Traveling Seminar to Rome and Sicily, Spring 2010

It is the last morning of our traveling seminar, and I’m sitting with an arancino next to my computer. For those of you who have not been lucky enough to try an arancino, let me attempt to explain: imagine a warm, fried dough ball of rice, filled with spinach and cheese. Now multiply the size you had in mind by three, and there you have a small, slightly conical fried helping of Sicilian heaven. I should add that I have also had my fair share of cannoli on this trip. Its time to get back to Tuscany.

We began our journey in Rome, taking a seven a.m. bus from Siena on Thursday morning. CET Siena met up with the CET Florence group, and together we embarked on an IPS tour of the Coliseum and the Forum in the afternoon. When we weren’t touring, we were all able to see the Caravaggio exhibit currently in Rome. It was incredible—imagine all of Caravaggio’s greatest works in one location. We went to the Vatican on Friday (I got yelled at for sneaking a picture of the Sistine Chapel), and the Vittoriano, the national monument in Piazza Venezia, on Saturday with Kristin, our ICH professor.

We arrived in Catania, Sicily on a Saturday evening in the midst of a torrential downpour. The rain persisted for most of our trip, but it did nothing to hinder our packed schedule. On Sunday morning, we were able to sleep in a bit (sigh of relief), and went to a World War II museum explaining the Allied landing in Sicily, dubbed “Operation Husky.” Sicily was a critical battle in WWII, and served as a precursor and training ground to the much larger amphibious invasion of Normandy. It took thirty-nine days for the Allied troops to take the island. The museum had a reconstruction of a typical, Sicilian town square before the invasion, which was fascinating. Perhaps my favorite part was a room dedicated to the various uniforms of the times. It was very interesting to point out the differences between Italian, German, British, and American forces.

We then escaped the rain with a long lunch at the Café del Duomo. It was delicious, and we all took advantage of the frutti del mare (seafood) dishes. I had linguini with clams, mussels, shrimp, and a light white wine sauce. After lunch, it was time for dessert, and Anna led us to her favorite pasticceria. We tried all of the famous Sicilian dolci—marzipan, cannoli, cioccolatini…the list goes on.

Day Two in Catania: we woke up very early in order to climb Mount Etna. Unfortunately it was raining, so we met our guide, Sandro, and drove along the coastline for a bit. The seaside towns were beautiful, and he pointed out an old Norman castle atop a “pillow” of volcanic rock. We then ventured up 2000 feet to Mount Etna, and suddenly it felt like we were on the moon. The mountain was covered in snow and fog. None of us had any sense of distance, and I should mention that Tiernan, a favorite member of our group, was wearing running shorts while we all built a snowman.

Despite the rain, a wonderful trip. Back to Siena in the morning, after a cannolo and a cappuccino, of course.
Sean O'Hanlan
CET Siena Student Correspondent, Spring 2010

Thank Goodness for Siena, Dr. Suess Style

A month plus in Siena we all have been
Even with the snow, sleet, and rain, we wear nothing but a grin
For when the acceptance letter arrived via email
We all desperately hoped this trip would not be a fail
Now eleven of us are here for the long haul
Ten girls from all over, and Patrizio the Protector, who we all call
Who knew this group would mesh so well
For if we didn’t, this could have been the semester from hell
Scavenger hunts, classes and late nights out on the town
Cars, Taxis, Trains? No, in Siena walking is how we get around!
Many debated between studying here and Firenze
But thank goodness for Siena, is all I have to say
After spending 4 days and 3 nights in the big city
Each time I return to Siena, it makes me giddy
The moment I step off the bus and I breathe the fresh Tuscan air
The bustle and hustle of travel is gone, and I’m left without a care
Between the Americans, tourists and pickpocketers alike
I feel like I have to enter Florence, ready for a fight
Don’t get me wrong, I love all the museums and art
But nothing beats the hills, old ladies and frittelle cart!

Tiernan Cutler

CET Siena, Spring 2010

A Quaint Sienese Weekend/Un Weekend Tranquillo a Siena

Two weeks ago I spent the weekend in Siena while mostly everyone else travelled. I knew I'd be away the following two weekends and wanted to spend some time in my home city, and it was wonderful. Friday morning I went to the local fruit and veggies market and snacked on delicious homemade organic treats, then spent the afternoon drawing in a café—in the perfect window seat that opens into Piazza Gramsci, allowing me to escape the rain while watching everyone hustle in and out of their buses. Lauren joined me there and when the rain stopped we went on a walk around the city, exploring and chatting. That night, after a delicious Stella dinner, Lauren and I met up with a new Italian friend for a bit and then listened to some live music.

Saturday I convinced Stella to accompany me to the Drago contrada museum (the museums are closed most of the year but a few have been open for a short amount of time the past few Saturdays). The Palios (the prize of the Palio, essentially a painted flag) are more beautiful in person than one can image, and each one is so unique. I was grateful to have my wonderful tour guide with me to further explain what we were looking at and to learn fun stories from. My favorite story is one relating to an extraordinary Palio held after the end of WWII. The Palio wasn’t held during the war so this was the first one since the war began, and was a Palio to celebrate peace. Because there wasn’t much time to plan it, the Palio wasn’t very decorative--unlike the others, most of it was white. Drago won the Palio but the Bruca contrada thought that they should have won and grabbed the Palio at the end of the race and tore it to shreds. During this Palio of Peace, Stella explained, there was a war in Siena between the contradas. In the end it was official that Drago had won the Palio and Bruca had to pay for a new Palio to be made for Drago. Unlike the original, this Palio is beautifully painted, as there was no longer a time constraint for the commission. Stella’s son is a member of the Drago contrada, so I enjoyed hearing her personal stories of her and her son’s experiences with in the Palios.

After a beautiful run just outside the city walls in the countryside, I accompanied Stella to one of her friend's birthday dinners at a delicious trattoria in Piazza del Mercato. As Stella said, it was quite an international dinner, with an American, an Italian, two South Africans, a Kiwi (New Zealander), a Russian and a Venezuelan. We all spoke the common language of Italian and enjoyed a wonderful, way too many course dinner for 4 hours-- how very Italian! I had the best champagne I had ever tasted and ate so much my stomach actually hurt.

The next day, my new South African friend and I went hiking in Le Crete--the beautiful green rolling hills just outside of Siena, bordering Chianti. It was more of a walk than a hike, although we managed to hike a hill in hopes of finding the only restaurant around..which was closed… At one point it started raining and the wind picked up but the day overall had lovely weather.

Although travelling is always exciting, I was very satisfied with my Sienese weekend and very much enjoyed the simple pleasures of Italian life. La vita e’ bella!

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Due settimane fa, ho passato il weekend a Siena mentre quasi tutti gli altri viaggiavano. Sapevo che sarei stata in vacanza nei due weekend successivi e ho voluto passare del tempo in città - è stato bellissimo! Venderì mattina sono stata al mercato di frutta e verdura e ho mangiato i dolci biologici, deliziosi e caserecci, poi, per sfuggire alla pioggia ho passato il pomeriggio disegnando in un bar, seduta a una tavola perfetta davanti a una finestra dove potevo vedere tutte le persone che entravano e gli autobus che partivano. Lauren mi ha incontrato lì e quando la pioggia ha smesso, abbiamo fatto una passeggiata per la città, abbiamo esplorato e abbiamo chiacchierato. Quella sera, dopo una cena deliziosa di Stella, Io e Lauren abbiamo incontrato un nuovo amico italiano e poi abbiamo ascoltato la musica dal vivo.

Sabato ho convinto Stella a venire con me al museo della contrada del Drago (i musei sono chiusi per la maggor parte dell’anno ma alcuni erano aperti per un breve periodo negli ultimi sabati) I Palii (il premio del Palio, essenzialmente una bandiera dipinta) sono più belli di persona che si può immaginare e tutti sono unici. Ero molto grata per la guida perché lei ha spiegato che cosa abbiamo visto e mi ha raccontato alcune storie interessanti. La storia che è piaciuta di più era di un Palio straordinario dopo la seconda guerra mondiale. Non hanno corso il Palio durante la guerra, e questo è stato il primo dopo la fine della guerra — un Palio per festeggiare la Pace. Siccome non c’era molto tempo per organizzare la corsa, il Palio non era molto decorativo: a differenza degli altri, la maggior parte era bianca. Drago ha vinto il Palio ma Bruco pensava di averlo vinto veramente, per cui hanno afferrato il Palio e l’hanno strappato. Durante il Palio della Pace, Stella ha spiegato, c’è stata una guerra a Siena...fra le contrade. Alla fine, la vittoria di Drago è stata dichiarata ufficiale e Bruco ha dovuto pagare un Palio nuovo a Drago. A differenza dell’originale, questo Palio aveva un disegno molto bello, perché c’era stato più tempo per farlo. Il figlio di Stella è un membro di Drago, e mi è piaciuto ascoltare le storie del Palio.

Poi, dopo una bella corsa fuori dalle mura della città, in compagna, sono andata con Stella a una cena per il suo amico a una trattoria buonissima in Pizza del Mercato. Stella ha detto, giustamente, che era una cena internazionale, con un’americana, un’italiana, due sud africani, un Kiwi (neozelandese), una russa, e una venezuelana. Tutti noi abbiamo parlato la lingua comune d’italiano, e abbiamo goduto una cena buonissima con molti piatti per quattro ore — molto italiano! Ho bevuto il migliore champagne che ho mai assaggiato e ho mangiato così tanto che lo stomaco mi faceva male.

Il giorno successivo io e il mio nuovo amico sud africano abbiamo fatto trekking nelle Crete — le colline verdi e molto belle fuori Siena, vicino al Chianti. Era più una passeggiata che trekking, sebbene a un certo punto abbiamo fatto il trekking su una collina per cercare l’unico ristorante nelle vicinanze...che era chiuso...e una volta ha cominciato a piovere e c’era molto vento, ma per tutto il resto del giorno avevamo tempo bellissimo.

Sebenne viaggiare è sempre interessante, ero molto contenta con il mio weekend sienese e mi sono piaciuti i piaceri semplici della vita italiana. La vita è bella!

Danielle Barnes

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Spring 2010