And the Countdown Begins...

I came back to Siena from home last Tuesday night, where I was pleasantly surprised at the train station by all my friends here. :) We then stopped in at the grocery store and bought a few goodies to enjoy back at my apartment, since the next day was a national holiday, the Immaculate Conception, and we had no class. I was so glad to get back into my routine for a little bit and get my mind off what was going on at home.

Since it was a holiday, the resident director thought that it would be fun for us to take a leisurely trip to Florence to experience the Christmas markets there. Unfortunately for us, it was pouring cats and dogs that day and we all got soaking wet, especially me. I decided at the beginning of the semester I didn't want to buy an umbrella for whatever reason, though it would have served me well because of all the rain Tuscany gets during the fall. But anyway, despite the rain, we had a great time checking out the stands. People were selling fresh baked cookies, handmade ornaments and candles, spices, mulled wine, German sausages, beer, and pretzels, clothing and scarves, and almost anything else you could think of. We walked from the Santa Croce market to another, smaller one in a different piazza, where most people sold handmade pottery, olive oil, honey, wine, and leather and wood items. Afterwards, to get out of the rain, we stopped in at the tiny handmade jewelry store I once told you about (I think I did, at least) again and of course, purchased a few more items: two bracelets for my aunts and a pair of stud earrings for myself. We quickly made it over to a cafe near the bus station, again to get out of the rain, and attempted to dry off for a bit before heading home, all the while enjoying ourselves a cup of coffee or a cappuccino. Thus concluded my last visit to Florence for a while. :(

The rest of the week I just studied, began work on a paper assignment and a few other things. But this past Saturday my apartment hosted a Christmas party for the entire program! It was 100% a success. We spent the entire day doing a full cleaning of the apartment and decorated it with garland and paper snowflakes - thoroughly cheesy. All of the students came, plus most of the Italian roommates, plus our resident director and her boyfriend! We asked each apartment to bring something to share (a dessert or drink) and we provided gingerbread, eggnog (made by hand), red wine, and bread and cheese/cheese dip. We played Christmas carols in the background and had a Yankee swap for those that wanted to participate. All in all it was a great night and we hope that everyone had as much fun as we did.

Finally, this week is my last week here in Siena. I'm sitting here writing this right now because I want to procrastinate a bit more before taking my Sienese art exam. I don't think cramming right before an exam helps much, so I'd rather write a little to you guys. I just took my Italian exam this morning and have my oral tomorrow, plus another art history exam. In the midst of studying for exams, I've been packing, purchasing last minute gifts, and just spending time with everyone. I cannot believe that time is up. Even though I'm sad that I have to leave Siena and my friends here, I'll always keep this place close at heart. It's such a wonderful small city, and I really hope to make it back here some day in the future. I'm really going to miss this place!!

Time to go finishi this last paper and study a bit before I'm home free tomorrow and headin' out Frday! It's been great being able to write this blog and keep you up to date with everything going on here in Siena. I strongly recommend coming to see it!

Ciao a tutti!

Melanie Bianco

CET Siena, Student Correspondent

Fall 2010

About three weeks ago was the last time I wrote. Sorry for the delay! A lot has been going on around here since then. After we went to Florence, we had a few days of class and then came Thanksgiving break! When I first got to Siena, I didn’t think we would have any type of break for Thanksgiving because it is a very American holiday. I was thrilled to find out that we had four days off (including the weekend). We began planning an out of town trip a few weeks beforehand. We decided to get away to Spain for those days, to Valencia. We got there Thursday midday and left Saturday evening. We finally got ourselves to a beach, ate traditional Spanish dishes full of seafood (paella, tapas, etc) and drank sangria. The night we got there, we went on a pub-crawl too and went to a bunch of bars and clubs that we never would have found without it. We got some Starbucks (oh how we missed that place!), walked around the city, picked oranges from the trees that lined the entire city, and went to the Central Market where we bought a lot of food for lunch, which ended up only costing about thirteen Euro altogether. We sat in front of a large fountain in the center of the city and ate everything before getting to the airport for our flight. Needless to say, we had a great time wandering around and didn’t spend too much money. This trip was mostly to be relaxing and cheap, since there weren’t very many museums or anything. Let’s face it: we were already getting down to the last of our savings so it needed to be fairly inexpensive. We definitely succeeded. Oh, one more thing. While we were searching for a place for lunch on the beach, one had a parrot in a cage outside (not sure why). BUT, we were staring at it because it was actually a really pretty parrot. Then it said “ciao!” How crazy is that? It’s as if it knew that we spoke Italian.

For the not so great part, on November 29, in the early hours of the morning, my mother passed away. I got the news from my dad later that day, after class. My first thought was “How am I going to get home?” Since it’s nearly the end of the semester, I definitely did not have the eight hundred dollars for a flight. Thankfully, my mom’s aunt saw on Facebook that I was not able to get home and bought my ticket for me. I got back into Washington, DC last Wednesday night and returned to Siena this Tuesday evening. I was able to see my family, including many relatives that I have not seen in years. I just wish it were under better circumstances. Nevertheless, it was great to see my family again, all ten of us siblings, and lay my mother to rest with her mother and grandparents. I was even given the opportunity to finish out the semester at home, through email, but I had already bought the ticket to come back plus the ticket to leave Italy for good. I would not have had time to pack or say goodbye to my friends here, so I think it was a good idea to come back to Siena and sort of get my mind off things. I will never be “over” my mother’s death, but it will become easier with time. The people involved with this program – my resident director, the Italy director, my professors, my friends, and the CET people in Washington – were so wonderful in accommodating me and trying to get me home. I was and am so grateful that I did not have to worry about everything I was missing (a final exam, presentations, papers, classes) and could go home. These are just a few reasons why I would recommend this program to anyone thinking about studying abroad. J

Anyway, on a lighter note, the night before I left, we visited the Tea Room behind the Campo. A few of us went a few weeks ago and it was really fun. This time it was the entire group of us, sponsored by CET. The first time I went, I ordered some kind of chamomile tea. This time, I ordered “Giamaica” (pronounced like the country Jamaica); I can’t remember what exactly was in it but it was calming and tasted like vanilla. Yum. In addition to the teas, we ordered delicious desserts that had flaming sugar on them! Yeah, it was pretty sweet. A few of us stayed a little later to study, read, do crossword puzzles, etc. If you’ve ever been to a hookah bar, it had that sort of feel, but nicer and minus the hookah smoke. I really, really enjoy the atmosphere there and if any of you decide to go to Siena in the future, try to make it out to the Tea Room.

Check back next week for my FINAL blog! I can’t believe we’re leaving in a week. This semester has absolutely flown by. I’ll have updates on the Christmas markets in Florence, our Christmas party we’re throwing at our apartment, and my last days here! L

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Fall 2010

Melanie Bianco

One Month Left

This past week marked the “one month left in Siena” marker! NOOOOOOO! I can’t believe we have less than a month here until we return to the good ole US of A. Time really has flown by.

Anyway, for our Sienese Art and Architecture course, we took a trip to the small towns of Monteoliveto and Pienza last week. I took about 140 pictures for this six hour trip altogether. In Monteoliveto, we saw the monastery and cloister, with original frescoes from the 15^th century. It was a very small, quaint town that was composed of a single bar and the monastery where Benedictine monks live. We got back on the bus after learning about the life of St. Benedict from the frescoes and went up to Pienza. Pienza is another small town outside of Siena constructed by Pope Pius II in the mid-15^th century. He constructed it to be the “perfect Renaissance town.” I’m still a little confused as to what that actually means though…The best part of that trip was getting a little break to explore on our own. Our professor told us that Pienza is home to some of the best pecorino cheese, so obviously we all bought some. Most of us bought a baguette and then went into this little store and asked for slices of salami and pecorino to make a sandwich. It was incredible. I also bought some kind of pumpkin and cinnamon spreadable concoction that I can’t wait to mix into the applesauce I make. J

The next day we had the chance to meet with a study abroad director from a university that may send its students to CET. CET sponsored a luncheon at, as you probably guessed, Fonte Giusta! We talked with her about our time in Siena, the good things and the bad things, what we do for fun, our classes, study abroad in general, and so much more. She was so down to earth and we all really hope that the study abroad office at her university decides to open up a program in Siena, because all of us love it here so much! Siena is the perfect place, not too big, not too small, and it really gives us the opportunity to learn the language. The people in Rome, Florence, Milan and all the big cities immediately know we’re Americans, so they don’t really give us the chance to speak Italian, which is very frustrating when you’re trying to learn.

Anyone want to take a guess as to where we went this Friday? That’s right, Florence! Again. It was a really ugly day out, super rainy and chilly and gross. I don’t have an umbrella either so I got pretty wet and my feet were completely soaked, even though I was wearing boots. It was all worth it thought because this trip was much more of a success than last week’s visit. We arrived in Florence around 9:30 in the morning and went straight to the San Lorenzo church to see the New Sacristy. Inside were sculptures by Michelangelo (Night and Day, Dawn and Twilight) on top of the sarcophagi of members of the Medici family. Next stop: Bargello Museum. Here we saw more sculptures by Michelangelo, namely his Bacchus.

Upstairs we saw the room of Donatello. There was his bronze David, St. George Slaying the Dragon crushed relief, and the competition panels for the second bronze door of the baptistery, one by Brunelleschi and one by Ghiberti. It was such a cool thing to be able to see everything we learn about in class. In the United States, you don’t really get the chance to physically see anything and it makes a world of difference when learning and trying to analyze art. On slides, everything just looks flat and you can’t tell the size so being able to see artworks in person is wonderful.

Next on our itinerary was the Galleria Accademia, where Michelangelo’s original David is located! We walked over there, still in the pouring rain, and had to go through security to see it. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this massive sculpture. My heart might have actually skipped a beat. It’s literally more than three times my size (I’m 5’2” and the David is about 17 feet tall). It was so overwhelming because the David, in my opinion, is one of the most researched and talked about pieces of art in history and getting to see it in person instead of just reading about it was amazing. I am just so, incredibly grateful to be able to do all of these things! After seeing the David, we went to Santa Croce church, Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel, and then the Pitti Palace. By the time we finished it was 5:45 and we hurried to catch the bus back home, thoroughly exhausted.

I’m really writing an essay, aren’t I? These blogs just get longer and longer each time I write! I promise, this is my last thing I’m going to talk about. Even though we were so tired from such a long day in Florence, we decided to have people over to our apartment and hang out for a while. After a bit, we went over to the apartment of a girl on this program’s boyfriend. He is a part of the University of California program in Siena, one that is much, much larger than CET’s. I’m not sure why it took us this long to actually go over there and meet these people, but we finally did last night! There were a bunch of people just hanging out in the apartments (which are dorm style) and we stayed there for a few hours just talking with people from the program and their Italian roommates, one of whom was super cute. ;-)

Okay, that’s the end for now! Stay tuned to hear about my upcoming Thanksgiving break and other tales from Siena!

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Fall 2010

Melanie Bianco

Florence Again - Writing - Family Dinners

This past Friday the Italian Love Poetry class took a trip to Florence. At CET, students who are not normally a part of the class are nonetheless invited to join in on the field trips, if they are interested. I, unfortunately, could not go to Florence with the class, but I went on my own since I had some research to do. The Love Poetry class saw the House of Dante, the Medici Library, the San Lorenzo Church, the Michelangelo Steps, the Baptistery, and saw the original St. George Slaying the Dragon, at Orsanmichele. I, on the other hand, paid my own way to get there and walked around the city until I found the Istituto Storico della Resistenza (Historical Institute of the Resistance). I was referred there by my professor, who thought it would be substantially beneficial to my research paper to go there and look for the books that I needed. I finally ended up there after about an hour and a half or two searching for it. I found it on the street that I walked up and down, in an alley. Yeah, I’m serious. Once I got there, I could not navigate myself around and couldn’t find anyone to help me. I finally figured it out and requested a few books, only to find out that everything was in Italian and I was unable to get anything from them. L Complete failure. But oh well, I explored the city on my own and didn’t get too lost. I’m not very good with maps so I was really proud of myself for not ending up somewhere completely wrong.

Following my adventure, I met up with some of the other CET students at the Baptistery and looked around the markets nearby. First, I saw a market full of cheeses, wines, olive oil, honey, and other delicious treats. Next, we knew we had to make our way over to the leather market. That was a bad idea, only because I spent so much money! I knew I shouldn’t have put those 40 extra Euro in my bag that morning…Anyway, we all got a lot of Christmas shopping done so it ended up being okay. Between the four of us, I think wallets, purses, bracelets, belts, change purses, and earrings were all purchased. After we got back, we all began to research and write our Cultural History papers. Just some advice, trying to do research in a foreign country where you are not fluent in the language is very difficult, so this particular essay was definitely not my best, since I could only find sources online. We’ll see how I do when my professor returns them!

We were planning on going to Bologna last Saturday, but I backed out at the last minute so I could write my paper. I’m so glad I did because two of my roommates had an interesting, yet hilarious, experience that I’ll quickly summarize. They got up really early and went to the ticket office at Piazza Gramsci to purchase bus tickets for Bologna. The woman there said that the bus was actually departing from the train station, not from Piazza Gramsci, so in order to get the bus they needed to go there. It’s about a twenty minute walk from the bus station and their bus was leaving ten minutes from then, so once they got to the station they decided to take a train instead. Everything was going well until they needed to make a connecting train stop. Apparently, the doors wouldn’t open so they got stuck inside the train and ended up back in Florence. They snuck back on a train to the other stop, but when they realized they wouldn’t get to Bologna until mid-afternoon decided to just come home. What a day, what a day. I, on the other hand, slept in a little and researched all day long.

We finally had a nice, long, relaxing weekend in Siena. It seems like lately we’ve been on the go, traveling everywhere - planes, trains, and automobiles were taking over! First, it was Rome, then it was Fall break, then it was Sicily. In between there were smaller trips around Tuscany. I think we all were so worn out and physically exhausted that when we were actually spending time in Siena on the weekends, we just wanted to sleep or stay in on the weekends, getting to know each other better. I have met so many people here and we love hanging out. For instance, when we don’t want to go to the mensa for dinner, we’ll all go to Conad (the grocery store) and buy ingredients to make a big “family dinner” as we like to call them. J Usually, it ends up being about three or four Euro per person, and we are able to make a full meal and drink a little wine, over great conversation. We truly do feel like a family here. There aren’t that many of us so we spend a lot of time together, and though it’s only been three months since we met, it feels like years.

I’ve really enjoyed writing these blogs and am just now realizing how great it is. I’ve tried keeping journals of my activities and daily thoughts for the longest time, but I can never get into it. I always write for a few days or weeks but then it just trails off. Writing this blog and letting the world be able to see what I’m doing, what my life is like, how I feel about living abroad, and all the good and bad that comes with it, is actually a pretty wonderful thing. I’ve never written like this before, and certainly have never had anything I’ve written posted to the internet. I have to admit that I was a little nervous as first about people being able to read what I write (I’m a little self-conscious about it) but then I realized that I’m not writing a paper and that I can write in the way that I actually talk. I’m loving it! Might just have to keep a blog once I return to the States, although it won’t be nearly as interesting!

Buona notte a tutti! I’m about to go have some gelato and pour hot espresso over it. Certainly recommend trying this because it is super tasty!

La Nostra Pausa e La Sicilia

Before I left you last time, I was getting ready for our fall break. I told you our plans previously, and let me just say, we had an absolutely, incredible time! We seriously lacked sleep most of the trip, spent too much money on food, drink, tourist attractions, and transportation, but it was one of the best weeks of my life. We went to the Van Gogh Museum, Photography museum, Heineken Brewery (which was one of the coolest things I’ve done in my life thus far), and even saw the Anne Frank House, all in Amsterdam. In Brussels, we ate Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolate and just explored the city on our own. After that, we traveled to Southern Germany in the Forresta Nera (Black Forest) and relaxed right in the middle of lakes and mountains and even got a few feet away from a bunch of ducks that thought we had food for them! We took a chairlift to the top of the Feldberg mountain, which is the highest peak in Germany aside from mountains in the Alps. It was covered with snow, yet it was hot since the sun was beaming down on us.

We boarded a night train after two days and traveled to Prague, another amazing city that I am so grateful to have visited. We saw the Prague Castle, St. Charles Bridge, explored the city on our own once again, and went to a five story club right on the water!! That was so much fun! Basically, Europe is awesome. Lastly, we flew from Prague to Milan. We ended up there for much longer than planned because we had to wait for the bus back to Siena. For some reason, we couldn't get on the 2:30 bus so we didn't leave until 4 (we'd been there since about 11am) and returned to Siena around 10pm. The next day was Halloween and of course, being Americas, we celebrated. We planned on going wine tasting, but it was a little more expensive than we thought and it was also raining cats and dogs out. We went to Conad instead and got a bunch of wines ourselves and had our own event. :)

And here begins the commentary on my weekend in Catania, Sicily. The people in southern Italy are great, first of all. They were very friendly, even to us tourists who wore shorts and tanktops in November (I mean, it was 75 degrees!). The first day we got there, we settled into the hotel and explored for a little before heading out to take a cooking class. We went to "Congusto" cooking school where the head chef taught us how to make a few typical Sicilian dishes. He told us about himself, a former lawyer, and spoke about the history of the food. He made a small pasta dish, a vegetable side dish with almonds and eggplant (amongst about a thousand other ingredients) and pistachio cake. They gave us free aprons, pencils, the recipes for the dishes made, tomato paste, some catalogues, and a bag to put everything in (perfect size for groceries!). After a long night, we caught up on some sleep and set out the next morning to meet with an anti-mafia group, Addio Pizzo.

Addio Pizzo is run by mostly young students, who advocate businesses not paying the "pizzo," the tax, if you will, that the mafia imposes on the majority of businesses in Catania. They publishe brochures with the names of businesses that stand up against the mafia and promote awareness to the public so that consumers can support businesses that are against the mafia. It was really interesting to listen to them talk about their organization because they were very passionate about their work, rightfully so. They even gave us free t-shirts. :) We had that night to ourselves and decided to go to a restaurant, Il Sale Art Cafe, which does not pay the pizzo. Each one of us ordered an entire pizza, which was about the size of a medium or large pizza. Speaking of food, Bronte, a town near to Catania, is famous for its pistachios, so of course we ate plenty of those while there. Some other typical Sicilian dishes are "arancini," basically a fried rice ball. Inside the arancini is rice, mixed with butter, spinach, or ragu, or sometimes other ingredients. I think I ate four or five of these in one weekend...I also had a couple of canolli. Everyone knows what canolli are, so I won't go into detail but in Sicily, they are authentic. And not to mention gigantic! We didn't realize it until we got to Catania that us silly Americans say the plural word "canolli" when we want a single "canollo!" And we say "canollis" when we mean plural. Che disastro!!

Our last full day in Catania was spent hiking through the woods and basalt rocks atop of Mt. Etna. How cool does that sound? First things first, Mount Etna is gorgeous. There was so much to see and we could have spent so much more time there. The geologist that guided us, Sandro, was extremely passionate about this volcano. He said at one point that all the homes he's lived in were facing Mt. Etna so he could always see it and check its activity from his windows at any time of day. That says something about the man. You could see a bunch of trees and plants there that are exclusive to the volcano, in addition to all the lava flows from past eruptions, its destruction caused, old wine houses, craters, and even a honey stand at the base. Small towns surrounding Catania are known for honey, so many people set up shop and sell small jars of homemade honey (with flavors of clover, strawberry, pistacchio, eucalyptus, and many others). It's delicious!

Anyway, time to go write my history paper. Ciao a tutti!

Melanie Bianco

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Fall 2010

Funghi, Feathers, Florence...Oh My!

Well, I haven't written in about two weeks now. Since my return from Rome and San Gimignano, we've just been spending most of our time hanging around Siena, exploring the city a little more. This is probably the best part of living here. Siena is about the same size of the city that I live in back in the U.S. Exploring and searching for new restaurants or cafes or favorite lunch spots really isn't all that difficult, as it probably would be in a larger place such as Milan or Rome. In those cities, it would be impossible to see everything there is to see during the four months we have. Here in Siena, most of us have found our favorite places to grab a cappuccino before class or a bite to eat afterwards. For instance, just today when I went to get my morning cappuccino before Italian, I went up to the bar in the mall next to the school. I walked in and the older barista said “Cappuccino, bella?” and of course I responded with a big smile, “Sì!!” They know my order and I love it! It helps too that there’s a really cute younger barista there that smiles at me every time he makes my cappuccino. LOVE IT!

This past weekend, a few of us reserved spots for a mushroom festival type of thing. It was in this placed called Vivo D’Orcia, about an hour and a half away from Siena. This is one of my favorite places I have visited thus far. We got off the train and took a bus for about thirty minutes that winded up a mountain to the very top, where we got off. From there, we followed the group to a small, outdoor patio. It smelled like summer grilling but they were actually roasting chestnuts on an open fire!! I wrote that in italics because it’s just like the song! It reminded me of Christmas and Christmas carols and now all of us just want to sing Christmas carols all day long. After we wandered a little, we made our way onto the “mushroom tour” where we walked through the woods and saw all types of mushrooms - edible, “not recommended,” deadly/poisonous and everything in between. We left our group after walking through the woods and wandered around on our own for a while. We chose from a few dishes offered and ordered lunch, all of which came with some kinds of mushrooms. Once again, we walked around on our own post a fulfilling lunch complete with vin brule (a hot, spiced, red wine with fruit) and delicious dolci. Walking through the woods, we stumbled upon a waterfall. A WATERFALL! There were actually a few but this one in particular was incredibly beautiful. It was small but hidden in the middle of the lime green colored woods. We were all thoroughly exhausted but satisfied with everything we had done and seen that day. Definitely a success.

Also this past week, we got our down feathered blankets that CET so gratefully lets us use while we’re here. It’s beginning to get pretty cold and our apartments are not heated as much as they are at home, so we are always freezing, walking around the apartment in sweatpants, sweatshirts, and socks. Thankfully, these blankets keep us warm and toasty throughout the night. The thing is, though, that feathers are everywhere! They fall out of the blanket onto the floor and are stuck in our scarves or on our clothes. We never figure this out until halfway through the day though. I’m sure the Sienese locals have a good laugh at that. This week we all took our midterms. After studying for a while for each class, I am confident I did well enough in all of them to receive good grades. I sure hope so at least. We just knew that once midterms were over, we were off to our first field trip to Florence and then fall break!

Today in Florence, we visited a bunch of churches that, if I were not a part of this program, probably would never have visited. We saw Brunelleschi’s San Lorenzo, orphanage, the Medici Chapel/Palace, Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, the Duomo, a female monastery, the tomb of Donatello, and San Marco. Inside all of these places, we saw original frescoes by Masolino, Masaccio, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Filippino Lippi. I think next time we’ll hit the more well known spots such as Santa Croce, the Uffizi Gallery, Santa Maria Novella, Palazzo Rucellai, maybe go inside the Baptistery and stroll along the Ponte Vecchio. I’m also hoping we can have more time to walk around the markets; we had a few minutes and found a bunch of stands full of fresh and dried fruit and of leather goods. I might just have to find a hostel and stay overnight so I can actually explore more! I mean, who wouldn’t want to stay in Florence longer?

Lastly, I leave you with my upcoming fall break trip. It is currently 10pm while I write this, hoping to finish before heading out extremely early tomorrow morning. We are waking up at 3:30 am, walking to the train station, and taking that to Pisa, where we will catch a flight to Brussels! From Brussels, we are going to Amsterdam immediately for two nights, then back to Brussels (complicated story as to why we are doing this J ). After Brussels, we are heading to southern Germany, right in the middle of the Alps, in a place called the Black Forest. Lastly, we are going to Prague for a few nights and flying into Milan. I’m really hoping we’ll take the time to wander around for a bit and see the Last Supper. We’ll be there in Milan, so why not? The best part of this program definitely is all the travel both within and outside of CET that we can afford to do. If I were not participating in the CET program this fall, I don’t think I would ever be able to make it to the places that I already have. Anyway, I’m leaving you here for now and I’ll be back in touch after my whirlwind trip through Europe!

Melanie Bianco

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Fall 2010

Roaming around Rome...and Some Other Excursions

It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve last written and let me just say, there’s a lot to tell! Shortly after I posted last, we went on a bike tour of the Crete Senesi, the clay hills just outside of Siena. We got on a bus early in the morning and rode for about an hour to a small, gorgeous town called Buonconvento. We got off the bus and immediately were greeted with what felt like a small hometown, complete with Sunday market and country homes. This town contrasts Siena completely, in that everything was shorter. It felt so much more open and airy and I really began to see the other side of Tuscany, without the massive medieval buildings that constitute Siena.

After a short wait for our bikes, we hopped on and began our journey. In total, the ride took about three hours, with a stop in the middle, atop a hill with a castle and fig trees, for lunch. I love fresh figs so a couple of us decided to pick a few and they sure were tasty. It helped quench my thirst because I forgot to bring a water bottle :( Anyway, we biked through the clay hills on gravel covered roads and witnessed some incredible scenery of the true Tuscan countryside. The most difficult part was trying to make it up the steep hills. I failed and ended up walking after a certain point. Once we finally got to the top of the highest hill, we saw the expanse of hills, homes, vineyards, and small lakes. A few of us decided to try the tiny green grapes used to make wine. They definitely tasted like wine grapes - very sour. After we descended from the top of the hills, we returned the bikes and had a few hours to wander around the market in Buonconvento. Of course, I ate a slice of pizza and bought a pair of handmade twisted copper earrings (I couldn’t help myself). The next day began the first week without having Italian language every day, so we were very grateful to be able to sleep in!

This past weekend we had our first traveling seminar to Rome! I had been to Rome once before a few years ago and fell in love with it, so I was very excited to return and see all the sights again. I spent the night before packing and finishing an internship application that was due until 2:30AM and had to wake up at 6:00AM. We got to bus station at 7:15 and departed for Rome shortly thereafter. We arrived a few hours later, checked into the hotel and rested in the lounge there for an hour or so before heading out to our first tour of the trip. We visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum; it felt incredible to be standing in such historical monuments - you know, being a history major and all. That day was also one of my roommates' birthdays so after the CET sponsored dinner, we explored the nightlife of Rome and had a great time.

The next day proved to be a very long and tiring one, but oh so worth it in the end! We visited the Vatican museums and all it has to offer, seeing original paintings by Raphael and Michelangelo, and obviously including the legendary Cappella Sistina. Being in the same room that Michelangelo once occupied was so surreal for me. After we exited, we went inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world. Inside it, they have the body of the Good Pope, John XXIII, who I just read about for my cultural history class. That was awesome to see the real body on display in the center of the church. We had a little free time before going to the Senate, so we stopped for pizza and gelato once again and walked over to check out the market in Piazza Navona – it was huge! There were so many talented people painting and drawing.

Since it was our last night in Rome, we decided to meet up with the Florence CET group for a nice dinner. We went to L’Ambasciata D’Abruzzo, where everyone enjoyed meals of wild boar, filet mignon, veal sirloin, risotto, pasta with mussels and desserts of tiramisu, panna cotta, fresh fruit, and chocolate mousse. Oh, can’t forget the wine either. About half of the group decided to go out again but I was thoroughly exhausted from the day and was starting to get a little sick, so I went home and hung out with a few of my roommates and enjoyed a quiet but fun night in the hotel. We got up early, packed our bags, visited the Vatican Historical Museum, saw the tallest obelisk in the world, and THEN, saw the steps that Jesus Christ walked up to his trial before Pontius Pilot. That too felt surreal. People are only allowed to walk up the stairs on their knees. We left that afternoon for Siena and were home by dinnertime :)

Last but not least, we traveled to San Gimignano today with our Sienese Art and Architecture class. You’ll be with me when I say that San Gimignano is like a miniature version of Siena if you’ve ever been to both, which I highly recommend! When we got off the bus, we realized we were actually very high up, surrounded by an expanse of beauty. After our lesson, we climbed what felt like a thousand steps to the top of the highest tower in the Town Hall. We were in awe – we could see for miles and miles around us. I still wonder if some of what we saw was Siena. Later, were free to wander about for a few hours. We went into the leather shops, ceramic shops, gelaterias and cafes, and all spent a little too much money, even though it was cheaper than Siena. We hopped on the bus home after quite a long day and slept until we got home sweet home to Siena :)

Check back soon for updates on possibly Cinque Terre, wine tasting, Florence, and my fall break adventures!

Melanie Bianco

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Fall 2010

Finally Getting Adjusted - My First Weeks in Siena

Okay, so I’ve been in Siena, Italia for about three weeks already. Time has gone by so quickly it amazes me. It feels like I’ve been here for months considering all that we’ve done. Siena has not disappointed me in any way, shape, or form since I’ve been here. I originally thought that, since it was a smaller city unlike Florence or Rome, that Siena would be quiet and there wouldn’t be too much to do. I was so unbelievably wrong on so many levels. I’m still shocked at just how much fun Siena really is and how little people know about the incredible place I get to call home for the next three months.

I started my application for the CET in Siena program about a year ago. Yes, I am somewhat of a planner. I always knew I wanted to go abroad during college. I started taking Italian classes last autumn and absolutely fell in love with it, so Italy was my location of choice. I chose the CET program because I receive direct credit, which is great for me because I am getting some credits towards my major and I don’t have to worry about transferring everything and all that nonsense. I then proceeded to look through the itinerary and it sounded like the perfect program for me – seminars in Rome, Sicily, Florence, and a host of other small towns throughout Tuscany. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I applied, got in, and now I’m here having the time of my life! I got here and knew not a single person, despite the fact that there are other people from my school here. It feels like home to me, and the people are amazing.

I have had so many memorable moments but by far, I will never forget the journey I had to arrive in Siena. I flew from Washington, DC to Milan. Then took a bus from the airport to the train station (which was much more expensive than I thought it would be) and a train to Florence. Next, I searched for the bus station in Florence for over an hour, back and forth multiple times, only to finally figure out that it was across the street. I took the bus to Siena, and then caught a cab to my apartment. This entire time I was hauling two huge, full suitcases, a carry on, and a purse. I stayed awake for about 36 hours and was the last person to arrive in Siena, utterly exhausted. I woke up the next day with sore arms and blistered hands. I didn’t plan that trip very well. However, I was pleased to find out that my roommates were all there waiting for me to arrive before digging into the dinner that my Italian roommate had prepared for us consisting of salami, cheeses, gnocchi and vino rosso.

The next few days were orientation, which was very exhausting but fun at the same time – we took a tour of Siena, ate a traditional, long dinner with all the students and Italian roommates at Trattoria Fonte Giusta, talked about the program, classes, and administrative things, etc. We had a picnic and a treasure hunt through the city where we had to find the different contrade fountains, act out the animal, and take a picture of it. Our classes started the next week. Going from fifty-minute Italian classes at UVA to three and a half hour long language classes was NOT at all easy. Thankfully, our professors give us a pausa for fifteen minutes or so in the middle of class to go the bar and grab a coffee (which is actually espresso, not a full cup of coffee with milk and sugar), cappuccino, pastry or panino. Last week we took a cooking class at Fonte Giusta courtesy of the head chef, Pino. I never thought I could see so much pasta at once. We made spinach ravioli, eggplant ravioli, cannelloni with béchamel, tortellini, gnocchi, and probably another one that I can't remember. The next part was my favorite – classic tiramisu. I got hold of the coffee at one point and poured it all over the cake, which I probably shouldn’t have done but I mean, hey, I couldn’t help myself. It was the best tiramisu I have ever eaten, and that says something because I eat a lot of tiramisu. After about two and a half hours of cooking, we sat down and the cute waiters served us our meal that we made! It was molto delizioso! By the end of dinner, my stomach was filled beyond capacity.

Even though everything I have mentioned already has been incredible, I have to say my favorite moments, by far, are those with the other people in this group. We’ve all known each other for a very short time, yet it feels like we’ve been best friends for years. Everyone gets along so well and we hang out every day, whether it is going to the mensa for lunch or dinner, grabbing coffee in between classes, going out on the weekends, sightseeing and taking pictures throughout Siena, going on weekend trips, cooking dinner in our apartments, having study sessions, eating gelato, or trying to figure out a way to avoid looking like American tourists. Non è possibile. My roommates and I have already decided that the culture shock will be going back to America, not coming here to a new culture, where, despite that it is still somewhat difficult, we feel at home.

Melanie Bianco

CET Siena Student Correspodent, Fall 2010