The weekend after spring break our school had a field trip to Tenuta di Spannocchia. It is an all organic farm out in the countryside of Siena. In the morning I took a trip to a Panforte factory, which makes many of the local traditional Sienese goodies. We got a tour of the factory and then had the opportunity to taste the product fresh. Ricciarelli will still always be my favorite. Eryn Beechey - I will get the recipe for you and you have to make them!!
From the factory we took a bus to Spannocchia. When we arrived we were herded into our respective "villas". We were staying in the castle Friday night. A REAL castle. The views were magnificent and breathtaking. The weather could not have been more perfect, sun, heat, PRIMAVERA (Spring!)
When we took the tour of the castle we got a bit of history about it. It has been a family farm that offers a unique internship in three different areas: animale (the pigs), verdura (fruits and veggies) and lastly field work. We got to have dinner with the current interns on the farm. Dinner.... probably the best meal I've had here-- and most the ingredients were from the farm!
My roommate for the night, Evie, and I woke up before everyone else on the farm and went downstairs to an amazing spread for breakfast. Honey, yogurt, milk and granola all produced on the farm was offered. We grabbed cups of coffee and sat outside on the terrace just talking about life and how simple life in Italy is. How we feel so much more relaxed and calm here versus NAU!
The departure came too soon and we headed out for a picnic lunch. When we returned to Siena my literature class took a field trip to the Siena aqueducts... I was amazed! If you EVER get the chance to see an aqueduct take it. It was a bit chilly under the ground and seeing how water was distributed to the city before piping and modern ways was interesting. It was so fun, especially because Gioia's children joined us, and they were having a blast. It was very dark so we all had flashlights and headlamps!
The next week couldn't fly by fast enough. I had planned visiting Cinque Terre with two gals in my program. We left Thursday after school and went right to our hostel in Biassa. Everything went smoothly the entire weekend and we got really lucky with weather!
Friday we woke up and were shuttled to Riomaggiore, from there we took the ferry from Riomaggiore all the way up to Monterosso. Spent most of our morning on the beach sipping sangria and enjoying the sun. The water was SO cold but I had to go in! I wasn't going to be there in my bathing suit and not go in! Debrah-- put this on the list. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza that afternoon. 2 hour 17 min hike along the coast. It was beautiful. Stunning. And coming into the next town was a true kodak moment. We had a wonderful seafood dinner in Vernazza and headed to Corniglia for the night.
In our hostel we met Charlotte. I have decided something, that meeting other travelers is probably the coolest thing about traveling. Charlotte is from Perth, Australia and has been traveling for 7 months. Her goal is a year. She finished schooling with a degree in nursing, worked hard for a year and a half and is taking her year off to travel. She was definitely inspiring! Our second day we hiked from Corniglia to Manarola about an hour and a half (took a long lunch break with seafood and white wine). Another amazing hike. Not too hard-- and the view wasnt too shabby either!! The weather was very humid and overcast which made for good Ansel Adam's like photos. We caught the next train to Riomaggiore from Manarola and met up with Charlotte in Riomaggiore for yet another SEAFOOD meal.
*if you are traveling in Cinque Terre and are a money cruncher like I am.. get the 5 euro pass for the trains that include all of the cities. We took the train back to Corniglia. By the time we got home all the gelato shops in our little town were closed BUT there were two men outside one of the shops talking and overheard us complaining that everything was closed for 'dulci' and one of the men said 'oh.. okay. come on.' and he was the owner of the gelato place we were standing in front of! HE OPENED THE SHOP FOR US! Needless to say we were 4 happy girls.
Sunday morning I woke up early and Charlotte and I decided to hike the only part of the path that I hadn't conquered. I then split from my two traveling mates and Charlotte and I grabbed coffee and breakfast at the bar (the barista was the nicest man I've ever met, Stefano, and i forgot to mention but Friday night we sat in his bar for about 3 or 4 hours chatting!)
The sun coming up while we were hiking made me feel accomplished and really alive! Charlotte is an amazing young women. For 24 years old she's way beyond her years. We had very intelligent conversations and of course girl talk. We sat on the beach in Vernazza for a while before I headed back and she continued on her travels to Milan and then to Budapest. I know (thanks to facebook) we will definitely keep in touch.
School is overwhelming. I won't name all the projects and homework I have to get done but it's alot. And all i want to do is plan my trip! Since meeting Charlotte there are so many things I have to research!! Joseph (my summer travel buddy) and I have skype dates more than I talk to my mother because of how much we are trying to plan everything out! I learned from Charlotte not to try and fit it all in (.. like I normally do).
Ah, well back to school work for me. I have a field trip to see Celsa gardens and Villa Cetinale gardens on Wednesday. Soccer Tuesday and Thursday. And elementary school English teaching Wednesday -- which, their Grease performance is coming up very fast and I am so proud of all my students!
a presto,
kali
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