Living in a Postcard

I can’t believe it’s already March! It still seems like yesterday that all fourteen of us pulled into the Piazza Gramsci, embarking on a new experience that we’re told will change our lives. Now, amidst midterms and making plans for spring break, I thought it would be nice to look back on the past six weeks with a different perspective.

For starters, our intensive Italian classes have ended and our language classes have moved to the Università per Stranieri di Siena’s outpost inside the walls of the city making my commute only ten minutes long! Sadly, we did have to say farewell to our professors, which was sad because I really liked my professor, Simonetta, who was so patient with our questions and always went out of her way to show us her love for not only the Italian language, but also her love of Siena. Not to worry, her replacement, Vincenza, is just nice and has even sent us on little activities in Siena that have us interacting with Italians.

Life in Siena took some adjusting, but not much. The city’s little streets are filled with dozens of little shops and trattorias. The market each Wednesday brings out people of every age, but it is quite funny to see all the little old ladies wearing their fur coats and strolling from vendor to vendor with their friends. I’ve bought the most amazing rosemary honey and cheese there. The market is located around the fortezza, which besides offering some of the most spectacular views of Siena, is a great place to go running, which I do twice a week. My only problem with the fortezza is that the Sienese people move very slowly, which makes running on narrow paths a bit difficult, but then you look out at one of the most beautiful views on earth and you realize that having to wait for the Sienese people to leisurely stroll until you reach a point where you can pass them is the price you have to pay.

Outside of Siena, I’ve tried to do mostly day trips, my favorite of which so far has been to Montalcino, the makers of the best wine in all of Italy, or as my Italian roommate, Andrea, corrected me, the best wine in the world. I went with my fellow Wahoo, Sydney, on what would turn out to be a rainy day for a tasting inside the fortezza there. While much smaller than Siena, the drive up the mountain with the vineyards, the little homes and that picturesque view are no wonder that the first thing that greets you when you start walking around the town toward the fortezza is a real estate office. Montalcino was hosting a wine conference of some sort that day so it was buzzing with activity with people walking around with lanyards holding wine glasses. The wine, by the way, was so delicious that I couldn’t resist buying some.

Last week, we joined the CET students in Florence taking Italian Cultural History for a trip to Catania on the island of Sicily. It was a trip I’ll probably never forget. I went with the stereotype of Sicily that was formed thanks to watching movies like The Godfather. However, the city of Catania, despite not being as beautiful and well kept as Siena, has a brand of magic that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to properly describe. The CET in Catania students greeted us our first night in town and served as wonderful hosts until we departed Sunday. In addition to our discussions about the mafia on Friday, we were able to visit the fish market, a World War II museum focusing on the war’s Sicily campaign, try new foods like horse meat, eat the first of many true canolis, and go up to see the view from the top of Mount Etna as well as lava from previous eruptions. It was a bit colder than I had originally expected it to be up at the top of the volcano, but it didn’t matter because the world looks so different when standing among the clouds. It struck a bit odd, but also fascinating, that it is possible to ski down the side of Mount Etna. Part of me says I have to go back and try it, while another part reminds me that I’ll never ski fast enough in case there’s an eruption! The visit changed whatever weak opinion I once had Sicily and it’s definitely going to be a place to which I plan to return in the future.

As next week brings the start of midterms, I know nearly everyone is staying in town for the weekend following some day trips today. It’s still a bit cold out, but at least we haven’t had to face blizzard-like conditions! The narrow streets here in Siena block the sun a bit and make them a bit cooler, but as it continues to get warmer, I’ll look forward to that five-degree difference.

John David Quate, UVa

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Spring '11

Exploring l'Italia

After spending the first few weekends in or close to Siena, I decided to branch out and take an entire weekend trip to Rome! I immediately fell in love with the city, it's so much bigger than my little Siena and has such an excitingly ancient vibe. Last semester, I took a wonderful class about the art and archaeology of Ancient Rome, and I had such a grand time walking through and touching the ruins of the buildings I learned so much about but had only seen in PowerPoint presentations. I loved how ruins are just juxtaposed against medieval and modern buildings! I must admit, I walked up to so many crumbling archways and walls and ran my hands over the pocked facade because I was so in awe. Romans touched and built those same structures with their own hands two thousand years ago, and it was an extraordinary experience to see the remains of their magnificent empire. I arrived Friday the 18th and spent the evening walking around and locating my hostel - a friend and I stayed at a bed and breakfast called Mamma Mia, which was clean, secure, and affordable, but a bit out of the way.. I would recommend looking at a map of where your hostel is located before choosing, just because the buses and metro stopped running before midnight and it was a long walk back after going out at night. It's also terrible to be standing in the middle of a dark piazza at 2 am trying to figure out which of the four surrounding roads leads you the right way!

The next day I got to explore the Colosseum - going inside blew my mind, it's such an epic structure and it was really cool seeing the series of tunnels where the gladiators waited beneath what would have been the stadium's floor. I waited in line for about 40 minutes before finally getting my ticket, but a friend later told me that since the ticket includes admission to the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill/Forum area, you can go to the Forum first and save a lot of time since the line over there tends to be much shorter. Next time I'll know :) After the Colosseum, I spend a lot of time wandering the gorgeous ruins of the Palatine Hill, where there were tons of ancient palace ruins as well as a sunny park area (I wanted so badly to lie there in the sun!), then headed over to the Forum. This was super exciting to me, the archaeology nerd, and I ran around snapping photos of the Basilica Aemilia and the Temple of Saturn. It's unfortunate it's become such a touristy area (says I, the tourist) because it feels as if it should be a peaceful, quiet place to contemplate the ancientness of the location. However, it was still fantastic, albeit less charming than I had originally hoped thanks to the creepy gladiator actors that perused the streets outside asking to a)take a picture with you for only 5 euro, and b)meet up for evening drinks. I got out of there, fast.

We made the mistake of going to this awful American 50s diner-esque restaurant for lunch because I was craving a burger (to be fair, I've had only Italian food for the past 5 weeks! I know, what a travesty, right?). Sadly, it turned out to be one of the worst meals of all time, with nasty bright yellow fries, greasy buns, and a tiny piece of meat. Sad times. Luckily, Rome redeemed itself when we ran into a fantastic gelateria near the Pantheon - hundreds of flavors and cute Roman Holiday decor. Viewed the outside of the Pantheon and wandered around pretty Piazza Navona, then went "home" to change for dinner. We took the bus to Trastevere on the other side of the Tiber and ate at the delightful Osteria Pucci, where I had a bowl of pasta with ricotta, zucchini, and bacon. We searched for a good club, since Trastevere is apparently the place to be as far as nightlife goes, but weren't successful - no good discotecas in sight! Across the river we found some American student bars that were ok, but the true nightlife of Rome remains a mystery to me.

The next morning we got up to see the Vatican - unfortunately, it was Sunday so mass was going on inside and I couldn't see the Sistine Chapel, etc, but it was pretty cool to see the outside of it. A screen was projecting the words from the mass (in Italian, of course). After having some amazing pizza for lunch, and exhausted after lugging our bags across the city, my friend and I got on a bus and decided to just relax on it and let it take us to wherever it was going. We got off at the Circus Maximus, a bizarre sight - just a massive dirt oval edged with ruins. It was the largest chariot-racing stadium of Rome back in the day. I hated leaving Rome after just two days, I feel like it would take several weeks to adequately explore! Didn't mind too much though, I do love my scenic bus rides.

Then this past weekend, I had a gorgeous time traveling to Pisa for a photo shoot with that famous tower. Pisa is only an hour or so away from Siena by train, and was a really pretty little town. People say that there's nothing to do in Pisa besides go to the tower, but I would have liked to wander the streets a little longer to see for myself. The bridge over the Arno River had some really pretty views, and there were plenty of pretty mountains in the distance. The area surrounding the Tower was extremely touristy, there was an entire block of souvenir tents with little model towers and t-shirts, etc.! Seeing the leaning tower was pretty amazing, though, in all honesty. And it was right next to the beautiful Duomo of Pisa and the Baptistery.

An hour and a half later, we were on a train to Lucca, a lovely little oval-shaped walled medieval town that was originally founded by Etruscans. We rented bicycles and went for a leisurely ride around the walls - it was such a sunny, beautiful day which made Lucca seem especially idyllic, and the Alps were visible far, far in the distance. Families, joggers, and elderly people were all enjoying the outdoors and walking along the path lined with trees and little alcoves where you could sit by the ancient walls. It was truly one of the best days I've had in Italy. Later, we browsed some of the shops and a little craft market that was set up in a piazza. Also saw the Roman amphitheater, which had been built over by Renaissance townspeople and now only retains the shape of an amphitheater. It's a circle of pretty colorful Renaissance houses that contain cafes and apartments. For dinner, we found a great family-owned restaurant called Da Leo - cheap, amazing food! We had a delicious meal, and I tried the torta di verdure for dessert, a Luccan specialty (it's a surprisingly sweet vegetable cake topped with pine nuts). Our hostel, Ostello San Frediano, was clean and spacious, and fit all eight of us in our own dorm room.

Unfortunately, the next morning we woke up to rain, but continued on to the Duomo. Next we climbed the Torre Guinigi, a beautiful old tower originally belonging to the Guinigi Family. Even though I'm terrified of heights, I climbed all the way up (wind was whipping through the open windows, and the top staircase was wet because of the rain!) and was rewarded with a grand view and also a rooftop garden! It's one of the more bizarre things I've seen here - full-size trees were planted atop this huge tower! After inching my way down the hundreds of steps, gripping the railings and walls all the way, we visited the Basilica di San Giovanni. This site was once occupied by Roman baths, since Lucca used to be a major Roman colony, and the best part was, we got to descend beneath the church and walk through the excavated site, which contained ruins of the bathhouse, the medieval church remains, and a number of old tombs. It was amazing!! Roman mosaics were still intact, and there was ancient graffiti on the walls.

We left Lucca and finished our weekend in Viareggio, an Italian resort town that hosts a huge Carnivale celebration every year. This parade was craziness; the crowd got right in the street along with the massive, wild floats that were a couple stories high, filled with costumed dancers, and blasted music as they meandered by. Tons of people were dressed up - we saw everything from weird colorful monsters to cowgirls wearing tiny shorts in the freezing, damp weather. A lot of the floats had political connotations, but it was still fun for us Statiunitensi to watch and dance in the streets along with all the characters. And I saw the Mediterranean Sea for the first time! When we finally got back on the train to Siena, I was exhausted but thoroughly satisfied. Italians do everything right: fantastic landmarks, beautiful landscapes and towns, delicious food, and a great party. Perfect weekend.

Jaimie Cordier, Brandeis University

CET Siena Student Correspondent, Spring '11