So our wonderful friend Francesco is leaving tomorrow to go to Australia. So there is a going away/thank you party for him at our apartment. However, last Tuesday they moved movie night back to the studio. Why??? My professor thought since more people are doing work at the studio, people can pop in and out to see the film. The numbers have been dwindling down. All he cares about is people coming to see these films he has picked out, he likes to be “the man.” I really hate this type, now I have to play along so I can do good in his class. So fake!!!
However, I had been feeling kind down all day, but been fighting through it. But by the time movie night started, I was definitely sick. My head was hurting, I had been coughing and I could feel that stuff in the back of my throat. After my roommate got back from getting the pizzas, I went and laid down. It was so loud in the apartment, but I really didn’t care anymore. The professor debut the movie we had been working on since we got here, I didn’t even have enough energy to get up to watch it.
I somehow drifted off to sleep, I woke up later people where still hanging out. The apartment looked a hot ass mess. Not to mention I moped the floor last week and now it looks worst than before. It was quite funny because the “too live crew” came in right before me. I went to get a handle for the mop. So I asked them if they could hang out somewhere else because I was about to mop. One girl says “Right now? We where about to draw and make some pasta.” Now mind you, they walked down the hallway where I had moved all the chairs and rugs. All I could say was “Yeah.” Then they yell back to my roommate “We need to go somewhere else because Arion about to mop the kitchen.” As if I cared, maybe I should mop everyday and they would go away.
Didn’t matter to me because I wasn’t cleaning up, just got some juice, went to the bathroom and back to lay down in the bed. My medicine didn’t feel like it was working. I took another pill and went back to sleep.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Day 28- Pisa & Erykah Badu
Finally, we make it to Pisa. Yesterday, about five of us tried to take the bus to Pisa, but this time the train strike also affected the buses. We had to go look at the pulpit at the Duomo of Pisa for our paper that’s due tomorrow. I really didn’t want to wait to the day before because now we have to rush back for class in the afternoon. I remember passing it when I took the bus from the airport to Lucca.
So as soon as you walk pass the gates right away you see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I thought it would be this huge tower, but it’s actually kind of small. Also the church isn’t that tall compared to all the churches we have been seeing. I was so mad that I left my camera, now I have to come back. In addition, the people that I was with didn’t want to pay the €15 to go inside the tower.
So we go through the baptistery and then the church into the to look at the two pulpits, the first was created by a guy named Nicola Pisano, which started a revolutionary change to design. The other one was created by Giovanni, his son several years later. So outside you see all these people with their arms in the air and taking pictures, as if they are holding the tower up themselves. It is hilarious to watch these people. We grab some lunch and head back out for class.
So I get to my video class, my professor is like oh we need to shot some more for the class video. A couple scenes just didn’t come out right, then we also need to do sound. All this man cares about is this stupid class video! We barely have anytime to do our own work or does he even care…NO! I had finished my tower piece and asked if he wanted to look at it for critic and he was like sure, but we never got to it. So we have less than two weeks to do our two individual projects for the class. I’m having trouble with concepts and ideas, never did videos before and not getting much help.
I will worry about that tomorrow, I finally go home and get dressed for the Erykah Badu concert. What’s really cool is the piazza where the concert is one block down from me. Don’t have to worry about any transportation, paying for parking, leaving early, traffic, just walk out the door and go. Some guy opened up the concert, I have no idea who he was, but he did pretty good. He was singing in Italian, it had a country/slow jams feel.
I was kind of bummed about going by myself, but vino and had a great time. My seat was pretty good, I could see people’s faces. Erykah came out, everybody started screaming, they have a lot of love for her. She had this red wrap on, then she took it off and had on a sliver tube top, one-piece pants suit. It was actually pretty fly! So there was this aisle down middle and people started seating there. So I moved up from row 11 to row 2 and sat on ground. The next thing I know four girls in front of me stood up and everybody else stood up. I went from row 2 to row 7. I wanted to seat down and enjoy the music, which now was impossible because even the people in the seats where standing up and on their chairs.
The security tried to control the crowd, but at this point it the fans had taken over. I was surprised to see a lot of men in the audience. They were cheering, yelling and screaming. I felt like I was the only black person in the audience and singing the songs. She sung all of her songs in English and spoke only two words in Italian, which was Lucca and grazie (thank you). She really put on a great performance. She sang, talked about her album and played the keyboard. It was a great night, until I had to go home and write my paper for class tomorrow.
So as soon as you walk pass the gates right away you see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I thought it would be this huge tower, but it’s actually kind of small. Also the church isn’t that tall compared to all the churches we have been seeing. I was so mad that I left my camera, now I have to come back. In addition, the people that I was with didn’t want to pay the €15 to go inside the tower.
So we go through the baptistery and then the church into the to look at the two pulpits, the first was created by a guy named Nicola Pisano, which started a revolutionary change to design. The other one was created by Giovanni, his son several years later. So outside you see all these people with their arms in the air and taking pictures, as if they are holding the tower up themselves. It is hilarious to watch these people. We grab some lunch and head back out for class.
So I get to my video class, my professor is like oh we need to shot some more for the class video. A couple scenes just didn’t come out right, then we also need to do sound. All this man cares about is this stupid class video! We barely have anytime to do our own work or does he even care…NO! I had finished my tower piece and asked if he wanted to look at it for critic and he was like sure, but we never got to it. So we have less than two weeks to do our two individual projects for the class. I’m having trouble with concepts and ideas, never did videos before and not getting much help.
I will worry about that tomorrow, I finally go home and get dressed for the Erykah Badu concert. What’s really cool is the piazza where the concert is one block down from me. Don’t have to worry about any transportation, paying for parking, leaving early, traffic, just walk out the door and go. Some guy opened up the concert, I have no idea who he was, but he did pretty good. He was singing in Italian, it had a country/slow jams feel.
I was kind of bummed about going by myself, but vino and had a great time. My seat was pretty good, I could see people’s faces. Erykah came out, everybody started screaming, they have a lot of love for her. She had this red wrap on, then she took it off and had on a sliver tube top, one-piece pants suit. It was actually pretty fly! So there was this aisle down middle and people started seating there. So I moved up from row 11 to row 2 and sat on ground. The next thing I know four girls in front of me stood up and everybody else stood up. I went from row 2 to row 7. I wanted to seat down and enjoy the music, which now was impossible because even the people in the seats where standing up and on their chairs.
The security tried to control the crowd, but at this point it the fans had taken over. I was surprised to see a lot of men in the audience. They were cheering, yelling and screaming. I felt like I was the only black person in the audience and singing the songs. She sung all of her songs in English and spoke only two words in Italian, which was Lucca and grazie (thank you). She really put on a great performance. She sang, talked about her album and played the keyboard. It was a great night, until I had to go home and write my paper for class tomorrow.
Day 26- Gondola
I didn’t sleep that good, but I know Jewel did, the snoring confirmed it. I was a little restless, but excited about the day. So we go down for our breakfast at the hotel, they gave us some pastries, had some wonderful yogurt and hot chocolate. Now we are on the hunt to find a gondola. Yesterday, we met a man named Lucca whose gondola is actually in the movie The Italian Job! Gonna be looking for him in the movie when I get home. So he’s a local celebrity. So we find a gondola and they said it would be ∍150 to take us to the Guggenheim museum. So we keep walking, some how we ended back where we found Lucca yesterday, there was a different guy and he said it would give us a 40 minute tour for ∍80, which was a lot better.
Getting into the boat was slightly tricky, it’s rocking back and forth, the weight is uneven, you feel like its going to tip over. Now we are moving, the water is so calm and peaceful, its puts you into a zone. Then we hit the Canal Grande, which is like the main highway and there we see all the other boats. So many people where taking our pictures of us, as if we where celebrities. So we saw the casino, a couple of the museums and churches on the ride. It was so beautiful. There where some alleys that where very narrow, but the way they maneuver the gondolas is incredible.
The rest of the day we shopped and didn’t make it to the Guggenheim museum, which I did want to see. There is just so much of Venezia to see and takes so long to walk through. There was a section of Venezia we never made it too. There was area that reminded me of 5th Ave. in New York, all the stores Gucci, Prada, Dior and so on. We did see the Basillca of San Marco. It was right off the water, there where lots of cruise ships, the sun was shinning bright, it was magnificent.
Since the sales where going on I was looking for a really great pair of shoes, but I really been seen anything that I gotta have or worth he money. I did get a pair of gloves as recommended by my friend Sonya. They are brown leather with tan stitching and cashmere lining, will have to see how warm they are in the winter. So we make back just in time to go tot the hotel to pick up our bags and get on the train. We get to our first stop in Bologna, grab some dinner, then the train is late and switches tracks. So once again we are running around the train station.
Then we get to Prato and missed our next connection train. There is a huge train strike tomorrow, but it starts the night before at 9pm. So we had planned to be back in Lucca before 8:30pm, however, with all the delays it’s already 8:30pm. So there is a train finally on the board for Lucca, which is an hour away from Prato. So now its running late, I’m looking at the board trains are getting canceled left and right. All I can do is sit and wait and hope. It finally shows up and it’s the last train pretty much going out of the station. So glad we made it home. The trains in Italia…not so reliable, but I guess fairly priced!
Getting into the boat was slightly tricky, it’s rocking back and forth, the weight is uneven, you feel like its going to tip over. Now we are moving, the water is so calm and peaceful, its puts you into a zone. Then we hit the Canal Grande, which is like the main highway and there we see all the other boats. So many people where taking our pictures of us, as if we where celebrities. So we saw the casino, a couple of the museums and churches on the ride. It was so beautiful. There where some alleys that where very narrow, but the way they maneuver the gondolas is incredible.
The rest of the day we shopped and didn’t make it to the Guggenheim museum, which I did want to see. There is just so much of Venezia to see and takes so long to walk through. There was a section of Venezia we never made it too. There was area that reminded me of 5th Ave. in New York, all the stores Gucci, Prada, Dior and so on. We did see the Basillca of San Marco. It was right off the water, there where lots of cruise ships, the sun was shinning bright, it was magnificent.
Since the sales where going on I was looking for a really great pair of shoes, but I really been seen anything that I gotta have or worth he money. I did get a pair of gloves as recommended by my friend Sonya. They are brown leather with tan stitching and cashmere lining, will have to see how warm they are in the winter. So we make back just in time to go tot the hotel to pick up our bags and get on the train. We get to our first stop in Bologna, grab some dinner, then the train is late and switches tracks. So once again we are running around the train station.
Then we get to Prato and missed our next connection train. There is a huge train strike tomorrow, but it starts the night before at 9pm. So we had planned to be back in Lucca before 8:30pm, however, with all the delays it’s already 8:30pm. So there is a train finally on the board for Lucca, which is an hour away from Prato. So now its running late, I’m looking at the board trains are getting canceled left and right. All I can do is sit and wait and hope. It finally shows up and it’s the last train pretty much going out of the station. So glad we made it home. The trains in Italia…not so reliable, but I guess fairly priced!
Day 25- Venice (Venezia)
On the train at 5am, to start my five hour journey to Venezia. So I’m finally mastering how the trains work in Italia. There are the slow trains, which are the regionale, local train, the medium and fast train which is the Eurostar. So to take the Eurostar it would have cost ∍120 roundtrip and it cost ∍32 on the local train. So looking at the price difference I took the cheap and slow way. But hey I have nothing, but time!
So Jewel, is my mother’s age, but she doesn’t try to go there, which is great and why we traveled together to Venezia. Since we are the only sistas we have been having a good time relating and kicking back. So after taking three trains, we finally start to pull into the Venezia station. The whole city is surrounded by water, so all we see is water on both sides, it’s amazing.
Coming out of the train station right away you see this huge bridge, lots of people, the boats, gondolas, churches and it’s breath taking. I buy a map and we walk towards our hotel. So I booked this hotel that I randomly found on the Internet last night for ∍65. I actually did pretty good, it wasn’t far from the train station, we drooped off our bags and started walking around. Everywhere we look there are these signs in the windows that say “saldi.” So Venezia has started their summer sale, while Lucca is holding out.
We walked around all day and still didn’t see all of Venezia. Some of the streets are really narrow, there are no cars on the roads, I don’t remember even seeing any bikes. There are people everywhere…lost. I would find where we where on the map, make a couple of turns and had no clue where we are. A lot of the streets where spelled differently on the map or just weren’t there, how did I end up with the bootleg map?
There are so many bridges, Venezia is comprised by all these small pieces of land. I have never seen anything like it. We make it back to the hotel, take a serious nap and change for the evening. There is some jazz club that we are trying to make it to. We stopped at a ristorante for dinner. I have noticed that the Italians serve quite smaller portions than in the U.S. and you hardly see any people that are overweight.
I manage to get us to the right area for the jazz club, but couldn’t exactly find it. So we ask a few people and manage to find it. We get to the door and they tell us it’s over. The laws of Venezia require all live music to be over by 11pm, but yet all the bars play music al night. So we are forced to do as the Italians, go hangout at the bar and have drinks!
So Jewel, is my mother’s age, but she doesn’t try to go there, which is great and why we traveled together to Venezia. Since we are the only sistas we have been having a good time relating and kicking back. So after taking three trains, we finally start to pull into the Venezia station. The whole city is surrounded by water, so all we see is water on both sides, it’s amazing.
Coming out of the train station right away you see this huge bridge, lots of people, the boats, gondolas, churches and it’s breath taking. I buy a map and we walk towards our hotel. So I booked this hotel that I randomly found on the Internet last night for ∍65. I actually did pretty good, it wasn’t far from the train station, we drooped off our bags and started walking around. Everywhere we look there are these signs in the windows that say “saldi.” So Venezia has started their summer sale, while Lucca is holding out.
We walked around all day and still didn’t see all of Venezia. Some of the streets are really narrow, there are no cars on the roads, I don’t remember even seeing any bikes. There are people everywhere…lost. I would find where we where on the map, make a couple of turns and had no clue where we are. A lot of the streets where spelled differently on the map or just weren’t there, how did I end up with the bootleg map?
There are so many bridges, Venezia is comprised by all these small pieces of land. I have never seen anything like it. We make it back to the hotel, take a serious nap and change for the evening. There is some jazz club that we are trying to make it to. We stopped at a ristorante for dinner. I have noticed that the Italians serve quite smaller portions than in the U.S. and you hardly see any people that are overweight.
I manage to get us to the right area for the jazz club, but couldn’t exactly find it. So we ask a few people and manage to find it. We get to the door and they tell us it’s over. The laws of Venezia require all live music to be over by 11pm, but yet all the bars play music al night. So we are forced to do as the Italians, go hangout at the bar and have drinks!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Day 24- 4th of July
So today our field trip is only for half of the day. We are going to the Gori Foundation, to see this guy's private collection of sculptures. He has this massive piece of property on the hill, where he invites different artists to make sculptures. However, it's like a forest and none of the work can hurt or damage nature. So they don't cut down trees, everything is natural and how nature takes its course.
We did a lot of walking, we had to be out there for at least three hours. I was dying of thirst. They didn't tell us there was nowhere to buy food or water. There were a few water fountains, but limited. The fountains shot about six feet in the air when you first step on the button, then it comes down to where you are able to drink it. So there are these huge abstract sculptures in various places all over. I really liked that you could touch and interact with with all of them. Which is a switch from all the galleries and museums we have been going to.
So we get on the bus back to Lucca and my roommate makes the announcement that we are hosting a Fourth of July BBQ/Party at our apartment. Now mind you we never talked about it, but it's not like I would have said no. So I had kinda of heard talk about it, but we never confirmed it. So now everybody is coming over at like 6pm. So I'm like cool it, it's there thing. I cooked absolutely nothing!!! I did go buy some wine.
and one vegan in our group. Some and the other with meat. We have one So they where making hamburgers and hot dogs on our wonderful stove top, we have no oven or grill. The professor next door made his famous chili. So I stepped out for a few minutes to call my family, but when I got back all the food was almost gone. They went hard, I did make myself a hot dog with the last bun. The chili was actually pretty good. He made one vegetarian and the other with meat, we have one vegetarian. Other people brought stuff, but that was pretty much gone. So everybody was having a great time drinking, partying, playing music and hanging on the balcony. However, we where the only ones, the Italians could care less. Somebody bought a watermelon, it was pretty sweet. All we needed was some fireworks!! By the end of the night people where so drunk. Somebody found Budweiser beer. Good ol' America, oh how I miss it!
So what do I miss about food in the USA:
1. Ziplock bags, enough with the foil
2. Belgian Waffles or any breakfast besides pastry
3. Real bacon and potatoes
4. Mexican/Chinese food
5. Salad dressing besides vinaigrette
6. Fast food chains besides McDonald's (which are there are only a few)
7. My Dad's BBQ
We did a lot of walking, we had to be out there for at least three hours. I was dying of thirst. They didn't tell us there was nowhere to buy food or water. There were a few water fountains, but limited. The fountains shot about six feet in the air when you first step on the button, then it comes down to where you are able to drink it. So there are these huge abstract sculptures in various places all over. I really liked that you could touch and interact with with all of them. Which is a switch from all the galleries and museums we have been going to.
So we get on the bus back to Lucca and my roommate makes the announcement that we are hosting a Fourth of July BBQ/Party at our apartment. Now mind you we never talked about it, but it's not like I would have said no. So I had kinda of heard talk about it, but we never confirmed it. So now everybody is coming over at like 6pm. So I'm like cool it, it's there thing. I cooked absolutely nothing!!! I did go buy some wine.
and one vegan in our group. Some and the other with meat. We have one So they where making hamburgers and hot dogs on our wonderful stove top, we have no oven or grill. The professor next door made his famous chili. So I stepped out for a few minutes to call my family, but when I got back all the food was almost gone. They went hard, I did make myself a hot dog with the last bun. The chili was actually pretty good. He made one vegetarian and the other with meat, we have one vegetarian. Other people brought stuff, but that was pretty much gone. So everybody was having a great time drinking, partying, playing music and hanging on the balcony. However, we where the only ones, the Italians could care less. Somebody bought a watermelon, it was pretty sweet. All we needed was some fireworks!! By the end of the night people where so drunk. Somebody found Budweiser beer. Good ol' America, oh how I miss it!
So what do I miss about food in the USA:
1. Ziplock bags, enough with the foil
2. Belgian Waffles or any breakfast besides pastry
3. Real bacon and potatoes
4. Mexican/Chinese food
5. Salad dressing besides vinaigrette
6. Fast food chains besides McDonald's (which are there are only a few)
7. My Dad's BBQ
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 23- Midterm
So my day started early, I woke up at 2am from my nap to head to the studio to work on my video assignment. So Lucca is pretty safe, nobody is really out at night, its very quite. So I'm walking, I see this black dog running, I'm not scared of dogs so it's cool. Then it starts barking and running straight for me. So now this dog is chasing me and I'm yelling. I see the owner, 2 guys and they are calling their damn dog, but it's not listening. So now I'm running down the street, thinking ain't this some shit!! I wasn't even fully woke up yet. All I could think was I'm going to get bit by this dog. So it finally backs away and I'm yelling at owners, asking them if they think it's funny? All they say is no, no, no. What would have been really funny was a law suit!!
So I get to the studio and start on my project. I did the filming earlier in the week , so now I was uploading to the computer to edit it down. We are using this program called Final Cut Pro, which I have no clue how to use. I felt bad, asking the girl in my class all these questions, but did get the hang of it and leave the studio at 7:30am. Then I wake up to rush back to the studio for 9am. So I'm walking by and my roommate is knocked out sleep. So I wake him and we make it a little late, but nothing had started yet.
For the midterm, we go into everybody studios, look at their work, then critique it. So this was going on until like 3pm, we had a lunch break. I took another allergy pill and was knocked out on the couch, I was late coming back from lunch...but it was ok. So for my video class, our professor showed the trailer for the movie we had been shooting. Then it was like umm...anybody have anything else to show. I'm so glad I had worked on my piece because our class really had nothing to show. It's also only four people in the class, so they were like ok what's going on. So I got good reviews on what I did so far on my footage of the church towers.
So later that night Kelly, the head of the program had a dinner at her house for the professors and the grad assistants. It was her way to review how the program was going and what was coming up next. So we talked about the work, they were really dishing the dirt on what they thought on some people's work. Everybody had lots of wine and wasn't holding it in. I guess they felt comfortable talking in front of Erte and I because we are only in the video and art seminar class. So before we know it, it's time to head back to our apartment for video night/the party house.
So my roommate has a bike, so he's like get on the back, so we can rush over. That was the most fun/worst bike ride ever. He's standing up peddling and I'm seating on the seat, getting bounced around. Luckily, there was a rack in the back because I definitely slide off the seat. Then Kelly is riding her bike with another professor in the back seat she has for her 5 year old son. It was hilarious seeing him squeeze into the seat. Then we are going through the crowd of people and making all these abrupt stops because people love to stop and look in the windows. So after like 5 minutes we back to our apartment, all so toasted and laughing hard.
Luckily, not that many people show up. A lot of people where up late doing work for the midterm. But for some reason, people started rolling in half way through he movie, after their naps. We watched some slow boring movie on this woman who finds out her husband is cheating and does nothing about it. Then she had issues with her sexuality and morals...it put me to sleep, especially with all that wine. Also the food was pretty good.
So I get to the studio and start on my project. I did the filming earlier in the week , so now I was uploading to the computer to edit it down. We are using this program called Final Cut Pro, which I have no clue how to use. I felt bad, asking the girl in my class all these questions, but did get the hang of it and leave the studio at 7:30am. Then I wake up to rush back to the studio for 9am. So I'm walking by and my roommate is knocked out sleep. So I wake him and we make it a little late, but nothing had started yet.
For the midterm, we go into everybody studios, look at their work, then critique it. So this was going on until like 3pm, we had a lunch break. I took another allergy pill and was knocked out on the couch, I was late coming back from lunch...but it was ok. So for my video class, our professor showed the trailer for the movie we had been shooting. Then it was like umm...anybody have anything else to show. I'm so glad I had worked on my piece because our class really had nothing to show. It's also only four people in the class, so they were like ok what's going on. So I got good reviews on what I did so far on my footage of the church towers.
So later that night Kelly, the head of the program had a dinner at her house for the professors and the grad assistants. It was her way to review how the program was going and what was coming up next. So we talked about the work, they were really dishing the dirt on what they thought on some people's work. Everybody had lots of wine and wasn't holding it in. I guess they felt comfortable talking in front of Erte and I because we are only in the video and art seminar class. So before we know it, it's time to head back to our apartment for video night/the party house.
So my roommate has a bike, so he's like get on the back, so we can rush over. That was the most fun/worst bike ride ever. He's standing up peddling and I'm seating on the seat, getting bounced around. Luckily, there was a rack in the back because I definitely slide off the seat. Then Kelly is riding her bike with another professor in the back seat she has for her 5 year old son. It was hilarious seeing him squeeze into the seat. Then we are going through the crowd of people and making all these abrupt stops because people love to stop and look in the windows. So after like 5 minutes we back to our apartment, all so toasted and laughing hard.
Luckily, not that many people show up. A lot of people where up late doing work for the midterm. But for some reason, people started rolling in half way through he movie, after their naps. We watched some slow boring movie on this woman who finds out her husband is cheating and does nothing about it. Then she had issues with her sexuality and morals...it put me to sleep, especially with all that wine. Also the food was pretty good.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Day 20- Bike
So Monday has turned into the day to dread. It's homework day, grocery shopping and cleaning. So I try to wake up early and get ahead start. So the grocery store is all the way on the other side of town, outside the wall. If we buy groceries inside the wall of Lucca it's a lot more expensive. So it takes about 20 minutes to walk there. So going is fine, but coming back with a backpack full of groceries and bags in hand make the trip seem like forever. So I'm struggling with the concept of buying as you need. I like to make one trip for a couple of weeks.
This week I ask one of the girls to borrow her bike. What an adventure that was. So inside the walls of Lucca where we are staying, they really try to reserve the original look of the town. So the roads are really narrow and made mostly of cobble stone. So the road is shared by cars, bikes and people walking. So when you hear the horn, you move to the side. Some streets are so narrow that when a car goes by (only one car can be on the road at a time) I stop in fear of being hit. So some streets have sidewalks, but most of the time so many bikes are parked on them u have to walk in the street. So outside the wall of Lucca (new Lucca), there are regular streets and side walks.
So I can't remember the last time I road a real bike (exercise machines doesn't quite count). I felt a little rusty, but not falling over or anything. Then having to navigate through the people was a whole another thing. All I can say is that I'm not sure about getting a bike. Since the bike shop didn't give us a group discount, I kind of put it off. Besides I really like walking, it's like being in New York, a sense of being at home.
So I make it through, but just barely. Now once I got on the path to go outside the wall, it was great, not many people, I could pick up speed. Then when I put the bottles of water in the basket and the bags on the handle bars, it was so different. Now when I rung my bell, nobody moved for me. In addition, my friend's bike the bell just rings all the time due to the cobble stone jerking the bike around. So I had to find some side streets where there weren't that many people around. The bike was also heavier on one side, I tried to balance the weight, but it didn't work out too well with the water bouncing around in the basket.
Also the big thing in Lucca is to stop while you are walking to look in the shop windows. So many people don't even care about who is behind them or when they start walking again they just walk. Being on the bike made it 10 times more irritating!!! I think I'm gonna stay walking, a little less stressful.
This week I ask one of the girls to borrow her bike. What an adventure that was. So inside the walls of Lucca where we are staying, they really try to reserve the original look of the town. So the roads are really narrow and made mostly of cobble stone. So the road is shared by cars, bikes and people walking. So when you hear the horn, you move to the side. Some streets are so narrow that when a car goes by (only one car can be on the road at a time) I stop in fear of being hit. So some streets have sidewalks, but most of the time so many bikes are parked on them u have to walk in the street. So outside the wall of Lucca (new Lucca), there are regular streets and side walks.
So I can't remember the last time I road a real bike (exercise machines doesn't quite count). I felt a little rusty, but not falling over or anything. Then having to navigate through the people was a whole another thing. All I can say is that I'm not sure about getting a bike. Since the bike shop didn't give us a group discount, I kind of put it off. Besides I really like walking, it's like being in New York, a sense of being at home.
So I make it through, but just barely. Now once I got on the path to go outside the wall, it was great, not many people, I could pick up speed. Then when I put the bottles of water in the basket and the bags on the handle bars, it was so different. Now when I rung my bell, nobody moved for me. In addition, my friend's bike the bell just rings all the time due to the cobble stone jerking the bike around. So I had to find some side streets where there weren't that many people around. The bike was also heavier on one side, I tried to balance the weight, but it didn't work out too well with the water bouncing around in the basket.
Also the big thing in Lucca is to stop while you are walking to look in the shop windows. So many people don't even care about who is behind them or when they start walking again they just walk. Being on the bike made it 10 times more irritating!!! I think I'm gonna stay walking, a little less stressful.
Day 19- Cinque Terre
Time for the beach! So I've been enjoying the apartment all to myself, but the beach was calling me. So we get tickets for the train, make it to our first stop and change trains. However, the train was delayed, so we are waiting and waiting. Then it gets cancelled. Since our friend Francesco came with us, he tells us to get on the next train. So we are sitting scattered all over and decide to take a little nap since it would be an hour. So I'm seating next to a man and across from us is a couple. The next thing I know, I wake up to this woman yelling and the man next to me going back and forth. So apparently the train we got on wasn't a regionale (local) train, it was like the Eurostar where you pay for your assigned seat.
This woman is showing them her ticket and speaking Italian really fast. The man next to me keeps telling the couple not to get up, we all paid for a seat and so on. So they carry on for about five minutes. I all I can think is when are we getting off. So this older man on the other side of the aisle gets up and gives the woman his seat. So since our train was canceled the conductors on the train understand and let you ride anyway, but we need to get up when the person comes for their seat that they paid for. So we make another stop, I had to get out my seat, but I found another one. Italians really love to argue, some man yesterday was going off on the train conductors. The man just kept yelling, even when we got off the train he started right back up. If only I could understand.
So finally we make it there. The water was so beautiful. It is the first time since I've been in Italy that I have actually seen blue water. All the water has been a green muddy color. The day was nice and sunny, the sky was clear with fluffy white clouds. It couldn't have been a better day to go, in addition to it being hot. So we find a place to put our towels, grab some lunch, I couldn't wait to get in. When you walk into the water you can see the pebbles on the ground. The water was so clear and all of the scenery was just breath taking. I'm so mad I didn't bring my camera, I was worried about it coming up missing.
So I got into the water, it wasn't cold but felt perfect. There was this huge rock out in the water that people were climbing up and diving off of. I never made it to the rock, maybe next time. I have to make it back to take pictures. It was just a beautiful day, drank lots of water and gelato (ice cream). I normally don't eat a lot of ice cream, but the heat and it's just so good. This by far was the most relaxing day I have had since I've been here.
This woman is showing them her ticket and speaking Italian really fast. The man next to me keeps telling the couple not to get up, we all paid for a seat and so on. So they carry on for about five minutes. I all I can think is when are we getting off. So this older man on the other side of the aisle gets up and gives the woman his seat. So since our train was canceled the conductors on the train understand and let you ride anyway, but we need to get up when the person comes for their seat that they paid for. So we make another stop, I had to get out my seat, but I found another one. Italians really love to argue, some man yesterday was going off on the train conductors. The man just kept yelling, even when we got off the train he started right back up. If only I could understand.
So finally we make it there. The water was so beautiful. It is the first time since I've been in Italy that I have actually seen blue water. All the water has been a green muddy color. The day was nice and sunny, the sky was clear with fluffy white clouds. It couldn't have been a better day to go, in addition to it being hot. So we find a place to put our towels, grab some lunch, I couldn't wait to get in. When you walk into the water you can see the pebbles on the ground. The water was so clear and all of the scenery was just breath taking. I'm so mad I didn't bring my camera, I was worried about it coming up missing.
So I got into the water, it wasn't cold but felt perfect. There was this huge rock out in the water that people were climbing up and diving off of. I never made it to the rock, maybe next time. I have to make it back to take pictures. It was just a beautiful day, drank lots of water and gelato (ice cream). I normally don't eat a lot of ice cream, but the heat and it's just so good. This by far was the most relaxing day I have had since I've been here.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Day 18- Tell All
So I have the house to myself!!! I slept so good last night. I didn't wake up until 11am. So my roommate is gone to Venice, along with the bday girl and another girl. I believe three is a crowd, but clearly the other girl didn't mind being the third wheel or maybe it's not that serious. Well whatever the case couldn't be me!! I'm just lad they are gone.
Also my professor has two girls staying with him that go to NYU. So won't be haring from him either, he has guests to entertain. So the girls are traveling all over Europe, but plan to stay in Lucca for a week. My professor has this really small apartment, so don't know who's sleeping where, but also not trying to find out. Now these girls look like they are 18, but I will give them benefit of the doubt that they are 21. My professor said they worked together on some movie/video project....sure. He looks like he's 45-50, starting to grey, slight gut.....
Now it's not that I don't mind people coming over, but they never go home. Also they be dumb drunk and making hella noise. Not to meantion one of them droppeda whole bottle of wine, which happened to be my bottle that wsn't openned. I love how you go on these trips and now we are all best friends because we have no choice. But NO, I'm not looking for new friends, I love the ones I already have. Besides I'm not that trusting like some.
So later on in the day, I go to see this gallery opening for a professor that goes to Pratt. So I end up going with one lady in the group, who is an older woman. Oh she got on my nerves, I was taught to respect my elders, but she was pushing me to the limits. She is so not trusting of my decisions. We get off the train and have to figure out where exactly the gallery is located. So we are looking for the map, we find it. It looks far, but she thinks we can walk. I told her "I'm taking the bus." Then walk away to go buy my ticket. Here she comes following behind.
Now granted she is a mother, grandmother, so I think she's use to being in charge, but you will not tell me what to do. I'm grown just like you!! So then she doesn't understand why we need to buy two tickets for the bus. Once we stamp them they are only good for 75 minutes, so the opening is for 2 hours and we are early, meaning we will be longer than 75 minutes and we will need a ticket to come back!! At this point she can go wherever she please. I know what I'm doing.
So we make it to the gallery and try to find some food to eat before the opening. I told her I don't want to go to anyplace hungry. She thinks that they may have food. So I'm like ok, don't eat, but I'm going to. We try some restaurants, but they weren't open yet for dinner. So we have pizza, but she wants to split it, so I'm like ok. Finally, it's time for the opening, two other people from our program meet us there. I should have came with them. The work was abstract, but good.
So we leave out and almost missed the bus because there wasn't a sign. We get to the train station, the train is late. So it then changes tracks, then there is an announcement in Italian, we were doing our best to figure it out. The track changes again, but then the train disappears off the board. We talk to a train conductor, he has no idea what is going on. The ticket counters are closed. So we go back to the other track and the train is leaving from there. So we are on and make it to Pisa, where we have to change trains to get back to Lucca.
However, when we get there our train is gone. We missed it by like 2 minutes. It was also the last train. So now, everybody is running around trying to figure out different ways to get home. We try to find a bus, but there are none that go to Lucca. We call and find out that there is no way to get back. We had to take a taxi, which end up costing 43 euro. We split it among four people so it was like 10 euro each, which wasn't that bad. Had it only been myself, I might have waited for the 6am train, the next day!
Also my professor has two girls staying with him that go to NYU. So won't be haring from him either, he has guests to entertain. So the girls are traveling all over Europe, but plan to stay in Lucca for a week. My professor has this really small apartment, so don't know who's sleeping where, but also not trying to find out. Now these girls look like they are 18, but I will give them benefit of the doubt that they are 21. My professor said they worked together on some movie/video project....sure. He looks like he's 45-50, starting to grey, slight gut.....
Now it's not that I don't mind people coming over, but they never go home. Also they be dumb drunk and making hella noise. Not to meantion one of them droppeda whole bottle of wine, which happened to be my bottle that wsn't openned. I love how you go on these trips and now we are all best friends because we have no choice. But NO, I'm not looking for new friends, I love the ones I already have. Besides I'm not that trusting like some.
So later on in the day, I go to see this gallery opening for a professor that goes to Pratt. So I end up going with one lady in the group, who is an older woman. Oh she got on my nerves, I was taught to respect my elders, but she was pushing me to the limits. She is so not trusting of my decisions. We get off the train and have to figure out where exactly the gallery is located. So we are looking for the map, we find it. It looks far, but she thinks we can walk. I told her "I'm taking the bus." Then walk away to go buy my ticket. Here she comes following behind.
Now granted she is a mother, grandmother, so I think she's use to being in charge, but you will not tell me what to do. I'm grown just like you!! So then she doesn't understand why we need to buy two tickets for the bus. Once we stamp them they are only good for 75 minutes, so the opening is for 2 hours and we are early, meaning we will be longer than 75 minutes and we will need a ticket to come back!! At this point she can go wherever she please. I know what I'm doing.
So we make it to the gallery and try to find some food to eat before the opening. I told her I don't want to go to anyplace hungry. She thinks that they may have food. So I'm like ok, don't eat, but I'm going to. We try some restaurants, but they weren't open yet for dinner. So we have pizza, but she wants to split it, so I'm like ok. Finally, it's time for the opening, two other people from our program meet us there. I should have came with them. The work was abstract, but good.
So we leave out and almost missed the bus because there wasn't a sign. We get to the train station, the train is late. So it then changes tracks, then there is an announcement in Italian, we were doing our best to figure it out. The track changes again, but then the train disappears off the board. We talk to a train conductor, he has no idea what is going on. The ticket counters are closed. So we go back to the other track and the train is leaving from there. So we are on and make it to Pisa, where we have to change trains to get back to Lucca.
However, when we get there our train is gone. We missed it by like 2 minutes. It was also the last train. So now, everybody is running around trying to figure out different ways to get home. We try to find a bus, but there are none that go to Lucca. We call and find out that there is no way to get back. We had to take a taxi, which end up costing 43 euro. We split it among four people so it was like 10 euro each, which wasn't that bad. Had it only been myself, I might have waited for the 6am train, the next day!
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