Siena, School and Sweets

Things in Rome have started to slow down. This may be because school is under full way. Mid terms are next week and thus there will not be any traveling until after next week.

On Friday, I took a day trip to Siena. The trip was a school sponsored trip that my housemate, Samantha, and I decided on late in the week.  I wish I could say Siena was exciting, but instead it was just pretty and quaint. I went on my first walking tour and while it was very informative, I found it frustrating because I wanted to go inside many of the buildings and churches that were being shown to us, but we did not have enough time. We finished our tour at a restaurant where we had a three course lunch including spaghettoni (thicker spaghetti) with lamb sauce. Yum! I have found that I love trying new dishes, especially ones I have neither tried nor heard of. I need to eliminate all possible food allergies, right? After lunch we were forced (okay, maybe I was quite willing) to try Siena’s famous dessert, panforte.  This dessert, also meaning ‘gingerbread’, is a very old recipe. Without refrigerators, bakers had to design desserts that didn’t need refrigeration and thus the panforte was born. Using honey, almonds, orange peel and a few other ingredients, this delicious dessert is still popularly made throughout Siena.

Saturday involved a visit to a famous open-air market that is common for tourists, Campo di Fiori. Here, my roommates and I tried hazelnut jam, cinnamon cream liquor and limoncello (popular Italian liqueur).

It was very windy outside today which reminded me of home. I ALMOST miss the weather, but I’m not at that point yet….

Naples, Pompeii and stray dogs

This past weekend David and I took a trip to Naples. With no agenda in hand, we departed Saturday morning from Termini Station in Rome. We arrived early in the afternoon and learned quickly that Naples wasn’t exactly the cleanest place. To give a comparison, lying down on a street in Chicago was like taking a bath compared to standing in Naples.  To give the city some credit, a garbage strike had just finished. Our hostel was nothing like what we had in Stockholm, yet it was comfy, clean and the owners were friendly. We decided to head to Villa Comunale, a park that opens up to the sea where we had breathtaking views of the city. As well, we toured Castle dell’Ovo and then began our search for some infamous Neapolitan pizza. Fortunately, finding a pizzeria did not take long, nor did eating the pizza….

                     

After dinner, we decided to stop by a bar that claimed to be frequented by locals. Unfortunately, we didn’t’ get to talk to any.  After, we headed back to our hostel. The following day we woke up and had our free breakfast ‘made’ by our hostel owners. We were very thankful for the cereal and processed loaf of bread. We decided that after exploring Naples the previous day, we should go to Pompeii. Originally, we had intentions of attending mass, but arrived too late and instead went straight to the ruins of Pompeii. Originally, this was the town of Pompeii before Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. It was really interesting to go here! For those who do not know the story, in 79AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted burying the existing city of Pompeii. It was not until the late 1500’s when the city was excavated. You can still see paintings on the walls and walk through homes that are now only crumbling walls. As well, they were able to save a lot of pottery and you can view these as well as some of the remains of people caught in the lava. The best Pompeii Ruins souvenir? A stray Pompeian dog! At the first site of a dog in the ruins, I thought he was dead lying on the cobblestone path. On the contrary, he stood up, quite alive, trotted over to two other dogs where they began a Sunday stroll through the ruins. What a life. There are many alive and healthy dogs that wander the ruins. They are fed, cared for and available for adoption. Instead of a dog though, I settled for a rock.

 Pompeii Pottery 

After spending hours exploring the Pompeii Ruins, we headed into the current city of Pompeii. Here we found the city square, their famous and beautiful Santa Maria church, and lots of people enjoying the beautiful day. After lunch, we people-watched before attending mass at four. Shortly after, we caught the last train back to Naples, picked up our things from the hostel and got back on our train to return to Rome.

 Santa Maria 

Inside Santa Maria

Overall, it was a relaxing weekend. It was nice to travel with David as he is the exact opposite of Sarah. While Sarah is very free spirited and spontaneous, David always has a set agenda. As well, he is a great person who forced me to realize that a great traveling experience is not based on how much you do, but rather what you do.

Other news: I have updated my pictures. Pictures from Pompeii and Naples are under “Week 4”. I received a great gift on Valentine’s Day, the news of my mom’s (Mo) intentions to travel to Rome to visit me. I cannot wait for her arrival! Midterms are in two weeks. I am enjoying my classes: Managerial Accounting, Literature, Philosophical Thinking and Italian. I am traveling to Siena, Italy tomorrow as part of a school sponsored trip.

To the Office of Financial Aid, specifically Lisa G, I am very sorry you had to wait so long for my post. I will be more punctual on the coming ones.

Stories for my Grandchildren

This past weekend I took my first trip away from Rome to Sweden. Because so much happened in this short 72 hour period, I have decided to sum it up by writing my post as a dictionary with pictures. I chose to travel with my two friends and housemates, Auriel and Sarah. It was another very memorable part of my time while studying abroad. Highlights of the trip: trying Lebanese cuisine, unintentionally ending up at a gay bar, my first hostel experience, Albert Nobel Museum, Stockholm Palace, NykÖping Castle, hiking across the Swedish countryside and exploring the town of Nykoping. Pick a highlight and read below!

The Lebanese Restaurant – After arriving in Stockholm we were hungry and stopped at the first site of food which happened to be a Lebanese restaurant. I ordered falafel. The owner helped us find the subway and was one of three people that when asked what we should do all recommended the bars. We visited him on Saturday to thank him for his help and he gave us free drinks for the road.

Gay Bar – Friday night we arrived at our hostel and found out one of the two owners is also a bartender. After explaining we were poor college kids, he offered us a free drink at the bar, Naglo Bar, he worked at. We agreed and reluctantly showed up rather early in the night for our free drink. There were only four people in the bar (3 men and 1 woman). After sitting to ourselves for about ten minutes two of the men introduced themselves and without hesitation said “You do know you’re at a gay bar, right?”  One of them, John, explained to us that he was taking his best friend, Ronnie, out for drinks as he was getting married to his partner the following weekend. I am sad to admit I accidentally deleted the pictures we got with our Swedish friends.

First Hostel Experience – For those who do not know what a hostel is, read on! A hostel is a step down from a motel or hotel. It is usually for younger travelers (backpackers, study abroad students) and is also less expensive. Instead of renting a room, guests rent a bed which is often bunked and in a room with many other travelers, all sharing a bathroom. We chose the least expensive hostel in Stockholm and somehow it ended up being one of the nicest ones. Because of overbooking, we were able to get our own room with two sets of bunk beds as well as our own personal bathroom.

Albert Nobel Museum = waste of time. If you go to Stockholm, kick some rocks; it will be worth more than going to this museum.

Stockholm Palace – The current Swedish royal family resides in one wing of the castle while the other side is open for tours. It was really cool to walk through this palace and see all of the paintings. Unfortunately, photography was not permitted and my battery was dying thus, I did not take any pictures. 

Temporarily Homeless – Although we had a hostel Friday night, the hostel was booked for Saturday. We settled on not looking for another one, as we had discussed plans of taking a night train to see the Aurora Borealis. It was not until 6pm on Saturday evening that we realized our idea of seeing the Northern Lights was not a practical one if we wanted to make our flight home the next day. Thus we were stuck with either checking into a hotel (pricey for us college students) or rely on our teachings from Girl Scouts. Tired, rundown and desperate we chose to take a bus back to the airport and pitch tent there. For those of you who are reading this and wondering “What was she thinking?!” I would never change this experience. It was a great moment of realization for me.

NykÖping Castle – Not only did this castle have free entry, it also had unlimited roaming (or so we decided). This castle is nestled in a little town called Nykoping (prenounced Ne-shopping). The self tour of the castle takes a visitor through the tragic story of the overthrowing of the royal family that once lived there.

Swedish countryside hiking – At 5:30 on Sunday morning, we were awakened by an airport employee. This was the start to our adventurous day. We decided that the ten minute bus ride to the city of Nykoping was short enough that we could instead walk. Apprehensive of the cold weather, I put on two pairs of pants, four shirts, hunting socks (thank you Chris, you may have saved my toes), and two hats. We departed Skavsta Airport around seven, as the sun was rising. It took us almost two hours to arrive at our destination, but I would never give back that early and chilling walk. As Sarah said, “You can’t get pictures like these on a bus!” Here are a few:

There were so many other things that really made this trip amazing. Sadly, if I were to write about them I'm sure it would take an entire day. Feel free to look at my pictures (Week 3) for a deeper insight on my trip to Sweden.

Sarah's Concert

I have uploaded more pictures. To access them, under the heading “Kaitie’s Pictures” (top left), click on either picture. To view all of the albums from here, click on “Kaitlyn Arnold” (also on the top left) or “Kaitlyn Arnold’s Gallery”. My pictures are now organized by the week they were taken in and I will update them on a weekly basis.

Tuesday night, Sarah and I went looking for a museum, but unfortunately it was already closed. We instead decided to go to Piazza Navona. I encourage anyone to search for pictures of this piazza as my camera died early in the trip and it was another beautiful sight. Sarah took me here because she met a man earlier, Mario, who had been giving a boy a guitar lesson. When learning that Sarah played guitar he gave her the boy’s guitar and accompanied her in Hotel California. She said she was so excited from the experience that I had to meet this older gentleman. When we found him he was busy selling his beautiful canvas paintings and with the sight of Sarah immediately whipped out his guitar and handed it to her. He quickly hooked up the guitar to his amp and Sarah was underway with her first live concert in the middle of this large, romantic piazza. She received tips and applause. An American woman visiting from Michigan even came up to me (realizing I was her friend) and was interested in Sarah’s singing. Here is a video of her experience:

Strictly Pictures (for you Mo!)

Donato (Italian Carabinieri) and I 

Delicious antipasti! ..oh, and David & Donato

The other side of the antipasti & my house-mate, Sofia and I

Priest on roller skates (seen him twice) 

Meat.

 Cheese!

Types of pasta 

The monument next to our building: Piazza Trilussa

Chris, maybe you should get a truck like this one...yeah?

The view from our terrace.