Home

Home. An interesting concept isn't it? For the past 5 weeks, I've considered Tuscania in all it's gleaming cobblestone coziness home. Maria Carla, Irene, our 6 person API group, Nenno, even that little biting ball of energy Nirinia has been my family and now while I'm home- home with my actual family, I can't help but miss them. I feel like I've literally put my life on pause in sweet old Glenview while I had a gallant adventure in the foreign lands of Italy. Pressing play again here has been a bit more difficult that I had planned. Time flows so…differently in Italy and coming back to the kajillion things I have to do here is frustrating to be honest. I find myself straying away from the constant texting and facebook usage and sometimes an inbox full of demanding emails just turns me off technology entirely. But does that mean I can just ignore what I need to do here? Of course not! I guess I just have to bring a little bit of that essence, a little bit of that cappuccino-long walks-gelato-golden sunrises-historical love  I felt in Tuscania back here. I mean, why not treat every day as an awesome day full of possibilities here as well? Why not speak to the people I pass every day in the park or go ahead and splurge on the delicious looking pastry in the bakery window? Why not take long walks and have long conversations and just THINK over a huge mug of tea?

We were all pretty quiet on the way back home - a mixture of having to get up early and just plain old being contemplative.  I kept thinking how crazy it was that we were leaving this place and that we had come up to this point without any crazy problems or complications…that we had been blessed with the best trip I could have ever imagined. I don't know what started it, but Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" song came on in my head and I don't know if I was just hormonal or what but I got super emotional - a tear hear or there. I had to face it - this was SAD! Sad leaving these connections and these experiences and all the things we hadn't seen or done yet…and leaving each other! I still can't believe how incredibly close our little group became and how much our personalities matched and worked with each other.

As Kelly Clarkson said, "some people wait a life time for a moment like this" and yes it's absolutely true! I kept thinking about how my parents had told me that this was an opportunity they never had. I thought about the things I had seen and done and experienced and thought about all the people at home that would have LOVED this and I just felt so grateful. I couldn't have asked for anything more than this experience…I was looking back at the list of stuff I would love to do in Italy that I made on the first few days of the journey and I couldn't believe it - every single thing on that list had been accomplished! I've learned how to make the best use of the time I have - weather that's one day to do something or a whole 5 weeks. I've learned that it's perfectly ok to live with a family and not know the language going in haha. I've gotten over the apprehension of traveling internationally by myself while planning, organizing, and experiencing different modes of travel across the country. I've learned how to open my heart to people I've never met and how valuable it is to live completely in the moment. I've learned that when live gives you a chance to grab it, embrace it, and live it up to the max.  When I think about it, bringing Tuscania home with me isn't as bad as I think. I mean, I need to live in the moment more, focus on the now. I need to sleep and take time to eat meals instead of running on no zzz fuel and rushing through breaks. When I think about it, Tuscania's really no farther away than a flip of the mind switch…nothing more than a change of perspective.

You know, starting off on this trip, I had day dreamed of what Italy would be like. Having seen Under the Tuscan sun and Letters to Juliet right before leaving from home, I had this fantastical idea of gorgeous blooming fields of sunflowers smiling brightly at us in all their golden Tuscan glory…imagine how crushed I felt when I found out early in the trip that sunflowers in Italy were more of a mid-July/August thing! Taking it in stride however, I decided to accept the fact that my Italian journey would be sunflowerless.

Yet (and I don't know what I did to deserve this luck!) on our ride back to Rome's FCO airport, what did we pass by, but a beautiful field of blooming Tuscan sunflowers! Like little kids, we pressed our faces and palms against the sides of the travel van and despite the fact that we had seen some of the world's most gorgeous sights elsewhere in Italy, I don't think our silly beaming grins could compare to this moment right here, right now.

Now, off to find another adventure! Make every day count - you're never gonna have another one like it!

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." - Helen Keller

You better believe it. 

Farewell Tuscania!

June 25, 2010

I cannot believe this! Not for a second…I mean, actually leaving Italy…tomorrow? These past 5 weeks have been the longest and the shortest 5 weeks of my life! Looking back at those 4 days in Rome…goodness, I can't believe how much we packed into those few days and yet it still feels like that was just last week when in reality, it definitely wasn't! I wanted to just soak in the sights and sounds and tastes and smells and feels of Tuscania today. There was a bit of last minute stuff to do that made this frustrating though…like, packing (and stuffing!) everything back into my suitcases alongside  bags of colorful pasta and delicate showcase souvenirs from Rome and whimsical tea pots…and then going in search of a scale so that the bags wouldn't be overweight (I don't plan on paying that extra 50 euro thank you very much! Haha). I wanted to do a thank you thing for MC and Andrina and Irene as well as see the market one last time so on this ridiculously hot day, I went out on one of my last morning adventures (sad!) and headed out to the open air market. I was pondering what I could possibly get my host mom when I saw the huge corner store of flowers! I decided to get her a beautiful potted plant of pink flowers (MC's favorite) over a banquet because I knew that she wanted to add more to her garden. I got Andrina (today's birthday girl) as well as Irene a smaller version of the flower plant too. Walking around the market was very cool but interesting at the same time…I was thinking of how different purchasing things will be back in the USA after all this. I was able to say goodbye to the beekeeper honey man I had talked to a few weeks back as well as some other friends I had made along the way. I stopped at the school to confirm my plane ticket home and to print out some pictures of my family and boyfriend since Maria Carla had really wanted to see pictures of them. I tucked those in with a homemade card and went back to the house with Emily to see if we could somehow surprise MC with this huge potted plant I had gotten her. Luckily, she was on the phone when I got home and Emily and I had planned to put it on the kitchen table but right then, Maria Carla walked out of the kitchen, half preoccupied with her phone call and Emily whispered frantically, "Christine! Run upstairs!" and I did, half laughing along the way. Emily met me upstairs and we decided to place the whole surprise on MC's perfectly made bed and after a quick (hopefully, unsuspicious) goodbye, we made our escape!

The group had decided to meet up for lunch so I bought my very last suppli (delicious rice balls that we had in Rome for the first time) and shared some pasta with Emily in the breathtaking park. The owners of La Dolce Vita had really wanted us to stop by their cute little café at 2:30 and since it was already 2pm, Emily and I stopped by quickly at Andrina's so we could say good bye and happy birthday. The minute she saw us, she ushered us in to her home and giggling and speaking rapidly in Italian, sat us down for an apple crostata and chammomile tea. (yup, we were definitely getting deliciously stuffed at this point!) it was really sad saying goodbye and I hated how rushed we were (we had to leave just a bare 20 minutes after stopping in) but we did it and rushed over again to La Dolce Vita (ahh! All this uncharacteristic Italian rushing!)

But what a surprise! What an amazingly sweet gesture! The wonderful owners of the café sat us down and brought out this GORGEOUS cake for us and told us how much they appreciated us stopping in every day and buying a treat and a cappuchino from them! It was sooo sweet! Like, omg - how wonderful! The cake was fantastic…vanilla with a vanilla cream and a cascade of fresh fruits on top! The mom and dad and daughter Valentina kept telling us how they wanted us to come back to Tuscania and to stay with them when we did! I admit, I started tearing up…I mean, they were just so…kind!

At 3:30, we left with Irene on our very last excursion of the trip - the annual Medieval Fair at Viterbo. Off on the bus we went! We all had some left over euros to use up still so we stopped for some yogurt at the delicious Baby Yogurt. The fair itself was soo cool! Yes, I feel dorky saying this, but I felt kinda right at home…all the Robin Hood inspired stuff and the fairy material and the satchels and bangles and the flowers and the whimsical-ness of it all! Mmm! I needed to spend the last of my money (what am I to do with euros in the USA?) and went of in search of the perfect accessory or something to buy. It's a very interesting problem to have, this money spending business…I mean, yes it's nice to have money to spend but to do it almost unnecessarily? Mmm, not so much haha. In any case, with Josh and Emily's help, I settled for a hand made leather ring in the shape of a rose that kinda screamed "Christine!" and a really pretty hot pink bangle. Perfect.

Dinner was amazing as usual (my goodness, I've been blessed!). It was really nice to try something new - I had this wonderful pasta with a ricotta and pear filling that I'm itching to cook at the moment as well as a filling vegetarian antipasta dish and the most yummy bon-bon type white chocolate concoction for dessert. Yum!  After dinner, we stayed for a bit to see the medieval clad performers do some shows about trickery and fire and the like -- very cool indeed! 

The ride home was a bit of a sad and sleepy one, although the moon decided to give us a glorious gift - I don't think I've seen quite as big or bright of a moon here in italy and yet there it was! We got back in time to say good bye to Falleroni's. they offered us gelato of course even at 11pm but we were so stuffed we had to decline! Kisses on the cheeks ensued and many many hugs after with a promise to keep in touch…I sure am going to miss them! Sleep was definitely on the radar considering our early transit to Rome the next morning but before we laid our heads down to sleep, we decided to stop at Emily and Gabrielle's place to try the Fragolina - a strawberry wine that we first heard about in Rome (another instance of everything coming full circle). Then, with that sweet strawberry goodness to finish off the night, we said Buono Notte to Tuscania for the last time.

Last Day of School!

Thursday June 24, 2010

The Italian final went fine but it was super difficult to say goodbye to Mario.  However, he's trying to "escape Italy" as he says, so he requested some recommendation letters - I'm definitely going to write him one! The rest of the morning, we ran around trying to do last minute souvenier shopping. We went to the pastacceria Jim told us about - um omg! The best cannoli I have ever tried! The baker was trained in Naples on how to bake these babies…yeah, definitely fresh! I also got a brownie chocolate looking delicious thing to share with MC later. That was SO good - like the best fudgy brownie thing I've ever had! Since it was super hot outside, I decided to spend the afternoon chilling inside the school, catching up on emails and updates. I was getting kinda hungry around 2 ore so and as I headed out for a quick snack at Café del Duomo, I met up with Josh and we decided to go together to get a drink. Josh was so sweet and paid for me…at 2:26pm, I tried a Sex on the Beach for the first time ever!

Dinner that night was really fun too - MC and her neighbors wanted to have an outdoor picnic so I invited Gabrielle and Emily upon Maria Carla's insistance and we had ridiculously delicious pizza! I tried 2 new kinds - a tuna fish one and a spinach parsley and shrimp one…awesome! For dessert MC made a fantastic ricotta pie/torta and the others chipped in for gelato. When it came over to us Americans, the neighbors were baffled when we asked for a slice of pie WITH ice cream - they looked at us like we were crazy but it was SO good! I took a picture with Maria Carla which was sweet but very bittersweet at the same time. It just hit me…I only have one more day with her!

In Search of the Tuscan Sun

June 21, 2010

What a night and day! It was crazy trying to pull that presentation and paper together at the last second like that! It feels so good to be done with it though! It feels weird now to have started our very last week here. This week is like "do everything you want to do" week. So we all got frozen yogurts and granitas and gelato and things like that. I made sure to pick up a jar of Nutella (the white chocolate and normal kind) for my family. Tuesday was cool - I've been able to keep up with my daily walks up to St. Peter's Church for the most part so that's been cool.  Emily and I had dinner at Andrina's since she invited Maria Carla and me over.  Gab and Tessa were going to a restaurant for dinner and since Emily didn't  feel in the ristorante mood and since she doesn't have a host family to go home to, Andrina was totally cool to have her over too!  "Tanto carina!" They kept calling us :) Andrina made a delicious soup of carrots, potatoes and squash as well as a chicken dish for the 3 of them and a fish dish for me (so considerate!) For dessert, we had a huge chunk of watermelon as well as chocolate that Emily and I couldn't stop snagging in the after dinner talk and chill reposso. Emily and I walked around Tuscania and talked for a while after dinner which was really nice. By the time I got back home, it was pretty late and I found that Maria Carla had stayed up for me - or tried to anyway…she fell asleep in front of the TV with Nirinia at her feet. I quickly got her to bed before curling up in bed myself. I totally forgot that we had planned to get up at dawn the next day!

For her photography class, Tessa was doing a project on people working and she was invited to come back up to the olive oil farm on their very first harvest day of the season. Emily, Gabrielle, and I wanted to see this too so we agreed to meet at the school at 5am. I woke up at 4:30 but my room was freezing so I kinda just curled up tighter in the fetal position and convinced myself that I'd get out of bed in 5 minutes. Haha!

I didn't walk up until 5:05! Oh snap! I pretty much just changed out of my pajamas, grabbed a water bottle and my bag and literally ran out of the house. I told the group not to wait for me if I was late so I skipped checking the school (it was already 5:15) and picked out a bunch of shortcuts. The entire time, I was thinking "oh my gosh - how fun! Here I ma off running through Tuscania's cobblestone streets at 5 in the morning!

The olive garden was actually across the country side and it felt so cool to be running after the sunrise! I actually made it to the farm in great timing. (thank goodness I was blessed with a sense of direction!) I mean, taking some other fork in the road would have totally put me an hour or 2 behind! The farm was SO pretty! I loved how the sun kind of painted the green leafy salad patches and plants with shimmers of gold, pink, and orange. I loved spending this morning - this very early morning - with friends and just being so in touch with nature and the earth. It just made everything better. Jim, the main farmer told us about this amazing cannoli place back in Tuscania that we should check out for breakfast. So, we promised him we'd see him back at his store in town and went on our way.

Our final in ancient Mediterranean civilizations was later that day so it was good to come back home, get cleaned up, and have a nice breakfast and tea as I studied. That study session soon became an accidental nap session but eh, va bene! For the amount of studying I did, I think the final went well, saying goodbye to our entertaining professor Carlo was a bit more difficult. I couldn't help but think that this would be the first of many difficult farewells. I've been starting to feel that my entire trip is coming full circle. Just with little things like hearing a song I heard on the radio before I left for Italy to finally sitting down and talking to the group of grandmas I always say Buona Sera to daily to making more gelato with Nenno. Dinner tonight was compliments of the Lorenzo d'Medici staff at this super high class restaurant named Palazzo Rannuchhi. The risotto ravioli and eggplant were all fantastic! The dessert I think was my favorite though - this wonderful, artistically done peach torte. The flavors were like little explosions of flavor in my mouth and let everything just melt and mingle better than VIPs at a red carpet party or something! Afterwards, the group wanted to go out for gelato and it was so sweet - Nenno told everyone about the new flavors I had made (Torrone: white chocolate, honey, almond, and biscotti, as well as several local regular favorites) and he actually let me SERVE the gelato to people! It was such a cool experience! See what I mean about coming full circle? 

San Gimiano

Sunday June 20

Good morning! My day started with a great experimentation of all the drinks I could made with the little cappuccino machine at our Hotel breakfast area. I've discovered that by combining the hot chocolate with the wonderful cappuccino, I can create a rich cup of mmmm combined with a  cap of delightful foam. Pure happiness.

At 10:30am, we went to see David as a group. Yup - THE DAVID - Michelangelo's best - in all it's glory. Oh goodness - David is certainly magnificent…standing at 17 feet and carved out of marble. Standing there reminded me about something a sculptor once told me: "an artist isn't trying to carve a person into the stone…she's just trying to uncover the person trapped inside it." I love that! It isn't a matter of forcing the magic to happen - it's all about taking the time to let the magic happen to you. David's story was really cool - I just couldn't help but thinking, once David was the little runt set up to fight the massive goliath - and now here's David all massive - his size now shows the grandeur of his heart back then. Even the slightest person can make a difference.

It started pouring after we saw David. Running through Florence under a torrent was neat! Never letting a bit of rain stop us, we huddled beneath our umbrellas and continued to shop -I eyed the leather bags enviously - omg I wanted one but I didn't have enough money so I settled on the fact that I'll just have to have a huge shopping spree the next time I'm in Florence!

At 5pm, Gabrielle and I went to an English mass at the Duomo of Florence. It was beautiful! There's definitely something about the light streaming through the pretty stained glass windows that add to the glory of the church. We had an hour to spend before dinner at 7 so Gab and I went across the city to this super cool Perfumeria/Apothecary -- these monks hand make the soaps, teas, perfumes, liquors…

We thought we were going to this little shop or something - oh no - this place was beautiful! It was in this really gorgeous old building complete with sculptures and old school furniture from the 1700s or something! I felt so posh and boutique-y just stepping in! Gab and I giggled like little school girls through all the different rooms, spritzing on different perfumes and taking deep wiffs of the purest lavender, vanilla, and sandalwood I have ever experienced. My favorite was called the Angels of Florence…it was simply…heavenly! The perfect blend of fruity, floral, and sweet vanilla. I wanted to bring home a bottle for my mom but since it cost 80 euro that I only wished I had, I settled on going back later. We left the Perfumery reluctantly and was pleasantly surprised when we still smelled delicious even after being out in the city air. We raced ominous looking storm clouds back to the Hotel so we could meet the rest of our group for dinner.

Dinner involved us actually cooking!  We went to a cooking lesson in the heart of Florence and proceeded to make a 3 course meal! One of my favorite parts of this trip has been people watching. Seeing our cooking instructor cut zucchini, mix pasta, and whip up eggs was awesome - I've loved seeing people in their element here - whether that's our cooking teacher, or painters, or the British musician from yesterday or ever our very own Tessa. I've loved seeing her grow more and more into a photographer. Just the way she walks and considers her subjects is like the essence of photography - she makes taking a simple picture an art and like all other people in their element, it's simply beautiful. We learned how to make Tiramisu first since that had to be chilled. We whipped up egg whites with sugar and mixed the mascarpone cheese with sugar and egg yolks then folded the big beautiful mess together. We dipped lady fingers in espresso and layered the whole deal together. A sprinkle of cocoa powder on top and voila = Tiramisu! The first course consisted of a delicious egg plant sandwich which was eggplant and a to-die-for filling made with potatoes, zucchini, and a blend of spices. We layered the filling with slices of cheese and sprinkled the top of the mini sandwich with a parmesan cheese and top quality olive oil. Into the oven it goes! Our main course was gnocchi in a pomodoro ragu sauce. I never thought I'd actually get to make the gnocchi but we did it! Massed up potatoes, flour, seminola flour, and some cornstarch went together to make the dough of which we individually formed the pieces. The sauce was super easy -made with tomatoes and olvie oil and a bit of garlic and basil. Presentation is everythign of course so we made sure to garnish our plates with parsley. What an experience! It reminded me of cooking with my mom and I loved it! Everything was fantastic!

Afterwards, Tessa and I had been talking about how much we've always wanted to go to a European discoteca and we decided that tonight was the night (especially since this was our very last opportunity and our last Saturday to do so!) We got some recommendations, got lost finding the club, but finally made it - all five of us, to this place called Twice. The entrance was free and it wasn't mandatory to purchase drinks in order to dance - right up our alley! The music was good and I think we were all just high off the fact that we had actually made it there that we had a great time! Definitely one of the major highlights of this trip!

Sunday brought an entirely different adventure - on the way home to Tuscania, we stopped at the super cute medieval Tuscan town of San Gimiano. It was even more ancient looking than Tuscania (complete with it's own Renaissance Fair) but still hip-hopping with stores boasting leather goods from Florence. Gelata was very excited…she found the gelateria that had won best gelato of the year 3 years in a row! She shared a cone of white chocolate vanilla, praline, and lavender flavors with wonderful Emily - ahh so good! Right outside of San Gimiano was the grand hillside vineyard that belonged to the winery where we were doing a wine tasting. The wine tasting included lunch (best ribollieta and lasagna I have EVER tasted in my life) as well as 1 white wine, 5 different red wines, and a dessert wine. I liked the dessert wine the best, naturally! We spent some more time at the vineyard with its crazy owner before heading home.

 I felt really bad missing Carlotta's baptism this past weekend but Maria Carla promised to show me pictures as soon as Frederica develops them!  We walked around Lake Bolsena about 5 minutes after I got home since MC had already planned to do that with her friend, Flora. Flora is actually American but she's been here for like 40 years. It was very interesting talking to her. I mean, MC kept telling me how great she is but I found her to be a bit of a lost soul. In the little was able to talk to her, I picked up that she seemed to have once been very optimistic but the hard reality of a difficult divorce and feeling like she doesn't belong anywhere changed her. She had this biting sense of realism that kind of attacked my happy go lucky romanticism just a bit. In any case, it was cool learning from her. Finally stepping back into the house again brought home reality in another much less appealing way - I had an 8 page term paper on Spartan women to write for the morning. After explaining this to  Maria Carla, she made me two espressos which I downed (bad idea = tummy problems for the rest of the night!) and proceeded to pull my first and only all nighter of the trip. Golly gee!

Firenze

June 18, 2010

Holy smokes! Florence is a very magical city. On a level of business versus calmness, I'd say it's a little less hectic than Rome but a little more crazy than Sorrento - gorgeous nonetheless! The entire weekend was rainy which was absolutely fine - I'm glad I brought along my bright yellow umbrella! The rain and mist placed this really cool silvery sheen on the city that only added to its splendor. Puddles on the gray black of cobblestone definitely reminded me of the fact that I was actually in Italy! The streets were very European - lined with trendy stores and cafes. The hotels and buildings towered up to the skies as excited people clamored about at its feet, dressed in leather and the fashion forwardness that is Florence.  Riding along in the bus, we pass by huge groups of jostling, ogling tourists getting their taste of the Duomo and some museums before hurrying forward to pose for a shot in front of a fake David.  Small booths line the vias, calling out "ciao bella" almost as much as the illegal street vendors do. I've learned to be very careful of these fraudulent Fendi swearing swindlers! You only have to just look at their hastily prepared displays for them to jump on you as a target like a lion jumps on its prey. After learning about the history of Firenze on our tour of the Duomo and some museums, we happened to be exploring on our own a little bit when one of the little buggers decided to seize his opportunity. I just happened to look at a pretty but fake printout of a famous painting that was displayed on the street. The vendor hopped over the paintings and asked me my name and how I was doing and that the painting was only 20 euro but 15 for me. I wasn't even able to finish smiling before his partner jumped to his side, took the painting, rolled it up, and rubber-banded it. Man! I said no and he kept hassling me until the carabinieri came by on patrol. I seized the opportunity and ran away!

Other than little instances like that, Florence is a very cool city. It's beautiful at night with all the lights and the energy. The shops are very cool and I've discovered how fun it is to find all the little deals - cute local gelato places with flavors like casata siciliana and gusto di Grom for 2 euro instead of walking away with a 6 euro waffle cone! There are a lot of very cute baby stores too filled glowing and glittering things - a kiss to the senses! We spent the afternoon and evening exploring the pretty historic streets of Florence. Gabrielle's Rick Steve's book has come in handy so many times on our travels and Florence was no exception! We found this cute recommended place called Casalinga -  affordable, tasty, and sit-down too! I wanted something different than the normal delicious pasta so I opted for the Ribolietta - a Tuscan specialty dish made with bread and lots of vegetables - kinda like a crock pot stew - phenomneal! It was Emiliy's birthday too! I was hoping the restaurant would offer a free treat for the birthday girl but no such luck haha. We ended up walking around that night - checking out shops and looking for things to do.

It's absolutely wonderful - this feeling of being able to really spend time doing something - time - this little fairy that's like eating chocolate or something - wonderful to experience during but before you know it, it's gone, leaving only a trace of how good it was! We had passed by some awesome looking waffles with a scoop of gelato and Tessa wanted some we se went out on a search…and discovered a really cute place! We landed on the most wonderful surprise after that - a really cool guitar player was singing and putting on a show right in the middle of the square! The music was great so we stopped to listen. It was really cool to see that he was from London and just out on a quest to support himself and promote his work. It made me realize how free life can be - I mean, here he is living on his own and working on what he loves - it makes me wonder…why not? Like what makes us live such restricted lives? Who tells us that there's a certain recipe we must follow? Who's the mathematician that made the universal equation I'm supposed to equate my life with? I'd like to meet him! This trip has given me so many ideas and quite a few realizations…there's no one set way to live! I was always brought up with the idea that the most successful way to live..to be…in fact is to go to school, get a degree, get married, settled down….and work work work! But what if there's something more? Who says we can't live this grand adventure anyway? Follow the path less traveled, stray for a bit! I have LOVED getting lost in Italy - I've loved setting  out each day without a map - with no direction and just letting what happens happens! I have met the most incredible people, been involved in these wonderfully unplanned intimate moments that have brought me so much meaning and happiness (sorry for the melodramatics - I'm sitting on the plane listening to the epic greatness of Danny Elfman's music for the Alice in Wonderland movie). Anyway, Irene (our API director) has a job to meet with ambitious students from all over the USA and to travel with them - she has seen so much from all of these viagos and is ridiculously knowledgeable. She gets to have fun and is doing a JOB! She's successful! Perche no? Why not?

Listening to the music on those cobblestone streets made me miss home. I was quite nicely surprised to see a cascade of stars in the purplish sky overhead and I couldn't help but think….only one week left!