Athena Blogs

We have officially finished our last weekend excursion, and it took every muscle in my body to step off our last train once it was done. I didn't want to leave our Cinque Terre weekend behind me. The Cinque Terre is a region of the Italian Riviera on the northwest coast of Italy that consists of five villages connected via hiking trail, boat, and train. Every aspect of the Cinqe Terre leaves me speechless.

We stayed in Vernazza, the 4th of the 5 villages. It is located around a little harbor, and it consists of a small community surrounding the water. Vernazza is as charming as the sea is blue. On Friday evening once we took the train from Tarquinia to Vernazza, we unloaded our bags in out room and we decided to venture out to begin our weekend hiking. Before leaving the village we stopped by some local stores to pick up some food for a tasty picnic. The Genova region where we were is the home of pesto, so we bought some fresh pesto from the little grocery store and we also picked up some blackberries, apples, and freshly baked focaccia bread. And you cannot forget the local Cinque Terre vino bianco, which they grow in the surrounding vineyards, which we hiked through.

We hiked outside of Vernazza and ate our picnic on a little table overlooking the ocean. It was an idyllic experience that we documented with our cameras and with our memories. We realized that we could not open the wine bottle so I ran back into town and found a local resident walking through the alley, so I asked him. His wife threw down his wine opener from three stories up and he was obliged to acquiesce my request.

We continued our hiking to the 5th village, Monteresso, as the sun was slowly setting. We nearly had the trail all to ourselves during our hour long hike. That night back in Vernazza Sara and I ate gelato while sitting on the rocks at the end of the harbor. Every once in a while we would encounter a large wave and get wet. It became our little perch, where we would return on multiple occasions during our stay in Vernazza.

The next morning we ate some famous Sicilian pastries for breakfast to provide energy for our hike. We hiked to Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Each of the five villages had their own personalities. The colorful buildings juxtaposed with the lush vegetation and the deep blue sea made every scene look like a painting from afar. Sara and I had another delicious picnic with a breathtaking view of the sea and cliffs. In the evening back in Vernazza we ate dinner at a restaurant which used to be an old castle. We ate warm seafood salad and homemade pesto pasta from their terrace. We promised each other that we would not let this day end... but, unfortunately, that only worked for so long.

We have now left the paradise of the Cinque Terre, but we are back in our lovely home, Tuscania. We are sad, because we only have one more week of this heaven on earth.

Ciao,
Stephanie Sutton

Even though we are not traveling to far-reaching destinations in Italy during the middle of the week, it is no less exciting and entertaining. The ideal location of Tuscania lends itself to many short excursions. For example, after dinner on Monday evening we decided that we wanted to try a new gelateria. One of the local waiters, who has become our friend, drove us to the beach at Montalto and we walked around the pier until we found the best gelateria. Not only did I order my usual pistachio, but I also tried the cinnamon, tiramisu, and nocciola. It was divine (if not a little decadent)!

On Tuesday we walked into our Italian class and our teacher asked us if we wanted to study at Lake Bolsena. We were not ones to turn down that inviting offer, so we hopped in his car and learned about the irregular verb conjugations while sitting at a table on the sands of the lake as the waves crashed into shore at Capodimonte. It was the most idyllic classroom setting that I have ever experienced.

Tuesday night a group of 11 students and I had a reservation at a nearby Agriturismo, which is a working farm that invites tourists to to learn about their fresh, local, and organic products. If by "learning" you mean eating... then we got an A+ for sure. We had the Agriturismo dining room to ourselves, and they proceeded to bring us about nine different courses of food. The antipasti included stuffed eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, cheeses, and breads with their olive oil. Then they brought out two different courses of pasta, our favorite being the pesto. We did not want to leave that eating experience. It was one of my most memorable while here in Tuscania.

On Wednesday we took a little field trip with my Etruscan and Roman Art History class to the nearby archaeology dig site where they are excavating Etruscan tombs from the 5th century. I felt like Indiana Jones as we climbed down into the tombs and shoveled out dirt in order to dig deeper into the chambers. They even graded us on our digging capabilities. It was a blow to my ego when the resident shovel-er gave me a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. Come on!

We nearly have a full moon here in Tuscania, so at night Sara and I like to walk around and sit in the park as we marvel at the "man on the moon." It does not get any better than that.

This afternoon we are going to Rome for a class field trip, and tomorrow we leave for Cinque Terre. So much to do, and so little time left...

Ciao,
Stephanie Sutton

Steph and I are continuing to have the most delightful time here in Italy! After a somewhat eventful train experience, we were able to spend a day in Venice. I know we thought we had mastered the train system here, but we were proved wrong. We began our trip with a 20 minute bus ride to Viterbo where we were supposed to take a train to Orte, then get on another train to Bologna, and finally a third train to Venice. However, we couldn't find the train station in Viterbo, as they are in different areas of town! Long story short: we missed our train, called a taxi, and were able to make it to Orte before the train did, allowing us to continue with our itinerary.

While we were in Venice, we first enjoyed the evaporator ride down the Grand Canal. After checking into our charming hotel on a small canal, we toured St. Mark's and Doge's Palace. We then took to the streets, exploring the beautiful city with our cameras in hand. We stopped at the Academia bridge to get a good view down the Grand Canal. We found a wonderful restaurant for dinner near the Academia bridge, where we enjoyed spaghetti and pizza. On our walk, we also stopped at a number of stores, most of which carried a wide selection of Murano glass! We finished the day with gelato on the steps of Doge's Palace, listening to a small band perform.

Our journey back to Tuscania was uneventful, much to our surprise! We were able to get from the train station to the bus station in Viterbo after following the signs for a large grocery store and mall near the bus station.

We finished the weekend by spending some time with our Italian friends over delicious dinners. We had the first rainy day of our trip on Sunday, when it rained on and off until mid-afternoon. However, the cool temperature was welcomed as a break from the heat!

This week I have been staying busy with assignments for my photography class. However, I was able to go to the sea side in Montalto and use pictures from there for one of my assignments. It was fun to be at the beach to work on my homework!

Ciao!
-Sara Mason

Last night as we sat on the sand of Lake Bolsena, we were star gazing at some of the same stars that we see in America. We all pointed to the Big Dipper, and then spotted Venus. I even laid eyes my first shooting star. There is so little light pollution here that the stars are so much more visable. Our new Italian friend offered to drive us to Marta, a small town on Lake Bolsena just 15 minutes from Tuscania, last night after our typical dinner of pizza and vino. It was a nice change to walk around the pier at night listening to the waves of the lake lightly crash into the shore.

Yesterday during the day, my Etruscan and Roman art history class took a field trip with some of the archaeology students to Cerveteri, an Etruscan tomb site outside of Tarquinia. It was fascinating to walk down into the earth and see where the Etruscans laid their dead. Cerveteri was like a mini town of the deceased. We chose which tombs we would have picked for ourselves.

For lunch, we ate under the shade of a tree on the beach by the sea. I found some melon from a nearby beach bar and it was so succulent and fresh. We then ventured to an Etruscan museum in Tarquinia, a town just 20 minutes from Tuscania. The museum piqued my interest especially because many of the artifacts, murals, and sarcophagi found on the pages of our textbook were found in the rooms of the museum. The 2-D pictures of the pages came to life in 3-D hut urns, pottery, fibula, and jewelry from 500 BC.

Sara's photography class is keeping her busy by taking shots of motion this week. We had an enjoyable time twirling on the streets of Tuscania at night and reenacting the Abbey Road Beatle cover in order for her to capture motion. I look forward to another enjoyable day of classes today, and we will need to start packing tomorrow for our trip to Venice.

Ciao,
Stephanie Sutton

The adventure here in Italy is continuing with flying colors! Steph and I spent our weekend in Florence and Cortona and had a marvelous time! This chapter of our adventure began on Thursday evening after class, when we left Tuscania for Florence. We took a taxi to the train station in Orte, where we would take train all the way to Florence. However, we ended up getting on the wrong train and went backwards to Viterbo! We then took another taxi back to Orte, adjusted our itinerary after careful examination of the various train schedules, and arrived in Florence about three hours later than expected. We chalked it up to experience and are now more familiar with the train system here in Italy. :)

Upon arrival in Florence, we checked into our hotel and got a few hours of sleep before a full day of sightseeing and shopping. We toured the Academia, Medici Chapels, Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, and Pitti Palace. We marveled at Michelangelo's "David," "Night," "Day," "Dawn," and "Dusk" sculptures. We also admired works by Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Titian, and especially Botticellis' "Birth of Venus." We explored the local market and were able to purchase a number of wonderful souvenirs, including beautiful cashmere scarves, leather goods, and much more. We stopped for pictures at Ponte Vecchio, Florence's most famous bridge, on our way to Pitti Palace. As dinner time neared, we found a delicious pizzeria in the Piazza della Repubblica. We ended our spectacular day with gelato on the steps of the Duomo. What a perfect day in Florence!

The next morning we hopped on another train to Cortona, the land of "Under the Tuscan Sun." This hill town was absolutely beautiful, overlooking a great deal of the Tuscan countryside. We explored the town and found some more beautiful souvenirs, including hand painted pottery! We also ventured off the main road to see the residential side of Cortona, which was breathtakingly charming on steep cobblestone roads. Steph and I also ventured outside of the medieval walls to the countryside and found Bramisole, the house of famous author and cook Frances Mayes, of "Under the Tuscan Sun."

Another highlight of our day in Cortona was the food. We had the most wonderful meals for both lunch and dinner - the authentic Italian dishes melted in our mouths and we savored every bite. After another lovely day of our weekend, we went back to our hotel, a renovated 17th century farmhouse a few minutes outside of Cortona. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and our room was the decorated just as we hoped an Italian countryside hotel would be.

We spent Sunday relaxing by the pool side in this tranquil setting and Tuscan sun. We traveled back to Tuscania early Sunday evening, careful to avoid the train strike that began at 9 pm that evening. Steph and I are officially masters at coordinating the train schedules!

We are now looking forward to another week of classes, studying with our friends who also taking courses here at Lorenzo de'Medici, and eating gelato with the locals.

Ciao!

-Sara Mason

As Stephanie said in the previous blog, living in Tuscania is like living in a postcard! This motto has kept true though the first week of our stay here. Classes started on Monday afternoon and are going very well. Between our classes and new friends, we are staying busy and loving every moment of it!

In my photography class, I have already learned a great deal about Photoshop, how to take a successful picture, and a brief history of photography. Steph is also enjoying her classes. Her Italian class is proving especially useful in communicating with the locals; she is learning so much useful information!

We are continuing to meet new people throughout the town, as they want to make us feel welcome and enjoy Tuscania to the fullest. Each night this week, the girls in the program and I have studied together before going out for an inexpensive yet authentic and delicious dinner or gelato. The community of students and locals is absolutely wonderful - we are making such great friends and are thoroughly enjoying our experience here!

Ciao!

-Sara Mason

While traveling through the world famous city of Rome, we really tried to adapt the mantra "When in Rome, do as the Romans." Whether we were eating pizza at a Trattoria, throwing a coin over our shoulder at the Trevi Fountain, or pushing our way through the underground metro system, we did everything with Roman appreciation and gusto. We strolled through the Roman Forum to tread the path that the ancient Romans walked in order to participate in politics and social life. We then took the cobblestone roads to the Colosseum, one of the most well-known sites in Europe. Once inside these almost infamous circled walls, we closed our eyes and traveled back in time. You could almost hear the gladiators and lions each vying for their lives.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast located near the Termini train station. It is at Termini where the two metro lines meet, and therefore the location is fantastic. We easily took a 15 minute metro ride to the Vatican. At the Vatican we were overwhelmed with the genius of Michelangelo as we stopped and stared at his Pieta, with such a young Mary holding her son, Jesus. Our legs became exhausted walking up the over 300 stairs of the dome by Michelangelo above St. Peters Basilica. And lastly, as soon as we stepped foot in the Sistine Chapel, our eyes were magnetically drawn to the story of creation with God giving life to Adam by extending his finger. The scene is so simple, yet it symbolizes so much.

This boisterous city was a diversion from our smaller Midwestern cities that we are used to. As much fun as Rome was, we were happy to move on to our peaceful destination: Tuscania. We were not disappointed when we saw our small, Etruscan town. Living in Tuscania is like living in a postcard. The streets are charming, the food is divine, and the people are so welcoming. We ate ravioli on a terrace that overlooked the countryside and the town on our first night here. The food melted in our mouths. Two days ago we befriended some local Italians who took us to the beach this past weekend. Our Italian is minimal thus far, and their English was limited as well, but somehow we managed to have a fantastic day full of laughter, sun, and "vino."

Our classes have not even started, and it seems like we have seen and learned so much already! Each day gets better than the last. I can not wait to see where the road takes us...

-Stephanie Sutton