Londra e una settimana con i genitori

It is time for a serious update. I have been incredibly busy, but the good kind of busy. Since my last post, I have been to London, Venice, Florence, been on a bicycle ride through the countryside and had a visit from my parents. Phew!

London is at the top of my list of favorite trips. My wonderful hosts and the beautiful weather definitely impacted my impression of the city. A childhood friend of my mother resides with her husband in a beautiful flat in the center of London.  Every morning I awoke to a gorgeous view from the balcony.

Upon my arrival, my hosts took my on a quick tour of their neighborhood of Barbican center and took my to my first English pub. I'm not a big fan of beer, so I insisted on only a half-pint. Not only did I really enjoy the drink, but the atmosphere of the locale was incredible. We were surrounded by the "after-work" crowd - businessmen enjoying a Friday evening after a long week. Everyone was incredibly friendly despite being strangers.

Due to the fantastic weather, I chose to walk nearly everywhere. In fact, I never once took the tube. Even though its faster to take public transit, I think got to know the city on a much more personal level by walking. I walked practically the entirety of London. Barbican to the London Bridge to the South Bank to the Parliament Buildings to Oxford Street to Harrod's to the V&A Museum to the British Museum to Buckingham Palace. Yes I was tired. But ask me where practically any coffee shop is in the city proper and I could tell you (how do you think I managed to walk for ~ 7 hours a day?).

Last week, my parents came to visit my in Siena. While they did a lot of museum-wandering and cathedral-admiring on their own (If I see one more "Madonna and Child" painting........) we had a wonderful time meeting with the Italian family in Porta Romana. When they invited my parents over for dinner, I was nervous. My parents don't speak any Italian and I feared sitting in awkward silence. But the night was quite the opposite. Lots of conversing about culture, the difference between the US and Italy, jokes that lose their wit when translated (ha). I snapped a shot of Roberto showing my parents a map of Italy, giving suggestions on places to go:

And an awkward family photo was necessary:

During the week of their visit, we spent a full day in Florence. There I indulged in my new obsession, Caffe' Shakerato. It is essentially an espresso shot put into a shaker with ice until it is all foamy and delicious. And I get to sip it out of a martini glass. Which makes it better, obviously. 

So as to not make this post unbearably long, I will save Venice for another time. Stay tuned -- only a few weeks left!

Pasqua Italiana

Ciao e Buona Pasqua a tutti. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I was fortunate enough to celebrate with the Italian family in Porta Romana, so I got quite an authentic experience. I was joined at the table with 17 of their relatives from all over Italy. While it was quite overwhelming, it was one of the best afternoons so far. When I arrived at their house everyone was bustling about in the kitchen, frantically preparing for the mass of people due to arrive. Francesca warned me, "hai visto 'Il Mio Grosso Grasso Matrimonio Greca' -- sara' come quel film" (have you seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? Today will be like that film.)

And it was. I found myself shaking hand after hand, saying "Ciao, piacere" over and over again. A few of the cousins and one uncle knew English and were eager to speak to me -- probably to practice. But other than that, it was 6ish straight hours of Italian. I couldn't have asked for a better way to learn. While chatting, I learned that one of the cousins will be in London the same weekend as me and we might meet -- a great opportunity to speak Italian even in an English speaking country!

We had wonderful weather, despite the forecast for rain. There were showers for about 30 minutes but the sun was out, creating a gorgeous view from the balcony of the valley below.

And of course the food was delightful (and plentiful). While I could not indulge in the meat dishes, I was more than satisfied with the countless antipasti e secondi sans meat. These included little sandwiches with countless spread including olive, artichoke, smoked salmon, a spinach and ricotta bake, squash tortettes, fresh ciaccino (a type of italian flatbread), etc.

Francesca preparing the antipasti

One Aunt brought a little lamb figurine made of marzipan, which she cut during dessert (followed by screams of "no! poverino agnello!" as she severed the head).

Despite being quite nervous, everyone made me feeling very welcome. I am so fortunate to have met such wonderful people here.

As for the rest of the week, it is starting to feel a bit more like Spring (finally). I can finally go running in a t-shirt, and Piazza del Campo is the perfect place to soak up the sun. Only one negative comes with Spring -- the tourists. They are everywhere and will only become more numerous. While reading in the Piazza today, I moved where I was sitting as I was swarmed by a mass of American students eating gelato and complaining that it did not compare to American ice cream (PS - are we really THAT loud?).

Friday I leave for London -- I cannot wait! I am crossing my fingers for decent weather as I am looking forward to a weekend of a self-guided walking tour. It can be chilly, but please let there be sun!

a dopo,

Martha :)

Ciao tutti,

This weekend went by far too fast. On Friday, our adviser Elena treated us to a wine tour/tasting at the Enoteca Italiana here in Siena. It is located underneath the Fortezza and houses wines from all over Italy (learn more here). Here is an awkward family photo that Elena took,

Saturday afternoon I joined my Italian family for lunch. I must say, I am not used to il pranzo italiano. I practically rolled home. We started with spaghetti alle vongole, followed by two types of grilled fish -- one which resembled swordfish and another that was only native to the Mediterranean (I forget the name).  AND salad. AND gelato. Oh and when asked if you want seconds, "No thank you, I'm full" is not an option. 

Tonight we took our roommate, Ray out for a Birthday meal to Fontegiusta, our go-to for affordable delicious food. In my opinion, the free bread is the best part. It is soft and hot out of the oven (LITERALLY straight from the oven)...and it has SALT in it. Which is a big deal here in Tuscany, where the bread is tasteless and hard.

As I am now more than halfway through with my trip here (quite depressing...) I have started to plan the rest of my travels for these coming months. Beginning of April -London and/or Amsterdam. May 1st I am going to Barcelona for 5 days. I think it is necessary to see more of Italy and I am trying to fit in a trip down south to Naples and over to the coast. If anyone has suggestions on must-see places in (or out) of Italy, send me a message. I'm a clueless traveler and up for practically anything.

A presto, M

Parigi

Last weekend's trip to Paris was an interesting one. The city is absolutely beautiful. The food is incredible. And I realized that I am better suited to traveling alone. Besides hitting all of the major tourist stops (The Louvre, Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower, etc) I spent most of my weekend wandering aimlessly while waiting for my roommate to wake up. I generally wake up early, and it was frustrating having to wake until 1130/noon to really get the day started..

That said, my mornings consisted mostly of people watching...and Paris is the perfect city for people watching. I chuckled every time I saw a business man, wearing a beret, carrying a baguette (this happened often).

However, my Paris trip was not entirely a French experience. Living in a small city like Siena my encounters with the American lifestyle are limited...in the long run this is probably a good thing. I feel as though I must get as authentic an experience as possible while living in Europe. However, the fact that my map of Paris labeled the location of every single Starbucks within walking distance kind of set me up for failure.

The holiest place on Earth.

Okay, I caved. I went to Starbucks. Every day. I ordered a Venti....every day. I sprinted -- yes sprinted -- when I saw the sign in the distance. I have no self control.

Our first night in Paris, we went to a very nice bistro where the food was not too expensive (to Parisian standards...not saying much) and delicious. I had a fantastic dish that was called "lasagna" on the menu, but was nothing of the sort. It came with a dish of baked eggplant in tomato sauce, sans cheese. On the side came a lump of fresh mozzarella and a salad. While this is a sad excuse for lasagna, it was exactly what I wanted.

I will say that the Italians do mozzarella WAY better than the French, but that's okay. French know their bread.

Oh, and I tried snails.

It looks like I'm just posing jokingly with  the fork, but I did actually eat it. And it was......good.

On Sunday we visited Versailles, which was by far my favorite part of the trip.

hall of mirrors

louis and i

We also visited the Notre Dame cathedral..and I promptly watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I got home:

Montmartre

A foggy view of Paris from Montmartre

My tourist shot outside the Louvre

This weekend was bittersweet as one of our good friends left us on Sunday morning :( He is off to work in Milan for 5 months. We had a party for him on Saturday night, where everyone made a dish and we ate buffet style. Of course being college students we all made the easiest things possible...so we dined on loads of pasta and cake. However, the cake that my friend and I prepared was above and beyond and wasa the highlight of the night (at least we think so):

Yes that is nutella buttercream frosting. And yes those are Kinders, M and Ms and Rochers on top. Please, you're getting drool on your keyboard.

Today we went on a tour of the OPA Museum next to Il Duomo. I was able to see the original scultptures from the facade of the building, as well as the Maesta' and the stain-glass window by Duccio. Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos, but here Google Images can give you an idea:

Duccio's La Maesta' .. I wish you could see the details in the fabrics, but I guess you have to come here to do that!

2 sculptures by Pisano

Pisano's stained glass window. The middle panels depict the story of Santa Maria, the 4 figures on the sides show the 4 patron saints.

We also climbed to the roof of the building and took incredible photos of the view:

Piazza del Campo

The roof

Hello everyone, happy Wednesday. This week is going by fast, thank goodness. It is my busiest week of classes -- 7+ hours a day.

Thankfully, our afternoon contemporary and art history classes consist mostly of walking tours. This week we got a tour of the Duomo as well as some of the older part of town -- Terzo di Citta' (the city is divided into thirds, based on the 3 hills on which it was built). I appreciated having my teacher there to give insight into the artwork because most of it goes right over my head. Not to mention, my knowledge of Christianity is close to nada. Even though Siena is a tiny town, everything and everywhere has historical significance -- and the Sienese people are passionate about preserving it.

We also had a private tour of the central meeting place for the Pantera Contrada. This was truly a privilege, as you cannot get in without knowing someone (the Sienese are also very passionate about their Contrade and the pride that comes with belonging to one...sono pazzi). This tour included authentic costumes from the Palio, seeing the horse stall, jockey uniforms, etc. The most amazing were the banners on display from every year the Pantera contrada had won. Each is handmade, painted on silk cloth.

It is hard to appreciate the detail that was put into each and every banner. However, you can see how creatively different they are. Every banner also spoke to the year it was made, depicting the values and issues alive at the time.