Padova, Florence, Pisa

Unfortunately, I don't have time at the moment to write a post, but here is a public link to the photo album I created from our trip to Florence last weekend:

"What do you MEAN the tower isn't really leaning anymore???!!!"

We're going to Cinque Terre this weekend and I know it's going to be absolutely beautiful! I can't wait!

Details from this weekend will definitely follow - it's going to be great. We leave tomorrow afternoon around 1 and will be back Sunday evening.

Ciao!

So far, so good...

Today was the first full day with all 215 CIMBA undergraduate students here on campus. We checked in approximately 200 students total yesterday, so it was a little crazy, but overall, the day went rather smoothly.

Backing up, last Friday was a very busy day for all the staff and RIs, as we prepared welcome packets for students and went on a scavenger hunt through Paderno and campus.

The CIMBA campus is absolutely beautiful and it shares grounds with a Catholic Italian boarding school called Instituto Philippin. Therefore, there are Italian students everywhere throughout the day, ranging from elementary age to high school age kids that also live in the dorms.

This is a picture of the “Jesus Field,” as it’s referred to which is over on the other side of campus. Apparently, every semester the American students play a game against the Italians – and generally lose miserably, from what I’m told (on Sunday, when the RIs had nothing to do, we sunbathed for about 45 minutes on the field – right in front of Jesus. ;-)

On Saturday, we were given the day off to explore Venice. We took a bus to the Castelfranco Veneto train station and then took an hour long train to Venice. We stopped at a pizza joint before heading to San Marco Square (the main part of Venice), took a picture at the Rialto Bridge (see below), and then caught a water shuttle out to Murano. Venice, Murano specifically, is famous for glass, so almost every shop was selling small glass sculptures of some kind.

Needless to say, Venice was beautiful, but by the end of the day, I was beyond exhausted… mainly due to the fact the night before, we walked to Crespano (the next town over) to celebrate my 21^st birthday. The goal is to keep the bar a secret from all the other American students so the RIs have some place to get away if we desire. This will hopefully work out because it was hard to find - we got lost on the way. What was supposed to be a 15-20 minute walk turned into us walking around Crespano, lost, for over 30 minutes… in the rain. Needless to say, it was a fantastic time.

On Sunday, we returned to Crespano so we could attend the massive outdoor market they have every Sunday. This market sold everything – shoes, tops, jewelry (I bought 2 pairs of earrings for €1 each, vegetables and fruits, and more. It was fun and there was a great view the whole time.

Sunday night, we attended a barbeque on the graduate student campus in Asolo. Asolo, is absolutely beautiful and has the most breath-taking views I’ve seen so far.

I think that pretty much catches everyone up for now. I hope to update more often, but now that classes have started, I imagine that it will only be more difficult. Here’s hopin tho!

Ciao!

Day 1 in Italy was incredible.

On our flight from Philly to Venice, they played “Yes Man,” which I had been dying to see, however, I fell asleep half way through the film. Given the time change and the fact that I did not have a reliable time source on or around me, I have absolutely no idea how long I slept.

As much as I’d love to enthrall you with how I spent the majority of the time on the plane reading Rick Steve’s “Europe Through the Back Door,” and Chelsea Handler’s, “My Horizontal Life,” let’s cut to the good stuff.

We had very specific, laid out instructions on how to get from Venice Marco Polo to the CIMBA campus in Paderno. Regardless, we got on the wrong bus from the airport.

But this is not bad:



Due to this happy mistake, we actually got to see Venice for a short period of time. Sure, we spend the majority of it sitting in the train station, but the thought of sitting at some sticky train station on the outskirts of Venice does not give me near as much satisfaction as this picture does.

Moving on, after a long day of planes, trains, and buses, we finally arrived in Paderno. By we, I mean the other two Resident Interns from KU, with whom I was traveling. This trip was Kara’s second summer with CIMBA, so she had a pretty good idea of what we were supposed to do and (BONUS) can actually speak some Italian. They’re both very nice, easy to get along with, and can at least kind of appreciate my sense of humor.

When we finally arrived in Paderno, we were greeted by Tommy, one of the Program Coordinators, who gave us our keys and showed us to our rooms.

<-- View from my window (can't really tell, but Mt. Grappa is in the background)

Leigh Ann, another Intern from KU, had arrived the day before, and, after dropping off our bags, we all went to lunch on campus and then down the street for espresso. By this point, I was so exhausted and cranky that coffee would have been a lost cause. So I passed on the espresso, went back to my room, and began unpacking. Still trying to shake my mood, I paused my packing and showered. This finally did the trick. I went downstairs (my room is on the second floor) and ran into Kara and Leigh Ann. Curious to see where we would be working, we walked over to the Undergraduate Office building, met some of the head CIMBA coordinators, and got to see our office.

The best part is that, in our office, there were three boxes full of hair dryers, flat irons, curling irons, head sets for Skype (link), and electronic converter/adapters. Given that I did not bring any of these things (the adapters that I brought only work in Northern Europe), this was like Christmas morning. Any mood I had before was long gone. After meeting, Katie, another RI who had just arrived (with her parents in tow – weird), I headed back to my room with my goodies. I was told to meet down in the courtyard around 7 pm.

I finished unpacking, straightened my hair, and then fell asleep for an hour. I was awoken by a knock on my door around 6 pm. It was Kara and Ashli, asking if I wanted to join them down the street for a drink before dinner.

BINGO.

Within 10 minutes, I was dressed and ready to go. I went down to the courtyard, only to find Katie, Kara, Ashli, and Leigh Ann sitting there looking disappointed. They informed me that the bar down the street was closed. So we all sat there and talked for the next 45 minutes, waiting for 7 pm to roll around. Adam and Tommy, the two PCs, arrived in the courtyard and walked us to a family-owned Italian restaurant, called Al Sole, up the street from campus. We sat outside, ordered pizza and wine, and enjoyed a beautiful evening.

Following dinner, I was still rocking a pretty good buzz and was in no mood to go straight to bed. Tommy and Adam went back to their apartment, and the five of us girls headed back to campus. By now, the bar on campus was open. Ashli, Leigh Ann, Kara and I (we invited Katie, but she respectfully declined) made a beeline for it and planted ourselves out in front of the bar with another liter of wine. It was the cheapest option, €0.80 per glass or €5.00 for the liter. We continued to shoot the shit for over an hour, finished our wine, and then headed back to our rooms.

This trip is off to a great start and I cannot wait to see how the rest of it plays out. I hope you will continue to follow me through my adventures in Europe.

Arrivederci!