Entry 13: December 1, 2010
“Thanksgiving”

Our last week in Sansepolcro is coming to a rapid end, and with it are many final exams and papers and a whole lot of rain. We have been praying for snow all week, but so far just rain and a little bit of hail. Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Sansepolcro with nearly eighty Italians. It took a lot of help from many people, but in the end it was definitely a success and a wonderful way to say thank you to all of the people who have done such a fine job making us feel at home here. On Wednesday night Katy, Janna, Molly, Dr. Webb, and I took on the task of making the pumpkin pies for the feast the next day. We set to work and got five pies made in a relatively short period of time. We cranked up the music in the dining room and had a wonderful evening dancing, singing, and cooking our traditional Thanksgiving treat.

On Thanksgiving we still had class, but afterwards we made a trip to the PAM and bought some supplies for the evening’s festivities. That night we made our way to the Servi a little early in order to greet people as they arrived. The Servi is a beautiful old building that used to be a convent and is now a hotel. Our cook, Margarita, and her family live there and they run the business. The guests started flooding in around 7:30, and the dinner began soon after with the antipasti. Even though most of the food we had was strictly “American,” it was still served like an Italian meal with different courses coming out at different times. The antipasti were comprised of regular Italian foods such as polenta and bruschetta which I think may have been on purpose in order to ease the Italians into the coming courses of sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and turkey. Patsy and I sat with our host family during the meal, and we had a good time talking, laughing, eating, and making hand turkeys. Margarita has started a tradition here in Sansepolcro, and it is that at our annual Thanksgiving feast there is always a Thanksgiving Tree. I have never heard of a Thanksgiving Tree, but it is a very nice tradition that I plan on taking back with me to the States. We all made our hand turkeys, wrote what we were thankful for on the back, and then hung them on the tree. The tree was a beautiful decoration during the dinner, and afterward it was fun to take all of the turkeys down, admire the artwork—some were skillfully and elaborately decorated and see what people had written.

On Thursday night, as I sat around a table with so many people that I have come to love so much, in a place that has grown to be a part of me. I hadn’t yet realized that the end of our time in Sansepolcro was so close. Now, with classes finishing up and transportation plans buzzing in the air, it seems very close. I had to say my first goodbyes on Monday, at the elementary school where I have been volunteering for our service learning projects every week for the past two months. All the children gave me beautifully decorated handmade cards and my teachers gave me a bouquet of fresh flowers. It was so sweet, and I am going to miss them all so much. I am so thankful for this experience, and Thanksgiving was a wonderful last big event to finish up with. I can’t imagine not being here, but I know that I will always look back to my time here as one of the best times of my life.

Entry 12: November 23, 2010

“Sansepolcro, Perugia, and Pisa”

This past weekend was the last of our three day travel breaks. Janna, Katy, Molly, and I decided that we were going to travel together, but for the longest time we could not decide where we wanted to go on our final break. Just recently, it has started to dawn on us that we have very little time left in Italy, and we have been depressed about leaving Sansepolcro. With this in mind, we made the decision to stick around Sansepolcro for the long weekend and do a few things we had been meaning to do for a while now. We had two things on our agenda: shopping in Perugia and visiting the leaning tower of Pisa. Because these are only day trips, we also had time to do the things we love in Sansepolcro and really to enjoy each other’s company and our second home.

On Thursday evening we decided to take it easy and rest up so we would have plenty of energy for Perugia in the morning. This never really works though because we always stay up late talking and laughing even when we are dead tired. This is the consequence of living with your best friends. Time always escapes while we are joking around and having a good time. Needless to say, we ended up getting to bed later than expected and therefore waking up late and almost missing our train to Perugia. The ride took about an hour and a half from the Sansepolcro station. We were all in high spirits because the weather forecast had called for rain all day, but the sun was shining as we left the train station. We spent our time walking around, peeking into little shops, sitting on the steps beside the Fontana Maggiore, and eating gelato from Grom (the best gelato in all Italy!). It was nice to see Perugia for a second time. Without the hustle and bustle of the extremely crowded chocolate festival, it was easier to enjoy the beautiful sights and architecture. Perugia is an old city filled with ancient history. From the train station and parking lots, there are many flights of stairs and escalators that lead to the main part of the city, and they are built inside ancient Etruscan ruins that date back to before the time of the Romans.

Our next day trip was longer in travel time than the first and was for a great deal less to see and do, but I am happy that I was able to see the famous leaning tower! Whenever you tell an Italian that you’re thinking about going to Pisa, every single one will say “In Pisa, there is only the tower…” and I think I heard that about a hundred times before going to Pisa. When we arrived, I knew that the Italians were not lying to me. We looked around for somewhere to eat near the train station because we were ravenous after our bus ride and two train rides. Nothing looked very promising in close proximity to the train station, so we decided to grab a taxi and try the area closer to the tower. We ended finding a restaurant near the tower, and I believe this was the first, and hopefully last, real tourist trap of our stay in Italy. We took our pictures with the tower and browsed around the little market adjacent to the Piazza del Duomo. It was very thrilling to see the tower, which is so commonly pictured and so well known, in real life. We then made our way back to the train station where we caught our train, and made our way back to the palazzo in order to enjoy our Saturday evening and Sunday in Sansepolcro.

Entry 11: November 16, 2010
“Family Dinner and Gubbio”

This weekend was a little bit less busy than usual, and I was thankful to have some time to catch my breath. After a long weekend of traveling and a very full week of classes and studying, it was nice to stay in the area for the weekend. On Friday we all attended our first “family dinner” with local Italian families. We were split up into pairs and assigned a host family for the evening. I was with Patsy, and our host family has a few rental apartments just outside the Porta Fiorentina, near the train station. The family is made up of a mother, who is British, a father, who is Italian, and their 13 year old son. They were all very sweet, and it was nice to sit down and talk with them about life in Sansepolcro. They served us a delicious meal consisting of an antipasta, ravioli, French fries, and a meat course cooked over an open fire. Then we ate dessert and had a good time visiting for quite some time. When it was time to leave, our host parents commented on how Patsy and I didn’t bring jackets with us. That is definitely a difference I have observed between Italians and Americans. Italians start bundling up from head to toe in puffy coats and scarves in October, whereas it has to be almost freezing outside for Americans to put on a jacket. This is not a blanket statement, of course, but it is very interesting how obvious the difference is here. My friends and I frequently make our way to the café in leggings and sweaters, only to find everyone else at the café in what looks like full blown skiing attire. Patsy and I had a great time at our host family’s house, and I was so happy to have the opportunity to be part of a real Italian family, even if it was just for one evening.

On Saturday morning, we got up early and took a group excursion to Gubbio! Gubbio is a town not unlike Sansepolcro, but it is located in the region of Umbria. The population of Gubbio is about double that of Sansepolcro, so it is quite a bit larger but just as beautiful. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes by bus to get to Gubbio. When we arrived, our first stop was at the Mausoleum of Forty Martyrs. This mausoleum was built in remembrance of the lives of forty innocent Italians who were killed by the Nazi army during World War II. On June 22, 1944, Nazi soldiers rounded up a group of selected Italians. Half were killed, and the other half was forced to dig a mass grave. This massacre took place because one Nazi soldier was killed and another was wounded in Gubbio earlier that same week. This mausoleum is a beautiful white building, and forty cypress trees have been planted around it. The wall where the martyrs were killed still stands, and the bullet holes are still visible in the stone. When we arrived, a man showed us around and explained everything to us in Italian. John Rose translated for us, but I was really astounded at how much of what he said I could actually understand. Speaking Italian doesn’t come as easily to me as it does to some, but I am excited at how much I can understand now. As I soon found out, the man who greeted us at the gate of the mausoleum had two uncles and a cousin who died in the massacre. It was so interesting and moving to hear the story from someone who was so directly involved. While we were walking around and looking at all the names and ages of the forty martyrs, another man came along, and he told us that his father had been killed in the massacre when he was only three years old. The people who were killed in this massacre spanned from ages seventeen to sixty one and the group consisted of both men and women. Both men finished showing us around, and escorted us out. The place was so inspiring, and yet so somber because of the events that took place there. It was a great privilege to hear about the massacre from people who, themselves and their families, were directly affected.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Gubbio. We took the chair lift up the side of Monte Ingino and saw the Basilica of Saint Ubaldo. Saint Ubaldo is the patron saint of Gubbio, and his body is preserved in the Basilica at the top of the steep mountain. After exploring we stopped for lunch at a pizza place, and I got Hawaiian pizza! It’s not very Italian, but I have been craving it for some time now, and it was very delicious. On our way back to Sansepolcro, we stopped by Montecasale and took a tour of the convent there. This small hermitage is home to several Franciscan monks, and it was a favorite place of Saint Francis of Assissi. The whole day was very interesting, but I was dragging a little more than I would have liked due to the long week and lack of sleep. We all welcomed Sunday as a wonderful day of rest and relaxation.

Entry 10: November 9, 2010
“Bramasole”
This weekend we had a travel break, and my friends and I decided we were tired of the cold weather, so we headed south. Janna, Katy, Brianna, Molly, and I spent our long weekend in Rome, where we got to see the numerous, famous sights where so many events have taken place throughout time. I brought Under the Tuscan Sun with me to read because I had been meaning to, but I just hadn’t yet found a spare minute. In the first page of the book, a beautiful little house on the Tuscan countryside is described and its name is Bramasole. This name comes from the Italian verb bramare which means to yearn for and the Italian word for sun, sole. I showed the girls this part of the book, and we all agreed that we definitely were yearning for sun. Luckily, the weather forecast called for warm weather and clear skies in Roma. As I kept on reading and as the train took us closer and closer to our destination, I excitedly anticipated our weekend under the Roman sun!

By the time we got off the train on Thursday evening, it was already dark, and we were all extremely tired from the day’s worth of traveling so we quickly found our hostel, got our bearings, and then went to find a quick bite to eat. We explored the area around our hostel and the train station and eventually found a little pizza place where we all ordered a slice of delicious pizza with fresh toppings. Then we went back to our hostel, played a few rounds of Scopa, and called it an early night so we could get up early in the morning and start seeing the sights before our “appointment” at the Vatican.

The first stop on our schedule was The Pantheon. This beautiful ancient structure was first built in 27 B.C. as a temple to all ancient Roman gods. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa and was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 126 A.D. The name is of Greek origin, and it literally means “to every god.” The building is large and rectangular with a huge concrete dome that has a circular opening in the center called an oculus. This window to the sky casts a beam of light down on the inside of the temple and, depending on the time of day, the circular beam is located in a different spot, according to the location of the sun. Inside the Pantheon there are many different beautiful statues and paintings, but what most interested me was the tomb of Raphael. The famous High Renaissance artist Raphael who lived from 1483-1520 is buried right there and this really reminded me, yet again, of how much history and time has taken place in the places we were seeing.

After the Pantheon we had to rush to get lunch and in order to make it to the Vatican by 1:30. We had ordered tickets online before we left so we wouldn’t have to stand in an exceedingly long line, and we arrived just in time. We lingered in the Vatican museum and followed the signs toward the main attraction: The Sistine Chapel. We eventually got there and stood for a long time admiring the beautiful frescoes by Michelangelo. So many of the paintings I have seen all my life in books or prints, but to see them in real life was incredible. The Last Judgment and the Creation of Adam are probably two of his most well known paintings, and I was so excited to see them. It is hilarious to think that Michelangelo resented his job of painting The Sistine Chapel when it turned out how it did, absolutely breathtaking. We then lingered around in the Vatican Gardens before we made our way to Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Saint Peter’s Basilica is considered as one of the most holy places in the Catholic tradition. The tomb of Saint Peter, the first Bishop of the Christian Church, is usually thought to be located directly under the altar of the basilica, and because of this it is very historically important in the direct line of papal succession. When we came into the basilica it was around 4:45 p.m. This was the perfect time to visit Saint Peter’s Basilica because at 5:00 mass is held in the very front of the church at the altar which is secluded from the area where tourists are allowed to tour. The choir began singing and there were guards keeping people standing in front of the entrance to the mass, but we decided we just had to get in. I asked the guard if we were allowed and he said it was fine as long as we were there for the service and didn’t take any pictures. I reassured him that we wouldn’t, and we made our way across the large open floor and entered the nave in front of the very alter under which Saint Peter is buried. We stayed for the entire service, and I was struck with awe by the beauty of my surroundings and the incredible experience I was having.

On Saturday we really got to enjoy the warmth and beauty of Rome. We took the metro from the train station to the Roman Forum. As soon as we walked up the stairs from the metro we were greeted by the beaming sun and the Coliseum! We walked a little way to the Roman Forum and spent a few hours walking around in the place where the oldest structures of ancient Rome can be found. We saw many shrines, temples, and arches dating back to the early A.D.s and late B.C.s, and we took enough pictures to last us a lifetime. Then, because the Coliseum is so close, we held off lunch a little while and strutted around the different levels of the Coliseum. This huge, unique, and beautiful structure was built in the 70s A.D., and it is the largest amphitheater ever built in the Roman Empire. That night we took it easy after a long day of ancient ruins and went to see the Spanish Steps and throw our coins in the Trevi Fountain.

The next day we traveled back to Sansepolcro, and it has been cold and rainy here for the past few days. It doesn’t look as if the weather is going to change any time soon, but I think I can handle it because I definitely got a good amount of sun and excitement in Roma!

Entry 9: November 2, 2010

“Pasta and Florence”

On Thursday of this week, Sara and her husband Patrizio came over in the evening, and Patrizio taught us how to make delicious fresh pasta and gnocchi. He mixed the flour and eggs and then showed us how to roll out the dough, fold it, and cut it into strips of thin and thick rectangular pasta. Next we made the delicious potato dumplings called gnocchi. Sara put the boiled potatoes through a food mill, and then Patrizio mixed them up with flour which we then cut it into little bite size pieces. Next we boiled the noodles and gnocchi and had a delicious dinner! Patrizio told us that he learned how to make fresh pasta from his grandfather when he was a little boy, and that it is still common for older people to make their own “pasta fresca.” Making fresh pasta is a tradition in Sansepolcro because the Buitoni Company originated here in 1827. Giulia Buitoni started out making fresh pasta in her little shop on the very street that backs up to our own Palazzo Alberti. The business gained international success throughout the generations, but eventually turned to factory made products rather than fresh pasta, though the tradition lives on in Sansepolcro.

This week my parents came to Italy for a little vacation, and I visited them in Florence for the weekend. We had a great time, and I was so excited to see them after two months of being abroad! The trip I took on Friday to Florence was the first I have taken by myself while in Italy. It was exciting to go by myself, but I missed my usual travel partners and our lively conversations that take place during the long hours of travel. Friday night in Florence my parents and I went to The Baptistery and spent a good while marveling over the ceiling which is covered in colorful mosaics. The Baptistery, situated in the middle of the Piazza del Duomo, is one of the oldest and most famous buildings in Florence, and it is where all of the Catholic Florentines were baptized until the end of the nineteenth century. Mom and I tried to identify all of the scenes portrayed on the ceiling from the life of Christ and the Old and New Testament while Dad took numerous pictures. Then we sat on the benches in front of the apse and caught up a little as we soaked up the beauty of our surroundings. The rest of that day and Saturday we spent our time shopping, visiting, eating lots of delicious food, and exploring Florence.

On Sunday morning, the three of us got up and enjoyed a delightful little breakfast at our hotel and then made our way to Sansepolcro. When we got here it was rainy and the middle of the day so most of the shops and restaurants were closed, but we ended up finding a cute little place to eat outside Porta Fiorentina. I gave Mom and Dad the grand tour of the palazzo and then took them to get a coffee at Fabrizio’s! Mom and Dad had to leave that night in order to catch their flight to London out of Florence the next morning, so we said goodbye at the bus station. I miss them already, but I am really glad they got to come to Italy, and I am even happier that I got to see them and spend a few days with them.

That night was Halloween, so all of us in the palazzo threw a party for the elementary aged kids from the schools where we do our service learning. We ended up having about 75 kids come over to play games, color pictures, and eat food and candy for about an hour and a half. The palazzo was decorated to the nines with all kinds of black and orange decorations, and I had so much fun talking and playing with the little kids in their Halloween costumes. I volunteer at one of the three elementary schools for my service learning project, so I knew a good number of the kids. I was excited to see them, and I think they had a really good time. I had a really good time too, and I love interacting with the Italian children. They are so sweet. I think the party, not unlike the rest of my weekend, was a definite success!

Entry 8: Wednesday, October 27, 2010

“Excursion in The Val d’Orcia”

The Val d’Orcia is a mountainous area of Tuscany in the region of Siena, and it lies south west of Sansepolcro. In my English class, we have recently finished reading War in Val d’Orcia by Iris Origo. This inspirational book is Origo’s personal diary from the years 1943 and 1944 when the people of her part of Italy were greatly affected by World War II. She and her husband, Antonio Origo, lived on a very large estate called La Foce, and this is the setting of her book. La Foce was the first stop on our three day excursion through the mountains of Val d’Orcia, and we were all taken aback by the beauty of the classic Tuscan views and landscapes. Upon our arrival at La Foce, we immediately set off to see the small cemetery where Iris Origo and her family members are buried. On our way we got distracted by the views, so we stopped for a perfect photo shoot opportunity. The rolling gray and green mountains in the background and the white paths lined with cypress trees were so perfect that we could not pass it up. Eventually we got to the cemetery, and I really appreciated being able to see the grave and walk around an estate where so much had happened that I have just recently learned about. We purchased some olive oil that was made on site, and then climbed back into our travel bus and made our way to Montepulciano.

On the way to Montepulciano we stopped for a delicious lunch, and then when we arrived in the town we were given some free time to explore and see the sights. Montepulciano is where a few scenes from the second Twilight movie were shot, so there was a general buzz of excitement hovering around the group the whole time we were there. Then we set out for a little town called Montisi where we took a nice evening walk before arriving at Sant’ Anna in Camprena. Sant’ Anna in Camprena is a beautiful 15th century monastery that has been converted into an agriturismo, and was made famous as the setting or much of “The English Patient.” That night we were all extremely tired by the time we arrived, but we had just a little time to settle in. At eight o’clock we were served a giant four course meal in the dining room. The dining room has two very long wooden tables where all of the guests sit and are served by a very attentive group of wait staff. That night at dinner, and the next, I sat across from our bus driver, Emanuelle. This was great fun because he usually only speaks to us in Italian, and everything he says is hilarious. He decided that none of us were eating enough so he decided it was his job to serve us food. Whenever we protested and told him we didn’t want any more he would reply with, “in Italia, MANGIAMO!” This translates as “in Italy, WE EAT!” and I think this is becoming my new motto.

On Saturday morning we made our first stop at L’Abbazia di San’ Antimo. This Benedictine monastery is named for Saint Anthimus of Rome and it was commissioned in 770 AD. It is gorgeous both inside and out and was completely surrounded by numerous cypress and olive trees. The next stop on our itinerary was my personal favorite place in all of Val d’Orcia, Bagno Vignoni! This extremely small town has only 36 year round occupants. The rest of the people in Bagno Vignoni are tourists who come to the city for the spa and the natural warm springs. These springs really are a wonder of the natural world because though it was a chilly day outside, the water remained remarkably warm. Janna and I spent much of our time in Bagno Vignoni with our shoes off and our pants rolled up, so we were able to slip and slide around in the trenches of rushing water. That afternoon we also went to Montalcino and Pienza before returning to the hotel for another extravagant four course meal and a few games cards beside the fire before bed.
Sunday morning we started the day off in the agricultural museum in Buonconvento. This was very interesting because it pertained mainly to the lives of tenant farmers during World War II. This specific type of tenant farming is called Mezzadria, and we all got to see a life size representation of the kind of wheat thresher they used, the simple, peasant clothing they wore, and we read about their lives and their intense workload. Next we went to Siena and had a wonderful time admiring its duomo, cripta, and baptistery. The duomo’s floor was filled with amazing artwork and the cripta was covered in beautiful frescoes, naturally preserved due to the dark, damp climate of the underground area. On our way back to the bus from the cripta, Janna noticed a large cross stamped onto one of the marble steps that lead away from the duomo. I had read about this cross earlier in my travel guide and there is a very interesting story behind it. The legend is that Saint Catherine was walking on these marble steps one day and that when she reached this particular step she was pushed by a demon and fell all the way to the bottom. The step is only a couple from the top, and there are probably thirty or so after it, so this was definitely a long fall. However, Saint Catherine was miraculously not injured at all when this fall could have been deadly. I thought this little story was really interesting, so I was excited that we noticed the step, and I was happy I knew what it meant.

The weather was perfect for the entirety of our excursion, but as Emanuelle pulled our bus up to the front of Porta Fiorentina, a few drops of rain started to fall from the sky. We all hurried to get our bags, scurried toward the palazzo, raced upstairs, and plopped down on our beds ready to rest after our weekend of travel. Val d’Orcia was beautiful, but it was nice to be back at the palazzo. That’s when I realized, Sansepolcro is starting to really feel like a second home.

Entry 7: October 19, 2010
“Fun and Festivals”

This weekend I was lucky enough to be able to attend two very exciting festivals. Saturday morning there was a chance of rain, but the entire palazzo decided to brave the weather conditions for the love of chocolate. We woke up early, took the morning train out of Sansepolcro, and arrived in Perugia where the Eurochocolate festival has been held annually since 1993. Perugia is the capital and largest city of the region of Umbria and this region is historically famous for its chocolate, so this is the perfect city to hold a Eurochocolate festival. Perugia is the home of the first Scuola del Cioccolato in Italy which was opened in 2005, as well as the Museo del Cioccolato Perugina. At this festival there were all different kinds of chocolate candy and desserts. There were chocolates shaped like keys, horseshoes, and soccer balls, chocolate bars of all different sizes and flavors, piles of chocolate truffles, and chocolate covered fruit. Little stands sold different kinds of chocolate desserts such as chocolate cake, crepes, churros, and even chocolate kebabs! My friends and I had a great time going from booth to booth looking at the different chocolate treats and buying a few to eat then, a few to take back, and a few for gifts. I had the most delicious crepe I have ever eaten, and we bought a plate of churros to share between the five of us. We got to see the crepes being made right in front of us, and there was an exhibit where a group of three men made and packaged their own chocolate. Everything was delicious, and we returned to Sansepolcro on the evening train with happy stomachs and little bags filled with enough chocolate goodies to last us a very long time.

On Sunday, a few of us decided to go along with Dr. Webb and John Rose to an International Festival in Arezzo. This festival was very extensive, and many different European countries were represented. There were so many different types of food, and I wanted to taste them all. Janna and I split a gyro from one of the Grecian booths and a German sausage for lunch, and that left us very satisfied. We spent a few hours looking around at the different booths and all that they were selling. There was a booth that sold jellies and curds made in England, and we spent a good while tasting the different delicious flavors. My favorites were mango curd and passion fruit jam. Then we found a booth that sold handmade soaps and herbal tea. There were booths of strudels, crepes, pastries, and piping hot coconut macaroons. This festival was a delightful blend of cultures, and the food that I tried was delicious, fresh, and authentic. I only wish I could have eaten more!

It’s getting colder in Sansepolcro, but it is still beautiful outside. The leaves are starting to change colors on the hilltops, so it’s really looking like autumn in Italy. Katy, Janna, and I have started taking a lot of bike rides in the country right outside Porta Romana. The scenery out there is perfect, stereotypical Tuscany with rolling green fields, patchwork farm land, hay barrels, old stone houses, and silver-green olive trees. Sometimes we see people working in the fields, collecting fruit from the orchards, or hunting for truffles. Today on our bike ride we saw a beautiful old stone house with light blue shutters. It is so gorgeous that Katy and I decided, in a perfect world, we would stay in Tuscany forever and open a bed and breakfast in that little stone house outside the walls of Sansepolcro. Maybe someday we will…!

On Monday we went to the schools a second time for our service learning projects. The elementary children just keep getting more and more adorable. I taught the first and second graders about colors and the fifth graders about the map of the United States and how to pronounce all of the state names. They thought some state names such as Mississippi and Illinois were really funny, and they all giggled when they had to repeat them. When we all returned from the Italian schools, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and Fabrizio, his wife Sonia, and their son Francesco were our special guests for the meal! I’m so glad they were able to come, and afterward we gave them the grand tour of our palazzo. That afternoon Janna, Katy, and I were signed up to go horseback riding at Chiara Rosi’s stable. Chiara is famous for racing horses, and she was kind enough to go with us on a ride through the countryside. Patsy works at the stables during the week so she went with us too, and it was great fun. The views were beautiful and the horses were very sweet. I rode a brown Arabian horse named Cashmir. She was very well behaved, and this was lucky because I haven’t been on a horse in years. Riding up and down the Tuscan hillside was definitely nothing like the little horseback riding trails at summer camp, and it was a wonderful experience.

Entry 6: October 12, 2010
“Another Busy Week”

This past week and weekend was filled with studying, exams, and writing papers. On Wednesday Molly, Katy, Janna, and I walked up to our art history professors’ house so we could have the grand tour. Dr. and Professor Banker live in a charming little yellow house on the side of a mountain. It has a gorgeous view that reminds me of the rolling hills from The Sound of Music. The Bankers showed us around their orchard where they grow apples, plums, persimmons, and figs. Then we took turns sitting in the hammock and looking out over the countryside. We picked lavender and fed leaves to the donkey that lives next door. After exploring the outdoors, we were given the grand tour of the inside which was beautifully and uniquely decorated by Professor Banker. We enjoyed a delicious snack of traditional Tuscan delicacies: homemade fig cake, sweet bread that was topped with little grapes and sprigs of rosemary, and walnuts that the Bankers had gathered themselves. After a few hours of visiting, eating, and admiring, we headed back to the Palazzo to finish up our busy week.

This weekend went by too quickly, but it was very important because we were able to celebrate the first birthday of our palazzo. Saturday was the first year anniversary of the opening our lovely palazzo, and we celebrated by having an open house for the people of Sansepolcro. There was great food, a slide show, and a lot of visiting with many friends from the town. On Sunday I went to my first Italian soccer game, and it was so much fun. Fabrizio kindly volunteered to drive us, so Katy, Janna, and I made our way to the Stadio Buitoni with Fabrizio and his family to support our local team. Sansepolcro won, so there was much rejoicing at the stadium, and we got a nice little Italian lesson from some of the local kids who were at the game too.

This Monday we all started our service learning projects. We were all assigned a different local school, and we will be helping out in English classes for about three or four hours every Monday for the rest of the semester. I have been assigned a public elementary school about a ten minute walk from our palazzo. I am helping out with a first grade class, a second grade class, and a fifth grade class. The little ones don’t know much English, but they are adorable, and I love being in the classroom with them. I was surprised how much English the fifth graders knew. As soon as I came into the classroom they began to ask me questions about myself and where I live. I spent the first hour and a half of my time at the school with the first graders. They all introduced themselves, and then I helped them cut pictures of food out of newspapers and paste them onto a food pyramid. I said the names of the food and a list of colors and they all repeated in unison. Then I had the fifth graders, and I taught them about the American flag and gave them a little handout about the flag so that they could color it and paste it in their English notebooks. For the last hour I was in the second grade class, and I said different greetings in English, and they repeated them. The little kids were so adorable, but they wore me out. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the palazzo for lunch. I definitely have a new respect for elementary school teachers. I can’t wait to go back again next Monday. I am really looking forward to getting to know all the kids. They all seem so sweet.

One thing I realized while I was at the elementary school helping out was that all the teachers were very interested in nationality and family origins. One of the teachers asked me about the origin of my “surname.” I told her it was German, and she began to ask me a lot of questions about my family’s history. It occurred to me that I have never once been asked about where my family came from in Germany, or when they came to the United States or why, until I came to Italy. When I thought about it more I realized that unless someone dresses differently or has an accent, Americans usually don’t think about that person’s background or their family’s ethnicity. In one of my classes there is a Pakistani child, and as soon as he introduced himself to me the teacher said to me “Yes, and his family comes from Pakistan!” In my fifth grade class all of the children were very persistent in telling me exactly where their families lived.

Some children were from Citta di Castello or Anghiari, and then the majority from Sansepolcro. It seems to me that because America is such a young country and its culture is a combination of many different cultures, that everyone starts to take having so many different ethnicities for granted. Also, it is interesting that, over time and through generations, people in America seem to forget about their family origins and begin to think of themselves as simply American instead of German or British or wherever their families originally came from. For young Americans it is enough to be just American. Even though Italy has only been a nation since 1861, the Italian culture dates back much farther and simply being “American” does not seem to be quite enough to people with stronger ethnic backgrounds. They want to know more about your origin because they know your family must have come from somewhere before 1776.

Entry 5: October 5, 2010

“Venice, a Really Nice Place to Play Pooh Sticks”

On Wednesday of this past week my art history class went on a day trip to Assisi. We traveled by bus for about two hours, and the sights were magnificent. We traveled through rolling mountains and olive orchards and ended up at our destination in the early afternoon. We parked at one end of the city and walked all the way to the other side in order to visit the Basilica of San Francesco (The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi). The city was peaceful, and we saw a great deal of it on our initial walk. In front of the Basilica there is a gigantic green lawn with bushes that are cut in the form of the Tau cross and the word PAX. The Tau cross is the symbol of the Franciscan monks who are followers of Saint Francis. The entire Basilica is covered in thirteenth and fourteenth century frescoes that portray scenes from the life of Saint Francis, the life of Christ, and the stories from the Old Testament. Then we made our way down to the lower level of the Basilica and we were able to see the tomb of Saint Francis. After discussion and explanation with our professors, we were given some free time and my friends and I found a little pastry shop with piles of delicious things to eat. We all got giant éclairs filled with cream and covered with chocolate, and then we headed back through the city, piled into the bus, and traveled back to Sansepolcro.

After our trip to Assisi, Katy, Janna, Brianna, and I focused on planning out the details of our weekend trip. The plan was to get up early on Friday morning, catch a bus to Arezzo, take a train to Verona, and then travel to Venice for the remainder of the weekend. Our Friday morning plans worked out perfectly, and everything was progressing like clockwork until we got delayed at the train station in Bologna and ended up missing the train we wanted to take to Verona. We were happy to improvise, the mix up was minor, and we all laughed about it right away. However, the new train we ended up taking to Verona got us there about two and a half hours after we had planned to arrive. Katy, Janna, and I have just finished reading Romeo and Juliet for our English course here in Italy, so we were extremely excited to be in Verona, and we took our time leisurely walking through the main street taking pictures and quoting our favorite lines from the play. We arrived at the Casa di Giulietta and realized we had lingered in the city a lot longer than we had thought. Quickly, we all took pictures with the statue of Juliet and stuck our previously written “letters to Juliet” on the wall and literally ran back to the train station in order to catch a late train to Venice.

We arrived in Venice at about eleven o’clock, and I immediately fell in love as soon as we emerged from the train station. There are many cities that I would love to visit in my life, but so far, Venice is definitely my favorite. It is unlike anywhere I have ever been, and I think my obsession with boats has grown exponentially since this past weekend. We bought our three-day student vaporetti passes, jumped on board for our first of many vaporetti rides, and made it safely to the hotel around midnight. That night I was really exhausted from the day of traveling and the mad dash to the train station in Verona. Saturday morning I woke up refreshed after a good night’s sleep, and I had one of the best days I have had in a long time. We were lucky because the weather was perfect. The sky was a little gray, but the sun was shining and Venice was beautiful. After breakfast we made our way to Saint Mark’s Cathedral in the center of Venice. We stayed there for several hours soaking up the beauty of the incredible mosaic covered walls and ceiling, the view from the second story, and the museum that gives some history of the artwork contained in the Cathedral. My favorite part of being in the Cathedral was one point when we were walking out of the museum area on the second floor, a choir started singing hymns. We all just stood there awestruck, listening, with chill bumps racing up and down our spines.

We left the Cathedral after a perfect morning, and headed toward the Guggenheim. On the way we all got a quick slice of pizza and sat down to enjoy our lunch on the steps of a little white bridge. Venice is filled with about 400 bridges of all shapes and size. I have come to the conclusion that Winnie the Pooh should have lived in Venice rather than the Hundred Acre Wood because Venice is the perfect place to play Pooh Sticks. I would hope that everyone in the world knows what Pooh Sticks is, but if you don’t, it’s a great game that involves dropping sticks on one side of a bridge and then seeing which stick comes out on the other side first. The Guggenheim was a natural oasis for modern art. We lingered in the Nasher Sculpture Garden and wrote wishes and put them on the wishing tree. We viewed the temporary exhibition of Adolph Gottlieb and then the famous Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Sunday we spent time shopping for Venetian glass and saying our goodbyes to Venice. We caught an afternoon train and made it back to Sansepolcro before too late. I never did find a time to play Pooh Sticks because we had so many other things planned, so I have decided that I must go back to Venice, preferably, very soon!

Emma Keim
Entry 4: September 28, 2010

“Day Trips”

On Friday after classes and lunch, my friends and I went to our favorite little café called Gerasmo’s, located just across the street from the palazzo. As always we were greeted by the warm, friendly smile of Fabrizio, the kind Italian man who owns the café. He makes us special cappuccinos and lattes decorated with cinnamon designs, and they are delicious! That day we sat in our usual spot outside the café, and when Fabrizio brought us our coffee he also brought a few complimentary cookies for us to try. Later on, as we were finishing our little snack, he came back and told us he had an “assignment” for us. What it turned out to be was writing down our names on a piece of paper so he could remember them. He said he needed to know them because we come to his café so frequently, and we are definitely guilty as charged. He then pointed to himself and said “E io?” which means “and I?” and we all shouted “FABRIZIO!” We were all overjoyed to be formally acquainted, and it is really nice to have a friend in the café business, because honestly I’m obsessed with Gerasmo’s. I have yet to meet any Italian nicer than Fabrizio, and I highly doubt it’s going to happen any time soon.

Our next plan on the agenda was to go to Anghiari for our first day trip of the weekend. Anghiari is about a 15 minute bus ride from Sansepolcro. It is a beautiful medieval town on the side of a hill that overlooks both the Tiber and Sovara valleys. The circumference of the town is surrounded by a giant stone wall and all the houses and buildings are also made of stone and brick. It is truly a gorgeous town, and I was overjoyed to be there. We strolled around leisurely and took pictures of every beautiful view, building, and garden we saw.

The next day was Saturday, and we all set out on a day trip to Urbino with our art history professors, Dr. and Professor Banker. Urbino is a college town that takes about two hours to get to from Sansepolcro by bus. The bus ride was full of twists and turns up the side of a mountain, and the fog was so thick that I couldn’t see anything except for the railing on the mountainside when I looked out of the windows of the bus. While in Urbino we went to the Palazzo Ducale to observe the beautiful architecture of the building and the art that is housed there in The Galleria Nazionale delle Marche. The Palazzo Ducale was built in the mid fifteenth century for Duke Federico da Montefeltro. Since then it has been turned into a gallery/library, and we were able to see many famous paintings including three by our own native of Sansepolcro, Piero della Francesca. The most famous of these is The Flagellation of Christ. Piero painted a famous portrait of Duke Federico da Montefeltro that we saw in the Uffizi when we visited Florence, so there are many connections between these two.

By Sunday I was exhausted from the week of school and the weekend filled with day trips. It has definitely been very busy around the palazzo for everyone lately. After a little relaxing, a little more homework, and maybe a few bombaloni (Tuscan doughnuts!), Katy, Janna, and I decided we needed to experience some of the local festivities going on, so we joined in with the crowd of people at the edge of the town who were waiting to greet the Patriarch of Jerusalem to Sansepolcro. The Patriarch was greeted with an all out Sansepolcro style welcome including people dressed in medieval costumes, drummers, trumpeters, singers, and even the flag waving team made an appearance. We processed around the town and then stopped at the Cathedral where the band played music and the flag waving team did a few routines. After the show, my friends and I made some plans for our Venice trip this upcoming weekend. So, next week get ready and be sure to read what kind of adventures “The Ragazze Americane” have had in Venezia!

Entry 3: Tuesday September 21, 2010

“Firenze”

On Friday, after an Italian test and a quick trip to the ATM, all of us squeezed into a bus with a bunch of Italian high school students traveling to their various homes. The bus took us to Arezzo where we had just enough time to use the restroom and get a quick bite before boarding our train and heading off to Florence! After we arrived at the train station in Florence, we made our way on foot to a convent turned hotel where we would be staying for the next two nights. This walk across Florence was just the introduction we needed. We passed by the Florence Cathedral, called the Duomo, the Campanile, the Baptistry, the San Lorenzo market, and the Ponte Vecchio, all in the first thirty minutes of our trip. Everything in Florence is gorgeous. That night my friends and I went to the market and found a nice little place to have dinner. The waiter spoke perfect English, but he insisted on making us speak to him only in Italian! That night we went to bed early. We were exhausted after the day of traveling and wanted to get a good night’s rest before a weekend filled with famous and beautiful sights.

The first adventure my group set out on was climbing to the very top of the Duomo on Saturday morning after a delicious breakfast provided by the hotel. We climbed 463 steps in the narrow curvature of the dome, and the view was absolutely breathtaking. Looking out over all of Florence was a great way to start the day’s festivities. I was excited to see all that this magnificent city had in store for me. Our next stop was The Bargello, a 13th century brick fortress turned museum that houses many of Florence’s famous sculptures. Downstairs we explored and found chiseled sculptures by Michelangelo and his apprentices. My favorite part of the Bargello was Donatello’s bronze sculpture of David which is housed on the second floor of the Bargello. This David is very young and, as one of my friends likes to put it, he looks “sassy.” He is wearing a hat, has one foot propped up on Goliath’s head, and one hand on his hip.

After The Bargello, we bought a quick slice of pizza and then got in line for the Uffizi Gallery. We bought some gelato to keep us occupied while we stood in line and about an hour and a half later we were in the Uffizi admiring countless famous paintings in real life! The Uffizi itself is a work of art. The corridors are filled with sculptures and the ceilings are covered with art. The best part was that so many of the paintings we are currently discussing in Art History were right there in front of us. Paintings by Filippo Lippi were particularly interesting to me because we have been discussing his life and works in class, and I was able to appreciate his work so much more because I now know the background information. My favorite piece was “Primavera” by Botticelli. The title of this painting literally means springtime, and it shows Venus surrounded by mythical figures.

Sunday was our last day in Florence, and we couldn’t stay too long because not many buses run from Arezzo to Sansepolcro on Sundays. Therefore, this day was dedicated to David. Our first and only priority for Sunday was to see Michelangelo’s David, so we made our way to the Accademia. Even though the lines were long and we had to wait for three hours and then paid 10 euro, it was worth every moment and every cent. I was blown away by the enormous marble figure housed by a glass dome. The detail, size, and perfection of this sculpture are unlike anything I have ever seen. I’m glad that we saved the David for last. It definitely summed up the awe and splendor of our trip.

Dr. Webb and John Rose left Florence before the students, and I am happy to report that we all made it back to Sansepolcro safe and sound. Hopefully this will be the first of many successful adventures to come in the next months here in Italia!

Entry 2: Tuesday September 14, 2010

“Enjoying Everything Sansepolcro Has to Offer!”

This week has gone by so fast. It seems as if we have been in Italy forever, but at the same time I cannot believe that two weeks have already passed. During the week we were all very much occupied with our schoolwork. We wake up every week morning bright and early for Italian class and then we have our other classes which alternate daily. Every day we all gather for a large lunchtime meal which usually lasts about an hour and a half and is always extremely delicious. Often, John Rose invites friends or visitors to come have lunch with us. We have had luncheons with interesting people such as professional opera singers, artists, local Italians, visitors from the States, and even the Chief of Police.

On Wednesday of this past week my art history class took a trip to the Museo Civico right here in Sansepolcro. This gave us the opportunity to view several of the famous works of Piero della Francesca that we have been studying in class. Piero della Francesca was an influential Renaissance artist who lived during the fifteenth century and was born in Sansepolcro. As we all sat on a long, wooden bench in front of Piero della Francesca’s painting of the Resurrection of Christ, Dr. Banker told us to put our right hands over our right eyes and to look at the left side of the painting, then we alternated, putting our left hands over our left eyes and focused on the right side of the painting. Then he asked us what we saw. This gripped my attention because instead of just observing the painting, there was now an activity to go along with it. I eagerly raised my hand and blurted out that I thought Christ was being portrayed as a conqueror on the left side of the painting. Then we all switched to the other side and came to the conclusion that Christ was being portrayed as a judge seated, as if He was on a throne. Before going to see this painting of Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection, I had heard that the author, Aldous Huxley, had called it “the greatest painting in the world.” After seeing it and beginning to understand its complexity, I do not think this was an overstatement.
On Friday night we celebrated finishing our first full week of classes by enjoying an excellent dinner at Ristorante Fiorentino. This second restaurant is a beautiful little place that was opened in 1807, and it is just about a two minute walk from our palazzo. I can see it from my third story window.

Saturday mornings are busy in Sansepolcro. The market that spreads almost from one end of the city to the other takes place on the main street which passes right by our own Palazzo Alberti. After breakfast and walking up and down Via XX Settembre, looking at all of the interesting things for sale at the weekend market, my roommates and I decided to take on the task of doing our laundry. What we found out about Italian washing machines is that they definitely take their own sweet time. Each load takes about two hours to wash and then we must hang out our clothes to dry. This is a slow process as well, especially when you are running dangerously low on clean things to wear. Laundry in Italy is certainly a daylong event!

On Sunday morning we were invited by Dr. Webb and John Rose to climb many flights of stairs to the top of the bell tower attached to the Cathedral of Sansepolcro is also known as The Duomo, and is dedicated to San Giovanno Evangelista. This was a special opportunity because the tower is not always open for visitors. We got to the top with enough time to take a few aerial pictures of Sansepolcro and the stunning countryside and then a group of three young men began to ring the bells alerting everyone in the city that it was noon. The chiming was breath taking, and the 14th century tower swayed a little with the weight of the swinging bells. Afterwards, Katy, Janna, Brianna, and I were introduced to Frederico, a very kind young Italian boy whom we guessed to be about fifteen years old. He was part of the bell chiming crew, and he promptly gave us a little Italian lesson, teaching us words like “brother, stomach, nose, and shoes…” all of the essentials. We all climbed back down the narrow stairway and with the help of Frederico, we picked out some postcards depicting different views of the city in black and white sketches. Then we all got matching green t-shirts with a golden logo that shows a bell, the cathedral, the tower and says “Gruppo Campanari, Borgo Sansepolcro.” When translated into English this phrase means “Bell Ringing Group, Town of Sansepolcro.” Yes, we’re basically members of the crew…!

Entry 1: September 6, 2010

“Arrivo in Italia”

On August 30, nine of us met in the airport to set out on what will hopefully be the first of many exciting travels taken throughout our lifetimes. After saying goodbye to our families we all began to bond in the airport, chatting about how excited we all were and just getting to know one another. Three airports, two plane rides, and one bus trip later, we arrived in Sansepolcro! Dr. Webb and Sara Andreini, one of our professors and a local resident of Sansepolcro, met us outside the city wall and led us to The Palazzo Alberti, our new home for the next three and a half months.

The first day was hard to get through since none of us had slept more than about thirty minutes on the flight from Newark to Rome. I was exhausted but extremely excited at the same time. After a delicious meal, Dr. Webb and John Rose gave a grand tour of the palazzo, which is a beautifully restored sixteenth century building. My favorite parts of the palazzo are the locally hand crafted furniture and the large windows that are kept open all day because the weather is so perfect right now in Sansepolcro. Our palazzo is located on the main street, and the second and third story windows are perfect for leaning over and observing everything that is going on in the town. The first thing I fell in love with about Sansepolcro was the very first thing I noticed upon arrival. The streets, shops, and cafés are continually filled with people! Everyone, even small children, stays out late eating, drinking, and visiting.

During the day, people ride bikes, walk their dogs, sit outside drinking coffee or eating delicious gelato.

The first night Dr. Webb gave us strict orders not to go to bed until 9:30 p.m. at the earliest so we could all get over our jet lag. This was hard to do, but we were all grateful we did because after the first night it was easy to become adapted to our new time zone. After about twelve hours of sleep we were all ready to take on a tour of Sansepolcro and a day of orientation.

On Thursday and Friday we all dove head first into our routine of classes in the morning and afternoon and then a mix of homework and exploring in the evening. I am excited about classes because everything is so relevant to what I am experiencing each day in Sansepolcro. On Saturday Dr. Webb and John Rose invited all of the students to come with them to Arezzo. Arezzo is a larger city about a one hour bus ride away from Sansepolcro. Five of us went on the day trip, and we all had a great time looking around at a very extensive antique fair and getting familiarized with the city. I am very thankful that we have experienced travelers and professors here who are willing to teach us what we need to know in order to be successful travelers ourselves.
There is so much more planned for all of us in the upcoming week, and I cannot wait to see what Italy has in store for the “Ragazze Americane!”

Until next time,
Arrivaderci!