18 Hours of Travel and a 9 Hour Time Difference Will Do That to You

My clock is so off. It's day three back home and I can't sleep like a normal person. I'm wondering if Hannah's home yet. Courtney just got home. I can't wait to call Anna Maria and tell her we're both a-OK. I find myself waking up at the oddest hours (ahem, 2:52 AM at present) and unable to fall back asleep, or falling asleep at my earliest convenience (8 PM) and waking up before the birds (7:15 AM). I haven't slept like this since grade school. Is part of jetlag having the sleeping pattern of a 5 year old?

Will Post About Epic Journey Home

More to come! Stay tuned.

Snow in Florence

On our last day here. Will flights home be canceled tomorrow? I do love the palm trees sprinkled with snow though haha

"Se sei un angelo?"

THURSDAY

Thursday morning began at Palazzo Vecchio where no fish were biting for English tours, so I followed this one tour, and it was great, it made my morning! It's called the Vasari tour, and one of the guy tour guides who work at the Museo dresses up as Giorgio Vasari and gives the tour as if it was the late 16th century as he shows off his work in Palazzo Vecchio (Vasari was the main architect, painter, and engineer for the Palazzo in the 16th century). It was GREAT!!! I'm so jealous, and I wish I was able to work here longer so I could get bumped up to the character tours and give the tours as the grand duchess or Vasari's wife (two options for lady tour guides). AH!!

Thursday felt like the last day of classes...though technically that's not until next Tuesday. We had Italian, where we signed up for our oral exam (at 9:30am Friday the 17th, and our written exam is the same day from 3pm-5pm...yes, the Friday before we leave...I'm throwing a fit our exams are that late!). And then into the library I went to finish up research for my final papers. I have two of the 6 left (I've been chipping them away! So happy!), and they're both half done, which is good and bad. Good because I have the weekend. Bad because I had tours all day Friday, Saturday, Sunday! So I'm still trying to figure out when they're going to get done. As Anna's best friend Antoinetta would say, Piano piano ("take it easy!").

After a couple hours in the library Hannah and I went over to the student art show and saw some of the cool stuff that the studio students did all semester. Hannah took a photo class this semester so two of her pictures were featured, and Anna met us at the show. We took her around the galleries and munched on apperativo and were so proud to introduce our great host mom to some of our friends. She took us home in her new car (an early Xmas gift from her brother, she's so proud of it! It's the tiniest little clown car you've ever seen but it's great!) and was way better than waiting for the bus, and we stopped at the store where we helped her get a thousand cases of bottled water. She made patatas e pollo (potatoes and chicken--in olive oil with salt and pepper, served cold) after a minestrone pasta for dinner.

FRIDAY

Friday morning started with a 9am make up class for Leonardo, and it was just so hard to get out of my warm bed--it's gotten so chilly! For a while it was humid and wet, now its dry and coooold. This morning Anna said it was -2C. Brrrrr. But we have blue skies, so I guess that's a plus? We had our intervalo and our professor treated us to cappucinos and pastries at the bar down the street from school--a great pick me up before we delved into Freud's psychoanalysis of Leonardo da Vinci. After class I headed into the super secret quiet room of requirement Study Lounge in Villa Rossa to continue doing work. 

Hannah met up with me a little after 1, and we went to look at all the Christmas decorations around Firenze. After a late lunch of pizza, I realized my tours that afternoon were sooner than I thought so I hustled over to Palazzo Vecchio, only to realize there was no one to give a tour to, so I grabbed some work and went outside to work in the Loggia di Lanzi. Intent on my work, time flew by, and I had no time to talk to strangers sitting around me (that's a story to be told in person, Hannah was amused by it!). Right before my 4:30 tour, Roberta, my boss, caught me and handed me my certificate of completion and a little "presetino" from Palazzo Vecchio, a book on the Museum and Palazzo to thank me for my time with the Museum, which was so sweet of them, they didn't have to do that!

I headed home to do a little work before dinner, we were meeting two of Hannah's friends from SUF Nora and Rachel, and three of Rachel's friends from another program at a place Sam and I went for lunch one afternoon, Dante's on our side of the Arno--but over 7 bridges from our house--where drinks are free for students and there's no coperto (cover charge). Waiting for a bus, we forgot there was a bus strike for #23 from 5:30-9:30 (technically we didn't know, we just knew there was something going on about a strike on the 10th), so after waiting for a half hour, I had the genius idea of hoping on our #8 bus to take us at least closer to the Arno, and then we walked 4 bridges over from there. We actually didn't get there too late, and sat down to enjoy a lovely dinner of (my Tuscan favorite) ribollita and wine wine wine. At the end of dinner they came and asked us if we wanted limoncello, and we all said no no we've had enough, so they poured us shots of limoncello anyway. It was actually my first time trying limoncello since being in Italy, and it was surprisingly good! It didn't taste like Pinesol. I was pleasantly surprised. We walked our two bridges over admiring Christmas decorations and trees sparkling out of the apartments by the Arno on our way to our bus stop. Hannah and I must've had good bus karma after our panic getting the restaurant, and we got to the bus stop just as the night bus
was approaching (good thing too, it only comes once an hour!).

SATURDAY

Both Saturday and Sunday were spent at Palazzo Vecchio getting my last few hours in. Saturday though, was a little strange. As usual, no takers for the 10:30 or 12 tours, but I had three friends come by to see the David Hirst exhibit (the diamond skull that everyone's making a big fuss about--previously mentioned in a different abroad writing), but they asked me to give them a tour of the Palazzo if I could. Well I didn't have anything better to do, so I took them on my 10:30 tour! Liz and Sarah are in my Medici class, so they followed along really well. After no one showed up for my 12 tour, I didn't see myself on the schedule for the rest of the afternoon, and anyway, my other supposed tour wasn't til 3:30, so I took off to meet Hannah at Villa Rossa for lunch--and by lunch I mean crunch time for finals.

I spent three hours locked in the warm library (thankfully! It's been so cold, and Palazzo Vecchio is rather drafty!) actually being extremely productive. Something told me that I needed to go back to the Palazzo for 3:30 though, even though I didn't see myself on the schedule. Thank goodness I did because I ended up having a tour after--and people to give a tour to! And so I took a couple from Scotland around the Palazzo. They reminded me of Sam and me. They were really funny and asked all the right questions. After wishing them a Merry Christmas, I felt like I got the tour thing down pat. Too bad I only had one day left of the internship. Oh well! 

I headed home shortly after with Hannah, and we cleaned ourselves up and headed out to our last dinner with the gang in Florence at our favorite osteria Gato e Valope. We enjoyed a huge meal and called it a night so we could get some work done. I had two more papers to finalize for Monday, and by the end of Saturday night, I had one down, one more to go!

SUNDAY
Sunday repeated Saturday: up and out the door for the Museo. No tour at 10:30 and the intern room was being used for a fresco workshop (one of the many activities offered by the Palazzo for kids), so I locked myself in the coatroom to get down to some Black Death paper writing business. By noon, I'd finished the bulk of the paper, and knew I had some takers for my tour. It turned out to be a group of about 12 people--by far the biggest tour I'd given!! And hands down the BEST tour I've given, I was so comfortable with the information, and so comfortable with the Palazzo and in front of a big group (not that I'd ever had problems with presentations or big groups before...), but they were also a great group of people who asked great questions in a curious way without sounding ignorant or confused--it was just awesome! I had two little old ladies in my group, so I took special care of them (as if they were Anna!) making sure they didn't have to walk up and down the stairs (which leave me winded) and taking them to the elevator. Within the big group was a 6-person family from right outside of London, a couple from the States, a mom and daughter from Australia, and a little Italian nonna who insisted on going on an English speaking tour, even though there was one in Italian at exactly the same time. Oh I can't say enough good things about this tour, I think they had fun, and as a result I had so much fun too!

After that tour I locked myself back in the coatroom to continue working on my Black Death essay. No takers for my 3 tour meant another hour and a half of homework, which ended up being just enough time to tie up loose ends on my papers. My 4:30 tour, however, did have another large-ish group: a Spanish couple with wife's mother in tow, an American girl students who'd been studying in Switzerland and is now traveling in Florence and Rome for the week, and another student. I took them around and thanked them at the end of the tour, explaining it was my last (sob!). I packed up my things, said good bye to the few tour guides who also stuck around late, and realized I'd be back to the Palazzo later that week--I hadn't taken any pictures of it!! Thank goodness I have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday relatively free!

Snapping a few pictures of the Palazzo all lit up at night, I decided to go to the Duomo to get a few pictures of the huge Christmas tree in the piazza with the Cathedral and Baptistery in the background--only in Florence, right? Well on my way, I ended up getting caught in two HUGE protests. One was for PETA with Italians screaming in other Italians' faces wearing fur coats (which is actually very come here--hello, booming leather industry, no surprise). The other was for immigration reform. Come on people, I just wanted a few pictures of the Duomo and the pretty Christmas lights! But it was fine, especially since I was on my own and able to bob and weave throughout the crowds. Headed to the bus stop back by Palazzo Vecchio (it tends to be a reliable stop), I stopped at Gelateria di Neri, a well-known gelateria I had yet to visit, and oh I was so glad I did! I walk past it every day from my bus stop to work, and the chocolate gelato paired with the cream and fig gelato--to die for. Perfect too since I'd missed lunch today, and it was only 5:30-6 and we had some serious time until dinner.

So I was content waiting at the bus stop with my gelato, listening to the record store across the way play Beatles music, but apparently the bus was running very very late. I was surrounded by very disgruntled old Italian men making it known how impatient and disgruntled they were. There was this little boy, Valentino, zipping around, weaving in and out of their legs being a little stinker. He'd impishly point up the to the old men and say "Polizia?" before he was off identifying the next "polizia." I was watching him laughing, while his mother yelled at him, "Valentine, che cosa fai?" ("What in the world are you doing?") when he came up to me and asked me "Se sei un angelo?"--"Are you an angel?"--as if this kid didn't have my approval already! Aaah so precious. Finally a bus arrived, and we were squished like sardines on it. As the bus chugged along and people got off, I realized Hannah was also on it on her way home from the library! We got home just as Anna and Antoinetta got home, and we all ate a great dinner together of minestrone noodles in chicken broth, chicken, salad, and tomates in olive oil.

Barcelona

Other than my flight mishaps, Barcelona was amazing and wonderful and absolutely great!

We got in Thursday evening and adjusted to the Spanish way of living--places weren't open for dinner until 9! Our hostel was really interesting, it very much reminded me of a dorm: bright, colorful, and filled with kids. We walked into our room to find four beds--bunk beds. We didn't get any other roommates while we were there, and we found out that the top bunks folded up into the wall. We went to a nearby restaurant and tried Spanish sangria with our meal, it was delicious!

Up and at em early Friday morning, we left the hostel after breakfast and took the metro to Las Ramblas. We strolled up and down the big boulevard (I thought it was bigger back in the day, go figure) and watched the street performers, peeked into stores, and didn't get pick pocketed this time. We found a market on Las Ramblas called Mercat de Sant Josep and we strolled through it. It was a big open aired market filled with fresh food and full of people! The Spanish candy stands were the most fun to look at with the marscapone fruits and figures, they were too pretty to eat! But there was everything you could ever want in that market from fish right out of the sea, meats, vegetables and fruits, nuts, etc. I have to live in a place that has that kind of market, it's so full of the culture! I seriously could've spent all day there people watching and strolling up and down those aisles. But Sam was itching to get to the beach, so we kept going down Las Ramblas and walked straight into Port Vell. We watched the giant fish below the boats weaving around, there was a retractable bridge that we were waiting to cross to make it to the other side of the port and we picked out boats we liked and didn't liked (I was a big fan of the pirate looking ones or ones with dogs on them...Sam was picking them out for more sailor-ish reasons like the sails or their potential speed). We wound up on the other edge of the bridge and in a shopping mall where Sam was looking at soccer jerseys (really expensive) and where we could warm up. In the center of the mall was a giant defecating Santa, and I was shocked and confused. How sick were the Catalyonians? Sam explained to me that they have a fascination with that stuff for Christmas, and we walked around this 20-foot Christmas decoration looking for an English or Spanish explanation. Turns out, it's supposed to be a symbol of new life and that it works as a fertilizer and is supposed to bring the Spanish a bountiful new year. Well that's nice and all, but it's still pretty unusual.

We continued strolling along the port and we going to embark on a walk suggested by the guidebook Sam brought. We were by the aquarium, walked past a church called Maria di Pi, Mary of the Pine, and admired the Gothic architecture. We stopped in a place for lunch were I got my paella fixing and Sam sampled some calamari. It was a beautiful weekend in Barcelona, but not beautiful enough to leave our coats at home, so we ran back to the hostel to grab jackets, and then walked to the beach from our hostel along another tree-lined Ramblas (which I think just means Avenue or Boulevard) to the beach for sunset. We made it to La Sagrada Familia, the crazy church that's been under construction for over 150 years, just before the sun finally went down, and I explained to Sam that there were four different architects for the church, each who designed a different side of the facade, including Gaudi. The pope recently consecrated Sagrada Familia, about a month ago Anna called Hannah and I in to watch it on TV with her. But the church still looks like it's under some major construction! From 4-7, the city takes a major siesta, so we went back to the hostel to siesta too since everything was closed down.


Saturday morning started off with a bang like Friday, and we began our morning at Park Guell, Gaudi's park. We spent a significant amount of time hiking around, and saw every nook and cranny in the park. Before when I'd been to Barcelona, we'd spent maybe a total of an hour there both times and saw the same things, but I saw and discovered parts of the park I never knew existed! We toured the one house that was built by Gaudi (it's pink! I never knew that was a possibility!) and it was like something out of Toon Town at Disneyland, very funky. We climbed to the top of a tall hill, the tallest part of the park, and admired the view of the city and port from where we were. After walking and talking and enjoy each others' company, we made our way through the park, heading to the Museum of Catalyan History, which was on the opposite end of the very big city. But we wanted to walk and see what we would see along the way. We stopped in a small local cafe for lunch where we sampled different tapas and chorizo bocadillas--delicious. We walked down a beautiful promenade (another Rambla!) for a while, until we spotted the Spanish version of the Arc di Triomf (how they spell it in Catalyan). Straight down past the pretty palm-tree lined Rambla was the Barri Gotic where the "Castle Park" was, which is home to many things, including the Barcelonaean zoo! Walking through the park, we watched the local university students perform magic tricks, teach yoga, play hoola hoop all on the grassy areas of the park. I really liked the park, and Sam and I enjoyed the sunshine in the late afternoon for a while there. We kept trekking on, and wound up at the beach for sunset again! This time we were near a more commercial area, where someone at our hostel said all the clubs are lit up at night, rather than the residential area we were in yesterday. We watched the sunset and the people walking dogs on the beach.

We did find that the language spoken was Catalonyan, not Spanish, but Sam and I's high school Spanish got us by (ok, so really his high school Spanish got us by and my slow recollection of high school Spanish helped just a little). We returned to the hostel and cleaned up for dinner, and sampled empenadas and meat tart cookie of some sort (Sam thought it was a strawberry jam when he ordered it, not a meat...but it was yummy in a really unique way) and dulce de leche cookies packed with delicious carmel.

Sunday's check out time was 10:30, so after a quick breakfast and clean up, we checked out but locked our luggage in storage units provided by the hostel, and spent the morning walking around the area of the city by our hostel. We headed towards this large office building that lights up at night, walked around the shopping center there (nothing was open even though it was after 11), meandered by a peewee league soccer game and watched the really intense 6 year old soccer players (they were really good!), discovered some Roman-looking ruins (I could totally be making that up, but it definitely looked like a Roman aqueduct), and sampled some pastries from a local cafe. After spending a leisurely morning out and about, we grabbed our things, hopped on the metro towards the airport, and waited patiently for our flights. We said our last goodbyes for the semester, and wished each other good luck on finals. 

I'm so lucky I had Sam to travel with all semester, he was such a great travel companion and our adventures and time together just keeps getting better and better! Talk about continued adventures!

Tuesday morning began with me at Palazzo Vecchio not giving tours. I realized that since tourist season is over here, it's going to be increasingly difficult to find English-speakers to give tours to. Bummer. So even though I checked in at 10 and 11:30 at the main desk to see if I had any takers, unfortunately, I did not. So at 10 I locked myself in the cloakroom (yes, the cloakroom) since there was an activity/workshop being hosted in the normal study/intern room. Finally someone said something to me and ushered me into the office and found a spot for me at the coffee table. I'm a goof. But in that hour and a half I was supposed to be giving a tour, I began a 10 page final paper which I will now be emailing to my Medici class professor for corrections. Another pat on the back for Stevie. When it was Italian-speakers = 2, Stevie giving tours = 0, I made my way back to campus where I did more research for said paper until Italian.

In Italian we learned a new tense but otherwise it was a short class, getting out at 2:15. At that point I began a final essay for my internship (yep, that one gets a paper and a final grade too). But it was too warm in the study lounge, and Hannah got a package, and we were antsy, so we headed home after dark (like 4:30 because it gets dark so early here...but really it was 5:30) to pick up our final December bus passes. After our neighborhood walk, I would like to say I continued doing work, except I didn't. I discovered this wonderful game, Plants vs. Zombies, and I HIGHLY recommend it. You get a free 60 minute trial, and let me just tell you, best 60 minutes of my day. I'm actually lucky it expired after 60 minutes, because I'd probably still be playing it to this minute if it hadn't. So on second thought, don't download it, it might just definitely cause major delays in your day!

In other news: Auntie Dee's package is here, and by here I mean Italy, not my little hands. Unfortunately it's stuck in customs, as they don't understand what is in the package (maybe it wasn't declared?). So after chatting to the Student Life Office about it, we faxed them what we thought was in it (candy, papers) and crossed our fingers. Keep ya posted, but it should be released soon!

Sam and I celebrated our 5 month anniversary via Skype and confirming Barcelona plans tonight. We're looking forward to a weekend by the beach, relaxing and exploring! Though I believe the forecast calls for sun (I'm bringing my umbrella just in case, every time we're together we get lousy weather...except Paris), it's still going to be chilly (lows of 30s, highs of 50s!). It's snowing in London (as of yesterday) and still raining in Florence! There's snow in the surrounding area of Florence, but because it's in a valley, we don't seem to get snow. Anna said that when they do get snow, they don't know what to do with themselves, the city sort of shuts down---including the buses. So here's hoping the only snow I see will be back at Syracuse in January! (Though reports from that side of the pond says is blizzarding there or something. I just think everyone's being a little dramatic, really now.)

Today was a normal day, Wednesdays tend to be long. But since I've been a project fiend, I got home this evening and didn't have any homework/papers to do (immediately, due Monday, etc), so I had some time to relax for 5 seconds. My Italian class was canceled (seems to be happening a lot recently...) so I finished up most of my work during that 2 hr time period. In my Leonardo class, my professor (who is apparently a world-renown scholar on Michelangelo, that Rab Hatfield) grows olive trees and presses his own oil so he brought in a giant jug for us to sample with fresh tomatoes also from his garden. We went to town! Delightful. He apparently doesn't sell it in stores, but it was definitely some good quality stuff. And today must've been treat day (or I was just really hungry) because one of the girls presenting brought in yummy fresh meringues and shortbread cookies that she compared to the water studies by Leonardo. I think Dad would love the shortbread cookies, and she just bought them at a grocery store, so they're not hard to come by. Think I just found Dad's souvenir from Italy...

We had a delightful dinner with Anna, risotto with asparagus and caprese salads, followed by panaforte for dessert (trying to bring that one back too, the logistics is a little more complicated here though). But Anna was tired, and Hannah had work to do, so we retired early. I'm packing and finalizing plans for Barcelona tomorrow. I'm out of the house by 9:30 or 10am or so, my flight's at 12:55 from Florence. Hoping everything is going to go smoothly!

Currently the Italian version of Kids American Idol is playing in the other room...Hannah and I are enjoying an Italian rendition of Beauty and the Beast's Tale as Old as Time. May or may not be singing along. In Italian.