Tuscan Movie Tour and Cinque Terre
2006-09-25
Tuscan Movie Tour and Cinque Terre
Compared to last weekend this weekend was a breath of fresh air. Thursday we relaxed, Friday we went on a movie tour to Cortona where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed and Saturday we hiked in Cinque Terre along the beautiful coast of Italy.
On Friday we met at the school at 9 to leave on a bus for Cortona. The town was about two hours away and was high in the mountains, which made for a beautiful view of the Tuscan Countryside. Each town in Italy has a patron saint, and Cortonas was Saint Margarita. It is interesting learning about the Saint of each city and the cathedral in each town is usually dedicated to them. Saint Margarita really was not Saint at all. She was living with a prominent man of the community and followed a dog one day to discover his dead body. From that day forward she decided to change her life and is now a Saint. I learned this from one of the two tour guides that SAI had chosen for us. The entire tour was free to FUA students and of course this was wonderful after last weekend in Venice. We had lunch at a darling trattoria where I had Spinach and cheese ravioli with Truffle sauce. I had never tried truffles so once again I was trying new things.
After lunch we all got some gelato (of course) and walked down to where the house where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed. The house is now abandoned and locked up. That did not stop us. The guides took us around a back way where we went through thorny bushes and into the backyard to see the back of the house. I really did not recognize a lot of the house and it was much smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still neat to see where they had filmed everything. After leaving Cortona we went to Arezzo where an Italian film about the Holocaust was filmed. It was a cute little town, but it did not have much to do other than see where the filming took place so we did not stay there very long. We headed back on the buses and ate Kebobs in Florence when we got back.
Saturday was a tough day. Zena, Mack, Ashley and I left super-early to catch the 7:50 train to Cinque Terre. We were exhausted and of course Ashley took some pictures of us while we slept. Cinque Terre is composed of five coastal towns near Genoa. There is a trail that follows the coast as you go to each one that is about 7 miles and constantly going either up or downhill. We went the whole way. Luck was on the side of my friends because I left my camera at the apartment. I am used to doing nature hikes and was constantly going ahead and then waiting for them to catch up. If only I had brought my camera I would have some good blackmail pictures today! It was a very hard trek and we only stopped once in the next to last town, Venarossa, to sit down and me to get gelato for breakfast. When we finally finished the last leg (and hardest) of the journey we ended up in Monterosso where the best beaches are. We were exhausted from all the walking and Zena and I had separated from Mack and Ashley and were starving so we sat down and had paninis at a place there on the beach. Of course after that we laid out on the beach, but the mountain was in the way. It was a very exhausting day and we were out of it while we took the train back. We have never had a train ride without a sketchy guy bothering us. This time a guy came in our car and would then walk outside and make creepy faces at Zena. Italians. I think it is because the girls freak out so much. I would totally mess with them too! When we got back we picked up burritos at a place near our apartments (it was cheap and amazing...we all decided we will be regulars there) and then watched a movie at my place on a laptop. It is nice to still have comforts like movies without subtitles to watch.
Yesterday we slept in until about noon we were so exhausted. Zena worked all day on Law School Applications and I went to scope out my parents hotel by the train station, a 15-20 minute walk from my apartment. I went to a piazza near their hotel and sat down and looked over Italian for about an hour. I put on my music and just people watched/studied and it was one of the best things I have done here yet. It is nice walking around alone too. As long as you walk with purpose like the Italian women do no one will bother you and men will actually move out of your way to let you pass. I will probably be so rude to males when I get back home because I am used to looking right past them so they do not follow me home.
After I got back Jessica, Ashley, Mack, Katie and I went to dinner at a Trattoria literally 2 minutes from my apartment. I have been wanting to go there for awhile and it had been recommended in several guidebooks. It was amazing! It was probably the best Italian meal I have had in Florence! I ordered pizza with spinach and hard boiled eggs, and it was wonderful. Jessica described it as a quiche pizza. We also ordered the house white wine for the table and a couple deserts to share. If you are a chocoholic you will love Italy and Europe in general. Everything is rich here. My mom called me in the middle of dinner. She has only called me 3 times, but she always manages to call when I am eating dinner with my friends. I was finally able to talk to my sister Rachel! Apparently my mom went to her open house recently and told a lot of my high school teachers about my blog. The reason I decided to study abroad in the first place was because of my Spanish teacher Mrs. Furr because she casually mentioned her experiences abroad to me once. I should have told her how much it impacted me and hopefully she will know soon. Now I am back in Florence for the week and even though it is rainy I am still glad to be back in home sweet home!
p.s. I already miss Thanksgiving. I will be in London for it, but it is not the same as food with the family in Branson, Missouri. That is the only thing I have been overly homesick for so far.
Tuscan Movie Tour and Cinque Terre
Compared to last weekend this weekend was a breath of fresh air. Thursday we relaxed, Friday we went on a movie tour to Cortona where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed and Saturday we hiked in Cinque Terre along the beautiful coast of Italy.
On Friday we met at the school at 9 to leave on a bus for Cortona. The town was about two hours away and was high in the mountains, which made for a beautiful view of the Tuscan Countryside. Each town in Italy has a patron saint, and Cortonas was Saint Margarita. It is interesting learning about the Saint of each city and the cathedral in each town is usually dedicated to them. Saint Margarita really was not Saint at all. She was living with a prominent man of the community and followed a dog one day to discover his dead body. From that day forward she decided to change her life and is now a Saint. I learned this from one of the two tour guides that SAI had chosen for us. The entire tour was free to FUA students and of course this was wonderful after last weekend in Venice. We had lunch at a darling trattoria where I had Spinach and cheese ravioli with Truffle sauce. I had never tried truffles so once again I was trying new things.
After lunch we all got some gelato (of course) and walked down to where the house where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed. The house is now abandoned and locked up. That did not stop us. The guides took us around a back way where we went through thorny bushes and into the backyard to see the back of the house. I really did not recognize a lot of the house and it was much smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still neat to see where they had filmed everything. After leaving Cortona we went to Arezzo where an Italian film about the Holocaust was filmed. It was a cute little town, but it did not have much to do other than see where the filming took place so we did not stay there very long. We headed back on the buses and ate Kebobs in Florence when we got back.
Saturday was a tough day. Zena, Mack, Ashley and I left super-early to catch the 7:50 train to Cinque Terre. We were exhausted and of course Ashley took some pictures of us while we slept. Cinque Terre is composed of five coastal towns near Genoa. There is a trail that follows the coast as you go to each one that is about 7 miles and constantly going either up or downhill. We went the whole way. Luck was on the side of my friends because I left my camera at the apartment. I am used to doing nature hikes and was constantly going ahead and then waiting for them to catch up. If only I had brought my camera I would have some good blackmail pictures today! It was a very hard trek and we only stopped once in the next to last town, Venarossa, to sit down and me to get gelato for breakfast. When we finally finished the last leg (and hardest) of the journey we ended up in Monterosso where the best beaches are. We were exhausted from all the walking and Zena and I had separated from Mack and Ashley and were starving so we sat down and had paninis at a place there on the beach. Of course after that we laid out on the beach, but the mountain was in the way. It was a very exhausting day and we were out of it while we took the train back. We have never had a train ride without a sketchy guy bothering us. This time a guy came in our car and would then walk outside and make creepy faces at Zena. Italians. I think it is because the girls freak out so much. I would totally mess with them too! When we got back we picked up burritos at a place near our apartments (it was cheap and amazing...we all decided we will be regulars there) and then watched a movie at my place on a laptop. It is nice to still have comforts like movies without subtitles to watch.
Yesterday we slept in until about noon we were so exhausted. Zena worked all day on Law School Applications and I went to scope out my parents hotel by the train station, a 15-20 minute walk from my apartment. I went to a piazza near their hotel and sat down and looked over Italian for about an hour. I put on my music and just people watched/studied and it was one of the best things I have done here yet. It is nice walking around alone too. As long as you walk with purpose like the Italian women do no one will bother you and men will actually move out of your way to let you pass. I will probably be so rude to males when I get back home because I am used to looking right past them so they do not follow me home.
After I got back Jessica, Ashley, Mack, Katie and I went to dinner at a Trattoria literally 2 minutes from my apartment. I have been wanting to go there for awhile and it had been recommended in several guidebooks. It was amazing! It was probably the best Italian meal I have had in Florence! I ordered pizza with spinach and hard boiled eggs, and it was wonderful. Jessica described it as a quiche pizza. We also ordered the house white wine for the table and a couple deserts to share. If you are a chocoholic you will love Italy and Europe in general. Everything is rich here. My mom called me in the middle of dinner. She has only called me 3 times, but she always manages to call when I am eating dinner with my friends. I was finally able to talk to my sister Rachel! Apparently my mom went to her open house recently and told a lot of my high school teachers about my blog. The reason I decided to study abroad in the first place was because of my Spanish teacher Mrs. Furr because she casually mentioned her experiences abroad to me once. I should have told her how much it impacted me and hopefully she will know soon. Now I am back in Florence for the week and even though it is rainy I am still glad to be back in home sweet home!
p.s. I already miss Thanksgiving. I will be in London for it, but it is not the same as food with the family in Branson, Missouri. That is the only thing I have been overly homesick for so far.
Labels: Cinque Terre, Tuscany
posted by Alyssa at 11:20 PM
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