What a long day, that is. This week is just crawling by - it's not really a bad thing, since one of the best parts of Italian life is just being, not doing anything in particular. I was just outside on the balcony with my eyes closed, listening to some music. Now, I'm watching a TV show called "La Vita in Diretta" - Direct Life, I guess, and it's about current events. They spend a lot of time talking about celebrities and movie stars and how their issues affect Italians in general. Now they're talking about cancer. So in general, it's been a slow day. Weather's pretty bad too - cloudy, and a little chilly. Today, I'll just scribble what my last couple days have been like.
I didn't go into Venice at all yesterday. Instead, I took some time to catch up on some work (we read Wesker's The Merchant, a re-visioning of Shakespeare's play) and then I was able to watch a film called Mio Fratello e' Figlio Unico (My Brother is an Only Child). It sounds like a comedy, but it's really serious - two brothers during the 60s in Italy, and one's a fascist and the other is a communist. Aaand they both love the same girl. It was surprisingly intense but I liked it, at least more than Non Pensarci (Don't think about it). The high point of yesterday was probably the amazing weather after the day of acqua alta and the sunset - which I didn't see entirely because we went to the mensa for a fantastic dinner, as usual.
Today, we had a trip scheduled for Venice for my architecture class. We went to Palazzo Grimani, near the Campo Santa Maria Formosa, which was a private residence but also contained a lot of ancient Roman artifacts. The architecture itself imitates classical styles. It was actually one of my favorite trips we've been on for the architecture class. After that, I went to the Bar al Verde with some friends for lunch before going back to San Servolo for my Islam class. I wanted gelato before going back. And I was desperate... and we were in the most touristy part of Venice, Riva degli Schiavoni, and I ended up overpaying vastly (1,30) for the worst gelato ever. It wasn't really gelato, it was more like sucky ice cream that you find in the back of the freezer at the supermarket, or maybe in the back of my fridge in Charlotte. It really put me in a bad mood. See how important these things are?
Anyway, my day got better when I got out of my last class. I took the movie I rented back to the library, and I ran into Francesca again - to remind you all, she's a Ca' Foscari University student who's studying in the Globalization program at VIU, and she (along with Stella, Elena and Giorgia) have been nice enough to let me talk to them to practice my Italian. So I chatted with her and Giorgia for a while - about our classes and the differences between Italian and American universities.
Since then, I've just been in my room. I really should've taken a nap since I was seriously nodding through all my classes today (OH - I should mention we played Taboo in my Italian class this morning) but I didn't. So that's the news. I'm planning on going out to a nice restaurant tonight. My stomach actually just growled, no kidding. I have to say that since I've been eating so much here I actually require more food during the day - and if I don't eat as much as I usually do I start to feel dizzy. Weird, huh? I have no idea how I ate so little during high school wrestling. Ahh.
Anyway, that's all for now. Having a blog is great for times like this.
Andrew
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Nutella sulle Scale
Ciao famiglia e amici,
I'm writing to you all during an unbelievable rainstorm that hit
Before all this weather happened, however, I have to let you know that I had an amazing weekend! Maybe one of the best in
Friday was amazing. I really like some parts of traveling by myself - you can do what you want, when you want. The only one in charge is you. So I rode the vaporetto into
I got on board, not before buying a copy of Il Gazzettino, the regional newspaper of
Anyway, I got into
So I asked Gian Giacomo when the next train to
So I followed her directions, and I ended up at the bottom of this rocky cliff with a tram heading straight up to the top. I took the tram, and sure enough, ESCALATOR! I was finally in the old city of
We admired the view from the top of
So we got back to the hostel, where we ate dinner – yeah, they provided us with a pasta dinner, incredible. And we all ate together, all the people staying in the hostel. The one other guy in my room was from
The next morning, on Saturday, we started the day slowly with a nice long breakfast of – what else – brioche, toast and Nutella. I’m just saying up front that we all overdosed on Nutella. After breakfast, we took out the bikes that are available to guests, and went for a little ride along the trails beside Lago Trasimeno. It was so beautiful – I really can’t explain how amazing it is to ride on a bicycle through the Umbrian countryside. We rode past little farms and plots of land owned by locals. The lake was so picturesque, the sky so blue – it really was a perfect day.
We were planning on taking the train from Magione to 
terms of eating – everyone just goes home at 1, and everything closes. So we were starving on a hill town in the middle of
We caught the next train to 
ecause a mass was taking place. However, the Giotto frescoes in the top level of the basilica were incredible. Some of the most famous ones include Francesco renouncing his family wealth and clothes and declaring himself a follower of only God, Francesco communing with nature, and of course, Francesco receiving the stigmata from the angel. In the Basilica Santa Chiara (Saint Clare), there is a whole set of religious relics said to belong to Francesco and Chiara. For example, there’s a shoe that legend says Francesco was wearing when he received the stigmata. Weird, huh? The tomb of Santa Chiara is in the lower sanctuary, and we saw that too. For Clare, it was a bit of a pilgrimage to her patron saint, haha.
We got back to Magione and Torricello, and were hungry. It was right around dinnertime. The hostel staff recommended il Giardino (the Garden) a really nice restaurant just around the corner from the hostel, not far from the lake. We were the only English-speaking people inside and the menu was only in Italian. It was no problem though because between the four of us, we knew what was going on. The food was incredible. Definitely one of the best dinners I’ve had in
I spent Sunday on the train returning to
I’m just doing some laundry now – I think I can hear it downstairs, actually. The next couple days should be fun – one of our friends Kim just turned 21 today, and on Wednesday
Ciao for now,
Andrew
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Un Viaggio in Svizzera
Ok, to save time, I'm skipping all the stuff I did last week. I caught up on work while my mom and sister went to Firenze and then I caught up with them for dinner and lunch on Wednesday and Thursday when they returned.
All the excitement happened on Thursday afternoon. It was actually a rough day for me because I realized I bought opera tickets (La Traviata, one of my favorites!) for the evening of my train ride to Switzerland, which I booked a few weeks in advance. I was set to go with Dejan and Tim, friends from Duke and UVA, respectively (although Dejan has an international connection, I'll get to that later). So... i was really annoyed that I would have to choose between Switzerland that I'd already paid for and the opera with my family. I ended up going to Switzerland after talking to my family. I'm actually still kind of annoyed at how it happened - it is so hard to plan in this country! Wait- I'm generalizing. I'm just a bad planner, that's it.
Speaking of plans, I'm going to the train station tonight to drop about 250 euro on train tickets. Emily Igo is coming down from London (she's a BC friend studying there this semester)and we're going to Torino for Easter, followed by Genova, Livorno, and Roma. I may go to Firenze on the way back to Venice, but we'll see. Emily has booked all the hostels so it's up to me to make this happen. ATM, here I come (gulp).
So anyway, I'll get back to the Swiss adventure. I got on the vaporetto with Tim and Dejan with more than a few qualms about the trip, and here's why. We had a train running through Milano to Luzern, but our stopover was only 5 minutes (which is no time at all especially since Trenitalia is always late). But on top of that, we had no place to stay in Luzern and no places would let us check in at midnight, when we were set to arrive. So it was a really shaky situation. Like I was worried.
Anyway, we were all thinking it, but as American men, we couldn't say anything. We went to the train station, realized our train was already running about 10 minutes late, therefore eliminating any chance of us making our connection in Milano. The train ride was nice though, and the three of us played a makeshift version of Scattergories (although Dejan protested our adding "Movies" and "Musical Groups" since his cultural experience is different from Tim's and mine. He grew up in Croatia, moved to Germany for ten years, and then came to the US). So we got into Milano and went to the Trenitalia office (the Milano train station is beautiful, by the way). We weren't expecting much from the Ferrovia dello Stato. BUT guess what? They put us on the 9:00 train to Zurich in the morning (we'd have another connection to make to go to Luzern) AND they booked us in a nice hotel in Milano for FREE! This was incredible because we had no place to stay up until that point for Thursday night!
We checked into the hotel. This was Thursday, for reference. It was around 9:00, and all of us were really tired, but we decided to go downtown and check out some of the main sights of Milano, like the Duomo, which is the 3rd largest church in the world. We were in bed by 11.
The next morning, we caught our train, no problem. The train ride was beautiful! We went by Lago di Como, which we would've missed entirely if we'd traveled by night. Another fortunate consequence, we figured. But our luck didn't last - the train was somehow 20 minutes late, so there was no way we'd make our connection to Luzern at Arth Goldau. So we just continued on to Zurich. At some point, lakes turned into mountains and signs were in German, not Italian. Also, the train conductor spoke over the loudspeaker first in German, then in Italian. Dejan is fluent in German though, so we knew we wouldn't have any problems.
When we arrived, we checked for hostels. The one in the center of the Old Town was full, so we decided to stay at the Jungenherberge (?) which is a pretty famous and VERY nice hostel about 15 minutes outside the center. We spent the afternoon walking through Zurich, getting some lunch, gazing at the view of the Alps from the bridges, and walking along the water of the Zurichsee. We also got some AMAZING Swiss chocolate - literally, the best I've ever tasted. For dinner, we ate at a pretty traditional German-Swiss restaurant. We all ordered the veal sausage and potatoes. It was kind of funny because it was so full in the restaurant that we sat at the same table as these two Swiss women. Dejan talked to them in German a little, which was really helpful (he was asking directions or something) and I could follow some of what they were saying. But it made me miss Italy because it's so easy to understand everyone there!
So the next day we took the tram from our hostel (breakfast was included - lots of bread and cold cuts, a German thing I think) and went to a suburb of Zurich to "look for some Serbians." I know this sounds weird, but Dejan is Croatian, and the languages and cultures are really similar. He knew that there would probably be a big Serbian gathering at some club in Zurich that night, so we walked around, looking for Serbs, I guess, and we found one! Dejan asked this lady if she knew where the clubs were, and she said, "What? You mean you haven't been? I don't know where they are but my daughter always goes!" So after some chatting and internet research, Dejan found out that the famous Serbian singer Mile Kitic was singing at Grodoonia, a discoteca pretty far out from the center of the city.
After that little mission, we went to the base of one of the small mountains near Zurich, and started hiking. It was SO steep at the beginning. And it was also ICE cold in Switzerland - I had on long sleeves, a sweater, my coat, scarf and gloves. So as we hiked, all of those things became unnecessary - we were practically running to the top. Oddly, there was a playground up there. We continued on toward the summit, where there was a lot of snow and ice that made the climb a little tricky (don't get any romantic ideas, technically we were climbing the Alps, but it was really more like hiking in New Hampshire, or whatever. And we only spent a couple of hours, like three, so it wasn't even as big of a trip). But the view was AMAZING! We reached the summit, took a lot of pictures, watched the hanggliders in the sky and got some food. There was an observation deck that offered a great view of the city and the Alps in the distance, past the Zurichsee. We were exhausted though, so we took the train back down the mountain. Weak, I know.
Following our alpine excursion (wow, I did that!) we went back to the Old Town and ate at a restaurant that the two women recommended the night before. We got the spaetzle, which is kind of like pasta with cheese and a little baked, so a little brown. It's not as good as the pasta I've had in Italy but it was warm and tasty, perfect after the mountain climbing. I should mention that by this point we'd changed hostels - now we were staying conveniently at the downtown place.
After dinner we caught the train from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to a suburb of Zurich where there was supposedly this Serbian Club called Grodoonia. Dejan was leading us, and we asked for directions, but not many people knew where it was. It was about 9:30, so dark, and we were walking along some pitch-black roads in the country. Like literally, cow pastures. Anyway, we found a hotel right next to a McDonalds and Dejan went in to ask for directions. Tim and I waited outside, but here's what happened. Dejan (in German): "We're looking for Grodoonia, and we can't find it. Do any of you know which direction it is?" Man behind the desk (in Serbian): "Who's singing tonight?"
Next thing we know, the guy is driving the three of us down the road to this big building. The club was on the top floor, and we took the elevator up with some Serbians about our age. We decided to go in even though the entry fee was a little steep, 20 euro. The drinks were also prohibitively expensive inside. But the club was really cool, really suave. Everyone was dressed up so nicely! And Dejan kept pointing out the finer nuances, for example, "That's a Serbian cross that that guy's wearing!" So Tim and I really got an education. Mile Kitic didn't start singing until 11:55, so the party started late, and it was supposed to go until 5. We took a table not too far from the stage and really took in the scene rather than participating actively. The people there, we decided, looked like a cross between Russians and Greeks, which makes perfect sense geographically. Anyway, Grodoonia was really an unforgettable cultural experience for us. We stayed until 2 and then decided to call it a night.
We got on the train at 2:40, and decided to risk it by buying day train tickets instead of the mandatory night tickets. Which ended up being a bad idea when the controller came up to us and asked for tickets. Dejan knows perfect German, but we played the role of "tourist" in order to avoid an outrageous fine. The controllers made us pay the regular ticket price, however, which was a little bothersome - I literally had no more Swiss Francs after that, and didn't feel like changing any more money. We had bought a few things for breakfast the next day, but I had a weird feeling the next day wouldn't be as fun.
I was right - we had to check out of our rooms at 9, meaning we got a little less than 5 and a half hours of sleep. It was just awful, and we ate breakfast and ended up spending most of the day in the lobby of the hostel. We did get out later on though, and we visited the Frauenmunster church, where there are inspiring stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall. That was really a highlight of the trip. But literally, the last day in Switzerland we felt a little like vagabonds. And sooooo tired! Oh well, we just went to the train station and hung out for a couple hours before our train left. And WOW was it an incredible feeling when I got on the train and the woman next to me was speaking in Italian! I felt at home, actually. The train connection in Milano went over well, surprisingly, and we made it back to San Servolo by 1:40 AM.
This week has really flown by, that's all I can say. So I'm kind of skipping over some of the finer details to tell you all that I just made travel plans for this weekend! I'm traveling to Perugia and Assisi with three friends from VIU. And I just bought the train tickets for the epic tour of western Italy I'm making with Emily over Spring Break. Wow. Vi dico piu a dopo. A piu tardi!
Ciao,
Andrew
All the excitement happened on Thursday afternoon. It was actually a rough day for me because I realized I bought opera tickets (La Traviata, one of my favorites!) for the evening of my train ride to Switzerland, which I booked a few weeks in advance. I was set to go with Dejan and Tim, friends from Duke and UVA, respectively (although Dejan has an international connection, I'll get to that later). So... i was really annoyed that I would have to choose between Switzerland that I'd already paid for and the opera with my family. I ended up going to Switzerland after talking to my family. I'm actually still kind of annoyed at how it happened - it is so hard to plan in this country! Wait- I'm generalizing. I'm just a bad planner, that's it.
Speaking of plans, I'm going to the train station tonight to drop about 250 euro on train tickets. Emily Igo is coming down from London (she's a BC friend studying there this semester)and we're going to Torino for Easter, followed by Genova, Livorno, and Roma. I may go to Firenze on the way back to Venice, but we'll see. Emily has booked all the hostels so it's up to me to make this happen. ATM, here I come (gulp).
So anyway, I'll get back to the Swiss adventure. I got on the vaporetto with Tim and Dejan with more than a few qualms about the trip, and here's why. We had a train running through Milano to Luzern, but our stopover was only 5 minutes (which is no time at all especially since Trenitalia is always late). But on top of that, we had no place to stay in Luzern and no places would let us check in at midnight, when we were set to arrive. So it was a really shaky situation. Like I was worried.
Anyway, we were all thinking it, but as American men, we couldn't say anything. We went to the train station, realized our train was already running about 10 minutes late, therefore eliminating any chance of us making our connection in Milano. The train ride was nice though, and the three of us played a makeshift version of Scattergories (although Dejan protested our adding "Movies" and "Musical Groups" since his cultural experience is different from Tim's and mine. He grew up in Croatia, moved to Germany for ten years, and then came to the US). So we got into Milano and went to the Trenitalia office (the Milano train station is beautiful, by the way). We weren't expecting much from the Ferrovia dello Stato. BUT guess what? They put us on the 9:00 train to Zurich in the morning (we'd have another connection to make to go to Luzern) AND they booked us in a nice hotel in Milano for FREE! This was incredible because we had no place to stay up until that point for Thursday night!
We checked into the hotel. This was Thursday, for reference. It was around 9:00, and all of us were really tired, but we decided to go downtown and check out some of the main sights of Milano, like the Duomo, which is the 3rd largest church in the world. We were in bed by 11.
The next morning, we caught our train, no problem. The train ride was beautiful! We went by Lago di Como, which we would've missed entirely if we'd traveled by night. Another fortunate consequence, we figured. But our luck didn't last - the train was somehow 20 minutes late, so there was no way we'd make our connection to Luzern at Arth Goldau. So we just continued on to Zurich. At some point, lakes turned into mountains and signs were in German, not Italian. Also, the train conductor spoke over the loudspeaker first in German, then in Italian. Dejan is fluent in German though, so we knew we wouldn't have any problems.
When we arrived, we checked for hostels. The one in the center of the Old Town was full, so we decided to stay at the Jungenherberge (?) which is a pretty famous and VERY nice hostel about 15 minutes outside the center. We spent the afternoon walking through Zurich, getting some lunch, gazing at the view of the Alps from the bridges, and walking along the water of the Zurichsee. We also got some AMAZING Swiss chocolate - literally, the best I've ever tasted. For dinner, we ate at a pretty traditional German-Swiss restaurant. We all ordered the veal sausage and potatoes. It was kind of funny because it was so full in the restaurant that we sat at the same table as these two Swiss women. Dejan talked to them in German a little, which was really helpful (he was asking directions or something) and I could follow some of what they were saying. But it made me miss Italy because it's so easy to understand everyone there!
So the next day we took the tram from our hostel (breakfast was included - lots of bread and cold cuts, a German thing I think) and went to a suburb of Zurich to "look for some Serbians." I know this sounds weird, but Dejan is Croatian, and the languages and cultures are really similar. He knew that there would probably be a big Serbian gathering at some club in Zurich that night, so we walked around, looking for Serbs, I guess, and we found one! Dejan asked this lady if she knew where the clubs were, and she said, "What? You mean you haven't been? I don't know where they are but my daughter always goes!" So after some chatting and internet research, Dejan found out that the famous Serbian singer Mile Kitic was singing at Grodoonia, a discoteca pretty far out from the center of the city.
After that little mission, we went to the base of one of the small mountains near Zurich, and started hiking. It was SO steep at the beginning. And it was also ICE cold in Switzerland - I had on long sleeves, a sweater, my coat, scarf and gloves. So as we hiked, all of those things became unnecessary - we were practically running to the top. Oddly, there was a playground up there. We continued on toward the summit, where there was a lot of snow and ice that made the climb a little tricky (don't get any romantic ideas, technically we were climbing the Alps, but it was really more like hiking in New Hampshire, or whatever. And we only spent a couple of hours, like three, so it wasn't even as big of a trip). But the view was AMAZING! We reached the summit, took a lot of pictures, watched the hanggliders in the sky and got some food. There was an observation deck that offered a great view of the city and the Alps in the distance, past the Zurichsee. We were exhausted though, so we took the train back down the mountain. Weak, I know.
Following our alpine excursion (wow, I did that!) we went back to the Old Town and ate at a restaurant that the two women recommended the night before. We got the spaetzle, which is kind of like pasta with cheese and a little baked, so a little brown. It's not as good as the pasta I've had in Italy but it was warm and tasty, perfect after the mountain climbing. I should mention that by this point we'd changed hostels - now we were staying conveniently at the downtown place.
After dinner we caught the train from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to a suburb of Zurich where there was supposedly this Serbian Club called Grodoonia. Dejan was leading us, and we asked for directions, but not many people knew where it was. It was about 9:30, so dark, and we were walking along some pitch-black roads in the country. Like literally, cow pastures. Anyway, we found a hotel right next to a McDonalds and Dejan went in to ask for directions. Tim and I waited outside, but here's what happened. Dejan (in German): "We're looking for Grodoonia, and we can't find it. Do any of you know which direction it is?" Man behind the desk (in Serbian): "Who's singing tonight?"
Next thing we know, the guy is driving the three of us down the road to this big building. The club was on the top floor, and we took the elevator up with some Serbians about our age. We decided to go in even though the entry fee was a little steep, 20 euro. The drinks were also prohibitively expensive inside. But the club was really cool, really suave. Everyone was dressed up so nicely! And Dejan kept pointing out the finer nuances, for example, "That's a Serbian cross that that guy's wearing!" So Tim and I really got an education. Mile Kitic didn't start singing until 11:55, so the party started late, and it was supposed to go until 5. We took a table not too far from the stage and really took in the scene rather than participating actively. The people there, we decided, looked like a cross between Russians and Greeks, which makes perfect sense geographically. Anyway, Grodoonia was really an unforgettable cultural experience for us. We stayed until 2 and then decided to call it a night.
We got on the train at 2:40, and decided to risk it by buying day train tickets instead of the mandatory night tickets. Which ended up being a bad idea when the controller came up to us and asked for tickets. Dejan knows perfect German, but we played the role of "tourist" in order to avoid an outrageous fine. The controllers made us pay the regular ticket price, however, which was a little bothersome - I literally had no more Swiss Francs after that, and didn't feel like changing any more money. We had bought a few things for breakfast the next day, but I had a weird feeling the next day wouldn't be as fun.
I was right - we had to check out of our rooms at 9, meaning we got a little less than 5 and a half hours of sleep. It was just awful, and we ate breakfast and ended up spending most of the day in the lobby of the hostel. We did get out later on though, and we visited the Frauenmunster church, where there are inspiring stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall. That was really a highlight of the trip. But literally, the last day in Switzerland we felt a little like vagabonds. And sooooo tired! Oh well, we just went to the train station and hung out for a couple hours before our train left. And WOW was it an incredible feeling when I got on the train and the woman next to me was speaking in Italian! I felt at home, actually. The train connection in Milano went over well, surprisingly, and we made it back to San Servolo by 1:40 AM.
This week has really flown by, that's all I can say. So I'm kind of skipping over some of the finer details to tell you all that I just made travel plans for this weekend! I'm traveling to Perugia and Assisi with three friends from VIU. And I just bought the train tickets for the epic tour of western Italy I'm making with Emily over Spring Break. Wow. Vi dico piu a dopo. A piu tardi!
Ciao,
Andrew
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bologna con la Famiglia
Allora,
Now I've rested up a bit from Switzerland, and I can tell a little more of the story. With any luck, I'll be able to finish. Now, where was I?
Oh yeah, so on Sunday, Frauke left to return to Germany. The plan was that I would stay in Venice for the night in the hotel room with Mom and Margaret, and we would leave early in the morning for Bologna. My mom set up an arrangement at La Scuola San Luigi in Bologna, where our friend Antonella Lobietti is a science teacher and curriculum director. The idea was that on Tuesday, Mom would give a lecture on life in America. It's kind of a long story, but Mrs. Lobietti met my family when she came to Charlotte last February, almost by chance, and I met up with her son Matteo later on, when he was working as an intern at an architectural firm in Charlotte last summer.
So on Monday, we walked quickly through the early-morning streets of Venice to the Rialto vaporetto station. Soon we were at the train station, Venezia-Santa Lucia. The train ride from Venice to Bologna is about two hours, and costs about 9 euro. We got there around 10:30, I think, and with some directions from some helpful and friendly Bolognesi, we found the hotel, which is actually right across the street from the Scuola San Luigi. The manager of the hotel, Filippo, spoke no English, so I had to explain everything to Mom and Margaret - keys, breakfast times, checkout, stuff like that.
We walked outside and called Mrs. Lobietti - and she came almost instantly, with two of her students, Federica and Carolina. Both of the girls were Italian but had some connection to the United States - Carolina spent a year studying in a high school in Arizona, and Federica goes to Florida frequently when her father has work there. Their English was perfect, no accent whatsoever, and their vocabularies were really extensive. Speaking with the two students and Mrs. Lobietti put me in a weird position though - I wanted to speak Italian, but that would've been "rude" because my mom and sister wouldn't have known everything we were saying. It was more expedient to speak in English. It's a really weird feeling.
So Mrs. Lobietti took us up the street to the Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza in the center of Bologna. It was an incredible day - sunny and warm, not typical for Bologna, according to the students. The Basilica San Petronio looms over the piazza, and as we went inside, Mrs. Lobietti told us the interesting story behind it. Actually its construction plans called for a church even larger than San Pietro in Rome, but the Vatican halted the construction (mainly in the creation of the transcept) that would have made the church larger than the Basilica in Rome. Interesting, huh? I've been getting a sense for the tension between the Vatican and the independent republics or cities of Italy, like Venice or Bologna. A lot of the Basilica had been destroyed in World War II bombings, so you can see where the stained-glass windows stop. There is a meridiana on the ground, a line where the sun shines through a hole in the ceiling to tell what time of year it is. We were there just at 12pm, so we could see the line illuminated by the sun.
We walked to the public library of Bologna after that, where all the students at the university study really intensely. I should mention that Bologna is particularly famous for the university there, which is the oldest university in Europe. In retrospect, I wish I could be studying there - it would have given me a lot more practice for my language skills. But oh well. We went inside the reconstruction of the anatomy studies room; in the center of the wooden hall is a marble table on which the cadaver would be placed. Basically, a prototype of the modern medical school. It was originally constructed in the 16th century I think, but it burned down and has been reconstructed.
Then my favorite part - LUNCH! Bologna is also famous for its meats, specifically mortadella, which is called "Bologna" in the United States. And if you've ever heard of the famous style of pasta "alla bolognese," you know now where that comes from. Anyway, the restaurant we went to was really close to a macelleria, a traditional deli that sells meats and cheeses too - it's really cool because there are different kinds of meats hanging from the ceiling.
The restaurant where we ate was INCREDIBLE! I really think it was one of my top five meals in Italy. The place was full so we ate at the same table as these two old guys who were sharing a basket of bread with a couple glasses of wine. We spoke to them a little - it was really funny and they were really genial, really friendly. We ordered wooden plates of meats - mortadella, of course, but also different kinds of prosciutto and salami. Then there was all kinds of cheese... mmmm! And the bread was literally to die for. As we chatted about Charlotte and Bologna, we were joined by another of Mrs. Lobietti's students, Edoardo, who was actually born in California but has lived ever since in Bologna. He goes back to the States frequently, however - and he was wearing a San Francisco 49ers shirt, haha. He was really excited to talk American Football with someone else since it's not popular in Italy.
After a couple hours or so we walked through the streets of Bologna to Le Due Torri, the two towers that are near the center of the city. They're a part of the ancient fortifications of the city (which used to be encircled by a wall) and actually one of them leans a little to the left, so there's a reconstruction project going on now. We got a gelato near the towers and continued walking to the Chiesa Santo Stefano.
Now Edoardo had been trying to connect with some friends to show us an aerial view of the city from their apartment. They weren't home - but that didn't discourage Edoardo. When we got to the church (which is actually a combination of five ancient churches joined together over the ages and now looked after by Benedictine Friars. As soon as we got there, Edoardo made a phone call and started walking around. He came back with Frar Stefano, one of the monks with whom he's become good friends. Frar Stefano showed us all around the church, and there were some really funny moments because he explained most things in Italian, and Edoardo tried to translate into English but I helped him out sometimes. When we saw the "Gallo di San Pietro," the rooster of Saint Peter, Frar Stefano had never heard the word "rooster" before, and he thought it was really funny. So stuff like that. There were a lot of relics and ancient religious objects from the first Christian martyrs of Bologna.
That was pretty much the last thing I did in Bologna. Mrs. Lobietti had to go, and then I had to get back on the train. I actually skipped class on Monday, which was no problem because Bologna is really one of my favorite cities in Italy. What's interesting is that there's a dialect, but they don't really speak it frequently, so it's really easy to understand the people there. In addition, there is almost no tourism in Bologna, and I find that more interesting in some ways - people go to school, or work, and they walk around town. There's not much to "see" - it's better just to "be."
Before I left, Mrs. Lobietti came back to take me to the train station. We had some time, so she took us down the main street of Bologna, Via dell'Indipendenza. There are a lot of nice restaurants and shopping, and it all leads down to the Piazza Maggiore. The arcades go all the way down the street, and it was just magical at nighttime. I spoke with Mrs. Lobietti, and she told me that I could see them if I go back to Bologna. I was the only one on the train when I came home, practically... but it was an incredible day. That's not the last time I go to Bologna, definitely.
Continuo a presto - there's so much to tell and I'm still a week behind! Ahh!
Andrew
Now I've rested up a bit from Switzerland, and I can tell a little more of the story. With any luck, I'll be able to finish. Now, where was I?
Oh yeah, so on Sunday, Frauke left to return to Germany. The plan was that I would stay in Venice for the night in the hotel room with Mom and Margaret, and we would leave early in the morning for Bologna. My mom set up an arrangement at La Scuola San Luigi in Bologna, where our friend Antonella Lobietti is a science teacher and curriculum director. The idea was that on Tuesday, Mom would give a lecture on life in America. It's kind of a long story, but Mrs. Lobietti met my family when she came to Charlotte last February, almost by chance, and I met up with her son Matteo later on, when he was working as an intern at an architectural firm in Charlotte last summer.
So on Monday, we walked quickly through the early-morning streets of Venice to the Rialto vaporetto station. Soon we were at the train station, Venezia-Santa Lucia. The train ride from Venice to Bologna is about two hours, and costs about 9 euro. We got there around 10:30, I think, and with some directions from some helpful and friendly Bolognesi, we found the hotel, which is actually right across the street from the Scuola San Luigi. The manager of the hotel, Filippo, spoke no English, so I had to explain everything to Mom and Margaret - keys, breakfast times, checkout, stuff like that.
We walked outside and called Mrs. Lobietti - and she came almost instantly, with two of her students, Federica and Carolina. Both of the girls were Italian but had some connection to the United States - Carolina spent a year studying in a high school in Arizona, and Federica goes to Florida frequently when her father has work there. Their English was perfect, no accent whatsoever, and their vocabularies were really extensive. Speaking with the two students and Mrs. Lobietti put me in a weird position though - I wanted to speak Italian, but that would've been "rude" because my mom and sister wouldn't have known everything we were saying. It was more expedient to speak in English. It's a really weird feeling.
So Mrs. Lobietti took us up the street to the Piazza Maggiore, the main piazza in the center of Bologna. It was an incredible day - sunny and warm, not typical for Bologna, according to the students. The Basilica San Petronio looms over the piazza, and as we went inside, Mrs. Lobietti told us the interesting story behind it. Actually its construction plans called for a church even larger than San Pietro in Rome, but the Vatican halted the construction (mainly in the creation of the transcept) that would have made the church larger than the Basilica in Rome. Interesting, huh? I've been getting a sense for the tension between the Vatican and the independent republics or cities of Italy, like Venice or Bologna. A lot of the Basilica had been destroyed in World War II bombings, so you can see where the stained-glass windows stop. There is a meridiana on the ground, a line where the sun shines through a hole in the ceiling to tell what time of year it is. We were there just at 12pm, so we could see the line illuminated by the sun.
We walked to the public library of Bologna after that, where all the students at the university study really intensely. I should mention that Bologna is particularly famous for the university there, which is the oldest university in Europe. In retrospect, I wish I could be studying there - it would have given me a lot more practice for my language skills. But oh well. We went inside the reconstruction of the anatomy studies room; in the center of the wooden hall is a marble table on which the cadaver would be placed. Basically, a prototype of the modern medical school. It was originally constructed in the 16th century I think, but it burned down and has been reconstructed.
Then my favorite part - LUNCH! Bologna is also famous for its meats, specifically mortadella, which is called "Bologna" in the United States. And if you've ever heard of the famous style of pasta "alla bolognese," you know now where that comes from. Anyway, the restaurant we went to was really close to a macelleria, a traditional deli that sells meats and cheeses too - it's really cool because there are different kinds of meats hanging from the ceiling.
The restaurant where we ate was INCREDIBLE! I really think it was one of my top five meals in Italy. The place was full so we ate at the same table as these two old guys who were sharing a basket of bread with a couple glasses of wine. We spoke to them a little - it was really funny and they were really genial, really friendly. We ordered wooden plates of meats - mortadella, of course, but also different kinds of prosciutto and salami. Then there was all kinds of cheese... mmmm! And the bread was literally to die for. As we chatted about Charlotte and Bologna, we were joined by another of Mrs. Lobietti's students, Edoardo, who was actually born in California but has lived ever since in Bologna. He goes back to the States frequently, however - and he was wearing a San Francisco 49ers shirt, haha. He was really excited to talk American Football with someone else since it's not popular in Italy.
After a couple hours or so we walked through the streets of Bologna to Le Due Torri, the two towers that are near the center of the city. They're a part of the ancient fortifications of the city (which used to be encircled by a wall) and actually one of them leans a little to the left, so there's a reconstruction project going on now. We got a gelato near the towers and continued walking to the Chiesa Santo Stefano.
Now Edoardo had been trying to connect with some friends to show us an aerial view of the city from their apartment. They weren't home - but that didn't discourage Edoardo. When we got to the church (which is actually a combination of five ancient churches joined together over the ages and now looked after by Benedictine Friars. As soon as we got there, Edoardo made a phone call and started walking around. He came back with Frar Stefano, one of the monks with whom he's become good friends. Frar Stefano showed us all around the church, and there were some really funny moments because he explained most things in Italian, and Edoardo tried to translate into English but I helped him out sometimes. When we saw the "Gallo di San Pietro," the rooster of Saint Peter, Frar Stefano had never heard the word "rooster" before, and he thought it was really funny. So stuff like that. There were a lot of relics and ancient religious objects from the first Christian martyrs of Bologna.
That was pretty much the last thing I did in Bologna. Mrs. Lobietti had to go, and then I had to get back on the train. I actually skipped class on Monday, which was no problem because Bologna is really one of my favorite cities in Italy. What's interesting is that there's a dialect, but they don't really speak it frequently, so it's really easy to understand the people there. In addition, there is almost no tourism in Bologna, and I find that more interesting in some ways - people go to school, or work, and they walk around town. There's not much to "see" - it's better just to "be."
Before I left, Mrs. Lobietti came back to take me to the train station. We had some time, so she took us down the main street of Bologna, Via dell'Indipendenza. There are a lot of nice restaurants and shopping, and it all leads down to the Piazza Maggiore. The arcades go all the way down the street, and it was just magical at nighttime. I spoke with Mrs. Lobietti, and she told me that I could see them if I go back to Bologna. I was the only one on the train when I came home, practically... but it was an incredible day. That's not the last time I go to Bologna, definitely.
Continuo a presto - there's so much to tell and I'm still a week behind! Ahh!
Andrew
Mamma e Sorella
On last Friday, my mom and sister came to
On Saturday we actually “did things” (and I mean things other than just sitting at a restaurant and talking, which is actually one of my favorite things to do here). We started at the Ca' D'oro, which is a 15th palazzo on the
After that, and a few photos with the sis in Piazza San Marco, we headed down to Dorsoduro, where the Collezione Peggy Guggenheim is located. A lot of modern art. Actually my friends had been to see the collection just a week before and they really liked it. I don’t remember much about Peggy Guggenheim except that she was an eccentric American who bought a palazzo on the grand canal and hung out with artsy people like Pollock and Picasso. I guess artsy is an understatement. Masters of modern art. The collection was incredible – I was also surprised by the Italian futurist paintings at the end of the gallery. My sister was especially excited because she has studied many of the artists whose works were featured in the gallery, Rene Magritte, for example. She couldn’t wait to tell her Studio Art teacher.
I also took Frauke, Mom and Margaret to San Servolo – they wanted to see the island where I live (after a gelato, of course). So we took the Number 20 vaporetto to “Alcatraz di Venezia” and I showed them around. They like the green grass and plants, which aren’t amazingly present in
I really should be spending the most time talking about our dinners in
Ciao,
Andrew
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Ricordo di Padova
Wow everyone, it's been a long time since the last post but I just haven't been at my computer recently. My mom and sister are both in Italy right now (Florence today) and so between catching up with them and some of the travel I've been doing, there hasn't been much time for blogging. And there's this other thing called school, yeah.
Anyway, we'll get the boring stuff out of the way first. I actually had a sizeable amount of homework over the weekend, so that would've made me crazy in the States (but it's easy to stay calm over here, somehow). I had to read a play by Christopher Marlowe for my lit class, give an architectural report, write a 5-page paper on Islamic Architecture and prepare a powerpoint for the same subject. And I had a little bit of Italian homework too, but that wasn't that hard. Other mundane news... well, I heard from the Italian state on the progress of my permesso di soggiorno, that is, my residency permit. The word is that I have an appointment on 22 September at the police station in Marghera. So, basically, I don't have to worry about it. I am so happy to hear this because a couple of my friends were missing documents and they have to go to the police station next week. Yuck.
Now for the good stuff. I spent pretty much all of Friday in Padova (it's called "Padua" in English but I like the sound and spelling of the Italian much better). The train ride from Venice is about 30 or 35 minutes, so not bad at all. This was my first train ride on the Italian railroad, which I thought wasn't significantly worse than Amtrak but this girl Stella, who lives near Venice and commutes to Ca' Foscari University (and VIU) says that it's the worst train system in the western world. Whatever, I got there at about 10:45, traveling with my German friends Sara and Judith (who actually just happened to be on the same train as me).
Padova is small and charming. There are really no tourists and not many English-speakers, just because it's not necessary from a practical standpoint. The shopping in Padova is a pretty big deal, apparently. Also, the city is extremely old - probably not as old as Venice, but it has a medieval wall and moats (while not entirely intact, you can still see them). There's a beautiful public garden, and an open-air market where you can buy fruits, vegetables and fish that stare at you. Sara, Judith and I went to look at the Palazzo della Ragione, which used to be the judicial and also commercial center of Padova (that's where the market is today). The roof has a really funny shape, and there are really old frescoes inside on the walls. The architecture is distantly reminiscent of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice.
After lunch (and we sat outside, the weather was bellissimo) we went to the Basilica del Santo, also called Sant'Antonio. This large church is dedicated to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of Padova. Saint Anthony is one of my faves, so I was really excited. Being with Judith and Sara was really helpful because they're both art history majors, so they explained a lot of the styles and elements of the architecture inside to me. It was like having two guides, really. The decoration inside wasn't as ornate as San Marco (and definitely not San Pietro) but it was still incredible and really made an impression on me. It was just fresco after fresco. Parts of the roof had been destroyed during World War II, so not all the frescoes were actually there; there were bare spots. There were also a lot of religious relics there in this special section behind the sanctuary (but we didn't see them because it wasn't visiting hours). One of the most important parts of the sanctuary is the tombo del santo, the Tomb of Saint Anthony. There are crates where people leave cards, charms, candles and other things in the memory of Saint Anthony, and a bulletin board where people leave pictures of their family members. And apparently the remains of Saint Anthony are inside the sarcophagus, too. So according to the tradition I won't ever lose anything again. I wonder if the entire Panthers team came to the Basilica del Santo...
At 3, I met up with the rest of the VIU students who were going to Padova. We walked from the train station to the Palazzo della Ragione, where our architecture professor gave us some special insight on the structure and its purposes. Here's a picture of the outside of the palazzo.
What was really the best part of Padova (besides what I've already mentioned) was the Cappella degli Scrovegni, the Scrovegni Chapel. As the story goes, the Scrovegni family was very rich and influential in the early 15th century. But as he neared death, the head of the family worried about his less-than-moral usury practices and commissioned Giotto to paint the inside of a chapel he was building. The result is pure renaissance beauty. To go into the Cappella degli Scrovegni, you must make an appointment. It doesn't open until 3:00.
To go into the chapel, we had to check our bags at the front (this included a green sidebag that I brought that so many friends and family have called a "man-purse"). So we went into this room to watch a video on the construction and artistic design of the chapel (originally in Italian, with English subtitles and German supertitles). While we watched, a superpowered air conditioner cooled us off so we wouldn't damage the frescoes with our body heat. Actually, this is a problem, and for that reason there are no more than 25 people allowed at a time inside the chapel.
When we finally got inside, I just couldn't believe it. It is definitely the most beautiful thing I've seen in Italy that I've never seen before (other things include the Pieta, the views from Cefalu and the town of Taormina). But I really think that this Cappella degli Scrovegni is one of the most beautiful and moving things I've ever seen. Sacrilegiously, I'm providing a link to a picture of the chapel. It has scenes from the life of Mary and Christ. The emotion is just incredible, especially in the panel of the lamentation and when Peter's feet are washed by Jesus. The ceiling of the chapel was painted blue with stars. It was really incredible, I just can't express it. Unfortunately, we were allowed inside for only 15 minutes, which seemed like only 2. It was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
I needed to leave Padova subito (immediately) so I left for the train station with my new friends Stella and Helena, Italian students at Ca' Foscari. On the train, I got to practice my Italian with Francesca, another Ca' Foscari student. Most of the Italian students at VIU actually study Chinese - Francesca, for example, has studied Chinese for a while and has been to China to practice. All the students I've mentioned are Venetian and speak with the Venetian dialect - for example, they say "'ndemo" in place of "andiamo."
So once I got back to Venice, I connected with my mom and sister, who just arrived in Italy that day. They were with our friend Frauke from Frankfurt, Germany. I'll tell more about this later!
Ciao per ora,
Andrew
Anyway, we'll get the boring stuff out of the way first. I actually had a sizeable amount of homework over the weekend, so that would've made me crazy in the States (but it's easy to stay calm over here, somehow). I had to read a play by Christopher Marlowe for my lit class, give an architectural report, write a 5-page paper on Islamic Architecture and prepare a powerpoint for the same subject. And I had a little bit of Italian homework too, but that wasn't that hard. Other mundane news... well, I heard from the Italian state on the progress of my permesso di soggiorno, that is, my residency permit. The word is that I have an appointment on 22 September at the police station in Marghera. So, basically, I don't have to worry about it. I am so happy to hear this because a couple of my friends were missing documents and they have to go to the police station next week. Yuck.
Now for the good stuff. I spent pretty much all of Friday in Padova (it's called "Padua" in English but I like the sound and spelling of the Italian much better). The train ride from Venice is about 30 or 35 minutes, so not bad at all. This was my first train ride on the Italian railroad, which I thought wasn't significantly worse than Amtrak but this girl Stella, who lives near Venice and commutes to Ca' Foscari University (and VIU) says that it's the worst train system in the western world. Whatever, I got there at about 10:45, traveling with my German friends Sara and Judith (who actually just happened to be on the same train as me).
Padova is small and charming. There are really no tourists and not many English-speakers, just because it's not necessary from a practical standpoint. The shopping in Padova is a pretty big deal, apparently. Also, the city is extremely old - probably not as old as Venice, but it has a medieval wall and moats (while not entirely intact, you can still see them). There's a beautiful public garden, and an open-air market where you can buy fruits, vegetables and fish that stare at you. Sara, Judith and I went to look at the Palazzo della Ragione, which used to be the judicial and also commercial center of Padova (that's where the market is today). The roof has a really funny shape, and there are really old frescoes inside on the walls. The architecture is distantly reminiscent of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice.
After lunch (and we sat outside, the weather was bellissimo) we went to the Basilica del Santo, also called Sant'Antonio. This large church is dedicated to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of Padova. Saint Anthony is one of my faves, so I was really excited. Being with Judith and Sara was really helpful because they're both art history majors, so they explained a lot of the styles and elements of the architecture inside to me. It was like having two guides, really. The decoration inside wasn't as ornate as San Marco (and definitely not San Pietro) but it was still incredible and really made an impression on me. It was just fresco after fresco. Parts of the roof had been destroyed during World War II, so not all the frescoes were actually there; there were bare spots. There were also a lot of religious relics there in this special section behind the sanctuary (but we didn't see them because it wasn't visiting hours). One of the most important parts of the sanctuary is the tombo del santo, the Tomb of Saint Anthony. There are crates where people leave cards, charms, candles and other things in the memory of Saint Anthony, and a bulletin board where people leave pictures of their family members. And apparently the remains of Saint Anthony are inside the sarcophagus, too. So according to the tradition I won't ever lose anything again. I wonder if the entire Panthers team came to the Basilica del Santo...
At 3, I met up with the rest of the VIU students who were going to Padova. We walked from the train station to the Palazzo della Ragione, where our architecture professor gave us some special insight on the structure and its purposes. Here's a picture of the outside of the palazzo.
What was really the best part of Padova (besides what I've already mentioned) was the Cappella degli Scrovegni, the Scrovegni Chapel. As the story goes, the Scrovegni family was very rich and influential in the early 15th century. But as he neared death, the head of the family worried about his less-than-moral usury practices and commissioned Giotto to paint the inside of a chapel he was building. The result is pure renaissance beauty. To go into the Cappella degli Scrovegni, you must make an appointment. It doesn't open until 3:00.
To go into the chapel, we had to check our bags at the front (this included a green sidebag that I brought that so many friends and family have called a "man-purse"). So we went into this room to watch a video on the construction and artistic design of the chapel (originally in Italian, with English subtitles and German supertitles). While we watched, a superpowered air conditioner cooled us off so we wouldn't damage the frescoes with our body heat. Actually, this is a problem, and for that reason there are no more than 25 people allowed at a time inside the chapel.
When we finally got inside, I just couldn't believe it. It is definitely the most beautiful thing I've seen in Italy that I've never seen before (other things include the Pieta, the views from Cefalu and the town of Taormina). But I really think that this Cappella degli Scrovegni is one of the most beautiful and moving things I've ever seen. Sacrilegiously, I'm providing a link to a picture of the chapel. It has scenes from the life of Mary and Christ. The emotion is just incredible, especially in the panel of the lamentation and when Peter's feet are washed by Jesus. The ceiling of the chapel was painted blue with stars. It was really incredible, I just can't express it. Unfortunately, we were allowed inside for only 15 minutes, which seemed like only 2. It was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
I needed to leave Padova subito (immediately) so I left for the train station with my new friends Stella and Helena, Italian students at Ca' Foscari. On the train, I got to practice my Italian with Francesca, another Ca' Foscari student. Most of the Italian students at VIU actually study Chinese - Francesca, for example, has studied Chinese for a while and has been to China to practice. All the students I've mentioned are Venetian and speak with the Venetian dialect - for example, they say "'ndemo" in place of "andiamo."
So once I got back to Venice, I connected with my mom and sister, who just arrived in Italy that day. They were with our friend Frauke from Frankfurt, Germany. I'll tell more about this later!
Ciao per ora,
Andrew
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Palazzo Ducale, Imperativo, e Francesco
Allora (which means "well," or "all right,"),
I'm going to stall on some homework to tell you guys about my trip to the Palazzo Ducale on Sunday with my Dad. First of all, I recommend that anyone who goes to Venice should see it. It really is unlike anything else - except maybe the capitol building in Washington DC. That's the closest government building to this place - and it served essentially the same role. There's a lot of history in this place, and I can't begin to tell all of it. But the architecture is just beyond incredible - actually, it's baffling. There are so many paintings by Tintoretto, Tiziano (Titian) and other famous Venetian and Italian fresco painters. There is the "Paradiso" painting in the Consiglio Maggiore chamber, where the grand council met - it's the largest fresco painting in existence, I think. It's also so stunning how such ornate residence halls (for the Doges) were so close to the brutally stark prison cells across the Ponte dei Sospiri (bridge of sighs, because its grated windows were the last sight of the outside world the prisoners would see).
That's really all I can include about the Palazzo Ducale. Each room was so ornate, even the fireplaces. And there was this room that had Renaissance paintings of the life of Jesus - there were two or three of the nativity that I swear I've seen before, like on Christmas cards or something. That room just took me away. I just stood there. The Consiglio Maggiore chamber had frescoes all over the ceiling too, and this was a huge room - I think it was in the front of the Palace. Another thing that was kind of cool was how the Palazzo is built right up to the Basilica San Marco, so the Doge could just roll out of bed to go to church. Sometimes I wish it was that easy. Actually my dad told me that the Basilica was used just for the Doge. Whoa, all that space for just one guy.
The last day my dad was in Venice, on Monday, he came to visit me at San Servolo. My roommate Shunsuke was asleep, so I was like, "Sh, don't make too much noise," but my dad was impressed by how big my room is here on the island. Unfortunately I couldn't show him my massive balcony and its view. We took the 4:50 vaporetto into Venice where we walked around for a little bit, you know, just strolling through the streets. I took us to the Billa, which is the grocery store on Strada Nova. It was fun to point out which products were popular and different from what you'd find at Harris Teeter, for example, or Shaw's.
Later, I went out for dinner with Dad at a little trattoria just east of his hotel. It was really small and nice. We talked about the things we did - I have to say I left out the classical music concert we went to on Sunday night. It was mostly Vivaldi music, so I absolutely loved it since I really like Vivaldi (it's so predictable! and that's what I like best about classical). There was a woman who sang the soprano parts in some of the other parts - her voice was just incredible. The concert was actually in the oldest church in Venice, San Giaccometti. Really small church, but the sound was great. Two violins, viola and cello.
Wow, I just wrote a flashback! Cool, huh? So anyway, we were at the trattoria, enjoying some wine and the cannelloni, and then I figured I should catch the next vaporetto (they leave on the half hour). San Marco has been partially underwater recently. I don't know exactly why, but there have been wooden platforms set up so you can walk on them instead of getting wet. I didn't get wet that time, but I actually did tonight when walking back to the Vaporetto with some friends. We made the boat though. Oh well.
Ok, so this week has been really busy so far schoolwise (I had an architecture presentation today and I have two Shakespeare presentations tomorrow). But that's ok - everything is fine. We actually did a really fun lesson on Monday in my Italian class - the imperativo, you know, imperative. The way we practiced though was putting a few personal objects in front of us (sunglasses, pens, water bottles) and then our professor, Massimo, made us give orders to each other like this: "Put the bottle on your head. Now take it down. Open it. Don't drink though. Now throw it to Anthony. Take Elisenda's sunglasses and put them on. Trade cell phones. Now change back." It may sound dumb now that I realize it, but it was fun at the time. Oh well.
I've been trying to get a lot of practice for my Italian, as you all know, and so I'm always looking for an opportunity. Tonight, I went into Venice with some friends. We went to a restaurant near the Teatro Goldoni that we've been to a few times, and my friend John saw this guy who we've seen before at this place. Actually, he recommended Torino to John and Brian (Torino is a club/bar in Campo San Luca). So John and I went up to this guy, he's maybe a couple years older than us. But we spoke in Italian, and his name's Francesco. He was born in Bucharest, and then moved to Spain, but he's been in Venice for 3 years. But he chatted with John and me for a few minutes - it was really cool, and really easy to understand him.
Ok, basta per ora. A piu tardi (Enough for now, later!)
Andrew
I'm going to stall on some homework to tell you guys about my trip to the Palazzo Ducale on Sunday with my Dad. First of all, I recommend that anyone who goes to Venice should see it. It really is unlike anything else - except maybe the capitol building in Washington DC. That's the closest government building to this place - and it served essentially the same role. There's a lot of history in this place, and I can't begin to tell all of it. But the architecture is just beyond incredible - actually, it's baffling. There are so many paintings by Tintoretto, Tiziano (Titian) and other famous Venetian and Italian fresco painters. There is the "Paradiso" painting in the Consiglio Maggiore chamber, where the grand council met - it's the largest fresco painting in existence, I think. It's also so stunning how such ornate residence halls (for the Doges) were so close to the brutally stark prison cells across the Ponte dei Sospiri (bridge of sighs, because its grated windows were the last sight of the outside world the prisoners would see).
That's really all I can include about the Palazzo Ducale. Each room was so ornate, even the fireplaces. And there was this room that had Renaissance paintings of the life of Jesus - there were two or three of the nativity that I swear I've seen before, like on Christmas cards or something. That room just took me away. I just stood there. The Consiglio Maggiore chamber had frescoes all over the ceiling too, and this was a huge room - I think it was in the front of the Palace. Another thing that was kind of cool was how the Palazzo is built right up to the Basilica San Marco, so the Doge could just roll out of bed to go to church. Sometimes I wish it was that easy. Actually my dad told me that the Basilica was used just for the Doge. Whoa, all that space for just one guy.
The last day my dad was in Venice, on Monday, he came to visit me at San Servolo. My roommate Shunsuke was asleep, so I was like, "Sh, don't make too much noise," but my dad was impressed by how big my room is here on the island. Unfortunately I couldn't show him my massive balcony and its view. We took the 4:50 vaporetto into Venice where we walked around for a little bit, you know, just strolling through the streets. I took us to the Billa, which is the grocery store on Strada Nova. It was fun to point out which products were popular and different from what you'd find at Harris Teeter, for example, or Shaw's.
Later, I went out for dinner with Dad at a little trattoria just east of his hotel. It was really small and nice. We talked about the things we did - I have to say I left out the classical music concert we went to on Sunday night. It was mostly Vivaldi music, so I absolutely loved it since I really like Vivaldi (it's so predictable! and that's what I like best about classical). There was a woman who sang the soprano parts in some of the other parts - her voice was just incredible. The concert was actually in the oldest church in Venice, San Giaccometti. Really small church, but the sound was great. Two violins, viola and cello.
Wow, I just wrote a flashback! Cool, huh? So anyway, we were at the trattoria, enjoying some wine and the cannelloni, and then I figured I should catch the next vaporetto (they leave on the half hour). San Marco has been partially underwater recently. I don't know exactly why, but there have been wooden platforms set up so you can walk on them instead of getting wet. I didn't get wet that time, but I actually did tonight when walking back to the Vaporetto with some friends. We made the boat though. Oh well.
Ok, so this week has been really busy so far schoolwise (I had an architecture presentation today and I have two Shakespeare presentations tomorrow). But that's ok - everything is fine. We actually did a really fun lesson on Monday in my Italian class - the imperativo, you know, imperative. The way we practiced though was putting a few personal objects in front of us (sunglasses, pens, water bottles) and then our professor, Massimo, made us give orders to each other like this: "Put the bottle on your head. Now take it down. Open it. Don't drink though. Now throw it to Anthony. Take Elisenda's sunglasses and put them on. Trade cell phones. Now change back." It may sound dumb now that I realize it, but it was fun at the time. Oh well.
I've been trying to get a lot of practice for my Italian, as you all know, and so I'm always looking for an opportunity. Tonight, I went into Venice with some friends. We went to a restaurant near the Teatro Goldoni that we've been to a few times, and my friend John saw this guy who we've seen before at this place. Actually, he recommended Torino to John and Brian (Torino is a club/bar in Campo San Luca). So John and I went up to this guy, he's maybe a couple years older than us. But we spoke in Italian, and his name's Francesco. He was born in Bucharest, and then moved to Spain, but he's been in Venice for 3 years. But he chatted with John and me for a few minutes - it was really cool, and really easy to understand him.
Ok, basta per ora. A piu tardi (Enough for now, later!)
Andrew
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