Thursday November 12th
Today we left Rome, and I said goodbye to Italy after 11 great weeks! We headed to the airport to catch our plane to Athens, Greece. We flew on easy jet, it is a value airline so the flight prices were very good, you pay extra for any luggage and there are no assigned seats, So when it came time to boarding we where all filed out onto a bus and then we all made the mad dash from the bus, up the the stairs onto the plan to choose the best seats. We took to window seats and had great views leaving Italy and flying into Greece! The weather was great for our time in Greece, we had on shorts, shirts and short sleeve shirts during most of the day!! We had great little hotel right in the heart of the city that had a small balcony with an awesome view of the Acropolis. That afternoon we went shopping, walked the town and enjoyed some new foods besides pasts and pizza… We started off our day at Quick Pita- we had Doner’s (pita like sandwiches) of lamb, pork, or chicken. We walked to Syntagma Square where the Greek Parliament building sits, through Plaka- a little shopping and restaurant areas and had a lovely dinner on a slopped street right below the Acropolis!! We shared a few appetizers- meat wrapped in grape leaves, cheese pies and yogurt sauce, and two greek salads, then Dad and Time had Slovaki (a greek dish- kind of like kebabs) and Mom and I shared a platter of Lamb in lemon sauce with potatoes and vegetables!
Friday November 13th
We did a lot of site seeing today. We began our tour at the Temple of Zeus (which is the easiest place to buy your combo ticket for the Acropolis and other sites around there) It is amazing to see the size people built back in that day and to think they had no machinery like we do now. Somehow it all got built then and today during our restoration efforts we have to use cranes and such to barely reach some spots. After the Temple of Zeus we walked to the theater of Dionysis and then up to the Acropolis… is we thought Florence and Rome were big from our views from Michelangelo park and Castello San Angelo… Athens spread on and on and on… it seems that the only things stopping it were a mountain or two and the sea. On our way back down to town in search of some lunch we stopped at Areopalos- a big rocky areas that from thousands of visitors a day is quite slippery in some areas but it made a nice spot to sit a see the acropolis and all of Athens. Our search for lunch like the day before ended up with us making a few circles, walking into some interesting, not so nice areas of town and back at Quick Pita again! After eating something we had a few more sites to see on our combo ticket, unfortunately the cemetery area was closer, although we got a pretty good view from the gates surrounding it. We did get to see Ancient Agora- which had a building much like the Acropolis but in much better condition. We had a bit of a hard time finding the entrance to that area and ended up walking through a park that seemed to be more of a homeless park than anything else. We finished are day in Greece with a stroll through the markets, found a show store that had tons and tons of shows just sitting in cardboard boxes stacked all over the place, they were so cheap but apparently even in Greece I wear one of the most popular sizes… We completed are visit with some more greek food, this time at a restaurant right within the market areas… We had slovaki, greek salad, tziki sauce and Greek beer. The restaurant brought us yogurt with honey for dessert and while we were eating it a dog from the city kept walking up and down the street (there are lots and lots of dogs that roam around harmlessly in Athens). We noticed he was carrying a water bottle in his mouth so when he stopped near our table we were able to give him some drinking water- He was a pretty smart dog!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Florence and Rome with Family
Sunday November 8th
Heading to Florence!!!
I’m not sure how we did it, but someone we managed to get 8 people in a 7 seater van, along with about 10 suitcases and 3 bookbags…. The door on the back of the van had to be tied shut to fit it all in, some things sat on our laps and Tim even sat on a suitcases as his seat since we were one seat short! We must have looked like the Grizzwalds on National Lampoons European Vacation!!! The drive was pretty uneventful, except for the few circles we made around the loop right outside the Florence airport where we had to drop off our rental car, their signs for rental car drop off are pretty non existent and we ended up asking at a gas station and the Hertz man just happened to walk in at the same time! After dropping off the van, we took a bus to the Florence train station and then it was just a short 10 minute walk to our hotels, dragging all our luggage through the rain and puddles! The weather was pretty rainy the rest of the day, we did some shopping at the large market in Florence, visited the Basilica there- I saw the tomb of Brunelleschi – he designed the dome for the top of the church, and had a great dinner in Piazza Repubblica in an enclosed area with heaters. I had a great dish- it was penne pasta with a cream sauce, peppers and zucchini- at least that is what the menu had said, it turned out that the peppers were actually peppercorns and added a great zest with a little spice to the entire dish! We finished our dinner with cappuccino and a hot chocolate for me then headed to Piazza del Signoria to see the fake statue of David, the original by Michelangelo and headed back to do some skyping on the internet and goods night sleep.
Monday November 9th
Our second day in Florence we headed across the Ponte Vecchio (oldest surviving bridge crossing the river out of the histories area of Florence) and onward to Micheangelo park. A few of us climbed to the top of the park for a great view of the entire city, seeing the size of the city showed us how little we had touched of the big city, but it was time now for us to move on to Rome! We walked back to the hotel, getting another view of the fake David in day light along the way and then made our way back to the train station, luggage in hand again. We took the 3:13 train to Rome, we arrived around 6:30ish, made our way to our hotel with only a few wrong turns and had dinner at a great restaurant right across the street for out hotel! Pizza, pasta, lasagna, wine and cappuccino- what more could we ask for after a long day of traveling. After dinner Mom, Dad, Tim and I took the 15minute walk to the Trevi fountain, had some gelato and some great picture opportunity’s since it was a weekday and off season it was not nearly as crowded as when my study abroad group visited Rome.
Tuesday November 10th
Today we headed out to the Vatican museum, I had already been here by I was very excited to share some of the great artwork inside with my family! We saw early works of paintings and sculptures and we able to see later works by the same and newer artists and see the great changes and advancements art had made. After the museum we saw St Peters Basilica- I thought it was very interested that the roped off areas we could not enter were completely different from that of when my study abroad group visited St Peters Basilica… We walked out through the Piazza and down towards Castello San Angelo to see a great view of all of Rome at sunset. On our way to dinner that night we walked to Piaaza Nouva or Novano (???) and saw the Four Rivers Fountain by Bernini. After dinner we continued are walking and site-seeing to the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain again! Who knows how many miles we walked in all- the museuam alone could have been 2 or 3!
Wednesday November 11th
Today we visited the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We took the metro to get to the Coliseum as we had yesterday to get to the Vatican, however today we were riding a different line. We all looked at the map and the direction the trains were running and made our way to the right platform, where there was a train sitting with the doors open. Now normally the metro trains do not leave the doors open for long and the stops have to quick on and off. Well this one did not see to be leaving quite as fast so we all made a quick decision to hop on…On, On, On we said. We moved so fast! As soon as we were on the train the arrow pointing to the direction the train would be going and the stops it would make seemed to be the opposite way we wanted to go… very quickly we all said off, off, off…. Now we wondered what to do, I asked the security/police guy and he said yes that was the train we needed… We decided the doors were going to close at any second now and so we waited for the next train. The next train was very fully and we all almost didn’t make it on, the doors started closing and I scared a few of us by pushing the doors back open to get Mom and Elaine on the train- it sure was a lot of excite for just the beginning of our day!!! After our site-seeing we had a schedule time at the Borghese museum and had yet another bit of excitement trying to figure out which bus to get on the get us there!!! The museum was having a special exhibit of Caravaggio’s and Bacon’s artwork- comparing the two side by side, artists from several centuries apart but yet they both had deep emotional struggles and internal conflict. Also in the museum are some wonderful sculptures by Bernini, which I could stare at day after day! After the museum we finished our visit in Rome with a walked to the Spanish Steps and a walked inside the Pantheon, where Raphaels tomb is. We ended up at the Trevi fountain one more time on our way home because somehow it always ended up on our path!
Heading to Florence!!!
I’m not sure how we did it, but someone we managed to get 8 people in a 7 seater van, along with about 10 suitcases and 3 bookbags…. The door on the back of the van had to be tied shut to fit it all in, some things sat on our laps and Tim even sat on a suitcases as his seat since we were one seat short! We must have looked like the Grizzwalds on National Lampoons European Vacation!!! The drive was pretty uneventful, except for the few circles we made around the loop right outside the Florence airport where we had to drop off our rental car, their signs for rental car drop off are pretty non existent and we ended up asking at a gas station and the Hertz man just happened to walk in at the same time! After dropping off the van, we took a bus to the Florence train station and then it was just a short 10 minute walk to our hotels, dragging all our luggage through the rain and puddles! The weather was pretty rainy the rest of the day, we did some shopping at the large market in Florence, visited the Basilica there- I saw the tomb of Brunelleschi – he designed the dome for the top of the church, and had a great dinner in Piazza Repubblica in an enclosed area with heaters. I had a great dish- it was penne pasta with a cream sauce, peppers and zucchini- at least that is what the menu had said, it turned out that the peppers were actually peppercorns and added a great zest with a little spice to the entire dish! We finished our dinner with cappuccino and a hot chocolate for me then headed to Piazza del Signoria to see the fake statue of David, the original by Michelangelo and headed back to do some skyping on the internet and goods night sleep.
Monday November 9th
Our second day in Florence we headed across the Ponte Vecchio (oldest surviving bridge crossing the river out of the histories area of Florence) and onward to Micheangelo park. A few of us climbed to the top of the park for a great view of the entire city, seeing the size of the city showed us how little we had touched of the big city, but it was time now for us to move on to Rome! We walked back to the hotel, getting another view of the fake David in day light along the way and then made our way back to the train station, luggage in hand again. We took the 3:13 train to Rome, we arrived around 6:30ish, made our way to our hotel with only a few wrong turns and had dinner at a great restaurant right across the street for out hotel! Pizza, pasta, lasagna, wine and cappuccino- what more could we ask for after a long day of traveling. After dinner Mom, Dad, Tim and I took the 15minute walk to the Trevi fountain, had some gelato and some great picture opportunity’s since it was a weekday and off season it was not nearly as crowded as when my study abroad group visited Rome.
Tuesday November 10th
Today we headed out to the Vatican museum, I had already been here by I was very excited to share some of the great artwork inside with my family! We saw early works of paintings and sculptures and we able to see later works by the same and newer artists and see the great changes and advancements art had made. After the museum we saw St Peters Basilica- I thought it was very interested that the roped off areas we could not enter were completely different from that of when my study abroad group visited St Peters Basilica… We walked out through the Piazza and down towards Castello San Angelo to see a great view of all of Rome at sunset. On our way to dinner that night we walked to Piaaza Nouva or Novano (???) and saw the Four Rivers Fountain by Bernini. After dinner we continued are walking and site-seeing to the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain again! Who knows how many miles we walked in all- the museuam alone could have been 2 or 3!
Wednesday November 11th
Today we visited the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. We took the metro to get to the Coliseum as we had yesterday to get to the Vatican, however today we were riding a different line. We all looked at the map and the direction the trains were running and made our way to the right platform, where there was a train sitting with the doors open. Now normally the metro trains do not leave the doors open for long and the stops have to quick on and off. Well this one did not see to be leaving quite as fast so we all made a quick decision to hop on…On, On, On we said. We moved so fast! As soon as we were on the train the arrow pointing to the direction the train would be going and the stops it would make seemed to be the opposite way we wanted to go… very quickly we all said off, off, off…. Now we wondered what to do, I asked the security/police guy and he said yes that was the train we needed… We decided the doors were going to close at any second now and so we waited for the next train. The next train was very fully and we all almost didn’t make it on, the doors started closing and I scared a few of us by pushing the doors back open to get Mom and Elaine on the train- it sure was a lot of excite for just the beginning of our day!!! After our site-seeing we had a schedule time at the Borghese museum and had yet another bit of excitement trying to figure out which bus to get on the get us there!!! The museum was having a special exhibit of Caravaggio’s and Bacon’s artwork- comparing the two side by side, artists from several centuries apart but yet they both had deep emotional struggles and internal conflict. Also in the museum are some wonderful sculptures by Bernini, which I could stare at day after day! After the museum we finished our visit in Rome with a walked to the Spanish Steps and a walked inside the Pantheon, where Raphaels tomb is. We ended up at the Trevi fountain one more time on our way home because somehow it always ended up on our path!
Montepulciano and Tuscany with the Family!!!
Wednesday November 4th
Woke up this morning to an empty apartment, the only nice thing about that was I was the only one using the bathroom…although it never seemed to be much of an issue when we had all four of us sharing one bathroom which contained the only mirror in our apartment as well. I spend the afternoon trying to catch up on the last of my work for the fall semester and getting a few groceries at the store. That was a fun experience because it was not until I was done shopping for dinner items for the family that I realized my debit card would not work because it has expired Oct 30, Mom and Dad where bringing my new card but I had to put a few items back at the store and get through the language barrier and a line of people behind me… oh well, I will probably never see those people again. After the grocery store I met with the owner of the two apartments our family was renting for our stay in Montepulciano. Everyone arrived at about 8pm and we were all ready for a nice warm meal. Tim, Dad and I went back to pick up a few last minute items at my apartment and then stopped at the Trattoria where my study abroad group had dinner every night and picked up a few bottles of wine.
Thursday November 5th
Each Thursday morning in Montepulciano there is a market at the bottom of town in the bus station parking lot. We decided to make this our fist adventure for the day and let everyone try out the little bit of Italian they had learned since arriving in Venice on Nov 1st. The market sells clothes, shoes, purses, linens, food, fruit, flowers and a few other miscellaneous items. Everyone did some shopping and then we met back up to grab some fruit for the rest of the week and picked up some items for our dinner that night: roasted chicken, pasta and pesto, artichokes, broccoli and bread! The rest of the day we spend wandering around the town, I showed everyone my apartment that had been my home for 10 weeks, we did a few wine samplings and then we stumbled upon one of the best things… The coppersmith of Montepulciano. We were walking along and we heard this ping, ping, ping and there he was working in his shop. He graciously called us and in and with my little bit of Italian and lots of hand gestures he explained that it was the work of his great grandfather, passed down through the generations, and the tools he was using were from his grandfathers. He showed us sketches of different pieces he had created and then he pulled a small round piece of copper out and began asking for my grandparents names, their children’s and spouses names and grandchildren’s names, and the date they were married. He created a beautiful piece with flowers, hearts, stars, initials and dates. He proceeded to tell us about the piece he created that sits atop the cathedral in Siena (which we would see the next day) and a piece he presented to the Pope! Wow- and we watched his create a one of a kind piece right in front of us. After leaving his workshop we went to his store on the lower street, Tim got a clock, I got a wall piece and my grandma got a bracelet. After our eventful day around town, we stopped at Crociani winery and filled up a few water bottles of wine to go along with all our market goodies and had a great feast right from Montepulciano!
Friday November 6th
Today we headed to Siena, it sure was a bit of an adventure getting there… should we use a map, the TomTom or the blue signs along the road…. In the end the blue signs got us to Siena (and later they got us safely back to Montepulciano!) As soon as we got to Siena we had to find the WC (water closet-bathroom) and some food. We had great big slices of pizza and then headed to Piazza del Campo- the main piazza of Siena where most of the towns roads meet and then onto the Basilica which had amazing tiled floor patterns and mosaics. We did some shopping and walking around town that evening, mailed a few postcards and find a great place to eat right outside the city walls. The girl working there helped us figure out the menu and was our private server since we were the only people in the place! I had a vegetable sauce over curly pasta (I should know the name for that), Mom had a pumpkin cream sauce and Tim had rabbit.
Saturday November 7th
Today we went to a few small Tuscan towns surrounding Monepulciano. Our first stop was Pienza- the town known for their Pecorino (a cheese made from sheeps cheese) The town also has a great view over the Val d’Orcia. We stopped at a little snack bar, had sandwiched with pecorino of course, a few of us had cappuccinos or gelato for our dessert! Our next town was Montalcino- know for their Brunello wine. On the drive their we was a few more small tuscan towns, great valleys, and overall amazing sites of Tuscany! We did a few wine samplings in Montalcinao, walked around the Fortezza, saw a group of local young boys playing soccer and then had a late snack in town. We had a plate of a variety of meats and one of cheeses served with honey- this was a first for me but it is absolutely delicious!! We accompanied our snacks with a nice Brunello di Montalcino! Tonight was our last night staying in Montepulciano so we all went to the Trattoria where I had most of my meals throughout the 10 week program. It was a great way to end my time in Montepulciano!
Woke up this morning to an empty apartment, the only nice thing about that was I was the only one using the bathroom…although it never seemed to be much of an issue when we had all four of us sharing one bathroom which contained the only mirror in our apartment as well. I spend the afternoon trying to catch up on the last of my work for the fall semester and getting a few groceries at the store. That was a fun experience because it was not until I was done shopping for dinner items for the family that I realized my debit card would not work because it has expired Oct 30, Mom and Dad where bringing my new card but I had to put a few items back at the store and get through the language barrier and a line of people behind me… oh well, I will probably never see those people again. After the grocery store I met with the owner of the two apartments our family was renting for our stay in Montepulciano. Everyone arrived at about 8pm and we were all ready for a nice warm meal. Tim, Dad and I went back to pick up a few last minute items at my apartment and then stopped at the Trattoria where my study abroad group had dinner every night and picked up a few bottles of wine.
Thursday November 5th
Each Thursday morning in Montepulciano there is a market at the bottom of town in the bus station parking lot. We decided to make this our fist adventure for the day and let everyone try out the little bit of Italian they had learned since arriving in Venice on Nov 1st. The market sells clothes, shoes, purses, linens, food, fruit, flowers and a few other miscellaneous items. Everyone did some shopping and then we met back up to grab some fruit for the rest of the week and picked up some items for our dinner that night: roasted chicken, pasta and pesto, artichokes, broccoli and bread! The rest of the day we spend wandering around the town, I showed everyone my apartment that had been my home for 10 weeks, we did a few wine samplings and then we stumbled upon one of the best things… The coppersmith of Montepulciano. We were walking along and we heard this ping, ping, ping and there he was working in his shop. He graciously called us and in and with my little bit of Italian and lots of hand gestures he explained that it was the work of his great grandfather, passed down through the generations, and the tools he was using were from his grandfathers. He showed us sketches of different pieces he had created and then he pulled a small round piece of copper out and began asking for my grandparents names, their children’s and spouses names and grandchildren’s names, and the date they were married. He created a beautiful piece with flowers, hearts, stars, initials and dates. He proceeded to tell us about the piece he created that sits atop the cathedral in Siena (which we would see the next day) and a piece he presented to the Pope! Wow- and we watched his create a one of a kind piece right in front of us. After leaving his workshop we went to his store on the lower street, Tim got a clock, I got a wall piece and my grandma got a bracelet. After our eventful day around town, we stopped at Crociani winery and filled up a few water bottles of wine to go along with all our market goodies and had a great feast right from Montepulciano!
Friday November 6th
Today we headed to Siena, it sure was a bit of an adventure getting there… should we use a map, the TomTom or the blue signs along the road…. In the end the blue signs got us to Siena (and later they got us safely back to Montepulciano!) As soon as we got to Siena we had to find the WC (water closet-bathroom) and some food. We had great big slices of pizza and then headed to Piazza del Campo- the main piazza of Siena where most of the towns roads meet and then onto the Basilica which had amazing tiled floor patterns and mosaics. We did some shopping and walking around town that evening, mailed a few postcards and find a great place to eat right outside the city walls. The girl working there helped us figure out the menu and was our private server since we were the only people in the place! I had a vegetable sauce over curly pasta (I should know the name for that), Mom had a pumpkin cream sauce and Tim had rabbit.
Saturday November 7th
Today we went to a few small Tuscan towns surrounding Monepulciano. Our first stop was Pienza- the town known for their Pecorino (a cheese made from sheeps cheese) The town also has a great view over the Val d’Orcia. We stopped at a little snack bar, had sandwiched with pecorino of course, a few of us had cappuccinos or gelato for our dessert! Our next town was Montalcino- know for their Brunello wine. On the drive their we was a few more small tuscan towns, great valleys, and overall amazing sites of Tuscany! We did a few wine samplings in Montalcinao, walked around the Fortezza, saw a group of local young boys playing soccer and then had a late snack in town. We had a plate of a variety of meats and one of cheeses served with honey- this was a first for me but it is absolutely delicious!! We accompanied our snacks with a nice Brunello di Montalcino! Tonight was our last night staying in Montepulciano so we all went to the Trattoria where I had most of my meals throughout the 10 week program. It was a great way to end my time in Montepulciano!
Study Abroad Update
Oct 9, 10, 11 Padua and Venice
Oct 16, 17, 18 Florence on Friday and Montepulciano weekend
Oct 23, 24, 25 Siena on Friday and Last weekend with the Study Abroad group in Montepulciano
On Friday we went to Siena for the day. It was a rainy day so we spent most of time going from museum to museum and trying to stay dry. One of the museums had a rooftop panoramic out look and the rain held off just long enough for all us to take some nice photos. When we got back in town that night we decided to use the rest of the food we had in our kitchen to make one last dinner in Montepulciano because the next weekend we would be out of town in Barcelona Spain. We had some pasta and sauce, a can of tuna that went surprisingly well with our pasta and sauce. On the side we had olive oil and spices with our bread and the rest of our tomatoes! I went to Italy liking tomatoes mostly just on my sandwiches, but the tomatoes in Italy are absolutely delicious and I fell like I can eat them with anything and everything!!
Saturday we took some time to try and finish as much last minute school work so that we would not have the next week and weekend in Barcelona to worry about . We took the afternoon to visit the local museum that was right in our town. My favorite part was seeing paintings from Montepulciano from many, many years ago and seeing the similarities and differences. Since we had eaten all our food the night before and we were not provided dinners on the weekends we decided to treat ourselves to a very nice dinner near Piazza Grande. The menu had so many great things on it and in the end we choose the set meal that consisted of… an appetizer of meats and cheese, Pici (traditional pasta of Tuscany- thick as a pencil spaghetti) and a class of Montepulciano Rosso wine, then the main course was strip steak with rosemary, a side dish and a glass on Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, then we had dessert and espresso. It was nice because they gave each of the four of us at dinner and different side dish and dessert so we were able to share and try everything. We had not made reservations for the place we ate so the only spot left in the restaurant was at an eight person table where two people were already sitting, we all sat there family style at one table, they had not made reservations either. The couple we sat with were from California so we were able to talk to them and we found out they were on their way to see the daughter in Florence who was on study abroad! After dinner we went down to the garden bar and met up with some of the locals we had met during our time in Montepulciano. Over our time there we had taught them how to play flip cup, an American drinking game. Each time we hung out with them we learned something new or we taught them something. This night we tried to explain how we go to waffle house or steak and shake or something similar after going to a party and drinking. They did not understand something like that and explained that the only 24/7 places they had near by and in most cities were autogrills- the places at the rest stops along the highway. We ended up finishing all the snacks from our apartment and the two guys we had hung out with the most took us to a nice place right outside of town where we saw one shooting star after another. It was amazing and a nice way to end our last weekend hanging out in Montepulciano.
Oct 16, 17, 18 Florence on Friday and Montepulciano weekend
Oct 23, 24, 25 Siena on Friday and Last weekend with the Study Abroad group in Montepulciano
On Friday we went to Siena for the day. It was a rainy day so we spent most of time going from museum to museum and trying to stay dry. One of the museums had a rooftop panoramic out look and the rain held off just long enough for all us to take some nice photos. When we got back in town that night we decided to use the rest of the food we had in our kitchen to make one last dinner in Montepulciano because the next weekend we would be out of town in Barcelona Spain. We had some pasta and sauce, a can of tuna that went surprisingly well with our pasta and sauce. On the side we had olive oil and spices with our bread and the rest of our tomatoes! I went to Italy liking tomatoes mostly just on my sandwiches, but the tomatoes in Italy are absolutely delicious and I fell like I can eat them with anything and everything!!
Saturday we took some time to try and finish as much last minute school work so that we would not have the next week and weekend in Barcelona to worry about . We took the afternoon to visit the local museum that was right in our town. My favorite part was seeing paintings from Montepulciano from many, many years ago and seeing the similarities and differences. Since we had eaten all our food the night before and we were not provided dinners on the weekends we decided to treat ourselves to a very nice dinner near Piazza Grande. The menu had so many great things on it and in the end we choose the set meal that consisted of… an appetizer of meats and cheese, Pici (traditional pasta of Tuscany- thick as a pencil spaghetti) and a class of Montepulciano Rosso wine, then the main course was strip steak with rosemary, a side dish and a glass on Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, then we had dessert and espresso. It was nice because they gave each of the four of us at dinner and different side dish and dessert so we were able to share and try everything. We had not made reservations for the place we ate so the only spot left in the restaurant was at an eight person table where two people were already sitting, we all sat there family style at one table, they had not made reservations either. The couple we sat with were from California so we were able to talk to them and we found out they were on their way to see the daughter in Florence who was on study abroad! After dinner we went down to the garden bar and met up with some of the locals we had met during our time in Montepulciano. Over our time there we had taught them how to play flip cup, an American drinking game. Each time we hung out with them we learned something new or we taught them something. This night we tried to explain how we go to waffle house or steak and shake or something similar after going to a party and drinking. They did not understand something like that and explained that the only 24/7 places they had near by and in most cities were autogrills- the places at the rest stops along the highway. We ended up finishing all the snacks from our apartment and the two guys we had hung out with the most took us to a nice place right outside of town where we saw one shooting star after another. It was amazing and a nice way to end our last weekend hanging out in Montepulciano.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Oct 2, 3, 4 Free Weekend
This weekend was one of our free weekends. I decided I wanted to stay in Montepulciano that weekend and try to do some of the local things we just didn’t seem to have time for during the school week and because we were going to so many other places on the weekend. We knew there was a bus every Friday morning that went to Pienza, a town about 20 minutes from us that is known for their Pecorino cheese- made from sheep’s milk. We walked down to the bus station to buy our tickets and get on the bus, we were trying to figure out which bus was ours when a local at the bus station asked if we were going to Siena, we said no, Pienza. At this moment it took off running back through the bus station and to the front parking area after a moving bus, without thinking I took off running after this man and the bus. I am not sure when the man stopped running but when I got to the door of the bus as it waited to turn out of the packing lot we (myself and two of my roommates Kate and Emily) started yelling Pienza and pointing at our tickets, the bus driver opened the door and everyone was laughing and speaking Italian, who knows what they were saying about us! Hehe After arriving in Pienza we went to their Friday market, toured the small tuscan town and luckily decided to wait about twenty minute sooner at the bus stop than the bus back was supposed to arrive because it showed up fifteen minutes early! I’m not sure we ever really figured out those buses. We spend the rest of the afternoon spending time in our own town. We took some great photos from the top of the Communale (the main building in Piazza Grande) and made a nice dinner in our apartment! Saturday we continued are tour of our own town with a guide book to the art and architecture that we had found in our apartment. As we walked through town other students from our group found us and would join in for the tour. We had an early dinner at an outdoor place where we watched the sunset over the tuscan landscape. Later that night we had a few glasses of wine at one of our favorite hang out spots, Francesco’s Wine Bar and later moved on to drinks at another one of our hang out places, Sax’s Wine Bar.
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