Castelli Romani

What a busy, busy day! Well after our late night chat, we were all slow moving in the morning. The bus picked us up at 9 and we were non stop all day! Our first stop was Monte Cavo, which is an old volcano. We went to the very top then hiked most of it down. Good thing I packed those walking shoes Mom. :-) We stopped at a great looking point and Dr. B said it was the clearest she’d ever seen it. We couldn’t ask for better weather! After our hike we headed to a small little town with a beautiful castle and inside is St. Maria, a gorgeous church with beautiful ceilings. Next stop, Frascati… a beautiful little town with a magnificent villa overlooking the valley. We had an hour to walk around and some of us found a great bakery. Catherine got a tasty chocolate pastry and I got a pastry filled with crème and topped with yummy strawberries! All these places are near by and we will definitely be going back. We then loaded the bus and headed to Castelgandolfo, which overlooks Lake Nemi. BEAUTIFUL! It’s the Pope’s summer home…unfortunately he wasn’t there. There was another beautiful church inside the walls and the ceilings were incredible as well. Outside were all kind of shops so we all got cheap pashminas. I love mine; it’s all kinds of shades of blue. After several pictures and just walking the little town we headed to Nemi. Breathtaking. Nemi is known for their little strawberries. They smell amazing and taste delicious. We had an interesting lunch there with “Elvis,” but it was well worth the view of the lake. I had some tasty trout and homemade fettuccini. Yummy!! We were all so stuffed, so we walked the town to make room for our strawberry treats.

We were exhausted by the end of the day and Nemi was our last stop. We headed home and all took a well needed nap. After our nap, Catherine, Jenna, and I walked to a look out point and watched a gorgeous sunset. We just had leftovers for dinner and then “studied” for our language quiz tomorrow, which was quickly followed by a fun game of yahtzee! I’ve said every night I was going to be in bed by 11 and here it is 1 o’clock. No buono. It’s time to say goodnight. Adonami. (Until tomorrow) Much love. Ciao ciao~Laura

Day 3 Genzano

After staying up with my roommates way too late talking the night before, I was glad to get to sleep in a little. We had class in the morning with MaryLou, our Italian vocab teacher, who is from England. I could listen to her speak for days…I love her loverly accent. Then Marco, her husband, came for our history class. We didn’t have much of a class because he was telling us pretty much his life story and what a life he’s had.

He grew up in Switzerland but his dad was determined for him to be born in Rome…and his was. He speaks 5 languages. His mom was Dutch, his dad Italian, friends were German…this was all as a child then as he grew up he lived in Paris and America. He worked for an airline company and became head of KLN by age 30. He then was moved to South Africa. He said out of 365 days he would travel 290! Now he is living in the house he grew up in in Ariccia. He talked of the days of playing in the palace with the princess and how he personally talked to Neil Armstrong! This was all in a thirty minute talk so I can’t wait to hear more stories. Unfortunately most of us were still jet lag and were struggling to stay awake.

Then we had a break for lunch and a little to time play on the internet. In the afternoon we met up with Chinzia and waited for a bus to Genzano, a neighboring town of Ariccia. We are definitely living on Italian time that is why I never promise to call. We were supposed to be leaving at 4:30…I think we eventually left around 6:00 or 6:30. (Mom you would definitely fit in here ) Genzano is just a short bus ride from Ariccia, Cinzia just wanted us to see what is was like to ride the bus and to know where to get off. Once we arrived at the square we were free for the evening. I took charge of one group and we were off. We stopped on a beautiful long street that led to a church to the top of the hill and some ppl had gelato. (I have yet to have some…I’m waiting for the right moment) Then we were off to explore the streets of Genzano! We took lots of pictures at the top of the hill and just walked in and out of the stores on the main road. Genzano is beautiful and a little cleaner than Ariccia. (not as much graffiti) After walking about an hour or so we worked up an appetite. We found this BEAUTIFUL little restaurant that was kind of tucked off the streets, but it didn't open until 8. I'm really liking the whole afternoon nap hours they have going on over here. We are definitely going back though. We settled for a little “Bar” which are the small café sort of places. I got a slice of eggplant pizza, which was delicious and split a 2 euro bottle of white wine. We all sat outside and enjoyed the people walking by. Even though it was a three mile walk back, we all decided that we were up for it. Good thing we did. It was a great adventure! We found a pretty little garden with big yellow roses, which hopefully you’ll see soon, and saw the most beautiful sunset over the Med. Sea. The road on the way back was shaded by huge beautiful trees. They are very different here and very neat. I was happy to get back home and talk to mom and dad and Mke, but didn’t get to talk long. I said I was going to get some sleep b/c we had a busy day, but most of the group curled up on my bed and window seat and we talked till 2! Not smart, but I love these girls so much already. My bed, as usual, is the gathering place which I love. I do hope you all enjoy reading because I am enjoying sharing and remembering the events of the day. I’m having the most amazing time of my life. Thank you so much Mom and Dad!!!! Have a wonderful day and hope to talk soon!! Much love. Ciao Ciao ~Laura

Ariccia Day 2

Ciao!
Day two was a busy, busy day! We woke around 8, got ready, and headed out to the market. It was great. Anything and everything you can sell they did! From door mats, to undies, to fresh fruit and veggies. After we loaded up with fruit for breakfast we headed back to the palace…did I mention that it was beautiful!?! Dr. B met with us to go over some rules then we were off to the other side of the palace to meet Maurizio and Francesco our professors. After touring the beautiful artwork and interior of the Chigi Palace we walked, and walked, and walked. We met the Mayor which was really cool and then walked some more.

Back at the palace we had met Bruno our “maintenance” man and he caught up with us and invited us back to his grotto for some of his home made wine. Delicious! The grotto was a looooong spooky cave, but it was very neat to hear how this is where he stayed while they were under attack years ago. The grotto was really cold which made the wine even better. He also gave us fresh lemons from his very own lemon tree. They smelt amazing! Even though I don’t really like lemons we cut them up and put them in our water bottles. We then walked up the street and had a nice lunch outside. The weather is amazing! There is a wonderful breeze coming from the Mediterranean Sea which keeps up from dying of heat. I shared a porchetta sandwich with fresh eggplant, mushrooms, and red peppers soaked in olive oil. Again YUMMY! While we were at lunch I tried some of Roberta’s wild boar meat and pasta. It was very tasty. (Betsy, when she asked if I wanted to try, all I could hear was your voice saying, I don’t care if it looks or sounds gross, EAT IT!) We then had an hour break which is when I tried to send an email, but the internet is so unreliable, but hopefully that will be changing soon. After lunch we met with Cinzia, our guide/translator, and walked through Ariccia to get a feel of town, and then we hit the grocery store. Ohhhh what fun and ohhh did the Italians hate us. After we loaded up on bread and cheese and strawberries, we hiked back down the huge hill to the palace. We filled our gigantic fridge with all our goodies and got ready for our next big hike to Albano, the neighboring town across the bridge. Albano is where all the shopping is done and where we would take the local bus to the lake where everyone goes to cool off. After an exhausting walk we headed back and were done for the day. Every chance we get we all run with our computers down to the other side of the palace and search for internet service. I am not so successful.

Tonight there was a beautiful sunset over the sea…I thought of mom…and now the full moon is shining bright over the palace. I feel so blessed to be here and I’m soaking up every minute! Day 2 and I’ve almost taken 100 pics so the new camera is definitely worth it! I can’t wait to share them with you but like I said internet is so horrible right now. I love you and miss you much! Ciao ciao! ~laura