Assisi.

The day before we headed out to Cinque Terre, I visited the town of Assisi in the Perugia province. It is the birthplace of the founder out of the Franciscan order, Saint Francis, and it's picturesque. Though I am a Christian, I am not a Catholic. I do, however, attend a Catholic university. About half way through a tour of the amazing basilica at Assisi, I realized why the town sounded familiar to me - the saint for which my university is named! Pretty cool. Not much else to say, but some to show! Here goes.


Assisi is on the side of a hill, so it has some fantastic scenic views.







The gorgeous exterior of the Basilica Papale di San Francesco. No photos allowed inside, but rest assured it is gorgeous! There is an upper basilica and an absolutely magical lower basilica. Google it.

The piazza outside of the church.

After our tour, we grabbed lunch and then roamed the adorable town.
It was a quick but fun trip before my weekend excursion to the beautiful Cinque Terre!

First days in Firenze!

After ten days in close quarters with the same kids, I was less than prepared to be separated from them and thrown into a sea of new people. Then there was the added nervous anticipation of the fact I would soon be moving in with a host family. Given that I had no clue who my roommate would be and do not speak any Italian, I was a bit anxious about the whole situation. I soon found out, however, that my worries were totally unnecessary.

The mamma of my family is Mara who is super sweet and affectionate. She works in the holistic field and is all about finding the balance in life. She is also a fantastic (and health conscious!) cook, I might add. Paolo, my host dad, is a business consultant and all-around goofball. He’s incredibly kind and funny and is a constant source of entertainment. Mara and Paolo met at a school for English instruction. Mara worked as a secretary of registration there and Paolo was there to sign up for class, and that’s where it all began. When relaying this story to us, Mara commented, “That was twenty-five years ago.” Always wanting the last laugh, Paolo quickly added, “Yes, I was only ten years old.” :P

I am also lucky enough to have two host siblings: Sarah is twenty-five and Matteo is twenty-three. They are both ridiculously cool. And attractive! :P

My roommate’s name is Melanie and she’s a complete sweetheart! We were both nervous to meet each other, and to face the task of adjusting to life with our host family. It’s easy to imagine the worst – awkwardly-matched roomies or families; a house in an inconvenient location… So Melanie and I were thrilled to have not only an awesome host family but also the most adorable house.

In bigger cities like Florence, houses are essentially nonexistent; everyone lives in apartments, but they are less apartment-like and more townhouse-like. We live about fifteen minutes walking from the piazza in which my school is located; we also happen to live right down the street from the soccer stadium. We live in the bottom two floors of a beautiful building, one of which is a basement – and, in Florence, when you have a basement, it also means you have a garden, of which my host family takes full advantage. In short, my housing situation is better than great. Have a look!


Melanie's bed is on the left side; mine's on the right!

This here is the little stuffed monkey Ethan gave me before I left. :]

Our chairs and desk area.

Our window is street-level - truly. Meaning, from our window we hear a lot of footsteps and traffic!

This is the adorable little kitchen. This one of the typical breakfasts we wake up to every morning. Delicious.

The terrace and the garden!
The first weekend living in our home stays were deemed the “Immersion Weekend,” during which our family would… well, immerse us into Italian life. This all began with a fantastic dinner party with a few of their friends. I don’t know how I got so lucky as to be put in a homestay with a master pizza chef, but I did! Mara prepared the dough and Paolo worked his magic in the outdoor pizza oven.


This was the spread for our pizza party. Mara and Paolo did a fantastic job of making us feel special by insisting we help prepare the meal. ;]

That's Paolo!

Preparing what Tuscans call schiacciata - we all know it as foccacia.

The really sweet pizza oven in the backyard.

And then... we waited.

Before pizzas, we ate what can only be described as some sort of pizza dough sandwich. It kind of rocked.

Just doin' mah thang!

I get by with a little help from my roomie.

That little gal down there is Mara! Look at that set-up!

My host brother Matteo wielding a finished product!

The most classic of Italian pizzas!
Immersion weekend also included a visit with Paolo to a little place called Fiesole. It’s an Etruscan town up on a hillside that overlooks all of Florence. Bellisima!


A building in Piazza Garibaldi.

I guess I'm into taking paparazzi shots, but a couple this stylin' needed to be photographed.

All of Florence!

Can you spot that massive dome? More on that amazing structure later!

Ciao, Italia!

The next day, we rose with the sun and booked it to the airport. We boarded our flight to Italy, during which everyone worked feverishly on all of our assignments due that day. We landed soon after, boarded a bus, and proceeded to do a mad dash tour of Rome.


The interior of the Basilica di San Bartomoleo on Tiber Island in Rome.

A picturesque piazza.

Tourists chilling in front of the Fontana di Quattro Fiumi - the fountain of the four rivers.
Among the most significant of the sites we saw was the Pantheon, which is a huge temple-like structure dedicated to a bunch of Roman gods. Very old, very beautiful, and very fricking crowded. The funny part is this: outside of the structure were two men dressed as ancient Roman soldiers. On my way out of the Parthenon, one of the “soldiers” spotted me. He caught my eye and then launched into a hilarious attempt to enchant me. “Oh, my princess,” he greeted me. “You are such a beautiful girl. Where you are from?” “The US,” I replied. “Where in the US? Let me guess: California.” HOW did he KNOW? I still am at a loss. Anyway, he told me again how beautiful I was and I thanked him before dashing away and dissolving into giggles. He was probably about five foot seven and pretty goofy. Very amusing. Now I have the icebreaker “I was once accosted by a Roman soldier” to bring out at parties.


The view of the top of the Pantheon! Rest assured that the building is a lot cooler than this photo can capture.
Soon, we were on the train to Florence. Gradually the view outside the window morphed from touristy and industrial to old worldy and charming. Ciao, Florence! We arrived at our hotel with barely an hour to spare before our Orientation Welcome Dinner. Talk about overwhelming!

I cannot neglect to mention the hotel room, though. Apparently a lot of people were set up with less than impressive digs, but somehow we got lucky. The room was large and had all the makings of a legit lodging place (such a change from Greece). But the real draw? THE BATHROOM! A real toilet substantial enough to take in toilet paper (in Greece I often got the heebie jeebies after requests to deposit the paper not into the toilet bowl but into the trash can because it just seemed wrong), two sinks, a bidet (uhhh, how do you use that?), and a shower fit for a king (or four girls who have been in Greece for ten days). I won’t go into too much detail, but it looked like a hyper chamber out of a sci-fi movie equipped with a magical dial, which, upon turning, makes your dreams come true. It was glorious.


Jackie, Claire and I on a high from laying eyes upon the fantastic hotel room!

Me and Alyssa!

Claire and me. :]
After dinner, some friends and I joined a walking tour that took us all around downtown Florence. I finally had time to think. I am home. This is home for the next few months. And you know what? I really love it. I miss my family, my Ethan, my friends, but I know, right now I am where I am supposed to be.

The next morning we had our first look at Villa Rossa, the hub of Syracuse University in Florence. It is absolutely charming! I won’t bother with all of the boring details of the meetings we had that day, but it was a good day nonetheless. Then it was back to the hotel for dinner and sleep. Morning came quickly…

The Greek Odyssey: part six.

Our last day in Greece! The trip had been fun, but we were ready to stop moving and start settling down. We got up early to visit the Acropolis, the Citadel of Athens.


The Acropolis from below.
There are a few different structures on the Acropolis, including the Erechtheum, and the most awesome one, the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a beautiful temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, the namesake and protector of ancient Athens. So cool.


The Erechtheum, dedicated to Athena and Poseidon.

These five figures are the Caryatids. Somewhat upsetting is the fact that the sixth "sister" is missing - and is in a British museum. It is said that the remaining five sisters mourn the loss of the sixth every night.

The Parthenon. :]

It had drizzled a little that morning, but we were rewarded with a full rainbow. I wish I could have captured both halves!
After lunch, we walked a bajillion miles to the other side of town to visit the National Archaeological Museum – a lovely and classy establishment in an otherwise seedy area. We didn’t spend much time there, though, and the real story is what happened after we left. Our professor was leading us back to the hotel so that we could enjoy some free time – which had been elusive all trip – before dinner. He then proceeded to get us all lost. Very lost. So we all lamented our tragic circumstances as we watched our free time slip away from us as we wove through some rather questionable parts of town. We did, in fact, pass by a myriad of police cars and cops dressed in their riot gear, brandishing shields and leading vicious dogs. By the end of it all, we were sweaty, dirty, tired, and pretty pissed off. That’s when we decided we’d probably be okay not setting foot in Athens again for a long time.

Things improved that night, however. We had fun dressing up for a group dinner. It was good times spent with good people, which is always great.


Jackie, Alyssa and me.

What?

With our bus driver and his wife!

Zoe, Marin, Claire and me.

Yikes. ;]
Over dinner, we did the reminiscing you would expect after an experience such as this one. Let me preface this by saying the Greek Odyssey was a lot of ups and downs – so much traveling, so much time together, and whatnot – and we sometimes wondered whether we were in Greece or in a hellhole. We realized that although the trip was difficult to endure at times, we did not regret going. We did things some people will never even have the chance to think about dong. More significant to current circumstances, though, we met wonderful people on whom we could lean on during our experience abroad in Florence. Turns out hellholes can really aid in the bonding process.


Just a little something we found on the way to the restaurant, apparently created by a local homeless man named Tom. He actually has pop culture art like this all up and down this street. Pretty clever. :]

The Greek Odyssey: part five.

We had spent the night prior in modern Delphi, but this morning it was time to get old school! Off to ancient Delphi!

Quick background: Delphi is the site of the ancient Oracle. The Oracle was sort of like a fortuneteller, except a person goes there to get advice on things. A priestess gives an answer, but the answer is more of a riddle than a concrete instruction. And, yeah. Told you that’d be quick.

The point is this: Delphi is sacred ground, and, thus, it was constructed by its ancient… constructors to convey this fact. That manifested in the creation of a very large mountain city, very high up, giving it almost an ethereal feel. It was no picnic getting up this mountainside – it was actually more of a hike than a walk up the hill – but the amazing views of the valley below made it worth it. Afterward, we visited the Delphi Archaeological Museum, one of the few establishments that allowed photos of its artifacts.





This is a track for the Delphi Games. :]

Fun fact: you wouldn't associate Greece with the woodlands, but the pine tree is one of the most prominent types there.

A shot of the Theatre of Dionysus from above. Pretty cool.


Details of a frieze.

A teeny pediment.




And finally we were off to our last destination of the Greek Odyssey… Athens. Oh, Athens. Did you know forty percent of Greece lives there? It’s a massive city inhabited by a lot of people. The entire country of Greece is struggling economically, as we all know, but Athens has seen the brunt of that, in my opinion. It’s dirty, peppered with assorted and abandoned building projects, covered in graffiti… And there’s no money to change that, really. Sad.

That’s not to say that Athens is all bad. By no means! We visited the Acropolis museum which was absolutely beautiful. It was filled with countless Athenian artifacts, but the best part was the manner in which the museum was constructed – directly over the ruins of ancient Athens! The floor is transparent which allows museum patrons to literally float above the city. Quite amazing. What’s kind of sad about the museum, or really just sad in general, is that a lot of important things are missing. When the Turkish occupied Greece, they aimed to destroy much of the culture; part of that resulted in them willingly handing over works of art and architecture to the British, who now house them in their own museums. Things like portions of the frieze that once bordered the Parthenon are missing from the Acropolis museum, but the Greeks have voiced their opinions on the matter by replacing the missing pieces with simple concrete reproductions as well as leaving open spaces for the artifacts that they hope to get back one day.

Afterward, we climbed up a massive slab of slippery stone called the Areopagus Hill situated under the Acropolis. The rock overlooks the Agora (back in the day it was basically the marketplace; now it offers countless restaurants) and the surrounding city. WOW! Athens is gigantic. It was amazing to be up there right before sunset. Athens, like any other place, looks perfect from far away.


The view of the Acropolis from the Areopagus Hill.

Creepy stalker photo of a couple I don't know. Just look at how gorgeous the colors were.

The view of Athens from the hill.