Last Day in Cortona

       Today, we had our last day here! We had a guest lecturer from the University if Siena, which was interesting, but over my head. He had this dreadful unibrow that was quite distracting. I finished and turned in all of my papers before noon so I had the afternoon to spend in town! Grabbed lunch, shopped a bit, and rested a bit in my room with the windows wide open! It has been a beautiful day!

       Tomorrow, we leave for Orvieto and the Rome! It’s going to be a busy few days but I can’t wait see what is in store!

Writing and More Writing

     Monday consisted more of talking about cancer and more of writing our papers. Our paper for the first half of the science class is about the Renaissance and the Black Death. Cancer and the Black Death: two bright and cheery topics! From what we were told, this paper is a new thing for the maymester. They wanted to try and tie the topics of Italy, science and art together by getting us to write how the plague affected art. I’m not really sure if they succeeded.

     Yesterday, guess what I did? More writing. I finished my Black Death paper!

     Today, guess what I did? More writing, except this time, I finished my third and final paper! Woohoo! This one was on stem cells. Oh, and in class today, we had this half of the science class’s group presentations. My group talked about Gleevec as a treatment for leukemia. Ask me anything the Black Death’s influence on the church, induced pluripotent stem cells, Euthanasia, and Gleevec as a treatment for leukemia, and I may or may not be able to answer it. Hopefully I will :)

     This evening, the theater program here with us had their first performance at the theater where the orchestra was. They have been working on Much Ado About Nothing. I was really impressed! I have developed so much more of an appreciation for live performances, like plays and musicals, because of my sister’s interest in it. I just love it!

      I am looking forward to being able to enjoy our last day in Cortona tomorrow because I am done with my schoolwork! Can't believe how fast it flew!

Mass

            I am officially 20 ½. That sounds dumb. When we were in Florence shopping in one of the markets, this woman can up to us to ask us about or opinion on a scarf for her daughter. She asked how old I was. I think it was the first time someone has asked me how old I was since I turned 20, it feels sooo weird to say I’m 20.

            In class, we talked about cancer some more. After, we went back down to the market. It wasn’t as good as yesterday.

            This evening, I got to experience Mass in Italy. I kept saying I really wanted to go one Sunday, but no one else seemed interested, plus, we had class in the morning. But this afternoon, a few people wanted to go so I decided to join them at the last minute! We went to the church at the very top of the mountain, Santa Margherita. It was beautiful, didn’t understand a word, but it was beautiful! And, it was Pentecost, so even more of an experience! Two of the other girls I are not Catholic, so of course comes the dilemma of what to do during communion. We decided to go up with our arms crossed on our chest, like you would in the States, to receive a blessing. When I got up, I didn't stop or look at the priest, and went straight back to my seat. However, one of the other girls apparently stopped and the priest gave her this really funny looked and said, “You Catholic?” She shook her head and he shooed her away with the wafer in his hand and told her to go back to her seat! I guess we should have stayed there to begin with. Whoops.

            We went back to Café Delgi Artisi tonight for dinner! Once again, delicious! They like us there :).

Where Wine is Cheaper Than Water

            Today, we started the second half of the science class. This half, we are focusing on cancer and stem cells. I’m kind of excited! We got out of class by 11 which was wonderful! It seems like our last professor kept us in class forever! On Saturdays and Sundays there is a market in one of the Piazzas so Amy and I went to check it out. We got some fresh cherries to eat with our lunch, which were delicious! This afternoon, I wrote my art history paper for Florence! Now, I just got to write the 2 for my science class. Fun Stuff! Somehow, I got away without writing a single paper this past semester, with the exception of my lab reports (which are waaay different), so this is just about killing me :(.

            Oh, so I made this list the other day too:

Things I’m looking forward to when we get back home:

1)    I’ve already said this, but a washer and dryer

2)    Not having to pay for water. It makes me feel sooo stupid when I do, but we have to be careful about drinking the tap. Btw, at a restaurant, the wine is cheaper than water!

3)    Being able to use a public restroom without having to wonder if they are going to charge me 0.60 €. I refuse to pay it!

4)    Fast Internet. When more than 5 people get on, it either takes forever and a day or crashes. Ben, our director, said: “That’s Italy for you.”

5)    My car.

6)    More clothing options. I keep wearing the same thing.

7)    Not instant coffee. What they give us tastes horrible-but necessary

8)    Temperature control. It’s either hot or cold, no in-between. 

Funny Dr. Zuraw

            Today we finished our tour of Florence, the last stop was the Accademia where David is. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Florence, make sure you see it! Amazing! We were not allowed to take a picture, but I sneakily took one with my phone (they really just want you to turn off your flash). I’m still contemplating uploading it, but I’m facing the dilemma of its appropriateness.

            During our visits to Siena and Florence, we were all given whisperers to use for our tours. We all had earpieces in while our professor, Dr. Zuraw, had a mike that she spoke into so she didn’t have to yell and compete with other tour guides that were there. Dr. Zuraw is incredibly intelligent and probably one of the smartest women I know. She also has a very funny sense of humor and would often forget to turn her mike off when we were walking between places/ say stuff under her breath that we could all hear. Amy and I made a list:

Funny Things Dr. Zuraw Said:

1) “Don’t take a picture of the façade, its 19^th century.” Apparently that’s too new

2) “You can only take a picture if you say ‘I know its fake, I know its fake, I know its fake.”

3) “Remember 20 years ago….” Well no, I was 6 months old.

4) “Where’s door, where’s the door? Where’s the door?” I though she was looking for the exit, she was actually looking for the real Gates of Paradise. Btw, she never found them.

5) Walking through one of the churches, “Don’t’ care, don’t care, don’t care, don’t care…”

6) Pointing to one of the figures in a painting, “And this guys looks too dumb to graduate kindergarten.”

7) Leaving the church where Michelangelo and only other important people are buried “My advisor whom I did my PhD under is buried here.” NO BIG DEAL.

8) Beep beep “It wasn’t me, wasn’t me. These walls are here to keep you away from the paintings but apparently they want to keep you away from the wall too.” It was too you.

9) We saw several rolled eyes at other tour guides…. because she isn’t one or anything.

10) After buying tickets, “Look like you are under 17.” What? You got us child tickets...we are 20 and 21.

We safe and sound back “home” in Cortona. We leave for Rome Friday and fly back next Tuesday! Time flies! I’m exhausted and I have three papers looming over my head that are due before we leave for Rome. Therefore, next logical choice: go to bed. Good night!

Walking and Standing

            So it has been established that Italian breakfast consists of something very similar to cake, yogurt, cookies, croissants, a corn-flake type cereal, and fruit if you are lucky. I wasn’t complaining at first, but I really miss my occasional eggs.

(Santa Croce)

            After breakfast, we again hit the ground running. We just about trekked across all of Florence today. Good thing it isn’t terribly huge, but my feet are killing me- and I even wore good comfortable shoes. The most exciting things we saw today were Santa Croce-the church were Michelangelo is buried, and the Medici Chapel-so beautiful. After our looong day of walking and standing, Amy and I did some shopping :). Dinner once again was a disappointment. :( -I’m ready to get back “home” to Cortona. 

Santa Maria del Fiore

          Once again, the day started bright and early, this time with a 2 hour bus ride to Florence (we were told it was going to be an hour and 15 min, they need to get better about predicting this timing apparently). Thank goodness for my neck pillow so I could sleep on the bus! Once we arrived, we hit the ground running with quick stop at a pasteria for a pastry and coffee and tour of the Uffizi (one of the main museums in Florence). After lunch, we went over to the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, its baptistery, and its museum. It was incredible! The Cathedral was hands down my favorite. The mixture of old and new in Europe is amazing to see. We would be walking down the street by stores such as Gucci, Prada, and Armani, then turn the corner and there is the Cathedral. I hear it gets even crazier in Rome.

            When we got done for the day, we were able to check into our hotel and rest up a bit before dinner. Dinner was included for us at a restaurant across the street from out hotel. I’m pretty sure the restaurant tried to serve us their version of American food, which consisted of pasta, potatoes, and meat. Nice attempt, but not really. 

Science Majors

            Amy and I got up early this morning to catch an earlier train to Pisa on our way back to Cortona. Picture “holding up” the leaning lower: check. Why yes, I am an American tourist and I am proud of it :). When we got back to the train station in Pisa, we met up with the rest of the group from Cinque Terre and made our way back to Cortona. 

On the train, Amy and I made this list:

What Happens When You Get a Big Group of Science Majors Together:

1)    No one has any foreign langue skills

2)    Everyone has an opinion about what they think is best and WILL share it

3)    We approach solving a problem the same way

4)    We compete about who is right

5)    When we want something, it will get done!

Lesson learned: Travel with a people in a variety of majors. For example the occasional accounting major that will figure out what everyone owes, the journalism major that will remember what you did because they wrote it down, the education major that has the patience, the foreign language major that knows the language, the nursing major that has the first aid kit, etc... that way everyone has their strength.

            Well, here I am, back in Cortona. Art history paper for Siena is written to turn in tomorrow and bag is packed for Florence for the next 3 days of art history.

Risky Business

          So it has been a pretty interesting day to say the least! We all slept in for once which was sooo nice! Once we got up, we grabbed some lunch and hiked over to Monterosso, one of the main 5 towns in Cinque Terre. The hike was gorgeous! We were told it was a beginner’s hike which was a big lie. Over the course of 2 hours, we ended up climbing some mountains and got to a pretty high elevation. As much as it was work, it was well worth it!

By the time we got to Monterosso, the weather finally cleared up and we finally saw sun! We walked around some and Amy and I decided to pay a couple of the other towns a visit. We got a train ticket to Vernazza, the next town over, walked around a little, and left because there was not much to do/ not much was open. Cinque Terre faced some pretty bad mudslides back in October and November and Vernazza was especially hard hit and still recovering. We decided to go over to Manarola, two towns from Vernazza, and got some dinner and coffee.

(Manarola)

When we got to the train station in Manarola to lead to Levanto, we were expecting to meet up with two girls who went to Manarola with us. But, they did they own thing while we got dinner and we didn’t see them at the train station after dinner so we figured they got an earlier train. Amy and I tried to go find a kiosk to get our tickets because the office was closed. Apparently, they don’t like them in Manarola because there were none. We were going to have to risk it and ride the train ticketless and pray to God we wouldn’t get asked to show them. The train came, we got on. We got on a first class car on accident. As the train approached the next town, we saw a person in a TrenItalia uniform and about peed in our pants. We immediately get up to get off at the stop. He followed us off the car like he suspected we didn't have tickets, whoops! So there we are, at the train station at 9:00pm, 365 steps (or something close--still ridiculous) down a hill from the actual town of Corniglia. And the next train doesn’t come for an hour. Fantastic. We found a kiosk at that train station to get tickets because Lord knows I was NOT going through that again. The kiosk doesn't work. Even better. So there we were once again ticketless with no way of getting tickets. After a rant of frustration and panic that we were going to get hauled off to jail with a 200 euro fine (I may have been exaggerating a little), I finally found some composure to get through the next 40 minutes until the train came. This time, we got on a second-class car and safely made it back to Levanto. What a night!

(me ranting, thanks Amy for taking a picture)

Rain, Rain, Go Away Again

          Today, we finally got to Cinque Terre. We are actually staying in a town called Levanto which is not one of the main 5, but still in Cinque Terre National Park. Of course we arrived during siesta and everything was closed - once again super annoying. It has been raining all day but its still really pretty being close to the water!

            The rest of the afternoon consisted of the 21 of us hanging out in our hostel until dinner. After, Amy and I decided to be party poopers and now are here in bed early.

Siena

          Today, we had our second art history tour in Siena. After a little over an hour bus ride (we were told it was going to be 30 min) we were dropped off, walked into a pasteria for coffee and a pastry, and made our way over to the Siena Cathedral. This church was incredibly beautiful! The façade was so detailed and contained colored stone! Inside was even more beautiful with the striping and blue ceiling (the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted the same way before Michelangelo painted it).

After seeing the cathedral, the baptristy, and the museum, it was time for lunch. We grabbed some pizza and gelato and walked around for a little bit before we had to meet at the Plazzo Publico. There, we saw more art.

When we were done, our group going to Cinque Terre got made our way over to the train station and headed to Florence. Finding the hotel we were staying in was super fun…not. We kind of got lost leaving the train station in Florence. Good thing I packed everything I needed in my backpack. 45 minutes and much complaining later, we finally got to the hotel, dropped our stuff off and headed to dinner. On our way to find dinner, I was..lets say irritable, snappy, hungry, annoyed, irritable (all words Amy came up with). She finally told me to shut up and handed me a granola bar. I was much happier after. Apparently, I am not very fun to be around when I’m hungry and tired.

We finally found a place to eat dinner and it was  once again delicious! After, we walked around a little bit and came across a place that had the soccer game on. What an experience that was! A bunch of Italians crammed into a small place, but it was fun!

Festival per Santa Margherita (e Amy)

            Today is Amy’s Birthday! Class got rescheduled for 1:30 instead of 8:30 which I’m sure she really appreciated. I got up and went on a run in the park, which runs along the side of the mountain we are on. It was so beautiful!!! The rest of the morning and afternoon consisted of more school.  My group lost our debate, Amy’s won (yes, we were on opposing teams). 

            Dinner was good, the food at Tonino’s has definitely gotten much better since the first night. Not totally sure what everything is I have been eating, but I has been good. Especially the desserts! Today, they celebrated the birthdays we have has since we’ve been here so Amy got her own special birthday dessert.

        After dinner, we walked around town for a little bit and got to Piazza Republica in time to see the beginning of the festival for Santa Margherita (the patron Saint for Cortona). From what we were told, this festival has been going on since the 1300s. Then, went to go pack for Cinque Terre! We leave bright and early for Siena in the morning, then the 21 of us stay in Florence for a night before heading to Cinque Terre!

Clothesline

            Good news! Today we got out of class super early! I was way more excited than I should have been. Amy and I figured out the laundry situation. Solution: the old fashion way which entails hand washing our clothes in the sink, rinsing them out in the shower, and hanging them outside on the terraces to dry. I learned that clothes don’t really dry when it is kind of cold outside. I have never been more grateful for a dryer in my entire life. That will be one of the first appliances I buy for myself when that time comes.

            For lunch, we went and got some sandwiches from the grocery store. They are soooo good and cheap!  We ate the on the steps of the piazza. Someone handed Amy a rose (there was some sort of ceremony pictures being taken there before we sat down).

            Schoolwork consumed our afternoon once again. I got my paper for art for Cortona written!