Monday, April 30, 2007

The Trip Home


I dreaded spending the weekend alone in Milan before heading home. I figured I'd be lucky if I made it back into the States sane after sitting around a hotel for two full days thinking about how much I missed Florence, how strange it was that it was all over, etc. But I was flying out of Bergamo, which was actually a pretty nice little town. The pensione I stayed in was simple but the family was pretty nice, and though my room was about the size of a phone booth, I spent most of my time walking around the town, reading my book, and exploring Citta' Alta. Citta' Alta was the old portion of the town, elevated above the rest. It was like any other small Italian town I've visited this year...pleasing, intriguing, enchanting. Still, when you don't have anyone else to share it with, the experience can only be so good.


This morning, however, the true journey began. The flight out of Bergamo was smooth and I even managed to catch an earlier flight out of Berlin to Amsterdam. This was huge, since otherwise I was going to spend a full eight hours in the Tegel Airport waiting. Still, when I reached Amsterdam, I had to book a hotel room for the night since my final flight home doesn't leave until tomorrow afternoon. So here I am now, in a large, two bed hotel room about 15 minutes from the airport but too far from Amsterdam to see the city. The problem is that it's in the middle of a bunch of office buildings- there's no kebab place for miles. The room service breaks down like this:

-Doesburger (some sort of hamburger): E 12.50

-Pasta bolognese: E 12.50

-Selection of Dutch Cheeses: E 8.50


-Club Sandwich: E 12.50

Plus an additional 2.50 service fee.


What's worse is that in the mini-bar, there's a mini-can of Pringles for E 4.50. They do this because they can. And it's working...I'm starving and I'm about to feast on that 5 euro candy bar in the fridge. Could there be a more appropriate way to spend my last night in Europe than getting ripped off paying way too much money for small amounts of food? I must go, dinner awaits...

L'Ultima Cena


Sadly, Thursday night was my last night in Firenze. But I made sure that it would be special. I had planned it out so that we would go to dinner with what had been my family away from home for the past year: the Castellani family, and of course, Professor Batterman. My mom and I first went over to the Castellani house to introduce my mom to the family. Lidia and my mom got along really well and my mom was impressed with how smart and fun the kids were. Florian was also in town, and it was great to talk with him over dinner. We met up with everyone else, including Mike Lerch’s family, at a nearby pizzeria and had some decent ‘za. We talked about all sorts of things, had a great time, and then said our goodbyes. It was tough to say goodbye to the family, as they had been such a huge part of my life this year. Danny and I learned so much from them. Saying goodbye to Professore and his family was equally tough, as he has opened so many doors for me this year. I would not have gotten to know Italy the way I did without him, and I owe so much to him. “Tornero’, Professore. Arrivederci,” I told him as I walked away. After parting ways, mom and I went to the Santa Croce area in search of Vivoli, which was her favorite gelateria. We finally found it, and the gelato definitely was very tasty.

That evening, the town was alive as usual. The piazzas were packed with care-free people and music filled the warm spring air. Deep inside, I was frantically struggling to take in everything one last time, desperately swallowing the sights, sounds, and emotions of Florence as to fill my heart with as much of it as I could before I left it for who knows how long. But in reality, wherever I am, my heart will always be full and satisfied with the sight of the Duomo, the warmth of the Ponte Vecchio at night, the worry-free joy of Piazza Repubblica, and all the other things that have become engraved in my soul during this year abroad. These types of things never leave you.

Will I return? Absolutely. I don’t want to wait 30 years like my mom did. It’s a different time now, and traveling is a little easier than it was back then. When will I return, and for how long? That’s the question. Honestly, I could see myself spending a lot of time in Florence. I’ve made lifelong friends there, my Italian skills have come along significantly, and I’ve turned it into my home. I’m part of Florence and Florence is part of me. Our great reunion will remain a mystery. But mysteries like that are what make life so interesting.

The Final Days


After a long series of sad goodbyes (some for only a few weeks, some for the summer, some forever), it was time to head down to Rome to meet my mom for a week of traveling in Italy. I checked out of room Sav 57 for the last time, grabbed a bite to eat, and bought a ticket for the Eurostar bound for Roma Termini. I had a little bit of trouble getting to Fumicino Airport on time, and we were both pretty relieved when we finally met up with each other outside of the arrival gates.

Our hotel in Rome was right next to St. Peter’s and it was very nice. Mom and I spent most of the first evening catching up and catching a glimpse of the glorious cathedral at night. It was a great reunion, especially after she got used to the smell of my feet (she made me throw away all of my old socks and wash my feet with soap in the beday) and I got used to her dependency on the Rick Steeves book.

Sunday was a packed day. We pretty much walked through all of Rome, visiting St. Peter’s, San Pietro Vincoli, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Roman Forum. We did this all by foot and I could barely walk by the end of the day. However, I saw three Michelangelo’s that I had spent so much time studying in art class: the Pieta, St. Julius’ Tomb, and the Redemption. All in one day. Not bad.

Monday, on our way up to Florence, we spent the day in Assisi, highlighted by a picnic in the hills overlooking the town and a great tour of the St. Francis Cathedral. Assisi was absolutely beautiful, complemented by a perfect spring day. I understand why St. Francis loved nature so much- the green, tree covered hills surrounding Assisi were just as beautiful as its white cobblestone streets and many sparkling old towers and churches. Giotto’s frescoes depicting the life of St. Francis were incredible and the underground portion of the cathedral had the greatest collection of 13th and 14th century frescoes that I had ever seen.

We finally arrived in Florence around 9 p.m. and went to the best kebab place in town for a quick meal, which we ate on the steps of the Duomo. Where else would you eat a kebab? The next day I got to sleep in a little bit, and then we went to the Uffizi. I got to see many of my favorite paintings one last time and show my mom what I had learned about them, though I was a little disappointed that the painting of the Duke of Urbino was away at an art shop.

We had dinner at La Giostra, which was friendly and tasty but filled with American students and parents just like us. On our way home, we stopped by Old Stove to catch the heart pounding finish of the Milan/Man U Champions League match, which ended just after Wayne Rooney scored the go-ahead goal in stoppage time.

Wednesday was the day of the gardens. We started the morning at San Marco, viewing many Fra Angelico frescoes and seeing the rooms of Savonarola. We spent way too much time in the San Lorenzo street markets, but we finally got across the river and saw the Bardini and Boboli gardens. It was once again a perfect day and the sun was shining brightly over the red roofs of Florence. In the midst of thousands of bright flowers, green grass, and towering hedges, I looked down in admiration at the city that I had come to love so much in such a brief but meaningful time. Almost eight months ago, I had looked down at the city from a similar perspective when we climbed up to Piazzale Michelangelo for our large group picture. Back then, I would have never even dreamed of all the amazing things that I would experience over the next year.

Wednesday night was pretty chill, and I spent the evening upstairs in Sav watching the other semifinals match of Champions League with the doorman Enrico. This one was between Chelsea and Liverpool and Chelsea won 1-0. We drank a few beers, ate some Chinese food, and kicked it for the last time. It was a lot of fun.

Thursday was another day filled with sights. Then we went to the Bargello, my favorite museum in Florence. I was happy to see it one last time. Then we met Professor Carrara for lunch. She had taught my mom 30 years ago when she studied here, so they were able to catch up. Professor Carrara was delightful and even answered several questions we had come across during all of our museum visits.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Gonzaga In Florence Is...

Per me, Gonzaga a Firenze e'...

For me, Gonzaga in Florence is....


Swallowing your fear, going for it, and taking the plunge....
Adapting to the culture...


A favorable ratio...



Finding a new family...





Making new lifelong friends and cementing bonds with old ones...



Reliving old chapters of your life in a completely new environment...



A pure rush of adrenaline...
An unpredictable story...

Conquering fears, weaknesses, and shortcomings within yourself...


Discovering that while the world is breathtaking, we find the most overwhelming beauty of all within each other.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Lo Stesso

Great news today. I found my camera. I thought it had literally disappeared from atop my desk. After I returned from Sicily, it wasn't where I had left it, and I spent about two hours cleaning the room and going through things trying to find it. It was nowhere to be found. I've been puzzled about it for the past few days. But it turns out that for some reason Justin and Tom broke into my room while we were gone, took the camera, and took a bunch of pictures of their balls. I'm not too sure why, but all I care about is that I have my camera back for the last few days here.
Last night we played the Brazilians again for the last time and it was pretty much the same thing. We were actually dominating at first, up 5-2. In the second half I think we got tired again and they came back and beat us. I pulled my hamstring in the first few minutes of the game and wasn't too comfortable the rest of the time. But I had a blast and it was nice to get out and play one last time. Calcetto was one of the best additions to the program this semester.

One last dinner with the Castellani tonight.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Victory



Two final exams down, three more to go. I think I did alright...and those two may have been the most difficult. Wednesday at noon, I will be completely finished.

This week has been all about reflecting on the past year. I remember sometime late this summer, as my departure was getting closer and closer, I woke up one morning in a cold sweat after having a bad dream. In this dream, I was abroad, about to go on a weekend trip somewhere in Europe. I had a car and I started driving, but I was hopeless. I had no idea where to go, what to do, who to ask. I was completely lost. After the dream, I realized that it was true: I had no idea how to travel. I'd never even left the Northwest without my parents.

Today, I could go anywhere I wanted in the world with little difficulty. Through this program, we turned the world into our playground. If I wanted to go to the coast, I did it. If I wanted to go to Amsterdam for the weekend, I did. Anywhere, anytime. Why not?

Realistically, it's probably never going to be like this again. I'll be very, very, very lucky if I can ever afford (timewise and moneywise) to just travel around like that again. This sounds kind of sad, but the things I came away with from this year greatly outway the losses and the voids I will feel in the near future.

A couple weeks ago, I was pretty concerned about whether or not I had made the most out of the year. Was our group as a whole close enough? Had we made the most out of our environment, the people we were with, and the things we could do? It all came together for me early Thursday morning as I sat in the airport at Pisa waiting for the 6:30 a.m. flight to Sicily. Conor, Matt, and John were sleeping, and the terminal was pretty quiet. It hit me right then and there: I had done what I had needed to do here. It was pure satisfaction. My goals were accomplished. I traveled around much of Europe, visiting and loving some of the most interesting cities in the world. I had my fair share of adventures along the way. I made new friends for life and solidified the bonds with the friends I already had. I conquered the language barrier. I became cultured. I grew.

I'm going to miss all of this. I'm going to miss this Eutopia where the biggest problems deal with making travel plans and petty social issues like who's hooking up with who and what bar everyone's going to tonight. I'm going to miss sneaking peaks at the Duomo on my way to school every morning. But I hope that 30 years from now, I can simply close my eyes and be right back there again, living life the way it should be lived, if only for a brief moment.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Sicilia: Vay-cay



What a great way to wrap up a year of epic weekends! This was all I could've asked for: an exciting, interesting, and relaxing vacation in beautiful Sicily thanks to Conor's family.

The trip actually started late Wednesday night or early Wednesday morning, whichever way you want to look at it. After the end of the year dinner, Matt and I DJ'd at Joshua Tree for the last time. I bounced early to go to YAB to do some studying for my upcoming Italian final. While I was there, time flew by, and when I glanced at my phone, it was already 2:30. The bus to the Pisa airport left the train station at 3:30, so I wrapped up my studies and then ran all the way from Piazza Repubblica to my pensione. I finished packing, grabbed my bags, and then John, Matt, Conor, and I made our way to the train station.

After a few hours of bus riding and flying, we ended up in Trapani. We were going to take a bus to Agrigento, towards the southeast part of Sicily, to meet Conor's family in their rental car, but we had to wait for a few hours before the bus came. Fortunately the people in Sicily were extremely friendly and gave us all the information we needed. The best part of our wait in Trapani was this sandwich stand that was right next to the bus station. They made us these huge sandwiches with whatever meat, cheese, and vegetables we wanted for only 2 euro. The best part was that unlike most sandwich places in Italy, these guys had sauces, like mayo and hot, to add a little bit of flavor. It was probably the best deal we've found all year. We were all pretty stoke about it as we sat at the station eating our delicious sandwiches.

The busride to Agrigento wasn't too bad, and we drove by some pretty incredible ruins. Conor's family rolled up in the rental car as soon as the bus arrived, and we hopped in and drove a couple hours to the coastal town of Taormina where we'd stay for the next two nights. I found the landscape and scenery of Sicily incredible. It was much greener than I thought, and every green hill and field was covered with bright wildflowers. The terrain was like nothing I'd seen in Italy...it almost reminded me of some parts of Hawaii.

Taormina was a vacationer's paradise. It was green little village perched up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Our hotel, the Belvedere, was incredible, with beautifully landscaped gardens and a pool overlooking the sea. Weary from over 12 hours of traveling, Matt, Conor, John and I went to our rooms (Conor's parents booked us an extra one so it was 2 to each room!), cleaned up, relaxed, and got ready for dinner. Conor's dad, Frank, came in with some wine. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend- they flat out took care of us.

We walked around town, which was lively with many nice shops, restaurants, and fruitstands. Once again, I couldn't believe how lush Sicily was, as everywhere you looked there were beautiful flowers and other plants. We got dinner at a pizzeria and then headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted and called it a night pretty early.

The next morning we went downstairs for the breakfast, which was one of the best I've had all year. Then we headed down to the beach, a beautiful cove with crystal clear water and incredible scenery. The walk down was a long one, and Conor's little brother Aiden caught a few lizards with his net on the way down. When we arrived at the beach, there was a large group of elementary school kids from Catania who had just taken a tour of this small island adjacent to the beach that had been converted into a villa that was now owned by the government. This villa was something else: a house on its own tropical island. It looked like something from Gilligan's Island. The large group of young kids was intrigued by us, and I spent some time talking to them. I asked them where they thought I was from, and it took them about 4 guesses before they came up with America. They asked all sorts of questions and we joked around for a while before they took off. After that we layed out on the beach all day, did a little swimming, and got some lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. We went back to the hotel in the afternoon, swam in the pool for a while, and then got ready for dinner.

We went to a nice Sicilian restaurant off the beaten path that night, and I had some great pasta and some of the best pork I've had in Italy. It was pretty late and Conor's family had to catch a very early flight home the next morning, so we said our HUGE thank you's and good-byes. Then the four of us went to an Irish pub, O'Seven, for a Guinness.

Saturday morning we woke up around 9 and got another great breakfast. Our flight left Trapani, the other side of the island, early Sunday, so today would be dedicated to getting back to that area. We had a lot of traveling to do. First, we took a bus to Catania. Next, we transferred and headed to Palermo. I didn't sleep much on this stretch, which was lucky because the scenery in this part of the drive was incredible. I saw nothing but green bluffs, mountains, and valleys covered in flowers and sliced by flowing rivers. I never expected Sicily to be that beautiful.

In Palermo, we did a little bit of sightseeing. We walked north to this cathedral that had catacombs. Before we went down into the catacombs, we once again encountered a mob of elementary school kids. This time, they were fascinated by Matt's height. After a little bit of conversing, we went below the church. I was expecting ancient catacombs from the Middle Ages, but what we saw were around 100 years old. Apparently it was honorable to have your body preserved in these catacombs for all to see, and the resulting product was a basement full of skeletons and mummies. It was strange, scary, eerie, and captivating at the same time. The creepiest ones were the little kids. Every skeleton was still clothed and some still had hair and parts of the skin attached. I wouldn't recommend it for a date, but it was definitely worth seeing.

We then hopped on a train to Trapani. By the time we arrived, it was already pretty late and we hadn't eaten all day. My appetite had been put off a little by the visit to the catacombs, but now I was starving again. Our coveted sandwich stand was closed, but we found a pizzeria next to the train station that had a great deal: fries, a pizza, and a beer for 7 euro. We ate well that night. The 'za was awesome and the fries were a great addition. Then we went searching for a cheap hotel to spend the night. Matt and my Italian skills were very valuable, as we were able to search and bargain a little until we found a place in Old Town that had a couple rooms for 17 euro a piece. We got a decent rest, hopped on the very early bus to the airport, and arrived in Pisa and then finally Florence around 11.

This afternoon, I went to the Fiorentina match with Professor Batterman and a bunch of the GIF students. They played Siena, a pretty bad team headed down to Serie B next year, but La Fiorentina played horribly and barely scratched out a 1-0 win. Still, it was nice to get out one more time to see a Seria A calcio match.

Notes from Sicily

  • The people in Sicily are a lot more friendly than most places I've been in Italy, and the women are also more attractive.
  • Conor's parents took care of all four of us the entire weekend and made everything possible. Really, all we had to do was get down there. The rest was taken care of. How lucky are we?
  • I knew as soon as I walked into our hotel room that this was the perfect weekend, the perfect way to wrap up a year of incredible trips.
  • This past week, with the final trip to Cinqueterre, the Tuesday night soccer game against the Brazilians, the end of the year dinner, and the trip to Sicily, has definitely been one of the best of the semester and one of the best of the year.

End of the Year Dinner

The end of the year dinner gives everyone a chance to have one last event together, say their last words, and celebrate a great year. We had ours last Wednesday night at La Rotunda and it was incredible. It was a great reminder of what a great year it's been and how awesome the people in this program truly are.

The meal was very good, which kind of surprised me. We had multiple courses with crustini, two types of pasta, meat and potatoes, and tiramisu. We also got wine. We had Dr. Burke at our table, and he kept the "Poet" flowing. He also contributed some entertaining stories, including the time he got placed in detention for doing the Twist at a dance and the time that he decided to leave the seminary after seeing some girls out his window.

The place was packed but it was fun to talk with different people and reflect on the good times. After dinner, a few of the teachers and staff made speeches. Dr. Burke then started calling out random students to come up and speak.

When it was all said and done, it was a strong reminder to me about how special this year has been. It's not just the many incredible places we've gone to and all the new things we've learned and experienced. It's also the people that went through all of that by my side. I've made some great new friends here, many that I probably never would have made had it not been through this program.

I only have a week left here, but I'm definitely not ready to go home. I miss everyone back home and I can't wait to see them all, but at the same time, I still haven't accepted that this adventure is about to come to an end. I guess I still have a week of this incredible journey, so final exams aside, I'm going to make the most of it.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Miracle on Turf (almost)

While most of the Gonzaga in Florence life would best be depicted in a reality TV show, last night would've made for a perfect inspirational sports movie. We've been playing calcetto for the past several weeks. It's similar to indoor soccer, on small outdoor turf fields with teams of five or six. Every Tuesday night, we rent out a complex with two calcetto fields and have mini tournaments of four teams composed of people from our program. I'm not going to lie- before the first night we played, I talked up my game a lot, but was put in place when I came away with zero goals and a loss. But I definitely got my soccer feet back after that and returned to dominant form. The smaller field and quick surface suit my game well and really work to my advantage. A couple weeks ago, a team of Brazilians saw us playing and asked Professor Batterman and I if we would be interested in forming a team of our best to play them. We agreed and worked on fielding our top players.

Last night we faced off against those Brazilians after our own mini-tournament among our own program. The squad I put together included myself, Brian Ream, Paul from Chico State, Koch, Engel, and Rick from B.C. Though we were all a little tired and banged up from an hour of playing already, we took the field at 9 p.m. ready to play.

The Brazilians came to play. They had a coach and each had Brazil National Team jerseys with different players. One was Kaka, one was Robinho, one was Adriano, one was Junhior, etc. Upon kick-off, I could tell we were nervous. They were running us all over the field, and our main concern was just to hold our shape and weather the storm. They played the game like a samba, constantly moving, and dancing with and without the ball. Their only weakness was their finishing, as they didn't have anyone on their team with a pure, cold-blooded nose for the goal. As they'd later find out, our team did. After less than 10 minutes, they burried the first goal. It was bound to happen eventually, but I was still impressed that we were playing decently.

It happened shortly after their goal. I took a pass in the middle, made a decent touch towards the goal, and saw an opening. I drilled it into the upper V. We had a ton of students there who had stuck around to watch us. They all went nuts. Batterman was probably the most enthusiastic of them all.

Shortly after, Brian and I combined for a give-and-go and he put in another goal. We were ahead and even controlling the game. You could tell that our opponents were shocked, frustrated, and absolutely rattled. From the sidelines, their coach asked one of our fans if we were truly from America.

They got an equalizer, but we responded quickly. I hit Andrew with a cross. He had a great hit, but the keeper got a foot on it. However, it bounced off one of their defenders who was tracking back to cover on defense and rolled into the goal. We had the lead again. Their "coach" quickly came out to replace their current goalie.

After some intense play with great opportunities on both ends, they once again got an equalizer. However, shortly before half, I made a run up the side, took a pass, got behind my defender, and placed a low shot just inside the far post. I ran up our sideline, doing the Luca Toni celebration and high fiving the fans. We were all very fired up. When halftime came, our fans were eccstatic. They were just as into as we were. We rested up and got ready to play another half of high-intensity soccer.

Shortly into the second half, Koch fell hard and sprained his ankle. This was a tough loss, since he was playing well and hard, and we were all pretty tired from all the running we'd been doing for the past hour and a half. We kept up the intensity, though. It was such a rush. I was playing in probably the most intense, high level, competitive game I had played in since high school. There was an enthusiastic crowd and the stakes were high. It took me back. But you could tell we were wearing out. They scored the equalizer. Then they took the lead. We had to do something or this game was over.

Their defender tended to be a little lax with the ball. Diving in on these Brazilians was suicide, because they would make an absolute fool out of you with their fancy footwork. But this guy didn't have it. As he dribbled it in the back, I jumped in, made a strong tackle, and sprung the ball loose. It became a scamble for the ball between him, myself, and the goalie. I got a foot on it, pushing it around the goalie. All I had to do was poke it into the net with my left. Tie game once again.

Still, the Brazilians scored yet again. Both teams were worn out, but they had the advantage of playing together for longer and being a little better rested. Our team was beat up. Brian was cramping and tired. Engel also cramped up. Harrison came from the spectator section to fill in for a while. I was pretty tired myself, but I still had a little left.

Playing up front on the right side, I took a pass from Paul out of the backfield. That same defender was guarding me, but this time he tried to jump in and intercept the pass. Rather than go to the ball, I shielded it off and let it roll past both of us. I had him beat and I took a shot from about 15 yards out. It was a low drive that was so strong that it wedged itself underneath the back corner pole of the net. We were tied once again.

Their next goal was in our opinion controversial. They called a nitpicky foul on Brian for what looked like a regular tackle. It was in a dangerous area and they scored on their set play. Time was running out and we had to get the equalizer. None of us had too much fuel left.

This was where we showed how much heart we had. For the next 15 minutes, we ran ourselves to the point where you're beyond exhaustion, where you have nothing left in your legs but they somehow keep moving. We connected on 1-2 combos, won 50-50s, scrapped for loose balls, and rocked the posts on several occassions. But we couldn't find the net. I hit Andrew on a diagonal in front of the goal and he hit the post with a beautiful sliding shot. Brian rattled the corner of the crossbar and the post with a penalty kick. I had one of my best plays of the night when I managed to get behind the defense with little time left. I was coming at the goalie from an angle, which is even more difficult in calcetto because the goals are smaller. I tried to curve it around the keeper and hook it inside the far post, and my shot did just that. However, it bounced off the inside of the post and out of the goal. The crowd went crazy, at first with joy, then with devastation. The Brazilians continued knocking as well, but Rick stopped them every time back in goal.

In the end, we finally ran out of juice. They scored the final goal and it was over. Still, we shook hands, agreed to play again, and congratulated each other on a great game. I think that the fans were more amped about the game than I was. Matt had a headache from yelling so much and couldn't stop saying how awesome it was. Batterman was on cloud nine. I hate losing more than many people, but this didn't feel as bad. We had exceeded all expectations and had impressed everyone there. We played with skill, heart, and as a team. And next week, we're going to get our revenge.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Una Bellissima Partita



It's too late and I'm too tired to tell the story now, but tonight Gonzaga in Florence took on a team of Brazilians in soccer. The game was like something out of an inspirational movie like Miracle on Ice. I'll fill you in tomorrow.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

One last, last time










To start this out, I'm gonna give a breakdown of what happened during the first part of this long Easter weekend: Our plan to drive down to Cosenza to visit Matt's relatives fell through, so we ended up heading back to Cinqueterre to surprise some friends who were camping up in the monastery above Monterosso Del Mar. After spending the night up there on Thursday, we went down and spent all day on the beach. That evening we took a boat to Porto Venere and spent the night on the island of Palmaria on the gun turret overlooking the ocean. It was a typical trip to Liguria: perfect, epic, beautiful. Here are the details...






Thursday afternoon after classes got out, a lot of people seemed down. I think it was just one of those off days for a lot of us. I felt exhausted from a week of papers, late nights, and the stress of the ever-so-nearing end. We had planned on renting a car and driving down to Cosenza, where Matt had some relatives. However, the length of the drive and all the expenses involved was just too much. So after lunch, Conor, Matt, and I sat in room 57 for at least 45 minutes debating it. We finally backed out, but at the same time decided that we would go somewhere else instead. The weather was nice and a few of our good friends had left for Cinqueterre earlier that day. Why not hike up to the monastery, surprise them, and have one last great time in Liguria?



The train ride was pretty smooth, and we made it to Monterosso around 6:30. We bought some food and wine and made the climb up the mountain. My legs were still pretty sore from soccer, and though it was the fourth time I had made the climb, this was by far the most difficult attempt. I panted in pain and desperation every time I had to force my legs up those, steep, neverending steps. We finally made it to the top and silently approached our group of friends (Danny, Aly, Lauran) who were already settled in and eating while enjoying the beginning of the sunset over the sea. It was the perfect group, and they were very happy with the surprise we had given them.

We caught the sunset, another one that words cannot really describe, ate a simple meal, and drank a lot of red wine. Berns and Laura came up later and joined us, and we fell asleep under the stars.

The next day we made it down to Monterosso around 11. It was an absolutely perfect day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and you could tell it was going to be a warm one. We got down to business right away and laid our towels out on the beach. I got in and the water was just as cold as last week, but the warm sun made things a lot easier. A bunch of others from the program came and joined us around one, including John and Harrison, Frank, Engel, Blake, and several others. It was just one big beach party. We swam, laid out, skipped rocks, and walked the beach. Everyone got a lot of sun, some people got burnt pretty badly, but in the end, I could not have chosen a better way to spend the day. Monterosso and the other 4 towns had come to life; the beach was packed, the sun was out, and the trails and shops were crowded with people from all over the world. Spring was in full effect.

Around 4:30, our original camping crew, myself, Matt, Conor, Lauran, Alyson, Danny, Berns, and Laura, headed to the ferry and took it all the way down the coast to Porto Venere. It was interesting to get a view of the towns from the ocean rather than looking out at the ocean from the trail as I had done so many times before. I got a lot of really good pictures. Porto Venere was as beautiful and enchanting as ever, with its large castle, ancient church, and row of pastel-colored houses overlooking the water. We bought a few more supplies, took the traghetto across the bay to Palmaria, and made the short hike up to the top to our campsite. There was no one around, and we got there just in time to catch all of the sunset as we sat atop the abandoned gun turret. Everyone agreed that while the monastery was a very special place, this was the best campsite, as it looked out over the Mediterranean, the town, and a small neighbor island that had a lighthouse. We were virtually on top of the world. We ate a very small dinner and saw a spectacular tramonto. There was a collection of haze right above the water on the horizon, so as the sun descended, it turned into a dark orange ball. You could stare right at it in its round entirety as it disappeared into the ocean.


Nighttime arrived and brought with it a series of strange events. I guess it's only fitting that the last night I would spend in Liguria this year would be just as strange and nervewracking as the first night back in September. We broke out some cards and a few boxes of Tavernello wine and started playing a game of King's Cup. Things were going pretty well at first, and there was still some light. All of a sudden, though, Danny got up and pointed out that there was a rat going through his things on the backside of the turret. We all got up, and sure enough, a decent sized rat with one of those nasty tails was crawling around, trying to get into our bags. We chased it off, but the girls were pretty scared. We threw some rocks into the bushes, trying to put an end to the threat of our newfound invader, and then returned to our game. But only about 10 minutes later it was back, this time crawling into Berns' shoe. We chased it off again, and this time watched it as it crawled in the bushes below us. Berns threw a large rock that may or may not have crushed it; at this point, it was too dark to tell.


We got back to our game and actually played for a solid 45 minutes without interruption. By this time it was completely dark. That's when one of the strangest things I've ever witnessed happened. A rock came out of nowhere and hit Lauren's elbow. We were in the middle of nowhere, it was pitch black, and we had no idea what had happened. After a few seconds of confusion and making sure that Lauran was alright, we realized that we weren't alone up there. Danny said, "Alright guys, let's go." We got a couple flashlights, got up, and shined them into the brush in the distance. We yelled for whoever it was to show themselves, but there was nothing. I figured if we couldn't get an answer, the best solution would be to just leave, as I didn't want to be stuck up there in the dark with who knows what hiding nearby. But just then some guy came through the bushes with a girl. They were college hippies, nothing too intimidating. We asked the guy what he was doing, and he said that they were just trying to toss a few pebbles near us to rustle the bushes. We showed him the rock that he had threw, which was quite larger than a pebble. Even though he denied throwing it, it was clear that he was the perpetrator. Instead of kicking his ass, which probably would have been justified, I think we were all just pretty happy that we had put a face on our unknown enemy. We parted ways and eventually fell asleep under the stars.

The next morning was another beautiful day. We walked around Porto Venere for a while and then took the train back to Florence. I was exhausted and absolutely filthy from two nights of camping and a day at the beach. Still, it was by far one of the best times I've had on the coast and a perfect way to wrap up the huge series of camping trips I made there this year. I'll miss Liguria, but it has given me enough memories and beautiful images to last 10 lifetimes.