The Sky

One of the things I've grown extremely fond of since being here in Florence is the sky. I know, I know...sounds kind of weird. BUT, I swear to you the clouds are fluffier, the sky is bluer and the sunsets are ineffably beautiful. I constantly gawk at the sky on my morning walk to class, as the sun begins to peak out from behind the Duomo and illuminate the skyline ahead of me. More than ever, I enjoy going on evening runs, hopeful that I'll witness yet another unbelievable display in the sky. It's hard to explain the beauty of the sky without seeing it in person, so I'll add some photos to give y'all a better idea of what exactly I'm obsessing over. As my time here in Italy winds down, I've come to realize that it's the little things about this city that I'm going to miss the most.

Missing all of my UVA friends today at Foxfields - hope everyone has a fantastic time!!

Going out with a bang...Amalfi Coast!

Last trip of being abroad...AMALFI COAST!! What a great way to end the semester. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be: warm, relaxing and carefree.

DAY 1: We took a train from Florence to Rome and then Rome to Naples. Once we arrived in Naples we had to catch a regional train [the Circumvesuviana] to Sorrento to find our hostel. In keeping with the trend of travel issues, let me give a brief recap of what happened. Devon and I made it to Naples no problem. We  found our way to the train, bought our tickets, and hopped onto the train that [conveniently] arrived 2 minutes after we got onto the platform. About 20 minutes into the train ride, I casually glanced up at the sign that displays the stops and realized very quickly that we were on the WRONG TRAIN going to the WRONG CITY [cue minor panic...now]. We nicely asked the people sitting across from us what to do and they told us we needed to get off at the next stop, ride the train back 5 more stops, get off again and then get on the train going to Sorrento. So, we got off at the next stop as we were instructed and headed to the other side of the platform to wait for the train. We heard the whistle of the arriving train and a man standing on the other side of the track told us that we were actually on the wrong side of the track to catch the train...naturally. We picked up our bags and sprinted up the stairway that led us to the other side and made it JUST in time to catch the train. PHEW. An hour and a half later we made it to Sorrento, glad to finally have arrived! We did a bit of exploring and eventually found our hostel, which coincidentally turned out to be more like a hotel! I'm talking marble floors, huge chandeliers, couches, tvs, indoor pool [it was closed for Easter...womp womp], spa, etc. Nicest thing about the hostel was that after we checked in and made it to our room, we realized we had been given a 2-bed room instead of the 8-bed room that we had booked!!! JACKPOT! We unpacked a bit, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to sleep.

DAY 2: We awoke at 7:30 am to enjoy the complimentary breakfast provided by the hostel. We decided to book a day cruise to Amalfi and Positano that left around 9 and returned at 6. Around 8:30, a man picked Devon and I up and off we went to catch our boat. They packed about 35 people on a midsize boat and off we sailed to our first stop, Amalfi. The views along the way were incredible and I was excited as ever to finally be out in the sun and relaxing!

En route to Amalfi 

We made it to Amalfi around 10:30am and were told to be back at the dock at 2. So we set off exploring and, after 30 minutes, were done.

At the harbor in Amalfi

The city is so small...we didn't know what to do with ourselves! We wandered around for a bit longer, waiting for some restaurants to open and for the sun to peak out from the clouds.

Lunch was delicious - I ordered a pizza that had peas, peppers and mushrooms and it was great! I would never have thought to put peas on a pizza but I might have to start doing it from now on! We also indulged in after lunch snack...a lemon crepe! The Amalfi Coast is very well known for their lemons and thus for their gelato, limoncello, lemonades, lemon sorbet, etc. It was fantastically light and refreshing and I had to use a lot of restraint not to buy another one!

After lunch we headed down to the beach, just in time for the sun to come out and grace us with its presence. We soaked up a few rays and then re-boarded the boat, eager to get to our next stop... Positano.

En route to Positano

As we approached the shore, I could already tell I was going to love this place. Houses perched on cliff-sides and the bluest water I've seen...I was in love. We B-lined straight to the beach and
 laid our towels down on the rocks. Yup, that's right...I said rocks! Apparently sand beaches are few and far between in the Amalfi Coast. Oh well - it still was a little slice of heaven. We laid out for a while and then, once we were sufficiently toasty, gingerly worked our way down to the water. As cold as it was, I braved the water and took a quick dip in the Mediterranean Sea. Definitely glad I took advantage of such a rare opportunity :).

Positano!

view from the shore at Positano

Around 5 we boarded the boat and headed back to Sorrento. Upon arrival, Dev and I showered and cleaned up nicely for dinner. We went to a restaurant recommended to us by our hostel and it turned out to be delicious! I indulged in both an entree (freshly made pasta with mussels and potatoes) and a contorno (italian for side dish) (eggplant and tomatoes sauteed with basil and garlic).

It was delectable and was such a fantastic end to a fantastic day. Exhausted and comatose from all of the food, we headed back to the hostel to catch up on some much needed z's.

DAY 3:
Instead of shelling out 65 Euros for another organized adventure, Devon and I decided to attempt to do the island of Capri by ourselves. We embarked on a 45 minute ferry ride that took us directly to the main port. Once there, we hiked for about 30 minutes and finally made it to the city center. The only things on our agenda for the day were a) go to the blue grotto and b) lay out on the beach. After some more wandering, we found a small cafe and decided to indulge in a caprese salad. It was delectable!

The next hour and a half were spent waiting in a line for a non-existent bus that was supposed to take us to the other part of Capri, called Anacapri, so that we could catch a boat to go to the Grotto. Annoyed and frustrated, we began exploring other options and finally found a boat that went to the blue grotto. We quickly boarded the boat, eager to beat the clouds that seemed to be rolling quickly in.

leaving Capri and heading towards the Blue Grotto!

Once we go to the entrance of the grotto, we got off of our bigger boat and got into smaller boats [4 people per boat] and waited in line to enter.

entry of the Grotto - you can sort of the see the captain laying flat on his back!

 In order to actually enter the grotto, the rower of the boat must lay essentially flat on his back and use a rope above his head to propel his boat into the cave. It was quite interesting, to say the least, and Devon and I were certain we were going to be accidentally kneed/kicked/slapped in the face [luckily, we sustained zero injuries!!] The Blue Grotto is a mystical treasure. It is a grotto, obviously, but because of the way the sun enters into the cave, the water illuminates and becomes a certain color of electric blue that I've never seen before. It is stunning and striking and magical and I can't really explain its glory because it is just too unreal.

INSIDE THE GROTTO

We made it back to the shore just in time to catch the last ferry returning to Sorrento and headed back to our hostel. After a quick shower and nap, we were picked up at 9 in the lobby for dinner. What's that, you say? Apparently, all of the restaurants that are outside of the center of the city will pick you up and drop you off at your requested destination for FREE! I am SO glad we decided to venture 20 minutes away to this tiny restaurant that had come so highly recommended. Hands down it was the best plate of pasta I've had the entire time I've been abroad [sorry Tarocchi!] Devon and I ordered hand made pasta with eggplant, tomatoes and basil and then each got a side of caprese salad.

 It was absolutely divine. I brought new meaning to the phrase 'member of the clean plate club' because I'm pretty sure there was not a molecule left after I finished. At the end of our meal, they presented us with a tray of complimentary Venezuelan dark chocolate and it was the perfect end to our extremely satisfying meal. Too tired to go out, we cuddled up in our hostel room and fell asleep to the sound of the wind whipping at the sea.

DAY 4: Today we awoke around 8 and headed to Pompeii!

Mt. Vesuvius

Inside the city 

bodies preserved by ash - frozen in the exact position from the time of the eruption

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city that was completely buried by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. The mountain was far enough away that the lava did not touch the city, but the eruption was so large that the elements in the volcanic ash, heat, and fumes were enough to kill the cities inhabitants. Ironically, ash makes for a wonderful preservative, and when the area was accidentally discovered fifteen centuries later, there was a partially intact city under ground. What I find most amazing about Pompei is how modern the people of the time were. They had a fully functioning structured society filled with religion, education and fun. Relics I saw include temples, people, animals, bars, homes, plumbing, central heating systems, and even a brothel with a full menu displayed in tile images. 


Pompei is unreal. And I say unreal in the sense that if you read about it in a story book, you would never think it could possibly be true. After Pompeii, we headed back to Sorrento in hopes of finding a beach. Luckily, we hit the jackpot and not only found a beach but also found SAND!! We laid around for a few hours but, when the sun got to be too much for even ME to handle, we headed back home. [Random interjection: When we were on the beach, we randomly ran in to 2 girls that are studying in Siena that go to UVA! It really is a small world!] Anyways, after we cooled off a bit, we headed out for our last night in Sorrento. We stumbled upon a cute restaurant that was tucked away on a side street off of the main road. I ordered a Vegetarian pizza and we splurged and ordered a nice bottle of wine. The meal was, as you probably expected, really really good. I have to say that overall, I found the food in Sorrento to be the best of any place I've visited. Crazy, huh?

Sorrento's speciality - LIMONCELLO!

 After dinner, we explored a bit and bought some souvenirs in shops that lined Corso D'Italia [the main street, bustling with stores that were semi comparable to the San Lorenzo Market]. We also indluged in a dessert and each bought a nutella crepe [GREAT life decision]. We said our goodbyes to Sorrento and headed home for our last night in paradise. 


DAY 5: We awoke around 8am, eager to avoid any travel mishaps on our last train adventure of the semester. I guess the 23rd time is a charm because we luckily didn't experience ANY travel issues this time! Unfortunately, on our train from Rome to Florence, we were stuck sitting directly behind 2 screaming twin boys that literally didn't stop crying and yelling the entire time. Good thing my Ipod volume is really loud or else I would have been one aggravated passenger. 


Overall, the trip was great! The Amalfi Coast is a beautiful area of Italy that would be a great location for a quick vacation. The cities themselves are a bit on the boring side, as there isn't much to do other than pop into tourist shops and eat [great] food, but it's still a place worth visiting if you ever get the opportunity! 


On an unrelated note, I can't believe my semester abroad is quickly coming to an end. I've got 9 days left of this unbelievable adventure and I plan to take advantage of every moment of it. Sadly, between packing and studying for finals, I'll probably end up spending a good majority of it tucked away inside my apartment. BUT, nonetheless, I've made a list of places I want to revisit, restaurants I want to try, statues I want to see and presents I've yet to buy. My motto for the next week is officially going to be "why sleep now if you can sleep in america"! Classes finished today, thankfully, and so now it's up to me to make the most of my remaining time. Watch out Florence - prepare to be taken by storm :) 

Tuscany day trips and the start of Pesach!

Ciao a tutti!

This past Sunday, I went on a day trip to Populonia! Giovanni, a 22 year old musician from Pistoia [a city 40 minutes away from Florence], asked my friend Noah and I if we would join him for a trip to Tuscany to explore some Etruscan ruins and soak up the sun. Sunday morning, Noah and I caught a train to Pistoia at 8:30am and met Giovanni in the city center. He picked us up in his car and we began the 2 hour trek to Populonia.

Populonia is a small town in the Tuscan region of Italy. It is especially noteworthy for its Etruscan remains, including one of the main necropolis in Italy. We arrived at the park and began our 2 hour hike through the ruins and remains. Along the way we saw:

LIZARDS

Above ground tombs

Beautiful flowers

Pretty overlooks

and underground tombs 

After we finished exploring the archaeological ruins we headed to another town [i can't remember the name, sadly] that is famous for its natural springs!! 20 minutes later we pulled into the parking lot and got out, eager as ever to cool off a bit. Wellll, I guess I didn't put two and two together because these were natural HOT springs! The water was almost exactly 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so it was more like a big bathtub than a refreshing pool. Regardless, I really enjoyed relaxing at this outdoor oasis 

.

We wandered around the city for a bit longer after we dried off and as the clock struck 7pm we said our goodbyes to Giovanni and thanked him for a great day. 

Next Topic: Passover! 

This past Monday marked the first night of Passover, as I'm sure you all well know :) I was determined to attend a Seder whilst here in Firenze so I signed myself [and my friend Justin] up for the local seder. We opted to participate in the free guided tour of the city beforehand, as it promised to point out the old and new jewish historical sites around the city. It was really great! I learned a lot and it was a nice change of pace from all of the churches and christian history that I've been learning so much about since being here! As 8:45 rolled around we began to follow the crowd and sat ourselves at the seder table. It was packed! The seder was led by Chabad and was mainly in Hebrew and was quite an experience. Highlight of the evening: Across the table from me was an Israeli woman, maybe about 29 or 30, who was visiting Florence and came to the seder by herself. In order to make space for a handicapped man, the rabbi leading the seder asked if she would mind moving down to the end of the table. She happily obliged and leaned down to pick up her belongings. That's when things took a turn for the worst. As she bent down, her luscious red curls caught on fire from the candle that was in front of her. Without even realizing it had happened, she sat back up as everyone looked on in horror as her hair quickly became engulfed in flames. Everyone began to yell and, once she finally realized what had happened, she began frantically patting her hair in hopes of putting the fire out. Luckily for her, it went out pretty quickly and didn't cause her any physical damage. But, as she reached her hand to the back of her head to assess the damage, she pulled out a HUGE chunk of hair that had been burnt off from the back. WHAT A START TO A SEDER, HUH?!  After that, things went pretty smoothly thank gosh. About halfway through we realized that we were actually at the wrong seder and this was not the one that we had paid to attend, woops! Oh well - it was still really neat. Dinner was slim pickings: a quarter of a slice of a hard boiled egg, soup withOUT matzoh balls [blasphemy!], a slice of gefilte fish and then some brisket. Not bad overall but obviously didn't hold a candle to the seder feast I'm used to.  We thanked the rabbi, said our goodbyes and left around 11pm to finish up some homework. 

The next night, determined to make it to the correct seder, we headed back to the synagogue. After a bit of confusion and lots of down time, we finally made it into the seder and took a seat at the long tables. This was the 'youth' and 'foreign students' seder and it was great! It was filled with hebrew songs, miniature skits, italian banter and a smattering of english. It was so much fun, although still not nearly as great as my family's seder [what can I say...I'm partial]. Anyways, the food was both better and more abundant and we left very content and sated [although still no matzoh ball soup, grrr]. 

I'm so glad I was able to experience a seder in Italy. It was really neat being able to connect with Jews from all over the world and come together for this special holiday. I'm sure I will remember this experience for the rest of my life

Tomorrow, Devon and I leave for our last trip of the semester: the Amalfi Coast! We're staying in Sorrento but have plans to visit Capri, Possitano, Pompeii and Delphi. We're not returning until Monday due to an extended Easter vacation, so I'll be sure to update promptly upon my return. Until then, I leave you with a few photos of the arno from the past weeks here in Firenze: 

Arno by sunset

Cinque Terre and Milan adventures!

First of all, I just wanted to apologize for the delay. I've been really busy with school, mainly focusing most of my attention on a 10 page art history paper that is due on Thursday. To date, I've written 4 pages...so I've clearly got a ways to go. But I've reached a road block and have decided to put the paper aside for a bit and, in that time, update my blog!

Cinque Terre is absolutely incredible. For those that have never heard of it [like me, prior to coming to Italy], it is a small collection of 5 villages off the Western coast of Italy. It's often frequented by study abroad students in the springtime, as the lure of warm weather, beautiful beaches and scenic hikes are too much to pass up. We stayed in the city right outside of Cinque Terre called Levanto. This is what we saw as we approached our hostel :

We had to fight the urge to drop everything, grab our towels and hit the beach for the remainder of the day! We made it to our hostel [fun fact: it used to be an old mental hopsital! you better bet I slept with one eye open the whole night...], checked in, and got a quick bite to eat at a local pizzeria. My Italian teacher had recommended the pesto in Cinque Terre, so I opted for a pesto pizza and boy was it delicious! 

After we refueled, we decided to hike. Now I forgot to mention that one of the biggest draws of Cinque Terre is the fact that you can literally hike from one town all the way to the last. The trail takes about 12 hours to complete, so it's definitely not for everyone, but it's supposed to be spectacular. Unfortunately, due to a really rough winter, rocks have fallen and blocked most of the path between the towns, making the trail unnavigable. Disappointed, we decided to do the next best thing: "A two hour hike from Levanto to Monterosso." Monterosso is the first of the 5 towns and is where the biggest and most popular beach is located, so we were eager to get going! 

So we began, carefully following the trail markers along the way!

We hiked up...

We saw lots of pretty foliage along the way, stopping to take 'photos' every 20 minutes [but actually using it as an excuse to catch our breaths]

We kept hiking, wondering when this 'hike' was ever going to end! We didn't realize it until we reached the summit but we literally climbed over a mountain!

And we FINALLY made it to the top, thoroughly exhausted! At this point we had already been hiking for 2 hours, so none of us were all that excited for the descent. It ended up being only about an hour down, but it was steep and treacherous the entire way down. Regardless,  all 3 of us enjoyed the hike IMMENSELY and were so proud of ourselves for completing it. Next time, though, I'll be sure to bring a power bar and a bottle of water - I've never been so parched in my whole life!

Anyways, we finally made it down to the bottom and were welcomed by this heavenly view

We stopped at a fresh-lemonade stand, grabbed some refreshing beverages and headed straight towards the sand. I've never been so happy or excited to see the beach in my life! I gingerly stuck my toe in the water but very quickly retracted it, as it was absolutely FREEZING [even too cold for you I suspect, dad!]. We didn't care though - we happily laid on the beach and took a much needed power nap before beginning on to the rest of the villages. 

After Monterosso, we hopped on a train to the next city: Vernazza! All of the towns in Cinque Terre are very small and it takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end of the city to the other. Additionally, they are all easily accessed by trains, which makes it easy for the lazy traveler to explore each city! 

It was BREATHTAKING! The water, the rocks, the houses perched on the side of the cliff....I still can't believe this place exists. Euphoric from the views, we decided to continue on in hopes of catching the sunset at Manarola, the next of the 5 towns. Luckily for us, we timed it just perfectly: 

Manarola. Wow. What can I even say? I think the pictures speak for themselves - it was hands down the prettiest place I've ever been in my entire life. I really felt like I was in a fake universe or something...it was incredible. We stayed there for as long as we could and then decided we should probably head back to Levanto before the sun completely disappeared. We made a game plan to get up early and hit the two remaining cities in the morning, as they were smaller and less picturesque. 

Well, in keeping with the theme of our travel, something HAD to go wrong. Background: The lady at the train station told us you could buy a 6 hour pass in one direction that would be good for all of the cities. Coming back, however, we would need to buy another pass, is it would be going in the opposite direction and our one way pass would no longer be valid. By the time we got to the train station around 7:45, the ticket counter had closed and we couldn't find anywhere to buy a new pass! Anxious but without any other option, we boarded the train and crossed our fingers that we wouldn't run into a conductor. In fact, as the train began to move, I even said "We haven't seen one conductor all day - I don't think we have anything to worry about!" 

FAMOUS. LAST. WORDS. About 3 minutes in to the 20 minute train ride, we see a group of about 10 Americans run from the back of our train car up to the front and, as they hurried past us, we heard the words "FINE". I turn around, see the conductor working her way up through our car, and immediately join the other frantic students in their attempt to hide. We navigated all the way to the VERY first car of the train and hid out there, counting down the seconds until the train would make its first stop. Just as the conductor entered the car we were all anxiously hiding in, the train stopped its wheels and we all bolted off, SO happy that we didn't get yet another fine. We checked the train schedule and realized another train wasn't arriving for another HOUR, grr.  Regardless, we quickly made our way over to the ticket machine and...BROKEN?! Seriously? Out of order? So as 10pm rolled around, we boarded the last train back to Levanto, still ticketless and quite annoyed at the entire situation. Luckily for us we didn't have any run-ins with conductors this time around and, on a positive note, we spent about an hour in the 4th city Corniglia [and subsequently decided we didn't need to go back in the morning]. Sheesh

So the next morning we woke up and headed to Riomaggiore, the last of the 5 cities to be seen. The weather wasn't cooperating like it did the day before, so we weren't able to snag any good photos unfortunately. We said our goodbyes to Cinque Terre, bought AND validated our train tickets, and were on our way to Milan for the Nas/Damian Marley concert! 

We checked in at our hotel in Milan and began exploring. It was only 80 degrees but it sure felt like it was 100! We spent a few hours walking around but, much to our disappointment, most things in the city were closed. I have to say, it wasn't my favorite city and I most likely wouldn't go back. We finally found a place to sit down and enjoy an ice cold beverage before heading to the concert. 

The Duomo in Milan - it suuuure is beautiful!

The concert was incredible! I'm a HUGE reggae fan, so I was excited beyond belief to see a reggae concert in Italy!! 

Check out Damian Marley's Dreadlocks!! They're down to the floor!

The concert did not disappoint! They were fantastic together, playing almost all of the songs on their CD, and then they each did a short solo set. I was in heaven. Additionally, they ended the show with an encore of Could You Be Loved by none other than Bob Marley. What a perfect end to a great show! 

After the concert, we walked around Milan for a bit longer, looking at their Duomo at night. The city itself reminded me a bit of Florence but not as lively. There was a cool exhibit though that was a pile of salt with horses sticking out of it! Very neat. 

 We woke up the next morning and boarded our 4 hour train ride back to Florence. What a fantastic weekend trip!! I would HIGHLY recommend Cinque Terre as a vacation spot to anyone that is looking for something a bit more exotic and adventurous than your typical Caribbean hotspots.

switching gears! 
With only about 3 weeks left in Florence, I'm really trying to make the most of my time here! This past week was filled with firsts, including: a visit to the Great Synagogue of Florence! It was absolutely beautiful. Photography wasn't allowed [and for once I didn't disobey the rules] but you'll just have to trust me when I say it was gorgeous. I'm hoping to go back sometime next week for a Seder at the local Chabad with some friends - might be a neat experience to have while in Italy! I also finalllly made it to the Accademia and saw the David! I've studied so much about this sculpture that it was really great being able to see it in person. He's huge!!

Brigid, Devon and I went to some new restaurants and explored a bit of the Arno that we hadn't seen before. Who knew you can walk out to [basically] the middle of the river and lay out on a cement plateau!

It was right up my alley. Our friend Matt from Australia that we met in Dublin is in town for the weekend and we've been showing him around the city a bit. We hit up the Leather Market yesterday and bought some last minute presents for the family [no spoiler alerts here...sorry!] ALSO, yesterday I went on a Psychology field trip to an Ex-Mental Asylum! It was definitely an interesting experience and left me with a very unsettled feeling in my stomach. In the 1960s, the majority of the people in the asylum were not actually mentally ill; instead they were different, ie gay, artistic, etc. This mental asylum existed before there were rules to control the treatment of patients. On our tour of the building, you could see writing all over the walls that said things like "help me" and "these nurses are the devil" and "you will pay for this." It was very very sad.

Tomorrow I am going with my Italian friend Giovanni and my apartment mate Noah to a little city called Populonia. Giovanni is the tour guide and he's taking us on a tour of this little town, known for its Etruscan ruins and beaches. I'm sure it'll be a really cool experience so I'll update soon, I promise!