Γειά σου την Αθήνα

Sorry I've been bad at updating this. We were in Milan and Venice last weekend, and boy oh boy do I have stories.

Currently I'm in Athens.. so I'll update when I get back.

Αντίο

Va Bene!

Just to inform you, I'm not coming home. Ever. I have devised a plan along with a few of my classmates to suction cup ourselves to Italy. You will have to get over it.

The days FLY by here, and I've been in Italy for almost 4 weeks. What?! I can't even believe it. It might be the fact that I only have class 3 days a week, or it might just be the fact that I'm ridiculously happy.

Wednesday I made sushi in my cooking class. I know I know, "you're in Italy, why are you making sushi?" Well it just so happens that my sushi-making ability will probably save me approximately 80 dollars a year ;)

Thursday was one of the busiest days I've ever had. I had class from 9 am until 4:15. However, for my Archaeology class, we went to a small town called Fiesole for the day! It's got archaeological ruins, and an archaeological museum. The town itself is up on one of the hills that overlooks Florence, and the view is absolutely breathtaking. My internet is spotty at the moment, so I can't upload the pictures on here, however they ARE on my Picasa site.
After my third and final class of the day (Italian - had a quiz, got 100 WOO) had to FLY home and eat.. and then get ready for Slow Drink Club. Basically we go for wine tastings and learn how to pair foods with wine. We went to a cute little trattoria next to the Ponte Vecchio, where we tasted Chianti Classico and a white wine that I can't remember the name off the top of my head...
When slow drink club was over, we headed over to the Piazza della Repubblica where we met up with our program leaders and we headed about 30 minutes down the Arno to go see Il Pagliacci, a pretty well-known opera. I honestly have no clue what was going on, however what I CAN tell you is that the music was fantastic.

Today, Jess and I woke up at 8 am (gaaaaah) and met 5 of our Stonehill friends at the Florence train station. We got our tickets (..and remembered to VALIDATE them this time since we neglected to do so for Pisa thus we got a free train ride) and hopped a train toward Lucca. It was a pretty train ride, however we sort of missed our stop. And clearly by "sort of" I mean "completely". Right after we stopped blaming Stonehill for our lack of map-reading abilities, we ended up in Viareggio, which is a beach town - so clearly not all was lost. We hung out at the beach for an hour, illegally jumped on the train heading toward Florence, and got off at Lucca, our correct stop.
Lucca is a town that has its ENTIRE city wall still in tact, and its a 2.5 mile loop. The first thing we did when we got there was eat, at this place called Trattoria dal Leo, which was absolutely amazing. However, to get there, we had to make friends with an Italian guy (thank GOD Tony speaks Italian).. instead of giving us directions, he took us there. Then he told the owner to take care of us because we were his new friends... so we got discounted meals (Spaghetti with clam sauce for 6 euro anyone?). We then decided to rent bikes (only 2.50 an hour!!!) so we could ride around on top of the city wall. When we were done with that we went to the giant tower that has oak trees at the top, and climbed that. AMAZING view! We had SUCH a good time, and Lucca is probably the most beautiful place I've ever been.

So now you know why I don't want to leave. Time is going by too fast! Okay it's bed time, we all have to be up at 5 am, as we are going with our program to Milan tomorrow and Venice sunday for Carnivale!

Oh! Also, Jess and I have booked some trips. Next weekend, we're heading to Athens. The weekend after, I'm going to visit my friends Monica (who was a friend of mine that moved there when we were 11) and Sam (a friend from Mount that is studying there for the semester). And, for spring break, Jess and I are going to Prague and Vienna! I'm really excited... I mean really broke, but really excited!

Oh one more thing, thanks to everyone who has been sending me recipes! We've tried a bunch of them out, and we're not eating pasta every night anymore!

Night!

Pisa!

Hello!
After my post yesterday, Jess and I wandered around Florence and attempted to visit the Uffizi museum. We get into it for free, so why not? We got there to discover a sign that basically said "We're on strike for the afternoon, come back tomorrow". Italy and its work schedule drives me UP A WALL. It's honestly as though they work when they feel like it.. and if they don't feel like it then they call a strike. The country shuts down in the afternoon so everyone can nap and they don't bother opening up on Monday mornings because that would be too hard to do apparently. And if they really don't want to work and they are SUPPOSED to work.. they just strike. "Oh I have this thing I want to go to but I have to work.." *OH THATS FINE MARIO, WE'LL JUST SHUT THE MUSEUM DOWN.. NO BIG." ....ugh. (..that was a pretty long rant, sorry) Anyway, it was SO nice out that day that we decided to wander around a little longer.. and we ended up down by the Arno river.. Here are some pictures.


Today, Jess and I got on a train (..which was accidentally free but don't tell Italy) headed for Pisa. It was only about and hour and a half away! Pisa is very small, and significantly calmer than Florence is. In fact, drivers STOP for pedestrians. We walked all the way down the main road and ended up at their duomo, along with the leaning tower. And yes, we were tourists and DID take a million pictures. We also laid on the lawn and basked in the sun because for once it was WARM and SUNNY. We tried to go to the botanical garden also, but they decided to close at 1 today. ...Is anyone surprised? We got sandwiches at a place called Salza's which reminded me of Scialo Bros bakery on Federal Hill, only 150,000 times better. We also got gelato (..surprised again, right?) which I successfully ordered in Italian and nobody laughed at me. I got a cone.. half strawberry half nutella. It was amazing. Ok here are more pictures.

Roma!

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. I've been sick (with what I think is bronchitis) and have been in a miserable mood so I did not want that to come out in blog entry. :)

Classes are going well, though they are all 2.5 hours long. I like wednesdays because I only have one class at 9 am and then have the whole day to myself. My social psychology class is a little boring, because I've learned most of the material already in all of my other classes. Archaeology class, however, is one of the most fascinating classes I could have taken. I have two professors (a girl from Italy who looks like Dina, and a guy from France named Simone) who are both archaeologists and are REALLY into their jobs. They showed us pictures of the dig site they work at, and yesterday even brought in artifacts from the sites, such as handles from mirrors, and clay pottery.

Last weekend the program I came to Italy through took us to Rome for the weekend. We left at 7 am (Eww) from a church halfway across the city. When we arrived in Rome we immediately went on a walking tour of the city. Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire time we were in Rome, but we all tried to make the best of it. Even more unfortunately, this is when my cold started to turn to bronchitis. On the tour, we were able to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, and all of the other Roman landmarks, minus Vatican city and the Colosseum. Friday night a few friends and I met up and walked around, but called it an early night since we had things we had to do in the morning. Saturday, we woke up early and went on a guided tour of St. Peter's Basilica and the Castel Sant'Angelo, which is right outside of Vatican city. The castle was originally built as a mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian, but ended up being a safe haven for popes due to the secret passage that connects it to the Vatican. If you read the DaVinci Code, it talks about this place.
After the tour I had to sleep, and did so for approximately four hours... oops.
On sunday, we woke up and checked out, and were allowed some free time so I walked around and took pictures, especially of the place where Caesar was stabbed. Around 1:30, we all met at our hotel and we went on a bus tour of Rome to see all the things that were too far away for us to walk to. Then the bus dropped us off of the Colosseum, and we had a guided tour of that. For the first time in about ten days it was NOT raining, and we saw the sun!! ...and there are no words to describe how happy I was.
I definitely regret not being able to see more of Rome while I was there... so that just means I will have to go back! I will want to see the Roman forum, and the Sistine chapel, because the tours we had did not include them. I also did not throw my coin into the Trevi fountain, so I will have to go back to Rome to ensure that I... well.. go back to Rome again ;)

Arrivederci :)

Here I Am

Before you read this post, I want you to find a recipe that you enjoy having for dinner and/or lunch and I want you to write it down and email it to me at lmccormick9@gmail.com ... we're starving. Your recipe cannot involve ground hamburger (because its about 85% ground-up tendon as I learned) or, most importantly, PASTA. oh my god if i eat one more 'roni I WILL shoot myself.

Back to the blog.Well things have been going pretty well since my last post. It's rained every day since last week, and will continue to rain until Tuesday! Ughh oh well.
A lot has happened since last update. We've done a LOT of exploring and a LOT of cooking. We actually kind of have a system down.. because we cannot afford to go out every night to dinner like the rest of our apartment, we've made friends who are in a similar financial situation (aka we're not millionaires...?) and we all get together and cook for the group of us. It's been working out really well and it's really economical to do it. For example, tonight we went to Chelsea's apartment, Carrie cooked the meal, and Jess and I paid for the chicken while the others paid for the vegetables and dessert. It works out really well and it brings a lot more variety to what I'm eating.

In other news, we found a SUPERMARKET. Of Stop&Shop proportions. It's really a co-op (local farmers sell their products to the supermarket to be distributed). It's less sketchy than the central market (THE CHICKENS. HAVE HEADS.) and there's a minimal amount of Italian that I have to speak there. Only problem? It's a solid 20-25 minute walk. Whatever, they had things I recognized and were much cheaper.

On another food-related note... there's no such thing as marsala wine. They'll look at you like you have about 12 heads. I even used Yahoo answers.. someone told me I had to go to the Marsala region of Italy for it. Any ideas?

Classes started. My first class was "Organized Crime: Sociology of the Italian Mafia". And I will now present to you a direct quote from my professor. "Mafia wars ARE permitted during class time, however please wait until the weather is nicer until you use water guns". Ohhhh I think I'm going to like it here. This class will be intense.. I have to do a 20-minute presentation, as well as a 10 page paper.. Not cool. I think we have a field trip for this class to somewhere Mafia-esque.

Second class was Italian 101. My teacher doesn't speak english. However, I can now spell my name in Italian and I can tell you that I don't speak or understand Italian. That's all I need right?

Today, my only class was "Current Trends in Italian Cuisine". My teacher is awesome and does pretty well with English but occasionally screws up slang and it makes for a good class. We made potato-leek soup. I have mandatory field trips to a vineyard and a fancy Mediterranean dinner. Paid for, in full, by Stonehill College. WOO.

Tomorrow I have classes 9-4:15 (Social Psych, Archaeology, and Italian again) and then we're making dinner with our friend Tony from Stonehill. Should be a good day... IF IT STOPS RAINING

Anyway dont forget to send me recipes please.. I'm serious.

I'm going to Rome on Friday morning at 7 so I probably wont update before that. Be back Sunday night ;)