It has been 4 months since I've posted - I must apologize profusely for my absence from the web...
To bring you all up to speed with my life in Europe, here is a quick summary of where I am now:
I am still studying in Siena, Italy (Tuscany). The differences between this semester and last are staggering - I am no longer living in an apartment with American room mates, but in a homestay with an Italian family (and none of them speak a word of English). Unfortunately this means I have no internet access at home, thus making it a real challenge to post here. Other than that, it is warm outside (FINALLY!) which means I no longer have to wear 3 layers when I leave the house!
I've been on the move a lot, traveling across the country. In the near future I intend to post pictures and stories about all the places I've been (including places like Prague, Vienna, Northern Italy, etc.).
But sadly I will be leaving in 3 weeks to return to the US. Or at least, that's when my flight is scheduled - my flight that will be going through London's Heathrow airport. If you've been following the global news, you may have noticed a little hitch in European travel as of late...
For those of you who haven't heard, a volcano erupted last week in southern Iceland. The ash from this has been causing flight delays for almost a week now - especially in London - with no definite end in sight. The volcano is still spewing ash and scientists fear another eruption down the road (in a few weeks or a few months, no one really knows).
Some airports reopened (at least some of their flights) today, but a new ash cloud that is moving in could set all progress back to square one again. This may mean that I could end up stuck in Rome if my flight is canceled.
I know, poor Taylor, stranded in one of the most amazing cities on Earth...
I have to admit, I'll use any excuse I can to spend more time in Italy - but unfortunately doing so wouldn't bode well for my dwindling bank account.
But for now, there's nothing I can do except stay optimistic and enjoy my last few weeks in beautiful (and mostly sunny) Siena.
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Rome, Florence, and Siena within 2 days...
About 2 weeks ago my Italian Cinema class went on a field trip to Rome (Roma in Italian) to see a movie at the Casa del Cinema there and then chat with some influential Italian directors and writers. We watched “The Conformist” (with English subtitles, thank god – my Italian isn’t that good yet). Afterward we had a round table discussion with Dacia Maraini (an Italian writer), Adriano Apra (Italian film specialist in film history and director), and Giuliano Montaldo (Italian director). It was a treat to hear them discuss “The Conformist”. Here’s the best photo I was able to secretively snap of them:
The day after Rome, my entire study abroad program went on our last excursion together to Florence (Firenze in Italian). Florence isn’t too far from Siena – only an hour and a half on the bus. There we went to the Uffizi museum as well as the museum that houses The David statue. Florence was gorgeous, especially it’s duomo.
Upon returning to Siena, I decided to finally take photos of my apartment that I’ve been living in for the past 2 and a half months…
My apartment is more spacious and newer than your typical Italian apartment. I also have a fantastic view of a Piazza. I often sit on my windowsill and watch as contrada’s parade by, people converse in Italian, and vespas zoom all over the place. Oh, one thing about Italian bathrooms – each and every one has a toilet and a bidet. So European.
The day after Rome, my entire study abroad program went on our last excursion together to Florence (Firenze in Italian). Florence isn’t too far from Siena – only an hour and a half on the bus. There we went to the Uffizi museum as well as the museum that houses The David statue. Florence was gorgeous, especially it’s duomo.
Upon returning to Siena, I decided to finally take photos of my apartment that I’ve been living in for the past 2 and a half months…
My apartment is more spacious and newer than your typical Italian apartment. I also have a fantastic view of a Piazza. I often sit on my windowsill and watch as contrada’s parade by, people converse in Italian, and vespas zoom all over the place. Oh, one thing about Italian bathrooms – each and every one has a toilet and a bidet. So European.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
So here's what I've been up to in Siena for the past few months...
Aside from my travels to other part of Italy, I’ve been having some small adventures here in Siena. A few weeks ago, I went to my first European football (soccer) game. The game was Siena vs. Lazio and it was played here in Siena. In Siena, women pay 6 or so euro less (almost 10 dollars) then men for football tickets. That, plus the fact that the football stadium is only a two minute walk from my apartment, meant that I had no reason not to go to the game.
It was a good game that ended up in a 1-1 tie. I particularly enjoyed the diehard Sienese fans that yelled at the refs when they made questionable calls. Here are some photos from my first football game in Italy.
My class recently took a small field trip to one of the many contrada’s (neighborhoods) of Siena. There, in the Tortuga (tortoise) contrada, we visited the contrada’s church and museum. Each contrada has its own church, museum, and fountain. Tortuga, being one of the winners of this summer’s Palio, has their current Palio painting (which the winners of the Palio receive each year) on display in the church. The museum holds many artifacts and past Palios from the contrada. Here are some photos of it all:
In my free time a few weeks ago, I ventured outside the walls of Siena to a nearby middle school where I tutored some 7th graders in English. I prepared a game about American pop culture in which they guessed the names of American celebrities. I was surprised how much of American culture is present in Italy, seeing as they not only knew who Beyonce and Lady Gaga were, but they were also very familiar with figures such as Obama and George Clooney. There is so little Italian pop culture that I see in America. This makes me feel a little guilty – why is America so isolated and seemingly unwilling to learn from other countries?
About 2 weeks ago I headed down to the center of Siena at the Piazza del Campo to find that there was a huge outdoor market taking place there. I’ve never seen this in the two months I’ve been here, but it was so exciting to see so many people out in this colder weather. The stalls at the market had a huge variety of merchandise including contrada memorabilia, knick-knacks, clothing, accessories, food and wine. I purchased a slightly pricey bottle of Chianti wine (my personal favorite). In the evening, I returned to the Campo and was surprised that the market was still in full swing, now accompanied by beautiful sparkling lights lining all the rooftops of the Campo. It was a very gorgeous sight. Unfortunately I left my nice camera at home so I couldn’t capture the extent of the beauty with my little point-and-shoot, but here are some photos anyways.
My Italian class took a day off from language learning to learn how to cook traditional Italian food! We learned to make rice stuffed tomatoes, a tomato and bread soup, pici (thick traditional Sienese pasta that we rolled by hand!), a tomato sauce, and tiramisu! Then we ate everything we made. So good!
It was a good game that ended up in a 1-1 tie. I particularly enjoyed the diehard Sienese fans that yelled at the refs when they made questionable calls. Here are some photos from my first football game in Italy.
My class recently took a small field trip to one of the many contrada’s (neighborhoods) of Siena. There, in the Tortuga (tortoise) contrada, we visited the contrada’s church and museum. Each contrada has its own church, museum, and fountain. Tortuga, being one of the winners of this summer’s Palio, has their current Palio painting (which the winners of the Palio receive each year) on display in the church. The museum holds many artifacts and past Palios from the contrada. Here are some photos of it all:
In my free time a few weeks ago, I ventured outside the walls of Siena to a nearby middle school where I tutored some 7th graders in English. I prepared a game about American pop culture in which they guessed the names of American celebrities. I was surprised how much of American culture is present in Italy, seeing as they not only knew who Beyonce and Lady Gaga were, but they were also very familiar with figures such as Obama and George Clooney. There is so little Italian pop culture that I see in America. This makes me feel a little guilty – why is America so isolated and seemingly unwilling to learn from other countries?
About 2 weeks ago I headed down to the center of Siena at the Piazza del Campo to find that there was a huge outdoor market taking place there. I’ve never seen this in the two months I’ve been here, but it was so exciting to see so many people out in this colder weather. The stalls at the market had a huge variety of merchandise including contrada memorabilia, knick-knacks, clothing, accessories, food and wine. I purchased a slightly pricey bottle of Chianti wine (my personal favorite). In the evening, I returned to the Campo and was surprised that the market was still in full swing, now accompanied by beautiful sparkling lights lining all the rooftops of the Campo. It was a very gorgeous sight. Unfortunately I left my nice camera at home so I couldn’t capture the extent of the beauty with my little point-and-shoot, but here are some photos anyways.
My Italian class took a day off from language learning to learn how to cook traditional Italian food! We learned to make rice stuffed tomatoes, a tomato and bread soup, pici (thick traditional Sienese pasta that we rolled by hand!), a tomato sauce, and tiramisu! Then we ate everything we made. So good!
Update (Part 1): Bologna and Halloween
It has been far too long since I last updated this blog! My utmost apologies! Needless to say, life has been hectic and busy in Italy, but nonetheless exciting.
Classes have been getting more demanding and I begin to learn more and more complexities of the Italian language and parties/travels have been taking over the rest of my time.
To bring you up to speed with what I've been up to here in Italy, I'll quickly sum it all up here before going into detail about each adventure I've been on.
Three weeks ago I stayed in Bologna for three days with my study abroad program.
Two weeks ago I celebrated Halloween here in Siena.
Last weekend I went to Sicily with a friend from back home who is currently studying in Florence.
This weekend I relaxed in Siena (making this my last full weekend in Siena this semester before all of my crazy traveling starts).
Alright, so first off: Bologna.
Bologna is a big city full of university students, most of which attend the University of Bologna (the oldest university that is still in use in the world). Needless to say, the nightlife in Bologna is exciting and varied due to all the students living there. Even though it was raining half the time my friends and I were there, we still had an amazing time exploring the city and sampling the food and night clubs.
The architecture of Bologna is simply beautiful, with high arches and porticos everywhere. A portico is almost like an overhang that covers the sidewalk so that the people of Bologna can go about their everyday lives and move from one place to another, even when its raining. We were infinitely grateful for these porticos as we toured the city in the rain.
Here are some pictures of the architecture and porticos of Bologna:
Bologna is not only beautiful and full of night life, but it happens to be the gastronomic capital of Italy. The food is unbelievable! Each of the three days we were in Bologna, our study abroad program took us to a different restaurant for lunch and fed us 7 course meals. I think I gained five pounds from that weekend in Bologna alone, but it was all so delicious. We had delicious appetizers of prosciutto and quiche, amazing pumpkin gnocchi, tender pig cheek (which was really good), and fantastic desserts such as creme brule. Tortellini was first created in Bologna, so naturally we had some of that as well.
Here's a picture of the appetizer I had at the last restaurant we ate at (a winery outside of Bologna). Egg quiche and prosciutto with a flowery seasoning. So good.
There were also some fun outdoor fruit and vegetable vendors in Bologna. Check it out.
Our program also took us on tours of both a Parmesan cheese factory and a Balsamic Vinegar factory.
At the balsamic vinegar factory, we tasted 4 different kinds of vinegar - some of them aged over 20 years. They were surprisingly sweet and delicious on their own, but incredibly expensive. Here's the currently fermenting vinegar at the factory, stored in barrels until its ready to be bottled.
At the Parmesan cheese factory, we were walked through the entire process that goes into making authentic Parmesan cheese. These huge vats are used to mix the cheese:
There were hundreds and hundreds wheels of cheese stored at the factory.
Bologna was a fantastic experience, and I will probably return before the end of my stay in Italy - especially for the food, if nothing else.
Now, about Halloween...
Halloween isn't too widely celebrated in Europe, but over the years Europe has slowly warmed up to the idea of dressing up on October 31. I don't think I saw any children trick-or-treating in the streets of Siena, but the students of Siena definitely partied hard in honor of Hallows Eve. Many of my fellow American students (including myself) spent the majority of our Halloween at a dance party at La Fortezza (the fortress) near my house. There was a huge party with a DJ and free drinks. I was surprised at how many Italians actually came out in costume. I also get a kick out of being able to say that I celebrated Halloween in a fortress in Italy...
Classes have been getting more demanding and I begin to learn more and more complexities of the Italian language and parties/travels have been taking over the rest of my time.
To bring you up to speed with what I've been up to here in Italy, I'll quickly sum it all up here before going into detail about each adventure I've been on.
Three weeks ago I stayed in Bologna for three days with my study abroad program.
Two weeks ago I celebrated Halloween here in Siena.
Last weekend I went to Sicily with a friend from back home who is currently studying in Florence.
This weekend I relaxed in Siena (making this my last full weekend in Siena this semester before all of my crazy traveling starts).
Alright, so first off: Bologna.
Bologna is a big city full of university students, most of which attend the University of Bologna (the oldest university that is still in use in the world). Needless to say, the nightlife in Bologna is exciting and varied due to all the students living there. Even though it was raining half the time my friends and I were there, we still had an amazing time exploring the city and sampling the food and night clubs.
The architecture of Bologna is simply beautiful, with high arches and porticos everywhere. A portico is almost like an overhang that covers the sidewalk so that the people of Bologna can go about their everyday lives and move from one place to another, even when its raining. We were infinitely grateful for these porticos as we toured the city in the rain.
Here are some pictures of the architecture and porticos of Bologna:
Bologna is not only beautiful and full of night life, but it happens to be the gastronomic capital of Italy. The food is unbelievable! Each of the three days we were in Bologna, our study abroad program took us to a different restaurant for lunch and fed us 7 course meals. I think I gained five pounds from that weekend in Bologna alone, but it was all so delicious. We had delicious appetizers of prosciutto and quiche, amazing pumpkin gnocchi, tender pig cheek (which was really good), and fantastic desserts such as creme brule. Tortellini was first created in Bologna, so naturally we had some of that as well.
Here's a picture of the appetizer I had at the last restaurant we ate at (a winery outside of Bologna). Egg quiche and prosciutto with a flowery seasoning. So good.
There were also some fun outdoor fruit and vegetable vendors in Bologna. Check it out.
Our program also took us on tours of both a Parmesan cheese factory and a Balsamic Vinegar factory.
At the balsamic vinegar factory, we tasted 4 different kinds of vinegar - some of them aged over 20 years. They were surprisingly sweet and delicious on their own, but incredibly expensive. Here's the currently fermenting vinegar at the factory, stored in barrels until its ready to be bottled.
At the Parmesan cheese factory, we were walked through the entire process that goes into making authentic Parmesan cheese. These huge vats are used to mix the cheese:
There were hundreds and hundreds wheels of cheese stored at the factory.
Bologna was a fantastic experience, and I will probably return before the end of my stay in Italy - especially for the food, if nothing else.
Now, about Halloween...
Halloween isn't too widely celebrated in Europe, but over the years Europe has slowly warmed up to the idea of dressing up on October 31. I don't think I saw any children trick-or-treating in the streets of Siena, but the students of Siena definitely partied hard in honor of Hallows Eve. Many of my fellow American students (including myself) spent the majority of our Halloween at a dance party at La Fortezza (the fortress) near my house. There was a huge party with a DJ and free drinks. I was surprised at how many Italians actually came out in costume. I also get a kick out of being able to say that I celebrated Halloween in a fortress in Italy...
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Exploring Siena and Lucca
I'm sitting in my room, listening to the chatter of Italian in the piazza below my window. There is an unusual amount of people out in the streets of Siena this evening. I'm not sure why, but my guess would be that there is going to be a contrada (one of any of the neighborhoods in Siena) party tonight. That's part of the intrigue of Siena... there's always a lot going on here but only the local Sienese seem to be sure of what it all means. The tourists and students here are left to observe and figure it out for themselves.
A friend recently took me to the botanical gardens here in Siena, located in the Tortuga (tortoise) contrada - one of my favorite parts of Siena. The plants there give off a very relaxing scent and I could see some beautiful views of the Tuscan hills from there.
Not far from the gardens is a charming park that was once a farm. It overlooks part of Siena, a villa owned by a rich family, and more of the shadowy blue hills of Tuscany.
Yesterday my study abroad program took a bunch of us students to Lucca - a small, walled city in Tuscany. Lucca is about 2 hours from Siena and very similar, only with more greenery and less tourists. We took a tour on top of the city walls of Lucca, and then into the town center. It was absolutely beautiful there and the weather was undeniably perfect.
We then went to Villa Reale a little bit outside of Lucca (where my camera battery unfortunately died) which was the villa of Napoleon's sister. It was so incredibly gorgeous and peaceful there. I especially loved the grotto where the inhabitants of the villa used to spend hot summer days (before air conditioning came along). There they had water that sprayed in thin streams out of the ground and statues and ceiling.
I would gladly live in either Siena or Lucca for the rest of my life. The walled cities are so medieval and beautiful, with everything concentrated and within walking distance. I think I'll have to make a trip on my own to Lucca in the upcoming month so that I have more time to explore the city and get to know it better.
A friend recently took me to the botanical gardens here in Siena, located in the Tortuga (tortoise) contrada - one of my favorite parts of Siena. The plants there give off a very relaxing scent and I could see some beautiful views of the Tuscan hills from there.
Not far from the gardens is a charming park that was once a farm. It overlooks part of Siena, a villa owned by a rich family, and more of the shadowy blue hills of Tuscany.
Yesterday my study abroad program took a bunch of us students to Lucca - a small, walled city in Tuscany. Lucca is about 2 hours from Siena and very similar, only with more greenery and less tourists. We took a tour on top of the city walls of Lucca, and then into the town center. It was absolutely beautiful there and the weather was undeniably perfect.
We then went to Villa Reale a little bit outside of Lucca (where my camera battery unfortunately died) which was the villa of Napoleon's sister. It was so incredibly gorgeous and peaceful there. I especially loved the grotto where the inhabitants of the villa used to spend hot summer days (before air conditioning came along). There they had water that sprayed in thin streams out of the ground and statues and ceiling.
I would gladly live in either Siena or Lucca for the rest of my life. The walled cities are so medieval and beautiful, with everything concentrated and within walking distance. I think I'll have to make a trip on my own to Lucca in the upcoming month so that I have more time to explore the city and get to know it better.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
See fish...photograph fish...eat fish...
The other day my friends and I ventured to the San Diego Zoo as a birthday celebration for my friend. Its been years since I've been to the zoo, so I was eagerly taking pictures of every animal I saw. Here are just a few pictures of the awesome animals I saw while there.
The giraffes were more active than most of the other animals in the heat.
Cool display of butterflies found in the bug exhibit...I was none too happy to enter the exhibit though (I really do not like bugs). Believe me, this was the only part of it that didn't send shivers down my spine.
Some meerkats taking a snooze.
Turtles!
Polar bear lounging about in the sun.
Afterward, we met up with more of our friends at a new sushi bar in town called Zenbu. The dim lighting, cushy chairs, and aquarium full of interesting fish (like small sting rays) made for a very cool atmosphere. And the food was great (but expensive)!
I felt somewhat guilty eating fish right after I just saw and photographed a bunch of them at the zoo...but the shrimp tempura and tuna was so good, that I quickly got over it and dug in. :)
The giraffes were more active than most of the other animals in the heat.
Cool display of butterflies found in the bug exhibit...I was none too happy to enter the exhibit though (I really do not like bugs). Believe me, this was the only part of it that didn't send shivers down my spine.
Some meerkats taking a snooze.
Turtles!
Polar bear lounging about in the sun.
Afterward, we met up with more of our friends at a new sushi bar in town called Zenbu. The dim lighting, cushy chairs, and aquarium full of interesting fish (like small sting rays) made for a very cool atmosphere. And the food was great (but expensive)!
I felt somewhat guilty eating fish right after I just saw and photographed a bunch of them at the zoo...but the shrimp tempura and tuna was so good, that I quickly got over it and dug in. :)
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