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.

Its been awhile. Here is a recap of the previous week!

Not much has happened in the last week.  I have planned a trip with some friends to travel to Stockholm, Sweden this upcoming weekend. We learned quickly that many European airports maybe named after a city, but can be a long drive from the actual city.  We are staying in a very nice hostel (supposedly).

I took my first trip to an open-air market on Saturday. There were so many types of pasta!!! Different  shapes, sizes and colors. I also saw an astonishing amount of different types of dried tomatoes.  Here are some other things I saw.

 Pasta, pasta, pasta!

Veggies

Later, we went to a restaurant near our apartment. I decided to blind order and get something I had never heard of which happened to be Tonnarelli with mushrooms, peas and ham in a cream sauce. I’ve never consumed something so delicious!

Antipasti: Fried Vegetables & Caprese 

We also explored our apartment building and were able to get to the terrace on the roof.

Sarah

After, we spontaneously took a trip to Trevi Fountain. With the spontaneity flowing, we got on a random bus. Little did we know it was going in the opposite direction from the fountain. We eventually asked a local for directions (Italian encounter #1). He told us where to get off and get on the metro. We did so and met two more men who explained to us how to get a ticket (encounter #2). After getting off the metro, we met three older gentlemen (encounter #3) who insisted on throwing one coin in the fountain to return to Rome, another to get married and one more to get divorced. They could have been from The Godfather. Down the road we met Victor, the Italian dog, and his owner (encounter #4). Next, we magically found the same gelateria that Donato took David and I to….of course this resulted in a gelato stop and more verbal directions (encounter #5). We then overheard an English speaking couple looking for the fountain and decided to ask (encounter #6). Finally, with the pointing from a police officer (encounter #7) we heard water and found the fountain. Shortly after we arrived it began to pour which removed all other visitors. We made our eighth and final encounter with two locals who helped us get home. If you come to Rome, go to Trevi Fountain at night. It is beautiful.  And again, learn the bus routes. And don't be afraid to make new friends.

Fontana di Trevi

Today, my first class got cancelled so I found a hidden terrace at our university, sat in the sun and did homework (perfectly clear sky, 57 degrees). I then attended one class and proceeded to my last class to find out it was cancelled as well. I finished my day with the best pizza I’ve ever had: zucchini and mozzarella. Rough day.

It was very sunny out.

World Traveler...In Training

Yesterday was a day I will never forget. Not because I was in Rome, but because I feel like I walked to Tahiti all by myself…

It all started when I decided to delay working on some homework with a classmate. If I would have agreed to do it on Friday I would have had a short three minute walk to campus. Instead I chose to do it on Saturday. Unfortunately it was raining and thus my Italian friend, Claudia, could not take her Vespa out. It was only after I agreed to meet her at her own coffee shop that I realized that it was located clear across the city of Rome. Reluctantly, with my Totes umbrella in hand and a map in my pocket, I began my first solo and longest trip thus far through Rome.

Although the hour walk was uneventful, once I arrived I realized walking uphill through the rain was worth it! Claudia and her family own and manage a restaurant called The Yellow Bar. In Italy bars are not like American bars. They are more comparable to what we know as a café or restaurant, although they still serve alcohol. The Yellow Bar was nicely decorated and had an older looking bar. I was also at home with American music I was familiar with that was playing. Claudia made me my first cappuccino which was delicious. Luckily, she also walked me two blocks to the bus station, showed me which bus to get on, when to get off and helped me get my ticket. I was back in ten minutes.

Moral of the story: Do not procrastinate….and learn the bus routes.

 Claudia and Luna (her daughter)

You can never have too much Nutella.

I successfully completed my first week of college in Italy. In light of this, Auriel, Sarah and I headed out for another walking adventure. Our goal was to find the Burger King across town. After getting slightly lost we found Burger King and learned there are not many differences between an Italian and American Burger King. They do not have mustard, but instead serve beer on tap. We finished our journey at a yogurt gelateria called D’Angolo’s. Since it had been rainy and cold, the shop had not had many visitors. Ergent, the owner, gave us our gelato and taste tests of all of the flavors free of charge because we kept him company. I am learning having a great study abroad experience is all about getting to know the locals. When we were leaving, I noticed tubs of Nutella that were 5 killograms large. I asked Gent where I could find a tub of Nutella that large. He informed me that only vendors could purchase them, but if I wanted he would pick one up for us next time. We unfortunately had to decline the offer as we knew we could not finish that much Nutella in a semester. I guess he saw the disappointment in my face and surprised us by handing me an empty tub!

Another exciting thing… I met Rick Steves’ son, Andy. For those who have not heard of Rick Steves, he is a big name in tourism and traveling. He has many television shows and has written many books on traveling. Andy has his own company targeted towards study abroad students that plans weekend traveling adventures. My roommates and I are thinking about going on one of his trips to the Swiss Alps.

I heard it is around -5 degrees around Chicago. It is pretty cold here too……45 degrees today. Stay warm!

Italian School

School has started and I already have homework. I guess I was a little too optimistic when I thought they would give us a week. Nothing too exciting has happened yet this week. My roommates and I frequent a restaurant called Le Fate. They have a student menu that consists of anitpasti, primo (first or in this case, the main dish), dessert and at least one (if you're lucky, possibly more) glass of wine all for the price of 10 euro (around $13-$14). The menu changes everyday, but if you order the student menu there are no options; you eat what is being served that day. We really like it there because it is family owned and the mother of the cook enjoys talking to the students (even though she only speaks Italian). 

I am working on my cooking abilities (they were non-existent when I arrived). I am also planning on taking a cooking class through the university. The instructor is the cook from Le Fate. Another place we enjoy going to is a gelateria (a small shop that sells gelato) that is behind our apartment. I would try other places, but I like their gelato too much to stray away. My favorite flavor thus far is Nutella, but I still have three months of tasting to do. Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread that is very popular in Europe, especially Italy. I have found that is used in many Italian desserts. If you haven't tried it, I recommend taking a trip to your nearest Walgreens and trying some on a slice of bread or with a banana. 

On Monday, David and I decided to surprise Donato at his station. I should correct myself too; Donato is a marshal for the Carabinieri, not a police officer. Supposedly, marshals do investigative work. Later, I accompanied David and Donato to a small pub. Donato wanted to show David how Italians watch soccer games. It was comparable to a typical pub except there was a lot more drinking and a lot more singing. 

Today, Sarah, Auriel and I are going on an adventure to get our books and to find a Burger King. We decided we wanted some American food.

Donato...the Italian police officer

Friday started with a required Orientation. Soon after I met up with my friend David who happens to attend Lewis with me back at home. We have already been good friends and coincidentally both chose to study abroad in Rome. David invited me to have coffee with his friend Donato who he met the night before at a bar. I was slightly hesitant after hearing about Italian men and different scams. I decided David could not go alone and I agreed. Ends up Donato is a police officer and possibly the most respectable Italian in the city! He took us around all day through the city and showed us many different attractions along with his favorite place to get gelato. It was really interesting to hear a local's opinion of different places in Rome. Eventually, Donato had to go to work and we went or separate ways. During our tour with him here are some things we saw: a priest on roller blades, the Spanish Steps, the Pathenon, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Trevi Fountain and so many other things!

On Saturday Auriel (my roommate) and I started our own walking adventure and soon met up with David again to continue it. David showed us his apartment. My roommates and I are finding that we have one of the best apartments. David has a very long commute (30 minute walk) and also has a much smaller apartment,  but also only has three roommates. He lives very close to the Vatican which is why we spent half of our afternoon there. It was amazing! There were so many great views, but unfortunately we did not see the Pope.

After walking through the Vatican, we made our way to the Castle Sant Angelo. We made our way to the top to view, in my opinion, the best views of Rome. If you have a Facebook account I put all of the pictures I took in an album.

Saturday night we met Donato for dinner at his favorite restaurant. Here, we ordered an antipasti sampler that had an assortment of foods I had never had before that were all delicious! Some of the things I remember were grilled eggplant, grilled red peppers, frittata, hot salami, salami, mozzarella balls, beans, bruschetta, olives, and some other type of meat (still unknown to me). We also had two bottles of the house wine. Tony, the owner of the shop, informed us that a 'house wine' is the owner's mixture of many different wines and thus is not a single type of wine. A little wine in Italy can go a long way too!

Sunday involved getting up at noon and walking to the Colosseum just to walk back because it was getting dark...a slight disappointment.

I'm working on posting pictures.... 

Good News...

I made it safely and on time!

Despite the blizzard, my two flights were neither cancelled or delayed. It took awhile, but I eventually checked in and I was shuttled to my apartment where I met the 5 other girls I will be living with; Ariel (my roommate), Sam, Sophie, Sarah, and Claire. Ariel is from Texas, Sophie and Sam California and.... I can't remember the rest. I should add that it is not just a rumor, but very true that Italians drive and park wherever they would like. Before I even arrived, a fuse had been blown by a hair straightener. We also have already had to get our lock replaced because a key broke inside of it. The apartment is large and cozy with lots of Ikea furniture. It is directly across the street from the Tiber River and once they take the scaffolding down, there will be a great view of the river.

The jet lag is setting in so...
I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all!
Kaitie

Packing Procrastination

Ciao!

If this is your first time reading do not worry, this is my first entry and you have not missed anything.

I am leaving to study abroad for the semester in three days and I am very excited! I will be studying at John Cabot University located in Rome. To give you a little information, JCU is home to roughly 900 students and all of the classes are taught in English (except language courses). Majority of the students are from the United States. I will be living in an apartment in Rome with other students who are attending JCU.

Since this is my first time writing and I am not there yet, I will make this brief (I need to start to think about packing as well). If you have any questions or would like to drop a note and say hi I would love to hear from you. My e-mail is karnold1012@gmail.com.

Kaitie