In Celebration of Bacchus

Last night the Piazza Santo Spirito and the Piazza Pitti were filled with little white tents and in each little white tent stood two or several Italian men or women with cork screw in hand. This was the Florence Wine Festival, a showcase for the best wine in the Tuscan region and an occasion in which I had the good fortune to participate. For 10 Euros I was given a wine glass and a card that entitled me to twelve tastes of wine. With each visit to a little white tent my glass was filled about a sixth of the way and my card received a hole-punch. As my card approached 12 holes I have to say the wine started tasting more or less the same.


From the Cantina di Montalcino vineyard I tried a nice, “vino rosso” made with sangiovese grapes. Cantina da Vinci offered a, “Chianti Da Vinci Riserva” that if I can remember through the wine induced fog that is my recollection of that evening was very nice. I sipped more Chianti’s, from more vineyards, than any uncultured oaf like myself has any right to. As the night progressed I found myself wishing my palate was more refined so that I could rightly taste the difference from one good Chianti to the next. I found a table in the Piazza Santo Spirito next to the fountain and listened to middle aged Italian men seated in a makeshift band stand play music and argue in Italian while smoking cigarettes in between sets. Several young Italian guys about my age sat on the steps under the fountain around a man about twenty years their senior who was calmly and effortlessly—surrounded by people—gutting a cigarette and mixing it with hash to prepare a joint… no one said a word or even seemed to notice. Everyone was too intoxicated by the wine, the music, the company of friends, to take much notice of anything.


At about nine in the evening I left with still two drinks left on my card. The nights in Florence have been crisp as of late, bordering on chilly and I had gone unprepared. As I was leaving I saw on the ground, unnoticed by the crowd of American girls clustered near it, another drink card with only two holes punched out of it. Ten drinks to go! But alas, I was cold and knew that that drink card could wait for the next day—today. The Florence Wine Festival is a weekend long event from Friday night to Sunday night. Perhaps I’ll go before dinner to take an, “aperitivo” before cooking a nice steak in a quarter stick of butter.

Terza Settima (Third Week).... My adventure in the Eternal City.

Picture Explanations from Bottom to Top:

1) View of the Tuscan hillside from the train.

2) The Colosseum.

3) The Colosseum
.

4) Me on my tour at...you guessed it... The Colosseum.

5) Saint Peters Basillica and Saint Peters Square.

6) The Pantheon.

7) The Spanish steps in the Piazza di Spagna in Sepia on a Saturday night.

8) The Spanish steps in black and white.

9) The Trevi Fountain.




.........................................................................................................................................................................

I could continue this blog outlining the progression of my first two weeks of classes. I could tell you about how because of a mess up at the consulate in Boston no one in the Middlebury program has as of yet been able to enroll at the Università degli Studi di Firenze for our sojourn in the Italian university system and classes alongside Italians. I could tell you about syllabi received, and incomprehensible moments breaking away into epiphany.

Or… I could tell you about my trip last weekend to Rome.

Santa Maria Novella Train Station; Saturday, 20 sept. 08; 13:20:

I step on a train alone to go to a city I’ve never been before. I’ve made no plans for accommodations, I don’t know anyone. I’m carrying a laptop bag with my provisions: a change of clothes for the next day, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, a contact lenses case with fresh solution, a notebook, and my passport.

When I step off the train and exit the station in Rome every direction may as well have been the same direction so I pick a street and walk. I buy a map off a street corner magazine vendor and he tells me how to get to The Colosseum. He says it’s too far to go on foot and that I’d best take the subway or the bus, he points me in the direction of both of them. Trying first the bus I found the route system daunting and incomprehensible not knowing, of course, in which zone I could find The Colosseum. The subway was easier although I had to buy two tickets. The first ticket, after several unsuccessful tries to get through the gate and unto the blue-line, was crumpled and disposed of. With the second, however, I quickly realized that if I would only turn the card around before putting it into the machine it would quickly admit my entrance. I was relieved. My stop on the subway was called “Colosseo” and as soon as I climbed the steps out of the dark subterranean subway pit I could quickly see why. There it was, ancient and enormous, with a line wrapped around one small section of its girth.

I did the tour. I paid the extra Euros to go into the express line and smiled as I passed all the patiently waiting people fiddling with their cameras as I zipped to the front of the line. The tour lasted about forty-five minutes and didn’t really tell me anything the history channel hadn’t told me already. I left feeling culturally fortified.

With map in hand like any good tourist I began to scan for points of interest. And like any good American I wanted to make efficient use of my time. Seeking to maximize utility, I planed my journey in a linier fashion between The Colosseum and the Piazza del Popolo zigzagging to the sights I wanted to see along the way.

By about 7:30pm I was at the Trevi Fountain with tourists elbow to elbow eager to throw their coin and take their picture. I ate dinner close by. My waiter talked to me in a mixture of English and Italian. I ordered a half liter of red wine and a two course meal. When I got the bill something seemed fishy and I took out my pen to make the calculations myself. I was overcharged one euro. The mistake was remedied.

When I was done eating I was excited to go to the Spanish steps, hearing that that is the place to be in the early evening hours. Hundreds of young people sat on the steps drinking wine and beer and vodka. A group of American guys with a loud speaker were screaming out the slogan of their fraternity…or something of the like… and another group was responding. I made conversation with a beautiful Spanish señorita in knee high boots smoking by the wall. She spoke pretty good Italian. She asked me if I was here in Rome to Study.—No I study in Florence. She asked me if I was here in Rome alone.—Yes. She asked me if I had any plans for the night.—not really. She told me that she was waiting for some of her friends who were, like her, here in Rome to study. She invited me to meet her friends.

This was how I met over a dozen people here in Rome on, “Erasmus,” the European exchange program and our equivalent to study abroad. With the Irish students leading the way (seriously) we were off to find the best pub or party spot in the city that particular evening. They led us to the Piazza di San Lorenzo where a festival of sorts was going on. I decided not to drink. I hadn’t found a place to sleep for the night and thought it best I keep my wits about me while traveling alone in a foreign city. So while my new friends pounded shots of vodka some Irish blokes, some English chaps, and I stood on the piazza and discussed, of all things, American politics and economics. Hours later, at about 1:30 in the morning I decided that it was time to collect the contact information of my new friends and to begin the search for an open hotel or hostel.

This proved to be easier said then done. While in America it is quite easy to find an open hotel at 1:30 in the morning this, however, is Italy where everything, including hotel access shuts down at a particular hour. I walked. My journey brought me outside the ancient city walls and into a part of Rome which was beginning to look a little less like the picture books. So I hopped on a bus, the first bus I saw. I didn’t know where it was going and I didn’t pay for admission. I sat down looking out the windows for any sign of a hotel that might still be open or better yet a hostel so that I could save some money. The bus went back by The Colosseum and it was here that I decided to get off. I thought that if I could find a place to sleep here, near The Colosseum I’ll be able to take the subway in the morning to all the places I had yet to see. No luck. By this time it was 3:00am. It was cold. I had prepared for this adventure with only two pairs of shorts and two tee-shirts as I expected Rome’s balmy Mediterranean climate to apply also to the evenings. I was proven wrong. I walked past The Colosseum and sat on the steps of the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II (google it. It’s nifty). 3:30am. It was here on these steps that I decided, to hell with it—to hell with a hotel, to hell with a hostel, to hell with sleeping. I roamed the city all night long.

I returned to the Trevi Fountain at about four in the morning. Apart from one couple and a police woman I was the only one there this time around. Neighboring the Trevi Fountain whose water is continuously recycled there is a smaller fountain whose water comes from an ancient aqueduct beneath. I used it to brush my teeth. I walked back past the Pantheon, and approached the Castle di Saint Angelo. From here I made my way to Vatican City. It was deserted. I stood alone in Saint Peters square. I advanced to the Piazza del Popolo, where Mussolini gave all his most infamous speeches; with the exception of scattered traffic again I was alone.

When day broke I was hungry and at about 7:30am when the shops started opening I found a little café and ordered a croissant and a cappuccino. I returned to Saint Peters Square to find it inhabited and Saint Peter’s Basilica open to the public. I went in. By the time I left my neck hurt from looking at the ceiling. Everywhere was opulence and beauty. I took the bus from Vatican city to another bus stop (this time I paid) and from this bus stop I went back to the train station. The train ride was longer this time around but I didn’t mind, I slept for most of it. When I got back to Florence my bed was waiting for me just as I left it: scattered with course syllabi, articles to be read the next day, and half finished writing assignments. I cleared it all off and went to sleep, feeling satisfied.

La prima settimana (The first week)

Picture Explanations from top to bottom:

1) Vespas, why?... because it's Italy

2) This is a picture of the center of my school or "sede" as we call it. It is located in the palazzo Giugni, a sixteenth century palace designed by the renowned Bartolomeo Ammannati (yes indeed, I go to school in a palace).

3) This is the entry way to the sede.

4) A picture of the Duomo, about two blocks from my school.

5) The fresco above the front entrance of the Duomo.

6) This church, called Santa Croce, with Dante standing formidably in the forefront is about a block from where I live. I pass by it everyday on my walk to school.

7) This is a tower right next to the Duomo constructed by Brunelleschi.

8) The front entrance to the Duomo.

9) Yet again, the front entrance to the Duomo. Pretty cool, no?

...............................................................................................................................

It is Friday night, Friday afternoon in New Mexico. It has been exactly one week since I first stepped on that plane in Albuquerque and began my Florentine adventure. Things have changed since that first day. I’ve settled in a little bit. I had to buy toilet paper for the very first time. To improve my Italian I’ve taken up an experiment where I’ve tried to stop thinking in English, which means of course that I’m really not thinking very much at all. This hasn’t been as difficult as it sounds. Orientation has been a litany of infantilizing discussions conducted by the truly well meaning and genuinely nice heads of the school. Topics of discussion have included things like: Be sure you pay your rent on time, “every month”; Make sure no one looks at your pin number when you’re at an ATM; Don’t get drunk and fall off the Ponte Vecchio; And always brush your teeth before bedtime. (Okay, I made this last one up).

But seriously, beginning to learn to think in Italian, all the time, is the most difficult obstacle I face right now, as well as the one most pressing. I can understand the language fairly well but I have to develop my vocabulary. That right now is my current focus.

I start classes Monday, which means I have a weekend of sight seeing and debauchery ahead. On the subject of debauchery: Florence is like Disney World for adults. If you have the money the bars and clubs have the time. They cater to a clientele of largely drunk and loud American and English college party people. This is where my Italian has served me greatly. I can leave the crowded, loud, expensive bars with lakes of foreigners posturing for position and go to the smaller, more Italian bars, and work on my language skills with some locals.

I have been to one bar or more every night this week.

Now I know that some people who are reading this blog might be disappointed to hear this, to which I must respond that alcohol has been a social lubricant for thousands of years—the last thing I’m trying to do is reinvent the wheel here, alcohol has thus far proved a necessity to have any meaningful conversations with people beyond Americans and my roommate and my professors in Italian. Quite recently I enjoyed a Guinness in the company of an elderly Italian man named Antonio who upon leaving told me to call him, “Papa”… because everyone else does. My daytime conversations with everyday Italians are about nothing more than the size I want my gelato and stopping to ask for directions.

Both you know, and I know, that this whole bar hopping thing can not go on. Classes start on Monday and with that so do papers and midterms and essays and reading lists. Something has to give and I do have priorities. But for now, I’m going to go out and enjoy my weekend. We’ll talk again next week.

From Italy, “Buona Giornata!”

L'inizio (The Beginning)

(Second picture: the view outside my bedroom)

(Other pictures: my bedroom)

I arrived in Florence yesterday via Germany after a flight that was not only long but exhausting. The pilot flew over Florence on the initial attempt at descending and had to make another attempt. The second try was the charm and despite the smell of burning breaks we arrived safely; unharmed. Luckily none of my bags were lost in the long flight and I left the airport after converting the cash in my wallet at an exchange rate that was less than favorable (robbery). I considered taking the bus to get to my apartment but at this point the last thing I wanted was to navigate my way around an unfamiliar city from a bus stop with luggage in tow. I hailed a cab. Disappointingly, after I told him where I wanted to go in my slightly strained Italian he conversed with me principally in English thereafter. I was sure to get the cost of the trip in advance. We rode past the Duomo which is (as they always say) even more beautiful than the pictures.

My apartment is very close to the Duomo, infact, it is pretty close to just about everything. This has been one of the most satisfying aspects of my trip thus far. When the taxi driver dropped me off I had to buzz into the apartment to contact my house mate. He answered the door, helped me with my luggage, and soon told me that he had expected my arrival the day before. Unaware of exactly what he was saying or why he had expected me the day before I quickly apologized to his rapid fire Italian and proceeded to my new dwelling for the year, anxious to take a shower after what seemed like an eternity of travel. I was met with light wood floors and dark rose wood cabinetry, it is “una camera bellissima!”

It wasn’t long before I made sense of what my housemate had told me and I did indeed arrive a day later from the time I told him I would. I told him that my flight was on the fifth and that I planed to arrive at two in the afternoon. Of course I neglected to factor in the time the trip would take and didn’t tell him that would be two in the afternoon the next day. I was very fortunate that he was home to let me in, otherwise, I would have been standing with my luggage on the streets of Florence hungry, tired, stinky….and waiting.

As far as the language was concerned my initial reaction was one of panic. I probably understood only about half of what my housemate initially told me in the first hours and while I was unpacking my mind was racing. “What the hell have I gotten myself into?” Soon, however, we were taking a stroll down the streets of Florence and although I can’t honestly say that I understood every word he said, I began picking up most of them and by dinner time I was conversing in a way that I felt comfortable with—meaning I wasn’t saying “um” or ‘uh” or pausing to find words at every moment.

Today, my second day in Florence, has been even better linguistically although a trip to the supermarket has quickly pointed out my linguistic limitations. The food is different here in Italy, fresher, in smaller portions, and more expensive. Almost every cut of meat is presented including many that I have never seen before leading me to question what animal it came from. As can be expected things like cereal and snacks from America are not available here and if they are here they are very expensive. One can not buy a gallon of milk here, but rather a liter of milk, meaning that my days of about a quarter gallon of milk a day are for the time being finished. Alas, I will have to quench my thirst with an inexpensive abundance of wine.

At this point in my journey the initial panic of “oh shit, what have I done” has passed though with no guarantee that it will stay gone. I am looking forward to my first day of school in a foreign country tomorrow.

Stay tuned for a future blog post entitled “Graffiti is an Italian word” where I will be taking pictures and commenting on the cornucopia of graffiti displayed on the walls and streets of this historic city. Here is a preview from outside my window: (see second picture).

From Italy, “Buona Giornata!”