I Miei Amici di Italia

La Coppa del Mondo

As you all know by now Italy won the World Cup! I have still not recovered from this as the partying never stopped. The cup was right around the same time that all of the Italians finished thier exams and began their summers so my last month of living in Florence was not quiet! The night of, the streets were packed full of honking cars and Vespas all decorated with numerous enthusiastic Italians waving flags, ringing bells, and what not. We watched the game at the bottom of Piazzale Michelangelo where there was a giant outdoor screen set up. We were with all the Italians who had arrived 4 hours before the start of the game just to get a spot... After the game we traveled around the city in awe of all the crazy celebration until we ended up at the Duomo where crowds of people were dancing to crazy men with drums. By far one of my favorite moments ever.

Troppo Caldo

Si, ho troppo caldo.....I am too hot. I thought Fort Collins was hot in the summer, but it is nothing compared to Florence! Not to mention how much stickier all the tourists make it when you have to squeeze through them just to walk down some streets. Air conditioning is rare...and I have had a rash on my arms ever since I returned from Greece that is aggravated by the heat…but nonetheless I am loving the beautiful weather. . We have made a few trips Viareggio, a beach about 1.5 hours away. It is a common place to go so the trains are always jam packed. With the exception of an area about the size of a backyard, the entire beach is private and you have to pay to use one of the hotel's areas. The sand was extremely hot and so were all the European bathing suits. I just can't help but laugh. My tiniest little bikini is conservative here!
Since I wrote last I have only gone on a few day trips, to the beach, to Sienna (Florence’s ancient rival) and to Pisa to see, yes, the Leaning Tower. Sienna was good, especially when we walked around the corner anticipating the beautiful Duomo only to find that the entire façade was a giant picture. It was ‘under construction’ and the entire thing was covered in scaffolding. As Alex, the tall Austrian would say, we got majorly punked by Sienna.
Pisa was actually very cool and the surrounding piazza was beautiful. It was comical to sit there and watch all the people take pictures of them pushing it over or knocking it down. I’m not gonna lie, I wish I would have gotten one. Pisa had the cheapest shopping ….so you know what that means.
Other than the weekend day trips I am a dedicated intern from 9:30- 5:30 Monday through Friday at Enrico Coveri. Mind you by dedicated I mean I arrive at around 9:45 go on lunch from 1:00-2:30 (but arrive back at about 2:45) and then leave anywhere from 5:30 – 6:00. And no, that’s not just my schedule…time is not as crucial here as it is in America. Nobody is ever distraught about being late or behind schedule…this concept works well for my tardy lifestyle and I find that I am even more punctual than most of the people at work Further more, the concept of intern here does not translate to free labor like it does in the States. I have not been asked to do one task in the four weeks I have been there. I get to design all day everyday and am basically just building my portfolio and watching the designers create the next season’s line. I have my own desk and have access to any supplies I need. Everyone is very friendly but the language barrier definitely affects my interaction with them. Small talk is very small and the questions that I want to ask about suppliers, distribution, and the entire design process are too complex to dive into with my simple, conversational Italian.
I am approaching my last four weeks in Florence and am contemplating on just staying here forever. I am excited to see other places but sad to leave the friends that I have made from various countries. I know it will be harder to see them again compared to how easy it will be to hook up with the friends I have made from the States. It has been so fun to have an international conglomerate of friends. We are a big group of Columbian, Canadian, Mexican, Austria, French, Italian and Americans! The main language spoken between us foreigners is English. But everyone has made many local Italian friends and the level of English spoken with them varies. It is odd to speak with the Italians because they feel so badly when their English is poor, but don’t even judge for a second how poor our Italian is and are more than happy to try to speak with us in English. One boy explained to me how important he thought it was for Italians to know English above all other languages because it is the international language. He felt embarrassed that Italy, in comparison to other European countries, did not speak very much English. I told him that in America it is not too common to speak a second language fluently and that I wished we felt the need to know anther language as much as every other country feels it must teach their children English.
I am finally moving to the center!! I have had enough of the Italian bus system and endless nights of sleeping at friends because I missed the last bus. So I have found an adorable apartment that sits directly at the base of Piazza Pitti (the ancient Medici “country home”). It is also a one minute walk from the Ponte Vechio! My friend Jenny and I will move in on Saturday and I am counting the hours.
I hear the states are hot and so we both feel each others pain. Hope everyone is well. Lake Powellers…..I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW JELOUSE I AM…What I wouldn’t give to just walk into the water right now or enjoy a cold morning ski….Have a great trip, I’ll think of you often!

Roma, Cinque Terre, Grecia

Forgive me for how long it has been but I have gotten so far behind that I wanted to wait until I had enough time to fully update on everything! I have too much to say so I will try to just recap.

ROME

On the 19th of May my two girlfriends (Jenny and Angela) and I were to spend the weekend in Rome. The night before we left I received a call from Neil and Kyle who were in Venice. I was able to convince them to pass through Florence (the next city on their list) and continue on to Rome to meet us for the weekend. I was so excited to have people from home that I can't even explain it.
Rome was more fun than I remembered it to be. I had forgotten how beautiful everything really is. The order of the adventure went like this: Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps via del Corso (a main entrance into Rome), Trevi Fountain (still one of my favorites just like my last visit to Italy), Colosseum and surrounding area, and Vatican City (Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basilica, and etc.). The pictures don't do anything justice, especially the inside of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters. When we were in St. Peters we went in the prayer room where it was so peacefully quiet and even the tourists managed to stay quite while everyone was praying. Nuns and average people alike were knelt at the foot of an amazing gold altar with their rosaries in hand and deep in prayer. When you left the room to return to the massive and breathtaking inside of the church, you couldn't help but just remain silent in reflection for a few moments..
The trip was extended for a day because we arrived at the Vatican too late on Saturday to make it through the line in time to be able to enjoy everything before closing. It is not open on Sundays and we therefore stayed through Monday and dedicated an entire day to Vatican City. When in Rome, right?

After returning from Rome I had the pleasure of escorting Neil and Kyle back to Florence and they stayed with me at my once empty and quite apartment. I had been living alone in a three bedroom apartment outside the city center and was ecstatic to have company! We planned a trip to Cinque Terre for the weekend so they hung out in Florence for a couple of days until I finished my first level of Italian. Then it was off to the infamous Cinque Terre.

CINQUE TERRE

Since these five (hence cinque) villages are so small it was impossible to book a place to stay before arriving. Our trip was on and then off because we couldn't find a place to stay. After talking with multiple people and learning that you simply arrive and look for a camere our trip was back on and we were on a train two hours later. The first night we decided not to go to one of the villages and to stay in La Spezia, the biggest city near Cinque Terre. We figured our chances of finding a place to stay would be better here. We lucked out at the station and phoned the hotel of a nice couple that told us they had just booked a couple hours before. There were only two twin beds so we pushed them together and fit all three of us quite nicely! Lucky for me that I am small...or maybe unlucky because that meant I automatically got the middle.
The next morn we took the train to Monterosso, the furthest of the villages with the best beaches. Immediately we went straight to the beach and remained for the better part of the day. I was in heaven...and so were the boys. Me because of the sun, ocean, and spectacular views/ the boys mainly because of the boobs. Actually Kyle was not too happy after he had to purchase a bottle of sunscreen for almost 30 US dollars. I have learned that all throughout Italy, sunscreen and lotion are rare and expensive.
After enough sun and salt water we decided to walk to the next city, Vernazza. And we really thought it was just a walk. Then we encountered groups of people decked out in full on hiking gear. We're talking hiking boots, ski poles or walking sticks, water bottles, backpack and etc. More than one person, and I think two different languages, looked us up and down and commented on our beach attire. (I has shoved my suit in my purse and made one of the boys carry my water bottle and that was all I had on me.) But being the adventurous Coloradoans that we are, we bravely pushed on only to realize that although about 2 miles long, the hike was cake for anyone who has ever hiked in the real mountains. The only mishap we had was when Neil stepped off the trail and down into the stream (about three feet) because the trails were so narrow you couldn't really pass by someone. Single file only. Hiking was my favorite activity to participate in at the time and made me feel right at home...only if Nikoli would have been there! The hike pretty much took the rest out of so we rejuvenated in Vernazza and enjoyed a gelato while waiting for the next train to Riomaggiore (where we were lucky to get the last reservation at the popular Mar Mar hostel). We each enjoyed an entire pizza that night, drank some wine, and played an intense game of cribbage.

It was in Cinque Terre when the boys made their reservations for their next destination, Greece, that I decided I needed a vacation due to high levels of stress. I chose not to go to my first week of level 2 and last week of language class altogether and accompany Neil and Kyle to Greece. Back to Florence we went to get ready for the next adventure, nearly two full days of traveling to include a 21 hour ferry ride and the rest via train to Pireaus, Greece!

GRECIA

In order to get to Greece from Italy, specifically Florence, you must jump through some hoops. However, it is very popular for Italians to vacation here so everyone laughed when I told them where I was going. They understood all too well what I was about to embark upon. From Florence you must take the train North to Bologna and then back down South to the east coast city of Ancona. This takes about 4 hours total. Then you must take a bus from the train station to the port. In order to do this you must ask the nice Italians on the bus where to get off because it is not obvious what-so-ever. Then, if you were paying attention as to which direction the big ships were, you walk that way... really there were no signs. Then you choose between one of the many ferry companies that advertise how fast they can get you to Greece (18 hours was the shortest advertised). We were budget traveling and chose to purchase only the deck pass which meant for our 21 hour ride we would be aloud to roam around the deck and cabin to find a place to sleep. The ship was actually really nice and was just as big as a cruise ship.

We left the port at about 1.30 in the afternoon and were to arrive in Patras, Greece the next morning at about 11.00. So naturally we enjoyed a few beverages and card games after soaking up some sun on the deck. Actually, I enjoyed one and then soaked up some sun only to find myself face down on the deck of the ship and dripping with sweat. When I stood up to Kyle and Neil amused at how long I had been sleeping in the sun I noticed I had left behind sweat marks of my arms, stomach, and legs on the deck. They remained until the next morning when the deck was sprayed. Don't worry Kyle and Neil passed out (sitting in their chairs) soon after and they were both literally catching flies while snoring a little and awoke with extremely stiff necks. When it came time to sleep we set up camp (the boys had sleeping bags and I had my cocoon) in the main sitting room/bar area that was on the opposite side of the disco. This ended up being a bad idea.
It turns out quite a few people prefer to stay up drinking for the entire night instead of sleeping. We should have done that instead of drinking early! So we moved to the dining area only to be asked to move at 6 in order for people to eat breakfast while not staring at homeless college kids asleep under their table. We moved another time to the end near the disco that finally closed. Of course, though, this was a cafe in the morning and we were told to get up off of the floor for the same aforementioned reason. So back out to the deck where we had all napped the afternoon before it was. Everything had just been washed and so we carefully positioned ourselves in the driest spots.

By now, however the sun was coming up and we were passing through some of the Greek Isles and it was worth being awake for. The water was the clearest I have ever seen and many of the islands were small and seemed to be uninhabited. I was so happy we passed through this because we were staying in Athens/Pireaus the entire time and not traveling to any of the islands! The journey was beautiful until arrival at Patras and my favorite part of Greece altogether.
Getting from Patras to Pireaus (the next city closest to Athens with the only hotel availability we could find) included two train changes and a couple of hours. We finally made it in time to get a snack, shower and go get dinner. We were pumped to get a break from bread, pizza, more pizza, pasta, and pizza. We were in search of a famous Greek gyro…but turns out they aren’t as famous in Greece as in America. Not to mention Greek isn’t so easy to read. But, we found pitas instead and they were d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.


Of course the main reason we were in Greece was for the Acropolis. This was an all day-er and pretty cool. Disappointing at times because everything is constantly being restored and is covered in scaffolding, but nonetheless amazing to see. I am still always amazed wherever I go to see how advanced ancient civilizations really were. You don’t see us building anything as complicated as they did without machines! It is also odd, however to see these historic sites smack dab in the middle of a giant city like Athens. It is literally in some peoples back yards.
Then next day we went to a museum…and sorry but by now that is the best I can do. I have been to so many ‘museums’ that I can’t keep them apart or differentiate between what was in each. Except for the really famous stuff of course….However, I do remember that I loved this museum because it had a bunch of jewelry and artifacts from Troy. And we all know how much I looooooove Troy. Not just because of Mr. Pitt or because I was Helen for Halloween… I actually was able to apply all of my Historic Costume and Textile knowledge to everything I saw it that made me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth from CSU!

After museum though we all needed un caffe. We had also noticed that everyone in Greece had these drinks that were half foam/cream and accompanied by a glass of water. We decided it was about time to see what the rage was all about. So we found a very hip café and inquired about these “Nescafe frappes.” Kyle and I got the (I’m not going to lie, not so delicious) frappe while Neil ordered the “mmmm… so trendy drink” (that is seriously what the ad said). His was much trendier and much tastier than ours. We had not eaten much and were all talking about a hundred miles an hour in a short amount of time, maybe even almost drunk off of caffeine and spent almost two hours sitting in this café. Our waitress found us quite amusing….especially when she noticed Kyle making a funny face while drinking his. She asked him if he like it and he said, “Yes, but how do you drink it?” She laughed and made a sucking out of the straw gesture and said, “you just drink.” Americans, we are so special.
The end of Greece meant goodbye to the boys. After 13 days I had become quite attached and did not want them to go. They went on to Croatia and I flew solo back to Italy. That is another story in itself but let me just say that I am glad to have, by some miracle, not been stranded at some train station outside the center of Rome overnight, not got caught being a second class passenger in first class with an un-validated ticket (and no room in second class if I was caught), and become friends with the nice Italians in my cabin who called me a cab so that I was not stranded in Florence at 3 in the morning (as the buses don’t run that late and you have to call cabs and reserve them, you can’t hail them)!

That is for now. I started my internship today and it was great! I spent all day designing and learning the color and style preferences of Enrico Coveri. Check out his website if you are curious…
www.coveri.com
I will elaborate more soon as I do not have any more time now!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying summer! I sure do miss the mountains, the fresh air, and the peace and quite (I never thought I would say that!).

Chianti

I have officially been in Florence for one week! Only a few mishaps...but I'm still alive and well! I live pretty far from the center and the busses are not that relaible. Therefore I am looking into buying a moped/vespa. I kind of fear for my life because I can't even begin to explain the driving here. I've not once seen a car pulled over so I'm not so sure there are even traffic laws!


I love my school! Laungage classes have about 8 people and are mostly half American and half Japanese. They Japanese are so nice and make me laugh so hard every day. They drink so much more that we do. When I first met the girls in my class they kept saying "Legally Blond" and finally we were able to communicate, in broken Italian, that they think I look like Reese Witherspoon? Funny. The pictures are of us playing a guessing game and asking questions about what is on our forehead trying to figure out what or who we were.


On Wednesday we went to Chianti. It was beautiful and very historic. The castle was amazing and the wine cellars literally had bottles of collector wine that had years of dust on them. I think they were the $30,000 bottles. Our guide spoke Italian but told us that these wines were very hard to find throughout the world. The tasting was not how I expected it to be. They brought us snacks (formaggio, proscuitto, bread and etc.) but did not provide a spitting bucket! What's a tasting without a bucket? And they did not teach us about the wine, what kind, what made it special, etc. I think we were such a big group becasue we went with the school that pehaps it was different than usual. I did taste, however, the most delicious balsemic vinegar ever. It was 46 euro for about 4 ounces! That is almost $50-55! Needless to say, I didn't buy anything there!



I love my apartment I just wish it wasn't so far. The pictures are of the yard, patio, view and entrance to my section. The house is gated and the owners live on the whole upper section. They have two kids and a dog, Elena. Don't worry Nikoli, no competition! I have a great view and live in a nice neighborhood. The school is right across the street with a public park attached to it. The kids look at me like I'm an alien when I wait for the bus in the morning. They are much more aware of foreigners than American kids, I think. I don't ever see any Americans in my part of town so I really stick out. However, in the center where the other girls live there are a lot of Americans. Bad for our Italian skills! We try to talk in English only when we have not learned how to say it in Italian. However, we only really know basic things!


I have been speaking a lot of Spanish becasue the boys that we hang out with are from Spain, Columbia, and Mexico. I can speak well with them and ususally almost carry on a broken, short, conversation. Yet, everyone, no matter what nationality seems to speak English.



It has been rainy here on and off all week. It is warmer now, but I was so cold for the first couple of days!! Luckily I found an umbrella in my apartment!
I miss everyone and hope all is well! Ella congrats on GRADUATING COLLEGE! Jake...you're going to New York! Watch out for the teacher-student realtionships that equal trouble! Daddy how was Florida? Rach, George and Chris..you're moving to!! When? Love you all, give Nikoli major kisses for me.

Informazioni

I have arrived and finally found time to update. My cell phone has changed. If I receive calls they are free. But I'm not sure how much it costs for everyone to call me. It is as follows:

+ 320 5693 33 10 (this is different than the first one I posted)

I am living at
San Damiano 18
Firenze, Italia, 50100

You can send mail here but must address it to me and the owners name already on the mail box. I will add this later as I don't remember.

Firenze is great so far and the other students are wonderful. Most of the girls are from America and the boys from Mexico, Columbia, Japan and Austria. Some have been here since Jan. and other months until now. Some dont speak English (like my roommate) but we are all learning Italian. Therefore we are forced to try to speak broken Italian. Mine is more a combination of broken Spanish and Italian and Inglese.

I have no pictures yet but will soon. We are going to Chianti on a tour di vino tomorrow! Will send some pictures then.

Caio!

Well, in twenty-some days I will be on my way, solo, to Firenze, Italia. Translation: Florence, Italy.
I will remain out of the United States one week short of four months. The first month of my time will be occupied by 7 days-a-week language training. The next two months I will be completing a Fashion Design Internship with a designer tbd near the end of my language training. The last three weeks I will be free to do what I please and hope to visit as much of Western Europe as I can. My plane home leaves from London so I know I at least have to make it there in three weeks...let's hope I can figure that out. If not I am in t-r-o-u-b-l-e.
I have created this blog in order to keep in touch with all of you lovely folks while I am away. I am hoping that I will routinely post pictures and tales of my adventure. Please check it as often as you would like and drop me a line... I know I will love to hear from everyone!