Levanto

So our adventures continue in the small city of Levanto, just north of the Cinque Terre. It was an adventure getting here, but it was definitely worth it. It's a small coastal town, nestled into the hills. I wondered around a little and to check out the medieval castle and just check things out a bit. Levanto isn't much of a tourist town. All the Tourists head to Cinque Terre, so the atmosphere is very different here. People seem to know everyone and and spend the evenings walking the streets, running into friends, and enjoying the cool weather. 

We are learning rather quickly that translating an Italian menu can be difficult and you really never know what you are going to get. Last night at dinner, some people got really excited to see hamburgers on the menu. So 3 people ordered them. When our food was brought out, everyone started laughing. The hamburger was just a patty, with fries, incredibly disappointing for the 3 that ordered it. I stuck with a pesto minestrone soup. I'm just going to say that it was amazing, and you all should be jealous. 

You Better Be Ready to Get off the Train

Our four day break started today. A group of us have made the trip to Levanto, just north of the Cinque Terre. We took the train from Florence to La Spezia, and then to Levanto. A few of us decided it would be fun to go first class, since it was only an extra 2 euro. We got two tickets since we had to change trains in La Spezia. The three of us with 1st class tickets boarded the train in La Spezia and about 10 minutes into the train ride, they came around checking people's tickets. One of the the others had thrown away the first ticket. We found out though that the first one was our ticket and the second was just a confirmation that we had upgraded to 1st class. So he was on the train without a ticket. It's a 50 euro fine for being on the train without a ticket. So the three of us, who speak little Italian, tried to explain the situation to someone who didn't speak any English. One of the guys tried to explain it with what little Italian he knew and could tell him that he doesn't read or write Italian so he threw it away, with most of it in hand motions. After being told 5 times that you have ticket, he have ticket, but you no ticket, he paid 7 euro for the cost of a ticket from La Spezia to Levanto. So, really he lucked out since he didn't have to pay the 50 euro fine.

When we finally got to the train station in Levanto, the 3 of us in 1st class got out, and notice none of the other 8 had gotten of the train. I thought we had got off to early, but then someone from the other group got off the train. Next thing we knew, the doors shut on the train, and 7 people from our group were trapped on the train. The looks on the faces were priceless. One girl had her hand on the window as she looked out at us as the train pulled out of the station. They had to take the train to the next stop and get onto a train come back this direction. They arrived about an hour after we did. So, always be prepared to get off the train. It never stops for long at the stations.

Life Studying Abroad

I wanted to post this photo because it has become such a part of life as students abroad. The act of sitting and sketching in a public place seems to invite people to come up to you and strike up a conversation. In this photo, some kids that had been playing in a small piazza, had become interested in one of the students sketches. They watched her while she drew the facade of a building near by, and later helped her color pieces of the sketch. Unfortunately even after being assisted by 3 kids, her sketch looked 100 times better than mine. 

I have had several people come up to me as well. A couple days ago in Florence, I was at Santa Croce. I was outside sketching the Pazzi Chapel, and a man came up to me and asked if I was an architecture student. He talked to me for quite a while about what our itinerary was, and what we were doing. After several minutes, he offered me some advice. He told me to enjoy my trip and take as much in as possible. He told me I was incredible lucky to be having such a wonderful experience and to enjoy every second of it, because it had taken him 56 years to make the same trip to the Pazzi Chapel. 

It's been a great experience and we've met some really interesting people, and all we were doing was sketching. It really interests people and those interactions have become some of the best experiences on our trip. 

Sketching project Florence

This is a video of a sketch project we had to do in Florence. We had to draw and compare an exterior facade and an interior facade of a building and look at the relationship between the two. I didn't do a great job of keeping my sketchbook in the frame, but you get the idea. 

Life in Florence

Today is my last day in Florence. It will be a day of walking the city and a lot of sketching. The  city was full of exciting experiences. There never seemed to be a dull moment in the city. Although it's just the end of the slow season, the city has been full of people. The streets are packed with street performers, tourists, and shops. I've heard more English being spoken, than I do in Yakima. It's been really bizarre.  

I can't tell you how many times we have had gypsies interrupt our discussions and presentations. In this photo, a couple of students were giving a presentation, and a gypsy cam up begging for money. She stood there in front of them for several minutes while they tried to ignore her and continue with the presentation. 

Contrada della Chiocciola

Our trip to Sienna was an eventful one, aside form the weather, we we were each assigned a different contrada, or district in Sienna. There are 17 in total and I was assigned the district of the snail, Contrada della Chiocciola. Each district is represented by an animal and is very territorial. The buildings in the different contradas will have different elements representative of the district. Our goal was to wander the distric in search of the church, fountain, and horse stable. These elements are all unique in each district and there is a lot of pride and competition in having the best contrada in Sienna. The stable houses are used to house the horses for the annual horse races in the public square. Below are some photos of my district.

Here is a little more info on the contrada. Google will translate the page for you so you can read it in English.
http://www.contradadellachiocciola.it/

Always Have a Poncho and Umbrella

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We spent the day in Siena, and when we arrived it was raining. The wind was blowing, so imediatly my legs and feet were soaked. We walked around the city for a while, only to get more wet and miserable. We spent the first hour at a cafe trying to warm up, and dry off. When the weather changed we venture out and and began to explore the city. We worked on our sketching assignments and began to explore the different Contrades, or districts. Below are some photos from the tower in the center of town. It has unbelievable 360 degree view of Tuscany. In the afternoon the sky cleared and the sun came out. It definitely made the city more enjoyable. In the late afternoon, Sienna had a thunder and lighting storm with a significant amount of hail and rain. So once again I was soaked for the 1.5 hour bus ride home. 

A Florentine Trek

Final Roman Adventures

We are leaving Rome soon and taking the train north to Florence. The last few days in Rome have been really busy. We've been visiting both historic buildings and some more contemporary buildings.

One our last nights in Rome, I was working in the lobby, and my roommates came back. Having only one key to our room, I walked up with them so I could return to the lobby and keep working while they went to bed. After I had walked back down to the lobby, I noticed the lobby door was locked. This wouldn't have been a problem except you had to walk outside the building and through another exterior door to get to the lobby. Not only was I locked out of the lobby, but I was also locked out of the hotel, because you had to be buzzed in. A little freaked out standing on a street in Rome in the middle of the night, I decided to wait, and hope that someone came back. As I sat there and waited, I heard a knock. I turned around, and one of the girls in the program was inside the lobby locked in, with no other way out of the building. We both just started laughing. About 5 minutes later the guy returned and unlocked the door for us.

As a side note Wifi is pronounced WeeFee in Italy.

Sketching in the Maxxi

Street Sketching Project

This is a video of me working on a sketching project on a city street in Rome. 

The Eternal City

I've been in Rome for 4 days now, and it has been great. We've been all over the city already and seen so many things, except the pope. This being my second time in Rome, I am much more relaxed and enjoying myself a lot more. It's been a lot of fun in a large group. There are 18 of us and 2 professors. Honestly, it's like have two personal tour guides take us around the city. "Class" is held in different parts of the city and we are given sketching assignments that we complete in an hour or so. I attached a coupe time lapse videos of those sketching projects. So far it doesn't feel much like school, but when we get to Vincenza that will change. Our days have been starting at 8am, and we normally get back to the hotel at 9pm. The food has been so good, and the gelato is even better. We've discovered Grom, a gelateria, that has some great gelato. My favorite combination is a scoop of coffee and one of caramel. 

I've been putting my Italian that I learned last quarter to good use, although every time I use it, the response is always in English. Apparently my pronunciation is not that good. Last night I came home, and asked for our room key in Italian. I asked for room venti quatro. I was very proud of myself and was given the key. When I got the key I realized I had asked for 24, not 34. So I had to correct myself, so today I was determined not to make the same mistake. So today I said trienta quatro. The front desk kept saying something else and I said no and repeated myself. This went on several times, until I realized he was correcting my pronunciation. Hopefully tomorrow I can pull it off flawlessly. 

Sketching Project

Here is a video of me sketching at the Santa Maria della Pace cloisters.

Sketching outside the Tempietto in Rome.

Hey everyone. I started my first day of school today in Rome. We spent the time getting oriented with the city. I have been surprised how well I remember my way around. People were definitely impressed with me. It definitely different being back for a second time. I'm more relaxed and just enjoying the city. I had some amazing food for dinner. A broccoli pasta, and then gelato. I had a scoop of coffee, and one of caramel. It was amazing. Guess I'll be eating that all the time while I'm here. I'll post some picture later. I think it's going to start getting difficult, but I'll try to stay on top of it. I'm also going to start a page of pictures of street performers, only because the ones I come across are getting weirder and weirder. So look for that. Also, if you have any comments or questions let me know and I can answer those for you or make changes.
Caio!

Barcelona : Day 4

My final day in Barcelona, and I did a modernism walking tour of the city. Below are the pictures. I went to the Hospital of Saint Paul and the Holy Cross. They are restoring it, but it was an amazing building. One of my favorite places I visited. There were very few tourists and the tour was a lot of fun.