Monday, February 25, 2013

Week Four: Weekending in Madrid.

My roommate, Juliet, and I visited Madrid this weekend. It was quite the adventure. We flew out of Pisa on Friday, spent Friday afternoon finding food, a Starbucks (ha.) and trying to avoid the rain. Saturday we were graced with beautiful weather, and took full advantage of the sunshine. 


This is my friend Mike! He goes to NYU Madrid, and was such an awesome tour guide while we were there. He took us to this outside bar/cafe, where we got some tasty drinks. He also took us to "El Tigre", this amazing bar that gives you free tapas. So much food. 


Here's an awesome building I really liked. 


And more Madrid architecure...




Obelisk that read "For the children", I believe. 



Basking in the Spanish sun, we went to Retiro Park, as you'll see below. 







The park is gorgeous. For 7.50 we rented a boat and took it out on this lake! 


And the ever-so-classic churros & chocolate combo. Mmmm. 



Saturday afternoon, we visited the Museo del Prado. Museo del Prado is huge. I think we spent 2 hours and only covered a quarter of the museum. This was a cool church right next to the museum. 


And in the Parque del Retiro, was this amazing Glass House. 


As much as I love sangria and tapas, my host mom's Italian cooking was much welcomed by the end of the weekend.

Always adventuring,
♥ Em


Monday, February 18, 2013

Week Three: Carnevale di Viareggio!

This week was filled with adventures! Last Sunday, after I published my Siena post, I went to the opera Don Giovanni at the Teatro Comunale with my opera class. Being my favorite opera, I couldn't have been more thrilled to see it performed here, in Italy. The performance was interesting. While the voices were incredible, I was a little disappointed in the direction and the set - or lack thereof. The stage was huge and could have been utilized much more efficiently. Regardless, it was great to see, and vocally inspiring, as always. 

This week was Valentine's week! And in celebration of Valentine's Day, I went out to dinner with my friend Alyssa. We found this amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurant that served really cheap, authentic Tuscan food. After dinner, we visited the chocolate market, bought something at almost every single stand, and then walked to Gilli and ordered tea and (even better...) cioccolata calda (Italian hot chocolate). I also may or may not have bought myself a Valentine's day dress that's super adorable from a vintage boutique here in Florence. 

My host mom made homemade gnocchi this week. I don't know if I've mentioned enough how amazing her food is. Pictures to prove it. 



This weekend, my friend Eli visited Florence! We went to high school together, and both happened to be studying in Europe this semester. He's studying in Barcelona. While he was here, we climbed the Duomo, went to the Accademia, and toured the Boboli Gardens. We also went to this amazing restaurant called Vivanda. They cater to vegetarians, vegans, and the gluten-sensitive! The food was incredible. 


The Boboli Gardens are my favorite part of Florence. They're just gorgeous. Located right behind Pallazzo Pitti, the palace you see in the picture above, the gardens provide an excellent view of Florence.



Built in 1458, the Palazzo was commissioned by a Florentine banker, Luca Pitti. The Palace was later sold to the Medici family in the mid-1500s, during the rule of Cosimo I. 




Eli and I on the Ponte Vecchio. It was so bright, it was difficult to get a shot that wasn't faded out in the background. 

Yesterday, a few girls and I took a train to Viareggio for the last day of Carnevale. Carnevale traditionally ends when Lent begins, as it is a celebration of feasting and in general, eating meat before it's given up for 40 days. However, Viareggio's Carnevale, while more "local", still draws a large tourist crowd, and makes money off of the extra days of celebration. So, we went, dressed in masks, and watched the parade. 



This was a church in Viareggio. I liked it. 


My mask!



The floats are enormous. 


I was also shocked to see how political the floats were. This float is filled with dancing soldier clowns, and the picture at the top is President Obama kissing Angela Merkel. The back of the float had a parodied Uncle Sam poster pasted on it. 



This float was also insane. She's sweeping out a bunch of the Italian political leaders. (And the back of the float is a closet filled with colorful skeletons.) And the Italian dancers on this float were in black face. 

And this float: 

The license plate reads "The marriage of dried figs" - and it's the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano (in the dress) and Prime Minister Mario Monti on the right. 

There were anti-Berlusconi signs, puppets of multiple Italian political leaders dressed as babies, and the majority of the floats had something political to say.

But on a lighter note, I met Charlie Brown and Lucy!




Overall, we had a great time. There was lots of confetti. I think I'm still finding it in my hair. 



Ciao! ♥






Saturday, February 9, 2013

Week Two: Day trip to Siena

My first full week of classes was a huge success! Suffice it to say that my academic semester will meet with the same amount of procrastination that my music classes previously met... My homework is glaring me in the face. And I'm writing a blog post.


 This weekend we took a trip to Siena. Beautiful city. We had this really fun, spunky tour guide named Chiara. Siena is unique in that it's made up of 17 different contrade. A contrada is an area of the city, but more than that, a community into which you are baptized - civilly, not religiously - and to which you belong until you die. Each contrada is represented by an animal or symbol, and they each have their separate flags. Twice a year, the Palio di Siena is held - a horse race, in which 10 horses, representing 10 of the 17 contrade race. The winner gains bragging rights and the "honor and glory" in the words of our tour guide. She is from "the best contrada" - the she-wolf, or Lupa Contrada. Being the only city in Italy that has contrade, even other Italians think that Siena is odd. But it's a uniquely patriotic tradition. Although the contrade seem to be in constant competition, the overall sense of belonging to a quintessential community of Siena is very apparent in the lifestyle of the locals.



My favorite part of Siena (besides the food). The Duomo di Siena.


And the original Donatello statue in the Duomo.


Siena's city hall in the Piazza del Campo where the Palio takes place. 


We climbed to the top of the Museo dell'Opera, and got an amazing view of the city. 






And we had AMAZING weather that day. The clouds were so gorgeous. 


And... the ravioli I ordered in Siena. Delightful.


Coffee picture of the week: We found take out coffee at Illy! The first take out coffee I've seen since arriving in Italy. 
It's right by the bus we take to school, and a macchiato is only one euro. 



Loving Firenze,

♥ Em

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Firenze: Week One.

Firenze e bella! It's such a gorgeous city. Mauri left on Monday for England. Orientation started on Tuesday, and classes began on Thursday. In addition to getting accustomed to the city, the bus system, and the Italian food-and-more-food, I've been adjusting to an all-Italian speaking host family. My host mom and her 16 year old daughter are super sweet, and very accommodating. There are some interesting European traditions that I'm still getting used to, and I may or may not have impulse-bought Pringles in an attempt to curb my homesickness for the U.S. Weird, I know. I really didn't think it would happen. But it did. So I bought Pringles, and now everything is good.

We're only allowed to speak in Italian at the dinner table, which is quite the challenge when I know a grand total of 4 verbs, and can only conjugate two of them. But it'll prove quite advantageous in the long run, especially in taking my Intensive Italian class.

Mauri and I stayed 3 days in Florence before the beginning of my semester. As you saw on my last post, we had done London, Rome, and Venice already, so by the time we reached Florence, I know that I was pretty burnt out. But, as you'll see below, it's a great city to visit! 

Here's the Ponte Vecchio. It was the only bridge in Florence that survived World War II. The river Arno runs right through Florence. 





These are the Boboli gardens. They were designed for the pleasure of the Medici princes. They're gorgeous. I can't wait to see them in the spring. As you climb the hills in the gardens, you get an incredible view both of Florence and of the Tuscan countryside. 









And this statue. 


Classes are amazing. I'm taking an Italian Intensive, Italian Opera, Western European Politics, and an art history course on the Etruscans. They're keeping me so busy, but I'm already loving it. This is our campus! NYU Florence. The grounds are GORGEOUS. 



See that hill? That lovely path that leads to the other side of campus looks MUCH easier to climb than it actually is. It's lovingly termed, "The Valley of Death." But on the upside, it's a great quad workout. 





So that's our campus. 

My favorite part of living in Italy so far is the coffee culture. Coffee is so good everywhere you go. Traditional "caffe" in Italia is what we consider a shot of espresso in the states. For the most part, Italians don't drink cappuccini past 11a.m. It's acceptable to drink a macchiato, which is "espresso" topped with foamed milk, but not a caffe latte or a cappuccino. 




Tonight I had a marocchino, which is a coffee drink that originated in Alessandria, Italy. Similar to a macchiato, it is served in a small cup and contains a shot of espresso, frothed milk, and cocoa powder. 

Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to what this week brings, and I'll have plenty more experiences to share with you next week, as I'll be taking a day trip to Sienna this Friday. 

Ciao!♥