Day Sixteen -- Torino

Today we went on a field trip to Torino.

We woke up early and got on a bus at 8am. It was snowing pretty heavily but it wasn't sticking to the roads so no one was worried. It was very pretty, though. Continued for the whole day. I forgot my camera in the apartment.

When we got to Torino, we walked down the main roads, passing many very upscale stores (Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, and Hermes were just some I can remember). Then we headed into the RAI (National Television Channel) Radio and Television Building. The museum part was pretty boring with a few display cases of old radios, telegraphs, and TVs showing how the technology progressed. It seems like Italy was a little behind in both technology and design as the items they had looked to me to be older, clunkier models of what I think America had at the same point in time. Can't be sure, though.

After the tour of the museum part, we were taken into the studio section that is in use today for Northern Italy's television. First we went behind the scenes to the set workshop of a popular children's show. We got to see the sets being built and painted and designed and then got to go on the set of the actual show. It was very fantastical.

Then we went upstairs in a huge elevator (as large as the one in the Anchorage Museum--tallest in Alaska!) upstairs to a news studio where we got to sit behind a news anchor's desk and play with the cameras. The tour guide was very generous--I'd never let a group of American teenagers near that stuff. There was no mention of the lack of free press. Surprise!

Afterward we headed towards Torino's public university. It was a hideous and huge building in the middle of the city covered in dirt, grime, and graffiti. I wouldn't want to go to college in that old warehouse but there were a lot of people there and apparently it's a very large school (Italians don't pay to attend pubic university).

When we left the university it was time for lunch so we were given a meeting place and set free for 2.5 hours. My usual group (Kate, Jordan and Erin) ditched me by abruptly crossing a street so I tagged along with Kiki and Laura. It was pretty frustrating because since they are usually by themselves together, they sort of just made decisions by consulting each other so I could either go where I wanted and be alone or go where they wanted and not be pathetic. Yay...

We ended up in a little gelataria that also served lunch and we all got the penne pomodoro pasta which was really good--probably the best pomodoro I've had here in Italy and that's saying something since nearly all of the pasta sauce is pomodoro. Laura and Kiki were full after that so we didn't stay for gelato even though I really wanted to. I feel like if I speak up, everyone thinks I'm an annoying bitch. I'm not usually a passive person--I speak my thoughts and opinions quite freely--but I don't want to get into fights with these people because then I won't have anyone...

After lunch we walked around looking for a dessert that would satisfy Laura and Kiki. Apparently they didn't want gelato so we stopped in a chocolate shop and ordered two pieces each. One was a square of layers of chocolate and hazelnut creme and the other was not very good. Then we stopped in a pastry shop to have cake. Mine was chcocolate cake covered in almond pieces and Laura and Kiki each got a rum cake. It was ok but wasn't what I had been craving. Oh well.

We met back up with the group at 2:30pm and walked to the municipal seat of the Region (like a state). We watched a movie in their main office and were given a backpack, informational booklets in Italian, and a hat. Then we walked to the Presidential (Regional President--not National President) offices and saw where the regional council meets and got to go into the Presidential office (or at least the office where he receives visitors).

After that we boarded our bus and went home, arriving back in Alba around 6:30. I hung out in the apartment and didn't go out to dinner because I was still moping and didn't feel like walking in the cold and snow anymore (it was freezing and really snowy all day as we were walking around). I had some food that I bought from the grocery store and I'm currently downloading a movie to watch.

There's no class tomorrow (we have Fridays off) so I can sleep in and go to lunch somewhere tomorrow. Hopefully VinCafe because it's been closed all week and we miss it. I think there were plans for something in the afternoon but I completely forget them. It'll probably be a slow day.

I was going to put pictures in this post but Blogger isn't letting me so I'll try later. In the meantime, there are more photos on Facebook courtesy of Erin since I forgot my camera: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149487&id=504487681&l=dc4e411a58

Day Fifteen.

Today was pretty normal. No Code Greens or skyscraper amounts of snow here.

We had class at 9, as per usual, and watched apparently a movie recognized as one of the best of all time (artistically): La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life). It was pretty damn artsy--reminded me of French nouvelle vague films I watched in World Cinema my Freshman year. It was about how the aristocracy and their "sweet" life in the city is really unfulfilling and empty.

After class we went to lunch, like always. I ate pretty light. Did get crackers and brie, though.

Italian class was a tad overwhelming because Dino jumped us into present tense conjugation and then decided it wasn't too much more of a jump to go to present perfect! It kind of is.

After class we went grocery shopping and did some window shopping as well. We went into two stores and looked at shoes but they were all really expensive. Still nice to look, though. We went grocery shopping, though, and I bought canned green beans and some Special K cereal. Then Erin and I went to a pasticerria (pastry shop/stand) and bought some delicious cookies while Jordan and Kate went into a second grocery store to look for Halls Cough Drops to no avail. Jordan and Kate then headed back to the apartment but Erin and I went to find a store she had seen last week called Moby Dick. It turned out to be an import store (like Pier 1). Erin really liked it but I didn't since it was all stuff I could get in the States. Then we headed back to the apartment.

We hung out at the apartment until 8pm when we went to Osteria Nuova, my favorite restaurant on our plan. You don't order there--they just bring you food and it's always delicious. You get two appetizers, a main dish (usually pasta) and a dessert. It's served family style so you share with those at your table (we had a party of 4). We got the carne cruda (smoked meat) appetiser with prosciutto, bologna, and salami and the vitello tornado which is veal lightly seared served with a tuna mash. They were both very good. The pasta dish was fettuccine noodles in a cream and leek sauce. Also very good. Dessert was also very good but less distinguishable. I think there was a small chunk of almond cake with chocolate shavings and a bite of chocolate lace torte with apricot jam on top and orange compote on the side. All in all, an amazing meal as I expected it would be.

Tomorrow we will be going to Torino for the day. I only know a couple of things we're doing: visiting the news station, university and municipal seat. Should be pretty interesting as Italy doesn't have free press (I know--who'd have thought! An awful judicial system AND no free press). I'll try to remember everything and report back.

Oh. I feel a little bit better about Valentine's Day--the girls have decided we should do a bakery crawl on Sunday and buy a cookie or two at each bakery we can find. I really hope we do it because that would definitely make me happy. But this is also a group that says they want to do something and then doesn't so we'll see.

Day Fourteen.

Today it snowed. Not like back home, but it did snow and it was pretty. Italians use umbrellas to keep the snow from falling on their clothes. It's cute and I tried it. Felt silly but it works a little bit.

After our Italian quiz a reporter came to interview us for a story in the local newspaper. He asked questions about our impressions of Italy and what we wanted out of our experience. The group gave classic Miss America answers and I didn't really get a chance to answer.

We didn't do much and went to Akash for dinner. I don't really like Akash because I haven't found anything there that I actually enjoy. Oh well, they are smaller portions which is nice for my "figure."

That's all I'm writing today because I'm in a mad mood (due partially to Valentine's impending doom--I haven't been single on Valentine's Day in basically 6 years straight so I'm dreading this year's) and I want to read to get my mind off things.

Tomorrow will be normal.

Roma.

Day Nine (Thursday):

After classes and around 8:00pm, we got to the train station in Alba early to validate our train tickets (we don't know why we have to do this--we just know we do) and waited in the cold for the train. When the train showed up it was pretty disappointing: short and small and dirty. It was just a commuter train, though--a 1.5 hour ride to Asti to change trains to Rome. Inside the train, the air was heavy and stuffy. I felt a little like I was suffocating but still managed to quickly fall asleep.

On the train to Asti

We got to Asti and had an hour wait before our train to Rome arrived. When it did come, we found our car and our compartment but someone was sleeping inside so we had to find a conductor to kick him out. Apparently people can get away with that stuff here. It's an awful train system but I'll talk about that later... It was a cozy compartment for the 6 of us (6 seats) but we all popped pills and went to sleep. Despite the pills, we were awoken around eight times in the 7 hour ride: twice for ticket check and about 6 times because people felt like opening our compartment door and looking around...

Day Ten (Friday):

We got in to Rome around 6am and went to our hostel via walking to check in and drop off our bags. We couldn't get into our rooms until 3pm, though, so we went out on the town without stopping. We wanted to watch the sun rise so we headed down Via Nationale and ended up at the Imperial Forum. It was incredible to see such history like that right in front of us, practically littering the streets. We walked past the Colosseum and then went into and Irish pub for an "American" breakfast because we were starving and needed more than a croissant and an espresso... I had eggs, French fries (breakfast food?) and coffee. Then we walked back to the Colosseum and bought a Roma Pass for 23 euro which got us into 2 archeological sites or museums as well as free public transportation for three days (turned out to be perfect for us!).

Imperial Forum

Colosseum!

We used our first Roma Pass on the Colosseum, buying an additional 8 euro tour that also included a tour of Paletine Hill/Roman Forum (not to be confused with the Imperial Forum). It was a good deal and we saw so much! The pictures describe more than I possibly can but both the Colosseum and Paletine Hill were amazing. I think I liked the Hill more because of all the greenery and ruins. Plus, the Colosseum is more photographed. Exhausted from all our walking (must have been miles), we took the Metro back to our hostel to relax/nap.

Inside the Colosseum.

On Paletine Hill.

After napping for a while and showering, we headed to the laundromat nearby for some much-needed internet time (15 minutes free from our hostel) and then to dinner at a cheap place nearby that I found in a guide book Kt left me. It was a little ristorante that had cheap pizza and pasta. Everyone else got pizza but I got some fettuccine. Then we took the Metro to the Spanish Steps and got lost many times trying to find them since Kate and Kiki were a little drunk (had bought a bottle of wine from the supermarket earlier and put it in water bottles for portability) and decided to guide us...in the wrong direction. It became a frustrating too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen sort of thing. Eventually we found the Steps and marveled and photographed. Then we headed towards the Trevi Fountain and got gelato (which wasn't very good--I should know, I had gelato nearly every day we were in Rome). The fountain was absolutely AMAZING. My pictures don't do it justice since my camera is awful but I tried. Words cannot describe the beauty of the carvings' intricate detail. It was, by far, my favorite thing in Rome--then Paletine Hill. After the fountain we quickly headed back to the hostel for bed and exhausted sleep. I think we ended up being awake for 30-some hours. Ugh.

Trevi Fountain at night.

Day Eleven (Saturday):

We woke up late the next morning and didn't set out until around noon. It was raining and we knew it would rain for most of the day so we decided to visit another museum. We got breakfast across the street from our hostel (cappuccino and croissant for 1 euro) and then headed towards the train station to go to two parts of the Museo Nationale Romano. Our feet were killing us so after the second museum we Metro-ed back to the Colosseum for panini from a cart and then went back to the hostel to rest while the rain died out.

Sculpture in the Museo Nationale Romano.

After a little bit of rest, we went back out to see the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona. The Pantheon turned out to be a big building (HUGE!) that is now a Basilica. We couldn't go in because there was a service going on. While we were there, we were solicited for a bar crawl going on that night and the girls got really excited. Then we walked over to the Piazza Navona which had three beautiful fountains and nice shops. I bought a little watercolor print at a stand and we went into a little shop for sandwiches. The little man behind the counter also gave us a bag full of small meat pastries for free. Yum! After dinner we hopped on a bus to go back to the hostel.

The girls decided to go on the bar crawl and I decided to hang back because it was expensive (20 euro) and I don't drink...certainly not enough to justify spending 20 euro. It was too much money for basically a night of tagging along so I stayed at the hostel and they went out. I read and listened to music and hung out in the hostel's common room, meeting a girl from Normandy, France and two boys (both named John) from Pennsylvania who are going to school in Turin which is near Alba! They eventually went to go sleep so I went back to my room and did as well. We had an early morning the next day so I didn't feel too bad about not going out.

Day Twelve (Sunday aka The Second Longest Day):

The next morning we took showers for the last time in a while and checked out of the hostel at 10:30, leaving our bags there to pick up later. It was absolutely gorgeous outside so we caught a quick breakfast (American again because we were so hungry and some were hungover) at a nearby ristorante and then headed to the Vatican City--smallest country in the world! We got there right before noon, in time for the Pope's blessing! He was up in his tiny window and talked for a good while in about eight different languages. I'm not religious but it was still fun to see him. Then we went inside St. Peter's Basilica. It was incredibly stunning--lots of statues and carvings and gold and marble. Again, my pictures can show you more than I can describe. We wanted to go to the Cistine Chapel but it was a part of the Vatican Museum and we weren't willing to pay.

Blessed by the Pope.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

After visiting the Vatican we did some window shopping on the way to the Crypt which is a part of the Museo Nationale Romano. The Crypt was weird and not fun to look at and the tour was all in Italian so we had no idea what we were looking at. After that we were exhausted so we sat on some steps for an hour before catching a bus back to the hostel where we sat (illegally) in the common room until dinner time.

In the middle of one of the main roads they shut down on Sunday for tourists. Colosseum in the background!

Around 6:30 we headed out for dinner, picking a random Metro stop and walking around until we found a ristorante we could afford. The first stop we got off at was a parking lot so we chose another. We finally found a nice restaurant (almost too nice) and ordered pizza. It was the best pizza I've had so far but I'm sure there will be more to compare it to. After dinner we went back to the hostel and hung out in the common room. I even saw the Johns again!

At 11 we left the hostel and headed to the train station where we found that our train was 20 minutes late. We sat around, ate McDonald's (so expensive!) and eventually got on the train. When we did, our compartment was not only occupied (again!) but one of the seats was wet and sticky...Since there were six of us and six seats, this was a problem. We found a conductor and, after much belaboring to communicate, we eventually got settled into another compartment 5 cars up the train. We quickly fell asleep--only one interruption for ticket-checking!

Day Thirteen (Monday):

Around 7:30 we woke to a winter wonderland. Sometime while we were gone it had snowed in the North and it covered the countryside--definitely a nice thing to wake up to. We got off at Asti to change trains and made our train to Alba by seconds. We got to Alba at 8:45, just in time to rush to class...yay. We had a lecturer come in to teach us about Italy's history. He came in last Thursday, too. It would have been interesting but all he did was read (poorly) from a piece of paper for three hours, skipping around the outline he gave us rather than going in order as would make sense... Needless to say, it was painful.

Afterwards, I skipped lunch to head back to the apartment to unpack and get on the computer where I am now! This afternoon we have Italian and we need to pay attention because we have a quiz tomorrow. We'll probably go out to dinner tonight but we'll mostly take it easy.

Tomorrow we have our cinema class and nothing else special except for the Italian quiz. I'll probably stay in the apartment for most of it. We have recovering to do. Thursday I think we're going to Turin for the day as a part of our Seminar class.

Woo. Long entry. There will be pictures on Facebook accessible via this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=148645&id=504487681&l=a96f99015e

Day Eight.

Hello again.

Today was pretty normal.

We woke up and went to class at 9 again and watched a movie called Don Camillo which was essentially about a conflict between the Communist mayor and Catholic Democrat priest of a northern Italian town. After WWII, Italy abolished its monarchy and started a republic. The two parties vying for power were the Communists (left-wing) and Catholic Democrats (right-wing). The Democrats eventually won but some towns elected Communist administrators in heavily-influenced areas. So it was about the rivalry between the mayor and the priest and was pretty funny. In the end they were friends at heart and only wanted to be tied rather than to destroy the other.

After the movie we went to lunch again and I had plain pasta, bread and a banana this time so my stomach wouldn't feel so bad. It worked pretty well but walking around in general makes it angry. Then I went to Akash to buy a water and a croissant and get change from the voucher. Then it was nap time until 2:30 when we had Italian.

In Italian we started out going over the verbs he introduced to us yesterday (esere [to be] and avere [to have]). But then he started to go into gender agreement for adjectives and nouns and totally confused everyone. He just doesn't teach in a systematic way. He goes off on tangents that really aren't useful at the time. Teach us some verbs and then teach us some adjectives and THEN teach us the agreement...then we'll be able to make sentences. Why is that so hard...?

After class I went to the grocery store for some travel-friendly foods (Rome tomorrow!) and there was more napping after I read for a little while.

Around 7 we were headed out the door for dinner when Jordan realized our train tickets to Rome were actually booked for tonight so we ran to the travel agency and managed to get them changed to tomorrow without paying anything extra. THANK GOD she noticed and everything worked out. We catch a train around 8:30 tomorrow evening! Then we went over to Akash and had dinner. I had tea and bread and a little bit of a burger. I feel ok but definitely still off. Actually, as I say that, I feel worse. Joy.

So tomorrow we have something at 9 for our Seminar class (we're taking a Seminar along with Italian that sort of introduces Italian culture and history to us as a companion to learning the language--we have it Mondays and Thursdays sometimes from 9-12 and sometimes in the afternoon in conjunction with Italina) but I don't know what. Then we have Italian in the afternoon and then we'll catch a train at 8:30! I might make a short post while in Rome (I'll have my iTouch) and I'll post a longer post after class Monday morning (we get back to Alba about 20 minutes before class starts). Wish me luck!

Day Seven.

Not much happened today.

I woke up feeling better and took a shower.

Class started at 9 and went until 12. We are starting the semester with a Cinema class and so two professors from Alba are teaching us Italian Cinema, focusing on the Renaissance period of the 1950's and early 1960's. Tuesdays are lectures and Wednesdays are movie viewings with discussion afterward. Understanding them through their accents is quite hard, even if they speak good English. It's just very hard to focus on and comprehend in large, long chunks. It's hard to explain why but it's just difficult to do.

Then we went to lunch and I ate a full meal and felt not so good afterward. I think the food here is just too much and too rich. I'm trying to keep it light now. For instance, I skipped dinner and just had a small sandwich instead.

After lunch I went to two of our meal places and tried to redeem meal vouchers for money. At Akash and VinCafe, our vouchers are worth $10 and if you spend less than $10 then you get back change. So when we go away (like this weekend) our plan is to turn in vouchers beforehand and get the money back to use for food in Italy. I got a croissant at Akash and successfully got change. At Vin, I got the sandwich I later ate for dinner but they didn't have enough change to give me back so I ended up paying for it...Yay.

After lunch we had Italian class from 2:30-3:30 with Dino who is...practically awful. His accent is alright but every third word is "Uhh." He likes linguistics a bit too much and, though I love linguistics, it isn't exactly what we're looking to get out of the class. We'll see if his approach (very different from how we are used to learning languages) works out in the end.

Class let out and I checked out a textbook on the off chance that I'll want to use it (I'm taking the class as a Pass/Fail so I'm not too concerned) and then headed back to the apartment. I hung around until 7ish when we had to go to a photobooth and get pictures taken to give to the police(?). Maybe he explained it yesterday but I still don't know why we needed pictures. Oh well, I didn't have to pay for them.

I walked home after that because everyone else was going to dinner but I knew dinner would just upset my stomach--it was already not feeling too good from all that walking. I did some more resume stuff and filled out an application but mostly was on the computer, watching last night's episodes of House and Big Bang Theory that I missed.

Not much today but you can't expect something amazing and notable to happen every day.

Bedtime, now. Tomorrow we'll watch a movie but nothing much else will happen. Keep a grip on your seats.

Day Six.

Today I didn't leave the apartment except to hang my laundry from the balcony.

Last night I ended up feeling awful with a very unhappy stomach. I went to bed and woke up at some undefined hour of the morning and hung out in the bathroom for about half an hour, eventually throwing up. After that I sort of moved into the bathroom, occasionally going back to me bed to sleep for half an hour before getting up to do it again. Around 3 in the morning I got really dizzy and stumbled around to the bathroom with a blanket, socks, and a sweatshirt. I just slept on the floor instead of making the trek from my bed. It was freezing but it was worse to stand up than to lie there. I slept on and off. Eventually I felt a little better (after throwing up a couple of times) and headed back to my bed and slept the rest of the night.

I still was feeling off when I woke up and stayed in bed, not going to lunch because I didn't want to stir anything up. I was still queasy when I walked around so laying in bed was my best bet. I opted out of the bus tour, too, thinking the movement of the bus (and the walking) wouldn't be good for me. I'm sorry I missed out on the bus trip since the pictures everyone brought back were amazing but there wasn't really anything I could do...

I read a lot, watching a horrible movie, and basically loafed around. Didn't put me in a very good mood. I did end up doing my laundry, though. At least that was productive.

I skipped dinner and had a yogurt in the apartment instead and now I'm back in bed, thinking sleep is the best option. We have class at 9 tomorrow until 12 and then again from 2:30-3:30.

Hopefully I'll feel completely better in the morning because at the moment I still feel queasy...

I'll let you know about classes tomorrow.

P.S. I stole an album of pictures from one of the girls and it's on my Facebook. Feel free to take a look.