Fall Colors in San Gimignano

San Gimingnano is a small medieval town of 11,000 only 35 kilometers from Florence. I thought it would be an easy bus ride so I did a day trip here. The bus ride ending up being quite the adventure. Instead of the hour that I thought it would be, we ended up having to switch buses and wait for 40 minutes for the next one. However, I did meet Gaia, a wonderful woman who was going to visit her sorella (sister) in San Gimignano. Talking with her ended up being wonderful practice and when we finally boarded bus number two it was FILLED with Italian kids. I was highly amused listening to all of the kids banter back and forth while the bus twisted and turned through the Tuscan countryside. When I walked through the medieval walls into the town I immediately noticed how quiet it was. It was around 1pm and everything was pretty much shut down for siesta. San Gimingnano is known as a touristy town so it was nice to stroll the streets in peace. I walked straight through the heart of the town passing old wells, cathedrals, and a plethorea of medieval towers. I was heading toward a plaza when through the arch of one of the walls I saw the countryside and ended up drawn toward the view from the road. As I approached I noticed a familiar face, it was Louise, a woman from Canada that I had met in the hostel. Her nonna (grandmother) had been born in Italy and she was experiencing some of her roots here in Italy. We took in the view of the colors, villas, and mountains and then decided to explore the town together.

This little town is quite magical and it can almost be a game walking around hidden tunnels and passageways. At one point back in the 1200's there were 72 towers, each prominent family would build a tower and live in it! Today there are about 9 and they can be viewed from different angles all around the town. We decided to try and find a recommended restaurant for il pranzo (lunch) and it ended up being an adventure because at every twist and turn down cobblestone roads we would find beauty. After stopping to admire statue heads carved into the entrance of a house, ancient paintings, or amazing vistas we finally made it to the restaurant, which was closed! Fortunately, the path to finding it was beautiful and we didn't mind the detour. We turned around and made our way through the town ending up at a little cafe in a popular square right in front of a beautiful cathedral. We ordered crostini with grilled eggplant, bell peppers, mushrooms, capers, mozzarella, tomato, olives, basil and a little drizzle of olive oil, it was absolutely divine. By this point we had traversed the whole town so we sipped our red wine and relaxed and maybe picked up a leather purse or two on the way back to the bus to Florence.

My final week, taking in Florence

After my lovely trip to Bologna, I headed back to Florence. I met a sweet woman on the train and we talked for over 30 minutes in Italian. These are the moments when I feel proudest of what I have accomplished. I was staying at a hostel called Archi Rossi which had free breakfast (eggs and bacon!), free dinner, free internet, and free walking tours. What a deal! I met some really nice people from Canada, Australia, Italy, and the States. The first time I came to Florence back in 2001 with my friends Katie and Jeremy it wasn't my favorite of all the cities I visited. But this time, since I had already seen The David, Uffizi, Duomo, Accademia etc, I could just take in Florence on another level. I did take advantage of the free walking tour and enjoyed learning more about the Medici family and their power in Florence as well as all of the old buildings. We visited Dante's church and Vivoli, the oldest Gelateria in Florence. The tour was great and afterwards I went with some friends to the Piazza Michaelangelo, possibly my favorite place in Florence. It has sweeping views of the mountains, rivers, bridges, cathedrals and more. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I loved it so much that I spent over 2 hours just sitting and enjoying the space and view. One night the whole hostel went out to dinner to this little trattoria and after eating so much pasta and bread I was desperate for some meat. So in honor of my husband Merritt, I ordered ribs (his favorite). This was the best meal I had in Florence, these ribs where unbelievably juicy and with just a hint of rosemary and a tiny bit of oil. What amazes me most about Italian cooking is how simple it can be yet taste out of this world.

The rest of my days in Florence were mainly spent studying with my friend Sera, that I met in Lucca the second day I was here. She is studying here and is a wonderful influence on me. We get together and study every day, her reviewing notes from class and me writing my diary in Italian. It has been a great way to practice sentence structure and learning new verbs. So even though I have not been in school here, I have definitely been practicing! Sera and I managed to find a great park in the heart of Florence where we watched kids play against the backdrop of orange and yellow trees, a perfect sunny cool day. Another one of my favorite spots in Florence is the Mercato Centrale. Here, Sera and I would meet and eat pork sandwiches with a drizzle of olive oil and a few picante tomatoes, makes my mouth water just thinking about it!~ This ancient eatery within the Mercato dates back to the late 1800's and they know how to serve up every Italian delicacy. The Mercato has every kind of food imaginable...porcini mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh pecorino cheese, prosciutto, veggies, oils, vinegars, wines, the list goes on and on. We even had one butcher bring out a turkey to let me meet it!

My final days in Florence I upgraded to a private room in a shared apartment. Both other roommates spoke fluent Italian so I had some wonderful lunch and dinner conversations with them. Sometimes I feel like I have so much more to learn because learning a new language is never ending. However, I know that I can speak to people and understand people in Italian and I know that all of my hard work has paid off. Now, only time will tell where this language takes me..... ciao Italia

A dream come true in Bologna

I originally didn't know if I was going to make it to Bologna because I was so far south on the Amalfi Coast but at the last minute I felt called to go. After going, I can't believe I almost let such an amazing opportunity pass me by. While studying in Siena, I met Marcia, a mezzo soprano from Denver. She has been performing in the Opera, Sweeny Todd in different cities around Italy, she is the beggar woman (mendicante). I arrived in Bologna via train and promptly got lost. Of course there are two streets called Oberdan. So after almost an hour I arrived at her apartment and she welcomed me with open arms and a huge sit down lunch ready to be eaten. I was famished and she served a delicious bean soup with pasta, an appetizer of marinated artichokes, olives, and bologna ham. We cut off pieces of fresh parmasean with an amazing fig jam. Then a salad, foccacia with bell peppers, and even a glass of red wine. Needless to say, I was in heaven. Marcia gave me a quick tour of Bologna and we hit up a lot of the major landmarks such as the Piazza Maggiore, the fountain of Neptune and of course the The Two Towers. Bologna is a hip, liberal university town filled with students. It is not touristy and it was fun to get to feel like a local for a couple of days.

Marcia had to be in make-up at 7:30 so she bid me farewell. She had gotten me a ticket to the opera but the ticket lady had told her the seat was brutta (bad). Marcia felt horrible about it, but I told her not to worry that I would be just as content to listen to the opera! I took a passeggiata (stroll) around the historic centering enjoying all of the old buildings lit up at night. Then at 8:30 I returned for the show. The opera was held at the Teatro Communale built in the mid 1700's. I walked in and asked where to go. I went to the first level and they told me to go to the second and then they pointed me to a door that said 13. I walked in and realized that my seat was in an OPERA BOX. This was a dream come true for me. I was center stage in an ancient theater in an opera box. I was grinning ear to ear. I had the best seat in the house, non c'era brutta! I looked out over the box at all of the other patrons. Every detail was so beautiful from chandeliers to the painted ceiling. The opera was fabulous and Marcia did a fantastic job. There was quite a bit of blood on stage and lots of laughs. I enjoyed every minute of it. After the show, Marcia had put me on the backstage list where all of the principles were. I got to meet the whole cast and wander around backstage where there were posters of shows dating back to the 1800's. Just when I thought the night couldn't get any better the whole cast of principles decided to go out to dinner. Marica and I arrived at this quaint little Italian trattoria that was clearly staying open for our group. To make things easier we were all served the same thing. To start red and white wine circled the table, then the primo piato, the most amazing bruschetta I have ever tasted. I still have no idea what they did to those tomatoes, but they just melted in my mouth! It was incredible. The secondo piato was seafood risotto filled with shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, you name it. It was so fun for me to get to partake in all of the opera gossip. From the door that didn't open to the stage hands talking and missing a cue, it was all of the little things that only the cast would know. Everyone had sung beautifully and it was fun to relax and hang out. At 2am Marcia and I finally made it back to her apartment after the restaurant kicked us all out!

Seeing this opera truly inspired me and I am looking forward to digging up the arias I know as well as learning new ones. What a unique experience, I love opera!

Che bella la costa di Amalfitana (AMALFI)

My friend Erica and I arrived on the Amalfi Coast on a beautiful sunny day. We woke up super early and took the train to a little suburb of Sorrento called San Agnello. We were ready to go to Capri! We caught the bus to the train, the train to the town, and then walked to the hostel. By the time we arrived we had 20 minutes to catch the ferry and there was no feasible way to get there in time. So we said oh well and went into Sorrento for the day. You truly have to roll with the punches when you are backpacking. Sorrento is a lovely town overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius from afar. We wandered around and ended up at one of the marinas. I found a perfect spot in the sun at the top of this staircase overlooking the bay so I bid Erica ciao and stayed put in this one place. It was straight out of postcard. The Italian men were fishing below, one teaching his son. Right next to me were two little houses perched on the cliff next to each other and le donne (women) were yelling-chatting back and forth sweeping bread crumbs to the pigeons below. There were thick ropes hanging over the ledge and 20 or so fishing boats below. I just drank in every moment, writing in my journal and looking and listening. Once the sun started to go down over the mountain it got quite chilly so I decided to go back into the town to explore. I ended up at another Marina on the other side where there was sun, yes I follow the sun around. The views of the mountains and the coast were so breathtaking that I found another little spot to sit and listened to girls gossiping in Italian and watched couples strolling back and forth. By the time I left Sorrento the sun was just beginning to set over all of the mountains dotted with little pastel houses. A beautiful sight.

The next day it poured down rain. I was feeling rather depressed while typing emails in the hostel when suddenly the sun broke through. I yelled for Erica and we made a dash to the train station to get on the bus that goes along the Amalfi. Then when we got on the bus, it started raining again! By this point I did not care, I was going to the Amalfi rain or shine. We started through Sorrento and into another town and then lo and behold, the sun comes out again and everyone on the bus starts oooohhhing and ahhhing. The water turned turquoise and the mountains lit up. I loved every minute of it. We went through a bunch of little towns including Positano and then got off in Amalfi. We walked from Amalfi to another little town and then ate a snack overlooking the ocean and all of the fishing and sailing boats. I made my way down the pier for some quiet time and sat there in the sun until a wave almost came and drenched me. By this time we thought we should catch the next bus back to Positano. We arrived at dusk and made our way through the winding streets down to the beach. I am sure Positano is insanely crowded during summer but besides a couple or two and a man playing fetch with his dog, we had the whole place to ourselves. So we sat and watched the end of the sunset and listened to the waves crash. The town was very quiet and had a peaceful feel to it. It was a perfect day and I was so grateful that the sun decided to make an appearance!

Pompei & Herculaneum Ruins

I took the train from Napoli to Pompei, a 45 min. journey. I didn't know what to expect but when I arrived, I was overwhelmed. The town of Pompei which was buried under volcanic ash in the year 79 A.D. is a large town just discovered in 1594 and dug up around 1748. Originally, 20,000 people lived in Pompei but an earthquake 10 years prior to the eruption left much fewer people in the town. Over 2000 people perished during the eruption and work still continues today to uncover parts of it. I had my trusty map and guidebook and took off in the direction with the least amount of tourists. I had headed away from some of the main attractions so there was hardly anyone around. Being by myself, I got completely lost in my head and felt like I had literally stepped back into time 2000 years. Pompei did have an eerie feeling but I just put myself into that time period. Trying to take it all in as if I were living during that era. I had brought my lunch so I found a fabulous spot within the ruins overlooking Mt. Vesuvius. I was completely by myself, no tourists, and enjoyed my picnic in the beauty of the mountains, sun shining down on plants, trees, and the remains of houses.

I continued my journey through the ampitheater, gardens, and best preserved and oldest colliseum in Europe. I stumbled upon a vineyard that had been recreated (they had wine in Pompei back in the day), beautiful frescoes, and water fountains. What struck me most were the mosaics. Centuries and centuries old, these mosaics had withstood the test of time. In the bath houses, homes, kitchens (some with holes for the pots of food), bedrooms, some fancier than others but each place decorated with amazing mosaics and paintings in each room. I spent over 4 hours exploring, jumping in and out between ancient houses, columns, and cobblestone streets. I ended my day by watching the sunset over the bay of Naples while also overlooking the ruins. The history of this space is utterly amazing. I was overjoyed to step back in time and truly feel history.

The next day I went to another ruins called Herculaneum which was more of a resort town (4000 people originally) compared to Pompei and was much closer to Mt. Vesuivius when it erupted so long ago. However, this town was not covered in ash but covered in thick volcanic mud. The result killed everyone but also preserved the town just as the ash had with Pompei. However in Herculaneum, you can still find wooden stairs, doors, and beams, some even charred from the volcanic mud and fire. There are still paintings and frescoes on the walls. Columns, homes, and courtyards still exist. I was at first a little disappointed when I approached these ruins for they are much smaller than Pompei. But once I got deep into the ruins the same magic appeared and I was using my imagination to transport me back. Over 300 skeletons were found on the outskirts of this town which used to be the ancient beach. They were likely killed from the boiling surge clouds sweeping down from Vesuvius. There is a huge statue of the mayor and warrior of that time on the outside wall of the town which would have looked over the beach that used to exist there. I can just picture how magnificent this town must have been, all of the houses and plazas overlooking the ocean. The beautifully painted and mosaic floored villas, flowers & plants, the ancient cobblestone pathways and roads with huge water fountains carved out of stone. The ruins of this Roman fishing town had quite the effect on me.

Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis

It had stormed the night before I was going to Assisi so I prayed for beautiful weather and my prayers were answered. I caught the morning bus from Perugia and arrived to this amazing town. I was so excited that I jumped off the bus and took off walking...in the wrong direction. When I saw a sign that said Assisi with a red line through it, I knew for sure I was going the wrong way. I stopped and asked an old Italian man for directions and he rattled off in Italian and then pinched my cheek and said Ciao Bella! I felt like a little kid as headed off in the RIGHT direction. The churches of Assisi are lovely and I visited San Rufiano and then made my way to San Chiara, St. Clare. I was immediately struck by the cross that hung in this church because it was the same one that we use in many services at my church in Austin. Then I remembered that perhaps we had ordered that cross from Assisi! I will have to verify but I was taken aback by the story and history of this cross in regard to St. Francis. This is an Iconic cross and I wish I could remember all of the details in its meaning but I will have to do some more research when I return to Austin.

The sun was shinning and the whole town overlooks vistas of mountains of green and gold. I found a spot down a random cobblestone street and sat on a wall overlooking a church tower with a garden to my right and a quaint house covered with flowers to my left and just took in the space and solitude. When I made my way to the Basillica di San Francesco, St. Francis, I was amazed. It is surrounded by lush green grass and perched on a hill. The mosaics and frescoes inside were impressive and after going into the lower church I grew tired and sat on one of the pews when I begun to hear singing. It sounded like children and apparently there was a service going on in part of the church but the acoustics allowed for the sound to travel quite far. They were beautiful, angelic voices. I made my way down to the tomb of St.Francis which transported me to medieval times, I believe he died around 1263. I was sitting and suddenly the room filled up with people and the children went up to the alter below the tomb and began singing in French. Needless to say I stayed down there for almost an hour, the energy was so powerful. Right before leaving I went and asked a priest if I could sing Ave Maria. He was telling me in Italian that the children singing was a special circumstance and that normally no one sang down here. Then he said Forse no, potrebbe. Which I thought meant Maybe not, no you cannot. Then later on I thought maybe he mean Maybe not, but I guess you can. Anyways, I suppose it was lost in translation so I wandered around the town singing to myself instead!

My last stop was a church called San Damiano which is the site where St. Francis first heard god speak to him and later St. Clare built a church there. It was a mile walk from the town and I enjoyed every second. It was a steep cobblestone path overlooking the fall colors of trees and olive groves with the mountains in the background, absolutely gorgeous. I walked slowly to take it all in. I was really drawn to this church and after touring the grounds I read a sign that said pregare con noi, pray with us, and a list of times. One time was in a half hour so I double checked with a nun and then wandered around the grounds until the service. The chapel was small and filled with people. I could feel the history here. We all sang in Italian and the monks would sing the choruses and then we did a 20 minute session of centering prayer - being in silence, followed by more singing. It was a powerful experience and one I will always cherish.

I was on a real high as I came out of the church into the black night with the end of the sunset casting the last rays of bright orange and pink. I strolled back up the cobblestone street to the bus station looking forward to putting on my Ipod for the hour bus ride back and relaxing after a beautiful day. Instead, I arrived to find I had missed the last bus because on school days that bus did not run! Luckily after sitting around for about 15 minutes feeling sorry for myself I talked with some people and took the local bus to a train station where I caught the train back to Perugia. Wow, what a day!

Perugia and its festivals

I got to the stop for Perugia over an hour early, okay maybe I was a little paranoid about missing it! The one and half hour bus ride through the hills of Tuscany was lovely but arriving to Perugia with my orange monster (backpack) was not. I dreaded having to walk around with it. Luckily there was an escalator at the stop I was let off at and I was able to cruise up the hills of Perugia with ease. I knew that the last Sunday of every month there was a festival in Perugia, so I wasn't surprised when I hit the main street and there were tons and tons of booths filled with pastries, meats, clothes, wines, everything you could imagine. What I didn't know then was that this was not just the monthly festival, I had arrived at the once-yearly 5 day festival of music, food, and fun. Unfortunately, I couldn't check into my hostel until 4pm so I bought some fresh Norcia Proscuitto (they honor their pigs). I found a spot in the sun on the steps of a big cathedral overlooking the market, fountains, and historic center. I ate this wonderful proscuitto that melted in my mouth and watched the people having fun and enjoying the perfect day with all the festival activities one could wish for.

Later at the hostel, I met Eduardo a university student who was from Sicily and we went through the market where we met Lorenzo (also from Sicily) and we sampled delicious olives and salame with truffle oil, fantastic. I also tried a traditional Sicilian dish that is rice, tomatoes, peas, ham all put into a ball and fried, yummy. After way too much fair food, we and some other students went to sing Karoke at a local bar. I was a hit singing Hey Jude and Alanis Morisette and I even sang R.E.M.'s, It's the End of the World in Italian. I sang many songs in Italian that night and decided that Karoke is a great way to learn.

The next day I met Erica, who is a 66 year old nomad, who has been traveling for the past 6 years all over the world including sailing. She is a hoot and absolutely fascinating. Born in Hungary, she has lived in Austria, Argentina, and Key West and speaks 4 languages fluently. We went and took the minimetro to another one of the markets in Perugia that was filled with every imaginable item. We looked at everything but when Erica spotted a stall of beads her eyes lit up. She sold jewelry in Maui for 5 years previous to her nomad yrs. and these beads were a steal. By the end, I had even ended up with some Peruvian turquoise like beads called Chrisacola. The view from our hostel was breath taking and seeing the morning rays shine through was wonderful. It seems like everywhere I go there is some vista that blows me away! The terazza here was also covered with flowers overlooking the historic center. Fall had made its way to Perugia as well and I saw many beautiful sunsets over the mountains and churches. There are also several universities and Erica and I attended a student led Italian conversational hour which was great practice. I even sang a little bit when telling everyone in Italian that I was a cantante (singer).