What's that you say? It's not December yet? Yes well I know, but maybe someone should clue the Italians in, because they've started their Christmas prep already. Here in Perugia, Christmas lights are being strung across every street! Hundreds of power lines connecting the dangling ropes of lights are being hung from every building! It's yet another exciting time here in the the beautiful city of Perugia, and I can't help but wonder if they ever stop preparing for an event of some kind!
However, I have been doing my research on Christmas in Italy, as much out of my own interest, as I have to give an oral presentation in Italian class next week (5 minutes speaking nothing but Italian ... oh my!) and I've picked the Christmas holiday as my topic! It turns out that in this lovely country, Christmas is not a day or two long affair, but instead, its about a month long celebration with various holidays throughout it! It begins next week sometime, though we've heard our Christmas lights on the street will be lit this weekend, and last until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th. They have several traditions that seem like they would be fun additions to our usual family celebrations. One of my favorites, is that instead of sending a letter to Santa about how good they've been all year, the children here write one to their parents about how thankful they are for the year they've had with them and place it under their fathers plate to be read at Christmas Eve dinner! Another favorite is that they have something call an "Urn of Fate" and they put all of their presents into this urn and take turns drawing out presents one at a time for each family member and they open them together. They also have something that is known as "il ceppo" or the tree of light, and its a large wooden pyramid shaped frame with different tiers, the bottom one holding a manger scene and different small gifts of fruit and candy above it. Much like our Christmas tree, it is ornately decorated with these small gifts. One of the most well known traditions, is the Feast of the 7 Fishes on Christmas Eve night which takes place because back in early Christianity, Christmas Eve was a religious Feast day, and no meat could be eaten. Probably the biggest difference in celebrations though, has to do with children receiving presents from Santa. It is not Bobo Natale (Santa) who brings children presents, but La Befana, a nice old which who was asked by the wise men to come adore the new Christ Child. She refused, and later, when she saw how brightly the North Star was shining, realized she may have made a mistake. So she set off on her own to find the baby Jesus and got lost, along with the presents that she was bringing him. So instead, she gives her presents to the children of Italy. Italians share our tradition of stalking being 'hung on the fireplace' and good children do receive candy and things and bad children receive cobbone (or coal), or in the modern day case, black crystallized candy.
Christmas is an exciting time in any country I think, and I can't wait to get home and start celebrating! In fact, I already know that my first weekend home, I am already promised to two large traditions in my family, a family friend's traditional Christmas party and the getting of the Christmas tree ( a now 24 year running tradition in my household! Though I myself will only be experiencing my 21st lovely celebration of this tradition!). But even though I like my own traditions at home, and being able to celebrate with my friends and family, it is nice to think about other people around the world and the different ways in which they celebrate! Who knows, maybe I'll even bring a few of these new Italian traditions home with me!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
So I guess I learned something new today ....
While in Italy, I have been taking Italian language classes (we are all required to) in the vain hope that by the time we leave here, I'll be semi fluent. Well it's almost three months in, and I wonder if I'm any better at Italian than when I started. True, I can understand MOST Italians if they speak to me slow enough, and I guess I couldn't do that before. And I can carry on a small conversation consisting mainly of small talk - how are you, where are you from, things like that - so I can get myself around Italy well enough. But at this point I believe I'm becoming even more fluent in the art of hand language. You might think that this is a silly thing to have conquered, the art of hand language, but I see it as basically learning a second language while I'm here.
Basically, I mean that during my stay here Italy occasionally I have no idea how to say something or what I am trying to convey in Italian, so I have to relay on a mix of pointing, gesturing and basically making a fool out of myself before the people that I'm speaking to understand exactly what I'm trying to say. It is an interesting thing, because its universal. If you point at something or gesture as to the size of something, or even shake your head in a yes or no fashion, regardless of what language you actually speak, the gestures are the same. True, each culture has its own specific gestures that they use and they occasionally mean completely different things in different countries, but on the whole, the major ones that are needed to convey basic points, are the same. It's incredibly convenient too! Especially when traveling, like I have been doing so much of, to countries that speak various languages, hand gesturing and my quasi European hand language has come in immensely useful.
I love things like that that are so universal that they are unmistakable. It makes you remember that even though countries and cultures are very different, at the end of the day we're all human beings and we all possess the same sets of emotions and feelings. And even when you can't necessarily communicate well with words, sometimes all you need is a simple gesture (like a smile) to communicate what you want to. :)
Basically, I mean that during my stay here Italy occasionally I have no idea how to say something or what I am trying to convey in Italian, so I have to relay on a mix of pointing, gesturing and basically making a fool out of myself before the people that I'm speaking to understand exactly what I'm trying to say. It is an interesting thing, because its universal. If you point at something or gesture as to the size of something, or even shake your head in a yes or no fashion, regardless of what language you actually speak, the gestures are the same. True, each culture has its own specific gestures that they use and they occasionally mean completely different things in different countries, but on the whole, the major ones that are needed to convey basic points, are the same. It's incredibly convenient too! Especially when traveling, like I have been doing so much of, to countries that speak various languages, hand gesturing and my quasi European hand language has come in immensely useful.
I love things like that that are so universal that they are unmistakable. It makes you remember that even though countries and cultures are very different, at the end of the day we're all human beings and we all possess the same sets of emotions and feelings. And even when you can't necessarily communicate well with words, sometimes all you need is a simple gesture (like a smile) to communicate what you want to. :)
Friday, November 23, 2007
Turkey Coma
A lot happened this week, and I'm just catching up - so there's two posts from today!
There's nothing like an American Holiday to make you miss home. In Italy, they clearly do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so us Americans were on our own for Turkey Day festivities. We still had to go to class which was a bummer, because if there was a time I did anything but eat mass amounts of food and visit with family on Thanksgiving, I can't remember.
There is a restaurant here in Perugia that nicely enough put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner special, as most people in the city realized that there is a large population of Americans in town that would enjoy the whole turkey (tacchino), mashed potatoes (pure di patate), stuffing (riempimento) deal. However, this was not going to cut it for me and my friends. No we had to do this restaurant one better and make our own Thanksgiving day feast. And who was in charge of the tacchino and the riempimento? Of course, ME! And let me tell you this was an interesting project for me. Not only have I never cooked a turkey before, I've never even cooked anything larger than a few chicken breasts. So a WHOLE turkey, this was going to be interesting. First of all, they don't just have entire turkeys on hand here in Perugia so I had to go to the butcher (they also don't have supermarkets with everything in them, you have to go separate places for bread, meats, fruits and veggies etc.) and order a whole turkey a week before. But that was the easy part! I finally get it home and luckily I had my roommate visiting me from the US because I'm unsure I could've done the rest alone. Because the turkey came mostly clean, but unlike the turkeys you get at home, it still had the neck and tail attached, and several of the innards still
inside. So we had to clean out the rest of the turkey (gross!) and attempt to remove the tail and neck. We ended up leaving these attached because we had no idea how to take them off! But we washed him (Tommy, we named the turkey, it made the thought of handling the raw turkey less unnerving for it to have a name :) ) and managed to cover him and stuff him and put him in the pan. I made stuffing from scratch too, something I've never done before, and it may have been even tastier than the turkey!! My next issue though, was in Italy they use Celsius degrees, and my instructions (from the mum) were in Fahrenheit, and there is no dial on my oven to set it to a specific temperature either. So letting it cook was interesting! And Italians must also have an extra sense to simply know when a meat is finished cooking, because they don't have meat thermometers. Every time I asked a kitchen supply store if they had one, they looked at me like I was crazy. Not so great a feeling, especially when you're already a little sad not to be home with your family for Thanksgiving! But once my friends started showing up for the feast, things got much more enjoyable. Everyone was excited to be celebrating together, even if we couldn't be with our family at home, we could at least be with our 'family' here. And everyone brought a 
different dish and we ate picnic style on the floor. And Tommy the turkey, when he was ready was pretty darn good! I also had my first attempts at carving a turkey, which was also really fun. Sitting around with my girlfriends talking and eating and laughing was a perfect way to spend Thanksgiving! And the turkey coma that always follows Thanksgiving dinner and eating far too much was a welcome excuse to enjoy relaxing for a night, and not being a busy busy bee like I am for most of my time here!
If you asked me at this time last year what I'd be doing for my next Turkey day , I never would've thought that I would be spending it in Italy, cooking a whole turkey (basically by myself) and having a blast doing both, but that was exactly what I did! And you know what, I wouldn't have had it any other way!
There's nothing like an American Holiday to make you miss home. In Italy, they clearly do not celebrate Thanksgiving, so us Americans were on our own for Turkey Day festivities. We still had to go to class which was a bummer, because if there was a time I did anything but eat mass amounts of food and visit with family on Thanksgiving, I can't remember.
There is a restaurant here in Perugia that nicely enough put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner special, as most people in the city realized that there is a large population of Americans in town that would enjoy the whole turkey (tacchino), mashed potatoes (pure di patate), stuffing (riempimento) deal. However, this was not going to cut it for me and my friends. No we had to do this restaurant one better and make our own Thanksgiving day feast. And who was in charge of the tacchino and the riempimento? Of course, ME! And let me tell you this was an interesting project for me. Not only have I never cooked a turkey before, I've never even cooked anything larger than a few chicken breasts. So a WHOLE turkey, this was going to be interesting. First of all, they don't just have entire turkeys on hand here in Perugia so I had to go to the butcher (they also don't have supermarkets with everything in them, you have to go separate places for bread, meats, fruits and veggies etc.) and order a whole turkey a week before. But that was the easy part! I finally get it home and luckily I had my roommate visiting me from the US because I'm unsure I could've done the rest alone. Because the turkey came mostly clean, but unlike the turkeys you get at home, it still had the neck and tail attached, and several of the innards still
inside. So we had to clean out the rest of the turkey (gross!) and attempt to remove the tail and neck. We ended up leaving these attached because we had no idea how to take them off! But we washed him (Tommy, we named the turkey, it made the thought of handling the raw turkey less unnerving for it to have a name :) ) and managed to cover him and stuff him and put him in the pan. I made stuffing from scratch too, something I've never done before, and it may have been even tastier than the turkey!! My next issue though, was in Italy they use Celsius degrees, and my instructions (from the mum) were in Fahrenheit, and there is no dial on my oven to set it to a specific temperature either. So letting it cook was interesting! And Italians must also have an extra sense to simply know when a meat is finished cooking, because they don't have meat thermometers. Every time I asked a kitchen supply store if they had one, they looked at me like I was crazy. Not so great a feeling, especially when you're already a little sad not to be home with your family for Thanksgiving! But once my friends started showing up for the feast, things got much more enjoyable. Everyone was excited to be celebrating together, even if we couldn't be with our family at home, we could at least be with our 'family' here. And everyone brought a 
different dish and we ate picnic style on the floor. And Tommy the turkey, when he was ready was pretty darn good! I also had my first attempts at carving a turkey, which was also really fun. Sitting around with my girlfriends talking and eating and laughing was a perfect way to spend Thanksgiving! And the turkey coma that always follows Thanksgiving dinner and eating far too much was a welcome excuse to enjoy relaxing for a night, and not being a busy busy bee like I am for most of my time here!If you asked me at this time last year what I'd be doing for my next Turkey day , I never would've thought that I would be spending it in Italy, cooking a whole turkey (basically by myself) and having a blast doing both, but that was exactly what I did! And you know what, I wouldn't have had it any other way!
Show me some of that Spanish dancing ....
My last trip out of Italy, to Barcelona, this past weekend was bittersweet. It was my last trip out of the country, so it was a little bit sad, but I got to see two of my best friends from NU there! One of the girls has been studying in a little town in southern Spain this fall and the other just came to visit us. It was awesome having a little Boston reunion in Europe. I hadn't seen either of them for months, so a reunion was long overdue!
Barcelona is a gorgeous city. Our hostel was literally right on the beach, we walked out of the door and past the Mediterranean sea every morning - were we lucky or what? And across from the street from where our hostel was was an adorable boat yard full of rows upon rows of sailboats. It was incredible! It made me want to rent one and go sailing for the day, even though I get incredibly motion sick - but it would've been worth it!
Barcelona reminded me a lot of Boston, its right on the coast, most things are within walking distance, and it even had a street that reminded me of Comm Ave, lined with trees and brownstone-esque buildings and a square that reminded me a lot of Copley. But once you got off of the main streets, and wandered a little bit, you realized again that you were in Spain. The set up of the streets are a lot like Italy in that buildings are really close together and a lot of smaller streets connect hidden gems nestled in the middle of city blocks, like the Picasso Museum and the Santa Maria Church (both completely obscured from view from the main streets, but tucked away in little back alleys).
Gaudi, the artist/architect from Spain was also a HUGE influence on the city of Barcelona. His architecture is a little bit out of the ordinary and covered in mosaics of brightly colored tiles. His main work in Barcelona was unbelievable. The Segrada Famiglia as it is called, is a chapel that has bee under construction for 300 years. Its construction is fueled by anonymous donations alone, so it still has yet to be finished. It is probably the most outrageous religious building you will ever see. It towers well above most buildings surrounding it, and with its 18 towers and hundreds of turrets covered in the brightly mosaic-ed tiles, at first glance you're not sure if you're staring at a church or a giant wedding cake. Words simply can't express how interesting and intricate this building is, and its not even finished yet! Gaudi also created a number of other buildings and a park area. The park greets you with two giant gingerbread looking houses and 
and entranceway staircase covered in the trademark mosaics. the most famous peice of this staircase is a beautifully represented lizard. And at the top of the stairs is an informal sitting area with a winding row of benches surrounding a oval shaped portion of land, and the benches are just as beautifully ornamented with his signature color scheme as the rest of the architecture he created. And the view of Barcelona is unbelievable as well!
Soccer is also huge in Spain, so naturally we took a look at their football stadium, also really cool. It technically just looks like any other stadium, but if you imagine it full of people (literally no empty seats anywhere) and these people are decked out in their favorite teams colors, screaming their heads off, like only passionate Spanish residents can, it is quite the site to see!
They also held the 1992 Olympic Summer games in Barcelona and the "port Olympic" as it is now called was also quite amazing to see. There was another stadium where most of the games were held, and an interestingly shaped building where the athletes were housed for the duration of the games. Also, one of what I thought was the coolest parts, was a park opposite the stadium and all along the park were flag poles and during the Olympic Games, each flag pole held the flag of one of the countries competing in the games. Not so cool now that they're empty, I suppose, but if you walked down that strip of park area in 1992 amidst all of those flags flying, I think it would be really interesting.
Barcelona's nightlife is a little out of control. Luckily I didn't experience too' too much of it. We went out at night, because socialization is a big part of getting to know a country. And while it was interesting to be out an about in such a beautiful city, at the time we went out a lot of the area was dead. Apparently, bars are open until 2 or 3 in the morning and then at that point, the clubs and discos open. Apparently this is a HUGE part of Spanish nightlife, however, it was a art that I did not get to see. I'm not quite sure how the Spanish manage to operate on so little sleep, but apparently I'm not European enough, because I simply couldn't stay out and awake until 5, 6 or 7 in the morning! I keep kind of thinking to myself that that was was a pretty lame move, not staying out as late as the Spanish, but then I think, if I could operate on 2 hours of sleep, then maybe I could've done it. All I know is that even with a siesta (the break the Spanish take midday, and EVERYTHING shuts down for the equivalent of kindergarten nap time) the Spanish are pretty amazing people to be so energetic on so little sleep all of the time. Bravo Spaniards, Bravo!
The last thing I did in Barcelona though, was possible the coolest, my roommate and I got up really early and watched the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea. Not only did we literally have the best, most obstructed view of the sunrise, but the colors were magnificent! IT was literally the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen! And it definitely helped that I was experiencing it in Barcelona, the sun seems a bit brighter there :) Sadly after that it was back to Italy I went, but it was interesting to see the sun set in Italy and think, I saw the sun rise in a completely different country that I am seeing it set in and neither is the country I come from. Unreal. Simply unreal.
Barcelona is a gorgeous city. Our hostel was literally right on the beach, we walked out of the door and past the Mediterranean sea every morning - were we lucky or what? And across from the street from where our hostel was was an adorable boat yard full of rows upon rows of sailboats. It was incredible! It made me want to rent one and go sailing for the day, even though I get incredibly motion sick - but it would've been worth it!
Barcelona reminded me a lot of Boston, its right on the coast, most things are within walking distance, and it even had a street that reminded me of Comm Ave, lined with trees and brownstone-esque buildings and a square that reminded me a lot of Copley. But once you got off of the main streets, and wandered a little bit, you realized again that you were in Spain. The set up of the streets are a lot like Italy in that buildings are really close together and a lot of smaller streets connect hidden gems nestled in the middle of city blocks, like the Picasso Museum and the Santa Maria Church (both completely obscured from view from the main streets, but tucked away in little back alleys).
Gaudi, the artist/architect from Spain was also a HUGE influence on the city of Barcelona. His architecture is a little bit out of the ordinary and covered in mosaics of brightly colored tiles. His main work in Barcelona was unbelievable. The Segrada Famiglia as it is called, is a chapel that has bee under construction for 300 years. Its construction is fueled by anonymous donations alone, so it still has yet to be finished. It is probably the most outrageous religious building you will ever see. It towers well above most buildings surrounding it, and with its 18 towers and hundreds of turrets covered in the brightly mosaic-ed tiles, at first glance you're not sure if you're staring at a church or a giant wedding cake. Words simply can't express how interesting and intricate this building is, and its not even finished yet! Gaudi also created a number of other buildings and a park area. The park greets you with two giant gingerbread looking houses and 
and entranceway staircase covered in the trademark mosaics. the most famous peice of this staircase is a beautifully represented lizard. And at the top of the stairs is an informal sitting area with a winding row of benches surrounding a oval shaped portion of land, and the benches are just as beautifully ornamented with his signature color scheme as the rest of the architecture he created. And the view of Barcelona is unbelievable as well!Soccer is also huge in Spain, so naturally we took a look at their football stadium, also really cool. It technically just looks like any other stadium, but if you imagine it full of people (literally no empty seats anywhere) and these people are decked out in their favorite teams colors, screaming their heads off, like only passionate Spanish residents can, it is quite the site to see!
They also held the 1992 Olympic Summer games in Barcelona and the "port Olympic" as it is now called was also quite amazing to see. There was another stadium where most of the games were held, and an interestingly shaped building where the athletes were housed for the duration of the games. Also, one of what I thought was the coolest parts, was a park opposite the stadium and all along the park were flag poles and during the Olympic Games, each flag pole held the flag of one of the countries competing in the games. Not so cool now that they're empty, I suppose, but if you walked down that strip of park area in 1992 amidst all of those flags flying, I think it would be really interesting.
Barcelona's nightlife is a little out of control. Luckily I didn't experience too' too much of it. We went out at night, because socialization is a big part of getting to know a country. And while it was interesting to be out an about in such a beautiful city, at the time we went out a lot of the area was dead. Apparently, bars are open until 2 or 3 in the morning and then at that point, the clubs and discos open. Apparently this is a HUGE part of Spanish nightlife, however, it was a art that I did not get to see. I'm not quite sure how the Spanish manage to operate on so little sleep, but apparently I'm not European enough, because I simply couldn't stay out and awake until 5, 6 or 7 in the morning! I keep kind of thinking to myself that that was was a pretty lame move, not staying out as late as the Spanish, but then I think, if I could operate on 2 hours of sleep, then maybe I could've done it. All I know is that even with a siesta (the break the Spanish take midday, and EVERYTHING shuts down for the equivalent of kindergarten nap time) the Spanish are pretty amazing people to be so energetic on so little sleep all of the time. Bravo Spaniards, Bravo!
The last thing I did in Barcelona though, was possible the coolest, my roommate and I got up really early and watched the sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea. Not only did we literally have the best, most obstructed view of the sunrise, but the colors were magnificent! IT was literally the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen! And it definitely helped that I was experiencing it in Barcelona, the sun seems a bit brighter there :) Sadly after that it was back to Italy I went, but it was interesting to see the sun set in Italy and think, I saw the sun rise in a completely different country that I am seeing it set in and neither is the country I come from. Unreal. Simply unreal.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Un Giorno da sola
I have been told you have to try traveling by yourself, at least once. This of course came from my roommate who is perfectly content with traveling for weeks at a time by herself! But I figured I'd give it a try. Sooo I went for a little adventure this weekend ... by myself. I took a day trip to Siena, and it wasn't as scary as I thought! Siena is not that far from Perugia, and by bus it only took even less time than the train! But now if you know me, you know that doing anything alone is pretty much my least favorite activity. I like to be surrounded by people, and when I am making decisions about when to do things, I usually make them around when someone else can come with me. But for once, it was nice to do things on my own time, to make decisions based solely on what I wanted to do, and go where I wanted to go. Now I don't think that I could travel for long periods of time by myself, one day was enough for me, but it was interesting to realize that I can get around Italy on my own. I used my Italian, and I suffered through some interesting travel mistakes, but I'm still alive and I think I'm the better for it!
It didn't hurt that Siena was BEAUTIFUL! A friend of mine had studied there in June, and had told me all about it, so I knew I had to get there at some point in my study abroad experience and I very glad I did! The town is a lot like Perugia, its a city, but its fairly small. All of the streets are skinny and buildings are close together and most of the monuments and historical sights are definitely within walking distance. And the main piazza, Il Campo, is awesome! Everyone comes here to eat and hang out in the sunshine. The main civic building is in Il Campo and right in front of it is a raised walkway area, much like steps without the steps, or a theaters graduated seating, without the seats. And it was just an awesome little place, bustling with life and people!
And the civic center has some amazing artwork in it, including a painting that I'd been learning about in one of my classes, that I didn't know was located there, and was an awesome surprise! I love learning about artists and artwork and then being able to see their artwork in person. It is probably one of the coolest feelings ever, to be able to appreciate art because you know what it is and who made it. And after having spent so much time on this particular painting and then literally bumping into it in this museum, was unreal! It helps, too, that this painting is on a huge scale and probably 30 times my size, but still, it was awe inspiring for reasons other than its grandiose nature. And attached to this civic center is a bell tower, that I was instructed by my friend to climb, even though it was 330 steps up. But I did 414 in Florence right? So this, I thought, would be nothing! Well it was quite the trek up, but it was well worth it! The views were incredible! You could see all of Siena, and much of the surrounding countryside. It was breathtaking! You were only allowed to spend 15 minutes at the top, due to size restrictions at the top of the tower, but I could've spent hours. I couldn't take my eyes off of the expanse of rooftops that blurred into one another and the hills and countryside that literally rolled on forever. It was exactly what you think of when you think of a little town in Italy. So amazingly Italian that you literally want to stay there, soaking it in forever.
So all in all, I had an amazing time on my little adventure alone. It was a bit nerve racking at times, but I'm glad I did it. Not only did I get to see an amazing city, but I got to know that I can travel alone. Being by myself and on my own is not that scary over all. And I pride myself on being fairly independent in my life in general, but every once in a while, its nice to have a reminder that you actually are! :)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Last Stop - England!
Before I get
to the last stop, I forgot to write about my favorite church I'd seen! We saw so much in Scotland, that remembering it all was kind of tough. But St.Giles church on the Royal Mile was gorgeous. It had wonderful stained glass windows and plenty of tiny chapels. But it felt homey somehow. It didn't feel like a giant cathedral that Mass would never be said in. To me it felt like a nice place that I could definitely go to to worship. I am unfortunately not being so good about getting to church while abroad, but if I had the chance, I think hearing Mass in this church would've been very nice. And while I may have forgotten to include it in my last post, I'll never forget it. And it was definitely my favorite church that I'd seen on Fall Break, even possibly since I've been in Italy.
Well, so it was almost the end of my fall break, but I had one more stop to go, and it was back to England. I was lucky enough to be staying with family friends who live a few hours outside of London! And even more lucky, I ended up flying into the airport that was closest to them, so I didn't even have to take the dreaded train by myself! I got picked up right at the airport! Talk about the star treatment haha! I realize that getting picked up in a car does not sound like the most luxurious thing a person could do, but after 4 flights, 5 days of buses and trains, a car was absolutely amazing! And sleeping, for two glorious nights, in a bed, a real bed, not a hostel bunk bed was also absolutely wonderful!
The family I stayed with I have known for around 10 years. Every so often one, two or the whole lot of our families have gone and stayed with the other for different amounts of time. Most recently the eldest son came and stayed with my family, so I had seen him recently, but as for the others, I hadn't seen them since I was 13! Eight years! So it was very exciting! Nicely enough, they were exactly like I remembered them. And it was absolutely wonderful to have a mom figure to be fretting over me for a few days. When you're this far away from home, and without the ability to just go home when you need to, its nice to spend a few days in a family situation, with a mom much like yours who can take care of you! Though I am a grown up (or trying to be these days) its still nice to be able to 'come home' I think, and though this wasn't my home, its the closest thing I have to family over here and it was nice to spend time with them. Though I fear I wasn't such a splendid guest, as I was exhausted and I slept, a lot! But they didn't seem to mind, and it allowed them to go about their days without worrying about me.
Though I did spend a day with the mom, in a town nearby called Lavenham. We walked around and went into this old guild hall and looked around. And she told me all about the town and the
buildings that we saw. Including a very crooked house and a house that used to be about 100 meters away from where it currently stands. Apparently, back in the day, when you moved, you really moved, and you took your whole house with you. Then we poked around a few antique shops and headed home for tea. And while it may be a stereotype of England that they drink tea, from my experience, I'd say it was dead on. There were definitely several times throughout the day that I was offered tea (okay, or coffee) and it seemed completely appropriate. Though I'm not a big tea drinker, so I passed, but what a place to live if you liked it! :)
Unfortunately, my time spent there was brief, and it was back to London to meet up with my traveling companions. We spent one last glorious night roaming around London and the downtown area. And in particular a portion that reminded us a lot of NYC with big television-billboards and lots of people out and about. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see that part of London!
On our last day in London, we did the total tourist thing and went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Unfortunately it was raining, so they didn't have their usual beefeater outfits on, but it was still really cool. And the queen was home, as the English flag flying above the palace signifies.
And then, just like that, my fall break was over, and it was time to come back to Italy. Though I still had a plane, 2 trains, a bus and a taxi to look forward to to get me back 'home' to Perugia. We actually almost missed our train, so we almost ended up stuck in Rome for the night, but luckily we made it, and by 2AM Monday, I was sleeping in my own bed in Perugia. But what an amazing week it was! I got to see so many amazing things and travel to three different countries! I even got to escape the city for a little while and travel to the beautiful green countryside of England and hang out with friends I haven't seen in years. It was probably the most perfect vacation I could have ever taken. It was the most fun, and the most exciting travel experience I've ever had. And to be able to do it with 4 good girl friends, well that just made it all the better! I can't wait for my next European adventure! :)
to the last stop, I forgot to write about my favorite church I'd seen! We saw so much in Scotland, that remembering it all was kind of tough. But St.Giles church on the Royal Mile was gorgeous. It had wonderful stained glass windows and plenty of tiny chapels. But it felt homey somehow. It didn't feel like a giant cathedral that Mass would never be said in. To me it felt like a nice place that I could definitely go to to worship. I am unfortunately not being so good about getting to church while abroad, but if I had the chance, I think hearing Mass in this church would've been very nice. And while I may have forgotten to include it in my last post, I'll never forget it. And it was definitely my favorite church that I'd seen on Fall Break, even possibly since I've been in Italy.Well, so it was almost the end of my fall break, but I had one more stop to go, and it was back to England. I was lucky enough to be staying with family friends who live a few hours outside of London! And even more lucky, I ended up flying into the airport that was closest to them, so I didn't even have to take the dreaded train by myself! I got picked up right at the airport! Talk about the star treatment haha! I realize that getting picked up in a car does not sound like the most luxurious thing a person could do, but after 4 flights, 5 days of buses and trains, a car was absolutely amazing! And sleeping, for two glorious nights, in a bed, a real bed, not a hostel bunk bed was also absolutely wonderful!
The family I stayed with I have known for around 10 years. Every so often one, two or the whole lot of our families have gone and stayed with the other for different amounts of time. Most recently the eldest son came and stayed with my family, so I had seen him recently, but as for the others, I hadn't seen them since I was 13! Eight years! So it was very exciting! Nicely enough, they were exactly like I remembered them. And it was absolutely wonderful to have a mom figure to be fretting over me for a few days. When you're this far away from home, and without the ability to just go home when you need to, its nice to spend a few days in a family situation, with a mom much like yours who can take care of you! Though I am a grown up (or trying to be these days) its still nice to be able to 'come home' I think, and though this wasn't my home, its the closest thing I have to family over here and it was nice to spend time with them. Though I fear I wasn't such a splendid guest, as I was exhausted and I slept, a lot! But they didn't seem to mind, and it allowed them to go about their days without worrying about me.
Though I did spend a day with the mom, in a town nearby called Lavenham. We walked around and went into this old guild hall and looked around. And she told me all about the town and the
buildings that we saw. Including a very crooked house and a house that used to be about 100 meters away from where it currently stands. Apparently, back in the day, when you moved, you really moved, and you took your whole house with you. Then we poked around a few antique shops and headed home for tea. And while it may be a stereotype of England that they drink tea, from my experience, I'd say it was dead on. There were definitely several times throughout the day that I was offered tea (okay, or coffee) and it seemed completely appropriate. Though I'm not a big tea drinker, so I passed, but what a place to live if you liked it! :)Unfortunately, my time spent there was brief, and it was back to London to meet up with my traveling companions. We spent one last glorious night roaming around London and the downtown area. And in particular a portion that reminded us a lot of NYC with big television-billboards and lots of people out and about. It was a lot of fun and really cool to see that part of London!
On our last day in London, we did the total tourist thing and went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Unfortunately it was raining, so they didn't have their usual beefeater outfits on, but it was still really cool. And the queen was home, as the English flag flying above the palace signifies.
And then, just like that, my fall break was over, and it was time to come back to Italy. Though I still had a plane, 2 trains, a bus and a taxi to look forward to to get me back 'home' to Perugia. We actually almost missed our train, so we almost ended up stuck in Rome for the night, but luckily we made it, and by 2AM Monday, I was sleeping in my own bed in Perugia. But what an amazing week it was! I got to see so many amazing things and travel to three different countries! I even got to escape the city for a little while and travel to the beautiful green countryside of England and hang out with friends I haven't seen in years. It was probably the most perfect vacation I could have ever taken. It was the most fun, and the most exciting travel experience I've ever had. And to be able to do it with 4 good girl friends, well that just made it all the better! I can't wait for my next European adventure! :)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Visions of Plaid
We got to Scotland and the first thing you notice, a HUGE temperature drop! It was really, really cold! I had bought a scarf and gloves back in London because it was a little bit chilly there, but thank goodness I had, or I probably would've been frozen in Scotland! Beyond being cold though, Edinburgh was gorgeous!!! Before we got there, people compared it to Boston, and while I would say that is accurate as far as size and activity is concerned, nothing else is quite like it! Boston is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but this place was out of this world! The architecture was tall, sharp and dark, and it was seriously breathtaking. And it was so green! Not only could you see the city portion of it, but in certain sections of the city, you could also see the gorgeous green mountains! And there was an enormous park in the middle of the city as well!
The first thing we did, was head to the castle of Edinburgh. We walked up the Royal mile past
some really amazing looking churches and one that had been renovated into a shopping center I believe. The castle is situated at one of the highest peaks in the city and even just the view on the way to it was magnificent! And once we were inside it was even cooler. We took a tour with this older Scottish gentleman as our tour guide and he was awesome! He was really passionate about the castle and the history that he was explaining to us, so that made it all the more interesting. He told us all about the castle and its uses and the royal families that used to live there. He also showed us to where the crown jewels were kept (which were also beautiful - though they wouldn't let you take pictures of them, so sorry no photos for you!) And the views from the top of the castle, were unreal! You could see all the way to the ocean and to the 
pictures totally don't do it justice. If you ever have the chance, get yourself to Edinburgh! After that we wandered back down the Royal Mile and off to one of the main streets in the city. And we passed by this awesome Scottish band performing on the sidewalk! They had bagpipes (have I mentioned that I am oddly, mildly obsessed with bagpipes?) and huge drums and they were awesome! Then we did a little bit of shopping, because the main street was lined with really awesome stores. I was actually quite surprised, because I managed to restrain myself from buying anything! which is very unlike me! 
And then the next thing we knew, it was night time! We split up for dinner and most of us regrouped for a roommate's birthday celebration. So we got to experience a little bit of the Scottish night life. It's tantamount to most other European nightlife's I've experienced, pubs are open for a certain amount of time, and they're sparsely populated, mostly with locals and then when those close, the dance clubs open (though we did not end up at one of those!) and most people dance into the wee hours of the morning. We didn't stay out too, too late because unfortunately traveling doesn't really allow for reckless abandon as to amounts of sleep you get, and we had a lot we wanted to accomplish the next day!
So it was up again in gorgeous Edinburgh and our first stop was to climb a small hill on the outskirts of the city and let me tell you, it was also unbelievable. The view from on top of this hill was astonishing. You could see the mountains again, but you could also see the entire downtown area of Edinburgh and the castle way up on the hilltop! And the air up there was so wonderful! So fresh and clean and music to the lungs! I may have done a few twirls - Sound of Music style - just to soak in the amazingness (yes I made up a word) of this hill!
Afterwards we wound our way through the giant garden in the center of town. It was both breathtaking and emotionally stirring. Each of the benches that sat along the path next to the garden each had their own adorable dedication and inscription, mostly to people who had loved the garden and have since passed on. Being the sap that I am, one actually almost made me cry. It was to a woman from her husband and she had been a musician and conductor who had performed in this park and the inscription read "If music be the fuel of love, play on sweet Fiona". Well after several inscriptions like this, I was nearly in tears. I was so moved by the generosity and love of these family members who dedicated these benches to their loved ones, it was incredibly sweet.
I had to get it together though, because at the end of the park, we were headed into the National Gallery, and we had lots of artwork to look at! There was a number of gorgeous paintings and sculptures contained here, though studying in a country known for its art, other museums and galleries sometimes fail to compare. After the museum we went in search of a place called the "Baked Potato Shop". We were told that if we were in Edinburgh, we were not to miss this place. Though, it was so small, a mere hole in the wall place, one very well might have missed it! We finally found it and it was probably the best baked potato I've ever eaten! You could get literally ANYTHING you wanted in this potato, most of us were pretty standard, cheese, veggies, sour cream were our choices. I ended up with chili and a friend got artichoke. They were so delicious! And I urge anyone who goes to find this shop, because it was amazing!
After lunch, we went off in search of the cafe that J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter
novel in. It took us some hunting, but after what was probably several hours of searching and literally walking in circles, we found it! The Elephant house is an adorable little coffee shop that proudly displays a "Home of the Harry Potter" book sign in its window. And when you sit in this little cafe, you can almost feel J.K. Rowling getting her inspiration all over again. You have an awesome view of Edinburgh Castle, that looks remarkably like Hogwarts and in the area is a Potter street and all sorts of magically named places and streets. It is no wonder her creative juices were flowing! This cafe was seriously the best possible place to write those books!
Later that night, most of the girls I was traveling with went on a haunted tour of the city, but unfortunately I don't do well with being scared, so I opted not to go, instead I stayed back and napped, because that night was game one of the world series! And we stayed with a friend so that we could watch it, at 1AM our time! So once the girls got back, it was about game time, so we sat up and ate hot dogs and chips (true American baseball style) and watched my Sox get a huge lead early on! Unfortunately, most of us fell asleep before it was over, but from what I hear I wasn't that exciting of a game anyway, with a Sox win of 13-1!
And then just like that, my time in Scotland was over! We were flying out of Glasgow, so most of the next day was an attempt to get to Glasgow and get to the airport. We got to see a bit of Glasgow, but we only spent a few hours there, so we didn't see much, and unfortunately nothing of too much note! But it was in Glasgow that we had our worst mistake of the trip! We thought we were flying out of Glasgow International, when really we were flying out of Prestwick, a 45 minute cab ride away! And so by the time we showed up at Glasgow International, there wasn't time to take a train to the other airport and we had to pay a HUGE some of money to get to the other airport! A GIANT pain in behind. Luckily we made it in time, but it was very, very stressful! Luckily there were no other glitches in the plan that night, and at 9 something, we touched back down in England to finish our last few days in London!
The first thing we did, was head to the castle of Edinburgh. We walked up the Royal mile past
some really amazing looking churches and one that had been renovated into a shopping center I believe. The castle is situated at one of the highest peaks in the city and even just the view on the way to it was magnificent! And once we were inside it was even cooler. We took a tour with this older Scottish gentleman as our tour guide and he was awesome! He was really passionate about the castle and the history that he was explaining to us, so that made it all the more interesting. He told us all about the castle and its uses and the royal families that used to live there. He also showed us to where the crown jewels were kept (which were also beautiful - though they wouldn't let you take pictures of them, so sorry no photos for you!) And the views from the top of the castle, were unreal! You could see all the way to the ocean and to the 
pictures totally don't do it justice. If you ever have the chance, get yourself to Edinburgh! After that we wandered back down the Royal Mile and off to one of the main streets in the city. And we passed by this awesome Scottish band performing on the sidewalk! They had bagpipes (have I mentioned that I am oddly, mildly obsessed with bagpipes?) and huge drums and they were awesome! Then we did a little bit of shopping, because the main street was lined with really awesome stores. I was actually quite surprised, because I managed to restrain myself from buying anything! which is very unlike me! 
And then the next thing we knew, it was night time! We split up for dinner and most of us regrouped for a roommate's birthday celebration. So we got to experience a little bit of the Scottish night life. It's tantamount to most other European nightlife's I've experienced, pubs are open for a certain amount of time, and they're sparsely populated, mostly with locals and then when those close, the dance clubs open (though we did not end up at one of those!) and most people dance into the wee hours of the morning. We didn't stay out too, too late because unfortunately traveling doesn't really allow for reckless abandon as to amounts of sleep you get, and we had a lot we wanted to accomplish the next day!So it was up again in gorgeous Edinburgh and our first stop was to climb a small hill on the outskirts of the city and let me tell you, it was also unbelievable. The view from on top of this hill was astonishing. You could see the mountains again, but you could also see the entire downtown area of Edinburgh and the castle way up on the hilltop! And the air up there was so wonderful! So fresh and clean and music to the lungs! I may have done a few twirls - Sound of Music style - just to soak in the amazingness (yes I made up a word) of this hill!
Afterwards we wound our way through the giant garden in the center of town. It was both breathtaking and emotionally stirring. Each of the benches that sat along the path next to the garden each had their own adorable dedication and inscription, mostly to people who had loved the garden and have since passed on. Being the sap that I am, one actually almost made me cry. It was to a woman from her husband and she had been a musician and conductor who had performed in this park and the inscription read "If music be the fuel of love, play on sweet Fiona". Well after several inscriptions like this, I was nearly in tears. I was so moved by the generosity and love of these family members who dedicated these benches to their loved ones, it was incredibly sweet.
I had to get it together though, because at the end of the park, we were headed into the National Gallery, and we had lots of artwork to look at! There was a number of gorgeous paintings and sculptures contained here, though studying in a country known for its art, other museums and galleries sometimes fail to compare. After the museum we went in search of a place called the "Baked Potato Shop". We were told that if we were in Edinburgh, we were not to miss this place. Though, it was so small, a mere hole in the wall place, one very well might have missed it! We finally found it and it was probably the best baked potato I've ever eaten! You could get literally ANYTHING you wanted in this potato, most of us were pretty standard, cheese, veggies, sour cream were our choices. I ended up with chili and a friend got artichoke. They were so delicious! And I urge anyone who goes to find this shop, because it was amazing!
After lunch, we went off in search of the cafe that J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter
novel in. It took us some hunting, but after what was probably several hours of searching and literally walking in circles, we found it! The Elephant house is an adorable little coffee shop that proudly displays a "Home of the Harry Potter" book sign in its window. And when you sit in this little cafe, you can almost feel J.K. Rowling getting her inspiration all over again. You have an awesome view of Edinburgh Castle, that looks remarkably like Hogwarts and in the area is a Potter street and all sorts of magically named places and streets. It is no wonder her creative juices were flowing! This cafe was seriously the best possible place to write those books!Later that night, most of the girls I was traveling with went on a haunted tour of the city, but unfortunately I don't do well with being scared, so I opted not to go, instead I stayed back and napped, because that night was game one of the world series! And we stayed with a friend so that we could watch it, at 1AM our time! So once the girls got back, it was about game time, so we sat up and ate hot dogs and chips (true American baseball style) and watched my Sox get a huge lead early on! Unfortunately, most of us fell asleep before it was over, but from what I hear I wasn't that exciting of a game anyway, with a Sox win of 13-1!
And then just like that, my time in Scotland was over! We were flying out of Glasgow, so most of the next day was an attempt to get to Glasgow and get to the airport. We got to see a bit of Glasgow, but we only spent a few hours there, so we didn't see much, and unfortunately nothing of too much note! But it was in Glasgow that we had our worst mistake of the trip! We thought we were flying out of Glasgow International, when really we were flying out of Prestwick, a 45 minute cab ride away! And so by the time we showed up at Glasgow International, there wasn't time to take a train to the other airport and we had to pay a HUGE some of money to get to the other airport! A GIANT pain in behind. Luckily we made it in time, but it was very, very stressful! Luckily there were no other glitches in the plan that night, and at 9 something, we touched back down in England to finish our last few days in London!
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