ROMA...Part 2

Here's part two of my trip to Rome.  When we left off I had just left Marco and the Pantheon and was eating pizza and planning our next move with the group of 7 other girls that I was sharing a hostel with.  We made a tentative route that would take us to some of the main attractions of the city. 

We started at Piazza Navona where artists and art vendors were selling paintings and prints and some were doing portraits.  The piazza is a rectangular space with three fountains and buildings on all four sides.  It was fairly crowded with people eating gelato, sitting around the fountains, and watching the artists.  There were some statue people 'performing' but it was more entertaining to watch the public react to them.  From there we headed through the main shopping district to Piazza del Popolo.  By that time me and Elise and Jen had split away from the other part of the group because our natural walking pace is a lot faster.  When we got to Piazza Popoplo we took a few photos and decided to move on.  It's a great space to people watch, but the men selling roses and the vastness of the space made us a tad uncomfortable.  When the other girls arived, we told them we were going to take off and stay at our quicker pace and would meet them at the hostel before dinner.

The three of us headed to the Spanish steps where I was looking forward to some great people watching. We made it to the steps, found a comfortable place about half way up the stairs to sit and then just watched.  We saw a couple getting wedding photos taken, kids playing in the fountain, ladies carrying their fluff ball dogs up the stairs, etc.  Once our tired feet were rested we headed to the top of the hill to Villa Medici.

The Villa seemed to be closed so we walked through the park adjacent to the villa.  It was a bizarre park with dozens of busts of famous Italians (artists, architects, philosophers etc.), go cart bikes, bike buggies, there was a moon bounce.  However, it was nice to get out of the town.  After walking through the park we went to the edge of the hill/wall where we could see for miles over the city.  The sun was setting infront of us which made for some beautiful photos with the silhouette of St. Peter's Basilica on the horizon.  After a quick photoshoot we headed back down the hill. 

Our next stop was the Piazza della Repubblica.  It's basically a giant roundabout with two large arced buildings facing one half and St. Maria degu Angeli e dei Martiri on the other.  The best decision of the day was going into the basilica.  It was amazing.  It was getting dark out and there were very few lights on in the huge church which made it surprisingly intimate.  We wandered quietly into the alcoves (I was especially excited about the one with the huge pipe orgain) and sat in the pews for a little while.  As we were leaving, we heard the organ being played.  I of course had to go back and watch.  Sure enough a little old man was playing the organ, pushing in levers, pushing keys, turning nobs, and pushing pedals with his feet.  I have no idea how someone learns all of that! 

By this time we needed to head to the hostel.  It was called M&J Hostel which was conveniently near the Termini station.  We got there just before the others, checked in, and headed to the room.  It was just like camp: four bunk beds, funny green walls, and a window that took some effort to close.  We headed to dinner after giving our feet a short rest and then went back home to bed at about 10:30.  We had planned on seeing some night life but were too exhausted to go anywhere else.  Kinda lame, but definitly a good decision.  Here are some photos of the second part of Saturday. 

Piazza Navona

A lovely lady at Piazza del Popolo

Look at that view!  Oh and me, aren't I cute.

I wish I had a better photo of this but it was too dark inside to get a good photo. I will probably go back there next time I'm in Rome though!

Another door.  It was about as tall as me.

The Spanish Steps.  Photos in text books make them look a lot prettier, but I think the best purpose for them now is for people watching. 

SOO I'm tired again so I'll post about the my Sunday in Rome tomorrow haha.  Also, I will not be offended if you just look at the photos.  I know I get a little long winded about the details, but I am doing this as much for me as for y'all.  I want to be able to remember every part of this amazing adventure!

Cliff Hanger:  ROMA...part 3/3 coming tomorrow; Rain, cold, and snow still in the forecast; Assisi on Friday!

ROMA...Part 1

This weekend we went to Rome.  It was a fun trip but exhausting.  I don't think I've walked that much in two days since...honestly I don't think I've ever walked that much.  We managed to see over 15 sites in those two days, mostly the biggies.  Some of my favorite times in the city were either spent people watching at the sites, or meandering (at a fairly hastened pace) through the streets away from the sterotypical tourists (Note: we are not normal tourists, we are students).

Our day started at about 6:00am and a quick walk to the bus stop where we caught the bus to the bottom of the hill.  It was a 'short bus' but we managed to squeeze about 18 people on as it wound through the very narrow streets of Orvieto.  The train left the station at 7:30 or so and we arrived in Rome about an hour later.  I was hoping to catch a few more zz's on the train, but every tunnel we went through (one about every 5 minutes) made my ears pop really bad.  It seemed to only happen to us, the other passengers seemed perfectly fine while we were yawning, swallowing, frantically chewing gum etc. 

When Marco, our history professor, showed up at the Termini station in Rome we followed him to the subway.  The Termini station is the main train hub of the city, it's where the subway, regionale, intercity, and bullet trains converge, as well as a decent shopping center (it also had like 3 McDonalds).  We took the subway two stops to the Colosseo stop.  I figured we would have to walk a couple block to get to the Colosseum, but nope, it was right there in front of us when we got out of the station.  An amazing reveal, except for all the people trying to get you to take a tour of the inside...I will do that Next time.  I was impressed by the size and magnitude of the building of course, but was surprised that it was just as I had expected/hoped it would be.  Other sites we saw were better than expected, but that's probably because the Colosseum is such an iconic structure and I've 'seen it' so many times. 

Marco gave a fairly long winded shpeal about where we were and some of the sites around to help us get our bearings.  We were using those whisper tools where the leader has a microphone and we all listen to them through headphones which was nice because it meant we could hear even if we strayed from the group a little.  We proceeded to walk around with Marco till about 1pm (following is a list of the things we say on the walk).  We mainly just went to some of the less popular sites that Marco was very passionate and knowledgeable about.  Without him I would've probably passed some of these sites so I was glad to have a more unique experience than most tourists.  We ended at the Pantheon.  AMAZING, Definitely one of those buildings that envoke awe.  I've seen photos, slide shows, and scenes from movies of the Colleseum, but nothing compares to seeing it in person.  I did not realize how big the hole was in the ceiling and I was shocked that it was relatively quiet despite all the people. 

What we saw:
Colosseum
Triumphant Arch of Constantine
Palatine Hill (We didn't go up on it though)
The Forum
Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (the wedding cake)
Campidoglio
The Fountain of Turtles
The store that has been the official tailors for the Pope for a long time
Obilisks, ruins, funny trees, piazzas, etc. along the way. 

Marco dismissed us from the Pantheon and a group of us went to get lunch an plan our next move.  I will post about Saturday afternoon and Sunday tomorrow.  I'm exhausted.  After walking around Rome all weekend someone decided that it was a great day to do our tours of Orvieto that are the final part of our first studio project (5 'districts'....5 groups....5 hour-hour long tours over the entire town).  The initial plan was to do the 5 tours over the span of 2 days, but it's supposed to be rainy and cold the rest of the week so we did all 5 today.  I turned my ankle right at the beginning on the first tour, it was hard to hear and hard to herd the group through the narrow streets with fearless drivers.  I'm not complaining though...it could've been raining...and I did have a delicious 'kebab' wrap thing for lunch!

Anyways!  Here are some cheerful photos of our tour with Marco! 

 The Colosseum.

 From the hill where Villa Medici is.  We walked around this kind of bizarre park and back out to the edge of the hill near sunset for an amazing view of the city to the Vatican.  That's the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

haha.  I can't walk slow up stairs.  I got a couple of these.  Elise is a little dramatic.

 Me :)  I couldn't tell you what these ruins are.  It's a few blocks from the Colosseum.

 The Campidoglio

The Pantheon

 I thought it was bizarre that there were these ornate pieces of stone just scattered hap-hazardly around the ruins.  This particular spot was in the process of being excavated, but in other parts of the city there are huge pieces of column just laying in the parks. 

Cliff Hanger:  More details about my trip to Rome;  More photos!; It's going to rain alllll week...no sunshine in the forcast till next Wednesday....good thing I have an awesome umbrella, Thanks Aunt Sue!

Gettin' into the Swing of Things

The past couple days have been pretty mellow.  We had classes again and our studio group started working on our project which involves mapping the city (hello assignment that I did a dozen times in studio this past year...).  It has helped me get a better grasp of where things are though so I guess that's nice. 

Last night we made cheese burgers for dinner, a little taste of home. After dinner Jena taught us how to play Liverpool, a card game very similar to Phase 10.  After a few rounds of cards we got ready to go out for an apartment crawl to see everyones apartments because they are so different.  Some are two stories, one has a lot of random chairs, some have a nice sitting room big enough for the whole group, etc.  Our apartment is about average, but it would be nice to have a place where more people could hang out. 

Today we didn't have class because the second cooking class with Lorenzo is this morning so chef can take them to the market.  The third group is going to go tonight instead of Saturday as originally planned because of the Rome trip.  The initial plan was to go to Rome on Friday which would've worked fine (the cooking people would've not been able to stay the night though) but as it turns out, the Train system is going on strike tonight at 9pm until Friday at 9pm so that messed up our plans a bit.  But as it turns out, it benefitted everyone because we can all stay in Rome Saturday night!

This morning Natalie and I went to the market on our own while the rest of the roommates were with Lorenzo.  We bought a lot of fruits and veggies, cheese, salami, and some really hard bread....maybe we can turn it into mini pizzas again.  I'm making a potato for lunch and will probably go check out the rupe this afternoon.  The rupe is a trail that goes around the entire hill and is a nice 2.2mi walk (maybe it will eventually turn into a jog).

Cliff hanger:  The next post will probably be after Rome, so get ready for some pictures of me in front of famous buildings!   

And here are the photos I promised!!

A couple doors for my collection

Roommates at the Ballet.

We sat in the top balcony which gave us a great view of the ceiling, but it was kind of hard to see the whole stage comfortably.  Still a great experience!

Chef Lorenzo in the blue hat.  Oh....and some purple artichokes!

The menu chef whipped up when we got back from the market.  I called making the gnocchi!

Me, Sarah, and Anne peeling boiled potatos to make the gnocchi. 

Me, Anne, Liz, Kylie, Angela, and Sarah making pizzas out of the 'wrinkly, old man face' frocchia dough!

 

Chef Lorenzo pouring the grappa shots after the meal was finished.

Rachel finishing off her zucchini snacks and Natalie grating cheese.

Another homemade meal.  Yay american burgers, potato chips, and ketchup.  I'm definately missing good ol' CoJack cheese though. 

Note: The cute Road Runner glass; we have a collection of Nutella collectable cups that came with the apartment that have old cartoons on them (Flash, Wile E Coyote, Pink Panther).  Sometimes we use the glasses for wine...Classy.

Ciao!



What A Week!

So it's officially been one week since I started this journey!  I hope y'all are enjoying the updates and aren't getting too jealous ;)  I like that I will have a detailed record of what I did on this trip and hope that it may come in handy if/when I return to Italy. 

I know I missed a couple days, but Sunday was just a lazy day with the roommates.  I slept for 12 hours, woke up at 2pm Sunday and proceded to eat some lunch.  I hung out around the apartment and went for a walk with my roommates, but other than that didn't do much of anything.  We did get Nutella crepes from a gelato place!

Monday we had our first full day of classes.  Before 9:30 studio we went to a new bar (cafe) and I got a cappuchino and a croissant with white cream in one end and Nutella in the other...Soo good.  Studio was fine, we just went over our first project and some other house cleaning things.  After studio we got lunch at a small sandwich shop.  I had a panini with just tomatoes and mozzarella which sounds boring, but the tomatoes here are my new favorite food.  At 2:00 I was scheduled to go with Serena (our Italian liason between centro studi and KSU) to the post office to get our lisence of stay cards that we are supposed to have because we are staying in Italy for more than 90 days.  They are supposed to come before we leave, but Serena says (and I have witnessed) things in Italy take a little longer than you would think.  After that we had our first seminar class which seems like it will be interesting.  We are studying healing places/spaces/landscapes as it relates to the Citta Slow movement.  After class we went down the hill to the COOP grocery store.  It was our first time down the hill on the funiculare (a single car bus tram).  We managed to follow some vague directions we got from our classmates and found it no problem.  The grocery was small compared to good ol' Schnucks but it had everything we needed, except chedder cheese or salsa for my staple, quesadillas.  We packed everything in our backpacks and hiked back to the finiculare and took the bus back to the piazza duomo and then we walked home.  After all that trapesing around I decided to read a little of my book and took a short nap.  We went to dinner for Kylie's birthday at a pizzeria which was very fun.  After dinner we went to Bar Duomo for a bit before going home to bed. 
Today, Tuesday, was another day of classes.  9:30 was Marco's history class again which was just as interesting as the first.  We discussed Greek history because it will become useful in understanding Roman history of art, architecture, politics, etc.  After class ended at 1:30 we rushed home to heat up the rotisseri chicken we got at the Market on Saturday.  I supplemented it with a small salad and some toast crackers with Nutella that we got at the COOP.  At 2:30 I had my first Italian class with marina.  She doesn't know much English by I managed to learn a lot today.  After class I went and bought a few notebooks for the various classes and came home.  I again, read some of my book and took a nap and made dinner.  After dinner I got to Skype with my mom and showed her the aparment and told her about my day etc.    Now I'm watching Push with Dakota Fanning on YouTube which is a nice way to mellow out. 

Cliff Hanger: We're going to ROME on Saturday!;  8 of us are staying at a Hostel on Saturday night in Rome;

Also, Shout out to dad....Happy Birthday!!

Cooking Class!

Saturday 21 at 8 am was my cooking class!  Our group of 30 is split into three groups for the three sessions which take place on market day (Sat and Thurs).  I was excited to be in the first group.  The day started with a cappuchino at Zeppelin (The restaurant owned by Chef Lorenzo which happens to be very close to our apartment).   We then headed to the market with Chef Lorenzo.  On the way we stopped at a candy/wine store and sampled a light liquor which was poured into shot-like glasses.  Lorenzo seemed very surprised when we all took it like a shot, I think we were supposed to just sip it...cultural differences I guess.  When we got to the market we sampled some pork, bought ornages from a man Lorenzo described as crazy, amd bought artichokes, broccoli, peppers, hot cherry peppers, and a few other veggies.  We went into the cafe next to the market and had another cappuchino and an orange pastry soaked in a cherry liquor filled with cream and sprinkled with sugar.  Lorenzo also took us into the kitchen where a cute old man and a few other bakers were making more delicious pastries.  Next we headed back to Zeppelin. 
Lorenzo wrote up a quick menu and we split into small groups and were assigned a menu item.  I got to make gnocci!!  It's a potato based pasta that we were going to used in a carbonara sauce.  The first step was to peel potatoes that were boiled.  We sent the peeled potatoes through a meat grinder and then added 1 part flour to two parts potatoes and two eggs (1egg per kg of potato).  Next we kneeded it until it was all combined into a large ball.  Lorenzo showed us how to roll chunks of dough into snakes, cut them into little nuggets and roll them on a fork to make the common gnocci shape.  There was a mountain of dough so we enlisted a few others to help make the gnocci.  When we finished all the dough, we had two large cookie sheets full of gnocci which was chilled before we put it in boiling water until it floated to the top indicating us that it was done cooking.  Lornzo made the carbonara sauce and added the gnocci and our job was complete!  The other students made pork loin suffed with herbs and some veggies, froccacia dough for pizza, greens, and tangerine gelato.  The whole meal was delicious!  We also got a wine tasting/lesson which was very informative.  We ended the class with a group photo in our aprons with our diplomas and book of recipes, and then a shot of grappa!  After class Natalie and I came home and I took a 2.5hr nap :) 

When the rest of the roommates came home we decided to go for a walk along the main corso at 6 when the whole town comes out to take a stroll and see their friends and do a little shopping.  I bought a couple disney books in Italian (guess which ones....Pocahontas and Mulan!)  I was able to read most of it, but I guess it helps that I pretty much know both those movies by heart.  After out stoll, we went to dinner and ended up going to a pretty fancy restaurant.  I shared aa gnocci dish with Caitlin which was good, but not as good as the one we made in class!  Next we met up with some friends at a bar to have a few drinks and people watch.  It was a great end to an amazing day!

Class and a Ballet!

Friday we had our first classes.  The first was studio with Gary and Suzanne Coates, two architecture professors from K-State.  They introduced the first assignment which is used to help us learn more about Orvieto.  We are divided into groups based on where we live and are supposed to take note of the types of places and spaces in our 'neighborhood' which includes our apartment.  It's due next Monday along with a tour route which we will lead the rest of the class through.  We haven't started...

The second class was with Marco.  He teaches the history of Italian culture, art, architecture etc.  His lecture was probably one of the most interesting and least boring that I've been to in a long time.  He's a cute older italian man who is very passionate about his country and has a great way of explaining things.  And yes, he speaks English although he says "eco" like we would say "um" or "ok".  Class started at 10 or so and at 11:30 we had a 30 minute break during which we ran to get some lunch.  My roommates and I went to get some sandwiches and pasta.  I had a pasta with tuna and big noodles which was really good. 

After class got over at 1:30ish we were free to do what we wanted.  I went home and took a nice little nap.  After everyone got home we started make a lovely pasta dinner.  I bought some fancy pasta the day before which we added to some sauce that Jena made with fresh tomatoes and onions from the Market.  We also had bread and cheese, olive oil, balsamic, and herbs.  After dinner the whole group went to Swan Lake ballet at the theater.  It was nice that we didn't have to worry about understanding a show in Italian, but the story was still kind of hard to follow.  After the ballet we went to a cafe and had a glass of wine with everyone.  I came home after that and took a shower and went to be because I had to get up early for cooking class Saturday morning!!

Photos!

 This is my room which I share with Natalie and Caitlin

 This is our bathroom, no we have not used the bidet and yes we have hot water!

 This is Jena and Rachel's room.  They also have a full  bathroom.

 This is the front door to the apartment.  It's on the second floor and looks into this small courtyard. We enter through a tunnel from the street which opens up behind me into the courtyard.

 The famous duomo facade.  Centro Studi (our school) is on the duomo piazza to the right. 

 These next few photos were taken on our first tour of the city with Marina, our Italian professor.  We walked around the top of the entire hill where buildings and walls were built directly into and on top of the cliffs.  It was amazing.  On the tour I also noticed how unique and beautiful the doors are and decided I want to make an album of just doors, kind of a theme or a scavenger hunt to give me something to look for. 

 View over the valley.  The photo does not do it justice, especially because there are five more photos that go next to this to make a panorama.

 This is the front of Centro Studi.

The market is held two days a week, Thursday and Saturday until 1:30 or so.  This is the meat and cheese vendor where we bought some bruchutto and salami.  We also got green olives, fresh mozzarella, apples, blood oranges, zuchinni, tomatoes, green olives (the first one I've ever tried.  It was just ok but I still have 4 months to learn to like them) and some yummy hard cheese.  We also went to the supermarket and got some olive oil, jam, and croissants.   We came back to the apratment and sliced a baggette to eat with sliced tomatoes, oil, cheese, and an orange for dessert.  Our tour was after lunch and now I'm back at the apartment before we go to the Zeppelin restrant for a group dinner with Chef Lorenzo who is teach our cooking class.

Cliff Hanger:  I want to go walk around the city some more;  I will post some of the door picutres I've taken; cooking class is next week, I think.

Chiao, Katy

We Made It!

We made it to Orvieto!  It's been a year in the making and now it's finally here.  A semester abroad in Orvieto, Italy.  Exploring the town, the country and hopefully some of the continent.  Our apartment is perfect, not too big, not too small, beds are comfortable, kitchen is nice, new stove and oven, we have a tiny washing machine (under the kitchen counter), two bathrooms/showers (with showerheads that hook onto the wall!), and a nice courtyard out front.  Today has been an very, very long day.  With jet lag and a bizarre schedule that started with us waking up on the airplane after only 4ish hours of sleep and landing in Rome at 7:30am local time.  Next we piled on a large tour bus for a 1.5 hr drive to Orvieto.  I managed to stay awake for most of the bus ride but gave in a couple times to my heavy eyelids.  We got to Orvieto at 11am and our landlords met us in the Piazza Duomo to walk us to our apratments.  It was quite a haul to through the narrow streets over the cobblestones with our giant, noisy suitcases, but we managed.  Our landlord showed us around the apartment, taught us to use the gas stove, and left.  We were instructed to get settled and then head to the Vincaffe where we would have lunch waiting.  To us 'getting settled' meant picking a bed, finding a clean shirt to wear, washing our faces, and lying down for a few minutes.  Lunch was good, it was buffet style with some meats, polenta greenbean carrot wedges, amazing bean soup, and of course, wine.  We sat with our new Italian professor who was kind of difficult to communicate with bc our italian/her english were not that great but she is very very nice and we can tell she wants us to learn.  After lunch we went home and crashed for a couple hours.  I concked out the minute my head hit the pillow and I didn't wake up until my alarm went off.  We decided that we should go to the supermarket near the duomo and maybe get some dinner which turned out to be an awesome idea.  We went and bought some shampoo at the supermarket and then went to a nice pizzeria.  My pizza had 3 types of cheeses and slices of eggplant! The crust was the best part, very thin and crispy, and slightly salty on the bottom.  Now I'm at home and obviously got signed onto the wireless.  It is very fast and should support Skype or other video chat if you're interested! 

Cliff Hanger:  Tomorrow we will do some necessary paperwork at Centro Studi; A tour of the city with our new professors; Dinner at Zepplin, the restraunt where we will do our cooking class!

Thanks for reading!  KATY

And We're Off!

Today I woke up in KC at 4:30am...last time I was awake that early I hadn't been asleep yet! We made it to the airport, met up with the group, compared how much luggage we each brought, got all checked in, made it through security and then boarded the plane at 730. We left the gate, creeped slowly to the runway booted up the engines, and instead of taking off we pulled off the runway and headed back to the gate. Apparently a screen in the cockpit went blank and had to be replaced before we left. It wasn a big deal but we didn't leave till about 830.

Right now I am in the DC airport getting ready to start The Agony and The Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo which I got from my grandparents for Christmas. It's a big book and will hopefully last the whole trip. We leave DC at 5:00pm local time and will get to Rome at 8:30am local time, I really hope I get some sleep on the plane!

Remember if you want to contact me, email is the best molaskey@ksu.edu. Facebook is also a good way. I will try and get Skype up and running so email if you want to set up a Skype date :)

CLIFF HANGER: I will get to my new home Orvieto, Italy!! We will move into our apartment tomorrow (Rachel Barth, Jena B., Caitlin Maus, Natalie Martell and I are all in one apartment!); classes start Friday I guess

Love to everyone and thanks to all those who helped make this trip possible and for those who are just as excited for me as I am!

Check back soon for the first photos! (I figured you didn't need to see me sitting at the airport...)

Start Blog...check!

Hello everyone!  It's 11 days before I start my study abroad journey to Orvieto, Italy and I am currently stumbling through the 'To Do Before I Leave for Italy' List I created this morning.  It's extensive and daunting, but I am surprisingly motivated (especially because if I get 3 more things crossed off I am treating myself to a free drink at QT for customer appreciation day!). 

Anyways, I hope that this blog will allow my friends and family to see what I have been up to while I'm abroad.  My goal is to keep it up to date with posts and photos at least once a week while I'm gone (I'll try to avoid artsy-fartsy architect photos of paving patterns).  I am not promising that the spelling will be great and some posts may be longer than others, but I want this to be informal, like I was telling you about it in person.  I will always try to include a 'cliff hanger' about what will be coming up in the next post, like where I will be going or doing in the next couple days. 

Cliff Hanger: The search for an intership will continue...forever ; Packing for 4 months in one 50-lb suitcase + a carry-on will commence, wish me luck!

Thanks for reading, KATY MO