Athena Blogs

We have officially finished our last weekend excursion, and it took every muscle in my body to step off our last train once it was done. I didn't want to leave our Cinque Terre weekend behind me. The Cinque Terre is a region of the Italian Riviera on the northwest coast of Italy that consists of five villages connected via hiking trail, boat, and train. Every aspect of the Cinqe Terre leaves me speechless.

We stayed in Vernazza, the 4th of the 5 villages. It is located around a little harbor, and it consists of a small community surrounding the water. Vernazza is as charming as the sea is blue. On Friday evening once we took the train from Tarquinia to Vernazza, we unloaded our bags in out room and we decided to venture out to begin our weekend hiking. Before leaving the village we stopped by some local stores to pick up some food for a tasty picnic. The Genova region where we were is the home of pesto, so we bought some fresh pesto from the little grocery store and we also picked up some blackberries, apples, and freshly baked focaccia bread. And you cannot forget the local Cinque Terre vino bianco, which they grow in the surrounding vineyards, which we hiked through.

We hiked outside of Vernazza and ate our picnic on a little table overlooking the ocean. It was an idyllic experience that we documented with our cameras and with our memories. We realized that we could not open the wine bottle so I ran back into town and found a local resident walking through the alley, so I asked him. His wife threw down his wine opener from three stories up and he was obliged to acquiesce my request.

Even though we are not traveling to far-reaching destinations in Italy during the middle of the week, it is no less exciting and entertaining. The ideal location of Tuscania lends itself to many short excursions. For example, after dinner on Monday evening we decided that we wanted to try a new gelateria. One of the local waiters, who has become our friend, drove us to the beach at Montalto and we walked around the pier until we found the best gelateria. Not only did I order my usual pistachio, but I also tried the cinnamon, tiramisu, and nocciola. It was divine (if not a little decadent)!

On Tuesday we walked into our Italian class and our teacher asked us if we wanted to study at Lake Bolsena. We were not ones to turn down that inviting offer, so we hopped in his car and learned about the irregular verb conjugations while sitting at a table on the sands of the lake as the waves crashed into shore at Capodimonte. It was the most idyllic classroom setting that I have ever experienced.

Steph and I are continuing to have the most delightful time here in Italy! After a somewhat eventful train experience, we were able to spend a day in Venice. I know we thought we had mastered the train system here, but we were proved wrong. We began our trip with a 20 minute bus ride to Viterbo where we were supposed to take a train to Orte, then get on another train to Bologna, and finally a third train to Venice. However, we couldn't find the train station in Viterbo, as they are in different areas of town! Long story short: we missed our train, called a taxi, and were able to make it to Orte before the train did, allowing us to continue with our itinerary.

While we were in Venice, we first enjoyed the evaporator ride down the Grand Canal. After checking into our charming hotel on a small canal, we toured St. Mark's and Doge's Palace. We then took to the streets, exploring the beautiful city with our cameras in hand. We stopped at the Academia bridge to get a good view down the Grand Canal. We found a wonderful restaurant for dinner near the Academia bridge, where we enjoyed spaghetti and pizza. On our walk, we also stopped at a number of stores, most of which carried a wide selection of Murano glass! We finished the day with gelato on the steps of Doge's Palace, listening to a small band perform.

Last night as we sat on the sand of Lake Bolsena, we were star gazing at some of the same stars that we see in America. We all pointed to the Big Dipper, and then spotted Venus. I even laid eyes my first shooting star. There is so little light pollution here that the stars are so much more visable. Our new Italian friend offered to drive us to Marta, a small town on Lake Bolsena just 15 minutes from Tuscania, last night after our typical dinner of pizza and vino. It was a nice change to walk around the pier at night listening to the waves of the lake lightly crash into the shore.

Yesterday during the day, my Etruscan and Roman art history class took a field trip with some of the archaeology students to Cerveteri, an Etruscan tomb site outside of Tarquinia. It was fascinating to walk down into the earth and see where the Etruscans laid their dead. Cerveteri was like a mini town of the deceased. We chose which tombs we would have picked for ourselves.

The adventure here in Italy is continuing with flying colors! Steph and I spent our weekend in Florence and Cortona and had a marvelous time! This chapter of our adventure began on Thursday evening after class, when we left Tuscania for Florence. We took a taxi to the train station in Orte, where we would take train all the way to Florence. However, we ended up getting on the wrong train and went backwards to Viterbo! We then took another taxi back to Orte, adjusted our itinerary after careful examination of the various train schedules, and arrived in Florence about three hours later than expected. We chalked it up to experience and are now more familiar with the train system here in Italy. :)

Upon arrival in Florence, we checked into our hotel and got a few hours of sleep before a full day of sightseeing and shopping. We toured the Academia, Medici Chapels, Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, and Pitti Palace. We marveled at Michelangelo's "David," "Night," "Day," "Dawn," and "Dusk" sculptures. We also admired works by Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Titian, and especially Botticellis' "Birth of Venus." We explored the local market and were able to purchase a number of wonderful souvenirs, including beautiful cashmere scarves, leather goods, and much more. We stopped for pictures at Ponte Vecchio, Florence's most famous bridge, on our way to Pitti Palace. As dinner time neared, we found a delicious pizzeria in the Piazza della Repubblica. We ended our spectacular day with gelato on the steps of the Duomo. What a perfect day in Florence!

As Stephanie said in the previous blog, living in Tuscania is like living in a postcard! This motto has kept true though the first week of our stay here. Classes started on Monday afternoon and are going very well. Between our classes and new friends, we are staying busy and loving every moment of it!

In my photography class, I have already learned a great deal about Photoshop, how to take a successful picture, and a brief history of photography. Steph is also enjoying her classes. Her Italian class is proving especially useful in communicating with the locals; she is learning so much useful information!

While traveling through the world famous city of Rome, we really tried to adapt the mantra "When in Rome, do as the Romans." Whether we were eating pizza at a Trattoria, throwing a coin over our shoulder at the Trevi Fountain, or pushing our way through the underground metro system, we did everything with Roman appreciation and gusto. We strolled through the Roman Forum to tread the path that the ancient Romans walked in order to participate in politics and social life. We then took the cobblestone roads to the Colosseum, one of the most well-known sites in Europe. Once inside these almost infamous circled walls, we closed our eyes and traveled back in time. You could almost hear the gladiators and lions each vying for their lives.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast located near the Termini train station. It is at Termini where the two metro lines meet, and therefore the location is fantastic. We easily took a 15 minute metro ride to the Vatican. At the Vatican we were overwhelmed with the genius of Michelangelo as we stopped and stared at his Pieta, with such a young Mary holding her son, Jesus. Our legs became exhausted walking up the over 300 stairs of the dome by Michelangelo above St. Peters Basilica. And lastly, as soon as we stepped foot in the Sistine Chapel, our eyes were magnetically drawn to the story of creation with God giving life to Adam by extending his finger. The scene is so simple, yet it symbolizes so much.