Tag Archives: duomo

Finding my bearings!

So far, I’ve been here for 23 days, and I’ve experienced quite a whirlwind of events.

Italian Notes | Photo credit: Rena Kassak

Since I’ve last written, I’ve gotten into the thick of my classes and have fallen in love with the staff of ISI Florence. Professors here are a bit more laid-back than in the States. Our Italian Language teacher ensured us that we’re on the same level, and he made sure that we know we can go to him for help with anything at all during the semester! From my past experiences with college, which I carry solely from the U.S., this hasn’t always been the case. His heart is focused on helping us learn, and the same goes for my photography professor. Put simply, ISI Florence is taking absolute wonderful care of us!

Learning the language

I’m in love with the language here. It’s so beautiful. Today we engaged in conversations with four Italian speaking 20-somethings who visited our class; it was kind of like speed-dating! I speak “un po” (only a little!) Italiano, and they could speak a little bit of English. It was neat to see how well we could communicate.

View of Florence from the top of the Duomo!

Also, last week, I met up with a Florentine girl named Sara. We met through a language exchange website. She loves traveling and learning languages, and she studies English, French, Spanish, and Chinese. It was so lovely to meet her and to learn about Italy from her perspective! I very much enjoyed our conversation, which was mostly in English seeing as she speaks English better than I can speak Italian. And, not to mention, I am still a bit shy! (“Sono un po timida”)

Il Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore - View from Piazzale Michelangelo

A view of the Duomo from Piazzale Michelangelo – In the last photo, I was looking out from the tippy top of this one.

We talked about the differences between Italian boys and American boys, indulged each other with stories of our past relationships, and bonded over a love of purity. She also taught me some slang words in Italian, like “figo,” which means beautiful but is used how we would use the word cool, and also its synonym: “ganzo,” which is only characteristic of Florence.

Wine tasting in Chianti

On a school trip to Chianti, we met Gino, a family-oriented man, who showed us the “sweetness” of life. The Italians’ mentality is much different than what’s common back home.

A view of Chianti from Gino’s vineyard

“There’s no food without wine and no wine without food,” he said. Gino also emphasized the joys of taking things slow and really enjoying everything with all of our senses as not to get drunk but to enjoy the wine. “Wine is everything,” he said, it’s even where you are and the people you are with; “wine is life.” He advised us to drink good wine with good friends, and warned us to never drink alone. He also taught us that just because a wine is expensive, that doesn’t mean it’s a good wine! It could just mean that it comes from a very small vineyard. The only way you can tell if a wine is good is “with your eyes, your nose, and your mouth.”

Adventures in Siena

Last Saturday, I visited Siena! Signing up for the trip by myself, I wasn’t sure I’d know anyone there, however, a stellar group of kids, Heather, Brian, and Nick (Nick, who is actually in my buon fresco class) were there!

I had an amazing time spending the day with them enjoying the city view from atop the Cattedrale di Siena, stopping for gnocchi and “picci,” a thick pasta prized by Siena, and visiting the Church of Saint Dominic where we found the relic of Saint Catherine of Siena. It was so awesome to learn about her life right in her home city! Apparently people were drawn to her, and it’s no wonder since she was so drawn to Christ! Later that day, we ventured over to San Gimignano, a small medieval town with an incredible view that I could have easily mistaken as a painting had we been inside!

V for Venezia!

Then, of course, there’s the gorgeous city of Venice! With its waterways instead of streets and boats instead of cars, Venice is one of the most quirky places I’ve visited. We were able to catch the parade where the floats were literally floating (boats, of course!) And, we enjoyed what the Venetians call the Carnevale.

People wear all kinds of fun masks during the carnival!

Venice is quite touristy, and I’d suggest going later on in the week to witness the carnival in full effect. We were unaware of this, and we actually made plans with a tour group in advance. The skies turned out to be overcast, and it was only the first day of the carnival–much too soon for the fun to pick up!

Although I met some great people on the bus, I ended up spending most of the day by myself. But, on the bright side, I got to check out the Chiesa di Santa Lucia, a church by the grand canal, where I saw the relic of Saint Lucy’s incorruptible head and visited the Blessed Sacrament of our Lord in a side chapel.

I actually didn’t get to go to mass on this day (Sunday), which was pretty upsetting to me. It was mainly poor planning. I’m still figuring out how to adapt to this life on the road because, at least at this point in my life, it’s so easy for me to get distracted. But, truly God is the most beautiful!

The not-so-wonderful truth

Although the travel life can seem romantic and glamorous from stories and photographs, I’ve been here for less than a month and as you can tell, I’ve already experienced a few bumps along the road.

Crepe and waffle alla nutella date in between classes! I don’t know how we made it through Italian class after this! Photo credit: Rena Kassak

Pro tip: If you ever go to Italy please, please drink tons of water, and be weary of your dairy intake! I absolutely love picking up new foods from the market, especially cheese because it’s fresh, inexpensive, and we’re in Italy! So, why not try them all? (“perchè no?”) Well, just recently, I learned the hard way… that too much cheese and other dairy foods, like gelato, can actually cause constipation. (“Come sei dice embarrassing?”) Fortunately, a call home to mom, some prune juice, and laxatives really did the trick! Thank God!! I had no idea how painful that could be!
Next? Well, I lost my cell phone one evening when taking out the trash. I would have gone diving in after it!!! But, the trash disappeared into the ground. They have some clever dumpsters here, and I didn’t even feel my phone slip out the moment it happened…
Is this not the most beautiful motor vehicle you’ve ever seen?! Spotted near Firenze S.M.N. train station.

Since the garbage company was already closed for the night, we had to wait to call in the morning. At this point, it was already compacted into a teeny tiny cube. I was able to communicate with my family and friends online, and my parents had mercy on me. Fortunately, I was able to replace the phone, and everything is semi-back-to-normal, if you can even call it that.

Despite the appealing aspects of travel, it definitely has its fair share of adjustments, ups, and downs (and there are even more if you’re clumsy!), but every single one of these has come and gone, and it continues to amaze me that I am actually here… Praise you, Jesus! And, thank you, Mom and Dad!

Next stop… Roma!

On top of the Duomo

This weekend, I did some tourist-y things around Florence, such as climb the Duomo, visit museums, and went to Piazzale Michelangelo. Unfortunately, the museums didn’t allow us to take pictures, and by the time we got to Piazzale Michelangelo, it was too dark for my camera to take pictures (I plan on going back next weekend to watch the sunset); however, I was able to film this footage while on top of the Duomo.

Location: Florence, Italy

Firenze (A Bit Delayed)

Ciao Tutti!

I have had this entry written and ready to post for a week now, but the internet in my apartment was not working. I apologize for some of the references which seem a bit late…

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I am sitting on the train on my way back from Florence, but before I get into that let me start with the first week of classes.

I am taking five classes (16 credits) in Rome. IES requires you take one Italian class and four other classes called “area studies courses”. The area studies courses are anything from art to classes on the European Union. My schedule went over a lot of revisions over the past week as I was in a few art classes that were over my head, but I’ll describe the classes I am currently enrolled in.

“AH/US 230: Roman Architecture and Urban Design” – This is one of the classes I switched in to half way through the week. I missed the first lecture, but the second class was great. We started off with a half hour lecture on the history of the Castel Sant’Angelo which was very interesting and informative. It is amazing that a monument I can see from my apartment was a part of some of the most important events that shaped Rome as it is today. After our half hour lecture, we actually got to go to the Castel Sant’Angelo and see everything. It was originally built as a tomb, but was transformed into a fortress because it was ideally situated for battle. Then, the Pope made it his safe house when the Vatican was attacked. He actually built a mini-palace within the confines of the fortress! After the Church lost most of its influence, the Pope did not need a safe house anymore, so the Italian Government turned it into a prison for a period of time. Now, it is a tourist site with great views of Rome from the top.

“IR 341: Italy and the European Union” – This class is great! It is basically an overview of the formation of the European Union from the Post World War II era to the problems that plague the rapidly expanding organization. I love history, so I cannot wait to learn all about the European Union. I think this will be very beneficial for me later in life when I am working in Finance. I will know the basics of how the EU works and will be able to apply it to my job.

“FS 200: From Viewing to Making a Film on Rome” – I absolutely love this class. We are going to watch four Italian films that were filmed in Cinecitt� (the Italian version of Hollywood). The films were also filmed on site at Roman locations. After watching all four films and learning the basics on Italian cinema, we are going to film two scenes from the films we saw on site. We watch “Bicycle Thief” on Monday – I can’t wait.

“CM 330: Memory and Conflict” – This is the other class I switched into. It is a really interesting class which is taught by the director of my study abroad program. It is basically about conflict resolution techniques, but uses historical events to put the things we are learning into context. I would not be surprised if I use the techniques I learn later in life.

This brings me to Florence. Two of my friends (Sam & McKenzie) and I decided to go to Florence earlier this week. We left on Thursday night after class. I found a bullet train from Rome to Florence for only 19 euro. The train was so comfortable and the ride was so short.

Picture of the inside of the train.

When we got to Florence, we met up with one of Sam’s friends from her home school, Emory. He took us to our hostel (which was in a great location). The hostel we stayed at was running a special where you can stay three nights for the price of two, so I paid 28 euro for three nights at a hostel. The hostel was called “Plus Florence” and probably the nicest hostel I will ever stay at. It was very clean, had a nightclub downstairs with a restaurant/bar, game room, a pool, a sauna, and a steam room.

On Friday, we woke up early and hit the two big museums in Florence before lunch time. We wanted to make sure we beat the crowds. The people I traveled with are studying Art History I school, so I was the beneficiary of a free tour of all the important pieces of art. We went to the Academia first and saw Michelangelo’s “David”. It was absolutely amazing. After the Academia, we went to the Uffizi. This museum was huge! We were in it for three hours!

After the Uffizi, we met up with some of Sam’s friends from Emory who were studying in Florence and a few people from our program in Rome. We had a quick bite to eat and then five of us headed over to the Ponte Vecchio. They all bought leather jackets, I decided not to get one because I’m hoping to get a suit while I’m over here instead.

Over the past two days, we went to all the major churches in Florence – the Duomo, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, and Santa Maria Novella.

Here are some pictures from our trip to Florence.

The one thing that really surprised me about Florence was how small it is. We walked everywhere we needed to go and were never walking for more than a half hour at a time. Florence was a beautiful city, but I am happy I’m studying in Rome. As a Finance major, I do not appreciate art as much as I should. Now that I have seen everything I wanted to see, I am happy to be looking at the beautiful Tuscan countryside out of the window of my train back to Rome.

On another note, I planned our trip to Florence around THON. I made sure the hostel had wifi and made sure our train would have me back in Rome to watch the final four hours of THON. I may be 3,000 miles away, but I have been thinking about THON a great deal this weekend. A lot of my friends are dancing and it kills me that I can’t be there to support them. gWatching the THON Webcast makes me feel like I’m there and I lit a candle in the Duomo FTK! I look forward to watching Family Hour from my room and, like all other Penn Staters, will go crazy when the total is raised tonight at approximately 10:00 PM my time.

Always FTK,

Mike