So. It’s my birthday, and I’m in Italy. Happy 21 to me!!! Everyone on the program knew about it because it was in the newsletter, so I was getting pats on the back all day- it was cool.

Spent much of the day napping, having stayed up until 2:23 yesterday to toast myself a 21-years-to-the-minute thing. Did you all know that I was born @ 2:23 on 2/23? You should. Of course, with the time difference, it wasn’t quite right… but I’ve been celebrating at 2:23 AZ time for the last 17 or so years, so it’s fine.

Turning 21 isn’t really that big of a deal here- I think I might head out to the bar later for a celebratory pint of guinness, but I’ve got class tomorrow at 9, which means I get to wake up at 7:30, because of the crazy bus system in Rome. Let me tell you- Italian drivers are all they are cracked up to be. Insane. Crosswalks only work if you’re in them- nobody slows down if they see people waiting at said crosswalk. What you have to do is make sure nobody is going so fast that they couldn’t stop (unlikely) and then just start walking, at which point the crazy Roman behind the wheel aims their car at where you won’t be when they hit the crosswalk and accelerate. Not for the weak of heart, crosswalks in Italy.

Alright, everyone. I’ll type out a longer entry later- for now I just wanted to check in and say hi. Ciao!
Zac

Alright, everyone, I know it has been quite some time since I’ve updated. So. Though it would be impossible to relate everything that has happened so far, I’ll do my best, starting with the most recent events.

Yesterday was amazing. Yesterday, I went to Perugia (which is the chocolate capitol of Italy, among other things) with several friends. I think my Italian has finally improved for the better, because I’m starting to feel, all at once, like I can get my point across. Anyhow. I used said Italian at this cool little restaurant, acting as the translator both for my friends (who don’t speak Italian) and the waiter (who didn’t speak English). Sweet.

Food was quite good, bill was very reasonable, and everyone had a good time. Then, we went to this nifty little museum by the Duomo there, and on the way, saw some random guy dancing on the steps of the Duomo. Stopped to watch, then all of a sudden, a bunch of other people on the steps jump up and start dancing with him. Turns out it was a music video for some Latin singer. Hopefully my friend’s video camera caught some of the music and we can find it when I get home, so I can say “I was there!” So. Into the museum, where we saw a huge number of 13th century-type paintings… the ones that are usually pretty bad, and look all old & flat and stuff, with the gold all over. We didn’t have an art history teacher with us, so I might not be getting this right- but these paintings were in INCREDIBLY good shape, and were REALLY cool looking. The collection went all the way up through the renaissance in the same style, and it was really cool to see the paintings progress. Raphael’s master was one of the artists there. Anyway. Definitely worth the €6.50 entrance fee.

After the museum, we found our way to this little chocolate shop (in Lets Go, might I add) called Perugina. Lets just say that the chocolate I had there reminded me more than a little of the ridiculous hazelnut chocolate I had in Belgium. Speaking of Belgium, I think I might be making a trip there next weekend- I’ll keep you posted on how that works out.

Then, we went into the Duomo, saw a really nice church, realized we had 30 minutes to get to the train that was leaving at 5:25, and high tailed it to the bus… where the driver promptly got out to smoke a cigarette. Thank god he was a crazy driver- got us down the hill and to the train with 30 seconds to spare. The whistle was blowing as we got on the train.

So, then, last night once we got back, one of my friends told us that some Italian people she had met a few days ago wanted to go out to dinner with us (same group as before). Me being the Italian speaker in the group, I just started chatting with them. Great fun. I think we’re all going to try to make dinner dates every so often so that everyone can learn each other’s language. I now know how to say that I donate blood in Italian, because the Italians wanted to know why I didn’t want to get a tattoo (obviously not the only reason, but worthwhile anyway). I was totally surprised when they said “you look Italian when you speak Italian… your accent is very good and you use your hands”. Hah. I guess I got more of Mom’s genes than I thought!

Alright, stepping backwards to Roma. I think I might actually have fewer pictures of Rome in 3 weeks than I did of Florence, just because Rome is SO big, SO overwhelming, that it feels like you’d be snapping photos of everything you see. Something that made a pretty big impression on me was that one day we were walking from Stazione Termini to the Colosseum, and I turned around to look at a corner, and there was inscribed something to the effect of ‘Pope Julius made this in the year whenever’. I don’t know- there is just so much history to this place it’s insane. By the way, there is a coffee shop
built on top of the spot where Caesar was killed. Pretty cool. So, I’ve been to the Pantheon, the Colosseum, Forum, outside the Vatican (we go in with my Art teacher soon) to the Campidoglio, outside Vittoriano (gaudy), Trevi, Spanish Steps (which have bad food), and of course, Termini, which is very near to my school. Rome is just so huge… I know I keep saying that, and it’s probably stupid to say, but hey, I’m from the suburbs, and I’m just not used to this kind of thing. Though, I suppose no
Americans REALLY are, since our country is so new, we don’t really have that much large-building-history.

Calcio (soccer) is incredible here. We have a bar right down the street from us that houses some SERIOUS Lazio fans. We plan on descending and cheering for Roma… hopefully the bartender (Leonardo… nice guy) won’t kick us out. We’ll see. The streets of Rome are going to be crazy that night. I mean, they were nuts after Roma beat Juventis 4-0 *by the way, that was a totally awesome game*… but that wasn’t the inter-city rivalry. People get in fights over that sort of thing here.

So, that’s my story in a nutshell. Been here for almost 2 weeks (over a month in Italy proper, I suppose). The picture count is up to 288.

Ciao ragazzi!

-Zac

Alright, everyone- this computer apparently doesn’t want me to put a link to my website, so check the comments, where I’ll put the link that you need to see the PICTURES that I uploaded. I’ll add comments later when it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to write stuff.

Ciao!
Zac

Allora…

Currently I’m sitting in the computer lab at Richmond. I’m in Rome now… and I am almost completely overwhelmed by this place. I’m living in Trastevere, which is amazing… totally Roman, totally Italian. We watched the Super Bowl last night (had to go to a pub because we have no TV in our apartment yet). Not only was it not an incredible game, but when it is broadcast in foreign countries, there aren’t any American commercials. Oh well.

Anyway, impressions of Rome….

Its huge. I was totally getting used to Florence, which is this cool little town, all tiny and stuff, very easy to get around in, very easy to tell where you are. Safe. Then we get to Rome, and there are people pounding themselves into busses and metros that are WAY overfilled. People everywhere, walks past the Pantheon ACCIDENTALLY, which is HUGE. That reminds me- there is this cool looking column that is all gigantic and stuff. We asked our guides what it was, and they didn’t know… I guess Rome is just so full with all this crazy history that they don’t even know it all. I suppose its just overwhelming, really.

So far, the food has been pretty fantastic. I had this bruschetta two days ago that was just fantastic… and all it was was bread, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, and lettuce. Olive oil here is better. The gnocchi last night was pretty bad, but the pizza margherita was awesome (all pizzas are thin crust here, and are just ridiculously good).

I don’t even know how I’m going to write about Rome here, or even in my scrapbook thing. Its as if all of the amazing sights we’ve seen in all the rest of Italy are condensed here. Good lord.

So. Venice was over a week ago, and in that week, I have accomplished much.

Visited Siena and Monteriggioni. Siena is awesome… something like Florence in terms of size, but without the tourists. And actually, the tourists in Florence aren’t so bad. Anyway, Siena was totally sweet. We found this awesome Trattoria Papei place, and I got rabbit sauce pasta. Sweet. (oh by the way, I’ve taken something like 300 pictures so far, so I’ll have plenty of stuff to show everyone when I get back.. plus when I get to Rome we have a computer lab so hopefully I’ll be able to upload some pictures then. I have some fantastic ones). Then, we went and got the second best Gelatto I’ve had here so far. The first best is at this little place by the Arnot, right next to the Ponte Vecchio. I get pistachio and chocolate almost every time I go there.. I’m not usually a creature of habit, but then again, the pistachio there is a gift from God himself, so I figure its ok not to branch out constantly. Their hazelnut is ridiculously good too. Anyway. After this gelatto, we went on a tour of Siena, which was pretty cool, because it showed off the Duomo, which is gorgeous. (There are, by the way, Duomos all over the place. They are all made with green and pink marble, and they all have this striped look… they are all ridiculously big, too).

On the subject of gelatto, our program did a Gelatto tasting trip, where they took anybody from the program that wanted to around to three places in the city, getting us double scoops of whatever we wanted at each place. Naturally, when we came back from the trip anybody who hadn’t gone on the trip got made fun of mercilessly for days. Best gita (field trip) we’ve done yet.

I’m definitely starting to miss home a bit. Being in a foreign country is great, but there are minor drawbacks that are unfortunate sometimes. Food portions are smaller, which is great… but then again, I MISS large quantities of food. Cover charges are wierd.. every time you sit down at a restaurant you are usually smacked with a 1.50 cover per person. Water costs in the vicinity of 1.80 for a large bottle, and you can usually get glasses of wine for around 1.50 if everyone at the table goes in on a bottle. Its cool, but if you think about it, thats 4.50 worth of charges on top of most meals. Anyhoo. Oh, and I’m starting to get sick of Chianti. You really have to drink it with steak, and we’re not doign so much steak-eating here. You can, of course (bistecca alla fiorentina is the regional dish) but it costs too much to do routinely. It’ll be nice to move down to Roma and get some sweeter stuff.

Pisa was pretty neat. When you go there, avoid the tower, and go instead into the dome-looking thing to the west of it. Our guide informed us that it has perfect acoustics. Cool, yeah, whatever, so all us kids were shouting and stuff, making general nuisances of ourselves. So, a policewoman comes in and yelled at us, shutting us up. Then she walks to the middle of the floor, stands on the pedestal there, and starts singing, forming harmonics with herself. Because of the echoes and such, all these amazing tones started coming out that she hadn’t even sung. It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had here so far. Beautiful. Turns out she was a voice major in college… go figure.

Walked to the hills today, got some incredible views over Florence. We’re doing so much walking here, and not so much eating as at home… definately good for me.

It snowed yesterday… just a slight amount, but everyone has been talkign about it, since it NEVER snows in Italy. NEVER. It hasn’t been that cold, though.

Alright, all, I’m out for now. We bus to Rome on Saturday, and I’m living in Trastevere, which is the most authentic, Roman part of Rome. I’m so excited… the food there is supposedly better, the nightlife and the neighborhoods more Italian… This program is really fantastic. I wish you could all be here with me. Tell other people that I’m actually keeping up on this journal thing… I didn’t expect to be doing it myself.

Ciao!