Oktoberfest trip!

Grandparents look away... Nooo I'm just joshin', it's totally PG.

First off I want to say I spent an absurd amount of money on this single weekend, including the money for 24 total hours of transportation time. Most of those 24 hours were spent on a train. It was... totally worth it.

The trip begins waking up early on Friday morning to take the first train possible to Bologna. There I thankfully had an hour to solve the maze that is Bologna Centrale train station. I found my train to Munich and after much frustration (how the hell am I supposed to read my German train ticket?) found my correct seat. And we were off! The views were... spectacular. As you will see with my photo album, I tried capturing the views but my camera could not do it justice. The moment I saw the crisp blue waters of the Adige River with the Alps in the background I knew I had made the right decision. I was trying to read a book the whole way and would constant look up from the page and be struck with the awesome view outside my window.

I noticed something interesting while on this train. While traveling between states by car one can easily tell when they enter a new country by blatantly driving through the border. In a train however, that line is a lot less clear. As a curious traveler, I really wanted to know where Italy stopped and where Germany began (in this case my train actually crossed the border at Austria). There were a few things from my observations I wanted to mention. Germans enjoy brightly colored buildings! They color their houses white, bright yellow, and pretty much any other color you would see in an Easter egg basket. Maybe the most obvious observation was the amount of vineyards on the Italian side of the border. The northernmost region of Italy must have a great climate for growing grapes because there are vineyards everywhere. The most interesting observation however is the presence of graffiti in Italy. For some reason I cannot remember seeing a speck of graffiti on German walls. Maybe it is because the Germans do not tolerate such behavior or maybe it is because so much of Germany was recently rebuilt and has yet to be graced with that specific defamation. But in Italy, graffiti is everywhere. It's almost like the Italian state doesn't mind that sort of vandalism. Somehow Italy has given its patronage to graffiti.

I finally made it to the hotel I was staying at by about 7pm, fulfilling my day of travels. A short time later my friends from Santa Clara arrived and we prepared for the day ahead of us by trying to get a good nights rest.

Another early morning, which included free breakfast at the hotel, and we were off to the festival grounds! We arrived at "Oktoberfest" by 7:30am because we were told to get there very early. In case you don't know (i know most of you have no idea) Oktoberfest is the largest festival in the world today. Inside there are 21 gigantic tents ( the largest holding 10,000 seats!) each owned by a different beer company and tons of rides, shops, and food sellers. Once a fortunate person gets inside a beer tent they must find a seat, then and only then are you served beer (by the liter) and copious amounts of food. Well, we got into a giant group of people to enter one of the smaller tents. We muscled our way in, found a table with some German guys our age, and never left our spots! An interesting comradery envelops the crowd of people after the first round or two of beers. By the end of our time their we had sang and danced with everyone in our general vicinity, including the group of middle aged Italian men at the table next to ours. By 3pm we were all ready to throw in the towel. We made it back to the hotel room and grabbed a well deserved nap. Afterwards we got some dinner in the Munich city center and I enjoyed a fantastic dish called Weiner Shnitzel (more fun to say than it is to taste). Full of good German food, we walked around and finally made it back to the hotel, satisfied with our day of celebration.

Oh look, another early morning! Once again I had to be up and out of the hotel early. This time my train left at 9:30am (thank God for the Munich station being to easy to traverse!). Thus began my travel back to Bologna and subsequently back to Perugia. I met a wonderful Canadian couple on the train and we talked about half the way to Bologna. We talked of my abroad experience and their traveling though Italy. It is so refreshing to run into fellow North Americans while abroad. I finally walked into my apartment at 9:30pm, once again 12 hours of travel finished. I was greeted by my roommates and friends making fresh gnocchi, as well as a Chargers victory. I love Italy.

 

Random Though #4

This one is a little more serious than the other random thoughts.

I am currently taking a class titled Mafia, Murder, Mystery: A look a the history of the Sicilian Mafia. It is an immensely interesting class for a number of reasons. First of all my professor, an Italian born American who teaches in Perugia, has an ex-husband who is in the anti-mafia task force in the Sicilian Carabinieri (Carabinieri is equivalent to military police). So already she comes into the course with some great insider knowledge. Secondly, we are using both American and Italian films to study the gang. I am excited to see how Italian films capture mafiosi and mafia families.

But the most important reason why this class is so interesting to me is because I really do not know how to feel every time I step out of class. For years my mother has chastised my brothers and I for watching and enjoying films like The Godfather and Goodfellas. These films are critically acclaimed and to this day very popular, despite being 20 to 40 years old. But my mother has a point; those mafia films glamorize a completely destructive lifestyle. The men in these stories have no regard for the basic human right to life, and the women live in fear of their husbands. It truly is a sad commentary on people trapped in a world of violence.

Sometimes while I am in class I think to myself about how amazing the level of influence a small island like Sicily has on the world. The mafia has done so much worldwide. It can give one a sense of pride. I think to myself," I am from there, my people did this, they changed the world."

And then the next sentence of that idea comes crashing out of the sky. Oh they have changed the world. They have made it worse. They breed fear and death and violence. That is not something to be proud of.

I had a simple assignment last week. My class was told to read the introduction of a book titled "Cosa Nostra" by John Dickie; a book that has been referred to as the greatest collection of mafia history. After reading the introduction we were to write a simple paragraph on our thoughts regarding the introduction. I made the following comparison: "I do not know how I feel about learning about the mafia yet. It is like hearing your recent ancestors come from a great warrior nation full of cannibals." It would be hard to be proud of the military conquests of said people when you know their history is stained with the compulsive desire for the taste of human flesh.

I will mention something happier now! I leave for Munich tomorrow morning and I am taking the train the whole way there. This is the view I expect:




BE JEALOUS

Weekend trip to Rome

There is so much to say and I am neglecting doing my homework by writing this!

My roommate Max and I began our journey Thursday night, planning on reaching our hostel by 11:30pm. Even though we knew we had an early morning the next day, we thought we could get some sleep at the hostel. Of course we missed the train we were planning on taking ( it sat in the station behind our backs for 10 minutes while we neglected it). After some panicking and a friendly train conductor helping us, we finally reached Rome and our hostel at around 1am.

The next day started at 6:15am! I got no sleep in a room with 10 other people (it was hot and humid like you wouldn't believe!). We left the hostel and met Max's sister and her friend in the Rome train station. From there we got on a subway and found our way to the Vatican. Upon arriving we met up with a family friend of Max and his sister Lexi (by the way, not only are Max and Lexi fellow SCU Bronco's but they are also former CCHS Dons!). Their friend, Brother Andrew, is a seminarian learning to be a priest in the Vatican. He had invited Max and Lexi to bring some friends and receive a personal tour of the Vatican.

The day began with a very special Mass. Brother Andrew escorted us beneath the floor of St. Peter's Basilica to the the area where most popes are buried. There was small central chapel down there, one that is apparently on the other side of a marble wall from the remains of Peter. We had Mass in that chapel, just the 5 of us. It was a very special and spiritual experience, even coming from a non-Catholic background. 

After Mass and a small breakfast we entered the Vatican Museum and were given a personal and very historical tour by Brother Andrew and his fellow seminarian Brother Zamir. They were very knowledgeable and showed us all the important artifacts (we were in the Sistine Chapel talking about all the imagery for at least 30 minutes). I snapped just the worst sneaky photo of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. 

After walking through the museum we walked through St. Peter's Basilica and were told about all the amazing symbolism and artwork within the massive church. One thing I have to mention. There is a reddish-purple stone used in ancient Roman sculpting called Red Porphyry. Only one vein of this rock was ever found, making it one of the most rare and expensive types of rock. As you might be able to tell, it was reserved for royalty, only being used in very important pieces. As you will see in my photos a Pope decided to take a large circle of it and place it in the ground at the beginning of the Basilica, symbolizing how we are all worth the same amount in God's eyes. 

It was lunch time. After asking if we enjoyed seafood, Brother Andrew guided us to a restaurant a few blocks from the Vatican. We sat down and he explained to us that this was the type of restaurant where you didn't order anything, they just brought out the food to you. Right away, I knew this would be an experience. I will now list off things I ate that I never thought I would eat in my life: Mussels, sea snails, anchovies, fried baby squid, clams, smoked salmon, these mini lobsters, and giant prawns. And holy crap was it delicious! We had an amazing meal and basically waddled out of the restaurant.

Max and I split ways with the rest of the group and got back to the hostel. We changed and headed back out into the town, ready to get some more sights in, We followed a map provided by the hostel that brought us to most of the famous Roman sights like the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps. After a few more hours of walking and a small late night dinner with Max's sister and her friend, we retreated to the hostel to get some rest. 

Here's another short story I wanted to include. I walked into the room at the hostel, ready for a shower and a good night's rest. As I walk in I see the beautiful, quiet, dark haired girl that had the bunk below mine feverishly speaking Spanish to this fair-skin, fair-haired guy sitting in a chair in front of her. I went about my business getting ready for bed basically eavesdropping on their conversation. I thought to myself, "I can do this, I can communicate with these people." So I got up out of bed, and I started speaking Spanish to them. We started having a discussion in Spanish about the language's inherent relationship to the Italian language. I learned that she was in fact a Spaniard and she didn't know any English but a little Italian. The guy however knew 5 languages! he was such a nice guy, filled with stories about his travels through the North America on a motorcycle. I was so surprised by my ability to interact with people, having a full conversation in a language other than English. It was rather surreal. 

The next morning Max and I headed out to see the sights in the ancient city of Rome. The Colosseum was much bigger than I expected! We walked through the Roman Forum as well as the Pallatine Hill (the hill on which all the Roman emperors, with the exception of Nero, built their palaces). After that we walked to the Pantheon. I enjoyed that building way more that I thought I would. It was such a sight to see. We got back to the hostel, grabbed out stuff, and got the the train station. Our journey ended with one more train hiccup but we made it back to Perugia late Saturday night. 

Day 21

I am so busy! I am planning three trips at once! I booked a hostel for my trip to Rome this weekend. I am helping coordinate my classmates to book a trip to Prague for the middle of November. And I am looking into transportation for my trip to Munich for Oktoberfest!

Did I forget to mention I have homework! Oh and I have to cook and eat my dinner.

What I didn't have to do was attend an espresso tasting seminar at my school. That was so very interesting! We went to a local coffee shop and a professor from the food studies course gave us a history of espresso and how it came to be so important in Italian culture. She was impressed by my extensive knowledge on the topic (thanks ma).

Weekend Trip to Florence!

Florence! I went to Florence. No big deal.

I'm going to get this rant out of the way because I need to before I can tell you about the rest of the trip. My friends and I walked around A LOT of Florence. It's a beautiful city. But I heard more English in Florence than in San Diego (figuratively speaking of course). Every where your ear turned you heard English. You heard it from Italians, from american tourists, from tourists of all nationalities. All menus and signs were written in Italian and English. How does anyone expect to learn Italian by studying abroad here! You can't! We would ask for things in Italian, the people would respond in English. It was very frustrating! My friends and I decided early on that we were so happy to be studying abroad in Perugia, a town where the only English you hear is coming out of our mouths.

Now that is over, we can continue.

We got off the train Friday afternoon and found our hostel, after about an hour of frantic searching. We then decided to go to the Uffizi Museum to pick up these museum passes we bought. The Uffizi is one of the oldest and most famous museums in the western world. We arrived too late as the place was already closed. We crossed the Arno and walked up to the Palazzio Michelangelo, which the hostel director told us had the best view in the city. He was right, the view was fantastic. After coming back to the city, we changed and met up with some fellow american students studying abroad. We were met with some amazing hospitality! We went to bed early as the next day was to be filled with walking.

Saturday morning we woke up, grabbed a cappuccino and a pastry, and headed for the Uffizi. The museum cards we got allowed us to skip all the lines and pay no additional fees. We spent around 3 hours in that museum. I saw pieces of art I had only ever seen in history textbooks. Pieces from famous Renaissance artists like Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci. After the Uffizi we walked to L'Accademia, which is known for housing Michelangelo's statue of David. I thought I had a big butt, David's got me beat. After that museum we walked across the river to the Piatti Palace, the former home of the Medici family, the richest and most powerful family in Florence's history. The Boboli Gardens are the engorged backyard of the palace. The gardens are amazingly beautiful. After a long day of walking we retreated to the hostel for a shower and a rest. Later that night we went to a great restaurant, payed top dollar for the famous Florentine Steak and shared a bottle of the equally famous Chianti Classico, the most famous of Tuscan wines. We ended the night at an underground bar that featured a live Rolling Stones cover band. A great first weekend of travel.

PICTURES

I have spent most of today and trying to get all the pictures set up and uploaded correctly. I think you will all love the way the photos are configured!

I was so tired and fed up yesterday of not having the necessary adapter to upload my photos from my sister's camera. I googled (surprisingly accurate in Italy) an electronic store in the greater Perugia area. I used their website to confirm that they had what I was looking for. I stepped out my apartment and went a-searchin'. Just when I thought I couldn't find the darn place because I had no map, I turned around to go back down the street I had come up and there is was, staring at me, Eutronics! So here are the photos of my trip so far!

This album is a few photos of Perugia


This album is a look at my apartment

This album is all the photos from my trip to the farm/vineyard

This album are the photos I tool while at Lake Trasimeno

Trip to Lake Trasimeno

We decided to go back to the lake we were near yesterday! I invited my  whole program on our facebook group. We had a group of about 15 take this small trip with us! Its was the first time most of us had used the train so that too a little bit of time to get used to. We grabbed the train in Perugia and got off in this little lakeside town called Passagnano Sul Trasimeno. From there we had no idea how to get down to the water and find a beach. So we walked! We eventually found a small beach and settled in. It was a hot day so we were all eager to get into the water. The floor of the lake was a slimy dark clay that was riddled with seaweed and other pokey things. I had to help two girls into the water but eventually everyone got in and cooled off ( the water temperature was amazing). We spent most of the day laying on the sand and enjoying the scenery.

I realized a few things today while walking to find a beach. I am surprisingly comfortable here. We walked past a backyard and the smell of the trees reminded me of my grandparents backyard. We walked past a few restaurants and there were so many smells that reminded me of my family. I even saw people that looked a lot like they could be my relatives. A lot of the hills are even reminiscent of California. All of these things are so comforting. I can see how things may be different for the other students in my program but for me, this place feels like a second home.

There was an older woman at the beach today who looked like she could have given this guy a run for his money in an "I'm tanner than you competition."

Trip to a local farm

Today the entire program got bused to a local farm! We drove out of Perugia and into the lakeside town of Magione. Our school has brought it's students to this farm once a semester over 20 times! The owner, Flavio, showed us how to harvest grapes and press the juice out of them. And yes, I got into the giant tub and squashed grapes with my feet. It was... rather enjoyable. After working in the field for a bit, we sat down to eat. Flavio and his family fed us a great meal, everyone had lots of food to eat and lots of wine to drink. The star of the show was the amazing view! Lake Trasimeno is the 4th largest lake in Italy. It was a beautiful sight! Once I get a memory card adapter for my computer I will post all the photos here.

The real star of the show was a very young puppy that lived on the farm. Right when he poked his head out of the farm house the entire group of students lost their concentration. He was this adorable puff ball that everyone passed around. I have photos of him too of course!

Day 9

Finally cooked last night! I made a simple bolognese sauce but it was very tastey! Of course before I cooked anything I spent a few hours yesterday rearranging and cleaning the kitchen. How am I supposed to cook anything in a dirty kitchen! The bad news it my kitchen knives are terrible...I'll get used to it.

I have never not had a washing machine AND dryer. The drying rack has become sort of a nemesis of mine....

Ode to My Nemesis

He says he'll provide a service for me

He says he'll dry my clothes

I don't believe him, but I trust him anyways.

For days he holds onto my belongings

Waiting outside my bedroom door, taunting me with them

Never drying, never drying.

Each day is a lie, 

my clothes are never dry

even though I try and try

they make me want to cry

(I felt poetic today)

Random Thought #3

There are coffee machines everywhere that dispense amazing coffee for cheap but they don't give you change but the coffee is so good makes it really easy to pay attention in class especially when the walls of the classroom have a map of Italy with a sea serpent on it and the board has some words in Italian and did i mention the coffee is good and cheap it's like they want us to buy lots lots lots of it because it tastes so good.... SQUIRREL... But anyways, coffee good yeah yeah...yeah

Day 5

When I am in class I can hear a street performer playing the accordion. Can you believe that? Is that not the most Italian thing you can think of?

Today  the second half of Italian class focused on how to order things at restaurants and bars. It was so helpful! I now know how to approach, talk to, and carry a legitimate conversation with servers and shop keepers.

Tonight I had fantastic Greek food and then we went to have a drink at this outdoor bar with a great view.

First Day of Class

So the whole first week of class is "intensive Italian" meaning we are in only Italian class all day. They do this in order to get students that havent taken any Italian a some semblance of the language, as we live in a city where not everyone speaks English. I'm in the I-have-never-taken-Italian-and-I'm-scared-class which is really freakin' easy because I have already taken a year. This class is required and I am not getting any credit for it from SCU so why not just take the easy A class.

Just to update you on other things. The city is... well pretty much everything I expected. It's all stone buildings, it's churches, it's pizzerias and gelaterias, it's the epitome of what you think Italy is. I have eaten at the same pizzeria two night in a row. Why? because it's fantastic pizza and because I can. It's an awesome life.

Everyone walks slowly. That I have really noticed. I'm trying to blend into the crowd but I think the speed with which I walk really gives me away. But I think I blend in pretty well regardless. I have spoken pretty convincing Italian to most shop keepers.

Random Thought #2

Italian men don't often wear shorts, but when they do, they wear them SHORT, i'm talkin' mid thigh level. It has to be...drafty?

I HAD ONE JOB

I got a camera from my sister to take a thousand photos and show them all to you. Well I didn't look into getting them from her camera to my computer. I have taken some amazing photos of Perugia but I cant get them to you! As soon as this problem is resolved you can see what this town has to offer!