Though we have only a short two weeks left in Siena, we’re undoubtedly ending our semester here on a high note; April has been chalk-full of adventures!
First of all, CET took us on a bike tour in the Tuscan countryside. While I admit that our butts were a bit sore at the end of the day, it was otherwise an absolutely fantastic trip. Most of the CET students attended, as did Anna, our Resident Director, and several of the Italian roommates. We had a guide take us through (flat, luckily) beautiful fields scattered with horses and Margarita flowers. We also stopped in a tiny like town to enjoy some breathtaking views.
For Easter weekend, a group of girls and I decided to venture south: we visited Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri (the Amalfi coast.) We left early Friday morning and took the train to Naples where we headed immediately to Da Michele’s Pizzeria (yes, where Julia Roberts’ character goes in Eat Pray Love!) In short, the pizza lived up to its reputation as the best in the world. Naples, too, was fascinating. While the city has an unfortunate garbage disposal problem (weeks worth of trash line entire blocks), both the city’s architecture and the city’s emanation of life and excitement make it a truly exhilarating—and necessary—place to visit.
On Saturday we visited the ruins at Pompeii—not to be missed! We got lucky and had great weather for roaming the enormous archeological site. I was honestly blown away by the size of the city of Pompeii and how well intact many of the structures, wall paintings, and artifacts were. (We also got to see a great collection of artifacts from Pompeii in Naples’ archeological museum the day before.) It was also cool to see Mt. Vesuvius in the distance looming over the ruined city.
After two long days of traveling and site seeing, we headed to the touristy yet beautiful town of Sorrento where we spent all day Sunday on the beach soaking up the sun. Finally, on Monday we took a ferry to Capri for the day. Capri was the definitely the highlight of the trip as it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We started out with a short hike around Capri to the impressive Arco Naturale (a huge arch-shaped rock formation.) Next we took a bus (that did cliff-side switchbacks—a little scary) up to Anacapri (the higher town on the island of Capri.) There we opted to do the 10-minute chairlift ride to the top of Monte Solare (worth it!) where we had amazing views of the entire island. We were so high up that the sky and water blended together—it was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately it rained in the afternoon so we couldn’t see the famous Grotta Azzurra. But we ended up having a nice time wandering the streets of Capri, window-shopping the plethora of designer stores and admiring the wealthy vacationers!
April has also been full of class field trips. My Imagery and Public Space class has taken two trips to Florence where we have conquered Florence’s most famous museums and artworks—everywhere from the Churches of San Lorenzo and Santa Croce to the Bargello Museum, the Museo dell’ Opera at the Duomo, the Galleria Academia (home to Michelangelo’s David) and the extensive Uffizi Gallery. It’s really been a blast learning about the most important artists and works of the Renaissance in class and then going to see them in person immediately after so you can get close up and really appreciate what makes them so special.
Finally, my Sienese Art and Architecture class took a field trip the other day to a monastery called Monteoliveto and a town called Pienza. Monteoliveto was beautiful for the fresco cycle in its cloister painted by Sienese Renaissance painter Sodoma. And while we went to Pienza to see a Renaissance palace and church built by Siena’s Pope Pius II, we were admittedly more excited to taste Pienza’s famous cheese! Indeed, the Pecorino was phenomenal.
And while finals start this week, tomorrow CET is taking us on a relaxing trip to nearby thermal hot springs. In the meantime, we’ll be trying hard not to think about how quickly the next two weeks will fly by!
Hannah Zweifler, Bates College
CET Siena Student Correspondent, Spring ‘11
