The Highlight Reel: Close to Home

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." -Henry Miller

Hometown Love in Rome Sweet Rome

Initially, I was crushed by the realization that I would not see Greece this fall break.  I wasn't ready to lose my money, I didn't want to come home, and those drivers on strike would just be getting a piece of my mind as we bartered our way to a hostel from the airport.  But sometimes thing don't go as planned and there isn't a thing you can do.  This phenomenon of the diverted agenda (nothing new, I know) seems to occur quite repeatedly on study abroad and it is one I have always struggled with. When things don't go 100 percent right, it is my natural reaction to freak out...a lot.  Being abroad, you learn that you really just have to suck it up and proceed onward.  And when I returned to Rome a few days earlier than expected, I realized what a privilege it would be to see my home city with new eyes, free from the constraints of classes and deadlines.

I developed a new, predictably ambitious agenda for Roman sightseeing and was again made aware that things don't always go according to schedule.  I am not superwoman and I need sleep.  When we got in Thursday midday, I expected to tackle a few sights right off the bat and learned that I needed a solid day of recovery from all of the Spanish travels.  So I cut myself some slack, threw in the laundry and planned for Friday.  Luckily, we did make it to the Jewish ghetto midday Friday and headed to Taverna del Ghetto to try some fried artichokes, salted cod and zucchini fritters.  The crispy, crunchy cod was definitely our favorite and I am glad we finally figured out where the small ghetto was located in relation to the rest of the city.  It slipped my mind that the restaurants would all close up for Shabbat so we are anxious to make our return for creamy pastries from Boccione, winning Roman Jewish cuisine at Ba'Ghetto and a tour of Rome's gorgeous synagogue (see photo below).  We also visited the Portico of Ottavia next door, dedicated by Augustus, Rome's first emperor, to his sister in the 1st century BC.  The portico has an interesting history of destruction and resurrection and once served as the city's fish market in the late 1900s.

Our afternoon consisted of another tour through Trastevere.  I have made many a mention of the vibrant neighborhood on my blog and that is because it is so chock-full of great restaurants, lively markets, and happening bars.  It is a focal point for all study abroad students I have encountered.  We finally savored a view of the Church of Santa Maria--its crisp golden detailing is shown below--so lovely!  We also stopped into a few sweet shops for chocolate pastries and finally found the location of the world's best cannolis (I don't need to sample any more, I strongly assert their top-contender status).

Maybe our day wasn't revolutionary.  We weren't in Portugal or Turkey, we weren't wandering sun-kissed beaches, we didn't climb Mount Kilimanjaro.  But we were truly savoring the meaning of living in such a spectacular city.  We're seeing things a new way (see H. Miller's quote).  Sure, some days I need to bury myself under the covers or Skype with my best friends from home who I'm aching to eat tubfuls of Ben & Jerry's with.  Still, I cannot forget how much there is to embrace beyond my apartment door.  This last month and a half, I am striving to see better.  Not necessarily to see more, but to praise and prize the cobblestone beneath my feat, to treasure each church tour no matter how many darn cosmatesque floors I have seen, and to truly appreciate the experience that has been handed to me.  So I am grateful that, despite a few shattered plans, I was given this comfy cozy Roman weekend.

One of my International Relations teacher's recommendations

The Jewish Ghetto

Portico of Octavia

By Rome's Synagogue

The hospital on an island in the Tiber...crossing over to Trastevere

Chiesa di Santa Maria in Trastevere

You've got to love that golden sparkle and shine!

Burnt Sienna

After a day of genuine gratitude for Roma, we decided to extend our appreciation to greater Italy. Destination: Siena.  Remember Burnt Sienna?  That almost auburn shade in your crayon box that you were always puzzled by (when you weren't musing over the mystery of how green-yellow and yellow-green are two different Crayola colors)?  Well, that shade was actually named after this medieval Tuscan hill-town.  The buildings surrounding Il Campo, its central piazza, are the same color as the maroon soil of the city.  Hence, burnt sienna (alternate spelling of Siena), a color I always resented a little when I had to churn out three acrylic paintings overnight for high school art class, but have now come to appreciate, especially after our short visit.  

After de-boarding our train and taking a brief bus ride up a windy Tuscan hill, we stopped into the Basilica of San Domenico where you can see the actual head and thumb of Saint Catherine.  The church was satisfactory; after seeing so many beautiful, immaculate places of worship in Roma, "pretty" just doesn't cut it.  And the whole decapitated head of an actual saint thing...sort of creepy.  

Next up was a straight shot to Trattoria La Torre for lunch, a Rick Steves recommendation.  I was particularly struck by the fact that you don't get a paper menu at this place.  Our waiter came up to us and asked us point-blank what pasta we wanted.  When we couldn't respond in the next ten seconds, he ordered for us and I wasn't angry about this.  He waltzed over with green tortellini filled with fresh pesto, cheesy, plump ravioli with a brown butter sauce and thick, stringy noodles in a hearty meat sauce.  The pastas were followed by veal ossobuco in a rich tomato sauce and a crispy spiced duck platter.  Energized, we headed to Il Campo to plan out the rest of our day.

After consulting Megan's guidebook, we decided to climb 300 steps to the top of Torre Del Mangia, the clock tower that offers the perfect panorama of the entire city.  While I had to duck and curve into some odd and unnatural positions for a tall girl while winding up the very narrow staircase to the top, the trek was so worth it.  Megan, Kristen and I also wanted to see the duomo, but a religious ceremony prevented us from entering.  Ultimately, the day was comprised of a lot of wandering, espresso drinking and gelato eating.   We were all frustrated when we were kicked off of our train home for not having printed tickets.  Guess they don't do the whole smart phone check in thing in Tuscany.  Had to learn that one the hard way, but we boarded the next train a few hours later and were home sweet home in Monteverde by around midnight.  All in all, I would say that we saw 70 to 80 percent of the town in the six hours we were there.  So I realized that while I liked the visit, I could never study abroad in such a confined town.  

Il Campo

Torre Del Mangia

Museo Civico

View from the top

A bit tired from that trek, but we made it!

Under the Tuscan sun...

Yummy yogurt and fragola gelato here!

Fall break has been a fabulous whirlwind, but each new trip reminds me why I am so happy to live where I do.  And with that, I'll bid you all adieu.

Ci sentiamo presto,

Alexi

A Spanish Sojourn

This morning, I reluctantly hopped in a 4:45 AM cab with a few roommates to Madrid's central airport only to endure a grueling morning of travel home to Rome (a 3 bus trek home from Fiumicino airport is always less than ideal).  Luckily, though I am feeling quite sleep-deprived, I am relieved to finally bask in the comfort of my own tiny twin bed after renting sheets of questionable origin from Spanish hostels for the past week.  During the weeks leading up to this one, our choice of destinations for Fall Break has seemed like such a magnanimously crucial decision.  It is almost impossible to pick a couple of spots to prioritize when I am living on a continent with a plethora of worthwhile must-sees.  After much research and back-and-forth with my suitemates, I decided on Barcelona, Madrid and Athens.  Unfortunately, when push came to shove, Athens' financial crisis and resulting strikes proved too dangerous a threat and we had to sadly give up this last leg of our itinerary.  Nonetheless, our foray to Espana was exhilarating, marked by an abundance of delicious and unique cuisine and a great balance of sight-seeing and agenda-less exploratory jaunts through the two remarkable cities. So, without further ado, a little recap of our trip!

Breathtaking Barcelona

My journey started at the crack of dawn Friday when I awoke to catch a 5 o'clock cab to Termini station, then boarded a TerraVision bus to the airport for a 9:40 plane to Barca.  If you can't tell already, I get anxious about traveling in a timely fashion, but I arrived at the airport nearly 2 hours earlier than necessary so I grabbed a John Grisham book to pass the time.  The only reason why I make mention of this little detail is that it has been such a long time since I've read for pleasure and it was really nice to have the opportunity, even on a germy metal chair by a cheap airport sundries shop.  

Fast forward to arriving at our hostel, HelloBCN.  I was very impressed from the bright color splashes of blue, red and green that adorned the walls to the high-tech wristwatch sensor keys we were handed to access our room.  After settling in (the other girls had already arrived and were scattered across the city at this point), I headed to a nearby café where I was promptly confronted with my complete inability to communicate in Spanish and the knowledge that a price of 10 euros for a traditional plate of fried unidentifiable meats and sparse avocado slices was far, far too much. Despite this little issue, the day picked up dramatically when I met Megan, Kate and Kristen at Mercat de Mercats, a fabulously wonderful annual wine and food festival that we were lucky enough to stumble upon.  We felt gloriously classy sipping on glasses of Cava, a traditional Spanish champagne, and fawning over the decadent array of sliced meats, wide variety of goat cheeses, prepared tapas platters, and piles upon piles of desserts.  From the traditional fideua (like paella, except with thin noodles, not rice) I snacked on to the sinfully sweet waffle drowned in milk chocolate from a billowing chocolate fountain, the food was an absolute hit.  We whiled away the day there and then headed back for a quick siesta before prepping for a traditional paella dinner at a restaurant by the water.  The sangria and seafood were not to be beat, although my stomach does not rest quite as easily with Spanish food as with my homey Italian cuisine.  Our night only got better when Megan found 30 euros randomly by a bus bench and then ended on a tippity top note when we proceeded to dance the night away at Opium, a glitzy beach-side club complete with a massive dance floor, an impressive international crowd and go-go dancers of all things!

Saturday, we took our time in the morning, then met Sara's cousin, who lives in Barcelona, for a tapas lunch and an informal walking tour of the city.  We strolled along Spain's equivalent of Via Del Corso, a chic, highly populated shopping street, and stopped by the fountain where Evanescence, that emo band that we all at one point listened to in middle school (don't be ashamed), shot one of their music videos.  The day's most gorgeous pitstop was La Barceloneta, Barcelona's lovely sprawling beach. The water was still warm enough for us to dip our toes in and we took the opportunity to snap the requisite cheesy jumping in mid-air photos.  By this point, we were all pretty famished so we stopped on a small side street for pinchos, small bar snacks traditionally from Northern Spain, which were absolutely out of this world.  Salmon cream cheese, croissants with sliced, cured meat and thick pieces of manchego, ham croquettes...you name it, they had it!  I was a bit deceived by the 1 euro, 80 centime price tag and went ahead to consume about five of the little delights, but hey! a hungry girl has got to eat!  Later that night, we enjoyed a tapas dinner in one of the city's wealthier districts (stuffed peppers, patatas bravas, I need to go fly back to Spain now...) and then ended our night at Sutton, a flashy nightclub popular with the locals.  We weren't back in bed until mid-morning, but you're only young and in Barcelona once, so why not go all out!

Our last full day in Barcelona was bittersweet--we certainly weren't prepared to wake up at eight the next morning and leave this young, lively city!  However, we made the best of our remaining time, meeting up with Sara's cousin for the "best hamburger in Europe" at Kiosko.  This burger did not disappoint.  It was about the size of my face, laden with caramelized onions and manchego cheese and a hefty dollop of goat cheese and accompanied by thick, juicy rustic fries.  In addition, you could try a variety of different ketchup combos and homemade chili sauce.  If you ever go to Barcelona, please don't miss Kiosko.  It is conveniently located right by a fountain that Shakira danced in last year (that's about the best I can do for you geography-wise when it comes to Spain).  After we got over the subsequent food coma, we went to see Gaudi's famous church and the most interesting houses that he designed.  This architect is particularly awesome because his work is legitimately unlike anything I've ever seen before...the pieces have a whimsical vibe that reels you in as you will see in the below photos.  I got to meet up with an Emory friend, Ali, for a quick coffee by the church which was a nice reminder of Atlanta.  Sunday night consisted of a trip to a forest-themed bar for the perfect sangria and another pinchos dinner.  After stuffing our faces, it was time to pack our things and prep for an early departure to Madrid.

Mercat de Mercats

Wares at the market

Sweet tooth? No problem.

Walking La Rambla

Another market...surprise, surprise!

By the Evanescence fountain!

The mean streets of Barca on a gorgeous day

Hola, Barceloneta!

Beach bummin'

Mmm mmm good

A classy night out

Kiosko burger

Gaudi's church

One of Gaudi's works...reminds me of Mardi gras masks!

Marvelous Madrid

After transit from Barcelona's El Prat to Madrid's Barajas airport, we zipped along the metro to Tirso de Molina, a stop just a few minutes away from Students Hostel Luis Velez, our new digs.  We quickly settled ourselves into our quaint room (complete with personal comforters and a turn-down service...we live large!) and made our way to a local plaza for a lunch of patatas bravas and ham croquettes.  While I was loving the fried goodness bite by bite, the overload of unhealthy nosh did a number on my stomach later on.  So we rested for the majority of the afternoon, then wandered over to a yummy paella joint for dinner.  The chicken and seafood were arguably inferior to Barcelona's, but the rice was creamier and richer.  I could spend all day dissecting our meals for you, but I'll spare my non-foodie friends and just say that we did pretty well on the meal front.  Our first day culminated in a 10 euro pub crawl where we visited three local bar-discos.  We enjoyed dancing to "Danza Kuduro," Europe's fave Latin jam, and also chatted up some local architecture students and a young traveler from Hong Kong.  All in all, we were not off to a bad start.

Tuesday, we decided to tackle some of our ambitious sightseeing agenda.  We purchased tickets for a "hop-on, hop-off bus" that toured the length of the city and provided audio on the informational highlights of each site.  We took our time on the bus, not rushing to get off at every turn, so that we could make a mental map of what we wanted to see later in the day.  We ended up spending a good deal of time at the Royal Palace, which provided the perfect backdrop for some classy tourist photos, and roamed the accompanying gardens, filled with symmetrically-cut greenery and regal statuettes. After another siesta (I could get used to those), we headed over to Taberna La Bola, a fire-engine red restaurant that Megan had researched.  A few of the girls got the tavern's famous stew, while Sara and I ordered ropavieja, a slightly sweet, tangy cow meat dish with fried chickpeas.  Megan knows how to pick her dinner spots!

On Wednesday, we knew not to waste our last full day in Madrid and in precious Spain so we grabbed a tasty lunch at La Finca de Susana, and then purchased tickets to the famous botanical gardens which we relished by leisurely walking around for about an hour.  From arugula to pumpkins, cabbage to blueberries, there was quite a fresh spread of edibles and an aesthetically pleasing array of colorful flowers and greenery.  After our breath of fresh air, we entered the Prado museum, which houses an awesome collection of European art from the 12th to 19th centuries, primarily Spanish paintings.  We also made our quota of church views during a quick tour of the Basilica San Francisco el Grande, a Neoclassic church that once functioned as the national Pantheon.  Still, our day of adventure was not over yet.  We enjoyed a fine red wine under the stars by the Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple that was donated to Spain in 1968 and provides the perfect overlook point of the expansive city.  The highlight of our Madrid excursion was found in the flamenco show we attended on our final night.  The singer and guitarists produced a beautiful melody to suit the dancer's impossibly fast rhythm of taps, stamps and twirls.  The experience was so pleasing and we felt we had captured a little bit of Spanish authenticity to save for always.  Later that night, we munched on stuffed trout and guzzled our last sips of wine knowing that our time was almost up.  Despite the brevity of the trip, it was an unforgettable experience and the perfect combination of tourist picks and hidden gems: I feel that we finally have the study abroad formula down in this respect.

View from our bus tour...stupid guard rail!

Love the building design here...such pretty muted colors.

The statues atop the building remind me of Roma!

Peek-a-boo view of the Prado museum

So ornate!

Palacio Real

The square by the palace...we lucked out with the weather here!

Cutest couple by the palace

A floral checkerboard at the botanical gardens

Lily pads inside the greenhouse

Love this city!

By Temple of Debod at dusk

Some intense flamenco-ing

The last few days of break await and, as I sit here under my comfy comforter in Rome, I hope that they will put me at ease with regard to navigating my own city.  Kristen, Megan and I aim to explore the international neighborhood and the Jewish ghetto tomorrow, but the promise of study abroad is that you never know what each new day will bring!

Baci,

Alexi

Trastevere and a Little Hiatus

I am sorry to part with my precious blog for a little stretch, but I am so relieved and excited to say that tomorrow morning I will be off to Barcelona!  It has been a treacherously long week of midterms, sleepless nights and to-go food eaten on the floor.  When you're eating Chinese takeout on unswept linoleum while craned over a book on the urban planning of Italy over the past 130 years, you know it's bad.  And the espresso supply in la nostra casa?  Almost nonexistent.  Needless to say, it's time for a break.  And we will be living it up in a big way with a little siesta in Espana!  After Barcelona, we'll be scooting on over to Madrid.  My third travel spot of the trip is still up in the air so we'll just see where the wind blows me.  I didn't want to leave without leaving some proper pictures though so, while this week has been primarily spent inside of a textbook, I did manage to make it over to Trastevere for a study session and capture a couple of pretty scenes along the way.  Get ready for a long fall break update in the near future!

Baci,

Alexi

Crossing the Ponte Sisto

Piazza Trilussa

Trastevere's main piazza by day

Not a shabby view!

Take a look at that street sign...?

 By the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Small Triumphs

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." -Robert Brault

My first instincts upon getting to Roma were: Think BIG, Go BIG, Do BIG things.  I suppose that is how most people start out abroad.  You think, "Gosh, what if I don't make it to Northern France? What if I don't go to that rave that everyone and their sister is going to in that random European country where they play obscure techno music?  What will life come to?"  You want to check every country off the list, visit every tourist site that Rick Steves, Frommer's and Michelin ever recorded in their guide manuals, and you have that nagging feeling that if you aren't updating your travel journal on the daily and informing the world about your activities through social media, your trip is somehow made less significant.  Put simply, at the start, I had a superficial conception of what this experience would be like.

But, after just about six weeks here, I am starting to think that the little things are what really count on this journey.  Yes, I do still get flutters in my heart sometimes just thinking about this magnanimous eternal city.  But, I am more attuned to the fact that this isn't always some picture perfect wonderland.  For example, when we first arrived here, my suitemates and I descended upon Piazza Venezia like vultures for a photo snapping session like none another and we took about twenty snapshots in front of the Altare Della Patria, the monument to Vittorio Emanuele, thinking it was this glorious, revered landmark.  We only later realized that this statue is considered a huge eyesore by most Romans, a waste of space where the ancient remains of the Capitoline hill would be were they not destroyed to make way for the monument.  Learning the story about the "wedding cake," as the gaudy statue is often called, was one of the first signs that I was becoming an insider, not just some oblivious toursist.  This city is not a homogeneous haven for visitors either; it is a composite of affluent and disintegrating neighborhoods, of small oases of orderly planned space intermeshed with stretches of crowded, jumbled apartment buildings.  Now that I have a better handle on where I live and have peeled back the layers of touristy misconceptions, I have been able to better zone in on the details.  I enjoy finding the time to relish the small victories that each day brings.

So, without further ado, here are a few of my "small triumphs":

-Finally perfecting a carbonara recipe (well, it's at least a 7.5 on a 10 point scale so I am getting somewhere!) with the right proportions of pasta to eggs to pancetta.  Also, al dente!  Texture is so important and I never knew it before.  A bit of crunch transforms any pasta from blah to oh la la!

-Mustering up the courage (after six weeks, I admit) to use our spark igniter and light the gas stove. The tiniest feat, yet I was giving myself a big pat on the back for this one.  Sometimes you've just got to be brave and think of the final result (a yummy, homecooked meal) to help you conquer your fear (yes, lighting a flame is a large obstacle for me).

-Getting props from Susanna's friend Davide for my imitation of an overly zealous Roman party girl for my Italian oral exam.  I don't really know that I should be so excited about effectively acting like a crazy "sbronza" chick, but I have to say that I was so amused by the skit that the accent came pretty easily for this one.

-Finding a cluster of adorable cafés for aperitivi.  After my Italian final this past week, I did some café-hopping in the area with a few friends to de-stress.  We found Café Art, a striking and colorful coffee joint with a combination hipster/artsy vibe and great mocha mints, then slid over to a more old-fashioned café for an aperitivo including a drink, pizza circles and mini spanakopitas for under 5 euros.  Nice to have a few go-to spots to read or relax in after class!

-Learning how to make espresso (finally) from Susanna in Italian!  My ISC has decided that I am competent enough at the language to start speaking with her at home more regularly.  Lesson 1: how to make Italian caffé (aka straight espresso).  The tutorial was really fun, simple and incredibly useful because I often complain about my need for a caffeine IV throughout the day.

-Last, but not least, my eternal dork comes out.  Sara and I have finally found the Italian equivalent of Emory's Matheson reading room, the "Sala delle Capriate" in the library of Italy's House of Deputies. I know that this sounds completely nerdy, but total silence while studying when you're living in a small apartment with 7 girls (who I love!) can be utter bliss.

Yummy carbonara!

Aperitivo down the street from IES

Sala Capriate...c/o the Camera dei Deputati website

That's about all I have for now with midterms coming up.  We've luckily been able to steal away for a few dinners and nights out, despite the major study sessions.  I will try to post another update soon (hopefully before fall break travels ensue) and would love to hear from you as well.

Ci vediamo dopo,
Alexi