Remember that time we got off at the wrong train station...

We woke up kind of late on Saturday so Katie, Tess, and I met up with the boys in Il Campo, just a short walk from our hotel. We ate some cold pizza and really bad, flat soda. All was good...we were sitting in the middle of Campo, so it couldn't be that bad. It was also a nice 55 or 60 degrees. Il Campo is the center of town. I would describe it as the center park, except the grass is in the form of bricks. There were families around and everyone was just hanging out, doing a whole lot of nothing. We hung out there for a little while until the boys came to meet us. We decided on the Duomo and headed that way. I was impressed just on the outside and could not even imagine what the inside was going to be like. There was a violin player outside and she was playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." We all stopped and had a listen. It made us miss America for a few minutes.

Once we stepped inside, I think we were all speechless. Just the size of the building is incredible. As with a lot of buildings that have been here for so long, I wonder how long it must haven taken to build these enormous creations. A little bit of history about this Duomo for ya: It was finished in two stages, one at the end of the 13th century and on at the end of the 14th. The Duomo is most famous for it's marble floors. They are almost all roped off and the places where you can walk, is usually covered. It's stained glass is the oldest in Italy, finished in 1288. The Sienese people wanted to make it even bigger and they had the plans to go with it. Unfortunately, the Black Death struck, and what would have been the largest church in the world was not completed. What they started is still there in the form of a few walls that are now worked into other buildings.

After the Duomo, Tess got her card stuck in an ATM, we dealt with that situation, and then the obvious choice was to get some Gelato. I tried the mint chocolate chip...not too shabby, Siena, not too shabby. Then, we set off to find the Botanical Gardens and see some views. We found the gardens, but they were closed (we think) and ran into the other group. On the way back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, Katie, Tess, and I decided to get a little appetizer in the form of cheese and crackers. The woman in the cheese shop knew zero english so it was interesting to say the least, but she did pick out some fantastic cheese for us.

For dinner, we ate in Il Campo. I had the calzone pizza and it was huge and delicious. As always, giggles were all around and we decided to find a bar to hang out in. We found one, hung for a little bit, ventured to another one, and then called it a night. In the morning, Tess, Katie, and I climbed the Bell Tower. It was fun (the 400 stairs were nothing) and a great view at the top. It was pretty windy so it scared me a little bit, but it was so fun and so worth it.

We took off to the train station once we came down because we knew there would be a full day of getting back to Verona ahead of us. Some of us were going to risk getting on the bus without a ticket because they rarely check. But we're glad we didn't because for the first time, they did come around and check our tickets. At the train station I treated myself to chocolate croissant. (yeah right, this is no treat, it is the norm for me now) We were on our way and this is where the adventures start.

In Empolia (aka...the worst train station ever), we missed our train to Pisa. Oops. However, the nice man from the first train, who even kindly (or not so kindly) asked us not to put our feet on the chairs, told us how to get back on track. (get it..track/train/ehh whatever) He joked with us about Americans and gave us a hard time in good fun. Because of this little setback, we were going to have to book it to get our tickets in Lucca to get us back to Verona. We had about 10 minutes for all 10 of us to get tickets and get on the train. However, this little setback allowed us a longer time in Pisa. So, naturally, we went to see the tower...just jokes, we didn't have that long, so we went to McDonalds. It was great and just what we all needed. We were sitting there, some us eating the McItaly, and we see some college-age Americans walk by. And who do I see, Meredith Streppa, a girl I went to high school with. CRAZY. Shout to Marg...I think I now rival you for knowing and seeing people everywhere. Meredith is studying in Switzerland and had spent the weekend in Florence. I was shocked to see someone I knew in Pisa, Italy.

So on to the next train station to switch trains. We were headed for Porta. As the first four of us were getting off of the train, the doors shut, leaving the other six still on the train. So there we were, Cameron, Kari, David, and I at the train station while the others were stuck on the train. At first, I thought we were at the correct place and the others were going to have to come back to us. But little did we know, that we were at the wrong place. Katie called me and we started to figure it all out. The station that we were supposed to be at was the next one down and it takes about two minutes to get there. So we looked up when the next train was and Katie looked up when our train was leaving the correct station. The next train that would take us to the correct Porta was about 10 minutes away and would get us there at 3:40. 3:40 was also the time our next train was leaving. STRESSFUL. So, we boarded the train, hoping we would get in any bit early. We didn't even sit down. As we were pulling in to the station, we saw the rest of the 10 on the completely opposite side of the platforms. (Typical Sammy had his camera out to catch us running for our lives while Tess and Katie were frantic) We contemplated running on the tracks, but decided to take the underground route as directed. I've never run so fast in my life. And we all made it! As the last person was getting on, the doors were shutting. The reunion between the two groups was like we hadn't seen each other in years. And, we captured it all on video.

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing home to Verona. After a long weekend of walking, seeing the sights, and laughing the whole way, it was awesome to be back in the 704. What really hit me was when we got off the train in Verona, almost all of us said, "We're Home!" Yes, Verona, Italia is my home for right now and we confidently knew what bus to get on and how to get 'home' to the residence.

This week, we are taking a city tour of our 'home,' Verona and then Venice. Oh, and class is mixed in there as well. I'm excited to see Juliet's house and the wall of letters to Juliet. (Shout-out to Claire...see if you can find the book that is about all the letters that are written to Juliet. I want to read it when I get home!)

This morning Katie S. and I had quite the adventure at the dry cleaners. A zipper on a pair of jeans of mine broke and I wanted to see if the dry cleaners could fix it. HUGE language barrier. I'm still not sure if she is fixing it or not, but I know whatever she does to it, it will be ready on Thursday. We'll just have to see how that works out. Then we ventured to Migros, the other grocery store that I had not been to yet. It is so much better than the other grocery store and I picked up some essentials for the week.

Thanks everyone for following! Wish you all could be here with me.

Remember that time we went to Lucca & Siena

We started our first big adventure by missing the first bus to the train station, thanks to the boys that took a little too long to pack after class. Not to worry however, we still made it with time to spare. Trains in Italia are the one thing that I really do not like about this country. I don't understand their system of not checking your ticket until you are on the train or halfway to your destination or they don't check it at all. And the whole "validating" it before you get on. I almost forgot one time and had to sprint before our train left. But our trip to Lucca went surprising very smoothley...unlike our trip home (more to come on that later).
Lucca was just the perfect quiet town. I didn't think Verona was very large, but compared to the places we saw this weekend, we are in a very metropolitan city. It was like getting away from the city for the weekend. We were tired from a full week of school, so we found our hostel, met up with the boys who were in a different hostel, and wandered to try and find somewhere to eat. Lucca is strange in the sense that there were very few options for dinner. We found a quick bite, and decided to stay in for the night. While the guys went and smoked cubans and drank their wine, us girls had a fun night in just chatting and deciding the plan for the next morning.
When we got up in the morning, it was not the first time we had been awoken. We had picked a place that was near what was probably the only commotion of Lucca, and had heard crashing and booming and all sorts of things throughout the night. And it was raining. Not a fantastic start to the day, but we got ready, and headed out to find our bar. I had the best chocolate crossaint (it was glazed and still warm) and was even able to practice my Italian with the man behind the counter. We found a church to wander through (see facebook photos) and explored around Lucca some more. Lucca was once surround completely by water. What is left now are the walls. It is actually a walled city and you have to enter through the walls to get inside. They have turned the tops of walls into somewhat like a walking track where people run, walk their dogs, or just hang out.
Lucca was beautiful and a nice escape, but we were excited to get to a more bustling town. And that is what we found in Siena. With train ease, we made it to Siena. Of course there was a McDonalds in a train station we passed through but of course we didn't have time to stop. My mouth was watering.
In Siena, we saw the other group that had stayed there the night before. They told us what we should do and some sights to be seen. We knew we were in a more happening town when we saw Americans in the train station. They were from Oklahoma University. We found our hostel and the woman who ran it was quite possibly the nicest person we've met thus far. She gave us restaurant recommendations, things we absolutely had to see, and even the things she thought we could skip. We got ready, and made our way to "Nonna's," which means grandmother. I was very excited to eat a really great meal. And that is exactly what I did. We ordered the house wine...of course...and some bruschetta while we waited for the rest of our group. The bruschetta was the best thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. (Nana cookies aside) I had pasta carbonara and it was also delicious. Afterwards, we wandered around to try and find a bar. The one discotecta that we had heard about wasn't open yet, so David and I wandered into a bar right next door while the others waited for it to open. And we made the right decision. We got our local beers, with our student IDs for a discount (Athens, could you do this please?) and headed for the back room where we heard music playing. Some Jimi Hendrix and The Who sung by Italian dudes. It was crazy how much they sounded like the originals but then when they spoke to the crowd, it was in Italian. It was a fun night with the group and I was looking forward to seeing more of Siena the next day. I am going to have to postpone the details of the rest of my weekend until tomorrow. I am way too tired and once you hear about our adventures coming home, you'll understand why I'm turning in for the night. But, I'll leave you with a cliffhanger for tomorrow's blog...seeing someone I know in the Pisa train station (who could it have been you're thinking!; being left at a random train station (I might have been alone, I might not have been), and McDonalds...and some shout outs:
1. Saw THE frat mobile. Yes, Frances, this ones for you. I saw your exact car, totally fratting hard in the streets of Siena.
2. Ang & Kristen: Everyone knows what a ranga is and points them out to me. if only I was quicker with the camera.
3. Mom&Dad: Thanks for sending me here...I'm having the time of my life!
4. Hans: Be thankful you don't live here, or else you would have to wear clothes.

Soave

At 4 we all met down in the lobby, everyone looking quite dapper compared to our 'sleep as late as we can and roll out of bed and head downstairs for Tony's class.' We said hey to Marco (our favorite desk man) and headed to the bus. Our bus was great and it is also the bus we'll be taking for our group trips. Martin took us to a spot where we could see the entire city of Verona from above. It was beautiful to see our city from that view. We didn't have much time there but we now know how to get there on the city bus so we can go back. Martin gave us lots of history on the way there and I am looking forward to hearing more of his random knowledge when we travel to Munich and Salzberg in a few weeks.
When we arrived at the winery in Soave, we were greeted by Sara. She said we would have to bear with her, for her english was not very good. Let me tell you, if I could speak Italian half as good as she spoke English, I would be talking to every Italian and translating for the entire group. It was a very interesting tour. We learned that they export more wine than anywhere else in Europe. In Soave, they specialize in white wine, but because the are so huge, they have other wineries where red is produced. I especially liked how she told us about the sparkling wine. She said it is exactly how they make champagne in France.
After the tour, we were taken to a beautiful dinner and wine tasting. It is so far my favorite meal. We had this incredible pasta, veal, grilled veggies, and tons of appetizers. I like this one appetizer that was a crunchy, break stick type deal wrapped in very thin ham. (Uncle Kevin, shout out to you, you would have loved this. Think Nicole's asparagus wrapped in the bacon stuff, but instead of the healthy asparagus, bread. YUM) We tasted three different wines. A red, a white, and a desert wine. The red was my favorite, and here comes another shout out, Mom&Dad, I have 2 new bottles for your collection. The desert wine was good, but I could only take tiny, tiny sips because it was so sweet.
It was a great night and I enjoyed everyones company. It made me very excited for our group trips. Today, we had Tony's class, but he was nice and didn't start until 8:30 (those 30 minutes were greatly appreciated by everyone). We are going to do a trial run to the train station today in preparation for our trip to Lucca tomorrow. It will help us know where we are going tomorrow since we will be a little crunched for time. Here are a few pics, but check facebook for the entire collection.

Monday 2/22-First Day of Classes

Monday, we had our first day of class, Italian history of the Renaissance. I wasn't too sure what to expect, and I definitely was not ready for the Italian Mr. Rogers that walked into our classroom. Tony walked in (cardigan sweater and all) and was ancient. He taught Martin, our trip coordinator, when Martin was in the military. We know that Martin is 68, so I'm guessing that Tony is at least 75. His teaching style is unique. But I have to admit he is getting us to learn the material. His 'textbook' is all of his notes and some random articles. Everything is everywhere and there is zero organization. That is very similar to his teaching method. It is fun being in class with everyone. I wasn't expecting having class in the afternoon and was surprised when I found out we have to meet 3 days at 4 in the afternoon. I am enjoying the material so far and am even more looking forward to going to Florence and Rome in April. OH, and thanks for the easy A, Tony. He put every question (and the answer he is looking for) in the back of our book. Is this guy for reals?
During our break, I took a much needed nap, ate some lunch (the Italian chicken, cheese, and spinach was delicious), read up on Lucca and Siena (our travel destinations for the weekend), hung out with some friends, and skyped mom and dad for the first time. After our second class meeting of the day, a group of us stayed in the class room and ordered Pizza with Tony. Kari and I were trying desperately to find some pizza with meat. Since she lives with a vegetarian, she felt like we have been meat deprived. Without being able to read the menu, we didn't want to risk getting a pizza that ended up having a fish head or something crazy on it and went with a 5 cheese pizza. It was great. Tony told us a little bit about himself. His father came over from Italy and lived and worked in Chicago as a newspaper salesman. Tony has been all over teaching and met his wife in Canada. She is from Poland and they have an apartment there they visit all the time. He lives in Vacenzia (I'm not too sure on the spelling), and teaches on the military base there.
After hearing some stories from our teacher, Tony, we wanted to book another weekend. There is a group going to Paris the weekend after Lucca and Siena, and we decided to jump on it. I was one of the lucky ones who booked first so I got a cheap flight. Some of the others are going to wait it out to see if flights go back down, which we have heard that they do on RyanAir. After the travel discussions, Sammy played us some guitar and we all went our separate ways and headed to bed.

This morning we had our second day of class. I'm surprised how much of the information has already stuck. We are starting with Florence and learning all there is about it. I can't wait to see with my own eyes everything we have been talking about. My favorite religion class in high school was when we studied the old testament and now I'm thankful I paid attention. I know a lot more about the art since most of it is religious. (Thanks for the catholic education, mom and dad). Nana and Papa (I hope you have figured out how to read this), I can't wait to see all of the art work(because most of it is in churches) and I just realized how many wishes I will get to make with each new church I go into.
This afternoon Martin is taking us to a winery where we are doing a wine tasting and having dinner. I am very excited to see what it is like and hang out with the entire group. Before we leave I am going to try and knock out our assignment that is due on Thursday before we leave at 4.

Monterey Jack Monterey Jack CHEDDAR

We started our day around 9:30 at a bus stop that a bus was never going to come to. Because of the Verona Marathon, the buses were not running normally. So we walked, and depended on our trip planner, Baruk to get us to the bus. We found the correct bus station and actually figured out when the bus was going to get there and if we could get to the right place. We hopped on and showed the driver our bus passes.

About an thirty minutes later we got to the lake and drove up the coast about another 30 minutes to the town of Garda. It was a beautiful ride. Once we got off the bus, we walked towards the water. The lake was HUGE! And the water so clean. One thing I've noticed about Italy, it is very clean. The water was so clear and super blue. We were all hungry, some had skipped breakfast to get to the bus, and we sat down at the first place we saw. I had a pizza with ham on it. It was great. I like Italian pizza so much more than the kind we have in the states.

After lunch, we walked along the coast of the lake. It was very pretty and exactly what I would picture as a perfect Italian lake town. I saw a rather large dog that is the Italian version of Hans. No Pickles though. We took lots of photos and shared a lot giggles. The little group we have formed laughs A LOT. After we walked along the lake and on the stone beach, we have some time to kill before our bus was to leave. We grabbed a gelato..chocolate again..and I decided I would not be mad if I ate a gelato everyday until I leave.

Waiting for the bus we played a few games and joined Sammy in the 'cheese rap.' We were all laughing and it is so nice to have people who share a similar sense of humor. We boarded the bus thinking everything was ok until the bus driver came back and asked to see our passes. I was the brave one and handed him my bus pass first. He looked it over and said it was not good. He spoke very good English and I explained to him that we got to Garda with that bus pass from Verona. He said we were not supposed to have done that. Our bus pass is only good for the city limits of Verona, and well, we were about an hour outside of Verona. He said we had to pay but we would have to wait until the next stop. He was very helpful and made sure we all had our tickets. He told me he had been to Atlanta twice. He also told me that if we had gotten caught without a bus ticket, we could have been thrown off and been handed an 100 euro fine (by the Italian police. yikes) Glad that didn't happen.

Everyone was tired and we split up to upload our (awesome) pictures and grab some grub. Tess and I made banana french toast and eggs. Breakfast for dinner is becoming one of our staples. Tonight I am trying to go to bed early for our early morning of class. I am excited to see what class is going to be like, and am hoping it is not too difficult.

Saturday-2/20

On Saturday, Tess and I slept in until about 11 when everyone was going to meet and trip plan. We met up with everyone and a smaller group of us decided we wanted to go see Dave Matthews in Padua. However, trying to figure it all out, logistics was just too much to handle, so we planned a trip to Lucca and then to Sienna. We have our accommodations set and we are going to do a 'test run' on Wednesday to make sure we can make to the train station Thursday by 12:30.

In the afternoon we ventured back to the grocery store. We planned our meals for the week and are looking forward to seeing what we like and what we don't. We came back, put our groceries away and then went to the bus stop to go explore downtown more. It was not the nicest day, but we still wanted to get a feel for the city. We walked through this castle and then got some gelato. Let me tell you, I LOVE gelato. LOVE it. We ran into some others on the trip that had been around exploring also.

In downtown Verona, they were setting up for the Verona Marathon. I considered running it but decided I didn't want to put any Italians to shame...We walked around and I think I somewhat know my way around. I still have no idea where Campus Bar is in reference to our hotel or downtown. We got back a little later than we were planning and everyone was hurrying us to get ready to go out. Turns out, there was no rush, so we got to hang out with everyone a little longer before going out.

We ventured to Campus and there was a futbol game on that a lot of people were into. It was between a Milan team (the favorite in the bar) and a Southern Italy one. We were able to talk to a lot more people than we did on Thursday. I have picked up on some Italian phrases. Some of my favorite include, Prego (it's ok/don't mention it/you're welcome)and scussi. After hanging out there for a little bit, some of us ventured across the bar to find Camelot. It was medieval themed and had a great local beer. They even have pizza in the bar. (Think Boars Head but waaaay better). We split a pizza and came home. We planned on meeting the next morning to go to Lake Garda.

First Day in Verona

After we checked in to the Residence, Tess and I began to unpack. Our room is super nice and has lots of storage for all of our clothes (or Tess's ha). We were so busy unpacking that we lost track of time and were late to our first meeting. We were only 15 minutes late and still got the information we needed. Martin, our trip coordinator, filled us in on the things we needed "to stay out of trouble" for the night and told us tomorrow (which is now today) that he would get us more situated in our neighborhood. We had a group meal that night and took the bus to get there. The bus system seems fairly easy to understand and I'm planning on exploring it more on Sunday. We ate at what is called a 'fast food' place. It was interesting. It was a little difficult to speak Italian and I keep forgetting to use basic things like pleases and thank yous in Italian. Dinner was good-I tried a lot of different things. My favorite was grilled zuchini. After dinner, Martin left us and told us (jokingly we think) to not go to Campus Bar. But, we all knew from others that had come to Verona, that this was THE place to be on Thursday nights. We asked some locals and wandered and wandered and finally found it. It was only 7:30 when we got there and they opened it up for us. Lily, Katie S., and I shared a bottle of wine and we joined some others at a table for some good story swapping and giggles. Katie S. and I got Jack 'n Cokes and laughed when she tried to order in Italian, "Jack and Coca-Cola Light." (Frances, you will appreciate that they came with lemons, a nice touch) We met some local people and Marco, who works at the Residence. We took a cab home. Martin said the cab companies know who we are and are very fair to us and know to always take us to the Residence. A few of us hung out last night when we got home. I had my first chance to email my parents and let them know I arrived safely. I was happy that Tess was still awake when I went up to the room. We shared some more giggles before completely passing out (an inch away from each other because of the way the beds are set up). Getting up this morning was rough. I was so tired. We all met Martin downstairs for some more information. He took us to the grocery store. Some of us weren't in the mood to stock up on grocerys so we got the essentials...bread, pasta, and wine. Tess and I attempted to make grilled cheese for lunch, but we lost the butter somewhere and had some charcoal bread. WHoops. Tonight we are trip planning in our room and staying in with our bottles of wine. So far, I haven't been able to explore because of the cold and rain today. But tomorrow, we are going downtown. When we went there for dinner it was beautiful. Lots of historic building. We are in more of the 'newer' part of town but with all old people. It is called the "explorer" part of town because all of the street names are of famous explorers. I'm really looking forward to seeing the town and learning my way around!