Culture Shock!!!!!!!

Hello Forced Followers of my blog,

Well after many miles traveled, cities visited, family and friends saluted, and laps around the Colosseum, I am back in Philly and wondering what to do with myself next. It's over! My quasi-year in Italy is over! I can't believe it. I mean, I knew it was coming; I was coming home and I felt prepared, but noooooooo! Now it's over and I am sad. Who is going to speak Italian with me? Where am I going to get my gelato fix? What was I thinking coming home? Why would I ever leave bella Italia!?!? And even worse, now I have to think about jobs! Ugh. 

Okay, well now that I got that out, I can reminisce about the great places I visited and the amazing people I met. I had an amazing March and April in Italy which I have completely left you in the dark about. I left Rome on a cold, rainy March 5, 2010 to find a chilly, but fortunately, sunny and dry Florence. I spent 5 blissful days wandering around town,  doing nothing and everything. I visited with my Italian boyfriend, David. He's quite tall at 14' high with penetrating eyes, great abs and a nice butt. You aren't allowed to take pictures, but I like to break rules, so I snuck this one in as the "hall monitors" were chatting in a corner completely oblivious. It's just a bit out of focus.

Here's a shot from the steps of the Duomo, before I made the journey to the top of the tower. Note to all tourists: the perfect time to visit Florence and never stand in line is early March. Granted, it's a little chilly and might rain, but there are noooooo lines which, you may know from experience, is not the norm. 

I love Florence. I should have lived there for a while this year. Should have, could have, would have. What else is new... at least I visited a handful of times. It's not too big, not too small. Easy to get around, clean, beautiful, happy. People seem genuinely happy there. Maybe it's just all the tourists, maybe it's me, maybe it's the gelato.

Speaking of gelato....  your Tuscan dreams have come true! This May is the first annual Gelato Festival in Florence! Like I said, why on earth did I leave? Festival del Gelato, May 28-31, 2010. If you thought Florence was full of tourists when you were there, then don't go this particular weekend -- I am having flashbacks to Perugia's Chocolate Festival which turned my tiny hilltop town into Hershey Park, Pennsylvania.

One awesome item I found on the website: le ricette (the recipes)!  Knock yourself out! Unfortunately, it's in Italian and there is no English version. Once I am back in LA and settled, I'll let you know how it turns out.  http://www.firenzegelatofestival.it/site/d_page.asp?IDPagina=23

That's all for now. There are just too many wonderful things to say about Florence.  I guess there will have to be a Florence Part II sometime in the future. Arrivaderci!

And She's Off....

So, I just spent 5 pleasant but rainy weeks in Rome during which I took an additional Italian course (for those of you wondering how I spend all my fabulous time when not eating gelato and fending off gorgeous men following me around everywhere); it was fantastic! Now, as the sun finally begins to shine bringing some warm rays to my chilly afternoons, and as I finally begin shedding my winter layers -- or stop dressing like an onion as they say in Italy ---I have decided to venture North where it's still cold! Why? Why? Why on earth would I do that to myself? Because people, well, it's just not warm enough to go lay on a beach somewhere in Southern Italy yet, obviously!

As most of us all know by now, I don't stand still for very long. I just can't; I try, I really do, but I can't do it! There are too many amazing places to go and things to see! Additionally, as I re-evaluate my allocated travel funds....  sadly, it looks like this vacation may come to an end sooner than those of you vicariously living through me would like. True bummer that money simply does not grow on trees. I know you are all upset, however, I am coming to grips with this reality and so should you. The good news of course, is that I will see you all sooner than we thought and I do look forward to seeing you soon. Especially Batman and Ginger!

They tried to come with me when I packed last July. How cute is that?!! There have been many lonely nights without my kitty-cats around waking me up at 3am and then 4am and then 5am and always, again at 6am.

Fortunately, I do have about a month of "La Dolce Vita" left in me.  My travel adventure begins anew tomorrow when I go to Florence! And then to Bologna... and then to Torino... and then to Nice, France... and then to Lucerne, Switzerland.... and then I don't have anything else planned yet. But I am sure I will think of something and when I do, I'll let you know!

Here are a few photos of my two favorite places in all of Rome.... bet you could guess, but I'll tell you anyway:

#1 The Collosseum

#2  The Pantheon

These are my parents in case it's not obvious :) 

Here's the quick and dirty history lesson on these two: they are both really old. For everything else, there's this awesome website called wikepedia.com.  Actually the one cool thing about this last photo of The Pantheon is the close up of the Latin inscription which basically says "I am awesome, I built this." That of course, is my loose interpretation of what Marcus Agrippa meant when he put his name on The Pantheon, like a really long time ago. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

Hope you are well and enjoying your version of "La Dolce Vita"!

Una Passeggiata Incantevole a Trastevere

Ciao everyone!  Great news!!! The sun finally arrived this week, perfectly timed with my recovery from the worst cold ever: duration 8 days, mostly spent in bed watching television online = huge bummer when abroad.

To celebrate my health, I took myself for an afternoon walk in Trastevere yesterday. Trastevere is an area of Rome not to be missed and worth spending more than a single afternoon ambling through the corkscrew alleys.  Fifty-odd years ago it was kind of the Roman ghetto where no-one went or wanted to live. Today, it's considered a hip bohemian neighborhood with lots of pizzerias and restaurants, cafés, one-of-a-kind boutiques and bars... kind-of like Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA, but more awesome and less expensive, and just slightly older and totally different, so I guess it's not the same at all. So much for comparisons.  

It was sunny and warm and seemed like everyone had the same idea as me. Here are some pictures from my walk-about. The first few pics are in Piazza Santa Maria di Trastevere where the oldest church in all of Rome still stands, dating back to 3rd century AD and houses these amazing Bysantine mosaics of the same era. If you are ever in Rome, you have to check out this church! It's a fun little piazza with kids running around, couples holding hands, friends and family catching up with one another, and me, eating gelato of course.

 

Apparently the ingredient of the day was artichoke. I love how they make little flower arrangements with them.  Below is simply fantastic: Here's the website for "Women against Discrimination."

Sometimes, I don't know why I take certain pictures. Those of you who are actual photographers or amateurs or have any taste at all, would probably agree. When I took the picture below I thought it would be cool. But I had to stand in the street to take it, truely risking my life when a little old Italian man sideswiped my backside as he drove by. I have officially been hit by a car.  The picture is clearly not worth it, but now at least it tells a story.

Fortunately, I am alive today to blog about it. Shortly afterward, I walked on to catch the Tram #8 to Largo Argentina and shop for boots, a far less dangerous sport than photography.

Una Lunghissima Pausa!

Ciao!!!!!

Well, I am back in bella Italia and have been enjoying the Roman lifestyle for the past few weeks, despite the rain! It's been raining a lot this month and it snowed the other day. So, does it ever snow in Rome? "Ogni morte di Papá" which translates to "Every death of the Pope" which in turn means, once in a blue moon.

 For those of you a bit out of the loop I went to Philly at Christmas to say "ciao" to the family and ended up staying for all of January. Here's the itty-bitty recap on that month: I was sick for the first 2 weeks, had a life crisis during week 3, resolved life crisis during week 4 with the decision to come back to Italy right away and worry about life at a later point in time. January also included many good times with friends and family; thanks for always making it so hard for me not to love Philly!

So, here I am in Italy again and it's been wonderful. I love the chaos of Rome and big city life: tons of people to chat up, lots of cafés to pop into for a cappuccino, hundreds of streets to wander down where I eventually ask myself, "Where am I and how did I get here?" On my third day in Rome, I got lost on my way to Campo di Fiori. Within a 3 block radius I must have asked directions at least 16 times which brought me wonderful affirmation and proves that Rome is the perfect place for me: every single time I stopped someone to ask directions, both men and women called me "bella" and told me I spoke Italian really well. And so I am here to stay! Well, at least until the travel bug bites and takes me elsewhere. The savvy observer might interject that if I actually understood Italian well then I wouldn't get lost quite so easily to which I would reply, I get distracted easily by sparkly objects, my quest for the perfect leather purse and gelato, thank you very much.

More to come soon, I promise. I do have one request for you: the next time you say your bedtime prayers, can you please ask God, Buddha or to whomever you pray to send some California sunshine my way! I am sick of the rain! Grazie!

My Roman Treasures Part 1

Here are some of my favorite memories of Rome, past and present. I hope you feel like you were here with me.... maybe you were and maybe you will be one day.  Just don't forget, if you toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain you will always come back to Rome.

Trust me, it works every time! Allora, facciamo una passeggiata a Roma!

First things first. Let's start the day off right with a little gelato.

Sometimes I like to start my walking tours at Piazza del Popolo.

I love the the little church in the lower right corner (you can's see it in the above pic) Chiesa Santa Maria del Polpolo. Everytime I come into this church I think, "They just don't make churches the way they used to!"

There are marble skulls with angels wings,

 

...dead people, usually a Pope, buried in sculpted tombs just hanging out with everyone going to mass,

 

...and the architecture is phenomenal! Chiesa Santa Maria del Popolo also houses two paintings by my very favorite Renaissance artisit, Caravaggio. Here is "The Crucifxion of Saint Peter".

Next stop:

The entryway to all shopping dreams come true...except the part where everything is free.  It's very exhausting shopping all day, particularly when you are shopping with Stephanie (my sister) as I have been doing for the past 2 days. She requires frequent stops in most, if not every single shoe store within a 10 kilometer radius.  Shopping with Steph requires "una pausa" on the Spanish Steps. These were the steps in 2004...

And then in 2009...

This is Via Condotti where all my famous friends live - Gucci, Armani, Prada, Fendi, Dolce and Gabbana, and all their famous French freinds. Sometimes I like to drop in for a visit but I usually don't stay too long given that I am dressed only in my California best, ripped jeans and flipflops.

The only thing that really changes besides the church facelift are the advertisements.  Below is a photo I took in 2004 near the Spanish Steps.  I love the juxtiposition of Rome's most beloved duo: the Madonna and Totti hanging out together. Sadly, there is not a current advertisment on this building below.

Given the pausa at the Spanish Steps, I will take a blog pausa now as I digest all the pasta I ate today.

Umbrian Escapades

This is a recap! Umbria has a lot of beautiful little towns for day-tripping on a Saturday or Sunday, or the rare afternoon without Italian lessons. I managed to get to 4 of them in November which seems a bit weak now that I think about it. Hopefully in your next trip to Umbria you will get to a few more than me!  Here are my November travels in review... 


"Tutto é bello a Spello"

Madeleine, aka Little Britain, and I took the 2:30pm bus to Spello one day after a morning lesson of what my friend Jim likes to call "Intense Congiuntivo." (As if there was any other way to truly study this bizarre verb mood without going a bit nutty. I mean, basically anytime you are expressing an opinion or desire or uncertainty you must use "Intensive Congiuntivo" which changes everything and will drive you bonkers. Just take my word for it.)

Back to Spello... on our passeggiata (walk) to town from the train station we encountered CRAZY Old Lady who advised us not to get in the car with the guy asking for directions. Good advice of course, but really CRAZY Old Lady, he was just asking directions and was not going to steal your bag and drop your body in the river. She then babbled on about her house in Spello behind the brown building over there, past the playground and to the left of the big tree where her brother lives near that fence, just near the door next to the wall, see it... what? Was she even speaking Italian? Perugino? Spellino? Or Greek?  Chissa! (Who knows!) All I know is we stood there with her for about 10 incomprehensible minutes. I nodded a lot saying "Certo!" (Of course!) and "Si" to whatever it is she was talking about. When she finally stopped for a breath I was able to interrupt, "Which way to the center of town?" After giving us all our options, we finally thanked her grazie, grazie, grazie, ciao, ciao, ciao, ciao, ciao, ciao, ciao. CRAZY Old Lady did leave us (rather we left her standing on the corner waiting for the bus) with my favorite quote of the day "Tutto é bello a Spello" and she was right, everything is beautiful in Spello!

 

When there's a fork in the road and a cute old Italian man resting at the top, always go up! That's where you always find your favorite street!

And don't forget to keep your eyes open for "I Cipressi Alti" in Umbria, those tall Cypress trees are everywhere! We particularly liked this one on the left.

Montefalco ...non c'éra nessuno, solo un castello, il vino e Giulio, il mio Romano! My friend Giulio from Rome came to visit me one very rainy weekend in November. We decided to defy the weather gods and travel to both Montefalco and Gubbio. Montefalco, famous for it's wine, was a big must on my list. Everywhere I went in Perugia, Montefalco was the wine of choice so it seemed like a good bet that this was the town for me! We took a late afternoon drive on the Autostrada where (mi raccomando! I advise!) one should never drive unless you are a true-blooded, born and raised Italian -- almost the same thing as driving on the 405 or I-76, risking life and limb, except 30X faster. I believe race car driving was invented in Italy, and if not, it certainly seems like the Italians have perfected it.

Comunque, we went for a late afternoon/evening adventure and found this tiny little town completely abandoned. At least until we discovered the town watering hole housing the entire population of Montefalco. We pushed our way to the back bar and ordered a glass of Sagrantino, THE wine of choice. So delicious. That's about the best I can do in terms of describing wine. Maybe it was peppery, fruity, bold, full, great tanins, etc, etc, blah blah blah. All I know is that it was good and I was happy. I feel like any town that defines itself as "Citta del Vino" is a sure bet.

Gubbio, dove si deve fare 3 giri circa la fontana per non impazzarsi...  Gubbio, where you have to walk around the fountain 3 times so that you do not go insane!

Apparently there was an outbreak of crazies here once... maybe CRAZY Old Lady from Spello escaped from Gubbio. As the legend goes, you have to walk around the fountain 3 times to ensure your sanity. Hmmmm, that sounds absolutley sane to me. I did 6 circles - 3 in both directions - just for good measure. 

Gubbio is yet another beautiful Medievil town where ceramics are handmade and hand painted and hanging on the outside of every shop that sells them.  It was another day where no one but me (RainGirl) and my trusted Roman sidekick ventured outside. The Duomo and town square were completely empty.  I guess the dark clouds in the distance where a bit daunting.

Orvieto was high on my list of towns not to miss. I had been to Orvieto 13 years ago with an Art History Study Tour my freshman year of college.  I remembered absolutely nothing about it except the feeling that I wanted to go back. I have a memory of eating a picnic of cheese, bread and wine one warm June afternoon and being blissfully happy.

Armed with this knowledge and my Brazilian friend Edurardo, I trained it to Orvieto. Okay, so I do have one little regret and here it is - I wish I had come to Orvieto in September because I would have come back often. It's absolutely beautiful and it's just easy - easy to be here, easy to relax, easy to find a little bench and pass a few hours reading a book. Everyone was  nice. 

It was a little foggy this afternoon, but you can still make out the castle in the countryside I will be purchasing when I win the lottery... (by the way, I did not win the cow). The Duomo here is absolutely breathtaking, if only my stupid battery camera hadn't died there would be a few more pictures. Instead, I only managed 4 photos and these are it! They certianly don't do Orvieto any justice. You must go!