Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Auf Wiedersehen, Switzerland
Tonight is my last night in Fribourg and I am absolutely not ready to go. I have fallen in love with everything about this country. Switzerland is a linguist's dream. It's a place where being perfectly trilingual is as common as having two arms and two legs and switching from one language to another is as normal as having cheese with your wine. In Switzerland, the people are peaceful, the food is heavenly, and the trains are always on time. It's the only country I know that can claim natural postcard beauty in every inch of its geography. I've discovered a lot during my stay here, about Swiss culture, languages, history, people, politics, music, geography and food. I've discovered savory chocolate, handy knives, convenient trains, breathtaking landscapes, funny expressions, plentiful supermarkets, friendly people, expensive watches, and tasty cheese. But most importantly, I've discovered that the people you meet and the friends you make are what make the memories grand. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to live abroad, take classes without studying, and travel on somebody else's dollar. So here's to Switzerland. Auf wiedersehen. Goodbye. Arriverderci. A revair. Au revoir, et à bientôt.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Le Cervin
Alors, jeudi je suis allée à Lausanne pour la deuxième fois, juste pour aller au musée de la photographie. C'était vaut la peine! Mais, ce jour-là était un jour férié, donc la librarie qui vend tout livres en anglais était fermée. Alors j'ai pris le train à Martigny et je suis allée au musée des St. Bernards. Oui, le chien. Ils avaient les chiens, au moins 6, et trois petits chiots. Comme ils étaient mignons! Il y avait aussi un musée d'histoire de ces chiens qui sauvent les gens attrapés par les avalanches. Après Martigny j'ai fait la dernière étape du voyage du jour: Zermatt.
Vendredi j'ai pris un train spécial pour monter une montagne qui s'appelle Gornergrat. Le voyage a pris 30 minutes et là-haut, 10,000 ft au-dessus, la vue était magnifique!! Tout autour de moi il y avait des grandes montagnes enneigées, y compris le Cervin, le plus célèbre de tous. En plus, il y avait deux chiens St. Bernard en haut, en se reposant avec le Cervin en arrière-plan. Après avoir déscendu, j'ai passé le reste de la journée en marchant partout le petit village de Zermatt. C'était comme si je m'étais déplacée au 17ième ciècle. Il y avait une rue avec tout ces petites maisons comme au 17ième ciècle et les petits textes qui ont expliqué pour quel type de travaille chaque maison aurait été utilisée. J'ai fini ma journée en regardant le couche-soleil sur le Cervin.
Samedi j'ai pris le Glacier Express jusqu'à St. Moritz. Le voyage a pris 9 heures au lieu de 4 ou 5 parce qu'il a révélé une beauté de la nature qu'on ne peut pas voir qu'avec ce train. C'était tellement génial! Quand je suis arrivée à St. Moritz je pouvais marcher autour du lac pour arriver à l'auberge. Aujourd'hui j'ai vu le stade Olympique et un peu de St. Moritz, un petit village qui a son propre tour penché! Mais parce que c'était dimanche, tout était fermé. Donc je suis retournée à Fribourg un peu tôt.
And so, in the words of the 5-year-old sitting behind me on an 11am train, "Good-bye St. Moritz. Good night. Sleep tight!"
Vendredi j'ai pris un train spécial pour monter une montagne qui s'appelle Gornergrat. Le voyage a pris 30 minutes et là-haut, 10,000 ft au-dessus, la vue était magnifique!! Tout autour de moi il y avait des grandes montagnes enneigées, y compris le Cervin, le plus célèbre de tous. En plus, il y avait deux chiens St. Bernard en haut, en se reposant avec le Cervin en arrière-plan. Après avoir déscendu, j'ai passé le reste de la journée en marchant partout le petit village de Zermatt. C'était comme si je m'étais déplacée au 17ième ciècle. Il y avait une rue avec tout ces petites maisons comme au 17ième ciècle et les petits textes qui ont expliqué pour quel type de travaille chaque maison aurait été utilisée. J'ai fini ma journée en regardant le couche-soleil sur le Cervin.
Samedi j'ai pris le Glacier Express jusqu'à St. Moritz. Le voyage a pris 9 heures au lieu de 4 ou 5 parce qu'il a révélé une beauté de la nature qu'on ne peut pas voir qu'avec ce train. C'était tellement génial! Quand je suis arrivée à St. Moritz je pouvais marcher autour du lac pour arriver à l'auberge. Aujourd'hui j'ai vu le stade Olympique et un peu de St. Moritz, un petit village qui a son propre tour penché! Mais parce que c'était dimanche, tout était fermé. Donc je suis retournée à Fribourg un peu tôt.
And so, in the words of the 5-year-old sitting behind me on an 11am train, "Good-bye St. Moritz. Good night. Sleep tight!"
Monday, May 18, 2009
Bâle
Aujourd'hui je suis allée à Bâle pour ma deuxième tentative. C'était plus d'un succès que la dernière fois! Quand je suis arrivée là-bas, j'ai marché partout, juste pour voir la beauté de la ville. Et comme elle est belle! Je suis allée à la cathédral et je suis monté la tour. J'étais toute seule en haut et je pense que la vue était plus magnifique à cause de cela. Après, j'ai décidé d'aller au lieu où les trois pays d'Allemagne, la France, et la Suisse se rencontrent, bien qu'il soit un peu loin de la ville. Donc j'ai suivi la rivière pendant au moins 45 minutes et je n'ai vu rien (il se rencontrent au milieu de la rivière). Après que le chemin est devenu un peu effrayant, avec le graffiti et les vieux trains touts abondonnés, j'ai décidé de retourner à Bâle. Je suis arrivée à l'heure du commencement des joueurs féminins du beach volley! Donc je l'ai regardé pendant 2 heures et puis je suis retournée à Fribourg. Chouette.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Ticino
I just got back from Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, on an ISEP trip. I got there only knowing Claudia, a friend from class, and came home with at least 5 new friends. It was such a great, diverse group of people! Claudia and Carolina from Mexica/San Diego, Natalia Vladimir from Russia, Rolf from Switzerland, Laurel from Iowa, and Sophie from Colorado/UVM (!!!) and I basically spent the whole weekend laughing. Anyway, we took the train into Lugano on Friday (passing THE most majestic mountains and waterfalls on the way) and got there just in time to have a hearty Italian dinner of pizza and pasta.
The next day we lucked out with gorgeous weather in spite of a rainy forecast. We took a funicular to the top of Monte Bre' for THE most unreal view of Lugano and the surrounding lake. Since it had rained in the early morning, there were clouds and fog just kind of hovering over the tops of the mountains in a very Peter Pan-like way. Then, we had lunch (pasta alla carbonara!!) and took a lake steamer to Melide and went to a place called Miniature Switzerland. It was the coolest thing ever; you walk around this huge outdoor park where all the highlights of different towns, cities and villages throughout Switzerland are built in incredible detail in miniature, including trains, cars, and boats that really run. It was super chouette! It was here, in the gift shop, where I purchased my very first Swiss Folk Music CD!!! (Get ready for some yodeling, Cindy!) After a relaxing and scenic boat ride back to Lugano, we went out to dinner (all paid for!) and then went out for a beer together afterward.
Today we had to take a 1pm train home, so we just strolled the streets until then, passing a Lexus car show and sitting in the 100,000 CHF cars, pretending to drive them. On the train, Rolf taught us to play a Swiss card game. It reminded me a lot of Setback, and the cards are like a cross between American and Italian cards. In conclusion: hilariously wonderful weekend.
The next day we lucked out with gorgeous weather in spite of a rainy forecast. We took a funicular to the top of Monte Bre' for THE most unreal view of Lugano and the surrounding lake. Since it had rained in the early morning, there were clouds and fog just kind of hovering over the tops of the mountains in a very Peter Pan-like way. Then, we had lunch (pasta alla carbonara!!) and took a lake steamer to Melide and went to a place called Miniature Switzerland. It was the coolest thing ever; you walk around this huge outdoor park where all the highlights of different towns, cities and villages throughout Switzerland are built in incredible detail in miniature, including trains, cars, and boats that really run. It was super chouette! It was here, in the gift shop, where I purchased my very first Swiss Folk Music CD!!! (Get ready for some yodeling, Cindy!) After a relaxing and scenic boat ride back to Lugano, we went out to dinner (all paid for!) and then went out for a beer together afterward.
Today we had to take a 1pm train home, so we just strolled the streets until then, passing a Lexus car show and sitting in the 100,000 CHF cars, pretending to drive them. On the train, Rolf taught us to play a Swiss card game. It reminded me a lot of Setback, and the cards are like a cross between American and Italian cards. In conclusion: hilariously wonderful weekend.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is GORGEOUS!! I spent the day there Thursday and felt like I'd fallen into a real-life version Beauty and the Beast. The city is absolutely stunning-- colorful houses with wood beaming reflecting in the river, people waking up to say "Bonjour!". Haha, had to. Anyway, I took a audio-guided walking tour of the city, which was the coolest thing ever. Then, I visited the Cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg and climbed to the top. (After a penne arrabiata lunch, not such a great idea.) But the view was BEAUTIFUL. I don't even have to edit my pictures. Then, I went to a museum about the history of Alsace. It was in one of the oldest houses in Strasbourg and I learned a lot about the city's interesting bi-cultural, bi-national, and bilingual history. Overall, GREAT place. Highly recommend it.
Yesterday, Daniela and Lauren made me dinner and cupcakes with champagne (they even bought champagne glasses) for my birthday! After, we all went out to this awesome pub for celebratory beer. As soon as you open the door you go down stairs, into the basement. It looks like a cave with all the stone and it's small with lots of alcoves with tables in them. Super chouette!
Saturday I went to Geneva again, I just loved it so much! I went to the top of the St. Pierre Cathedral and was taken away by the 360-degree view of the city, the lake, and the mountains. Then, I went to the Patek Philippe Museum. It took me a while to find, but I got to peruse a flea market on my way. The museum was very cool; some of the watches they made were amazingly ornate and gorgeous! This one watch had the numbers 1-12 on the bottom half with moons and stars and then 1-12 again on the top half with the sun. A 24-hour clock! Very cool. I would never get confused with that sucker.
Yesterday, Daniela and Lauren made me dinner and cupcakes with champagne (they even bought champagne glasses) for my birthday! After, we all went out to this awesome pub for celebratory beer. As soon as you open the door you go down stairs, into the basement. It looks like a cave with all the stone and it's small with lots of alcoves with tables in them. Super chouette!
Saturday I went to Geneva again, I just loved it so much! I went to the top of the St. Pierre Cathedral and was taken away by the 360-degree view of the city, the lake, and the mountains. Then, I went to the Patek Philippe Museum. It took me a while to find, but I got to peruse a flea market on my way. The museum was very cool; some of the watches they made were amazingly ornate and gorgeous! This one watch had the numbers 1-12 on the bottom half with moons and stars and then 1-12 again on the top half with the sun. A 24-hour clock! Very cool. I would never get confused with that sucker.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Gruyères
Today I went to Gruyères, a tiny medieval village on a hill known for it's cheese. You may have heard of it? It's called Le Gruyère and it's a little slice of heaven. I took the train into Palézieux and from there there's this tiny, two-car train that takes you to Gruyères, stopping at multiple one-rail stations on the way. The hour ride was breathtaking; it was a beautiful day out and everyone had their windows down and their cameras out to catch shots of lazy cows grazing in the rolling yellow and green hills.
When I arrived in Gruyères I went first to the cheese factory just behind the train station. It was a really neat museum (with complementary audio guide and fresh cheese) surrounding the production room; I learned a lot about cows, milk and cheese! Unfortunately, again, not much to see in terms of actual cheese-making, but still super cool. After, I started heading up the cow-lined path to the top of hill where the town of Gruyères rests. It's THE cutest, smallest, walled-in, hilltop medieval town I've EVER seen!! There's basically just one big car-free piazza lined with shops and restaurants, bustling with people, and heavy with the delicious scent of Gruyères cheese. Ohhhhhhhh, just thinking about it.
Anyway, I strolled the piazza, popping in and out of expensive tourist shops, walked along the medieval wall, and finally up to the chateau. The castle, now a museum, sits at the highest point on the hill and therefore yields the most fantastic view. After the museum I walked back down to the center where there were a group of teenagers dressed in traditional costume singing. (Even the waitresses were in traditional dress). I thought they were cool until I saw further away, ALPINE HORNS!! That's right, a group of men (in traditional dress) playing Alpine horns with another man throwing baton-twirling the Swiss flag!! I've been wanting to see this for soooo long...OH it gets better. After they finish I hear bells behind me. I turn around and there's this man ringing different bells to play 'Edelweiss'. Gorgeous. Afterward, he puts the bells aside and picks up and accordion (and you know how I feel about the accordion)! He starts playing, beautifully, and the woman next to him stands up and begins to YODEL!!!!! ALL MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE!! Oh, how I LOVE yodeling. It was AMAZING!!!!!! (Check out the link in the upper right hand corner.)
All in all, of the 15 or so villages, towns, and cities I've been to so far in Switzerland, Gruyères DEFINITELY tops the list. Without a doubt.
When I arrived in Gruyères I went first to the cheese factory just behind the train station. It was a really neat museum (with complementary audio guide and fresh cheese) surrounding the production room; I learned a lot about cows, milk and cheese! Unfortunately, again, not much to see in terms of actual cheese-making, but still super cool. After, I started heading up the cow-lined path to the top of hill where the town of Gruyères rests. It's THE cutest, smallest, walled-in, hilltop medieval town I've EVER seen!! There's basically just one big car-free piazza lined with shops and restaurants, bustling with people, and heavy with the delicious scent of Gruyères cheese. Ohhhhhhhh, just thinking about it.
Anyway, I strolled the piazza, popping in and out of expensive tourist shops, walked along the medieval wall, and finally up to the chateau. The castle, now a museum, sits at the highest point on the hill and therefore yields the most fantastic view. After the museum I walked back down to the center where there were a group of teenagers dressed in traditional costume singing. (Even the waitresses were in traditional dress). I thought they were cool until I saw further away, ALPINE HORNS!! That's right, a group of men (in traditional dress) playing Alpine horns with another man throwing baton-twirling the Swiss flag!! I've been wanting to see this for soooo long...OH it gets better. After they finish I hear bells behind me. I turn around and there's this man ringing different bells to play 'Edelweiss'. Gorgeous. Afterward, he puts the bells aside and picks up and accordion (and you know how I feel about the accordion)! He starts playing, beautifully, and the woman next to him stands up and begins to YODEL!!!!! ALL MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE!! Oh, how I LOVE yodeling. It was AMAZING!!!!!! (Check out the link in the upper right hand corner.)
All in all, of the 15 or so villages, towns, and cities I've been to so far in Switzerland, Gruyères DEFINITELY tops the list. Without a doubt.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Zurich
Today I FINALLY went to Zurich! I got there and went first to the Swiss National Museum, which is a huge museum in a castle. It was so interesting; it started with prehistoric times and went all the way to the current day. There was this temporary exhibit about Swiss humor which was faaantastic. Although a lot of the comics were in German and therefore incomprehensible, some of them were funny without words. Also, there was this clip of a Swiss comedian playing (in French, luckily) and it was hysterical! I took his name and found a YouTube clip of it; he plays a character (a woman) and just basically makes fun of Switzerland but it's amazing.
Anyway, after the museum I strolled through the city, GORGEOUS, by the way! The main street is a beautiful, bustling, tree-lined, tram- and pedestrian-only straBe. The smaller streets branching off are windy, cobblestone streets with colorful buildings and a plethora of Swiss flags. I went to the two most famous churches in the city and climbed up the tower of one of them. The view was fantastic! Then, I explored some more in the perfect weather and discovered two more viewpoints, and some secret pathways. Finally, I decided to go back to the train station for the quick ride to Rapperswil, a lakeside town not far from Zurich. As I'm finding my way through the huge station, I see these signs with a picture of a silhouette serving a volleyball. I follow them and find a sand COURT in the middle of the train station!!! That's right. A beach volleyball competition with free entrance. Dream come true? I think so. So I watched for about an hour and then forced myself to take the train to Rapperswil, promising to come back to watch more. Unfortunately (or fortunately, you could argue), it started raining when I got to Rapperswil. The town was an adorable peninsula-like place with great overlooks of the lake, so I walked around and tried to take some pictures when the rain slowed but ultimately headed back to Zurich to watch more volleyball. Sweet.
Anyway, after the museum I strolled through the city, GORGEOUS, by the way! The main street is a beautiful, bustling, tree-lined, tram- and pedestrian-only straBe. The smaller streets branching off are windy, cobblestone streets with colorful buildings and a plethora of Swiss flags. I went to the two most famous churches in the city and climbed up the tower of one of them. The view was fantastic! Then, I explored some more in the perfect weather and discovered two more viewpoints, and some secret pathways. Finally, I decided to go back to the train station for the quick ride to Rapperswil, a lakeside town not far from Zurich. As I'm finding my way through the huge station, I see these signs with a picture of a silhouette serving a volleyball. I follow them and find a sand COURT in the middle of the train station!!! That's right. A beach volleyball competition with free entrance. Dream come true? I think so. So I watched for about an hour and then forced myself to take the train to Rapperswil, promising to come back to watch more. Unfortunately (or fortunately, you could argue), it started raining when I got to Rapperswil. The town was an adorable peninsula-like place with great overlooks of the lake, so I walked around and tried to take some pictures when the rain slowed but ultimately headed back to Zurich to watch more volleyball. Sweet.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Appenzell
I'll start with yesterday. I spent the day in St. Gallen, a small city about an hour east of Zurich. The weather wasn't great but the city was adorable! I visited two beautiful churches in the Abbey, as well as the Stiftsbibliothek. Going in, I thought it was just going to be a library and I didn't understand why Frommer's had given it three (of three) stars. Once I walked in, I knew. It was the most beautiful, picturesque, Disney-like library I've ever seen. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It was two floors of dark, ornately engraved wooden bookshelves that held books from when the Abbey was first built, circa the eighth century! The ceiling was frescoed and the second floor reachable only by oranate wooden ladders. I need a library just like it, I decided. Afterward, I went to Rorschach, a small town on Lake Constance only ten minutes away. I must say, I was a little disappointed. Frommer's made it sound like a bustling lakeside resort with a beautiful promenade. It was a dead town with a path along the lake. Not very exciting. So I headed back to St. Gallen to walk around the gorgeous Old Town a little bit and did some shopping.
Today I took the train into Zurich for a tour I'd booked online. In a chartered bus, we went to a cheese factory about an hour outside the city. It was in the canton of Appenzell, the most famous cheese-making canton in the country, and therefore made Appenzeller cheese. It was so cool to learn how it was made and see the machinery. However, we couldn't actually see it being done, which was kind of disappointing. After, we drove to the village of Appenzell, the capital of the canton. It's also the village with the best-preserved Swiss culture and tradition in the country. The drive was through the countryside and simply wonderful. The rolling hills weren't completely green; they were covered in dandelions, giving the countryside a beautiful bright yellow look. In Appenzell we had a couple hours to explore on our own. I went to the Appenzell Museum, which explained the culture and traditions of the region including typical dress, handmade wood carvings, embroideries, etc. It was awesome! Then, I strolled the small streets, lined with houses that had brightly-colored designs painted on their facades. These beautiful paintings are also traditional and are what set Appenzell apart from other small villages. When we left Appenzell we stopped at Maestrani, a famous chocolate factory. Apparently the guy, Maestrani (from Italian Switzerland) was friends with Nestle! What a small world. It was crazy to learn that Switzerland gets its cacao beans from Ghana or South America (woot!) and it's sugar elsewhere as well, which means that milk is the only ingredient of chocolate that's actually FROM Switzerland and yet Switzerland is the leading country in chocolate production. Interesting! The factory was SO COOL! It was called "Schoggi Land" because "schoggi" means "chocolate" in Swiss German. SCHOGGI!! Although we weren't allowed to take pictures, I did anyway because, well, I've been known to do that. Most of the work was done by machines, machines that dropped nuts into the chocolate, machines that sliced huge sheets of chocolate into squares, etc. But there was this one part where the chocolate, after being wrapped by a machine, had to be put into boxes. There were these two women doing it and it was amazing to watch them; they worked faster than the machine! They were like machines themselves. They'd grab a flat box, pop it open, grab a stack of bars, just enough to fit perfectly into the box, shove them in and methodically close the box and push it down a conveyor belt. So fast!!
Anyway, on the way back to Zurich the tour guide was telling us about Switzerland. He said the only king the country has ever had was Roger Federer, haha. But interestingly, the Swiss political system is like no other. There are seven ministers, each from a different domain (i.e. finance) that work together. On a yearly rotating basis, one of them becomes president, which just means they preside over the meetings and meets other heads-of-state, nothing else. So if you ask a Swiss who their president is, they'll probably have no idea. Also, the country has four official languages and although German is one of them, the Swiss German actually spoken in Switzerland had 30 different dialects and is so different from German German that the Swiss Germans have to learn German German in order to communicate with the Germans! The breakdown is like this: Swiss German spoken by 60%, French 30%, Italian 9%, Romansch 1%.
WHY IS SWITZERLAND SO FREAKING COOL?!?!
Today I took the train into Zurich for a tour I'd booked online. In a chartered bus, we went to a cheese factory about an hour outside the city. It was in the canton of Appenzell, the most famous cheese-making canton in the country, and therefore made Appenzeller cheese. It was so cool to learn how it was made and see the machinery. However, we couldn't actually see it being done, which was kind of disappointing. After, we drove to the village of Appenzell, the capital of the canton. It's also the village with the best-preserved Swiss culture and tradition in the country. The drive was through the countryside and simply wonderful. The rolling hills weren't completely green; they were covered in dandelions, giving the countryside a beautiful bright yellow look. In Appenzell we had a couple hours to explore on our own. I went to the Appenzell Museum, which explained the culture and traditions of the region including typical dress, handmade wood carvings, embroideries, etc. It was awesome! Then, I strolled the small streets, lined with houses that had brightly-colored designs painted on their facades. These beautiful paintings are also traditional and are what set Appenzell apart from other small villages. When we left Appenzell we stopped at Maestrani, a famous chocolate factory. Apparently the guy, Maestrani (from Italian Switzerland) was friends with Nestle! What a small world. It was crazy to learn that Switzerland gets its cacao beans from Ghana or South America (woot!) and it's sugar elsewhere as well, which means that milk is the only ingredient of chocolate that's actually FROM Switzerland and yet Switzerland is the leading country in chocolate production. Interesting! The factory was SO COOL! It was called "Schoggi Land" because "schoggi" means "chocolate" in Swiss German. SCHOGGI!! Although we weren't allowed to take pictures, I did anyway because, well, I've been known to do that. Most of the work was done by machines, machines that dropped nuts into the chocolate, machines that sliced huge sheets of chocolate into squares, etc. But there was this one part where the chocolate, after being wrapped by a machine, had to be put into boxes. There were these two women doing it and it was amazing to watch them; they worked faster than the machine! They were like machines themselves. They'd grab a flat box, pop it open, grab a stack of bars, just enough to fit perfectly into the box, shove them in and methodically close the box and push it down a conveyor belt. So fast!!
Anyway, on the way back to Zurich the tour guide was telling us about Switzerland. He said the only king the country has ever had was Roger Federer, haha. But interestingly, the Swiss political system is like no other. There are seven ministers, each from a different domain (i.e. finance) that work together. On a yearly rotating basis, one of them becomes president, which just means they preside over the meetings and meets other heads-of-state, nothing else. So if you ask a Swiss who their president is, they'll probably have no idea. Also, the country has four official languages and although German is one of them, the Swiss German actually spoken in Switzerland had 30 different dialects and is so different from German German that the Swiss Germans have to learn German German in order to communicate with the Germans! The breakdown is like this: Swiss German spoken by 60%, French 30%, Italian 9%, Romansch 1%.
WHY IS SWITZERLAND SO FREAKING COOL?!?!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Prato!!
On Thursday, at 6am, I left for Prato. At 3pm, Stefano and Pierina were at the train station to pick me up. When we got to the house of course they fed me, and then Stefano took me to the center of Prato. He said that it'd been raining constantly since November, but it was only drizzling when we left. As soon as we got out of the car it started to POUR, but we braved it. He showed me the Duomo, a couple of beautiful churches, and what remains of an ancient castle. By then it had stopped raining so we were able to go to the top of the castle's walls and look out over Prato. When we got home, Pierina had made pasta, meat, and salad, just like at Nonna's. It was deliciously amazing. After finding out that ASL and LIS were not mutually intelligible, Daniela and I went through a bunch of words, teaching each other the sign for each. It was really interesting; some signs were similar ('thank you', 'pizza', 'morning'), while others were completely different ('brother', 'coffee', 'married') or meant something else. Even some of the letters of the manual alphabet were different, and it was fun playing around with the two languages.
The next day Stefano took me to Pisa for his first real sightseeing experience as well as mine! It was crazy seeing the tower really LEANING. I mean I knew it leaned, but MAN, they weren't kidding. We climbed to the top where the view was breathtaking and spent the day exploring the baptistery, Duomo, cemetery, and museums in the square. After a hearty lunch (Margherita pizza), we laid on the grass in the beautiful weather and took a short siesta. It was fantastic. On the way home, we stopped at Artimino, a town at the top of one of those famous rolling hills to take in the view of the countryside. That night, after an amazing fish dinner, we went to a piazza in Florence that overlooks the city. It was stunning lit up at night.
Saturday morning, after visiting Pierina at work for a cappuccino and a pastry, Stefano, Daniela and I headed to Siena. The city is gorgeous just to stroll; windy, car-free streets that open into large, bustling piazzas. It was wonderful. After grabbing a panino each, we headed to Moneriggioni. This tiny town is simply breathtaking. Built on top of a hill, it's surrounded by a thick stone fortress that encompasses the entire town and yields a fantastic view of the rolling Tuscan hills. We got home by 4 to leave enough time for some visits to i parenti. We went to Amodio's sister's house as well as to Nonno Joe's sister's, Carmela. We also tried to go to Sesto Fiorentino to see Maria and Alberto Sanzo, but they weren't home. That night, a few of Stefano's friends came over to have homemade pizza from a brick oven. Stefano made us each a personal pizza with customized orders for toppings! And for dessert: Nutella pizza! It was delicious and a lot of fun.
The next day Stefano took me to Pisa for his first real sightseeing experience as well as mine! It was crazy seeing the tower really LEANING. I mean I knew it leaned, but MAN, they weren't kidding. We climbed to the top where the view was breathtaking and spent the day exploring the baptistery, Duomo, cemetery, and museums in the square. After a hearty lunch (Margherita pizza), we laid on the grass in the beautiful weather and took a short siesta. It was fantastic. On the way home, we stopped at Artimino, a town at the top of one of those famous rolling hills to take in the view of the countryside. That night, after an amazing fish dinner, we went to a piazza in Florence that overlooks the city. It was stunning lit up at night.
Saturday morning, after visiting Pierina at work for a cappuccino and a pastry, Stefano, Daniela and I headed to Siena. The city is gorgeous just to stroll; windy, car-free streets that open into large, bustling piazzas. It was wonderful. After grabbing a panino each, we headed to Moneriggioni. This tiny town is simply breathtaking. Built on top of a hill, it's surrounded by a thick stone fortress that encompasses the entire town and yields a fantastic view of the rolling Tuscan hills. We got home by 4 to leave enough time for some visits to i parenti. We went to Amodio's sister's house as well as to Nonno Joe's sister's, Carmela. We also tried to go to Sesto Fiorentino to see Maria and Alberto Sanzo, but they weren't home. That night, a few of Stefano's friends came over to have homemade pizza from a brick oven. Stefano made us each a personal pizza with customized orders for toppings! And for dessert: Nutella pizza! It was delicious and a lot of fun.
Monday, April 20, 2009
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