Entry 6: June 23, 2008

On Saturday, a group of us decided to use up a day on our Eurail Passes to head off to Bellinzona, a town about a half an hour away from Lugano, Switzerland. Bellinzona is known for three castles, one of which we were able to visit. The Castelgrande is on top of a large rock in the middle of the town and it was built between the 10th and 12th centuries. The castle has two towers, one is called Torre Nera and the other is called Torre Bianca. We decided to climb to the tops to look over all of Bellinzona. The hike was a little bit more involved than we were expecting. We first had to climb stairs in Torre Nera to a very skinny passageway that connected it to Torre Bianca, and then we had to climb more stairs and even some spiral stairs, too. Unfortunately, not all of us made it to the top because of some fears of heights, but the view was spectacular. The mountains were in the surroundings and we could see the other two castles in the distance. The castle was practically empty, so it was nice having the day to ourselves in this building from the Middle Ages. Before the Castelgrande, I have never been in a castle before, so I guess it can be considered a nice warm-up for our visit to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in Bavaria tomorrow.

I'm in Munich right now on our last *gasp* week in Europe. While I'm here, we will visit Dachau, the castles in Bavaria, and Munich in general since there is so much to do in this great city. I can't believe that I'm finished with classes and our time is almost finished overseas. My time in Europe has gone by so quickly. I wish I could stay longer - my life will seem so dull when I return.

Entry 5: June 19, 2008

I'm so glad to be in Lugano –- it is absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, it rained the first few days, but now it is gorgeous! Since it was finally a nice day, we were able to go on the boat tour of Lake Lugano. The lake separates Italy from Switzerland, so we were able to see Italy again - from the water. We got off the boat at Morcote, a lakeside village, which was beautiful. We set off towards the Church of Santa Maria del Sasso. According to the walking sign, it was only a 15 minute walk; however, the sign failed to mention that the walk was entirely up stairs. Needless to say my legs started burning and then stopped feeling like anything after awhile. But the climb was totally worth it!

Once we reached the top, we had a glorious view of Lake Lugano along with the sight of S. Maria del Sasso (Saint Mary of the Rocks). The name should have made us realize the location would be difficult to get to. After we visited the church, we walked over to the cemetery next door. The cemetery is huge -- it contains nine different levels. Of course, the levels go uphill and can be reached by walking up stairs, so we only made it to the second level. The cemetery was similar to Italian cemeteries in the way that the ones who have passed on are still cared for and visited. Also, they have pictures on the tombstones and the babies' tombs are separate from the others, just like in Italy. But then again, we are also in the Italian-speaking section of Switzerland.

Entry 4: June 11, 2008

On Sunday night, our last night in Italy, we had our large final family dinner. Around 7:30 p.m. we made our way downstairs to meet and greet the families. We socialized for about a half an hour with the families until almost everyone arrived. Italians are crazily loud, so the hall kept getting louder and louder as they showed up for dinner. Finally, the dining room was opened and we made our way to the seats. Our tables were all set up for everyone and it was so gorgeous - definitely the most crowded we had ever seen our own breakfast and lunch dining area. We even had American flag napkins; it was so adorable. We had appetizers already waiting for us in the middle of the tables - meat slices, cantaloupe, olives, cheese, and some bread slices that had diced meat and cheese melted on top. Those were just the appetizers.

Following came the courses - pesto pasta, roasted pork, salad, potatoes, zucchini, and fried sage (which was surprisingly good). After we ate dinner, we sang "Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee" and "Carolina Girls." Then, the actual singers sang "Amazing Grace" and most of them sang solos as well; they are so talented. Afterwards, one of the Italian acquaintances, Andrea and his fiancée, sang with their marvelous opera voices. I thought that she was going to shatter some windows.

For dessert we had champagne and the cutest cake ever. The cake was designed to look like an American flag with whipped topping spread all around, strawberries for stripes, and a decorative blue and white corner piece. The cake not only looked amazing, but also tasted amazing. It was a wonderful way to end our last night in Italy - a typical Italian feast with our new Italian friends.

Entry 3: June 5, 2008

Venice was absolutely amazing. It is definitely my favorite city. Even though I love Sansepolcro, Venice is just gorgeous and wonderful in such a different way. On the day we arrived, we visited St. Mark’s piazza, the Doge's Palace, and the Bridge of Sighs at nighttime. The piazza has dueling orchestra concerts and the sound along with the surroundings is just marvelous. We were able to visit Murano Island on our first whole day, the place where one can find the famous glassmaking and glassblowing. We were able to see how they made the glass and we were able to buy some gorgeous glass souvenirs to say the least. After Murano, we visited San Marco, the cemetery island where many famous people choose to be buried, such as Ezra Pound. Although, since real estate is so expensive, people who are not famous can only be buried on the island for 10 years. But the island was huge and it was fascinating to see this famous cemetery.

The next day we got up really early and made our way to St. Marks before it opened and even before a line had even started to form. We started a line and so when the church opened we were the very first ones inside - no crowds, no tour groups, no chaos. It was amazing. We were able to see the church quiet and peaceful, and we were able to take in the beauty of the church in general. The mosaics on the ceiling were spectacular. They sparkled and shimmered with every step that we took. After St. Mark’s we set out on the vaporetti to get to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, a museum of modern art. We were able to see 20th century art by Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollack, Alexander Calder and Max Ernst - almost everyone who made a large impact on modern art.

I'm sad that we have already left Venice, but I am definitely planning on returning one day soon.

Entry 2: May 28, 2008

Today was our last full day in Rome. We arrived on Monday evening and immediately set off to see the Spanish Steps and not too far away was the Trevi Fountain. Both of these sights were spectacular, but we went back to our hotel soon after because we were so exhausted from traveling and walking.

Our first full day of Rome (Tuesday) was spent mainly in the Vatican City. We saw inside St. Peter's and I was blown away! The only down side was that we had to wait in line for a half an hour to see St. Peter's - but we did manage to get tickets from the Swiss Guard for Wednesday morning to see the Pope bless the crowd. Then, we spent a few hours in the Vatican Museum, a museum full of other museums - and the Sistine Chapel. We saw almost every museum inside and of course we saw the famous ceiling painting by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Afterwards we trekked out to the Pantheon, a sight that reminded me of how the Romans began many new styles of architecture.

Our last full day (Wednesday/Today) consisted of seeing the Pope bless the crowd - we were pretty close - visiting the Coliseum, and exploring the Roman Forum. Hopefully, it is obvious that I'm having a magnificent time in the great city of Rome!

Entry 1: May 19, 2008

What a wonderful day! We went to Casa Buitoni after class today and it was beautiful! The house belonged to the Buitoni family, a family that began a pasta factory right outside of the city. The house is now owned by Nestle as a base for research and development of Buitoni products. We got to see the kitchen that they use to cook and test recipes and we also got a tour of the enormous house. Although a lot of rooms and spaces have been converted to business rooms, all of the rooms were gorgeous, especially the rooms that were authentic from the time period. I was even able to notice motifs, furniture, and architecture that we have started to discuss in the Interior Design class. At the Casa, we were fed multiple courses on the huge balcony overlooking all of the city! The horizon is so gorgeous, it is unexplainable! Most of us decided that the location would be perfect for a wedding. The Casa grows its own lemons, olives for olive oil, and a large garden of herbs so that they are able to use fresh ingredients in their food preparations.

Afterwards, we went to the cemetery nearby and, wow, did we learn a lot! We actually ran into the man that is the keeper of the cemetery. Even though he did not speak any English, with some Spanish, an Italian phrasebook, and dictionary, we were able to understand his commentaries and we were able to ask questions, too. We learned and saw so much that we wouldn't have been able to see by ourselves.

One thing that is definitely different from American cemeteries is that many of the tombs and graves have pictures of the deceased on them. Another difference is that real flowers are used on the graves and there is a separate section for babies and infants who died. The cemetery was such a difference from cemeteries in America that I felt that I learned so much about the Italian culture just from an hour experience of exploring.