Italia Bella

Spring Break (part 1)

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:12:59 +0200

Spring Break was welcomed with wide open arms. Break started with an absolutely amazing trip to Pompeii! It was everything I imagined and more! I remembered the majority of the things that I learned about in my Roman archaeology class sophomore year. It rained a little bit in the beginning of our tour, but it eventually cleared up. Our guide was absolutely hysterical and unbelievably knowledgable. We saw 2 theaters (one was used for musical performances, the other for theatrical shows), “pedestrian crosswalks,” a gladiator training camp, a brothel (which was hysterical), the main forum, and a perfectly preserved villa. It was as if we had truly stepped back in time. We were also able to see some clay molds of people that archaeologists discovered. It was eerie and haunting to see how these people died. All the while, Mt. Vesuvius lingered in the background.

We left Pompeii and headed back north to Rome. On our way, we stopped in Caserta to see an absolutely stunning and majestic palace. The Palace contains 1200 rooms, 34 staircases, and the front facade has 143 windows alone! It stands 5 stories high and also holds 2 dozen apartments. It also contains a private library, chapel, and theater. Every room was spectacular though. Some were made almost completely out of gold. But what really amazed me was the ginormous garden in the backyard. It stretched for at least a mile and a half. STUNNING. Alas, we had to go back to Rome. They dropped us off at the Termini train station, where Devin and I begun our spring break journey to Sicilia!!

We took an overnight train from Rome down to Milazzo, Sicily. Our train ride wouldn’t have been that bad if only a couple things didn’t happen.

The most rude and annoying woman in the world. She basically claimed the compartment, spreading out on the seats, asking for the lights to be shut off, for the curtains to be closed, etc. She was highly inconsiderate, and Devin and I couldn’t wait to get off the train.
I deleted ALL of my pictures on my memory card, including the ones from Pompeii and the palace, ON ACCIDENT! I was (and still am) on the verge of tears. I had some amazing pictures. I’m just glad that all of those pictures (except for the Pompeii and Caserta pictures) are on my computer.
I was having panic attacks because I thought we were going the wrong way. I was trying the best I could to ask people where they were going, and they gave me answers that should’ve calmed me down, but they didn’t… Needless to say, I could barely sleep on the train.

BUT, we made it to Milazzo and found this amazing older woman who helped us get to the island of Lipari. She was travelling from Norway (24 hours on a train) and is originally from Germany. We absolutely loved her, and couldn’t be more grateful for her.

Lipari was so adorably beautiful. We stayed at the B&B Da Patrizia, which was very difficult to find. Patrizia was very kind, and her B&B was nice… Just very very VERY cold. But Lipari was extremely quant and has beautiful views of the nearby islands and the ocean.

The next day, Devin and I attempted to visit the island of Stromboli to see it’s active volcano. We got up wicked early and caught the bus down to the Lipari port only to find out that the ferry ticket was almost 20 euro. Umm… no thanks. Too expensive. So we decided to stay in Lipari, which we later figured out that there was quite a bit to see. We found Greek sarcophagi, Greek and Roman walls, and outlines of old Roman houses. We also made our way up to the Church/Castile thing, which provided absolutely beautiful views. We later changed into our bathing suits and finally hit up the beach! It was splendid =]

(View from our B&B)

(Greek sarcophagi)

(Our secret beach)

Dinner

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:39:41 +0200

So what did I have for dinner tonight?? Homemade bruschetta. HUZZAH!!

I must say, though, I prefer it with goat cheese. Italians don’t usually eat bruschetta with cheese =(

Spring Break!

adreamersnotepad — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:16:57 +0100

Sorry for the week-long hiatus, but I’m sure you’re used to this since I don’t update this blog half as much as I should. The reason?: I was in Sicily for the week!! I will post later tonight some of my adventures, but I want to upload all of my pictures onto my computer first. WOOT!

Not a complete waste

adreamersnotepad — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:15:01 +0100

So today wasn’t completely a waste of a day. I attempted to find a new wallet, but was unsuccessful. I also forgot that Campo de’Fiori starts to close down at 2pm, and I got there at 2:30pm. The majority of the vendors had packed up and left. I then walked over to Piazza Navona to look at all of the beautiful art work. On the way, I bumped into Captain Jack Sparrow!! I didn’t want to pay him for a picture, so I tried to sneak one from far away. Still failed. But I decided that before I leave Rome, I’m going to buy one of those paintings that people sell all around Rome. They’re just absolutely beautiful. I then proceeded to just walk down streets that I’ve never been down before, and I was able to take some really pretty pictures.

stanatic: 17 marzo 1861- 17 marzo 2011 March 17, 2011 is...

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:43:50 +0100

stanatic:

17 marzo 1861- 17 marzo 2011

March 17, 2011 is Italian Unification Day. Italy has only been a unified country for 150 years.

Not a fan

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:01:26 +0100

So I’m definitely not a fan of rain and cloudy days when they intervene with my exploration plans. I need to start making backup plans. I was really excited today to maybe climb up St. Peter’s Basilica. BUT it’s not worth it to go up it on a wicked cloudy day. And now I have no other plans…. Blehh. Well I guess I should maybe do some reading that is due tomorrow. There’s a lot to do.

Adventures!

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:32:44 +0100

So this weekend, just about everyone decided to venture outside of Italy except for me. I was fortunate that at least two good friends were also staying behind. So we decided to make the best out of the weekend, and do some little adventures!

Friday, Tressa and I explored the unbelievable zoo! Yes, I know. I came all this way to Rome just to go to a zoo? Absolutely! The Bioparco in Rome is one of the oldest in Europe, opening in 1911 (Happy 100th Anniversary!!). Now this zoo was legit. Lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), zebras, tigers, monkeys, leopards, lemurs, elephants, just about everything!!!

We had an amazing day. The sun was shining, and we ate Roman style pizza with gelato for dessert.

The next day, Tressa, Amy, and I visited Viterbo, which is about an hour and 45 minutes north of Rome. This city is basically frozen in time. Viterbo is a one of the best preserved medieval towns in central Italy, with a fascinating history. Built at the at the base of Monte Cimini, the town, which is enclosed in a 12th century wall, is surrounded by rich agriculture lands, Renaissance and Baroque villas, medieval villages, Etruscan necropoli and thermal baths. We didn’t actually see much, however. We were all kinda tired. But what we did see we absolutely loved.

Recipes Galore!

adreamersnotepad — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:52:08 +0100

So last night I had my fourth italian cooking class. It was my third with Chef Andrea, who is just an absolute sweetheart. We cooked two types of bruschetta, a pasta dish with rigatoni and sausage and mushroom sauce (from scratch), a meat kebab with prosciutto and cheese, and frappe (a traditional Carnevale Romano dessert). Everything was simply delicious.

Yesterday, I also finally wrote out all my recipes onto cards that Hayley got me for Christmas. Here are the recipes I’m coming home with thus far:

Penne all-Arrabbiata (spicy pasta)
Rigatoni al Ragú alla Bolognese (simply superb)
Vegetable Millefoglie (eggplant “sandwiches” with zucchini and potato)
Mushrooms and Ricotta Crespelle (savory crepes!!)
Tiramisu (definitely the best I’ve had thus far)
Crostata di Ricotta con Nutella (Ricotta pie with Nutella. Trust me. It’s delizioso)
Onions au Gratin (nom nom)
Pizzette fritte Napoletane (Fried Napoleon Pizza. Sounds weird, but it was yummy)
Polpette in Umido (Meatballs w/ Veggie sauce. One of the best things I’ve learned)
Straccetti di Manzo con Pachino, Rughetta, e Parmigiano (Beef with tomatoes, arugula and parmesan. YUMM)
Panzerotti ripieni con ricotta e cioccolato (Ricotta and chocolate cookies. Superb!)

I’m also coming home with recipes on how to make a regular tomato sauce from scratch, how to make dough from scratch, how to make a crepe mix, and how to make a Bechamel sauce (which is a sweet, creamy sauce).

PLUS I still I need to get the recipes from this past week AND I have one more cooking class at the end of March. Part of me wants to see if any more are available, but maybe I should let other people have a chance haha.

I can’t wait to get home and cook for everyone!!

Francesca and I with Chef Andrea. Love him!!

Breakdown of the past 2 weeks.

adreamersnotepad — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:41:48 +0100

Because I’m too lazy to legit write anything, here are pictures that I took from the past two weeks!

DUOMO IN FLORENCE!!! HUZZAH!!

Sunset from the top of the Duomo

Famous Florentine Steak. DELICIOUS!!!!

Wine Tasting in Tuscany (Sam, me, Cristina, Kori, and Kayla) =]

KATE JONES INVADES ROME!!! (Dana and Kate waiting for the Carneval Parade to begin)

Sean visits as well!!! HUZZAH!!

I will be better with this blog. I apologize!!!

GAH!!

adreamersnotepad — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:42:00 +0100

SOOO SORRY EVERYONE!! I have not updated this at all in about a week, and I greatly apologize. Brief explanation why: Ms. Kate Jones and Mr. Sean Toland are visitng (HUZZAH!!), mid-terms are absolutely killing me, and I’m wicked lazy. SOOO, tomorrow afternoon I PROMISE I will update this and tell you all what has been going on the last week and a half. CIAO!!

P.S. It’s March already. WHAT?!

Food shopping.

adreamersnotepad — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:44:57 +0100

Not gonna lie, but I miss my grocery store back home. Everything is all conveniently there, and I can read what I’m buying. Plus, I’m actually getting even more sick of pasta. It’s the cheapest stuff here though (practically 50 cents a bag) and it’s the easiest to make. Wahh.

Francesca and I sing this practically 24/7 haha.

adreamersnotepad — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:13:47 +0100

Francesca and I sing this practically 24/7 haha.

Swan Lake

adreamersnotepad — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:29:48 +0100

Last night, API took us to the Teatro dell’Opera to see Swan Lake. Everyone dressed up beautifully and snazzily. I wore my new olive-ish colored dress that I bought at Marshall’s before coming to Rome. I also got to spend some time with Dana and Meghan (who I’ve only once in Rome this entire time!). As soon as I stepped into our booth and was able to see the entire opera house, my jaw dropped. Absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, I’m incredibly stupid and didn’t bring my camera! So the pictures that I will post here are from Meghan and Dana (don’t kill me, girls!!). I shared a booth with Kori and a guy from API named Jon. We were all wicked excited for the curtain to finally part and the performance to commence.

(Meghan’s view of the stage)

(A beautiful photo taken by Dana)

Simply put: One of the most beautiful performances I have ever seen. The ballerinas (both male and female) making dancing look so simple. Everything was amazing: the costumes, the lighting, the music. THE MUSIC!!! Tchaikovsky is an absolute genius. The dancers brought such life to the music.

Only downfall of the night: The people who were in the booth next to us were constantly talking. In the third act (out of four), I finally asked them to stop. Yes, I understand that ballets have no dialogue whatsoever. But that doesn’t mean you have to add your own and ruin the experience for those around you. Geez.

Seeing this performance made me homesick, however. Listening to the pit warm-up and tune their instruments made me long for my own violin. And as soon as those curtains parted, I wanted to be the one standing behind them. I miss theater and singing. I can’t do much singing here because the walls are truly like paper. So when I get home, I plan on taking a long drive and belting out as many songs as possible.

(Random: Downfall of having blue eyes? Constant red-eye in pictures haha)

Valentine's Day

adreamersnotepad — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:52:56 +0100

So instead of wallowing in sorrow on Monday, I ended up having a lovely day. The sun was shining and the day was simply beautiful. Although we had classes, the day seemed to go by quickly. Around 7:30 (19:30), Tressa, Devin, Kori, Cristina and I went out to “Sexy Wine” and celebrated a kind of Lonely-Hearts Club. We laughed and had a great time, enjoying delicious food and strawberry wine (“Sexy Wine”). Next stop: gelato! We walked down the street to Della Palma, which offers 50 selections! I got banana, Nutella, and strawberry. Sounds odd, but it was divine!

I still believe Valentine’s Day is pointless, but if I had to give it a meaning, this would be it: Valentine’s Day, to me, is not just having a significant other. It’s a celebration of love between friends and family, and I was fortunate to spend the day with the best of friends.

Casa Mia!

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:03:09 +0100

So last night, I forced Francesca and Ilana to come with me to Casa Mia, a restaurant in Rome that is about a 20 minute bus ride away. Before I left for Rome, Mom, Hayley, and I went to Tutto Italiano in Hyde Park to get our deli meats, and we told them that I was going to Rome. They went nuts and told me to go this restaurant (Casa Mia) and ask for Enzo. “He’ll hook you up.”

So… we went.

Mike (our unofficial roommate) joined us, and we ventured out to Via Simeto, 15.

We found the restaurant and our waiter actually ended up being Enzo himself! He asked us what we were in the mood for. Francesca, Mike, and I said meat while Ilana said pasta. So what did our Italian friend do? Gave us a full course meal (appetizer, first course, second course, and dessert). Everything was simply amazing. The appetizer was cheese bread, which we were completely satisfied with. The pasta dish was noodles that were thicker than fettuccine (I can’t recall the name), the meat was fall-off-the-bone phenomenal, and the dessert was yummy. We also shared a bottle of lovely red wine. We were all extremely content with the meal. Enzo may have given us a full course meal, but he didn’t give us much of a break on the bill (dessert was free, however). We didn’t complain though. The meal was exquisite, and we hadn’t had food like that since coming here. Between the four of us, the bill was €129. We ended up paying €140 so we could leave a tip, which is not very common in Italy. It was €35 per person.

Enzo was great and full of life. There was a futbol (soccer) game on the tv, and a huge group of Italians were sitting and watching it. It was so intense. We laughed and watched the game, though we didn’t know who to root for.

It was an amazing night.

Napoli

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:50:24 +0100

So out of the few places I’ve visited throughout Italy, Naples (Napoli) was my least favorite. I thought the entire city was dirty, grungy, and unexciting. I don’t even know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I experienced. I went with a good group of people: Francesca, Ilana, Marisa, Mike, Gennaro, Sal, and Mark. The train left Termini Station in Rome at 8:27am and arrived in Napoli Centrale at 10:45am. We got our map and set out for pizza. We were all starving. After being a tad bit lost and asking a couple of locals where we were, we found Da Michele, which is the famous pizzeria mentioned in Eat, Pray, Love. Our pizza was phenomenal! I absolutely loved it, and we arrived there just in time. As we were leaving, we noticed a gigantic line outside. We wandered around and tried to go to the Castel Nuovo, but social workers had locked themselves inside, claiming “Il welfare non é un lusso,” which means “Welfare is not a luxury.” So we weren’t able to explore that castle, but we went up to Castel Sant’Elmo, which turned out to have absolutely stunning views. We then proceeded to get extremely lost in Napoli, and had dinner because we were fed up with trying to find a way back to the train station. Everyone enjoyed their food, and our waiters directed us back to the station. We got home around 11:30, and fell asleep in a heartbeat.

I feel like if I had more time in Naples, I may have enjoyed it a bit more. I didn’t absolutely loathe it, but if I never go back there, I wouldn’t be too upset.

(Mount Vesuvius!!)

cornersoftheworld: Florence, Tuscany Italy can’t wait to...

adreamersnotepad — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:30:02 +0100

cornersoftheworld:

Florence, Tuscany Italy

can’t wait to visit here this upcoming weekend!!

cornersoftheworld: Vernazza, Italy I’m dying to go here....

adreamersnotepad — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:01:56 +0100

cornersoftheworld:

Vernazza, Italy

I’m dying to go here. Looks so beautiful!!

Bracciano

adreamersnotepad — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:08:25 +0100

This little quaint town, which is about one hour north of Rome, was absolutely adorable. Not much to offer in terms of tourist things, but still stunning. Lago di Bracciano was out of this world beautiful. It reminded me of Great East Lake. I miss home, but I’m enjoying every moment here.

Vatican

adreamersnotepad — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:46:48 +0100

Last Friday, I went with all of API to visit the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. Finally! I mean, I only live right next to it haha. Simply put, the entire tour was remarkable.

Court of the Pine Cone

Laocoon (the first sculpture of the Vatican Museums)

School of Athens (painted by Raphael). Plato (who Raphael painted to look like Leonardo da Vinci) is the man in red pointing towards the sky, Aristotle is next to him in blue pointing to the earth. Socrates is to Plato’s right in green, and he’s counting on his fingers.

Raphael’s own self-portrait in his School of Athens.

St. Peter’s Basilica!

Michaelangelo’s famous Pieta

The Throne of St. Peter