Bologna

Greetings! This past weekend was our first IES sponsored trip to Bologna. Bologna is a large city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. First established by the Etruscans and then conquered by the Romans, Bologna is located in the Po River Valley and is famous for its great food, education, and art.

Bologna is a more modern city then Siena. It’s bustling with tourists, students, as well as buses and trolley cards. The architecture in the city is beautiful. Bologna has more arches than any other city in Italy. No traces of marble exist because marble quarries are not found in the Emilia-Romagna region. Instead, everything is constructed out of terracotta, red brick, and sandstone. These materials, plus the abundance of heavy red curtains to keep out the sun and heat in the summer, give the city a warm feel.

I enjoyed the city of Bologna and it’s nice to venture outside of Siena. However, each time I leave my quaint medieval town, I am very happy to come back. Bologna is dirty and polluted. There is graffiti and litter everywhere. It also as a seedy underbelly with many streets you are advised to avoid. Nevertheless I had a great trip and saw a lot of interesting sites.

DAY 1—

On the first day we took a tour of the city. We visited the main piazza Piazza Maggiore to visit the City Hall and the Basilica di San Petronio. In the Basilica we caught a glimpse of the largest zodiac sundial in the world. We also visited Europe’s oldest university-- Bologna’s law university—that was originally established to help settle disputes between the city and the Papacy. The university tour was particularly interesting. It continues to attract students from all over the world and the tradition continues that one student representative from each country has his or her family shield painted on the ceiling or hung on the wall of the university. We also viewed a classroom in which human dissections took place. It was a beautiful wood-paneled room with high ceilings and sculpted busts of famous scientists like Galileo and Socrates.

Our tour the first day also took us by the many negozi d’alimentari “food shops”. Wonderful fruit and vegetable stands, fish markets, and whole stores devoted to pasta, meats or cheese lined the streets. Like Siena’s Wednesday mercato, these stores were bustling with locals purchasing their food for the week.

DAY 2—

We started day two with more touring of Medieval Bologna. We visited the Medieval Civic Museum. What I liked about this museum and many of the places we saw on our tours is that the art was not dripping with religious symbolism and history. The focus was much more on the university and education system. Professors at the university were revered. They dressed very well and part of tuition money went towards buying the professors gifts. Lavish tombs were also constructed to bury professors that had died. Bologna’s university was important economically to the city because students coming to Bologna needed food, clothing and places to stay. During one revolt and boycott of the university, the students fled Bologna and the economy suffered.

After the tour we climbed 480 steps to the top of Bologna’s highest tower, Torre degli Asinelli. It was an exhausting climb but the views made the climb absolutely worthwhile. We were lucky to have been there on such a beautiful, clear day.

At the end of the day I went to the modern art museum. In NYC it’s called the MOMA. In Bologna it’s MAMBO. I will never understand modern art. I keep giving it second chances, but it is just too weird to me. However I saw some interesting photography as well as some great Andy Warhol stuff. Some of the exhibit bordered on pop art so it wasn’t a complete waste.

Dinner on the second night was fabulous. We had really great penne with a Bolognese sauce, followed by delicious arrosto (beef) and potatoes.

DAY 3—

On the last day in Bologna we went to “La vecchia scuola bolognese” (the old Bologna school) to take a cooking class. We learned to make tortellini—famous in Bologna--- as well as a linguini type pasta called tagliatelli. Making pasta is simpler than I thought it’d be. The dough requires only egg and flour. You kneed it together until it forms the right consistency and then it sits for a short while in the dark. In the next stage the dough is rolled into thing sheets. Our instructor was impressed with my rolling skills and showed me a bit more advanced technique. After she demonstrated the proper way to fold tortellini. Our reward for the day was eating all the pasta we ourselves had created. It was delicious.

The trip to Bologna was great. We all had so much fun and the 14 of us became a closer group. I can’t wait for the next trip to Milan. It should be just as great. If not better!

Don’t forget to check out my photos

-Gio

Harvest

After sampling great wine during my trip to Montalcino, it was time to get my hands dirty and participate in the wine making process. John and his wife live on one of the oldest vineyards in Tuscany. Each year he helps the owners pick the grapes, and he invited the IES group along. Thursday afternoon we boarded a bus to Siena’s countryside to help with the grape harvest.

The grape picking process was easier than I thought: grab the vine, cut the vine, and toss the grapes into the bucket. Precise, delicate touch is not required. I originally believed that gentle care would be needed to tend to the grapes so they didn’t fall from the vine. But as John demonstrated, the tiny fruit explosions were normal as the bunch hit the bucket. I guess its makes sense considering they’re all going to be squeezed and mashed up together eventually.

So we got to work two to a row. One person works on one side of the vine, her partner on the other. You fill up your red plastic bucket about half way full and then leave it on the side of the row to be picked up later by the truck.

The grapes came off the vine in huge bunches and not anything like the bunches of grapes you see in the grocery market. The fruit was smaller and packed tightly together, sometimes even sealed around the support wires. The grapes were deep purple in color with white grape bunches more sparsely mixed in. I’m not sure whether I picked more grapes or ate more grapes. Grapes from the vine taste so good. It’s a wonderful fresh burst of flavor inside your mouth. Everyone’s tongue was purple by the end.

The Italian family that owns and operates the vineyard were so kind and really appreciated our help. John said they called him four times that day to make sure we were still coming. When he commented that he thought it might rain they assured him that the sun would never go behind the clouds. Also while we were working, we heard them shout, “John! John! You’re the boss, John! God bless America!” We were even invited back to the vineyard for a dinner and wine tasting to try the olive oil they proudly produce from their own olive trees.

We worked for close to three hours in the vineyard that day, clearing nearly 15 rows of grape vines. The sun was setting as we finished our work, spreading a beautiful purple, pink, and orange haze over the hill. I had to pause and take a breath; I never thought I’d be in Italy picking grapes on a Tuscan hillside.

Often times, like this, I have to remind myself to stop for a moment and put down the camera. I tell myself to look around and take in where I am and what I’m experiencing because the photos from a camera will never capture the images, smells, and other sensations I capture in my head. I’m so lucky to be where I am right now, meeting interesting people and experiencing this new culture. This was certainly a day I’ll never forget.

Siena Update

I’ve settled a bit more into Siena. My apartment is having internet issues—as in we don’t have any access—so I have a sense of being a bit disconnected from the rest of the world right now. But besides that I am feeling more at home in my new city. I don’t get as lost anymore, I know where to get the best gelato, and I’ve figured out how to navigate the Italian supermarket.

The weather has been great so far. Most days it is warm and sunny in the 70s with beautiful blue skies-- perfect weather to sit and sun yourself in the Campo. Occasionally short rain showers will bring in a cold spell. However this presents a small taste of autumn, whose full arrival I am anxiously awaiting. The tourists will clear out and I’ll have Siena to myself. Well, not quite since the Italian and international students will be arriving, but the city will nonetheless quiet down.

My sense of time is twisted in knots. I feel as if I’ve been in Siena for a long time, particularly because the days go by so fast. But in reality, two weeks is miniscule when put into the perspective of the four months I’ll be staying. And at the same time the weeks fly by filled with Italian language class and many field trips organized by IES.

On Monday was our visit to Contrada Onda.

Tuesday, we visited a small town called Poggibonsi where after an exhausting uphill hike we toured an archaeological dig site where students were unearthing 5th & 6th century ruins.

Every Wednesday is market day. Unlike Florence’s more upscale market with tourist booths selling identical wares, in Siena the market is more of a flea market where, for very good prices, you can buy everything from bed linens to an infomercial-type slicer and dicer. I love buying frutta e verdura here. The fresh produce tastes wonderful at unbelievable prices. I bought two eggplants (melanzane) and some plums (susine) for a combined total of 1, 65 euro.

Thursday we drove to the small Tuscan hill town of Montalcino for a wine tasting at a small vineyard called Abbadia Ardegna. A sweet old couple gave us a tour of their family’s long running vineyard. The older gentleman reminded me of my Pop-Pop in his tweed jacket and sun hat, and from the way he shuffled around, patted us on the back, and looked so proud sitting at the head of the table.

These experiences have been wonderful and there is so much to look forward to. The end of this week will be our first IES sponsored trip to Bologna!

Ciao tutti! I miss you all very much.

Gio

Onda - The Wave

Settling into bed on one of these past weekday evenings, my roommate and I heard interesting sounds coming from the Campo. It was about 12:30am and we could hear drumbeats and singing coming from outside our window. We jumped out of bed, threw on more appropriate clothes than our pajamas and raced out the apartment door. We arrived just in time to witness a group of about 50 young Italians parading around the Piazza del Campo. They were waving flags in sync with the drums, carrying a banner, and singing harmoniously. They were members of the Unicorn contrada and although they had captured the Palio over a month ago, they were still celebrating their win.

The "Palio" is huge horse race that takes place in Siena every July and August. More important than futbol to the Sienese, the Palio draws thousands upon thousands to the campo to watch this 90-second mad dash.

Siena is comprised of 17 districts or “contradas” that enter horses in the Palio. Each district has a distinct shield, mascot, colors, fountain, and church. There are rival districts and therefore makes for heated competition during the race. Think Yankee/Red Sox but dating back over 500 years. Only 10 Contradas are featured in the Palio during which the horses race 3 times around the Piazza del Campo. There are no rules and the horse does not need its jockey to win. The winner of the Palio receives the highest honors and gets a trophy (a piece of silk), which is also called the Palio.

On Monday our group was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to tour Contrada Onda, “the wave”. This is the contrada where I live, so I was eager to learn more about its history. Our tour guide was an elderly gentleman, Signor Pietro, who taught us about Onda’s history in Italian— we had John, our director, translate.

Here are some of the things I learned:

Onda menas the Wave. It’s colors are blue and white and its mascot is the dolphin—a pretty intimidating dolphin with massive teeth. The church was constructed over 900 years ago. It was originally a church for the woodcutters of Siena, but in the 17th century the Onda contrada moved in. That is why San Giusseppe is both the patron saint of woodcutters but also the patron saint of Onda. Inside the church only contrada members may come to mass. They hold weddings here, funerals, and baptisms. On the day of the Palio the horse is actually brought into the church so the priest can bless the horse and its jockey.

The church has a balcony that has a beautiful view of one of Siena’s large churches. It overlooks the Tuscan countryside as well as the streets of Onda’s rival contrada Torre—the Tower. Pietro said that it is because of their close proximity that these contradas are enemies. “When we celebrate, they are bothered. When they celebrate, we are bothered. We are just too close. When we win the Palio, we shoot fireworks over the Torre”. Contradas also have sister districts. Pietro told us that when Onda is not selected to race in the Palio they work with their other sister contradas to defeat the Torre.

Each contrada also has a fountain used for baptisms because those from Siena are not able to freely choose to which contrada they would like to belong. You must be born within the district boundaries and every June there is a baptism in the contrada’s fountain for all the babies to become members. It is absolutely like a religion here. If parents are from two different contradas they must choose into which contrada they want their children to be baptized. Our guide said that many parents in this situation strive for even numbers of children, but in his case he has four children and they were all baptized into Onda. It is possible for a non-Siense spouse to be welcomed into the contrada but only after many years of devoted participation in contrada events.

In the museum located in the basement of the church featured all of the costumes (over 150 in all), drums and flags of Onda. Down here is also where all of the Palios won by Onda are displayed. The first Palio ever won by Onda was in 1500 The last one they captured was in 1995. In total Onda has won 46 Palio titles. The Palios are beautiful silk pieces with paintings on them featuring different scenes or aspects of Siena or the race. In this shrine the ceiling is painted with the coat of arms of each family in the contrada.

Watching the contrada festivities in the city is exciting and the celebrations seem to never stop. Today beginning at 8:30 in the morning and continuing every 2 hours or so, members of the Torre contrada, dressed in full costumes, were gathered in the Campo to wave their flags and beat their drums. It was sort of a mini parade.

Booo Torre, waking us up this morning. Vai Onda!

check out more photos on my Kodak Gallery page.

Casato

My new apartment, Casato di Sotto, is just a stone’s throw from the Piazza del Campo— the large central square in Siena. Entering from the street you must pass through both a decorative iron gate and a stone courtyard to reach our front door. Number 15, citofono (doorbell) Sguerri, “Casato” is where we call home. The apartment is huge and sharing with three roommates is a nothing like the nightmare quads of Thurston. Everyone has a space to disappear into. To describe the setup I would use the American term “split-level”. If you go down the marble (yes, marble) stairs it leads to a spacious living room, bathroom, and small kitchen. Upstairs one finds the three bedrooms—two singles and a double plus another full bath. John, our director, tells us that these apartments are certainly not the typical living space for students at the university. Actually when I came to Siena with the Aielli &Benevento group this summer, our tour guide Elena used the façade of one of the IES apartments as an example while talking about the development of the city.

My room is very spacious. There are high ceilings crafted of the traditional brick with wooden beams running across—like the rest of the apartment is designed. The furniture is beautiful-- old wood-crafted pieces with marble tops. However these pieces are oddly mixed in with IKEA desks and lamps. It is quite eclectic. The best part, however, is a wonderful double shutter window that when leaning out you can glimpse the tower in il Campo.

I share my room with una compagna di stanza. Her name is Lauren and she is from Nebraska. Interestingly enough, her twin sister, Catherine, went to GW for two years during which, we had a class together. I’ve certainly felt the reality of the phrase “it’s a small world”. My other roommate is Julia. She is from the Chicago suburbs. It has been nice to meet people from different parts of the US. Finally, we have one Italian “RA”. Alice (pronounced Al-ee-chay) is an intern for IES and also attends the University of Siena. She is twenty and comes from northern Italy around Milano. I am fortunate to have an Italian roommate. With Alice and the other two student interns, Anna and Mariapena (“Mapi”), I can really practice my Italian.

The electrical situation is quite interesting in Italy. You have to be very careful that not too many appliances are plugged in and running at the same time or you’ll be in complete darkness. In the US everyone is “going green”, but in Italy conservation is not something they have to think twice about. Resources are not as abundant therefore it is second nature that lights are never turned on if not needed, laws strictly regulate recycling, clothes dryers are not found in homes, and of course too many electrical appliances running at once means a blackout. We even have a crawl space in our bathroom where there are lines to hang our clean laundry to dry.

So I’m learning to adjust and with that of course bring many positives. There may not be air conditioning but we have been sleeping with our window open and the breeze feels wonderful. You quickly learn how spoiled we are in the US. Often times we take for granted many of our modern day conveniences.

Siena una bella citta

Siena is stunning. I try and try to describe it but it’s impossible to find the right words to capture the beauty I see. In the medieval center, cobblestone streets snake through clusters of tall apartments, churches, and other beautiful buildings. You feel encased within the fortress walls but then you climb up a steep hill and it unveils a gorgeous view of the Tuscan hills, beautiful garden valleys, and postcard snapshots of the city. At sunset the view has a wonderful, warm orange glow.

I think my textbook appropriately describes Siena as (and I’m translating here) “a small medieval city with an excellent quality of life… its monuments are magnificent, the works of art by the major artists, extraordinary. You must take time to go and take in the sun or drink a cappuccino in the Piazza del Campo, considered by many the most beautiful piazza in the world”. I most certainly agree.

The Piazza del Campo is like my Italian Kogan Plaza. It’s my campus quad but 100 times bigger. The city’s central square, the piazza is always bustling. Tourists congregate around the souvenir booths, artists sketch the tower, and groups of students read or chat with friends. People sit to eat their gelato. Parents stop to rest while their children chase pigeons. We even saw newlyweds emerge from the tower into a downpour of tossed rice. There is so much to take in. I’m going to spend a lot of time here.

Yet despite the tourist crowds Siena is very small, with only about 60,000 residents, and therefore almost has a small town feel. I run into my classmates on my way to the post office or I spot a few having cappuccino at a cafe. I’m even picking up on who are the local Sienese. An older woman and her huge black fuzzy dog can be spotted frequently in the Campo. At the supermarket, again I ran into a man who always sports a light blue “Universita di Firenze” sweatshirt. My Italian professor smiles as she passes. Some of the IES students don’t favor this intimacy, but I feel in a new and strange place it’s sometimes nice to hear someone call your name.

In the few months that I am here I hope to, and believe I will have, a rich cultural experience. I want to meet more Italians, improve my language skills, study the history, explore the surrounding countryside, and come to truly assimilate into daily life.

Preface--

The entries below are from my trip to Florence this summer providing guest assistance for Aielli & Benevento, a luxury tour company. The company, based in New York City, offers private touring through the various regions of Italy. I was fortunate to experience an A&B designed tour of Tuscany, and I have to say that the itineraries are simply spectacular and offer guests detailed, elegant guides.

Ciao from Firenze

I made it to Florence in one piece. Unfortunately my cell phone is not working so sorry about not calling/texting. I'm at an Internet cafe... I guess that's what you would call it... I haven’t yet checked out the business center at the hotel, but by the looks of everything else it probably is very expensive. So probably will be checking in less often then I hoped.

Anyway, the city is beautiful. Mr. Purpuro gave me a quick tour, pointing out all the places I will be taking our guests. He also treated me to some gelato. Mmmmmmm. My hotel is amazing. I didn't think I was going to get a view of the Arno River but I did. I'll take lots of pictures.

I have a few errands to run, but after that I'm free to explore the city for the rest of the afternoon/evening. It's now 4:30pm Florence Time and the markets are still open and the trattorias are preparing for dinner. I might try going to a cafe for dinner tonight... if I get the courage to go it alone-- if not maybe a quick bite at a self-service bar.

Firenze

Buona Domenica -- Good Sunday in exact translation. I actually used my Italian today to speak with a vendor. I bought some maps. "Ho bisogno di otto per un grande group di touristi" "I need 8 for a big group of tourists". I felt cool. I also got some breakfast. Cappuccino, the guidebooks tell me, is what the Italians will have for breakfast although when I ordered "al bar" I think they knew I was a tourist. Later I got "un cafe". I’m not sure what is custom to put in my espresso and I didn’t want to offend the barista. Let’s just say it definitely woke me up at 4am US time. I think I’ll stick with the cappuccino. I also learned the hard way that you have to order your pastry at a separate counter from your coffee or they’ll charge you for it and then not give it to you. I’m learning and hopefully will get it right tomorrow.

All of the hotel managers start speaking to me in Italian when they meet me for the first time I think because they see my name and think I’m from here. They speak English very well but its funny. I hate to disappoint them.

It is just a few hours before the tour group arrives. Everything is finished so I’ll probably grab some pranzo "lunch" and then double check the rooms to make sure they are perfetto.

Still miss you guys a lot. Its great roaming the streets of Firenze day and night, but its not as fun doing it alone.

Ciao

Gio

Over The Moon and Under the Tuscan Sun

Ciao!

I felt like Diane Lane yesterday during my drive through the Tuscan countryside. I can understand why "Frances bought a house in Tuscany". It is absolutely beautiful.

Italy is broken up into regions. Firenze and Siena are in Toscana-- the region of Tuscany. Within Toscana is Chianti. Chianti isn't a city, it is an area of Tuscany which, you can tell by the name, has a lot of vineyards. I learned yesterday from our wonderful tour guide, Franco, that "Chianti" the wine as we Americans call it, does not exist. It is simply the name of the region. I also learned that Italians do not name their wines by the fruit it was made from. So Merlot does not exist in Italy. They name the wine by the maker. The government controls all wine making and they each have a special code.

So passing through Chianti in the beginning of our trip we were in the valley, but instead of seeing grape vines, we saw corn. Franco informed us that good soil = bad wine. Bad soil = good wine. Why? Moisture. The soil in the valleys collects too much water from runoff, so therefore the soil is better for corn. If you tried to grow grapes there, you wouldn't get bad wine, you wouldn't get any wine at all. Up on the hills, however, where the rocks can filter out the water is a much better place for grape growing.

So along the way to Siena we stopped at a beautiful villa/resort/hotel, Borgo Scopeto, where the guests were taken around the property by an Italian writer/former Chianti tour guide and then were treated to an amazing 4 course lunch. I was fortunate enough to join them on both parts. The scenery was beautiful. Surrounded by rolling hills, Cyprus trees, and of course, the Tuscan sun, it was great to get out of the city.


The food at lunch was amazing. Best I've ever had. We started with polenta and goose salami, and then had a mushroom dumpling with boar sauce. Next came veal with potatoes, and a chocolate moose for dessert. Of course it was all served with great wine. I couldn’t finish it all I was so stuffed by the end.
I'm learning that tomato sauce is not traditionally Tuscan. They use olive oil in their dishes, which is also grown in the Chianti area. The olive oil I had at lunch was the best I've ever had. I’ve never tasted anything so good.

At lunch I met Salah, a concierge at the Continental Hotel in Siena. A long time friend of Mr. Purpuro, Salah has taken care of many of Larry's clients. He has been given instructions to look after me when I return in September. Salah is originally from Egypt so he speaks Arabic, English and Italian. He is so kind and told me that I have to learn to speak Italian while I am in Italy. He said it would be a shame to leave Siena after four months and only know how to say hello and good morning. Salah says Americans travel in big groups and only speak English so I have to meet many Italians when I come to study. He said he would arrange for me to meet different people.

Franco, Salah and all the other Italians I meet think Siena was a perfect choice. I wanted a smaller city and Siena is just that. Rome has 4 million people, Florence- 400,000, and Siena 60,000. So Siena is roughly twice the size of Westfield. I think I made the right choice.

After lunch we went on towards the city where outside the city walls we met Elena our tour guide. She gave us a quick history of the "Palio" which is the big horse race next week. The Palio is held twice a year once in July and once in August. Siena comprises of 17 districts. Each district has a distinct shield, color, and church. There are rival districts and therefore makes for heated competition during the race. The race only has 10 horses that run 3 times around the Piazza del Campo-- Siena's main Piazza. There are no rules and the horse does not need its jockey to win. The winner of the Palio gets great honor and receives a trophy (a piece of silk), which is also called the Palio.

Elena took us to the Piazza del Campo. It was incredible. The piazza is cut off to all motorized traffic and bikes so people spread out on the cobblestone everywhere eating gelato, talking with friends, painting, etc. I will be spending a lot of time here when I come back in the fall.

Exploring Florence

Today Tuesday, the guests have free time to explore the city which equals free time for Giovanna to explore Firenze as well! Mr. Purpuro gave me directions to the Mercato di San Lorenzo which is a HUGE open air market with vendors selling leather and paper goods, scarves, silks, jewelry, and clothing-- everything you could imagine! Rosanne, you definitely were here I think when you visited Italy. At the market I met Claudio who wanted me to buy some of his leather. He asked me if I spoke Italian and I said not too much. He was extremely friendly and he was patient with me as I worked through answering his questions in Italian—you know the basics, where are you from, first time to Italy, etc. He was impressed with my conversational Italian. In the end I didn't buy anything from him but we parted ways amicably. Piacere-- pleased to meet you in Italian. It gave me confidence to go to a vendor later on a buy a souvenir.

Also at the market is an old train station which on the inside has been converted to a great produce, fresh meat, market. It was so interesting to see people going to buy their groceries for the week. All the food is put out in baskets and it looks so unbelievably colorful and fresh. I purchased some dried fruit by the gram to snack on during my walk. There are also little bars inside where you can get your cappuccino and cornetto for breakfast.

So later today Mr. Purpuro and I are going on a private tour of the Uffizi Gallery-- the large and famous art gallery in Florence. None of the guests signed up so we're going to take advantage of it.

I'm having a wonderful time. I can't believe only two days left!

Miss you all and see you soon!

Gio