another 48 hours (part 3 and 4) - Bologna, Florence and an unplanned visit to Cinque Terre

MAMMA MIA!

Bologna is for livers, not for travelers. There is not much to see as the way of touristy things, but it is definitely a very relaxed city. People leisurely stroll along the sidewalks (which are underneath the buildings above, so they are always covered and cool, it’s neat) and sit and drink coffee at the many café/bar places. This is finally starting to feel like Italy. Our hotel is about a block from the largest piazza in Bologna, and today we took in 2 different street performances. One was from a man juggling on a unicycle, lots of fanfare and a drummer and pretty funny. The second was after our dinner (more about that below) and my favorite of all. It started with a woman walking in front of the fountain in the piazza and starting to twirl these sticks of fire. No announcement, no fanfare, just performance. She was so focused that pretty soon a crowd started to form. When her fire went out, a man came out and started twisting and twirling more fire sticks. Then a man ate some fire. It was insane but amazingly beautiful all at the same time. It was nerve wracking, yet relaxing. It was also the first time I gave some money for a street performance. It was so simple, yet it’s actually pretty dangerous and required lots of focus and skill.

Before that though, was the best Italian meal I have had yet. The food was good, but the experience was even better. This place (recommended by our hotel) was away from the city center and definitely a local establishment. It seemed that the grandfather was the owner, the dad was the manager and the daughters were the wait staff. It was a family run business. The grandfather was old, but still moved around, getting drinks and resetting tables. The dad, fluent in English, was able to greet us and seat us and schmooze all the other customers as well. We asked him about some things on the menu and he taught us a few things about what ingredients were in what. We each ordered some pasta, then we waved the dad over again. The following is the dialogue:

Dad: Do you guys want anything else?

Jesse: Well, we have a few questions about the second courses… (he points to the menu)

Dad: I can’t read that, I need my glasses. Damn, don’t you guys know how to read?

Jesse: What is porcini?

Dad: (shrugs) Mamma Mia… (after much explanation, says) How about a porkchop? Only 5 euros.

Jesse orders one.

Dad: (points to Waller) and how about you? Would you like one?

Waller: I’m thinking about it, I’m kind of full.

Dad: No, I don’t believe you. You could tell me you’re out of money, but you can’t tell me you’re full. I don’t believe you.

Waller: Alright, I’ll have one.

Dad: Where are you guys from?

Jesse: From Minnesota.

Dad: (pauses) that’s far away. (he walks away)

And so from the quiet piazzas and quaint streets of Bologna, we moved to the bustling and beautiful city of Firenze, (Florence) in the Tuscany region. It was like we stepped off a spaceship. There were tourists here from all over, crowded streets filled with English-speakers and markets packed with knockoff Louis Vuitton bags and cheap cashmere scarves. There’s good reason for the calamity: plenty of historical churches, art galleries, and the most important perhaps, Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture. Completed just over 500 years ago, David is the David from the Bible, just after defeating Goliath. It represented, at that time, the most perfect proportion of a human sculpture, with relation to the hands, feet, head and torso. There are 2 copies located throughout the city, but the original is safely preserved within a museum with not much else to support it.

The only other cool thing about that museum was the sculptures leading to the David. They were all by Michelangelo, but none of them were completed. Each was in a various stage, then abandoned or never finished for some reason. Some have heads, others only torsos and feet, but you get an idea of how the finished sculpture does indeed come from a solid block of marble. As one woman put it standing next to me, “It’s like he is releasing them from their prison”.

Over the course of our two days here, we made several interesting ‘run ins’. The first, with our professor who happened to be at an internet café on the way to our hotel. Second, with several bethel students also travelling around Italy, one such encounter was in the middle of a busy market. Third, one of our old friends from the Freiburg Goethe Institut happened to walk across the lobby of the hostel our friends were staying in while we were waiting for them. We caught up for a few minutes. It made me realize how small of a world we actually live in. Plus, we made a day trip yesterday and several familiar faces reappeared today in Florence, one of whom actually approached us to ask about our study program.

Speaking of the day trip, I was intrigued that a few of our friends were going to five villages on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, a region called Cinque Terre. Each town is perched on the side of a cliff and the towns are connected by a railway and walking paths. Each also has its own specialty product, from wines to anchovies. We had a beautiful day to explore and even jumped in the Mediterranean for a swim. It was certainly cold (and there were few other brave souls but us Minnesotans) but refreshing to be in water again, and salt water at that!

We spent the last 15 minutes of the sunset (dang you, daylight savings time!) on the path between the 4^th and 5^th villages. Not only were we treated to amazing views of the sunset and the cliffs around us, we happened upon something really interesting. Apparently, the last leg of this walking path is called the “Lover’s Way” in Italian. All around the railings of the walk way (basically anything that is stationary and solid) are small padlocks clamped together. Some have inscriptions or initials, others are blank. All though, from what we understood, were left by couples who have made their commitment to one another. They lock the padlock on the way as a sign of this commitment and then toss the key in the ocean. Pretty cool and heartwarming to think about, since there were THOUSANDS of locks along the walkway. It really means that you are there forever, at least part of you is.

Tomorrow is the last segment of our Free Travel already: ROME. We have been anticipating this city for a while now and there is plenty to see. The Vatican, Pantheon, Travi Fountain, St. Peter’s, the Coliseum… I recommend you to see “Angels and Demons” if you want to get an idea of the sites we are going to see. We watched it a few weeks ago and it really pumped us all up, maybe we will solve a mystery while we are there? Who knows…

ps. I've been drinking more coffee in the past few days than I ever have... straight coffee or cappuccino. It is wonderfully tasty. and, rather inexpensive. No Starbucks or Caribou here. Just mom and pop type places. cappuccino? only 90 euro cents (about a $1.30)

48 hours (part 1 and 2)

It’s hard to get a taste for a city, let alone a culture, when you are only living in it for 48 hours.

That being said, I have spent (and will spend) about 48 hours in every city starting from Galway to Dublin, Ireland, then into Italy for free travel. Quite a lot of moving every 2 days!

Thankfully though, I got as good a taste as anyone ever could have with that short amount of time. I spent really the only full day I had in Galway, Ireland, by seeing as much of Ireland as I could. That meant hopping on a touristy bus trip throughout the countryside – always a gamble for worthiness. This one paid off. We had some of the best weather in months, according to the tour guide. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and you could see for miles. Our destination today was the Cliffs of Moher and the Barren region of Ireland; it was to be an all day affair.

Once we got to the cliffs and I could look all around for miles and see the ocean, the sheer faces of the edges of the green cliffs and the countryside around us, I knew I was in Ireland. Top it off with a bowl of Irish stew for lunch, then a huge full rainbow on the way home, and a visit to a pub later to make it a complete experience. What was so special about my pub visit was the people. My two friends from Bethel studying in Galway, Johan and Annie, picked me up at my hostel and took me to a local pub they had found a week ago with live music. Tonight though, it was all about a soccer match on the TV. After the game though, the giant TV was wheeled away, tables were cleared, and all of a sudden, the room is full of couples doing Irish jigs. Traditional music, courtesy of a live band, set everyone’s toes a tapping. We all sat for nearly an hour watching the athleticism and community shown by these Irish men and women. Dancing seemed to be such an integral part of their culture. It was a reason to get together and have fun.

The second 48 hour installment: Milan, Italy. This is the gateway city for our Free Travel week. Note: It is anything but “Free” as we actually have to pay for some of it on our own, but we received a little money to cover modest meals and hotels. Milan is also anything but modest. It is most definitely the fashion capital of the world. Nowhere else are you able to purchase items that literally come right off the runway and into a store. Not just Penney’s or Target, but the designers themselves. Gucci, Prada, Armani, Dolce & Gabanna, just to name a few. These stores let you browse for free, but is a t-shirt really worth 300 Euros? (roughly $450 US) It wasn’t in my ballpark. But, we still had fun being astonished by prices and I ended up getting a pretty cool sweater and jacket.

I also saw the third largest cathedral in the world: The Duomo. It is visible for several blocks as it towers in the center of the city as a giant white stone structure. Inside is even more lavish, with giant canvas paintings hanging from the ceiling and marvelous stained glass windows depicting biblical stories. Google the Duomo in Milan to get an idea of its size and beauty. The rest of the day was spent wandering the city, before going out to get a taste at the American Embassy, aka McDonalds. McDonalds is great because 1) it’s cheap, in comparison to everything else, 2) it tastes the same everywhere and 3) you can get by with little or no local language skills because “Cheeseburger” is universal. We had burgers and fries and milkshakes for a little taste of home.

I have had a few brief—but friendly— encounters from the local Italians. First, our hotel manager is a saint. Not only did he personally come to our room and welcome us, he got us maps and showed us how to get around and he told us about daylight savings time (which we totally forgot). Second, I washed my clothes in a nearby self service Laundromat and there was an older Italian man there ( I assume he was the owner). A man was getting his load out of the dryer, mostly collared shirts and dress slacks. He began to hastily stuff and roll them into his small bag. The Italian owner came over, slapped his wrist away and began neatly and methodically folding the dress shirts and pants to prevent them from wrinkling. It was obvious that clothes were his work, his passion. He cared for them more than anything.

Almost forgot. I had heard from a friend I had met at the Goethe Institut from Italy that all the small bars and restaurants have this thing called “Apertivo”. Basically, during the early evening, massive and varied amounts of food are put on a buffet table for a fixed price. A buffet in Europe, unheard of! They sell it this way: You order one beverage at a fixed price (8 or 9 Euro) and then you may have unlimited trips to the buffet to take food. For us, this was a very inexpensive way to eat dinner, as the name ‘’apertivo” is semi deceiving. Last night, I sampled pasta, fresh mozzarella and tomato, bruscetta , pizza, meatballs and sausages, French fries, chicken and cucumber, and shish kabobs. We filled up and watched the soccer game for a while. No hidden service charge, no swindling and plenty of pretty good food. Definitely “on code” for us Americans.

Next installment: Part 3 will be from Bologna, Part 4 from Florence, and Part 5 from Rome (from our free travel week)