BUORIGONO!
After a long night of working and studying, I finally took my first "quiz" here-- it was for High Renaissance Art. I have no idea how it went- it was only 15 open essay questions but there was so much elaborating to be done. We were given on a slide show 5 pictures in which we had to write what it was, where it is currently located, who made it, the type of medium, the year it was created, and just a fun fact about why the piece is important (we had about 40 different pieces on our study guide). Can you say ROUGH?! I can! The remaining questions were about different art techniques and the importance of the different mediums. It's thankfully all over now, I just have to sit and wait for my grade... AHH!
Since our test was at 8, and I couldn't go back to bed, I decided to go for my first run in Roma. It was absolutely great!!! It was by far on of the most peaceful runs, well besides the beach of course, that I've ever been on. Since there was such a change in scenery, it felt like I ran so much less than what I actually did. I ran a little less than 2 miles in about 20 minutes-- hey I'll take it!! I have to start getting ready for my Half Marathon in May!!!! The only bad thing is that our air has been shut off, so I feel like I just make gravy all of the time here (EW, I know).
Today is just a relaxing homework type of day-- something that I totes need!! I have a presentation on St. Mary Magdalen this Tursday so I'm working on getting that all finished up hopefully by the end of the night. I'm at the front desk 'working' now- easiest and best job ever!!! That's about all I have for today, folks.
Arrivederci!!
Ky xx
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Forgotten Italy Weekend: Polignano a Mare
Buongiorno!
I will do a couple of different posts about this weekend just because we did a lot of traveling. The excursion this weekend was titled "Forgotten Italy" and the name absolutely made sense, at least for me. I would never instantly think to visit Polignano a Mare, Lecce, Castellana, and the many other places we visited hence the excursion name. We headed out for our 6 hour bus ride Thursday afternoon and arrived around dinner time in Polignano a Mare- which is the south east of Italy (on the Adriatic Sea side). Our hotel was a 4 star hotel called Pietra Blu Resport, and it was absolutely breathtaking! Take a look:
My view from outside my window... GORGEOUS!
I will do a couple of different posts about this weekend just because we did a lot of traveling. The excursion this weekend was titled "Forgotten Italy" and the name absolutely made sense, at least for me. I would never instantly think to visit Polignano a Mare, Lecce, Castellana, and the many other places we visited hence the excursion name. We headed out for our 6 hour bus ride Thursday afternoon and arrived around dinner time in Polignano a Mare- which is the south east of Italy (on the Adriatic Sea side). Our hotel was a 4 star hotel called Pietra Blu Resport, and it was absolutely breathtaking! Take a look:
My view from outside my window... GORGEOUS!
The pool which is absolutely beautiful! I laid out but never went in because it was absolutely freezing!
The Adriatic Sea!
Since it was a resort, we were separated from everything else- including reality! The people here were so friendly, many of which spoke English. They had a great night scene with all of their younger workers-- they all taught us how to "dance".. just imagine LOL!
Friday during the day, we went to Lecce- which is one of the southern most points of Italy. We had Daniela Lopez, a born and raised local, tour us around her hometown. The town was incredibly small, but filled with lots of shops, basilicas, caffes, and even a università! It was so peaceful. While we were there, Red Bull was filming a variety of tourists for their upcoming soccer talents tour.. it was SO COOL!!!! These young guys were doing all of these insane soccer tricks (I'm going to try and upload a video but I don't know if it will work). There isn't much else to say about Lecce, so enjoy the pics!
The guy below is a famous craftsman in all of Italy. He makes paper mâché figurines. We were lucky enough to get to see him in the action. He starts by using a layer of hay, ties string around it for positioning, goes to town on the paper mâché, and then finishes by painting the statue. It was so neat!
The pictures are from all around Lecce. Like I already said, it is a beautiful city. We had an excellent time there, but we couldn't stay there forever. Our next stop (and blog post) is all about Castellana, Alberobello, and Matera (The Caves!)
Ky xx
Forgotten Italy: Castellana, Albero, Matera
Ciao!
This is the second post all about this past weekend. As much fun as it was, I am totes exhausted!!!! I also got a pretty brutal cold while we were traveling, which is always a bummer (and takes away half of the fun). Our day started on the bus, no surprise, heading towards Le Grotte di Castellana (just so you know, these are all caves!). This network of caves were discovered in 1938 and are part of the largest network of caves in inland Italy! We weren't allowed to take a lot of pictures while exploring the caves, because it would affect the growth of the rocks (we couldn't even touch them, either). The colors inside varied from white, pink, orange, green (usually because of mold), browns, and shades of gray. The tour was about 3 Kilometer (different metric system, everyone)-- but was definitely a hike. I do have to say that I felt like Indiana Jones. Here are the pictures we were allowed to take of the grand entrance:
After exploring the beautiful caves, and feeling the burn in my legs, we headed to Alberobello. Alberobello is a small, touristy town which contains 11,000 people. The houses here are called Trullo houses (they look like where the smurfs live!)- the roofs look like this because back in the day, the townspeople didn't want to have to pay taxes on their finished houses; so when it was time for the tax collectors to come around, the townspeople would disassemble their roof and not have to pay (GOOD THINKING!) Once there we headed straight for lunch at Il Trullo dell' Oro. This was easily one of the best meals thus far!!! We had a full 6 course meal which ranged from their own handmade pasta and homegrown fruits and vegetables to perfectly wrapped sausage and liver on shish kabobs! We finished lunch off with a flaming fruit/sorbet desert.. YUM!
As cool as Alberobello was, it was time to head out and check in to our hotel in Matera for the rest of the night. We stayed in Sassi Hotel (right up my ally), which is the Cave Town I've been talking about. Here is where we stayed:
Fun Fact: Passion of The Christ featuring Mel Gibson was filmed right here in Matera. I WALKED IN THE SAME SPOTS AS MEL GIBSON!!! Way cool! We toured all of Matera... steps and everything, and you best believe that I am so sore, still! It was absolutely beautiful! To sum everything up, I had a great weekend trip, a very busy weekend, but definitely well worth it. I would have never considered coming to any of these places in Italy, and I have to say that I am so glad I came!
As for now, I have so much homework and studying to catch up on-- I will hopefully talk to you all soon! Have a wonderful rest of the day :-)
Ciao Ciao,
Ky xx
This is the second post all about this past weekend. As much fun as it was, I am totes exhausted!!!! I also got a pretty brutal cold while we were traveling, which is always a bummer (and takes away half of the fun). Our day started on the bus, no surprise, heading towards Le Grotte di Castellana (just so you know, these are all caves!). This network of caves were discovered in 1938 and are part of the largest network of caves in inland Italy! We weren't allowed to take a lot of pictures while exploring the caves, because it would affect the growth of the rocks (we couldn't even touch them, either). The colors inside varied from white, pink, orange, green (usually because of mold), browns, and shades of gray. The tour was about 3 Kilometer (different metric system, everyone)-- but was definitely a hike. I do have to say that I felt like Indiana Jones. Here are the pictures we were allowed to take of the grand entrance:
After exploring the beautiful caves, and feeling the burn in my legs, we headed to Alberobello. Alberobello is a small, touristy town which contains 11,000 people. The houses here are called Trullo houses (they look like where the smurfs live!)- the roofs look like this because back in the day, the townspeople didn't want to have to pay taxes on their finished houses; so when it was time for the tax collectors to come around, the townspeople would disassemble their roof and not have to pay (GOOD THINKING!) Once there we headed straight for lunch at Il Trullo dell' Oro. This was easily one of the best meals thus far!!! We had a full 6 course meal which ranged from their own handmade pasta and homegrown fruits and vegetables to perfectly wrapped sausage and liver on shish kabobs! We finished lunch off with a flaming fruit/sorbet desert.. YUM!
The Restaurant & FLAMING DESERT!
Here are just a few quick snapshots of the Tullo houses.. Could you imagine living in this?!
As cool as Alberobello was, it was time to head out and check in to our hotel in Matera for the rest of the night. We stayed in Sassi Hotel (right up my ally), which is the Cave Town I've been talking about. Here is where we stayed:
Fun Fact: Passion of The Christ featuring Mel Gibson was filmed right here in Matera. I WALKED IN THE SAME SPOTS AS MEL GIBSON!!! Way cool! We toured all of Matera... steps and everything, and you best believe that I am so sore, still! It was absolutely beautiful! To sum everything up, I had a great weekend trip, a very busy weekend, but definitely well worth it. I would have never considered coming to any of these places in Italy, and I have to say that I am so glad I came!
As for now, I have so much homework and studying to catch up on-- I will hopefully talk to you all soon! Have a wonderful rest of the day :-)
Ciao Ciao,
Ky xx
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
STUNNING PICS!
I can't believe I forgot to post these pictures, but I took all of these myself in Florence. ENJOY!!!
Ky xx
Ky xx
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