Ruins, Vino, and Horses, Oh my!

Well, now that my internet is working well enough to upload pictures, I can finally post pictures from the last couple of weeks in Italy. Since my last post, we have gone on excursions to Urbs Salvia and to Fonte Avellana.

The first excursion was to Urbs Salivia where there are ruins of an ancient Roman temple, colosseum, and amphitheater. It was truly an amazing experience because the Roman handprint was on absolutely everything we saw.

Some ancient Frescoes in the Temple

Ancient Roman bones?

We found a ton of porcupine quills in the ruins. Now they're souvenirs.

Just sitting on a wall of a ancient Roman dressing room from the amphitheater.

The view from the top of the seating area. It was amazing how nice the acoustic were still today.

We then headed to an Abbey to visit the cloister and see some extremely old artifacts.

This feels like a scene from Harry Potter. Pensieve?

The church was beautiful and simple.

The courtyard of the cloister where the monks would have lived

After the Abbey we went to a Vineyard and learned how wine is made.

Containers where red wine was being fermented. After seeing the process we got to do a little wine tasting. They set out a spread of pane, prosciutto, salami, formaggi, e una torta (cake) made with mosta- the juice of the grapes that has just begun to ferment. We got to try some just after it was made and it was delicious! Italians use this to make cakes and cookies.

The next week, we took a trip to Fonte Avellana, another abbey that is in the mountains. We had the option to hike there, which I excitedly agreed to. It was absolutely the most beautiful hike I have ever been on. We took the same route that ancients would have taken to get to the Abbey long ago. Dante has taken this trail- pretty amazing!

Red faced, but extremely happy to be at the top of a mountain! (I'm rocking my Starkid shades)

The view from the top of a cliff.

We saw a trio of wild horses who came right up to us as if we did not even exist.

First view of the Abbey in the distance- I cannot believe people used to trek for 5 hours in sandals of barefoot! My feet hurt and I was wearing $80 workout shoes!

We finally made it to the abbey, which was beautiful! They didn't allow us to take pictures inside, but it was very plain anyways. I was so tired I could have passed out standing up, but it was well worth it for that amazing hike!

Macerata, e la vita è bella!

I am currently beginning my 3rd week as a college student in Macerata, Italy. I really am beginning to appreciate the little nuances  that make up the Italian culture that kind of bugged me before. For example, every day from 12-4, most stores close for a "paese" (break). This is a time to eat lunch, take a nap, and spend time with your family. At first it is really hard to get used to because you want to run errands and get stuff down NOW, but once you realize that you can't help it and all you need to do is relax, it's quite enjoyable. I take a nap almost everyday, eat a leisurely lunch, and do most of my homework before class later in the day. It's pretty great!

Now for pics:

This was our first concert in Macerata. It was during a food festival. We danced with a bunch of Italians and the band even had an "American Tribute" which consisted of Beach Boys and The Mamas and the Papas. I'm not mad about it!

The band, who changed costumes between EVERY SONG.

Our new dancing dog friend.

We have now spent 2 lovely Saturdays in the beach town, Civitanova. I have never swam in bluer, saltier, or warmer water in my life! The waves are nice and small too, so you can just swim as far out as your body will take you without much trouble. Then, you can just float (super buoyant because of the salt) and let the current bring you back to the shore. Annalyse and I even swam with a school of fish!

Some boats in the bay.

I never want to leave this beach!

Eva and Lindsay enjoying the warmth of the pebbly beach.

A highlight of my second week in Macerata was finding our little kitten friend who we named Gattino (little cat). He came right up to us but we thought he was a stray because he was skinny, beat up, and full of fleas. My roommates and I couldn't leave him so we brought him home, fed him, bathed him, and loved him! Turns out he has owners, so we returned him, but not without heavy hearts.

How I miss having animals in the house!

He was so tired! He just passed out after his bath.

We took our first excursion this week, which was a 4 hour tour of Macerata.

We hit up the most amazingly beautiful churches you could imagine. This is the vieling of the Basilica di Santa Maria della Misericordia

I climbed the bell tower all the way to the top (like 20 stories, no joke). The view was AMAZING!

Here is a night-pic of the Bell tower.

Hercules, guarding one of the many palaces in town!

A view of the city from the top of the bell tower.

What I see when I look into the Mirror of Esired- surrounded by friends! This is a mirror in the Teatro Comunale di Lauro Rossi.

The amazingly beautiful ceiling of the Teatro. Could you imagine watching a play from one of the boxes?

Italia

So, I am one of those lucky people who gets to study abroad in Italy for a whole 3 months. I got to Rome on September 3rd and I have been having an amazing time ever since. We stayed at a hostel in Ciampino and visited Rome for a couple of days before making our way to our new home in Macerata

My first Italian pizza panino

Trevi Fountain

One for Rome, Two in hopes of returning

The Pantheon was absolutely breathtaking, especially when there was a moment of silence

Me sitting on a column at the Pantheon

A wonderful view of Roma

We made it all the way to the top of the Spanish Steps

Zombie Invasion in Roma

There was a lot of beautiful street art

I love the streets in Roma

Inside the cathedral at the top of the Spanish Steps. Bellisima!

The day after we were in Rome, we headed to Macerata, where our program is.

We took a train from Termini station and we saw some really beautiful countryside. This is a castle probably built during the dark ages: people moved out of cities and into these cold, dark towers in order to protect themselves. Now it is a beautiful reminder of the past.

Another view of the countryside of the Marche.

And a view from Macerata.

A building in Macerata. The architecture here is wonderful but as our new Italian friends told us when we raved about its beauty: all of Italy is like this, so it isn't really that impressive. Seriously?

One of the many churches in Macerata

Amazing ceiling.

The artwork is absolutely beautiful

The weather has been extremely warm since we got to Italy, and I cannot wait until it cools down a bit and becomes fall, but for now the blue skies are great!

Yard Sales

I have been spending my week preparing my junk for the 3 day garage sale I plan to have this weekend. I am getting rid of a lot of stuff, including quite a few nice antiques. When I price my items I make sure to research each one in order to sell them for a reasonable and realistic price. Despite this, I know that I will get some of "those" customers. What are those customers? "Those" customers are the type that freak out if anything is priced over $1. They are never convinced of the worth of something and they will do anything to bargain you into bankruptcy. My true feelings about these types are accurately portrayed in this rage comic I have put together:

In essence, buy it or gtfo.