This weekend I went on a trip with the rest of the people in my program as a way to celebrate the end of the 3 week intensive Italian course. I think that a lot of us needed it (including me.) I love learning the language, but after three weeks of sitting in class for up to 6 hours a day, learning only Italian every day, it can get a little frustrating and overwhelming. This weekend was a great way to unwind and relax before “real” classes start.
We left of Pisa Thursday morning and arrived in the afternoon. One of the profs in the program took us on a tour of Pisa since his wife is originally from Pisa and knows a lot about it. He took us to some popular places in the city. I learned that there is this one tower in Pisa where back in the day, a dude was fighting with his neighbors so they trapped him inside of his tower with his family and the guy ended up eating his family and then eventually dying as well. So… moral of the story: don’t eat your family. Also, the school in Pisa that is “scuola normale”-translated as normal school, is one of the best schools in the country. You have to be really really really really smart to go there. And I also learned that most of the graffiti around Pisa is political and at one point Pisa was the home of an extremist communist organization. After the tour, I ate lunch and made my way over to the Leaning Tower of Pisa where I took the cheesy, tacky, obnoxious “hey look I’m holding up the leaning tower of Pisa pose” picture. And I don’t regret that one bit. Then I took a nap on the lawn that surrounds the leaning tower. Even in Italy, taking a nap is an awesome experience because how many people can say that they have taken a nap in the shade of the leaning tower of Pisa? Not many people. So that was really cool. Finally the day ended by having a traditional Italian meal. Nine courses of Italian food. The courses are as follows: 1) bread, crotons and oil… and wine 2) Some really tasty mushroom/potato pancake thing… and wine 3) Bread with this meat that is basically all fat and its really salty too… and wine 4) Prosciutto and wine 5) This yummy bean and faro soup with some wine 6) MUSHROOM PASTA wow this stuff was so good! And wine 7) Beef soaked in red wine sauce (not kidding) 8) Polenta… and wine 9) Tiramisu and wine. The entire meal took a whole 3 hours to eat because of the amount of food and courses. Was I complaining? No. After dinner, I slipped into a food coma until 7:30 the next morning.
The next day (Friday) we spent the day at a beach town called Viareggio. I spent most of the day sleeping on the beach so I don’t have much to say about this place. Only that it was beautiful and the weather was awesome and the water was perfect. And the Italian sun gets you really tan really fast. After the beach, we had dinner again… Only this time there were only 7 courses. BUT ONE OF THE COURSES WAS A PLATE FULL OF CHEESES. They also gave you honey to put on the cheese which I thought was really strange at first but now I’m pretty sure that is how I am going to eat cheese for the rest of my life. With honey on it. After dinner, I slipped into food coma number two.
Day 3 was the most amazing day I had in Italy so far. Le Cinque Terre. A group of 5 cities along the sea, separated by miles and miles of hiking trail. We took a train to the furthest city where we walked from there to the next one. The total distance from point A to point B was about 3.5 miles of narrow passages, steep hills and lots of wilderness. Once we were finished with the hike, we got to the next town, walked to some rocks near the edge of the sea and jumped in. I can’t even beigin to explain how absolutely gorgeous Cinque Terre is. The buildings are bright pinks, yellows, greens, and reds and the water isn’t blue, its literally transparent. It looks like a place you would only see in a movies. And I was swimming in it. Jumping off of rocks in the sea, into the most beautiful water I’d ever seen, chilling with the fish, trying not to get stuck by sea urchins, having the time of my life. That moment I remember thinking that this was totally the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. So if you’re reading this… GO TO CINQUE TERRE. Just go. It’s beautiful and you won’t regret it. After Cinque Terre, we went back to Pisa and had dinner number 3. Consisting of 6 courses. Food Coma number 3.
The final day of our trip, we went to Lucca. Lucca is a small city very close to Pisa that is so similar to Siena it is almost scary. We went to the Italian Emigration museum and walked around the city. I also took a nap under a tree here. And I also had the most delicious gelato I’ve had since arriving in Italy (coconut and pistachio). After hanging out in Lucca for the day, we left for Siena and made it home just in time for dinner.
All in all, this weekend was amazing. I had so much fun discovering new places in Italy, especially Cinque Terre. And taking obnoxious touristy photos at the Leaning Tower. This week is our first week of actually content based classes and when we start getting into the swing of things. I’m excited to see how everything goes. Until next time!
Ciaaaaooooooooo.
We left of Pisa Thursday morning and arrived in the afternoon. One of the profs in the program took us on a tour of Pisa since his wife is originally from Pisa and knows a lot about it. He took us to some popular places in the city. I learned that there is this one tower in Pisa where back in the day, a dude was fighting with his neighbors so they trapped him inside of his tower with his family and the guy ended up eating his family and then eventually dying as well. So… moral of the story: don’t eat your family. Also, the school in Pisa that is “scuola normale”-translated as normal school, is one of the best schools in the country. You have to be really really really really smart to go there. And I also learned that most of the graffiti around Pisa is political and at one point Pisa was the home of an extremist communist organization. After the tour, I ate lunch and made my way over to the Leaning Tower of Pisa where I took the cheesy, tacky, obnoxious “hey look I’m holding up the leaning tower of Pisa pose” picture. And I don’t regret that one bit. Then I took a nap on the lawn that surrounds the leaning tower. Even in Italy, taking a nap is an awesome experience because how many people can say that they have taken a nap in the shade of the leaning tower of Pisa? Not many people. So that was really cool. Finally the day ended by having a traditional Italian meal. Nine courses of Italian food. The courses are as follows: 1) bread, crotons and oil… and wine 2) Some really tasty mushroom/potato pancake thing… and wine 3) Bread with this meat that is basically all fat and its really salty too… and wine 4) Prosciutto and wine 5) This yummy bean and faro soup with some wine 6) MUSHROOM PASTA wow this stuff was so good! And wine 7) Beef soaked in red wine sauce (not kidding) 8) Polenta… and wine 9) Tiramisu and wine. The entire meal took a whole 3 hours to eat because of the amount of food and courses. Was I complaining? No. After dinner, I slipped into a food coma until 7:30 the next morning.
The next day (Friday) we spent the day at a beach town called Viareggio. I spent most of the day sleeping on the beach so I don’t have much to say about this place. Only that it was beautiful and the weather was awesome and the water was perfect. And the Italian sun gets you really tan really fast. After the beach, we had dinner again… Only this time there were only 7 courses. BUT ONE OF THE COURSES WAS A PLATE FULL OF CHEESES. They also gave you honey to put on the cheese which I thought was really strange at first but now I’m pretty sure that is how I am going to eat cheese for the rest of my life. With honey on it. After dinner, I slipped into food coma number two.
Day 3 was the most amazing day I had in Italy so far. Le Cinque Terre. A group of 5 cities along the sea, separated by miles and miles of hiking trail. We took a train to the furthest city where we walked from there to the next one. The total distance from point A to point B was about 3.5 miles of narrow passages, steep hills and lots of wilderness. Once we were finished with the hike, we got to the next town, walked to some rocks near the edge of the sea and jumped in. I can’t even beigin to explain how absolutely gorgeous Cinque Terre is. The buildings are bright pinks, yellows, greens, and reds and the water isn’t blue, its literally transparent. It looks like a place you would only see in a movies. And I was swimming in it. Jumping off of rocks in the sea, into the most beautiful water I’d ever seen, chilling with the fish, trying not to get stuck by sea urchins, having the time of my life. That moment I remember thinking that this was totally the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life. So if you’re reading this… GO TO CINQUE TERRE. Just go. It’s beautiful and you won’t regret it. After Cinque Terre, we went back to Pisa and had dinner number 3. Consisting of 6 courses. Food Coma number 3.
The final day of our trip, we went to Lucca. Lucca is a small city very close to Pisa that is so similar to Siena it is almost scary. We went to the Italian Emigration museum and walked around the city. I also took a nap under a tree here. And I also had the most delicious gelato I’ve had since arriving in Italy (coconut and pistachio). After hanging out in Lucca for the day, we left for Siena and made it home just in time for dinner.
All in all, this weekend was amazing. I had so much fun discovering new places in Italy, especially Cinque Terre. And taking obnoxious touristy photos at the Leaning Tower. This week is our first week of actually content based classes and when we start getting into the swing of things. I’m excited to see how everything goes. Until next time!
Ciaaaaooooooooo.