Cinque Terre and Our Long, Extended and Thorough Trip to Pisa

This Last weekend 9 of the girls in our group went to stay in La Spezia and to visit Cinque Terre, which is located North of Siena and borders the Ligurian Sea. Let me just begin by exclaiming, “my goodness gracious!” Or, more appropriately, “mamma mia!” Cinque Terre was absolutely breathtaking.

Cinque Terre consists of five separate little towns, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore built on the rugged coast on the Italian Riviera. Each town is separated by mountainous terrain, and takes anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours of hiking to get to. When first built, each town was so different that they each had their own dialect of Italian! There is a train that connects each of the cities for those wishing to visit, but unable (or unwilling) to hike the trails.

On our first trip, we hiked the longest portion of Cinque Terre, from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza- a two hour hike! The passage is at times extremely narrow and admittedly pretty dangerous! I was pretty scared for some portions of the hike! However, the higher you scale the mountain, the more mind blowing the views of the sea, beaches, vineyards, fields, flowers and other amazing things become. We finished the hike in Vernazza, which is arguably the most gorgeous of all the towns. It is a smaller beach-y little town with vibrantly colorful buildings and boats, narrow streets and flowers everywhere.

Vernazza is most likely what one pictures of an Italian Riviera town. Some of the girls went swimming, but I was quite content sitting in the sun and munching on pizza (and Canella gelato- Cinnamon is my newest favorite!) Upon returning to La Spezia, we encountered some pretty frustrating travel issues because half the group was staying in a hotel in the city common area, and the other half was booked in a hostel about 25 minutes outside of town. Without going into too much detail, the rest of us made our way to the hostel with headaches and exhaustion- but we got there! (Those of us who were not too fed up with the traveling issues ordered a pesto dinner at the hostel, which was beyond amazing).

The next day we woke up, renewed and excited to keep hiking and swimming! We broke into smaller groups and my group began by hiking the most famous of the 4 trails- Via dell’ amore. It was a 20 minute hike (extremely crowded) which took us over spiraling rocks down to the sea, through the “tunnel of love” which was covered in brilliant graffiti and on to the next town. I found my name written on the tunnel as we made our way through it! Apparently, I will someday meet a man named “Vitto” and we will live happily ever after forever? Who knows, but I took a picture of the graffiti for future reference, just in case. (perhaps if the prophecy comes true, “Vitto” and I can make the picture our wedding invitations!)

After the hike, the girls I was with and I decided to relax and go swimming in the Ligurian sea. The water was pretty rough but the deepest blue you’ve ever seen- It took me about 6 counts of “1….2….3…JUMP!” before I actually summoned the courage to jump in, but I did (and there is a photo to prove it J)

La Spezia was an amazing town, and Cinque Terre was a pretty phenomenal experience, and I am so glad we got a chance to go!

On the way back from La Spezia, we noticed something pretty interesting about our tickets back to Siena. They went through the town of Pisa, allowing us to essentially stop in Pisa FREE OF CHARGE on our way home….

Thus begins our visit to Pisa! While I am in no way proud of what we did next, I could never leave it out of this account.

We realized that to get home to Siena by 8pm (we all had homework due the next day) we would have approximately 45 minutes to stop in Pisa before getting back on the train to Siena. 45 minutes in a city? 3 of us confided that all we really wanted out of Pisa was that stupid picture holding up the tower-that was it! So, using our guidebook, we mapped out the way to the tower from the train station and began jogging the 1.5-2miles. (we only had 45 minutes to get the picture before the train!) So we jogged, and fast walked and even had spurts of running through the streets of Pisa until we finally hit the opening where the tower stood. 30 minutes left to take pictures and get back to the train station! We looked like crazy people, still wet, wearing sweaty clothes from hiking Cinque Terre, sprinting through the streets with our cameras ready, checking our watches constantly. We had worked out a system on the train where each girl would get 3 poses with the tower while the other two would take pictures, and then we would switch. Time efficiency was everything!

“Elena- first pose! Got it! Closer to the Tower! Hands higher, lower, perfect! Second pose! Third! Done!”

We repeated this for all three of us and checked our watches- 20 minutes to get back and to our platform! - so we began to jog back to the train station. One of the girls was feeling a little light headed from the pressure and heat (scorching day) so we slowed down a bit when we neared the station. Finally- we returned to the station with 10 minutes to spare before our departure back to Siena. We did it! And we got our Pisa pictures.

Now, I recognize how disrespectful it must sound, sprinting from the train station to the landmark of a city, and back in less than 45 minutes without even looking around to take in the city, but this is how we visited Pisa! I am sure the city is remarkably interesting with museums and restaurants and monuments to visit, and maybe one day I will stay longer and explore…maybe…

Ciao! Next post will be all about Il Palio and the preparations!

Elena Korn

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Summer '10

Classes Begin!

Wow! What an insanely packed and crazy couple of days! I am really getting to know the other members of the CET group as well as my Italian roommate-and I adore them all. My Italian roommate is hilarious, and so much fun. He often helps me cook, is my personal Italian dictionary for my homework, and is my go-to when I do not understand a cultural difference between America and Italy. He considers himself my “Italian older brother” and has a ton of friends who are rambunctious, and always around, which is awesome! I love the bustle of our apartment, and I always keep the doors and windows open to let in the light, air, sounds, and smells (there is a restaurant below our apartment- I have died and gone to heaven in Italy).

Classes have started! I keep forgetting that classes are the main reason I am even here this summer! Luckily, (unlike some classes I have back at Brandeis University), I totally look forward to them here in Italy, even with 9ams every day. My Italian teacher is an adorable little man with black rimmed glasses who asks “va bene?” every 30 seconds, to which my classmate and I nod (whether we understand or not). We are going pretty slow in our class so far, but are learning a ton of vocabulary, and some useful phrases which I try to apply when we go out at night! For example, in class we have learned the form of the verb “to study” so whenever someone asks me a question I do not understand in Italian, I respond with “I am sorry, I do not understand. I study Italian now, here in Siena, but only one week!” Pretty good for one week of classes!

My other class is an Italian art history class, which most of the other members of CET are in as well. Today we went on a trip to San Gimignano, a quaint little town about an hour away from Siena. We entered a church, the most important one in the city, and discussed the hundreds of frescoes that cover the walls. We learned how to distinguish between the 13^th century frescoes and the 15^th century ones, using clues in the artwork such as the expressions on the faces of those depicted, whether or not the artwork has perspective, if Jesus is showing any pain etc. I was completely entranced in the dark cathedral and the artwork, which was still vibrant, after 800 years! One of the works stood out to me and I wish I had a photo of it (no photos allowed in the church) but I doubt I will soon forget the fresco. It was “The Last Judgment” by Taddeo di Bartolo (1393) and was painted at the very front of the church, to the right of the alter. The painting depicted a massive scene of hell, with demons raping, torturing, murdering, and eating naked humans all over the place. It was gruesome! Totally out of place in a church filled with majestic paintings of Mary, Jesus and his disciples with golden halos! But I was drawn to it (kind of like how you sometimes cant look away from the TV when a grim scene comes on). And it held such a prominent place at the front of the entire church! Totally fascinating. Other members of the CET group had taken art history courses before and explained about the prevalence of such gruesome scenes in cotemporary artwork- the frescoes were painted with such horror in order to “scare the Jesus” into people and convince them that this would be their fate if they did not accept Christianity, support, and attend the Church.

This weekend we are off to Cinque Terre! I'll post after the journey! J

Elena Korn

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Summer '10

Memorable Moments in Siena

The more time I spend in Italy, the more I love it. Siena is a very unique and fascinating place to live, especially in the summer when everything is buzzing with anticipation and preparation for the upcoming Palio celebration. The Palio is an event held in Siena every July and August and engages the entire city. I should explain Il Palio by first explaining the contradas of Siena. A “contrada” is a district in Siena, and the city totals 17 different districts. Each contrada has a church, fountain, or stall and an animal-almost a mascot- which represents their area of the city. The animals include Oca-goose, Giraffa- giraffe, Tartuca- turtle, Lupa-she wolf, Drago-dragon and so on. The contradas are fiercely patriotic, and the streets of each district bear the mark of their respective animal in plaques, statues, decorative lampposts and stained glass. This summer, my apartment is located in the Aquila contrada-the eagle, and my colors are blue and yellow!

Each contrada is represented by a horse and jockey, which race around the Piazza del Campo during the Palio, and the winners horse is then honored, and paraded into a church, where it is blessed by a priest, giving bragging rights to the members of its proud contrada until the next Palio produces a new champion. I think the idea of a horse walking into a church is quite amusing, and apparently it is an amazing sight to behold!

The weeks leading up to the July 2nd Palio are filled with celebrations, parties, and parades. So far, I have not seen the outrageous costumes of the contrada parades, but I am told I will be soon woken up every Saturday and Sunday morning to the beating of parade drums through the streets. I, however, have gotten an opportunity to go to a contrada party! Last night I went with some other CET students to the Tartuca headquarters where there are bars, long tables set up for feasting prior to the party, a huge dancefloor and hundreds and hundreds of Italian (and foreigners!) partygoers milling around, dancing, chatting, drinking and carrying on. This contrada party is only one of many parties, which will be taking place this summer. I received a blue rose from an admirer at the party (dyed to represent the colors of Tartuca of course!)

Part of CET’s orientation to Siena was a picnic in a more rural area of the city (there were picnic tables and a petting zoo!) where we ate a lunch of salami sandwiches before being divided into teams and set on a scavenger hunt into Siena to find 5 different contradas per group. My group seemed to have a pretty impossible compilation of contrada headquarters to find, which led us attempting to navigate the tiny cross streets of Siena with a map in the pouring rain, We found and took pictures with the 5 contradas and essentially got lost in the northernmost, southernmost and westernmost areas of the city (I will admit I had a totally fun time in the process :) It was a pretty unique chance to explore the entire city!

Other notable experiences:

-Watching the USA vs. Slovenia game in a bar in the Piazza. There was a huge group of Slovenians there (I’m still unsure of whether or not they were ACTUALLY Slovenian, or simply anti-American….) and a large group of Americans. Yelling ensued at times, but the game was all fun!

-Lunch at a little restaurant on a side street- I ordered ricotta, spinach ravioli with meat ragu sauce- Delicious!

- And finally, my first time walking around the city by myself! It seems strange that after 3 days I only just walked around the city by myself, but with constant companionship of my apartment mate and the other members of the group, I was rarely alone! (I LOVED walking around the city alone, it was an awesome feeling of control and adventure, I look forward of exploring more of the city by myself, without constant presence of American people!)

Classes start tomorrow and I am literally brimming with excitement at the prospect of being able to speak to Italians in Italian-(thus far I have relied more on my Spanish, and the English of people I have met than my actual Italian skills!)

All for now!

P.S. I have added two new dishes to my cooking repetoire!—Chicken Parmesan and Pasta with meat ragu sauce!

Elena Korn

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Summer '10

Day 1 in Siena, Italy

My arrival into Siena, Italy, was the stereotypical European traveling disaster, complete with getting lost in multiple airports, being unable to get any sleep throughout 8 hours of travel, getting on wrong trains destined for cities other than Siena, attempting to communicate with locals and failing miserably, and other things you might expect a lone American to experience en route to a foreign city. However, these mishaps did not put a damper on my excitement! I was absolutely exhausted upon arrival, but was truly excited to have arrived for my six-week stay. I met my apartment mates, a boy from Vanderbilt University and a boy from Italy, who studies at the University of Siena year round. They are both extremely nice and our apartment is huge! I have a large room (with two beds, two dressers, two desks!), my own bathroom and a gorgeous window which faces out towards a bustling street below, and gives me direct view into 6 or 7 rooms across the street. (so I will indeed be stealthily people watching on occasion :) We got settled in and went to eat dinner at the apartment of two other girls in the program. The apartment seemed to be about a mile away, but I later learned that we had been walking for about 2 ½ minutes in total (that’s sleep deprivation for ya I guess!) I met the other girls on the trip who seem very sweet, and whose levels of Italian are far greater than mine. I think this is a good thing, and I am excited to get extra help with my Italian studies through them!

Dinner consisted of a red wine, two types of cheese and salami, toasted bread with tomatoes, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar as appetizers, and a mouthwatering chicken with potatoes for dinner. Delicious! For desert we had a gelato cake, which was unbelievable, but at this point I was falling asleep at the table, and totally ready to head back to our apartment and pass out for the night. I learned my first thing about Italian socializing the hard way-Italians do not just eat and run. Far from it! We sat for about an hour chatting about our homes, the Italian language, Siena, and other things. I am sure I lost consciousness a couple times, but my Italian roommate kept chatting with the girl whose apartment we were in, pouring more wine, and taking more potatoes! Finally, I took it upon myself to clean the table up, taking everyone’s plates and clearing the table, and we finally went home. I slept very deeply that night, even through the ruckus outside my window at all hours of the night. (I am fairly sure I heard a toddler screaming Italian at 12:23 am! Why are kids up this late, let alone in the streets? This I do not know. I have a lot to learn about Italian culture!)

The next day began early with a meeting in the glorious Piazza del Campo, of which Siena is centered around. The Piazza del Campo is said to be one of the nicest Piazzas in all of Italy, and is home to the famous Horse Race, Il Palio, which I will get to experience in July! From the Piazza, we took a tour of the city, stopping at the Mensa Bandini, the student cafeteria for University of Siena students, the Monte dei Paschi Bank headquarters, which is one of the most famous banks in Tuscany, and we ended at the Via Camollia, home of the CET school which I will be studying at in my time here. We ordered lunch at a little bar (a mozzarella, tomato sandwich for myself) and I should surely mention our stop at the Kopa Kobana Gelateria, where I later ordered my first Gelato of Italy- banana, caffé and chocolate flavors!

The rest of our day continued with meetings in the Siena CET headquarters about our classes, housing, and other topics regarding studying abroad such as safety, emergency information, feeling homesick etc. I was happy to learn that Siena is a University City, where crime is very low and it is very easy to get around. We ate dinner at a popular bar restaurant called Barche, and had a buffet of pasta, rice, pizza, mozzarella and tomatoes and other delicious foods. My roommate and I went to buy wine and are hanging out in our rooms until 11pm when we will join the other students in the Piazza del Campo to experience Sienese nightlife!

I am very eager to begin with Italian class (which starts on Monday, because unlike my travels to Spanish speaking countries, I feel completely useless here! I can say basic words for “excuse me” and “thank you” but other than that, I am reliant on the other students to help me speak.) I hope I can learn a lot in six weeks!

All for now! Ciao!

Elena Korn

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Summer '10

First Impressions: First Two Weeks in Siena, Italy

I’ve only been in Italy for two weeks so far, but I feel like I could publish a book about my experiences and observations of Italian culture. Perhaps I could even take it to a series by describing my awkward American run-ins with Italians. But before I get into those, I’ll set up some context. I applied to the CET Siena program after examining the list of study abroad locations on the University of Virginia’s website. The Siena program was under the programs offered by UVA whose students would receive direct credit, which I was all about. Also, I had been taking French at UVA for about six semesters now, but I was really looking to learn a new language and culture from scratch. The town of Siena sounded like a perfect choice: small town with beautiful architecture and a strong sense of pride amongst its inhabitants. And so far, the town has not disappointed.

My first night in Siena on June 2nd was a whirlwind, mostly because I was tired beyond belief from travelling for so long (I came from Morocco, then to Spain, and took a three-hour train up from Rome). Our program director Anna helped us settled in, and then our Italian roommates prepared our first of many amazing meals in Siena. They introduced us to this delicious dish, rustico, which was a pizza-like creation but slightly more amazing. It’s been two weeks, and I’m definitely still dreaming about it. Also equally important, when we first settled into our rooms, there was a chocolate filled with espresso on our sheets. It too was absolutely delicious, and now thinking about it, it’s an accurate representation of what I’ve been eating here: sweets & coffee. And pasta.

We (my fellow UVA classmates in Siena) had a few days to orient ourselves with the academic policies and expectations of CET, and of course, with Siena. This included a really beneficial seminar on the negative aspects of studying abroad. We discussed a lot of things that I didn’t have time to think of during my packing-and-preparing-for-Siena mayhem, like what one would do if one feels extremely homesick. The homesickness/culture shock aspect was mentioned in pre-departure documents, but I think it was necessary to touch base with it again now that we could see our environment for the next eight weeks. So far, culture shock has not hit me yet; I suppose that still means I’m in the romantic phase of living in a foreign culture where everything is still wonderful and exciting. I’m definitely okay with that.

So what exactly has been wonderful and exciting? I can certainly highlight a few of my experiences and my favorite things about living in Siena. While I do love gelato shops on every corner, city-wide nap time, and breathtaking Gothic architecture, my favorite thing/aspect/bit about Siena is this restaurant called Trattoria Fonte Giusta. I’ve been there three times in two weeks, so my love for this restaurant is obvious. The first outing to the Trattoria was during our orientation where we dined with our Italian roommates and program director. I was surprised at how comfortable I felt with all of my new roommates and friends, and I was able to enjoy the delicious food and conversations with new friends. Crucial to the memory of this dinner was the four different types of pasta that they served family-style. I just can’t even describe it, but it was literally the best food I’ve ever had. I may be biased because at UVA, I am accustomed to eating plain bagels and pop tarts; however, I think I can still express my opinion that it was the best food I’ve ever eaten. We later took a cooking class at the restaurant where we watched the chef handcraft every pasta shell. After the course, we were served another amazing meal. This time, I enjoyed some sort of spinach-pumpkin-pasta-deliciousness way beyond the holding capacity of my stomach. And then I had a plate of three different desserts, which I of course had to eat all of. I didn’t want to be rude the chef/couldn’t help myself in the face of such artwork. We went back to the restaurant a third time, where I relived the memory of eating the pumpkin pasta. My roommates would argue that I only like the restaurant because of its rather handsome staff (which does add to its charm), but I like to think that it’s the food and the effort that the chef puts into his dishes.

Siena has improved my life exponentially with the quality of its food. Even the yogurt at the grocery store tastes better than American yogurt (I can confirm this, I’ve had three yogurts a day since I’ve been here, it’s that good, I’m not some crazy-yogurt girl). But while the food has been delicious and the people have been ridiculously friendly, charming, and fabulously good-looking, I haven’t avoided awkward I’m-from-a-different-culture moments. I’m really a fan of my panicked, deer-in-headlights look whenever someone speaks to me in Italian that is followed by some sort of non English phrase like “Ummmm ahhh urghhh, sorry!” I go to the same cashier every time I go to the grocery store because I know that he knows I can’t speak Italian and won’t ask me complicated questions. But I think it could be a good summer-long project to work up the courage to speak to him in Italian instead of smiling awkwardly, who knows. Until then, I think I will fill the time with some Italian flashcards, outings to fabulous restaurants, and lazy afternoons in the Piazza del Campo. I think that makes for my kind of summer.

Melissa Mitchem

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Summer '10