Buon Compleanno Italia!

So, I wondered why they were decorating some of the main streets with Italian flags for the past few days...I found out today that it is Italy's 150th birthday so needless to say it was really busy in the main square,and the people (and their dogs) were all dressed in red, green, and white. Forget St. Patrick's Day when we have Italy's birthday to celebrate! So, BUON COMPLEANNO ITALIA!




Today was another great day where I got to put on my special nerd hat, and be an art historian for the day. I started off by walking early this morning to the l'Accademia to see my good friend David;) Before I entered the museum, I met this hilarious British couple who chatted with me in line. They asked me where I was from then the woman proceeded to ask her husband, "Oh! Doesn't your friend Herbert (yes, his name was Herbert) live in Indiana?" Her husband replied, "No love, he doesn't live in Indiana, he lives near San Diego. No where near Indiana." He then rolled his eyes and smiled at me. Not paying attention to what her husband just said she continued with, "I believe Herbert was a microbiologist..." only to be interrupted again by her husband, "Well, I don't think he would like you to call him that. (he turns to me) "he works with viruses." And his wife briefly adds, "But he started out as a microbiologist." I felt like I was in some movie because the dialogue between the two was brilliant!

Inside the Accademia, I got to marvel at all of Michelangelo's statues! It might be cliche to talk about David, but it is truly spectacular! I had studied it in many of my art history classes, but the pictures and slides do not even begin to do it justice! Look what I spotted in the bathroom...I had to take a picture:




I'm excited to nerd out even more tomorrow when I go to the Uffizi gallery!




After the museum, I went to a bookstore where I made two wonderful purchases and sat outside in this coffee shop located on the balcony of the bookstore (life is good). One of my purchases was what I think will be a perfect present for my sister, but I can't write about it here since she reads my blog. The other was a gift for myself, and if you know me well...you will understand why I am super excited about it (and it is all in Italian!) Take a look at the picture below:




For Malissa at Warren look at what else I spotted in the bookstore! You might want to show your students:





For the rest of the day, I went to the center of the city and watched the various festivities where there were many strange but entertaining events going on...








It was a fun surprise to be here during such a big celebration!

Ciao,
Rachel

PS. Can I just say THE FOOD!!!

Gelato e Galileo

It was a very rainy day in Florence, but it was really nice opening the window this morning to listen to the rain, as I read and responded to some emails. By 11am, the rain had slowed down quite a bit so I decided to treck out and explore some more (I think after this month in Italy I will have very defined calves from all the walking ha)!



After walking around Florence the past two days, the one thing that I really have been craving is to ride a bike. People young and old ride there bikes throughout the city, and can I just say that Indiana could learn a lot about how to treat bikers from the Italians. Their bike lanes are very clearly marked, and pedestrians and cars respect one another (even if the driving is a tad bit crazy here). The other thing I have been craving since I got here is Gelato! I had never tasted this incredible delight before now, but I'm glad I finally stopped into one of the MANY gelato shops where they have every flavor imaginable...I'm talking rows and rows of it. I chose the nutella one (of course), and it had this mousse in it that turned it into extra fluffy goodness.



The food is just as wonderful as everyone says it is, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface on all there is to eat. The streets of Florence are full of little places to eat, small cafes, and hundreds of shops. I have had the local pizza from right around the corner from my apartment where the waiter was so excited that I was American so that she could practice her English. A group of high school age Italian boys (who appeared to hang out there a lot) were making fun of her though, but I think it was just their way of flirting with her. I am getting pretty good at ordering, and I've figured out ways to cheat if I don't know what the food is called in Italian. I will just say "Vorrei questo per piacere" and point (which means I would like this one please), and this phrase has not failed me yet.



Other than eating a variety of things today, I also went to the Piazza Della Signatura to scope out where I needed to go when I go to the Uffizi on Friday. While I was there, a street musician was playing "My Heart Will Go On" on his guitar, which I found a little strange.


Around the corner from the Piazza I found the Galileo museum, which I knew I HAD to go to for my mother. She had been saying before I left that I had to go because she A. Obsessed with Galileo and B. She wasn't able to see it when she was here and so I went. It was actually pretty interesting because they had many of his inventions and microscopes, telescopes, ect that he created and used.


The museum also kind of gave a a history of the evolution of these various devices.


So, Mom I hope you are happy that I listened and went just for you:)



(I took an artsy shot of the interior of the globe from the Galileo Museum)

Tomorrow the Accademia where I will get to feed more of my art history nerdiness!
Buona sera,
Rachel

Esplorare

Today marked my first full day in Italy, and I have very tired legs to prove it! I managed with a great deal of struggle to make it until 9:30pm last night before going to bed, but it was worth it because this morning I woke up refreshed, and officially on Italy time (only 5hrs ahead). Last night, I met all but one of my flatmates. Trevor helped me in the door since I had not yet mastered the very strange key we use to get into our apartment. I'm not sure if this is normal in Italy, but instead of having a lock that locks the door horizontally, there is a vertical rod that runs the entire height of the door that locks our door. Anyways, Trevor, a flatmate, is American also, but he speaks fluent Italian. He has been living in Florence and staying in this apartment since January so that he can complete the research for his PhD. He is writing his dissertation on Roman Catholic families from the WWI time period and he said many live in Tuscany. Marco is the other flatmate I've met. She is a student here, and will only be staying in the apartment for the rest of this week unlike Trevor who is staying here until the end of July! Marco speaks little English, and I speak little Italian so our "conversations" have been brief, but it is amazing how much hand signals help you communicate.






Today, also marked another first! I began my day walking to the main square or Piazza Duomo. On my way there (I am about 25min walking distance from it), I stopped into this little coffee shop where I ordered my first caffe con latte. I made sure to ask for it with milk so she knew I didn't want an espresso, but it was still the strongest coffee I've had well maybe other than Turkish coffee. This was one of the best parts of the day because I ordered it all in Italian, and then sat outside to write and people watch. I wish I could eloquently capture all the sounds I heard as I sat there drinking my coffee, but I am neither that eloquent a writer nor would I be able to do it justice. Imagine though the mixture of the sounds of mopeds and cars driving along a small cobbled street, bike wheels passing in front of you, and the sounds of an Italian couple discussing a book they are reading passionately while frequently standing up to act out different parts, and finally the sound of a fiddle playing in the background from one of Florence's many street performers.





I ended up walking for close to 5 hours today, and I made it to the central square and got to see the Duomo and the Baptistry doors(only the beginning of my art history escapades). I plan on going there again tomorrow because I didn't go into either place (so I'll write more about that in another post). Other than the coffee experience, the great thing about today was just wandering around getting comfortably lost, and discovering different random places. As I would round corners I would peek through and think "hmm what's that?" and just follow the road until I found out what it was. This totally paid off because one the coolest things I saw was this amazing church that I'll have to research to find the name of, but it reminded me of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow with it's almost candylandesque multicolored towers.





Also, the other place that I randomly found by intentionally wandering was the Giardino dell'Orticoltura. I found out it has been there since 1859, and is used for hosting gardening exhibitions, and if you have ever seen it you would understand why. I sat and ate a snack there on one of the benches before making the walk back "home."





Arrivederci,
Rachel




I just thought this was funny!

Benvenuti in Italia

Since I'm writing my first post, I think you may have figured out that I have arrived safely in Firenze! First off, I am so grateful to have this opportunity and travel in another country by myself, which I can already tell will be a worthwhile push. I appreciate the support all of you have given me and continue to give me! Also, I am excited to actually be able to use the journal that Renee gave in the way it was intended. After my sophomore year at Illinois Wesleyan, I transferred schools for financial reasons, and had to postpone a trip to study in Italy. Renee (my wonderful roommate) then gave me a journal with a map of Italy on the front of it and wrote on the inside, "so, I think you may have noticed this is the perfect journal for you. I didn't get it to make you sad, but just as a little reminder that you ARE going to Italy one day and you will love it...I pray every day that you'll get that chance!"- well, Ren you were right, and only 3 years later, I am here:)






I can't really complain about my flight. I arrived on time to both Amsterdam and Florence, and I learned some random/silly facts during these two plane rides. 1)Only the KLM stewardess' wear the delightful light blue outfits whereas the stewards have to wear navy blue suits (in my opinion I think they both should have to wear the light blue color) 2)If you request a vegetarian meal on the plane, you not only receive your meal first, but you also receive more fruit than anyone else (basically because the meal was for even strict vegetarians so fruit was the substitute for cake and yogurt)And final one 3)Amsterdam airport has a restaurant where you can eat your meal in a giant teacup or teapot...not joking...photos to follow


Okay, moving on to arrival in Florence! On the plane I met this woman, Nancy from Oregon, who was making her 4th trip to Italy. She, like me, is staying in Italy for a month, but for two of those weeks she is going to take an Intensive Italian language course. We chatted the plane ride over, and Nancy from Oregon asked if I'd liked to share a cab...before I continue with that story I will describe my first glimpse of Italy. I had a window seat thankfully for this plane ride, and I made sure to take full advantage! As we began our decent, I remember first only seeing these extremely fluffy clouds, then the clouds seemed to disperse and I saw this beautiful expanse of green land with those cool Cyprus trees scattered all over. I felt like, and I feel even more that way now having driven through some of the city, that I am in a completely different world. There is so much green and then little red rooves scattered all over. Stunning!



Any who, back to Nancy from Oregon...we did end up sharing a cab which was fine until she kept on saying that she was going to be carsick, and asked if I had any extra bags... which i didnt and thankfully she didn't end up needing one. Nancy from Oregon was dropped off first, and then the cab driver was supposed to drop me off at my apartment, but it turns out that there are many streets with very similar if not the same name so basically I was dropped off 17miles from where my real apartment was. I of course did not know this since I have never been to Florence, but here started what I'm sure will be just one of many hiccups I'll have along the way. Making a long story short, I ended up calling my landlord who proceeded to tell that I was in the wrong place, so I went in search for another cab, which I found to be a little more difficult than I wouldve thought. While I was in search of one, however, it gave me the chance to get more of the feel of what I can tell is a wonderful city. I ended up finding where to get a cab by talking with these Italian high schoolers who didn't speak English, but instead gave me great directions in French. I then took another cab, and made it to the correct place where Leticia(the landlord) greeted me warmly. As for the apartment, it is spectacular, and she is so accommodating! My bedroom window opens out on the city, and the bathroom looks out on the amazing courtyard.






Well, I am now off to walk around...trying to hold off as long as possible to go to bed so that when I wake up tomorrow I'll be on Italy time! Maybe I'll try and order my first cup of coffee:)

Ciao,
Rachel

Ciao!

Ciao Everyone,


So, I leave in just over a week for Italy, and my good friend Caitlin suggested that I start a blog to document my journey. I am creating this for my own documentation, as well as, for anyone else who is curious about what I hope to be a fantastic adventure. More to follow once I arrive there on Monday, March 14th!


Rachel