Travel
Why study for finals when I can upload pictures??
Sunday, December 14th, 2008 | Travel | No Comments
I have one week left, can you believe it? I can… because it is a week of final exams.
But here are the promised photos of Paris, and the day-trip we took to Venice the weekend before!
I’ll go stick my nose in a book now!
Paris:
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Venice:
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3 days, 600 pictures, and 5 hours at the Louvre later…
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 | Travel | No Comments
I’m back in Siena, where I shall stay put until the 19th.
I’m not lying about the 600 pictures… I’ll have to sort carefully (during my designated procrastination time between papers and studying).
For anyone who has not been to Paris, I highly recommend it! Even if it costs you an arm and a leg (though I’ll loan you my student card to get into some museums for freeeeee) it is such an experience! I love Italy, the language, the people, the buildings, the food, the history, the art, the land, and everything else besides the pigeons, but if I hadn’t been here for a whole semester, I would not have felt like I saw enough. I don’t know if there is one place in Italy that has marveled me in every possible way, like Paris did. Milan, Rome, and Florence are all big cities, but none are as compacted with so much worth seeing and experiencing. We were there for just three days, but I feel like we were able see so many sights (granted, we did see the WHOLE city from the VERY top of the Eiffel tower) and do so many new things that it could have taken weeks to find equivalents in Italy.
I guess what I am trying to say is, if you have the time to stroll through Italy, and take your time stopping in Tuscan villages where you can still hand-pick olives and press your own oil, towns that still have the original medieval fortresses, and numerous cities that claim to be the birthplace, vacation spot, or at some-point residence of a pope or artist, by all means, it is completely worth it. But if you only have 3 days in Europe, head on over to Paris and be that tourist who takes a million pictures of the Mona Lisa. Did I mention that I actually stood next to a Vermeer painting? There are only 14 cities in the entire world where this is possible!
We did the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Champs d’Elysee, Pompidou, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, and so much more! Pictures are in the works!
I am going to go day dream about butter and sugar crepes now. Or write a paper.
Ciao!
Tricia
Bon voyage!
Friday, November 28th, 2008 | Travel | No Comments
I’m off to Paris! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, I sure did. We had a real feast here. Who knew 22 college students could put together such a great meal, it was a very nice way to celebrate Thanksgiving in a home away from home.
I’ll be back on Monday!
Au revoir!
Tricia
We jumped off a moving train…
Monday, September 29th, 2008 | Travel | No Comments
…and landed in paradise.
Well, eventually. I was on the train with Lauren (my Claremont friend in Siena) and Hallie (our mutual Claremont friend, studying in Florence, who we met up with at one of the train stations along the way while the rest of our group went ahead to check into the hostel). So the main train station into Cinque Terre is called La Spezia Centrale, but there is also a La Spezia Migliarina. All we saw was La Spezia on the sign, and the train stopped. Now, usually the doors open when a train stops, but every once in a while they don’t, and you have to run to the next car to get off, or on. Our doors don’t open, so we pull the handle or something. This sets off an alarm. Hallie jumps off, and then the train starts to move, so Lauren and I hop off too. Of course, there were two very attractive Australian guys on the train who we informed that the stop was “La Spezia” and they saw up jump off the train. We get off feeling kind of bad for them, because they didn’t get off. Ten seconds later we realize we’re at the wrong La Spezia. Oops. We waited for the next train to La Spezia Centrale, and of course when we get there, we come up the stairs from the platforms and one of the Australian guys is there saying “Hey Joe, check it out!” One of them comes up to us and says “You guys got off a little early didn’t you??” We had some good laughs…
Enough about that!! Cinque Terre was so beautiful that I cannot put it into words. I do have photos though! Just to lay the foundation: Le Cinque Terre (or the five towers) are five coastal/cliff side towns in northern Italy, connected by hiking trails and a train tunnel.
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We stayed in Riomaggiore, the most southern town, in a hostel that over looked the water! Absolutely better than we could have asked for. After arriving Friday evening and going out to an amazing (though slightly costly) dinner, we spent Saturday doing Cinque Terre right! From north to south you have Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. We hiked from Riomaggiore to Corniglia, then took a train to Monterosso, because we wanted to make it in time for dinner and some (window) shopping! The sights were absolutely breathtaking!
Alright, I have a quiz tomorrow morning, so goodnight!
Tricia
P.S. I posted pictures of Naples too! Check out my Le Foto page!
Sorry to be brief!
Friday, September 26th, 2008 | In Siena, Travel | No Comments
Here’s the basics!
- First week of classes was awesome! I’ll tell you all about them…. soon!
- Sorry I didn’t post pictures of Naples yet! I think I found a new way to post them, that hopefully will make them load a bit faster.
- I’m off to class right now, and then straight to the train station. A group of friends and I are going to Cinque Terre this weekend. Click here, Wikipedia does a good job of explaining, it’s amazing!! I hear they have great pesto…
- Our Italian roommate moved in, and she’s really cool!
Alright, sending lots of love,
Tricia
Safe and sound in Siena!
Sunday, September 21st, 2008 | In Siena, Travel | 1 Comment
I’ve returned from Naples, with 200+ photos! haha, I’ll pick out the best ones…some other time. I spent most of the day on trains and buses, and we finally got to our apartment and were greeted with (drum roll) no water. At all. So after venturing one block over to use a friend’s shower, I am going to go to bed, and start classes tomorrow morning!!
L’aiuto degli altri rende il tuo viaggio molto felice.
Sunday, September 7th, 2008 | Travel | 1 Comment
“The help of others will render your trip very happy.” (Direct translation) We actually found a Chinese restaurant, and that was my fortune cookie :-) I know, I didn’t travel to Italy to eat Chinese food, but I was craving some tofu/any kind of soy product. The main supermarket had one kind of soy milk, but it tastes like sugar. I think I will be able to find some more somewhere, I just have to get better at reading Italian labels. If not in Siena, Sarah has to travel to Firenze (Florence) to buy Kosher meat, eventually, and I know I can find most anything there!
So we went to la spiagga (the beach) yesterday, Saturday. A group of 9 of us got up early catch a bus at 8:10am. Another group was going to catch a later bus, but it never came/didn’t actually exist. We’re still getting used to the bus schedule, and how it works around here. It was overcast for most of the day, though it cleared up for a little bit in the afternoon. It was still humid and warm, and the water was no where near as cold as the Pacific! Contrary to what you may be thinking, we were not swimming around in the Mediteranean, but Il Mar Tirreno (The Tyrrhenian Sea). Most of the beach was
taken up by hotel umbrellas, but we found a plot that wasn’t, and we were actually with a bunch of other American students who had taken the same bus from Siena. Unfortunately, one of the lifeguards explained to us, in very fast Italian, that I was amazed to understand, that there were rip tides and if one went out too far it was possible “non tornare” (not to return!). Lauren (from Claremont), Sarah, and I had some lunch at a little beach-side restaurant with sandwiches, pizzas, caprese, and ice cream. Amazingly, we even found our bus back to Siena that afternoon around 5:00. A good time was had by all 
We still have a couple weeks of language intensive classes, but I register for my real classes tomorrow morning! Woo hoo! I am feeling a bit more confident with my Italian, so I might still shoot for one or two classes in Italian. Strangely, whenever I’m in a store or eating somewhere and I try to speak Italian, they try to speak to me in English… but this seems to be happening to everyone. We must just seem American, or at least not Italian! Well, I better get to bed so I can make it to my registration meeting tomorrow!
<3 Tricia
