Well, it's been a rather rough week. I remember when I first came here, I thought: "Nothing bad could happen here, I'm in Italy!!" But since then I have learned that it doesn't matter if you are in a beautiful place; you can feel lonely and despondent anywhere. There can be moments of sadness no matter how amazing the surroundings. I am still glad to be here, most definitely, but I have just seen in my life recently that sometimes it takes an enormous effort to make the most of your situation. I have five months left here, and I do want to make the absolute most of them.
So I have been indulging lately in simple pleasures that remind me that life is good, especially in Italy: going to town with my roommate, browsing through racks and racks of beautiful books, having a big cup of gelato (some of the best I've had yet!), reading my favorite book in bed, having a hot cup of tea in my friends' room, listening to a favorite song, taking a walk to the grocery store just because, writing a friend a postcard, little things like that. I like to remind myself often that I am experiencing an opportunity that not everyone has.
I felt the full force of that when I took a little trip to town today. I walked past the Duomo of Florence, huge, colorful, amazing to look at it. And it hit me how awesome this place is. And I remembered why I'm here. Also, sitting at dinner tonight and having a real conversation completely in Italian wasn't bad either! I feel like I can actually learn this language, that being here will produce not just great memories of great places, but also the knowledge of a new language and culture. And the memories of some awesome gelato, of course!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Christmas Break Part 2 - Greece
This was the part of my break that I was really anticipating, because not only was I going to get to see some of the most ancient ruins and most famous buildings in the world (other history nerds know what I'm talking about!), but I was also getting to see my family, who I was missing a lot.
My friend Sarah and I flew from Florence to Athens and arrived in the middle of the day. We were delighted with the weather, especially after having just come from Amsterdam and the freezing temperatures there. It was sunny and beautiful, a little cool in the shade, but nice. We met my mom and brother Jeremy at the airport and spent the rest of the day walking around part of Athens. We found a main shopping strip with lots of restaurants and the Athens Street Market, which is pretty well-renowned in those parts. The food was interesting: from the very beginning I got the feeling that I would probably get tired of Greek food pretty soon: cheese and spinach pie, feta on everything (which is not a bad thing, just different!), weird meats prepared in even weirder ways, things of that nature. Our first full day we spent seeing Hadrian's Arch, which stands beside the Temple of Zeus. It was amazing to stand in front of this massive structure, partially knocked down, but still standing after thousands of years. We also climbed the hills of Athens, as I like to think of them: one that overlooked the Acropolis and Mars Hill, where Paul preached to the Athenians in 51 A.D. We watched the sunset from another hill, complete with little church on top. The next day my dad flew into Athens and we did the big guns: Acropolis, Ancient Agoras. Standing there felt so surreal, in front of the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, Erectheon, with the famous Carytide statues in the shape of women. The Parthenon was a little disappointing, being covered with so much scaffolding, but still very cool.
The next morning was Christmas Eve day, and we had an early flight to Santorini, one of the Cyclades, the group of southernmost islands, right above Crete. It is the type of place that is considered "typical" of the Greek Isles: beautiful little villages with white-washed houses built into a cliff overlooking the sea, deep blue domes on little white churches and blue-painted doors, black sand beaches. And that is truly how it looked. The trip came with a little bit of surprise, however: in wintertime, the Greek Isles shut down. It was almost like a ghost town, especially during Christmas. Hardly any restaurants were open, few hotels, and we saw only a handful of other tourists. It was a little bit eerie to be walking through the narrow stone streets past all these boarded up shots, and empty, almost-run down cafes, bars, and restaurants. It was hard to imagine it being full of life and people, as it most definitely is during the summer months. But there were advantages to being there at this time: we had a lot of peace. Christmas day was spent riding little vespas all over the island to see the beaches and the views from the clifftops across the caldera. We also found a great restaurant where we found ourselves every day during our stay! It was definitely an unconventional holiday, but I found myself enjoying being in a unique place with my family, relaxing, and not worrying about anything. And I am now curious to see how Santorini, or another island like it, would be during the summer time. Another trip is probably in the future!
By the end of the week, I was starting to feel a little bit Greeced-out. But I still was able to appreciate the culture. One thing I noticed about the Greeks are how friendly and giving they are. They seem to enjoy you being there, and at the end of every meal we ate in Greece, we were given something free: a little bit of dessert, a little drink to make a toast, something like that. Every meal. They are very generous people, and usually willing to help. This was something I appreciated, because Italy, although there are many friendly and helpful people, as a general rule seems to be a little less that way.
We spent one more day in Athens, doing a little more hiking the hills, and a little more shopping, before hopping on a plane back to Italy for New Years. But that is another blog for another day!
My friend Sarah and I flew from Florence to Athens and arrived in the middle of the day. We were delighted with the weather, especially after having just come from Amsterdam and the freezing temperatures there. It was sunny and beautiful, a little cool in the shade, but nice. We met my mom and brother Jeremy at the airport and spent the rest of the day walking around part of Athens. We found a main shopping strip with lots of restaurants and the Athens Street Market, which is pretty well-renowned in those parts. The food was interesting: from the very beginning I got the feeling that I would probably get tired of Greek food pretty soon: cheese and spinach pie, feta on everything (which is not a bad thing, just different!), weird meats prepared in even weirder ways, things of that nature. Our first full day we spent seeing Hadrian's Arch, which stands beside the Temple of Zeus. It was amazing to stand in front of this massive structure, partially knocked down, but still standing after thousands of years. We also climbed the hills of Athens, as I like to think of them: one that overlooked the Acropolis and Mars Hill, where Paul preached to the Athenians in 51 A.D. We watched the sunset from another hill, complete with little church on top. The next day my dad flew into Athens and we did the big guns: Acropolis, Ancient Agoras. Standing there felt so surreal, in front of the Parthenon, Temple of Athena Nike, Erectheon, with the famous Carytide statues in the shape of women. The Parthenon was a little disappointing, being covered with so much scaffolding, but still very cool.
The next morning was Christmas Eve day, and we had an early flight to Santorini, one of the Cyclades, the group of southernmost islands, right above Crete. It is the type of place that is considered "typical" of the Greek Isles: beautiful little villages with white-washed houses built into a cliff overlooking the sea, deep blue domes on little white churches and blue-painted doors, black sand beaches. And that is truly how it looked. The trip came with a little bit of surprise, however: in wintertime, the Greek Isles shut down. It was almost like a ghost town, especially during Christmas. Hardly any restaurants were open, few hotels, and we saw only a handful of other tourists. It was a little bit eerie to be walking through the narrow stone streets past all these boarded up shots, and empty, almost-run down cafes, bars, and restaurants. It was hard to imagine it being full of life and people, as it most definitely is during the summer months. But there were advantages to being there at this time: we had a lot of peace. Christmas day was spent riding little vespas all over the island to see the beaches and the views from the clifftops across the caldera. We also found a great restaurant where we found ourselves every day during our stay! It was definitely an unconventional holiday, but I found myself enjoying being in a unique place with my family, relaxing, and not worrying about anything. And I am now curious to see how Santorini, or another island like it, would be during the summer time. Another trip is probably in the future!
By the end of the week, I was starting to feel a little bit Greeced-out. But I still was able to appreciate the culture. One thing I noticed about the Greeks are how friendly and giving they are. They seem to enjoy you being there, and at the end of every meal we ate in Greece, we were given something free: a little bit of dessert, a little drink to make a toast, something like that. Every meal. They are very generous people, and usually willing to help. This was something I appreciated, because Italy, although there are many friendly and helpful people, as a general rule seems to be a little less that way.
We spent one more day in Athens, doing a little more hiking the hills, and a little more shopping, before hopping on a plane back to Italy for New Years. But that is another blog for another day!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Christmas Break Part 1 - Amsterdam
Happy New Year! I can't believe it's another year, and I'm still in Europe. I've been back from break for about a week and am getting back into the swing of things in class.
Break was great. It was nice to not only have a break from classes, but to have a chance to really do some traveling. I started out by heading north to Belgium and the Netherlands. A small group of friends and I left early in the morning to fly to Brussels. It was absolutely freezing when we got there, but there was so much activity and so many people out in the city center. We only spent a few hours in Brussels, but had time to see the beautiful buildings in the main square, the huge Christmas tree, and Christmas market. We also had Belgian waffles and chocolate, of course. After a rather interesting experience at the train station, we finally made it to Centraal Station in Amsterdam. It was dark, so finding the hostel was interesting, but I was so excited to see the city. It is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. There are lots of quiet canals, lined with little boats, and little houses. The houses are all lined up side by side, no spaces in between, and they are all different colors and have different shaped roofs. It makes the streets look so pretty.
The only thing I did not enjoy about being there was the extreme cold. We layered up, but it was still almost unbearable at times. Amsterdam is the European city with the most museums per square footage. And it seemed like we went to almost all of them! Van Gogh, Rembrandt House, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House. There was a lot of interesting stuff to see. Also, we took a boat ride on the canals in the evening, and a three hour walking tour through the city center to learn a lot of the history (freezing, but fun!). It was a lot of fun, especially to be with friends. We spent about 3 1/2 days there, enough time to get a feel of the place. It is definitely a different culture than Italy and one I'm glad to have experienced.
After the days there, my friend Sarah and I flew back to Florence for a night before setting out on part 2 of vacation: GREECE!
Break was great. It was nice to not only have a break from classes, but to have a chance to really do some traveling. I started out by heading north to Belgium and the Netherlands. A small group of friends and I left early in the morning to fly to Brussels. It was absolutely freezing when we got there, but there was so much activity and so many people out in the city center. We only spent a few hours in Brussels, but had time to see the beautiful buildings in the main square, the huge Christmas tree, and Christmas market. We also had Belgian waffles and chocolate, of course. After a rather interesting experience at the train station, we finally made it to Centraal Station in Amsterdam. It was dark, so finding the hostel was interesting, but I was so excited to see the city. It is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. There are lots of quiet canals, lined with little boats, and little houses. The houses are all lined up side by side, no spaces in between, and they are all different colors and have different shaped roofs. It makes the streets look so pretty.
The only thing I did not enjoy about being there was the extreme cold. We layered up, but it was still almost unbearable at times. Amsterdam is the European city with the most museums per square footage. And it seemed like we went to almost all of them! Van Gogh, Rembrandt House, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House. There was a lot of interesting stuff to see. Also, we took a boat ride on the canals in the evening, and a three hour walking tour through the city center to learn a lot of the history (freezing, but fun!). It was a lot of fun, especially to be with friends. We spent about 3 1/2 days there, enough time to get a feel of the place. It is definitely a different culture than Italy and one I'm glad to have experienced.
After the days there, my friend Sarah and I flew back to Florence for a night before setting out on part 2 of vacation: GREECE!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Ravenna and Bologna
We had another great day trip this week. To Ravenna and Bologna, two cities in Emilia-Romagna, which is the region to the north of Tuscany. Both of them are very old, historical cities. Ravenna is known for its beautiful mosaics and one of the first Christian basilicas. The Basilica of San Vitale is a Byzantine basilica that is almost 2000 years old and absolutely beautiful. It has the shape and appearance of a flower on the inside, with a beautiful painted ceiling and the most beautiful mosaics. The colors are so vibrant. It just amazes me how people can create something like that: it must take so much patience, precision, and skill. In Ravenna also we saw a Paleo-cristian church, which has a different style of architecture, but was also covered in mosaics.
After that we went to Bologna, which ended up being my favorite. It is a little bit bigger than Ravenna and also seemed more busy and lively. The main piazza is the Piazza Nettuno, which has the famous "Neptune Fountain," which has sculptures by Giambologna, who is my favorite sculptor and did a lot of work in Bologna (hence the name!) It was especially nice there this time of year because there was a huge decorated Christmas tree in the piazza. I loved the feeling of the cold, and the hustle and bustle and seeing the Christmas lights. Bologna also has two leaning towers, though not leaning as far as the one in Pisa. All in all, it was a nice afternoon.
This week is the last week of classes. I only have two more days until Christmas break, which is taking me to so many fun places. First, I'm flying to Brussels, Belgium with five friends from school, including my boyfriend, and then heading to Amsterdam in the Netherlands for a few days. After that, I fly to Athens, Greece to meet my mother, father, and brother. We're going to do some sight-seeing there and then head to Santorini, one of the Greek Isles for Christmas. New Years will be in Venice, and then back to Florence for two days, before I hop on a train to Switzerland to meet my boyfriend and a few others for the weekend. We're planning to see Geneva and Zurich and then come back to start the next round of classes. It's going to be a crazy few weeks but I'm very excited! I want to make the most of this chance I have to travel and see new places.
Arrivederci!
After that we went to Bologna, which ended up being my favorite. It is a little bit bigger than Ravenna and also seemed more busy and lively. The main piazza is the Piazza Nettuno, which has the famous "Neptune Fountain," which has sculptures by Giambologna, who is my favorite sculptor and did a lot of work in Bologna (hence the name!) It was especially nice there this time of year because there was a huge decorated Christmas tree in the piazza. I loved the feeling of the cold, and the hustle and bustle and seeing the Christmas lights. Bologna also has two leaning towers, though not leaning as far as the one in Pisa. All in all, it was a nice afternoon.
This week is the last week of classes. I only have two more days until Christmas break, which is taking me to so many fun places. First, I'm flying to Brussels, Belgium with five friends from school, including my boyfriend, and then heading to Amsterdam in the Netherlands for a few days. After that, I fly to Athens, Greece to meet my mother, father, and brother. We're going to do some sight-seeing there and then head to Santorini, one of the Greek Isles for Christmas. New Years will be in Venice, and then back to Florence for two days, before I hop on a train to Switzerland to meet my boyfriend and a few others for the weekend. We're planning to see Geneva and Zurich and then come back to start the next round of classes. It's going to be a crazy few weeks but I'm very excited! I want to make the most of this chance I have to travel and see new places.
Arrivederci!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Holidays Abroad
I have had my first Thanksgiving away from home and family. It was definitely a unique holiday. Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but here at the school they try to make it special for us.
We had a day trip to Pisa and Lucca, two cities in Tuscany. Pisa, obviously, is famous for its Leaning Tower. I had already been there a month or two ago, so I just enjoyed wandering about the streets of the city a bit. It drizzled rain, but wasn't too bad. Next, we went to Lucca, a city I hadn't seen. It wasn't a big city, but it had several beautiful churches, including San Michele in Foro, which stood in a huge piazza full of pigeons. It was a nice little town and we all just strolled and looked in shops. Also, Lucca is known for its ramparts, the old city walls that are now grass-covered and turned into walking paths on top of them. Altogether, it was a good day.
In the evening, when we returned to school, they had prepared a really nice dinner for us. Delicious food! Almost all the traditional American foods. We all dressed up nicely and took photos, and just relaxed and ate together. It was definitely a good ending to the day. As nice as it was though, at the end of the day I couldn't help but think about my family and wish that I was with them. Some things will never change!
And speaking of holidays, I am shocked by how fast Christmas is approaching! In a little over two weeks I am heading off for Amsterdam with some friends for a few days and then Greece with my mother, father, and brother.
Here in Florence, everyone is getting ready for Christmas, also. We took a walk into town today to go to a Christmas market that is set up in the piazza at Santa Croce, one of the beautiful churches. Along many of the main shopping streets, they have strung up beautiful white Christmas lights and almost every store has nicely decorated trees in the windows. It is exciting to see how another country views the holiday. I love Christmas. When we made it to the market, it was so exciting! Delicious cookies, candies, hot cider, trinkets, all kinds of things everywhere. I bought some bread and pesto cheese for dinner, a pretty ornament and several gifts for friends and family. Mainly it was surreal just to be walking through a Christmas market in Florence, Italy in front of a beautiful old church. Definitely a Christmas to remember!
Some photos from Pisa, Lucca, and Thanksgiving dinner are up on my Picasa Album. Enjoy!
Ciao
We had a day trip to Pisa and Lucca, two cities in Tuscany. Pisa, obviously, is famous for its Leaning Tower. I had already been there a month or two ago, so I just enjoyed wandering about the streets of the city a bit. It drizzled rain, but wasn't too bad. Next, we went to Lucca, a city I hadn't seen. It wasn't a big city, but it had several beautiful churches, including San Michele in Foro, which stood in a huge piazza full of pigeons. It was a nice little town and we all just strolled and looked in shops. Also, Lucca is known for its ramparts, the old city walls that are now grass-covered and turned into walking paths on top of them. Altogether, it was a good day.
In the evening, when we returned to school, they had prepared a really nice dinner for us. Delicious food! Almost all the traditional American foods. We all dressed up nicely and took photos, and just relaxed and ate together. It was definitely a good ending to the day. As nice as it was though, at the end of the day I couldn't help but think about my family and wish that I was with them. Some things will never change!
And speaking of holidays, I am shocked by how fast Christmas is approaching! In a little over two weeks I am heading off for Amsterdam with some friends for a few days and then Greece with my mother, father, and brother.
Here in Florence, everyone is getting ready for Christmas, also. We took a walk into town today to go to a Christmas market that is set up in the piazza at Santa Croce, one of the beautiful churches. Along many of the main shopping streets, they have strung up beautiful white Christmas lights and almost every store has nicely decorated trees in the windows. It is exciting to see how another country views the holiday. I love Christmas. When we made it to the market, it was so exciting! Delicious cookies, candies, hot cider, trinkets, all kinds of things everywhere. I bought some bread and pesto cheese for dinner, a pretty ornament and several gifts for friends and family. Mainly it was surreal just to be walking through a Christmas market in Florence, Italy in front of a beautiful old church. Definitely a Christmas to remember!
Some photos from Pisa, Lucca, and Thanksgiving dinner are up on my Picasa Album. Enjoy!
Ciao
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Medieval Towns and the Mountains
About two weeks or so ago, we took a day trip to see two medieval Tuscan towns: Volterra and San Gimignano.
Volterra is a very small Estrucan walled city that is famous for its craftsmen who work with alabaster. It was one of those little towns that you see in movies (or actually, everywhere in Tuscany) with narrow streets paved with stone and beautiful views over the valleys of Tuscany. We stumbled across an elderly man who had an alabaster studio. It wasn't even a store, just a little room full of alabaster pieces and little statues and trinkets. So cool.
Next we went to San Gimignano, a place I was so excited to see. The city was famous for it's 70-some towers that were built by rich families and made into sort of a "medieval Manhattan." Today there are 14 of the towers left, which make is so unique. I took so many great photos of the towers and the shadows they made across the faces of the other buildings. In the middle ages, San Gimignano was an extremely important city along the main trade route, but it was overtaken by Florence in the 1300 or 1400s and lost its significance. However, this means that it is very well-preserved. It was a nice day we spent there, exploring the city and sitting in a cafe for hours. That's one thing I love about Italy: life moves so slow here.
This past weekend, we had a spiritual retreat in the mountains of Tuscany, at the "summer camp" of the Italian Adventists. It was a beautiful little spot with cabins and nice views. It was a short walk from a small hill-town called Poppi, which we went and visited. We had a few meetings with a religion professor from the school, but mainly we just spent time together. One thing that I loved was Saturday night when we made a big bonfire and had the Italian version of S'mores...a little different, but still delicious. Surrounded by beautiful hills colored with trees with orange and red leaves, I almost felt like I was in Tennessee--home. It was a nice feeling.
I really love experiences like that one: to be together as a group, to discuss important things, but also to laugh and have a good time. No stress, just fun and relaxation. I think it is an important thing to have to keep sanity. I feel a lot of appreciation for everyone here, and the new friends I have made.
Now I'm going to have a hot shower and catch up on my sleep!
Volterra is a very small Estrucan walled city that is famous for its craftsmen who work with alabaster. It was one of those little towns that you see in movies (or actually, everywhere in Tuscany) with narrow streets paved with stone and beautiful views over the valleys of Tuscany. We stumbled across an elderly man who had an alabaster studio. It wasn't even a store, just a little room full of alabaster pieces and little statues and trinkets. So cool.
Next we went to San Gimignano, a place I was so excited to see. The city was famous for it's 70-some towers that were built by rich families and made into sort of a "medieval Manhattan." Today there are 14 of the towers left, which make is so unique. I took so many great photos of the towers and the shadows they made across the faces of the other buildings. In the middle ages, San Gimignano was an extremely important city along the main trade route, but it was overtaken by Florence in the 1300 or 1400s and lost its significance. However, this means that it is very well-preserved. It was a nice day we spent there, exploring the city and sitting in a cafe for hours. That's one thing I love about Italy: life moves so slow here.
This past weekend, we had a spiritual retreat in the mountains of Tuscany, at the "summer camp" of the Italian Adventists. It was a beautiful little spot with cabins and nice views. It was a short walk from a small hill-town called Poppi, which we went and visited. We had a few meetings with a religion professor from the school, but mainly we just spent time together. One thing that I loved was Saturday night when we made a big bonfire and had the Italian version of S'mores...a little different, but still delicious. Surrounded by beautiful hills colored with trees with orange and red leaves, I almost felt like I was in Tennessee--home. It was a nice feeling.
I really love experiences like that one: to be together as a group, to discuss important things, but also to laugh and have a good time. No stress, just fun and relaxation. I think it is an important thing to have to keep sanity. I feel a lot of appreciation for everyone here, and the new friends I have made.
Now I'm going to have a hot shower and catch up on my sleep!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Good News
A great new development has happened to me. Thanks to advice from those more computer-savvy than me, I have created an online web album that can be viewed by anyone. All you have to do is go to this website:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jennifer.meyer0
Currently I have only one album created with a few pictures of Florence and the school, but I will add more soon and try to keep you all updated in the future about all the beautiful places I am able to go!
If for some reason the link doesn't work, will someone please let me know? :-)
This weekend is a spiritual retreat in the mountains of Tuscany; can't get much better than that! I am very excited. Things have been going really well lately. I'm loving it here. It's really turning out to be the best time of my life.
Hope all is well with everyone at home! Miss you all!
http://picasaweb.google.com/jennifer.meyer0
Currently I have only one album created with a few pictures of Florence and the school, but I will add more soon and try to keep you all updated in the future about all the beautiful places I am able to go!
If for some reason the link doesn't work, will someone please let me know? :-)
This weekend is a spiritual retreat in the mountains of Tuscany; can't get much better than that! I am very excited. Things have been going really well lately. I'm loving it here. It's really turning out to be the best time of my life.
Hope all is well with everyone at home! Miss you all!
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