la dolce vida

This weekend didn't seem to exist since we were s0 incredibly busy. I feel like all the days have meshed together, but it was a very good weekend nonetheless.

On Saturday we made our way to Pisa after a two and a half hour drive at 7:00 in the morning. Yes, quite early. Thankfully I was able to sleep on the bus, so it wasn't a very painful trip. I guess the scenery wasn't so bad, either. Ha! Kidding! Breathtaking as usual. The mountains are amazing; and on the way back from Pisa, there was a gorgeous rainbow stretching out across the sky and over the top of the peaks and valleys. The rainbow was greeted with squeals of delight [as all of our company was female,] and many clicks and shutterings of lenses documenting the large expanding arch. I broke out my tiny point-n-shoot as well, and took a few frames of the sight.

When we arrived in Pisa, we left the buses and trooped to the nearest washroom, disgruntled to find there was an entrance fee for the toilets. Rude! Obviously not very pleased with this discovery, but with nothing else to do we payed the fee anyway and and soon there after took another shuttle bus to actually get to the sight we were meant to see. On the shuttle, I notice that the city of Pisa was surprisingly industrial looking and bit more unpleasant than many of the other cities we have visited. It was also quite dirty. However, it seems that the filthier the city, the better the graffiti. So I was cool with that, yo.

Once at the piazza in which the cathedral, baptistry, and the [leaning] bell tower were located, we stopped for a quick history lesson with our Renaissance professor and then headed inside the cathedral where we perused around for a quick ten minutes before whisking off to the baptistry. Inside of the cathedral was gorgeous, and it was really cool to see the pulpit of the cathedral because it is a very important and monumental work of art in the history of the Renaissance, and I had just read about the structure in our history book, so it was awesome to be able to view the pulpit in person. The pulpit is sculpted marble and has the most intricate designs engraved in the precious stone, and the stories behind the artwork and its master are fascinating to an art major, but I won't bore with the specifics. You're very welcome.

The baptistry is small circular structure, but also just as beautiful as the large cathedral. When stepping inside of the building it was loud with conversation, but soon a sharp "sshhh" went through the air, and instantly all was still. The sudden silence was a bit of a shock, and to make it even more alarming, a security guard rose to the top of the altar area. Wondering what was happening, my inquiry was immediately answered by the soft tickle of melodic tones floating through the space and out of the mouth of...guess who? The security guard! He sang aloud to the ceiling, and his song was echoed back to him and all of the audience. It was such a majestic sight and sound combination that it actually made goosebumps rise along the back of my neck and sent chills down my spine. It lasted only around a minute or two, but after he was done, an polite applause rippled through the crowd and then all proceeded to exit the baptistry. I think that was my favorite part of the whole trip, and I probably could have gone back home to Cortona without ever seeing the leaning tower up close, leaving completely satisfied because of that quick, intimate moment.

When gathering back up as a group after the baptistry, all the students discussed the scene with enthusiasm. Gwen and I were agreeing with one another about how much we enjoyed the performance, and were interrupted by one of the Canadian students in our group, who was obviously confused by the whole scene, as she asked, "Where was the guy singing back to him? Was he at the top of the tower?" Gwen and I just started laughing really hard and I just gave her sympathetic eyes as I said, "Oh, Canada." Gwen and I shared another burst of hysterics after my comment. Tee-hee!

Arriving at the famous Tower of Pisa, we gathered ourselves neatly into a group so we could listen to a quick lecture on the history of the tower, presented by a few of our classmates. Each student must give a presentation on the history of some famous work of art at some point during the semester, and my group is scheduled to present in about two weeks. I'm not sure what we must research yet, but I'll inform as to when and what I must review, and whether my group does successfully or not. Anyway, the presentation went well, and we discovered that the tower has actually been leaning since it was first built, due to an unsteady foundation of sand, silt, and some other soft ground material. Thankfully, a third attempt to stabilize the tower was successful after two obvious failures, and the tower should - hopefully - be stable and standing for another 200 years. Hooray!

Afterwards, Anna, Elise, Gwen, Olivia, Tracey, and I, all chose poses to interact with the tower so we could take typical touristy Tower of Pisa pictures. I chose to pretend to be making the tower lean by blowing a kiss to the tower. So cute! We then went to the nearest gelato cafe and at 10:30 in the morning, proceeded to buy cups of espresso along with cones of ice cream. It was so exciting to finally have some gelato after a long withdrawl period, as the ONLY gelato cafe in Cortona is currently closed and won't be open for another two weeks! Gasp! How are we to survive?! Good question. So this was an extra special treat to be able to splurge on gelato, even if it was before noon.

We left Pisa before lunchtime and proceeded to make our way to a small town, Lucca, since it was on the way to our journey back to Cortona. Strolling the streets of Lucca was pleasant and rewarding; I finally found a black purse to replace my broken black Fossil bag, and the purse was on sale! Score. It's really cute and matches my red coat - perfect! We spent much time in Lucca, and found another gelato caffe that was fancy on the inside and out, and had even more fancy treats to enjoy. Anna and Olivia shared a huge bowl of hazelnut gelato that was swimming in the middle of melted molten chocolate, Tracey enjoyed a small glass of chocolate ginsinc, and I devoured an elegant concoction of gelato swimming in pools of espresso. It was soooo delicious! My two favorites - gelato and coffee. Perfect. My second gelato of the day! Can it possibly get any sweeter?

The trip home was enjoyable as Tracey and I shared a seat and a long conversation that lasted most of the trip. I really enjoy Tracey's company, and I am really excited that I was able to finally get to know her after a long time of just knowing her name and face at U of I. Once arriving in Cortona, I had a pleasant skype with my Mom as well as Josh, and then headed out into the night with all the girls. We had a really great time, as usual.

Today was full of paper making and wood press cutting. Olivia and I decided to collaborate and made our own flower petal cotton pulp into multiple sheets of different sized and shaped paper. We had a great time making the pulp together, and the paper turned out beautifully. Hopefully the sheets should be dry by sometime tomorrow. Next time we plan on making cotton pulp with moss. So excited!! We cleaned the studio afterwards and had a great conversation - that always seems to be a constant with me and Olivia. She is such a happy and honest person, and I'm really glad that I was able to make another U of I friend that I didn't know well, and turned it into a great friendship.

So schweepy! Time for bed. Tomorrow, Cortona is holding a festival for some sort of local holiday, and I think that we all plan on going down the mountain and into town to see what kind of celebration is happening. Will keep informed! Good night, ya'll :o)

fake empire, our diamond slippers on

Yikes! It's been a while. So much action going on in the Cortona Castle since I've been around this blog. Excuse my bitter tone during this blog, today has been a big unfortunate. But somehow this is the only time I have found for myself to blog, so I guess we will all just have to deal with my attitude for now. Ho hum, as Grandma Soft Arms would say.

Despite my current lack of enthusiasm, everything thus far has just been completely amazing. The food, the people, the culture...everything. We've experienced all the elements here as well - the weather is almost as unpredictable as Chicago. Last week it snowed at least six inches or more, yesterday was so beautiful I barely needed my coat, and today is pouring rain. Sheesh!

I think the largest surprise I have undergone so far isn't the culture shock that I have received from the Italians, but the daily culture shock I receive living within an old discarded once-monastary-then-refurbished-orphanage-then-redesigned-dormitory, inhabited by approximately 50 females and one man. I repeat: one male. UNO. Hmm this sounds oddly familiar and Champaign Urbana-like...'S' word, anyone?

In reality, the brothel house - ahem excuse me, I mean - the dorm, really hasn't been all that bad. I am thoroughly enjoying myself along with the close friends that I have made during my short stay, and even the girls whom have become acquaintances. My room mate, Gwen, is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a total badass. In short, we are basically in love. Truth. Instead of getting my daily dosage of WPGU, I get WPGwenU, which might actually be a little bit better...haha! [kidding!] But seriously, I don't think I could have chosen a better room mate for my stay. Gwen and I share similar views and realities, and that is something that is definitely important to me, especially when coming to such a unfamiliar territory and being expected to settle down effortlessly. I think transitioning to this life is much easier by having such great company.

Actually, I'm not really sure if our place could get anything farther from a brothel house. In mentioning the daily culture shock I receive in the dorm, I find the American Southern versus Northern American mentality just astounding. Most of the girls here are from the South, and honestly I never thought "ya'll" could ever survive as a 'cute' word in my mind, and I think that my vocabulary morality is suffering some critical damage by my admittance to this, but I love it when the word is slipped oh-so gracefully into general conversation. The girls are adorable, and I get along with most, if not all, very, very well. Shocking for me, I know. I am proud.

However, I cannot discount the differences...one of them being the ever so present love for the J-man. Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against religion or Christian-what-have-you's, which is the foundation for many WWJD lovers here, but I just didn't realize how Jay-Ee-eS-yoU-eS [YES!] really has a tremendous effect on people and how they live their everyday lives. This may sound ridiculous, but I am honestly shocked. I'm not really sure why, I mean, just because I have chosen to discount the presence of Him in my life, doesn't mean that others have...and I feel like I already knew that...but...maybe it is just a few comments here and there that I have overheard that make me feel a sense of alarm. I have religious friends at home, and I don't find their views particularly abnormal or anything. Nor are the views by these girls 'abnormal' in any sense...maybe...just...extreme? Maybe? Is that rude? Is that mean? I'm not trying to make offense...honestly, I just didn't know there was such a distinct difference between living as a 'moral' person, and living as a 'Christian,' but I guess that just shows how much I know.

Nevertheless, despite background differences and whatever, I really enjoy conversation with these lovely ladies. Especially one girl, the most adorable ginger I have ever met, Maggie, aka Kenneth. I have re-christened her as 'Kenneth' since she reminds me of the character from 30 Rock, in the most non-insulting and complimentary way possible. I mean, come on, who doesn't love Kenneth from 30 Rock? Is there a more adorable personality in that show? Clearly not. Did anyone see the episode of Kenneth's view of the world? OMGSOCUTE. YouTube that shit, ASAP, yo.

Besides attempting to make friends and trying my hardest not to accidentally insult them, mustering as much strength to reserve myself as I possibly can, everything else has been going quite smooth. My classes are awesome, and the teachers are insanely inspiring...I am taking Bookarts/Papermaking, Intaglio, Relief, and Renaissance Art History; all of which have been very enjoyable. For the semester, I have decided to work with the decorative patterns of antique mirrors and apply these theories to my paper and printmaking. The paper making professor, Amy, is seriously really cool, and is so knowledgable about everything paper...aka she is my hero. I'm not sure if I have ever met anyone as enthusiastic about paper [besides maybe Kamil] besides me, and now I believe I have. Today we learned how to embed and laminate pulp into sheets of paper, and hopefully they will be dry by tomorrow. Over the weekend we must make 6 sheets of paper, and I don't know if I could be more excited about this activity. We are also breaking down hemp string to make hemp pulp, and eventually create hemp paper. YAY !! Wow, what a nerd. I know. Back off.

mom

Happy Birthday Mamma :o)

cortona

It's been forever since I've been able to find a successful connection to internet, but finally we have arrived in Cortona and I will be able to continue blogging - hopefully - daily.

Before arriving in Cortona, we first traveled to Rome and Florence. We stayed in Rome for about four or five days, and then took a bus ride to Florence and stayed there for three days. Rome was amazing, I was able to see so many amazing and inspiring works of art. I've never been extremely interested in Roman culture or the Renaissance in particular, but visiting all of these beautiful museums and churches full of centuries and centuries of aged works, has definitely changed my mind. While in Rome, we visited the Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, and Michelangelo's David, just to name very, very few.

The first day in Rome, I arrived a day early with Elise, Tracey, Olivia, and Anna. We arrived a day before the rest of our group from Georgia, just so we would be able to get more rest and escape from any jet lag that we might inure. I roomed with Elise and Olivia, while Tracey and Anna shared a double. We decided that it wouldn't benefit any of us to sleep the entire day, so instead we went around and explored the suburbs of Rome that we were currently residing in. I was extremely surprised by the amount of italian graffiti in the city suburbs; it looked like an over decorated set for a bad gangster drama. There seems to be graffiti everywhere we go, it seems that the italians really enjoy using spray paint as a tool and building as canvas. But whatevs, yo - I'm cool with that. We explored the area a bit and found that the sidewalks were not exactly what we had anticipated - it was basically like an extra strip of cement that had a single yellow line separating us from the tiny european cars speeding through the city. Italian drivers are absolutely crazy, by the way. This initial trip on the sidewalk was terrifying. One, I'm not a huge fan of cars. Two, the sidewalk was only large enough for us to walk in a single file line. Very grade school chic, let me tell you. But we survived the trip and made many more down that street, with more and more ease each time. After stopping for lunch, a quick espresso at a cafe, and a browse around a closed supermarket, we headed back to the hotel and enjoy each other's company and talked into the night. We all headed to bed around 10:30pm, and woke up feeling groggy but continued to explore Roma anyway. We headed to the Trevi Fountain after successfully taking the underground subway and walking for hours through Rome. Arriving to the fountain felt so amazing. We threw coins into the fountain, took some pictures, and then laid down on the soft marble of the fountain and took a two hour nap in the sun. It felt so good to be relaxing on one of the most beautiful works of art.

Well my computer is quickly running out of battery and I have a meeting in a little bit, so I must be going. I'll keep posting!

Romamama

I'm in one of the most amazingly beautiful places in the world and I can't get that Lady Gaga song out of my head...good grief Charlie Brown. I blame you for this, Brian Lai! Damn that Bad Romance...

Anyhow, the flight overall wasn't so bad. I didn't even attempt to sleep since I was so excited, and I wanted to make sure that I cut the jet lag straight away. It is currently 11:30am in Rome, Italy, and in Chicago it is 4:30am. Yikes! I have been awake for quite some time now...please understand if my language is a little basic. Scusi.

Our hotel is beautiful. Could it possibly be anything else? The environment is so green and lush, and even the trees are remarkable...[I am NOT a hippie]...[jerks]...even the air feels lighter and sweet to breathe. As our flight was landing in Roma, the sun was just pouring out behind some fluffy white clouds and the sky was fresh with a bit of drizzle and light. I took a couple pictures of the most gorgeous rainbow effect given from these elements [just with my new little point and shoot] and I felt such a great rush of relaxation. It was the first breathtaking and exhilarating moment of my trip. And that was just on the airplane.

I'm currently rooming with Elise and Olivia, while Anna and Tracey are in a double a couple doors down. Our rooms are comfy, but the quarters are ridiculously small, which seems to be something that we are going to have to get used to, and quickly. When we stepped into the individual rooms portion of the hotel, the elevator was about as large as one American sized obese man. Maybe not even obese. Probably just a man with a larger beer belly. Moral of the story: whoa, tiny! I can already see that I am going to be facing a ton of silly phobias I have while I am here, and hopefully I will be broken of a few of them...like my phobia of tight elevators. Ahh! I sent my luggage up to the second floor [which is actually called the first floor, the ground level called 'zero'] and ran up the stairs to meet up with my luggage! I know, I'm silly. Maybe I'll break that one soon...oh, and the shower is about the same exact size of the elevator. Ohhhmygoodnesss.

While Olivia and I were scanning our new territory for a bit, we noticed that a garbage can was smoking. Literally. The smoke didn't smell awful though, it was almost aromatic, so for a moment we almost passed it up as something that was SUPPOSED to be there. Wrong! We noticed that the smoke was continuing to grow, so we hurried inside the hotel and tried to explain to the nearest person, the bartender, that the garbage can was on fire! Olivia motioned her to follow us because it was quite clear she was confused as to what we were getting at, and before we could all make it over there, a man working for the hotel was already stamping it out. Phew! The bartender then told us that if we needed a larger garbage can, that there was a huge dumping one behind some fences and whatnot! Haha! Talk about misinterpretation. Later we questioned ourselves as to why we didn't think to say "un fuego!" but, no worries, no damage done.

I actually wrote this blog the day we arrived in Rome, and I can only buy internet one hour at a time, so it doesn't seem like I will be able to keeping blogging consistently until we get into Cortona. Sadness! But don't worry, so many other Italia stories to be told...keep checking!

Lovelovelove

i love kamil kecki

I have the best family in the entire world. I leave...today.

yukon gold

i wish youd take your lap top while you poop