"There's grass in Venice? What is this, America?"

Today, we started the day early. Ostensibly, we got on the bus in Castiligone-Fiorentino at 7:15. In reality, everyone got up there at 7:10 and then decided they needed breakfast. The end result was that we finally left Castiglion-Fiorentino for the last time at 7:30.

On the bus, most of us slept. We've all been running pretty hard, so the long bus ride was a welcomed break, even though the seats were terrible uncomfortable. We made a quick lunch stop at the Auto-Grill, which was essentially an expensive Italian subway, and then continued on our way. After 2 more hours, we finally arrived in Venice.

The first thing you need to know about Venice is that whereas the average city has a bus system or a subway system, Venice has a boat system. Luke went and got us a water taxi which took the entire group and our luggage to the hotel. We are staying in the Hotel Cristallo, which is in Lido, a sort of suburb of Venice.

After checking in, we caught a boat and went to the Plazza of St. Mark's. There we took a tour through the Doge's Palace, and some of Venice's streets while being serenaded by the musical talents of our tour guide. The Doge's Palace was very interesting, with weapons, torture chambers, and the world's largest canvas painting. After the end of our tour, we broke up for dinner. Our group went to a place recommended by the tour guide, but the Qatar contingent+Kevin wanted to go to this Halal Kabab place down the street. We separated and agreed to meet back at a gelato place.

When we finally met back up later, Kevin came running up and said "Guys! This creepy guy took me in a dark alley and showed me this thing." Talal followed up by saying "We should have taken pictures." It took us several minutes to discern that Kevin had not in fact been molested, but found an interesting building. Kevin then insisted that we all go see the thing this guy showed them.

Five minutes later, we were standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa's little brother, complete with a spiral staircase and several arcades. It turns out Kevin's creepy man had been one of the engineers working on the restoration. Otherwise, we would never have found this.

After that, we went to the Rialto bridge in Venice. We watched the sunset over Venice, and then caught a boat back to Lido. Of course, we kind of pushed the timing. The end result was that Talal left his backpack on the dock, along with Mohyman, Kevyn, John, and Taylor who were too slow to catch the ferry. Fortunately, the next boat left only five minutes later, but took them another half hour to get back, since they missed the express. Now we are all chilling in the hotel, waiting for our first free day in Venice tomorrow. Pictures will be up later.

By PFM and Pipe Andrew

Assisi & Cortona Photos

Erin taking in the scenery in tranquil Assisi.

A view from atop Cortona. At the far back of the photo the shores of Lake Trasimeno are barely visible.

Megan and Allison pose just in front of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.

Several of the boys goof around after their swordfights with their newly purchased wooden swords.

Jake, Chris, Megan, Allison, Alex, John, and David enjoying Cortona.

The Last Supper

Today was a somewhat sad day for us all as we packed our belongings away and cleaned our rooms in preparation for tomorrow morning, when we leave Santa Chiara. This morning we were all a bit confused as to the time and location of our first meeting, but eventually, we all gathered in the courtyard and listened to a rousing speech given by Mr. Altendorf on the subject of leadership. In small groups we discussed some of our strengths and weaknesses and how they relate to others. Next we roleplayed a situation in which a certain Dr. Miller (played by the lovely Taylor Orr) was up for reevaluation of her tenure at the university. After much dilberation, she was given a one year probation in order to increase her amount of research as well as better prepare her students for upper level chemistry courses.

After lunch we all had a period of free time in which we all did laundry and prepared our rooms for checkout. Some people had life-mapping sessions while others slept or went exploring the town for one last time.

Before dinner we gathered to discuss our exciting plans for Venice tomorrow. Most of us are not so excited about boarding the bus at 7:00 AM tomorrow. We also took a group photo in the courtyard (awwww...). For our "last supper" at the Center we enjoyed pasta with tomato sauce and mushrooms, meatballs, assorted vegetables, and watermelon for dessert.

After dinner, we all headed down to the Coco-Palm for one last cono/cuppetta of gelato, (which we shall all miss dearly once we leave Italy) and headed back to the center to watch a fabulous talent show put on by the students and faculty. Mr. Altendorf, "The Master Illusionist," opened with an excellent magic act that baffled us all. Leah performed a wonderful rendition of "Our Song" by Taylor Swift, followed by a hip-hop dance exhibition given by Mouheymen. The acts ranged all over the place, from classical piano music played by Alex, Meghan, and Tall Andrew to a capella rendition of "Say" by John Mayer. We were then given our spending money for Venice and told to get a good night's rest for the long day tomorrow. All in all, today was fairly uneventful, but we all look forward to the adventures we will no doubt be having in Venice in the days to come.

With Shallow Humor and Little Risk to Life and Limb,

David and Victoria

Cortona (yet more hills)

This morning we went to Cortona and toured yet another church with our friend Giovanni, our tour guide way back in Arezzo. It's ironic, because when we were in Arezzo he was complaining about the people in Cortona (which is actually his hometown) and today he was showing it off to us. He had many humorous quips, as usual, but we're too tired to remember them. We also walked through an Etruscan archaeological museum and dig site, where we saw lots of cool old stuff they've dug up from tombs. After that we had an hour of free time, where some of us got gelato and shopped around while others simply enjoyed the view from the piazza where the bus dropped us off. The view included a nice, brand new top of the line Corvette, which some adored and others hated. For the record, the one(s) who hated it (coughMasoncough) were wrong. (That's Jake talking.)

After we took the twenty minute bus ride back to Castiglion Fiorentino, we had a delicious lunch of ravioli and quiche, along with some Italian pigs-in-blankets and fruit (as usual. We miss our chocolate dessert). Then we listened to Tori talk about diversity and relationships, followed by Ryan's talk on the first two weeks of school. We played a team building game where we all stood on the steps in the courtyard and had to make it across to a tree on the other side without touching the ground (anyone remember "the floor is lava"? The best 10 years of my life were spent playing that game), using only a box of cardboard pieces, a towel, and a chair. Laura's group had an awesome time, since tall Chris was in our group and thought of a really cool idea - making shoes with pieces of cardboard bent up and tied underneath with our shoelaces. Two people put them on and carried the rest of us across. The next round we had to use the same towels and ripped up bits of cardboard to get across - but this time with no shoes and with all but one person having a handicap - one person in each group couldn't use their hands, one was blind, one couldn't talk, etc. The first time, Laura's group won, while my (Jake's) group won the second.

Then it was free time! A bunch of us played sardines, which is kind of like reverse hide and seek, where one person hides and allll the other people look for them. Everyone who finds the hiding spot has to hide there too, so you end up with a bunch of people crammed into a tiny space, trying not to laugh. It was awesome.

After about an hour of free time, life mapping sessions began. These were essentially interviews based on a questionnaire we filled out earlier regarding our plans for the next ten years of our lives. There'll be more tomorrow.

Soooo then we ate dinner, which was some kind of tomato-y soup with hominy and pasta in it, and some weird lemon chicken and spicy green beans. And fruit. Of course.

Then came the best part of the day: gelato! It's still totally worth the hike. We're kind of sad though, 'cause it's our second to last time to have it here at the Coco Palm! Except tomorrow we get it first, which makes it better. :D After gelato a lot of us went to play soccer at the local (tiny) field, with one native Italian named Miguel. Finally we came back to the dance party at Santa Chiara. Maybe more on that tomorrow, 'cause it's just getting started and we don't know what's going to happen yet.

Buona notte.
Jake and Laura

Rome Photos

The following are a few photos taken from our recent excursion to Rome. Sorry again for the delay.

A photo covertly taken of the stunning Sistine Chapel. *No photo, No photo*

A true perspective on the incredible size of St. Peter's Basilica.

Bernini's saints looked over us on the hot day in St. Peter's Square.

Many students were excited to find Texas A&M carved into the Colosseum. Who knew the Romans were Aggies?

We had the opportunity to see several of the pillars and ruins located in the Roman Forum.

A postcard photo of the Colosseum.

Special thanks to Andrew McNeill for capturing and editing these great photographs.

It Ain't Easy Touring Assisi

We woke up early this morning greeted by a blast of cold air blowing in through the window, a most effective wake up call and a nice change from the usually hot weather we have had here in Castiglion Fiorentino. We ran up to Hermes and ordered the usual, a cappuccino and a pastry, before heading back down to catch the bus that would be taking us to Assisi. After the two hour bus ride taking us out of Tuscany and into the region of Umbria, we first caught a glimpse of the Basilica of San Francesco spreading out over the hill, capturing the eye with its white and pink walls and long row of arches. Once inside the city walls, we were once again blessed to have Paolo as our tour guide. Always eager for students to ask him questions, Paolo expounded upon the Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architecture that we would be seeing later that day and pointed out elements within church itself that were representative of those eras as we walked through the basilica. One of the highlights of our tour was seeing a series of panels painted by Giotto telling the story of St. Francis' life and his mission to found Franciscan order.

Similar to Castiglion Fiorentino, the city of Assisi is built into the hillside, so the streets are steep and narrow, and the buildings and shops seem to perch one on top of the other all the way up the hill. So after leaving the Basilica of San Francesco, we made our way through the narrow streets lined with colorful shops selling religious items, finally arriving at the Basilica of Santa Chiara. There we were able to see a beautiful crucifix in the chapel that was similar to one that we had seen in our own little Castiglion Fiorentino the day before.

Ready for lunch, we made our way to the restaurant and sat down to a lovely three course meal consisting of pasta, chicken cordon bleu with potatoes and salad and fruit for desert. After that, the group was free to explore Assisi. Some went shopping, many spending their euros on wooden swords (which proved very useful in a few skirmishes and mock epic battles that took place back at the center). Others visited the Temple of Minvera, built in the first century AD while a few decided to hike up the hill to a castle overlooking the city below. The incredible view from the castle was just one more striking reminder that we are actually in Italy and are truly experiencing all it has to offer. At four, the group reassembled and headed to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels. The outside of the church was very large and impressive, but when we ventured inside, we saw a smaller, more humble building in the center of the basilica – yes, a church inside of a church! The smaller church was originally built by Saint Francis, but his followers later built the larger, more lavish church around it. After exploring this last basilica, we piled back onto the bus and arrived at the center in time for more delicious pasta and our nightly gelato. Right now, some are playing soccer with a few locals, while others are slaving away on the blog to inform our followers of our day. So goodbye for now, we're off to soak up more Italy!

Buona Sera,
Taylor Orr and Amanda Savage

We Did A Lot But Yet So Little..

So at 10:00 am we finally set out to have our tour of Castiglion Fiorentino with Paolo himself. Paolo took us to see the nearby church and enlightened us about architecture and christian art in the Middle Ages. Then we went to the City Hall where the memoriam for all the fallen in WW1 was on display, it was depressing to see how many lost their lives in such a pointless war. Then we went to the museum where Paolo talked about art some more and showed us a magnificent cross that was made in the 13th Century, then he took us to the highest point of Castiglion Fiorentino and showed us the marvellous view. He presented to us a few ancient texts and music, and then we went underground to see some excavations. It was interesting.
We then had lunch at the Center, it was good.

After lunch we had some free time where some took naps and some played ping pong. Our free time was ended with a series of lectures on proffesionalism in which the Student Leaders discussed resumes, interviews, dining etiquette, ethics, and public speaking. We knew most of this stuff already, but to be polite we payed attention anyways. We then learned the Aggie War Hymn and then had some more free time.

After the tedious lectures we then proceded to the art gallery where our art was on display. Our art was beautiful, but even more spectacular was the art of Ricardo the art teacher whose art completely overshadowed ours.
Then we had Italian lessons, whe
re we learned to count in Italian. Uno duo tres and so on. We also learned how to order Pizza. The lessons were enlightening as well as practical.

Then we had dinner, like lunch it was also delicious. There was pasta and fried chicken with french fries. A real Italian meal.

Then we went to get gelato, it was delicious as always. Then we played soccer and Erin scored. Nathan was the goalie but could not hold against Erin's fierce offensive, despite the fact they were on the same team.

After that rousing experience we returned to the Center to hear a dude play the accordion. The accordion is an interesting instrument but he played it with the gracefullness of a swan. It was beautiful yet haunting. After that Erin and I came upstairs to write this blog entry. It was fun.
We are first in line for gelato tomorrow because of this. Thank you for giving us this oppurtunity. Tomorrow we head for Assisi, bye.

Erin and Talal

Veni Vidi Vici

Rome may have not been built in a day, but we Aggies proved it can be toured in one. We watched the sun rise as we boarded the bus and waited anxiously for a few latecomers to arrive. Leaping across Italy in our metal chariot, we screeched to a halt at Tarantola. We then boarded our high speed metal chariot except this one was long and slender and fast-like. Thankfully Rome was the end of the line because 99.972% and a half of The Maroon Platoon slept through the ninety minute ride. Flooding out of the train station like rain we all piled into taxis. We caught our first glimpse of the city as we rode to the Colosseum. Silly old Italian men in gladiator costumes, fake six-packs, cigarettes and all, were posing for overpriced Polaroid photographs with tourists. Too cool for that, we took our own pictures, very nice!

Passing Constantine’s arch, most of us began our day in Italy by perusing the Palatine Hill. Furthermore we finally frolicked frantically to the FRoman Forum. Amidst dozens of steps (John: Steps suck), cobblestone paths, and convenient drinking fountains. We observed ruined ruins and gained a deeper appreciation for the genius of Roman architecture and engineering. Bringing out the big guns, we toured the Colosseum. We watched the gladiator battle (John lies). They fought hippopotami (historically accurate). It was cool (opinion). Less reverent (but spirited) Aggies had carved ATM into one of the pillars towards the exit. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The Romans believed in every man for himself, (and democracy, for a while…) So naturally, we left John and Chris to starve while we raced to see the Circo Massimo (John and Chris: JERKS.) Johns sobs could be heard all the way to Florence (except not really though, only the Pantheon). There wasn’t really anything there, so the joke was on us. (Meanwhile me and Chris had delicious pizzas.)

Since we were on the super-fast tour, we rushed past the Victtorio Emmanuel II Monument (Also known as the “Typewriter”) and continued to the Trevi Fountain. Throwing coins in hopes to return to Rome and fall in love, we continued on to our next stop, the Pantheon. Deriving from the Latin roots “Pan” meaning “all” and “theos” meaning “Gods,” We arrived at the pagan church. Old friends were reunited in a greeting so violent, street musicians stopped playing and bystanders anticipated a blood-thirsty battle (John and Chris angrily returned to the group). We saw where Dante and Victorrio Emmanuel II were buried. Chris and I had enough touring with the “jerks” and a schism occurred as we tore them in two. Mattman, a.k.a. Matt, and Ross the Haas is a Boss led group 1 to the Piazza Navona with the Four Rivers fountain by Bernini, lunch, and Castel Sant’ Angelo. Group 2 enjoyed delicious big macs, cokes, and chips because Italians don’t know the proper name for fries (we finally made our way out of parentheses world).

The Maroon Platoon all met again at 1:15 at St. Peters square. Our guide Rich led us through the breathtaking St. Peters Basilica, and then through the Vatican Museum. We saw the incredible Sistine Chapel. In our last hour and a half in Rome we travelled by metro, taxi, or foot (and literally running) to the Spanish steps, or the Trevi fountain. It was at this time that a terrible travesty transpired. We were forced to pass up Burger King. Ohno! (Oh, this is John now) Redhead Taylor and Nervous Nancy Victoria forced us to pass up the king of burgers. So we had to race to the station so we could arrive 40 minutes early and eat McDonalds. Anyways, then we rode the train back. Everyone was ridiculously tired after walking around all day. Luckily, we still had time for gelato when we arrived back in our “home town.” It was a relaxing finish to a hectic day.

Etch-A-Sketchy Free Day

So it rained today. I, Mason Kushnir, wasn't fully aware of the problem at first. I happened to have fallen asleep on the couch after a disappointing experience at the train station in which I failed in my attempt to catch the early train to Florence. Yeah, that's right. I woke up at six in the morning and walked a half mile across town only to miss my train. So I went back to sleep, quite obviously put off. I think Cody and Nathan may have been there too, but I honestly don't remember. I was tired.

There was a pretty big group that decided it would be a great idea to go to the lake, despite the fact that there was precipitation in the area. Apparently, it was pretty awesome there, and some people actually got to swim, but I also heard that the weather picked up pretty bad and they all had to skidaddle on home. By this time of course, it was late in the day, and I had actually woken up, and can tell you first-hand that there was an epic game of Risk going on. Nathan was totally dominating the board because Chris was such a failure and John didn't know what a Non-Aggression pact was for.

There were also some people that chose to go make pretty pictures with ink and plastic squares, but again, I can't tell you too much about that because I was asleep.

Okay Mason is off, Chris Akers on. Many people chose to go back to the print shop for the second time since we have been in Italy and ink up some more art. Word on the street is that Ross and Kevin finished with some amazing pieces. Later that night the print-shop runner (consequently a guy from Colorado) came to the center to sell some of his art. A few of us went ahead and made the investment in his finer prints from Castiglion Florentino.

The guys/girls that chose to go to the lake, which included our fearless student leaders, tell of their comical adventure. After walking 45 minutes to the lake, they got to swim for approximately 28 minutes before the downpour struck. On their walk back to the train station, a car drenched them all with water as it drove through a puddle along-side them. Everyone is still in good spirits, of course!

There was a flee-market setup out in the square near the center. A few of our members bought interesting items from there (Andrew, Kevin, Pmac, Mason, Nathan, among others), and were lucky to find trinkets ranging from an 1800's latin textbook to a gold-plated cigar lighter. A lucky occurrence, the market only assembles once a month.

Back at the center, there was indeed said Risk game that persisted for 3.5 hours, ending in a victory for Mason, but only because he filled in for an already winning Nathan. Much ping-pong was also played, and Nutella & Crackers were eaten. Word has it Mason also emerged victorious in a poker game, which he confesses must have been some sort of miracle. Dinner was great, I stuffed myself on the pasta, potatoes, and beef that was served. We then went and ate some gelado (mango is not such a good flavor here ): )

Mason is also begging me to give a shoutout to these people: Mom, Dad, Kyle, Sarah, and Helga. I would also like to shoutout to Mom, Dad, Mason's Dad, Heather, Andy, Nana, Nana, Papa, and Daniel!

This has been Mason and Chris A (in that order, so remember not to complain about Chris!), telling the US to stay classier!

"Would you like to share some grapes with me?"

Today started with an early morning run (for some of us), fresh baked pastries from a local shop, and a beautiful sunrise... All in all, a normal day in Castiglion Fiorentino. As soon as we were all assembled, we split into two groups: one to trek to a print shop to marvel in our own personal, artistic experiences, and the other to discuss personal safety and well being with our wonderful student leaders. I (Kathryn) was in the first group, and have to say, for a bunch of engineers, we have a surprising amount of artistic talent. Although we won't be opening up our own print shops anytime soon, the experience was simply marvelous.
I (Rebecca) was in the second group, and after a discussion regarding a few of the more practical aspects of our future lives in Aggieland, we were granted a few hours of free time. As hinted by the worsening smell in the dorm rooms, some of us took this time to hand wash our clothes. At least, after hand washing everything in buckets and hanging on lines to dry, using the laundry facilities on campus should be a breeze.
Soon after, both groups reunited in time for a hearty lunch of an Italian specialty: cantaloupe wrapped in either turkey or proscuitto. The relaxation continued with more free time--(although not enough for a few to finish their rowdy game of Risk, or "Risiko"). With no meetings until four o'clock, and the Italian heat and lack of air conditioning for inspiration, a few of us could not resist buying some water balloons seen in a nearby store. After convincing some gullible group members to "come look at this!", a lengthy and refreshing water balloon war ensued.
We passed the rest of our free time quickly, refreshing on some of the discoveries we made in the Florentine museums and preparing to present our findings to the group later in the day. The meeting was a true collaboration, allowing everyone to vicariously enjoy the experiences of the whole group. A little more free time (used for napping or checking out the fresh grapes at a nearby fruit stall), and the only thing that separated us from dinner was a leadership Q&A session with our student leaders. They shared their insights into being successful as a leader at Texas A&M University (as we all hope to be in our next four years).
Dinner was delicious, which was no surprise, and found us dining on pasta primavera, salad, and pork tenderloin. After a briefing on our day trip to Rome tomorrow, we took part in the nightly tradition of gelato! Still recovering between exhuasting day trips, most of us headed back pretty early in anticipation of an exciting day tomorrow. Although the saying states, "Rome: A lifetime is not enough", we still look forward to seeing as much as we can!
Arrivederci,
Kathryn and Rebecca

Day 7: Fabulous Florence

We started this morning bright and early at 6:20, even before the roosters started crowing. After a lovely train ride through the Tuscan country side (through which a majority of us slept), we arrived once again at Florence where the city was already glowing, ready for a full day.

We split into two groups. The first group started at the Uffizi museum where we learned about art through the ages, comparing and contrasting various paintings of Madonna and Child. Every painting and sculpture contributed to the rich history of art, including the ceilings of the building itself. We then split up for lunch and individual museum excursions. Several girls and I (Allison) set off for the Museum of History and Science, more commonly referred to by us as the Galileo Museum. It was a magical place, full of the history of the science most of us will study as engineers. We were mezmerized by thermometers, barometers, telescopes, microscopes, globes, and miscellaneous gadgets galore. Even the glass elevators were a sight to behold.

We then had the pleasure of crossing the beautiful Ponte Vecchio bridge. We thoroughly enjoyed taking advantage of its many photo ops and oohing and ahing over the fancy gold jewelry glittering through the windows. We then proceeded to the Boboli Gardens, the private gardens of the Pitti family, second in wealth and prestige only to the Medici. The Pitti Palace was just gigantic, so it should not have surprised us that the gardens behind it were impressive in size as well. We gazed in awe over the vast expanse of trees, shrubberies, statues, and overall gorgeousness. Our tickets to see the gardens also granted us access to the porcelain exhibit, silver exhibit, and costume exhibit. We meandered through rooms upon rooms of treasures, simply stunned by the history and beauty Italy has to offer.

Needless to say, we ended our day in Florence with shopping. The many colorful purses, bracelets, postcards, and street venders were calling our names. Loaded with purchases, we might have difficulty repacking our suitcases in the near future.

I (Alex) was in the other group, so that meant we had the pleasure of waiting until the afternoon to experience the Uffizi museum. A large group of us congregated outside the train station, ready to meander around town. With our handy dandy map of Florence in hand and with the invaluable personal tour guide, Ross Fly, at our side, we took off from the station for the Bargello (National Museum). Like the many of the other buildings in town, this building sported marvelous Gothic architectur; except this one had a slight twist: there was no roof. Once we paid the admission fee and checked in our bags, we wandered around, gawking at the beautiful statues that were scattered across the musuem. My personal favorite was the alternate version of David that was sculpted by Donatello in the Renaissance Era.

After that, we decided to head towards the Duomo Catherdral. With its ginormous dome, the Duomo is one of the most recognized sites in Florence. Once inside, we walked over underneath the dome itself to observe the painting ceilings. This was definitely one of the most beautiful sites that I have seen during my short time in Italy thus far. While it was not the Sistine Chapel, many of us were still impressed and awestruck by the fact that people in Italy so long ago were able to create such a masterpiece on the ceiling of a church.

While some other ambitious students decided to walk up the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo, we decided that this arduous task was not for us. Instead, we decided to go the Galileo Museum, which was already decribed by Allison above. After we fully explored the Galileo Museum, we decided that it was time for some lunch, so we walked to a nearby store to grab panini and/or pizza. After this light and delicious lunch, we strolled on over to the Scuola del Cucio (Leather School of Florence). As we walked into the courtyard, we spied several Italians rigorously manipulating leather downstairs to form the amazing products that were being sold at the school. In the shop, we shopped around for different types of leather goods. Belts, wallets, and journals were all purchased at this time. The best part about these products, in my opinion, was their smell. Just get one whiff of the leather, and you will be able to tell how authentic it really is. After we purchased our products, the school offered a free initialing service, which all of us happily took advantage of.

After this, we headed over to the best gelato in town. Megan and I tried the tiramisu and the plum gelato, but in my humble opinion, this place had nothing on Coco Palm. Now that we were refreshed, we decided to make a beeline for the Boboli Gardens. However, by the time we got there, the line was so long, and our feet were so tired that we decided to pass on this opportunity in favor of having some down time in the shade.

Our last major event in Florence was going to the Uffizi Museum. Our tour guide showed us famous painitings such as "The Birth of Venus". But to tell you the truth, after a long day walking back and forth around town, most of us were too tired to pay attention to the tour guide, and we were merely counting the seconds until the train ride where we could catch up on some much needed shuteye. We caught the 6:13 pm train back to Castiglion Fiorentino, but that isn't where the adventure ended for two of our students. Andrew Evans and Mouhyemen Khan were just seconds to slow getting off the train, and the magnetic doors abruptly shut on them before they were able to disboard their cart. This meant they had to head down to the next town, and buy another ticket to turn around and come back. Don't worry Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Khan; your sons made it back to the center alright; it just might have taken them a little longer than it should have.. :P

Well thats all for now!

Abbracci e Baci,
Allison and Alex

Day Six: The Winery

Howdy!

Today was a long but rewarding day in the heart of Tuscany. Early this morning we woke up and prepared ourselves for a trip to Ricardo Papini's winery. It is located on the outskirts of Castiglion Fiorentino. Unfortunately for us, our only mode of transportation was our already tired legs. Casting all weariness aside, we packed our bags and headed out for a 2 mile hike up and down the ever rolling hills of the Italian countryside. The intense heat was yet another wonderful factor that played into our long journey. Thankfully, we were supplied with spritzer squirt guns to help cool us off. For some reason, the Italians have a street named Peter Pan, which we followed until we arrived at our final destination.

Ricardo Papini's family has been in the winery and olive oil industry for roughly 4 generations. Ricardo is a friendly looking man somewhere in his mid 30s, and he proceeded to guide us through the fundamental elements of his business. First, we spent some time outdoors, where we observed the immature olive trees and grape vines. We learned that it takes ten kilos of olives to make one bottle of olive oil, but only one kilo of grapes to make a bottle of wine. This is because the grapes have so much more juice. Then we headed inside for a tour of the machinery used to create Ricardo's products.

Finally, it was time for the part we had all been waiting for... wine tasting! Five different types of wine were brought out, along with some really tasty antipasti. We had white wine, Rosato (a pinkish wine), a red wine, a medley, and a dessert wine. Don't worry parents, we all made it home safely, albeit with a couple of laughs along the way.

A couple of hours later we were all feeling refreshed, and we were ready to soak up what our guest speaker had to share with us. We had the pleasure of spending nearly two hours with Mr. Lee Walker, former president of Dell Computers and graduate of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 1963. The 6' 9" Mr. Walker spent the majority of his time discussing with us the events in his life that mattered most to him. He told us how an aggie mentor helped guide him to attending business school and motivated him for a life long love of world travelling. The most important advice that he gave us was to follow our curiousity and imagination rather than letting money dictate our future actions. Finally, he encouraged us create lasting relationships with our professors to develop great mentors of our own.

After a short break, which was crammed with ping pong and Risiko (the Italian version of Risk), it was time for another Italian lesson with Rosella. We learned many useful terms for our trip to Florence in the morning, such as "Ho caldo," which means "It's pretty freaking hot!" and "troppo caro!" which translates to, "Quit trying to rip me off!" This was much needed, as it is crucial we do not let our friends spend way too much money... again ("10 euros for a print? Really Kevin?!?") (He later redeemed himself by haggling his way to two more prints for 5 euro).

Dinner time finally arrived. We had bread, a delicious pasta, and pork with a white cream gravy. We wrapped up the night with a dance show from Mouhyemen Khan and a trip to the gelato shop.

Until next time, this is Cody and Nathan saying, "you stay classy USA."

Day 4 & 5 Photos

Several students playing "Ninjas" in the courtyard at Santa Chiara.

A beautiful view of Florence atop a square above the city.

Two students rubbing the snout of a boar according to the superstition that such action will bring them back to Florence in the future.

We apologize for not being able to post more pictures. The internet connection is not quite the same speed that we are accustomed to in the States.

Day 5: The Monk

This morning I (Kevin) woke up, and pretty much had to leave. I didn't have much time to make myself pretty that day, but I had a good feeling about that day. On the bus, we sang the Backstreet Boys, among other things. Beverly said she saw sunflowers and grapes, but I saw nothing. When we got to Florence, the bus had to stop to get a permit to enter the city, so at the bus stop, we all went to the restroom. On my way back from the bathroom I almost legitly died: I said hi to Tori or something like that and when I looked away I almost was hit by a bus. Beverly thinks it's funny for some reason... anyway, we got to Florence and stopped by San Miniata al Monte. We saw a monk that was breathtaking, and that was pretty much the last thing I remembered.

This is Beverly now: The bus ride lasted one and a half hours. In the bathroom, I had trouble turning on the sink, because I didn't realize it had a pedal instead of a knob or sensor. Oh, Europe! I really loved the trip to San Miniato. From the top of the hill, we could see the most spectacular view of Florence, but without the crowds of Piazzale Michelangelo, where all the tour busses stopped. Surprisingly, it was only a short walk from there to San Miniato, and a walk well worth it.

Inside San Miniato, we looked at the art and frescos. The ceiling was very tall, and beamed. On the beams, there were tiles painted with colorful geometric designs. It was a very beautiful church, but it was hard to appreciate it fully because it took a Euro in the machine to turn on any lights.

We walked down from San Miniato to Piazzale Michelangelo, where we met our tour guide for the day, Natale. We observed the view for a while he gave us an overview of Florentine history. Apparently, Florence was first a Roman town, but it grew through the years to become much, much larger. The oldest part of Florence is actually at the center, and Natale promised that we would get there later.

We walked down a lot of stairs to get to the city. It was fairly steep and a bit treacherous at the top, so we Americanos were surprised to see a native run full-speed up to the top. It was impressive. At the bottom of the stairs, we entered through an old medieval entrance in the outer wall.

We walked then to see Santa Croche, or the Church of the Holy Cross. It was really impressive on the outside, but our tour guide assured us it was “fake” since it was only from the 19th century. Inside, we saw tombs and monuments to some famous people. We saw Galileo’s tomb, and a monument to Michelangelo. Michelangelo was actually buried in the church, but not in the coffin seen on the monument. He is in the catacombs. On our way out of the church, we saw a sculpture by Donatello.

After that, we walked to the Duomo, or cathedral, of Florence. It was also covered in a “fake” façade, but it was beautiful nonetheless. We also saw the “Gates of Paradise” on the Baptistery, which were two gold-gilded doors with three-dimensional depictions of the Old Testament on them.

All the views in Florence were spectacular, but after all of the walking, we were ready for lunch! We went to a small restaurant in the Roman part of Florence. It had air conditioning! Everyone sat down and gulped down some water, but many of us were allured by the wine offered for our first “cultural experience” meal. Some of us had our first taste of wine there—with mixed reactions. Though, most of us agreed that it was better when tempered with some of the wonderful Italian cuisine. The meal was incredible! We had a pasta course with some of the most amazing cheese tortellini, everyone’s favorite dish so far. The next course was a chicken with a cheese or alfredo sauce, followed by a dessert of vanilla ice cream and an intense hot fudge sauce. Delish! Some of us (especially the boys :P) were really enthused about the wine, though, and were tempted to have more than our share. Our student leaders kept on top of us, though!

After lunch, we went to the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David for real. There are many replicas throughout the city, but luckily Florence also houses the real thing. The first gallery is rather soft-spoken, with dim lighting and frescos from churches, but, when you turn the corner, David is overwhelmingly spectacular. He is lit with natural, but indirect light, and he almost glows in the white observance area. Paolo from Santa Chiara accompanied us to give an overview of Michelangelo’s contribution to art, and his insights were enthralling.

Some of us toured the Accademia thoroughly, checking out the other sculpture and painting galleries. We saw some really imposing allegorical paintings from the Renaissance, and almost all were Christian in subject. It was a humbling exploration.

After the Accademia, we wandered through the city back towards the Duomo. We wanted to check out the inside, and possibly climb into the dome, but we were on a tight schedule, and didn’t really have time to explore it. We passed it after another look at the outside, and retraced our steps towards Santa Croche. We rubbed the nose of the pig fountain said to bring good luck. It was really touristy and crowded there, though, so we didn’t stay long. We wandered back leisurely, checking out some of the famous Florentine leather goods. Many of us were ripped off.

We walked along the Arno back to the busses, and most people napped on the trip back. At the center, we relaxed before a delicious dinner of pasta, squash, carrots, potatoes, chicken, and watermelon. After dinner, we made our obligatory trip to the Coco Palm for gelato. There, Andrew told us a “scary story” about a winged beast. In case you were wondering, it was quite a cliffhanger. We all enjoyed it immensely.

On the way back, we encountered a very large boy walking around in his underwear. Some things just don’t have to be explained.

Ciao,
Kevin and Beverly

Day 4- Disastrous Droughts, Fantastic Foods, and Golden Goals

At 22.30 last night, I (Collin) walked into the room after a heated interrogation during a round of Mafia when a distinct bell sound could be heard coming from the shower: don’t ask me why the bell is there because we’re still trying to figure it out.

Apparently, one of my roommates was in the shower when the water went out. It wasn’t restored until 7.30 the next morning, but really, since there was water today, all was well in Italian Aggieland.

Today was activities at the Center: art and some school information. I, having gone to the art, at some points wished I went to the information session. Don’t get me wrong, the printmaking was very, very informative, and many students enjoyed the session; however, some of us (me) are not cut out to be artists.

The food today was great: lots of pasta and meatballs (really good). Up next in free time, ninja and pickup soccer. Possibly the largest ninja game on records was conducted in the Santa Chiara courtyards, with over 30 participants. After several heated battles, Jim emerged the winner of the last game before we had to go to lessons.

Now, to soccer, or as it is known around the world, calcio, futbol, or just plain footy.

Our minimal Italian skills didn’t really help, but somehow, soccer terms translate internationally.

After a warm-up match with some unfortunate results, the two sides, mixed of both A&M students and locals, split and got underway in a series of 5 minute matches.

The first, marked by great goalkeeping (hint: it was me) maintaining a clean sheet, went to penalty kicks, decided by on the final kick by the very goalkeeper spoken of. The second saw an emerging U.S. forward Ross Fly score two goals in quick succession to put his side up before the interval.

~~~

Well, I (Megan) too had an interesting experience with the wonderful water outage late last night. After a long game of 42 with dominoes I decided to get ready for bed. When I tried to turn on the sink I only heard a gurgle and no water came out. After the word got out, a bunch of people gathered to distribute buckets and bottles of water to all of the rooms. I mostly ran around with my flashlight (I still haven’t been able to locate all of the light switches) but I managed to distribute some of the water. After meeting with a few other people, we decided to cancel our morning run around Castiglion Fiorentino on the off chance that we would not be able to shower in the morning.

I woke up around 7.00 to bright sunlight and a nice cool breeze blowing through the open window. The mornings here are the best. My window looks down into the courtyard and the view from there is amazing. After using one of the water bottles to brush my teeth I tried the faucet once more to discover that finally the water had returned!

After a quick breakfast in town, the group split for the day’s activities at the center. I stayed at the center to learn about personal health, safety, and study abroad for the coming year at TAMU. Friday the groups switch and I get to paint! I hope I do a better job of keeping the ink off of my hands than some people.

Lunch was another full-blown affair of three courses. With all of this food and gelato every night, I can’t believe we aren’t all fat by now, even with all of the walking!

The afternoon was comprised of more educational sessions about getting involved in the Memorial Student Center on campus, Florence, and Italian. I think the lesson on Italian was my favorite. Now I can order my morning pastry by talking instead of pointing!

We took breaks throughout the day, and somehow decided to start a game of Ninja during one. Before I knew it, most of the group was involved, and people were striking ninja poses left and right. Ninja is a little hard to explain, but you basically take turns trying to get people out by hitting their hands with your own. You must employ all of your “ninja skills” including chopping, ducking, and jumping out of the way. You are only allowed to make one move at a time and must hold your pose after you move. This definitely makes for some interesting and hilarious poses, many of which were caught on camera :D .

Lastly the day came to a close with the usual Gelato run. On our way back to the Santa Chiara center we made a stop at the city piazza in order to watch the Brazilian group perform in the festival that has been here since yesterday.

Tomorrow we adventure to Florence. The bus leaves at 8.00. A few of us plan to still go for a run tomorrow morning; I just hope we aren’t completely insane!

Buona notte,

Collin Hunt and Megan Poorman

Super Sunday!

Ciaowdy!

As the majority of our students slumbered serenely, getting their much-needed beauty sleep, church bells clanged cantankerously for 7am mass. For those of us who did not decide to go running at sunrise, this was an unwelcome alarm clock...

Breakfast was on our own, with everyone finding their own cozy corner in the beautiful town of Castiglione Fiorentino (Hermes Cafe for us). Later, a group of us went to the nearby church for 11am Mass. Even though we were not all Catholic (and definitely did not speak Italian), it was a very moving service. We were surrounded by beautiful architecture and breathtaking art--like most of Italy.

Lunch was also on our own. I (Andrew) went back to Hermes mainly because the gregarious owner requested that we come by for lunch. Craving some authentic Italian pizza, I eagerly ordered a "Pepperoni Pizza" (complete with accent and hand gesture). Somewhat surprised, the owner dubiously recorded my order. When the food arrived, I was rather shocked to discover that "Pepperoni" does not quite translate into Italian...

I had instead ordered a pizza with 'peppers' on it! Quite the cross-cultural communication failure for me...

I (Rahul), on the other hand, went up up to this place called "Roggi" and ordered a Pizza Margarita--with parmesan cheese. Mama mia! The view from the patio was charming, though its steep slope nearly caused our food to slide off the table.

After lunch, the students from Texas A&M at Qatar gave a cultural presentation that they had prepared for those of us from America. Each of them shared about their homeland culture--with representatives from Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and Qatar. Due to technical difficulties, the session was more interactive than video-based. This turned out to be quite the success, with the curious American students posing numerous questions to their A&M brethren.

Following a half-hour break, we met in the courtyard for an academic meeting led by Ryan and Jonathan, where we learned more about Aggie traditions, the Honors program, and other academic and leadership opportunities at A&M.

Dinner was delightfully delicious--pasta with mushrooms and ham followed by chicken with tomato-based curry and spinach. For the Muslim students from Qatar, there was also fish and quiche.

After dinner came the daily highlight-of-the-day: Gelato!! At first we were all heartbroken to discover that we had to switch from ordering mediums to smalls to conserve our budget...But then we found out that the servers at the gelatoria give you about the same for a small or a medium!

Then we wandered down to the town square, where we stumbled upon a cultural festival featuring a travelling troupe of Mongolian performers. They did a number of dances--accompanied by their own musicians--and showcased their elaborate costumes. An awesome finish to an awesome day.

-Andrew Evans and Rahul Ramesh

Day 1 Photos

Our nine hour flight to Frankfurt. Luckily, we all got bumped up to first class...We wish!

After being up for 24 hours, you can tell how many sights we saw on the bus ride from Florence to Castiglion Fiorentino.

Good thing we all packed light because several of us had to haul it up the hill to the Santa Chiara Study Center.

Did you know people in Africa eat ants? (July 17)

July 17, 2010

As the smoldering sun rose up over the Italian countryside, the participants of our international program were slowly awakening to our first morning of incessant ringing of church bells. Breakfast was offered in two forms this morning as students chose to either chow down on the apricot cakes and juice provided by the center or to hit the town and investigate the local cafes and markets for fresh fruit and some espresso. Around half past nine, we converged at the center and met in the theatre for some good ole orientation. We were dished maps, train schedules, rules, and procedures to enable us to handle anything that Italy could send our way. We learned which trains not to catch and how to ask if a train was headed for Castiglion Fiorentino: “Va bene per Castiglion Fiorintino?”.
We then hiked down the hill from our center towards the train station. Upon arrival at the station we validated our tickets and made sure not to cross the tracks on our way to the pickup location for our train (crossing tracks can result in heavy fines). We hopped on the 11.13 train headed for Arezzo and settled in for our long journey to the first big city of our trip. Oh wait, it was just 10 minutes. Arriving in Arezzo, we journeyed out of the subway and met our tour guide, Giovanni, a charismatic Italian who blamed his Dallas Texan wife for his “bad English”. He took us through the narrow streets of town and made sure to point out all the architecture that was “fake” since it was not truly constructed during the Renaissance. We toured a cathedral and several large churches filled with artwork and frescoes. Especially notable was the incredible stained glass that adorned many walls of the structures. After topping off our water bottles at a faucet along the way, we visited the Piazza Grande, which appeared to be the social center of the city. He took us into one last cathedral before ending his tour and releasing us to explore the city on our own – in groups of three or more of course.

We made a beeline for the nearest pizza shop and with the assistance of the semi-bilingual owner of the parlor, we managed to have our first taste of Italian pizza. YUM. After resting our feet for an hour, we headed towards Il Prato, the city park. We enjoyed the shade and convinced a passerby to snap a photo of the group along the outer wall of the inner city. We then headed back towards the train station, stopping on our way to take a glance at an ancient Roman theatre.

After catching the train back to Castiglion F.no, we met in the courtyard for some communication awareness exercises. We were split into tables and given instructions for a card. After reading these, we were not allowed to talk, only sign and gesture. The two winners of each table advanced to the next table and we continued playing the game. Or at least a game. As some of us discovered, the game was being played slightly differently at each table, which caused much confusion as we tried to compete. We then discussed the complications and meanings of the communication barriers between us and the locals, and how to work with these barriers to better understand the culture. We then broke into groups again to learn some interesting facts about each other, playing two truths and a lie.

Dinner came none too soon and we feasted on minty rice, corned beef, and french fries followed by a desert of watermelon and a chat about hammer-wielding tarantulas. After a brief break, we filed down to the gelato parlor to try out the new flavors of the night. We also learned that eating gelato from a cone rather than a cup can be some messy business. In the morning, several of us hope to catch the early sunrise over the Tuscan hills. That’s all and goodnight.

T. Pitts and Ricky Hofstra