman Empire, was a beautiful little town. Our timing wasn't so great because we arrived just after all the restaurants had closed for lunch and we reached Dante's tomb 9 minutes after the gates had closed and Basilico San Vitale 15 minutes after it was closed for the day. It turned out to be alright though. It was the kind of town you didn't mind walking through without any particular destination in mind, plus they had soy milk at all of their cafes! Naturally this was good news for Flor (who is vegan) and me (who is lactose intolerant). We ended up walking through the National Museum for a good long while and seeing all kinds of artifacts including some really ornate furniture. Tomorrow we will be going back to see all of the things that we missed the first time: mosaics at Basilica di San Vitale, Dante's tomb, good food! and more. Corban (a friend I met here), is very excited to go again because she wrote her thesis on the mosaics in Ravenna. There are apparently 8 wrold heritage sites in Ravenna and we will try to see what we can. If we have time we will be taking the bus to the sea, for the three of us going it will be the first time we are seeing it!! I am very excited to go again.
As far as things are going here in Bologna, I'm still working on the language. I feel like it's something that comes and goes. There are times I can really look at myself and see a great improvement from the beginning, but then there are still those times when I realize how far I still have to go. I have started almost all of my classes now, and they are going well so far. I have yet to speak with my Universita' di Bologna professor, but I plan to do so this week along with buying my books for the course. It's going to be a very different kind of semester, where self-discipline is key. That of course is easier said than done, especially when there are so many other things that I want to do, like travel. We'll see how it goes though. Next week there is a pizza party with our program where we can meet the Italian students who will be studying in the U.S. in the Fall. I'm really excited to meet the two students who will be going to the University of Minnesota, I'm hoping I will be able to practice my Italian with them and they can practice their English with me and we can continue in the Fall.
Griffin and his mom and sister are coming next week, and I couldn't be more excited. I've been trying to figure out what we should do and where we should go, but thats the really great part about Italy. The trains are frequent and cheap so it's easy to just get up and say "hm, lets see where do we want to go today?" and then just do it! It's going to be fun to be able to show him where I've been living and for him to be able to meet some of the people I've talked about and hang around with here. I think him and his sister are really going to love it here. His mom is a pro at Italy at this point, this will be her sixth trip here I believe, but it will the the first time for the other two. I am going to meet them in Rome after they leave Bologna with a couple of my friends from Bologna. I'm hoping to meet up with a girl who studied in Kenosha for a summer a few years ago who lives in Rome, while I am there.
We met today and sort planned some trips. I am planning three trips for sure right now: Rome in March and Napoli/Pompeii and Sicily in April. So there are definitely a lot of really cool and exciting things on the horizon over here. The girls I am planning on doing most of the traveling with are all in agreement that traveling outside of Italy is best saved for after our program ends so that we can really focus on learning and emersing ourselves in Italian right now.
I think that is all for now, but I really will try to be better about updating, especially after some of these upcoming trips and adventures!
As always I hope all is well with everyone back home! Love to all! Baci!
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