Cinque Terre, Lake Como and Milan

This weekend we all went on a trip that Dr. Baker had been planning since the spring semester, at least with the minor details. We took a train out to La Spezia, on the coast somewhat near Genova, to stay for two nights and use as a jumping off point for hiking the Cinque Terre.  The Cinque Terre are a series of five villages that cling to the coast and are inaccessible by cars. The easiest way to get from the cities are by train or by boat, but of course the draw that brings so many tourists in is that the villages are all within a few kilometers of each other and really scenic hikes. That makes it really inconvenient to live there, I imagine, but it is stunning. We took a train to the “last” of the fifth towns, Monterosso, which by most people’s accounts is the toughest part of the hike. Due to a train strike, rumors had been flying around every which way, but the consensus was that there would only be a few trains that would be running between 9 AM and 9 PM country wide. To be safe, we got on the 7:55 train to Monterosso and planned on catching the 6:35 train back from Riomaggiore to La Spezia, which was supposed to still run despite the strike. This gave us 9 hours to hike what generally is considered a 5 hour trail, building in some much needed wiggle room for stopping to see the towns, grabbing some food, snapping pictures of everything and walking at our own pace. There was certainly no lack of picturesque views along the trails, with each new turn or clearing bringing yet another spectacular shot of the waves crashing into the rocks, houses and villages built on the most unaffectionate of landscapes, and the rich, blue sea stretching out to meet the horizon.

We stopped for lunch in Corniglia, where we found a little place to eat and rest for a while. I had lasagna, but Gnocchi and full pizzas were popular options with the others. Once we had been sitting for a while and Dr. Baker finally caught up with us to eat as well, we ended up just sitting and talking for a while, figuring that we had plenty of time and with a few people needing some time to recover or even power nap at the table. Finally content, we began to game plan for our hike to the next town. We talked to some people heading into the town and confirmed the rumor that we had been hearing during the morning – due to a landslide on the trail to the next town that morning, it was unwalkable. Kelly had a brilliant idea to take a ferry instead, which everyone seemed content with – it would be a nice change of pace and not ruin the serenity of the experience. But, of course, with a little exploration we discovered that the ferries weren’t running that day due to rough waters. A little groan and a realization that we actually hadn’t seen any ferries on the water later, Dr. Baker asked at a local Tabaccahio and learned that the only way to the next town was, in broken English, “by train or by foot.” Down the typical trail due to landslide and down the train option due to the strike, we had no other option than to take the trail that we had spoken to the other hikers about: Trail 6D, which went much higher up the cliffs and was both “brutal” and “about a two and a half hour hike.” Fantastic. We begrudgingly set off on the trail, which some struggled with but I actually found to be completely invigorating. It was certainly a challenge – a steep initial climb littered with awkwardly spaced steps, a dirt trail with rock face to the left and just some brush preventing a deathly plummet to the right, narrow staircases only wide enough for one foot at a time, sharp rocks unevenly placed that had to be balanced on, and literally holes in the trail that forced us to step over the cliff to continue on our path. As tough as it was, it brought people together. My overprotective side kicked in as I tried to make sure those who wanted to continue on kept together or trying to stick with the back of the pack to prevent anyone from getting left alone, even if that meant us just going at their pace. I was so wrapped up in trying to calm others and keep them going, that I really didn’t even think about the effort I was putting into it. Once we eventually made it to the top, it made it all worth it. The trail went directly through a vineyard, with thousands of green grapes hanging just off the path, growing on the cliffs as far as the eye could see. I may or may not have snagged some – ok, let’s be real, I did. They tasted like grapes, though a little sour. That was no problem with me, as I personally love sour grapes. The strange thing was that they in no way felt like grapes, either in my hand or my mouth. They were tough, almost like a nut, to hold, and once I bit down they were crispy and so unlike any grape I’ve ever eaten before. Needless to say, the views here were astounding as well, but that was no different than the rest of the trails – maybe it was a bit more spectacular, or maybe we just appreciated it more because of all it took to obtain that view, who knows. The descent down was literally twenty minutes of stairs leading to a road meant for cars that went up to the entrance of the town. Just going down was tough, it is no wonder the trail got so many rave reviews from others who were forced to walk up them in order to meet us.

Hey, if you don't want your grapes eaten, don't plant them next to a trail.

Once in the town, we got some gelato and sat by a little lagoon-esque area to wait and meet up with everyone. There were some sunbathers with no shame and some kids working up the courage to jump off the rocks, and eventually Kevin, Jon and Katie went down to show them how it was done. Learning that Allie had had a scare with her asthma and actually found a train back to La Spezia with Laura and Ryan, and seeing an exasperated but beaming Dr. Baker after having defeated 6D as well, we headed off to the final town of Riomaggiore. It honestly resembled more of a boardwalk than a trail based on what we had been doing all day – no shops, but metal walkways and railings some of the way, followed by Via dell’Amore, where many people have signed the walls with them and their significant others or attached locks as a sign of love. I guess it is kind of a more touristy way to welcome everyone who walks the trails the standard way, but it was honestly kind of a letdown. After the initial steep climb from Monterosso and our adventure to come as far as we did, it ended with an easy stroll along manmade structures until we arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare. Once back on the train, the rest of the night was not all too eventful. In order to avoid trying to find some place that could accommodate all of us, we split up for dinner. Some people went to get sushi, but I ended up going to a little restaurant with some others that had three full pages of different pizza styles. Intrigued, I went with the “del Demonio” pizza – I was expecting something much hotter, but it was good regardless. While waiting for everyone to reconvene, some of the girls did some shopping and then we all met up at this cool bar off the main square. They played metal music, had stone walls and lit the entire place by candlelight, including a candle at the bar that had been melting down and reshaped seemingly hundreds of times. I wanted to expand my country list and try a Czech Republic beer, but they were out of stock so I settled for some Hofbräuhaus beer – always a solid decision. Knowing we had to be early to catch a train to Milan in the morning, we called it a night.

The next day was filled with travelling. As per Dr. Baker’s suggestion, we planned to go up to Lake Como and ride the ferry to the town of Bellagio, which sits in the center of the Y shaped lake. We got on a train in La Spezia and headed to, as I’m sure my architecture friends will be delighted to read, Genova to switch trains and finally board a train for Milano Centrale. I feel like train stations make a big statement about your city. In the past when the Catholic Church was at the height of its power, the cathedrals held this position. To a certain extent, town squares and fountains make this statement as well – but in the modern era, I feel like the train station is the most prominent figure in this regard. For some places, I’m sure just having a stop on the main drag is incredibly helpful. There are some places I literally only know because I see trains going there as their final destination, have had to change trains there, or just notice it as we whiz by. For the main cities, though, and even the up and coming ones like Perugia or Assisi, a nice train station sets a great example for travelers as they go by. An interesting station might draw someone in to come back and visit one day or remember a place they normally wouldn’t. The reason I go on this tangent is because of how amazed I was by the Milan station. Milano Centrale was unlike any train station I’ve been in before. Whereas Firenze Santa Maria Novella and Roma Termini are so modern looking, Milano Centrale used overhead archways and wide open spaces to give off a very open and spacious feel. The entrance is decorated with huge statues of soldiers and their horses, and it is a very classic look to a much more modern city than anything I have seen in Italy so far.

After a short break to drop our stuff off at the hotel, we all made our way back to the train station to catch the Metro to the Garibaldi train station, where we would then take a train up to Como, from which we could get on a ferry to Bellagio…yikes! Way too much traveling for one day. It was definitely worth it though – we had some good bonding time on the train up to Como, walked around for a little and then got our tickets for the ferry. Just our luck, it started to rain, but then it cleared up, and we thought we might be in the clear…not a chance. Not long into the ride it started raining harder than I have ever seen it in Italy (which to be honest was not a common occurrence), forcing everyone off their desired deck seats as we crammed ourselves indoors. I have to admit it was fun to see the fog rolling in through the mountains – the Alps bee tee dubs – and eventually the sun came out again so it was all good. We took way too many pictures, but again we were treated to beautiful views. The whole ferry ride I just could not stop thinking about how much I wanted to visit Germany or Switzerland to take in beauty like this as a normal occurrence, not to mention to know the language and test my skills with it. Lake Como is a very posh area where George Clooney used to have a house and one of the James Bond movies was filmed. Again, many of the houses are perched right up against the water as the mountains rise behind them, the lake resting in between. Once we got to the town of Bellagio, we had some time to walk around and eat dinner before catching the last ferry back. Ryan, Allie, Jessica, and I found a little snack bar to hold us over, went out walking a bit and finally decided to head back to the same bar for a real dinner went we didn’t see any other appealing option. We got the same table, same seats, and cracked a few jokes with the staff about how we couldn’t stay away. Afterwards we did some (mostly window) shopping and decided to head back down to the water. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable night after a long day of train rides. I wanted to go out and explore Milan a little at night, but the rain had moved into town and quickly derailed that plan.

Lake Como from Bellagio

In the morning a chunk of us headed to San Siro with Dr. Baker, the stadium where AC and Inter Milan play. To be honest and completely nerdy, I instantly recognized the stadium as Italy’s “official” stadium from one of the first computer games I used to play, FIFA 98. It would have been unreal to take in a match, but unfortunately Series A is not in season during July. Still, we saw the museum and took a tour of the stadium, and it was honestly one of the highlights of my trip. I was just a kid in a candy store looking at all the trophies, jerseys, and artifacts, then getting to walk around the stadium and see the locker rooms, and sit in Kaka’s seat. No. Big. Deal. The whole time I was comparing it to my experiences of being behind the scenes at Giants Stadium, but San Siro just had so much more of an impressive feel to it than I ever got out of the Meadowlands. Not that my experiences at the Meadowlands were bad, there was just so much history, rivalry, talent, energy, and excitement that was in or has been in this stadium that a football stadium of a team I hate that happens to have an MLS team play in it for ten years or so has never given me.

The only downside to all of the exciting weekend adventures was that after the tour I really only had about five hours or so in Milan before my train left. Although the area we stayed in was the “center” and very close to the train station – a huge plus – for the most part it was relatively dead. There were a lot of interesting, modern skyscraper-esque buildings around, and of course the train station was always busy, but down the streets there really weren’t many people milling about. It was an eerie feeling. The fusion between classic buildings and modern capitalist based towers filled with offices was something that I had been missing in Italy so far and really looking forward to seeing. Just pile on another reason to why I really need to go to Germany. I had heard that Milan is similar to New York before coming, and my initial impression first walking down the street from the train station was that, yes it was very similar. Then I noticed the complete lack of people in comparison to the absolute craziness you see when you try to go anywhere in New York, and that feeling kind of faded. I don’t doubt that Milan is the closest thing Italy has to New York, and there were certainly similarities I picked up on, so maybe it is not a bad comparison once you keep it in perspective. Once we got on the Metro and went out a few stops (Milan is arranged in a series of circles), things really picked up to the lifestyle I was expecting. There were high end fashion stores, a gigantic cathedral right outside the metro, statues and monuments everywhere you looked. The pace of life here was much faster paced, right down my alley. It was such a strange concept that things could be so quiet in the true “city center” where the station was, when just a short distance away this non-stop lifestyle was raging on. The train ride rolled around far too soon. With most of the others deciding to go see Jack Johnson who was playing outside Milan, it was only Dr. Baker, Jeff, and I on the train back Sunday night. It was a long ride, but it gave me plenty of time to organize my thoughts, daydream, figure out what the hell I was doing, and make some tough internal calls. I do not regret the events of the weekend at all – the Cinque Terre and Lake Como were both unbelievable experiences. However, the next time I’m in Italy, I will make sure that Milan plays a much more featured role in my travel plans.

P.S. I apologize for the delay on posting – I have pretty much been going non-stop since Monday and though I wrote a little at a time, I couldn’t get it all together until now.

Random Musings O’ the Week

Sunday night after getting back from Sorrento, we all headed over to our local spot Elfo’s Pub to watch the Women’s World Cup Final. Due to the general Italian culture, combined with the fact that the staff had been working at the bar literally from 8 in the morning Saturday until close because of events at the Jazz Fest, they didn’t open until around 9:30 or 10, after the second half had already begun. We were also all heartbroken to learn that this would be their final month in business for a month, whether that is just the way things work in Perugia after such a large event or just some that the staff of 3 needed some vacation time after going so hard. It is a total bummer because I really liked the staff there as well as their selection of beers on draught. They had a lot of beers that I have yet to see anywhere else – lots from Germany and Belgium, which of course I was glad to try. Their wait staff is always helpful with my limited Italian knowledge, it was a great atmosphere that routinely showed ESPN America and played American rock music. As far as the game went, we seemingly didn’t miss anything important in the first half. We scored first which put us in a great mood, but we quickly blew it and put us all in a sour mood. Obviously objectively speaking, we outplayed Japan but terrible defending and horrible penalty kick attempts did us in. Quite the disappointing way to close down our time at Elfo’s, but we made sure to thank the owner for his hospitality and he made us promise to come back whenever we are next in Perugia – which I will totally do.

Because of a guest speaker, Tuesday class got pushed back to 3:00, so naturally Monday night was a great night to break out the Olympic Games again. The competition made it a lot of fun – it got a nice, friendly rivalry going and surrounded the night with a lot of excitement. Things didn’t get too crazy, we just had a few events to keep the games going after they had dropped off from the first week. Do to league restructuring and realignment, now Team Butter Noods took the aggregate lead 4-3 by the end of the night. In class the next day, we had someone come in to talk to us about business practices in Italy. Some of the things he mentioned were pretty useful and interesting to learn, but I disagreed with a lot of what he had to say – he overly generalized in my opinion; granted you kind of have to when you are talking about international marketing, but for him everything was black and white. It seemed like Dr. Baker was not totally in agreement either, based on the comments he was making – the speaker was someone brought in by the Institute, not through the professors, so I’m not sure if that was the type of presentation they were expecting.

Tuesday night we were able to – with questionable legality – finally see the final installment of Harry Potter e il Doni della Morte Parte Due. Ian, an American who works at the Institute, downloaded a version that had Russian subtitles but still had the original English dialogue. Despite our efforts to see it legitimately, we could not find anywhere in Perugia that was either showing it in English or with English subtitles, so at least we started with good intentions. A few of us fans along with Ian and the professors stuck around at school to watch it. I had a few issues with the way it was portrayed, but for the most part it followed the book pretty well – but after the raping of Goblet of Fire, I really have not come to expect much in terms of accuracy, as long as the visuals are done well. Afterwards it was a pretty quiet night – we nerdily walked around discussing the movie, got some gelato, and headed to the city wall where we saw some guys messing around on a parking sign and holding themselves parallel to the ground…a pretty impressive feat considering their questionable sobriety. When it started to rain, we moved it back to the apartment and just hung out for a while before eventually calling it a night. Next up this weekend, all of us are headed to the Cinque Terra with Dr. Baker to go hiking, see the beautiful cliffs, and then spend a day or two in Milan. I’m not really sure what we’re planning to do in Milan, but we are looking into touring AC and Inter’s stadium at some point. For the most part I just want to walk around and see things as I come across them, like I did in Bologna. I really don’t have any interest in seeing the Last Supper or an opera at La Scala, and apart from maybe some brief window shopping, I won’t be purchasing much in Italy’s fashion capital.

To the Coast!

A trip to the coast was something that wasn’t high on my priority list before coming, but I knew it would be a shame to come to Italy and not see any water. It may have squeezed my Rome trip to the last few days after class ends, but with (nearly) everyone set on going to Sorrento for the weekend, I decided to join in as well. In all 13 students, Dr. Baker, and the Meyers made the trip down. Sorrento is a tourist destination south of Napoli – altogether about a 6 hour trip with a train change in Rome, a high speed train to Napoli (like 300 km/h high speed) and a local train ride from Napoli down to the coast with the Circumvesuviana line. The train was packed, leaving most of us content to stand between cars and catch a precious breeze that was amplified by all the tunnels we went through, some lasting a ridiculous amount of time. Every once in a while we would catch a glimpse of the sights we would become accustomed to over the weekend – bright blue water, houses climbing up the cliffs, and Mt. Vesuvius lurking in the background. There really wasn’t that much to do in Sorrento, but it was a beautiful place. The biggest draw – at least for us, I can’t speak for most of the tourists that visit – was that it was close to Pompeii and a lot cheaper than staying in Amalfi. Thursday consisted of mostly train rides, scoping out the area a bit for dinner, drinking on the rooftop and finding the beach. And I literally mean finding, the town is located in the cliffs, so we had to track down a public beach and find a way to climb down – we eventually found some stairs and circa 1 or 2 in the morning decided to jump in for a bit. Even for being so late, the Mediterranean was still pretty warm. Luckily, the weather on the coast was a lot cooler than it had been in Perugia earlier in the week – around 85 or 90, as opposed to pushing 100 in the city. Definitely a much needed get away.

View down the cliff from the first night

Friday we hopped on the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii, an easy trip compared to the ride in from Naples. We decided to skip out on the tour guide and tackle things on our own. I’m happy with this decision, it would be cool to get the full tour and little tidbits of quirky information some day, but this kind of trip really did not lend itself to that. Rather than learn all about the specifics, I was content to just walk around and take in all the ruins and views. Pompeii was a lot bigger than I was expecting – granted it was once a thriving Roman settlement, but I guess I just did not picture it as a such a sprawling city. I’m sure there is a lot more exciting stuff from an archaeological perspective that we could have spent more time on, but with most people getting hungry and tired we decided to pack it up and go back. One thing I wish I would have done is made the climb to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. After hearing that is was 17 Euro to take a bus up partway and then hike the rest, with a bad review from Mr. Meyer, I was reluctant to push for it. After hearing stories and seeing pictures from Dr. Baker, though, I think a lot of us changed our minds. We kicked around the idea of heading back Sunday morning to do it, but it didn’t work out.

Ruins!

After stopping in at an American-esque burger place for lunch and catching The Simpsons and How I Met Your Mother – even if it was in Italian – we went to hit the beach, in the daylight this time. We got advice from the guy at the front desk and went to a different beach, which frankly wasn’t as nice. It was more crowded, the water wasn’t as nice, and it was a farther walk. Regardless, it was still a relaxing afternoon at the beach, without any major sunburn which is a gigantic plus.

That night we decided to go out for a super nice dinner. We had scoped out this restaurant on our way to the beach that sat at the edge of the cliffs and overlooked the restaurant. With all 13 of us, we managed to drop nearly 325 Euro. Being so close to the beach, I was hoping for some seafood and tried to order Scallops. I falsely assumed Scalloppine would translate to Scallops, but it turned out to be a way of thinly slicing chicken – regardless, it was still excellent and lesson learned, you can’t always count on logic for translation. I got legit Italian Tiramisu just cause I could, which was excellent as well. Others went with steak, seafood sampler appetizers, house wine, and fruit desserts, so it is easy to see how the bill shot up so much. I believe everybody was content with the choice though, and we walked out with no regrets and a free shot of (surprise!) Limoncello to boot.

Jazz Plus Wine Plus Assisi

As we came back to Perugia, the Jazz Festival was already underway. Who would have thought that a seemingly random, mid-sized city in central Italy would host the world’s largest outdoor jazz festival? I honestly have no idea what other jazz specific outdoor festivals are held to challenge this title, but it is a pretty enormous event for the area nonetheless.  Some big names came in for it as well: Santana, who a lot of friends went to see but the rest of us stood outside for free and just listened to some of his show; Prince, who I missed because he was playing on a Friday when we were out of town; Liza Minnelli, which seems to be a strange addition to the mix; BB King, who again played while we were out of town, on Saturday. There were also a lot of other ticketed acts and free concerts. Apart from the glimpse of Santana that I caught, I stuck to the free concerts which were awesome in their own right, held either in the main square or just past the Piazza Italia not far from our apartment. It was amazing how many people were packing the main streets or Gelato shops late at night on weekdays, out watching these concerts – but hey, free jazz is free jazz! They also played a lot of covers, mostly Motown, James Earl Jones, or Soul music. A couple of the bands that we saw were from Memphis and New Orleans – nice to get a little taste of Americana while we were over here.

Corso Vannucci packed with people

Weekend Adventures

Hello all! What a ride it has been. Back on Thursday, we had early classes in order to maximize the amount of time we could travel. Three left immediately after class to catch a flight to Madrid out of Rome for the Running of the Bulls, three stayed the night and went out to Ancona on the beach the next day. The rest of us hopped on a 1:30 train to Florence, which was a straight shot, easy trip. We found our hostel relatively quickly, though it was completely unmarked – perhaps that is a good thing, as advertisements for “Tourists staying here!” would be a magnet for pickpockets. Our hostel was a lot nicer than I was expecting, two big rooms to accommodate five guys and four girls, located in between two big plazas – Santa Croce and della Signore. At the advice of some girls who had been in Florence the week before our study abroad, we bought tickets for the Uffizi Art Gallery the next morning in order to avoid the lines. We got our tickets literally right across the street from the Accademia which houses the original David (there are two other copies in Florence that we found, and possibly more). This line moved swiftly and we were soon inside. Granted I was not expecting the gallery to be just David and nothing more, but I was still shocked at the amount of sculptures that were housed here. It makes sense though – anybody with disposable income would probably find the prospects of being immortalized in marble very appealing, and talented sculptors need to make a living, not just hold out for masterpieces. In a way it is cool that one museum can house so much history. It assures there is something for everyone and there is plenty to see in terms of the ticket price. However, the reason I and I am sure many others went was to see the David in its original form. It is rumored that David was moved out of the Piazza della Signore (where a fake statue sits surrounded by plenty of other amazing statutes, the Palazzo Vecchio, and not too far from the Uffizi) due to someone throwing something at it in a drunken state, but I cannot confirm this. Pictures are forbidden in all the museums, but I managed to sneak one and multiple others in our group got a few more. There were a few uptight security guards, but most of them conceded to the fact that they were not going to stop everyone from taking pictures, and I do not envy the task of trying to stop tourist after tourist all day every day from preserving a memory.

After seeing all the statues we could handle, we left to explore the city. We walked under the Uffizi, which has three halls that surround a common plaza and allows people to walk through to the river front, where we saw…more statues! I was okay with that though, as they were all famous citizens of Florence, from Galileo to Machiavelli to Dante Alighieri – most likely replicas but still cool to see their form. The Ponte Vecchio, as I am sure many have seen pictures of, is fittingly like a postcard. There is a great view down the river that splits the city, with many old bridges crossing over but none quite as spectacular as the “Old Bridge” lined with medieval flags, gold and jewelry stores, and high end restaurants with no doubt more spectacular views. The story goes that at one point it housed butchers and tanners and blacksmiths, but the king was tired of having to deal with so many commoners every day, so he ousted them for luxury. At the advice of Ryan’s sister who had studied abroad in Florence, we attempted to find a pizza shop on the other side of the river. After not being able to find it and getting directions from a local that led us to a grocery store with a similar name, we gave up and decided to find something else. We found a great, cheap restaurant in Piazza Santo Spirito, but without a reservation there was no way this tiny place could fit all 9 of us. We found somewhere that could accommodate us, albeit at two separate tables, which was a little more expensive than probably any of us were hoping for, but we made due. The food was excellent though, I ordered Cavatelli with meat sauce for my first true tomato based pasta dish (not counting our home-made meals).

I’m not sure if we were trying to head back through a bad part of town or just looked suspicious as a large group of Americans, but an undercover police officer stopped us not far from the restaurant and demanded to see our IDs. After confirming with a uniformed officer nearby that he was a legit official, I handed over a copy of my passport and we stood around while they got on the phone and tried to learn god knows what about us. In a tourist hotspot like Florence, I’m surprised this was the case, but we did speak to an officer who knew English very well and he assured us it was ordinary. There was a drug-sniffing dog in the area, and I could not determine whether he was actively tracking a scent or just searching vigorously for a trail. The officer kept trying to get us to admit that we had drugs on us or were looking for drugs, but eventually we got our passports back and were allowed to leave as a car came in for backup. Amazing, I can go twenty years in the US without ever having a run in with police but can’t last a week in Italy.

After lots of walking, we decided to post up on a bridge next to Ponte Vecchio to avoid some crowds and take pictures/relax/converse for a little while. We watched the sunset and by the time we moved on, everything was lit up around the city and offered a unique, more modern look to the sites we had been seeing. I had to snap a few photos of Italian store fronts like Prada, Louis Vutton, and Ferrari, even if I could never afford anything inside them – and they were closed at this hour anyway. We stopped for some gelato as a pick-me-up on the way back to our hostel and were surprised to run into a free orchestra concert in Piazza della Signore. I don’t know if anything screams Italy more than gelato and classical music in the shadow of a statue of David and Renaissance architecture. I think we were all exhausted at this point, after being up for early class, travelling, walking around, and needing to rest up for a full day tomorrow.

Our tickets for the Uffizi Art Gallery were at 11:15, so we were able to get in relatively quickly without having to deal with long lines. Much like the Academia, if I had to describe it in one word, it would “overwhelming.” Three floors of art, three halls surrounding the street, all stuffed with Renaissance art was a lot to take in. Down the halls there were statues with paintings propped on the walls close to the ceiling. Next to these halls were winding rooms full of paintings grouped by artist or movement that snaked around for much more surface area. As if this wasn’t enough, all the ceilings were covered in incredibly detailed murals. It was a shame to pass by so much while paying so little attention to it, but if I had taken the time to study even just the ceilings I would still be doing the art-viewer-shuffle right now. It was a great experience though, and I assure everyone it is well worth the trip and ticket. A few things I took away: it was cool to see some of the works in person that I had heard of (believe me, I am in no way, shape, or form an art aficionado) and even many of the works that were new to me were quite experience. However, a lot of the paintings seemed to be similar and were uninteresting to me. You can only take so many cardinals, weeping mothers with children in a Cathedral, and portrayals of Jesus on the cross.  It is also amazing how inconsistent these portrayals of Jesus were. The only thing the artists could agree on was that he was indeed on a cross, with holes in his hands and feet and a puncture on his side. All else seemed completely up to the artists’ imagination. Sometimes he was on a hill, sometimes in a valley, sometimes there was a giant castle behind him; sometimes guards were still pestering him, others he was surrounded with frantic women; sometimes there were animals flocking to him, or lurking in the background, or any amount of random objects thrown in the background. Sure, the artists probably had a method or symbolism in mind while painting all of this, but if you’re painting the most important event in your religion’s history, wouldn’t you want to be consistent? Different strokes, I guess.

One of the things Ryan and I began to do is see who could spot the most ridiculous of all these background objects lurking in the paintings. Whether it was a lion hidden behind a leg, a dragon just chilling, or some aspect of scope or scale that did not fit in, whatever item we could make a joke of made wandering through room after room of dry Renaissance paintings much more enjoyable. One thing that I’m sure would make my architecture roommates cringe that was incredibly cool was a model of the city of Florence, I’m guessing about seven or eight feet around, cut into wood to painstaking detail – including every little back alleyway and apartment notch. Whoever’s job it was to carve that out, I certainly do not envy you.

After a quick lunch and meeting up with everyone who had wandered off during our Uffizi trip, we headed to the Duomo where most of us made the 464-step climb to the top. It was certainly a hike, and it has proved to me that I am not completely over my fear of heights – but I did make it all the way up, as opposed to quitting halfway through St. Paul’s Cathedral in London as a wee tyke. Once at the top, the actual height did not bother me…it was just the narrow winding staircases and steep final steps that had me on edge. The views were totally worth it though. Florence is absolutely beautiful, and there were perfect weather conditions for viewing the city. Trying to fit everything into our second day, we soon trekked off to the market. I was both surprised and elated to be able to speak solely Italian while haggling, making purchases, and having some short conversations. Off to search for deals and presents, I ran into someone who saw my Clemson shirt and asked if I was from Ireland – I guess seeing the decal and mistaking it for an Irish football one. I was able to explain that no, I was an American who was studying in Perugia and in Florence for a few days. Quite the simple conversation, but given my Italian abilities, I was rather pleased with myself. Back with the group and a few purchases under my built, we met this woman at a soccer stand who spoke very good English. She had just seen the movie “Story of a Champion” – better known as “The Blind Side” to Americans – and we were able to explain a few things about that and drop the knowledge that Clemson makes an (albeit brief) appearance in the film.

With everyone content, we headed back to the hostel to drop things off and walk up to the Piazzale Michelangelo – just outside the city center, across the river, with an elevation that offers a spectacular view of the sunset over the city. With some time to kill once we got up there, we explored a cathedral that was in the area and got some food to eat on the steps while we waited. At a little roadside stand, I got hands down the best pizza I’ve had so far in Italy. It was thicker than most Italian pizza, topped with real tomatoes and sprinkled with some oil that gave it a little bit of a kick. It just wasn’t the type of place I was expecting for true Italian cuisine, but it definitely came through in the clutch. The actual sun set was amazing – though we were early to get up there, we certainly were not the only ones by the time the sun started to dip behind the mountains. It was a great tip from the girls and not as long of a walk as they had made it sound. Tired from a ton of walking and with early trains to catch the next morning, we decided to call it a night.

Random Musings O' The Week

I am so happy to be able to be part of a trip like this. Obviously I would love to continue to travel as I get older – maybe with family, maybe for business, maybe for something else entirely – but this trip will undoubtedly be more unique. Two simple reasons I believe so: first, the group of people I’m with and second, the idea that we have a home city in a sense. So far everyone here has been amazing to travel with. Whether it be the precious internet time after class, eating dinner (either out or apartment cooked!), or grabbing drinks/staying in, everyone has been great about trying to include everyone or at the very least most people. Granted we will all split off on the weekends to do our own thing in small groups, but I would rather that that be the case so that everyone gets to visit the cities and countries that they most prefer to…plus it would be a nightmare trying to plan a trip for all 15 of us. Secondly, it is also very comforting knowing that we have a city to explore from but always come back to without the anxiety of paying by the night for a room or trying to learn everything on the fly: where the best restaurants or bars are, what we need to see, helpful little shops, and the tourist hotspots to avoid (and thus live cheaper). From Perugia we can make some day trips to interesting towns, have field trips to inspiring businesses, and have a single place that we can really identify with.

One of the things that I think could only happen if we were staying in one spot for a lengthy time like we are, is that one night as we were making the trek from the girls’ apartment out to bars we ran into this nearby restaurant off the beaten path. The owner only knows a little English, and we only know minimal Italian, but he was incredibly nice, offered for us all to come in, and gave us free shots of Limoncello – which I’m convinced is the unofficially official drink of Perugia save wine of course. He must have used up an entire bottle in the process. We promised that we would be back another night for dinner, and he insisted we use the upstairs as a private room. On Monday night, part two of our Independence Day celebrations, we indeed were back with all 15 of us for an amazing meal. He cooked family style dishes for us (served individually), and though I’m not sure what the exact cost of the meal should have been, he certainly cut us a deal. To boot, he even brought us down to the wine cellar and promised that the next time we came back he would cook any dishes on his menu that we wished. Since then we have seen him around town a few times as well. He is certainly the nicest man we’ve met, and I’m really glad we get to be able to stay in Perugia to have local connections like this.

Of course, I’m finally getting to the thing I’m actually here for, classes! In a word, they have been spectacular. I’m taking two marketing courses, Sports Marketing and Retail Management. For those of you unaware, Sports Marketing is the direction I want to go into, and it is taught by Dr. Baker, who I had for Intro and absolutely loved – his stories, humor, and experience are encapsulating. It is great to be able to have some concrete information and concepts for when I think of sports marketing. His lectures are interesting and relevant, and I always seem to have something I can add to class discussions. On day one Dr. Baker brought up how many different aspects are possible to pursue, which is fantastic because I am still lost with that. Retail Management is a class in the course catalog but not often taught at Clemson, and as a result it is being taught by Dr. Baker’s former colleague at UNC-Wilmington, Dr. Tracey Meyer. Dr. Baker has always spoken highly of her, and I would describe her first lecture as electric. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I was blown away by how invigorated I was during her time – talking about the future of retail and how people are going about speculating and resultantly acting on those speculations was both inspiring and exciting. It reminded me of why I’m getting into the field and the rousing opportunities, rather than the dreary thoughts of being unemployed or stuck in a sales job after graduation. So often marketing is viewed as a dirty and annoying way of trying to falsify claims and exaggerate in order to force people to buy things they neither want nor need, and even I get caught up in it sometimes. I am so glad that these courses are reminding me that I chose marketing to study people and their behavior, determine their individual needs and the needs of larger groups, and continually strive to provide them with those things that they desire, not go door to door overhyping niche products to people who are completely uninterested and not taking no for an answer.

On Wednesdays in lieu of class we have little field trips during the day to learn about local businesses. Next week we will be going wine tasting in Assisi, but our first trip was to a cashmere designer and manufacturer, Brunello Cucinelli in Solemeo. Though I had never heard of him prior to the trip, his line is carried at retailers such as Sachs Fifth Avenue. It is a rather interesting and strange place. The entire town is about 500 people, and 400 are employed by Cucinelli. He is famous for his outstanding treatment of employees. They don’t have set work hours, they come and go whenever they please to complete their tasks, they have a 90 minute lunch break where they can eat a multiple course meal at the cafeteria for only 2,80, and they have employee sales multiple times a year that make items I couldn’t dream of buying in this lifetime affordable to factory workers. To say he runs the town is an understatement. His business is the only one in town, he built a theater and small library with his name on it, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until his name is on the town as well. Investor’s advice here, the company is going public for the first time in October. Granted this might force a cutback on the types of benefits and extra-business activities he provides, it is such a popular company that stock may soon skyrocket once it hits the market. After leaving the factory, we were off to spend a few hours in Cortona. It is another hill town, famous for its Etruscan remains that are still standing since 2 B.C. We were treated to a lunch where the dishes seemed to just keep on coming, and got to wander around the city a bit. We did some shopping in all the different stores along the main street, checked out a park and the amazing views from the hill, and tracked down the remains and a small museum before calling it a day and heading back home.

Today (or yesterday by the time I get around to posting this…internet connections and all) for the first time I really felt like I belonged here in Perugia. Now that is not “belong” as in someday I can see myself living here, though that would be cool it would be very stressful and always feel a little odd. I mean that walking around, I knew exactly which streets I needed to take without even thinking about it; I knew which shops to avoid because of marked-up tourist places and which alley I should go down to find a much more reasonable price; I felt just at home as I do in Michigan, or the first couple weeks of freshmen year when I was just settling in in Clemson – still out of place, but comfortable with that fact. I hear snips of Italian conversations and can visualize the words but don’t know what they mean. I begin to spot out the obvious tourists and maybe even where they come from. And the funniest thing about all of this is that it happened when I was walking alone. I know just a few paragraphs ago I talked about how much I love spending time with everyone I’m with, and that has not changed. There are certain aspects that I love about hanging out with a big group like us. But when I’m with everyone, it’s just a reminder that we don’t belong here, we’re only students from all over the east coast. As my roommates began to start doing their own thing, I made the trek to school to use the internet for a little while. I met up with some people there, but walking to and from home and continuing on to meet up with some others at another apartment I was overwhelmed with this empowering sense of individuality.

On the heels of this experience, planning for the upcoming first weekend started to get down to the wire. A few are taking up the massive endeavor to go to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. A couple others are headed to the coast. The remainder of us are headed to Florence for a few days and the rest of the group will be continuing onto Venice while I visit Bologna. Despite the doubting looks and concern I received for my conviction to go alone, I’m very excited for the experience – for a couple of reasons. First off, for as long as I’ve been researching this trip I’ve had almost no interest in visiting Venice. It’s expensive, it’s out of the way, it’s a complete tourist trap (especially in July, holy mother of god), and once you get over the fact that it’s a bunch of islands with rivers instead of roads I don’t see the thrill. Bologna was something I kind of stumbled upon, out of the way of the majority of tourists and a place that looks really cool. As a total medieval history nerd, this place is my haven. Old town walls, medieval architecture, and these covered walkways all around the city that I compare to pictures I’ve seen of parts of Moorish Spain but I cannot accurately say which Spanish town exactly. For a few days a lot of people were on board with stopping there for a few hours and continuing onto Venice, but when it came down to crunch time this didn’t seem practical. As if I needed a final boost of motivation, my dad had given me some advice before I came over about not being afraid to travel alone, telling some stories about all the trips he made on his own back when he was studying in Europe. Rather than sacrifice something I really wanted to do for something I pledged not to waste time on just to stick with the others, I look forward to the challenge of tackling a city by myself. 

Opening Weekend and Independence Day Abroad

After settling into the apartment a bit, we decided to go venture for some food around the early Italian time of 7:30. The architecture and layout are so much different than any city I’m used to, though through pictures I knew what I was getting into. Our apartment is a few narrow winding streets from a main subsidiary to Corso Vannucci, the main tourist center that is lined with restaurants with tables sitting in the middle of the street, various shops and of course Gelatto. Despite this easily being the widest street in the city (which is not much of a competition), there are no cars here. It is just a mass of people, and even so it is sometimes difficult to push through. Directly ahead is the city square and the Fontane Maggiore in front of a cathedral. We found a little Pizzeria on a side street, where I got a slice of pizza for a true welcoming to Italian culture and a beer just for shits and gigs…hey, I can. From there we just sort of wandered around trying to take everything in, spot some useful landmarks, and get a better feel for our new home.

At last everyone met up at one of the apartments where we were free to socialize and get to know each other without the strain of meetings or fresh feelings of jet lag. The robot, yelling “CONSUME!” and Madison’s remarkable ability to not hold back on saying any word without a D were just a few memories I’ll always hold of the ridiculous game that kicked off our epic first night. Given that it was a Saturday night, we decided to see what the night life was like. The steps outside the cathedral were flooded with all the “cool kids” sitting around and presumably people watching as much as we were. The rest is kind of a blur; running on around 30 hours without sleep, walking around in a new city, and with a group of new friends that were quickly becoming very close, had me convinced it was a dream that I was about to wake up from.

Despite the interesting events of the previous night, we all showed up bright and ready for our orientation and tour of Perugia. Our tour guide was a quirky food history professor…yes, that really exists. He’s been living here for about 12 years and was very helpful, both in practical knowledge and ridiculous tidbits. A quick stop to a tiny grocery store gave us some food for the apartment, thankfully. Perugia did not disappoint with the beginning of another absolutely amazing night. We went to an upscale restaurant with an awe inspiring view of the valley between Perugia and Assisi, all on the Clemson University tab for the Welcoming Dinner. There were incredible red and white house wines, and we proceeded to knock down bottle after bottle between all of us. The food was fantastic as well, with courses of risotto, lamb, and an apple tart with lemon custard. After dinner we regrouped back at good old Delicious Street. After some ridiculousness, we decided to start a legit league: The Clemson University Umbra Institue Beer Olympics (CUUIBO), elected a commish, team captains, and held a draft complete with official announcements, posed handshake pictures, and fake draft hats/jerseys. Given that we wanted to have the same amount of guys and girls on a team, I strategically fell to Mr. Irrelevant to join Team “My Girlfriend Called Me A Pedophile And I Said That’s A Pretty Big Word For A Three Year Old.” Quite the surprising fall in draft stock, but I look forward to proving all the haters wrong.

Literally as soon as quiet hours hit at 23:00 we shut up, got our shit together and hit up a bar. We found Elfo’s Pub off the beaten path, complete with a life sized face in hole cut out of Will Ferrell as Elf. I had my first German beer, a Weihenstephaner Weiss. The rest of the group was a bit more ambitious, taking down 4 beer towers for 88 Euro and a free fifth one for bringing in so much business.

My Italian was put to the test as we met a group of people who spoke Spanish, Italian, and a little English, some better than others. They were a group of friends from Spain and Sardegna, an Italian island off the coast off the Tyrrhenian Sea. Between my limited Italian skills, J-Byrd’s Spanish, and a common interest in music from Blink 182 to Avenged Sevenfold even to the Aquabats, we had about an hour long conversation until it was finally time to call it quits and head home by 4 AM. The walk back was eerily quiet, the entire town square was empty and I only saw one other person, unloading some cargo from a storefront on an offshoot of Corso Vanucci. Luckily we did not have class until 2 PM the first day, built to allow us time to return to Perugia from weekend travels, so I still got a full 8 hours of sleep regardless. What a memorable Fourth of July and a kickoff to my time here. Unbelievable.

Travelin'

All packed and ready to go, it was now time to actually begin my journey. We headed off to the airport where we had to deal with some lines but nothing too bad. I got past security without any problems and was sitting at my gate with plenty of time. As to be predicted for such a popular destination as Italy (and Greece and any other connecting flights from the area), it was a packed flight, but there were a lot more Italians on the flight than I would expect to be flying out of Detroit. True, they may have been waiting on a connection from more popular destinations out west or possibly visiting family in the area, but Detroit and the Michigan area does not strike me as a must-see for European travelers, especially as a final destination on a cross-country tour. Many of them fit right in, with the only thing giving their nationality away being their bright red passports. I was able to amuse myself speculating on the identities of those around me. I was struck in particular by a few passengers: a man wearing an Italian Military Pilot jacket (Milatare Pilote) and an older couple sitting near me that fulfilled the stereotype I was expecting. The man was fascinated with everything in the airport, at one point even snapping pictures of the moving walkway as we waited to board. The woman started nagging him loudly in Italian, though she was speaking way too fast for me to pick out what she was saying other than a couple of out of context words. The man wandered off and came back with two of the biggest burgers I think I’ve ever seen at an airport, complete with a large helping of fries. It made me proud to send them off with a humongous beefy slice of Americana, and set the stage quite nicely for the beginning of my exploration into Italian culture. Dr. Ruth would be proud of such a clever turn of plot to begin a narrative, even more so that I would be “writing about what I know” as well.

Having mentally prepared myself for 8 hours of me, my music, and iPod solitaire, I was greatly relieved to find that everyone had their own screens in the seatback. It blissfully took me back to playing Space Invaders (the first time I had ever encountered the game) into the wee hours of the morning/late in the night/in time zone bullshittery limbo. As my luck would have it, I was also had a window seat, only one neighbor – a sweet middle aged woman travelling to Greece who insisted on offering everything she had and was incredibly polite – and no screaming babies in earshot, plus a Delta blanket to boot. The flight was a great experience. I knew there would be dinner served, but I didn’t have high hopes. Now it was no gourmet, but it was still a pleasant surprise. A sealed dish of pasta, a tiny salad, a roll, a brownie, cheese & crackers, and multiple drinks were served. On top of all of that, one of the free movies on demand was one that I had some interest in when it came out but forgot about, The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon. It was a pretty good movie, albeit an extremely lame ending…but no spoilers.

Reality finally set in as I viewed the flight information and saw the origin time of 10:30 and the remaining flight time of a little over 5 hours, and visions of jet lag began to pop in my head. I wasn’t tired and was still looking at maybe 4 hours of sleep all things considered. Try as I might, I could not fall asleep for the life of me. Despite actually being tired eventually, I still was unable to drift off. I finally gave up and turned back to the free movies. I would soon see the greatest example of circadian rhythm I had ever experienced. As soon as there was enough light outside for me to see the wing, I snapped awake instantly as if I had a full night’s rest before. Continued passing of time, along with further propelling against the time zones, and all hope for any sleep was dashed. Knowing there would be hell to pay later, I turned my attention to the sights. We never caught sight of shore on Ireland, but I knew we were close as we sped along, and I could feel the Irish beauty all around me, especially in a view of the clouds and horizon over the sea that I just had to snap a picture of. I also spotted a glare in the sea that upon closer inspection was a gigantic tanker chugging along. It was an amazing sight that unfortunately did not translate to digital imagery. Oh well. Our first land since St. John’s in Newfoundland was the north coast of France. It was amazing seeing the sprawls of so many towns around what I assume are or at one point were ports and harbors. I never caught a glimpse of Paris, but I believe I did see the Seine, although I do not know my French geography very well so it could have been just any old sizable river. Then before I knew it, the Alps are right in my face. Maybe that is a stretch as we were still comfortably soaring above them, but it is amazing how tall they really are in person, complete with snowcaps in July. Though that has always been a strange concept for me to wrap my head around, when the external temperature at cruising altitude is -75 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s clear how quickly the heat drops off.

Eight and a half hours later, we touched down in Rome around 9:45 local time. With a brain convinced that was the case based on the sun, and my body presumably believing it was closer to four in the morning but not questioning things or putting up a fight, I had arrived. To say passing through customs was a breeze is an understatement. Faced with an onslaught of American tourists every day, I was waved through with hardly a glance at my picture and not even an official Republicca di Italia stamp to show for it…total bummer! I picked up my luggage and wandered off to meet up with the poor souls who had been waiting in the airport longer than I. It was nice to take the time to talk to everyone but the passing of time along with the crankiness brought on by confused bodies seemed to take its toll. Add on to that a harking café worker who would have REALLY enjoyed it if he could have his table back from orange clad Americans with just a few small drink or sandwich orders and no signs of leaving and the unwarranted alerts that, yes, it had been just 15 minutes since the last time we checked the time, and we were delighted when the last of us had landed and we could board the bus for Perugia. It was a rather uneventful ride, with just a few low key hands of card games and the realization that American DVDs won’t work on Italian DVD players. My resolve to not further mess up my internal clock and desire to get a view on the way kept me from taking a nap, though drowsiness was creeping up for the first time. But after arriving in Perugia, getting a brief orientation and moving into our apartment, I was once again fully awake and ready to start the night, pushing 27 hours without sleep. Despite completing two years of college, this had been my first all-nighter, if you can call it that, since manhunt games with a side of nostalgia the summer after senior year. Though to be fair, in those college years there have been many a late night, for various reasons, but never without any sleep in such a long period.