Stanco Molto

Tonight we played two more games of soccer and had slightly less exciting results. Our first game we faced a really competitive team from California who ended up beating us 7-3, a game in which i scored two meaningless goals. Our second game went a bit better against a team representing FSU. I contributed two assists in a 4-2 Palazzo Rucellai A victory. Tonights games brings our overall record to 2-1-1 which i believe is respectable and should be enough to put us near the front of the pack for the upcoming tournament. Thankfully we have the weekend to rest for our last season game next... tuesday? Either way soccer has been a lot of fun and i feel proud to once again be a student-athlete.. okay that might be a slight stretch.

Dinner tonight was fantastic. Alice made a pizza from scratch. It included pasta sauce, tomato slices, diced onions, olives, yellow peppers, mushrooms, prosciutto, and mozzarella. It was a lot to handle but it was a challenge i gladly accepted. Having completely dominated half the creation, i am now as full as i can handle. I was thinking about lying down to digest but its currently 10:12 and my eyes and stomach are feeling heavy. I think this is where i say bouna notte.. Goodnight.

Gioco A Calcio

Soccer went pretty well tonight. We played two hard fought matches and came out with a 1-1 tie and a 6-5 victory. 1-0-1 on the night warrants a quick trip to Joshua Tree. Thats all for tonight.

Fine Del Settembre

Suede

Its starting to get a bit chilly here but im not sure if that means fall has begun. To determine this i would usually look to the foliage as this is what distinguishes the fall season in New England. Unfortunately, there are no trees in this city.. not one. This weekend in Modena, Tom remarked that it was nice to walk atop leaves rather than bare stone paving. I hadn't realized this phenomenon but at once felt much more comfortable because of it. Its true that you never know what you have til its gone.. even leaves.

but yeah its getting cold here and i dont have a jacket. On my treks throughout town i have had my eyes on a number of jackets including the one featured above. Ideally i would like to find a nice suede jacket. This jacket would ideally be a quiet solid tone, or even a modest plaid, but i would not hesistate to purchase the most obnoxiously bright jacket if the price was right. It worries me to try to buy such an item in a city where everything costs twice as much as it should but im confident i will find the right one. Until that day i will continue to be cold.

12k! Count it!

At 9:38 this morning i joined 20,000 people in running to raise money for Cancer research. This event offered a 5k and a 12k course, which went seperate ways throughout the city of Firenze. I decided i would like to challenge myself by training for the 12k course and id say that i was quite prepared because not only did i finish but i spent 51 minutes passing people. Once making our way around the Duomo we made our way through town towards the river then along the river to the San Frediano neighborhood. Once entering Boboli Gardens i decided to continue passing people climbing the slopes using my calves to propel myself forward. Once at the top, the race bordered Fort Belvedere then descended back down into the center of the San Niccolo neighborhood. From there we made our way up towards San Miniata and Piazzale Michelangelo which overlook the entire city. By this time i had passed pretty much everyone whose pace was less than mine and pretty much cruise controlled down the hill. I knew i was well on my way towards completing the race when i was crossing the river back into the old city. From there i made my way past Santa Croce and inched closer to the finish line in Piazza Della Signoria.. the finish really snuck up on me after a 90 degree left turn but i was thrilled to be so close and decided to finish in high gear.

At 10:29 i arrived ,12 kilometers and 51 minutes later, at a surprising and quite satisfying conclusion. Crossing the finish line i found it difficult to tell my body to stop running. I gladly took the opportunity however and joined some friends in enjoying prepared fruit and bottled water.

I feel pretty proud to have completed this race considering i ve never even excelled in a 5k race before. This time however i put in some serious hours and miles training and it paid off. Crossing the finish line i was very tired but had need be, i believe i could have easily kept going. I think i want more.. more 12Ks, more miles,... maybe a half marathon? Maybe that's a bit naive but then again 12k once seemed out of the picture.. im pretty sure if i train, i can do whatever i want to. We ll see.

Vorrei Biglieta a...

Galleria Ferrari

Today began at 830 missing the train at Santa Maria Novella Train Station. Luckily we caught a High-Speed Train to Bologne a half hour later. Arriving in Bologne, Tom and i realized we needed to catch another train to Modena which ended up leaving 45 minutes later and took a half hour to arrive at the Stazione in Modena. From here we caught a free bus to another bus station which had buses to the Galleria Ferrari. Keep in mind we did this speaking Italian in almost every exchange and everytime we needed directions. And we had no maps. We did however finally make it to Maranello after what seemed like the craziest sequence of events. Tom, who had dreamt of this day for his entire life, took the opportunity to test drive the sleek Ferrari F430. We then wandered the museum marvelling at the engineering genius which has made the Ferrari into the rocketship we know today. 

Once leaving the museum our adventure reversed direction. This trip was delayed by a number of short layovers at train stations but was much easier the second time around. We did meet a number of interesting people along the way including a Brazilian man who spoke as little Italiano as i do, a group of Spanish or Italian girls who laughed when i said "non capito", and Tonya who i believe is an actual Florentine. In general this trip was a huge success. Not only in the sense that we made it to where we wanted but also in the sense that we got to practice speaking Italian and travelling in a quick and efficient manner. I am now very tired though. 

Vai, Vai Rucellai!

Today was our first( and last) calcio(soccer) training session. It was a pretty good feeling to play again for the first time since Nike FC's heartbreaking playoff elimination. We had an inter school scrimmage with my team, Palazzo Rucellai 1, up against our schools other representatives, Palazzo Rucellai 2. Our league is co-ed and our Coach ,Daniele, splits time between the two squads. PR 1 put on quite a show today winning by a 5 or 6 goal margin but this confidence was shaken almost immediately after when Daniele described our citywide competition. We will have to face teams from California, Florida, and Gonzaga. In order to do as well as the team last semester we will have to prove our dominace over all these teams and win the Cup. Daniele described their victory last semester as a glorious champagne filled celebration where speeches were made and awards came pouring in. Thats what we re up against.

Dolce Vita

My City

I am done adjusting. I know the city streets pretty well. I know the neighborhoods and landmarks by heart. I can even understand a decent amount of Italian as spoken by the locals. I can say these things confidently because i have been asked for directions to a location in Firenze by an Italian speaking person more than once. I got to practice speaking with Italians this morning in class and felt as though i was translator for a majority of the group. Maybe im just getting a big ego. 

I recently discovered the location of "the secret bakery" which was quite satisfying. This bakery has been rumored to only be open around 2 am and does not give any indication of its location to the general public. There is a very specific sequence to reach the promised land which i believe is how it earned its title as THE secret bakery. The sequence is interesting in that you will walk right by the street and completely dismiss it as a dead end. Once you have walked halfway down the dead end you will see the second key element to verifying your success.. im not telling what it is because thats not how you keep secrets haha.. This bakery sells quality pastries and pizzas at prices much below the daylight price.. The most exciting part of this find was finding out from a local that this was just one of many "secret bakeries" throughout town that makes the goods that are sold the next day. Let the wild goose chase begin!

Corri La Vita is this Sunday and im worried. The distance (12k) is not what worries me. I have ran that distance a few times already in the past couple weeks but the problem is that my training has taken place on a largely flat area and the race makes its way along the hills on the other side of the Arno River. The picture above is taken from the high point of the run (Piazzale Michelangelo) which as you can tell is quite elevated. I guess theres consolation in not finishing if you can quit at a place as beautiful as this but thats will not be the case.

Euro Tripping

Sitting On Steps of Mercato Nuovo

That blue place up there is where i will be spending a good amount of time this October. I recently booked the flight portion of my week-long October break and it feels really good. The three major destinations are Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Berlin in that order. Flights were expensive but i believe the sites and experiences available in these places are well worth it. I plan to spend four days exploring Amsterdam's cutting edge architecture on a bicycle. I'm also interested in going to watch them make new land which seems like a pretty crazy concept. I guess Copenhagen will have tasty danish?.. Maybe not but it looks like a wonderful example of contemporary architecture working in harmony with the ways of the past. And Berlin.. maybe ill snag a piece of the historic wall if im not too busy enjoying the worlds tastiest beers. I think that has a good chance of being the best week of my life.

As if this week weren't enough, thats only the beginning of my October travels. The second weekend in October i have an overnight excursion to Venice with my design studio. The icing on this cake is the fact that the Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition runs during this time period. This exhibition is host to designs from pioneering architects which represent countries all across the globe. It does seem pretty convenient. What doesnt seem that convenient is the Villa and Garden field trip which occupies the first day of our only 4 day weekend. I guess i should be relieved that this trip is to Rome.. okay im pretty relieved. The next day i ll be leaving for Barcelona and Valencia which i believe i mentioned a few blogs ago. Either way this trip will conclude my month of euro trips.

I have one more free weekend the first week of October... Stockholm, Helsinki, or Brussels?

The Villa and the Garden

Medici Villa of La Petraia

So friday i spent the entire day venturing through the villas and gardens of the prestigious Florentine Medici family. And although i had a constant narrative of the inspiration behind the designs i felt as if everything was pretty self explanatory. I will admit that certain works require a bit of background knowledge but for the most part the inspiration which led to this magnificence is primarily leisure based. It goes something like this... when you are dripping wet in cash and feel the need to relax, the world becomes your playground. In more primitive times i too would have probably spent my weekends arranging my gardens into perfectly trimmed designs and competing with my neighbors over who can grow the more exotic fruit. I would probably put my complex on the top of a hill as well because endless views don't bother me too much. Id even go as far as allowing the top artists of the time to adorn my house with priceless works of art and twenty foot long pool tables. I'd have a larger variety of chairs than i would know what to do with and i could easily imagine myself napping beside whichever fountain or pool i so desired. All of this i would enjoy on weekends and would require no effort for maintenance on my account. I would also be the proud owner of three or four places like this. Sound nice?

Not so daily after all..

Studio at Palazzo Alamanni

So i've come to the conclusion that the name chosen for this blog is misleading. I apologize to all of those whose day isn't complete without a daily entry but sometimes theres just not much to say... but here goes...

I finally bought a watch today. I was experiencing the space within Mercato Nuovo and stumbled upon an english speaking vender. I decided to ask him for information about the hours of operation and in return felt it would be a sign of good faith to make a purchase.. Dieci Euro! Dieci euro per ( and this is where i forgot how to say watch)..." compro l'orologio"- "I will buy the watch".  Anyways it is an obnoxious shade of green/yellow which is close to the same color as my running shoes and backpack. And its digital with a stop watch. Pretty cool stuff.

Mercato Nuovo

So at this point in time im responsible for researching two public piazzas in town for projects in Architecture in Context and Design Studio. The piazza mentioned previously is for a precedent study for our midterm studio project which will be a design for a Mercato (Market). The other piazza i am studying will be for a much more open ended design for Context. This will involve analyzing the specific conditions and needs of the space while respecting history and being conscious of temporary conditions. I am very excited for this project as it will allow for much more creativity and freedom based off of specific observations and reasoning with no preset program pieces.

My training for the 12k Corri La Vita, which is now ten days away, has me feeling pretty confident. My last three runs i went 6 miles, 6 miles, and most recently 7.5 miles(12K) in an hour flat. Having already completed this distance i feel confident that i can repeat that performance in an amount of time similar if not better. The time however is not nearly as important as actually completing the race. I dont want to get  ahead of myself but im really feeling kind of addicted to running and im quite sure what my limits are at this point. I guess in two weeks ill have a good way to gauge my potential.

Mi piace a correre.

Happy weekend!

Assunta in Siena, Italy

With the exception of the school trip to Siena, and San Gimignano (two small hilltop towns outside of Firenze) this weekend was pretty uneventful. This trip packed some serious sights into a short amount of time. This structure was at one point an interior partition of a church which never reached its completed state. It is now part of a museum which is home to countless stone sculptures and priceless historic paintings. It can be climbed from an entry point within the museum which leads to the sketchiest sprial staircase i have ever braved. From there one can take in views of the city and the countryside which seems to never end.. that is, if you are comfortable standing a hundred feet in the air on a six foot wide platform. An extra sense of fright can be obtained by realizing the structure you have mounted could just as easily have the same fate as the rest which clearly no longer exists. Oh, the Baptistry of the existing church contained work of Ghiberti and Donatello and it is rumored that Michelangelo had a hand in the creation of works in the main part of the church.. just figured id give a quick name-drop for those who might appreciate these artists.

San Gimignano started got off to a great start as my camera died after i took my first picture. This town can be characterized as a small medieval development atop a large hill whose primary architecture is based around light brown stone and tower construction. This all made sense to me when our guide, Stefano, to us to punto panoramico which is exactly what it sounds like. From this point our group attained an infinite view of the countryside and quickly rationalized the tendency for vertical buildings (this town used to be home to 77 family owned towers, 15 of which still exist today).

I finally found an enjoyable beer in this country. Not that i havent enjoyed beer since my arrival but for the most part beer that costs 79 euro cents for 2/3 of a liter will at best taste like beer. On Thursday, my roommate Dave introduced me to Erdinger Weissbrau, a tastier wheat beer similar to a Blue Moon.

On October 30th i will be boarding a plane in Pisa ( yeah i might stop by the leaning tower) heading to Barcelona, Spain. I would have gone a day earlier except for the fact that i will be spending the day prior in Rome.. how unfortunate. My stay in spain will be start on Saturday in Barcelona and conclude Monday in Valencia. Im hoping for some type of crazy Dia Del Muerto festival but we ll see what we can do. If nothing else i will be visiting work by Mies Van Der Rohe and of course testing out my middle school Spanish language skills.

San Gimigano view of the rest of the world.

JetSet?

Giardino Bardini

So im pretty sure this city has everything. The food is out of this world, the women are unreal, and the city itself is completely ridiculous. There are views across the city from endless vantage points and no shortage of classical italian gardens to get lost in. There are parks with endless running paths all along the  Arno with surprise views around every corner. Theres more sculpture and shining church facades than i could photograph if my stay were twice the actual duration.

So naturally im ready to escape to as many foreign cities as i can fit into the next three months.. it seems like an odd feeling but i think these same qualities manifested in a different context would be an amazing thing to experience. The subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, cultural differences really open your eyes to question the one way you have been trained to do something. for example, a majority of working people in the city take a bike to work and im sure you think i mean a bicycle which is true for a large population here as well as within many american cities. What im actually referring to is business men and women in work attire speeding through town brief cases in hand. It looks goofy but in this case, it is also extremely appropriate.

Potential destinations.... So im very close to booking a three day trip to Spain, starting in Barcelona and working my way down to Valencia. Im also very close to having details figured out for a trip to London, England. Amsterdam, Greece, Berlin, and Sicily are also atop my list top destinations.

Does that look like me?

                                          

I finally gave in.. and by that i mean i found the best tasting burger in the world here in Italy. The House of sizzle is pretty well known in this town for being an American Bar with food that actually tastes american. The first thing you may notice upon arrival are the enormous beer towers which are served with a lit firework on top. If that isnt awesome enough, Monday's special allows you to pay the price of a single burger for a double burger. The best part however is the enormous selection of burgers which cater to most american regional tastes. I highly recommend the Tex Mex burger if you can handle jalapenos but ill let you decide your own fate.

Yesterday i signed up with 2 former Nike FC teammates for the International Calcio(soccer) league to represent one team for Palazzo Rucellai. I believe the league consists of other study abroad programs scattered throughout the city but i do not think it includes any local Italian schools. 

The night life here is out of control. Bars are pretty much the same as america with prices that are too high and crowds that are far too uncomfortable. Clubs are an entirely different experience. If the strobe lights take an intermission you will undoubtedly encounter some other type of visual deterrant like a giant fog cloud. This madness doesnt end until... well i dont really know. At 3 am i saw no indications of the bar closing down or the lights coming on. It just keeps going. 

It looks like a mugshot. and my ears are small.

Buono Sera!

View From San Miniata 

So im really going to live here for another three months. That idea is finally starting to set in and im pretty okay with it. Okay im ecstatic. Just when you thought you've seen everything the city has to offer you get to enjoy the city in a completely new way. In this case a couple friends and i sketched the skyline of Florence as the sun went down. This whole experience is very surreal.

Time to start booking trips.. any ideas?

Il Fine Settimana

Chianti Vineyard Grapes

This morning two and a half buses of students made their way into the hills of Florence to the Malenchini family Vineyard. Once there we were guided through the estate and the processes in which they make their wine. The tour included a stop in the fermentation room, the aging cellar, and the fields where we were encouraged to pluck fresh grapes. The grand finale consisted of several of the vineyard's prized red and white wines along with meats, cheeses, and pappa( bread cooked into tomato sauce). Oh, and i purchased a bottle of the nicest wine i've found so far, Malenchini Vin Santo.

Yesterday i signed up for Corri La Vita which i guess is a walk/ run to raise money for cancer research. There is a 5k finish and a 12k finish which are both competitive and non competitive. I have decided to train for the 12k race which translates to roughly 7.5 miles. I believe this is well within what i can run but not without proper training in the upcoming weeks.. It takes place on September 26th and will be my first run over 5k.. wish me luck!

From the Ground up.

Palazzo Rucellai Courtyard

What i'm beginning to realize about the time i will be spending abroad is that i will relearn virtually every aspect of daily life. Not only am i responsible for my class schedule and the work which goes along with it, but i am also responsible for learning how people take care of daily tasks. This includes finding my next meal, successfully navigating the streets, and politely interacting with my neighbors. Then there are acts such as taking short showers, opening windows for cool air, and turning off the lights  which are considered here to be mandatory, rather than good habits. The point i am trying to make is that  not only am i learning in class but i am learning from the moment i wake until the moment i go to bed.

Certain lessons however are less stressful than others. For example, learning to enjoy vino can be quite enjoyable. The same can also be said for learning where one can spend time outdoors. The real lesson though is trying to grasp what it is that puts italian food in a league of its own. So far i've located bars with delicious paninis, calzones, and of course pizza. This list is short because for the most part our apartment has been cooking dishes using fresh bread, sliced meats, and fresh vegetables from the surrounding hills.

Everyday has been exciting thus far. Each day the language becomes a bit more familiar as do the streets. The functions of the piazzas, palazzos, everything in between is becoming increasingly apparent. I have even finally adjusted to the schedule and pace of Italian life.. i think. So, as the Florentines built their beautiful city, i will gradually begin to understand it one day, one stone, and one meal at a time.