Spring Break in Spain: Valencia

Hey everyone!  

Wow, it sure has been a long time since my last post.  So much has happened since then!  This semester I am taking a Survey of Italian Literature, History of Costume, Immigration, and Linguistics, and we are steadily approaching finals season.  That means lots of upcoming presentations, projects, and papers.  But that's not what I want to talk about today.  Instead, I want to tell you about what I did for spring break...in Spain!  This time, any words in italic are Spanish :)

map for reference :)
 from lonelyplanet.com

I flew into Valencia on the southeast coast of Spain, where I stayed with family friends.  From there, I visited several other cities in the South as well as Madrid, the capital.  Here are some pictures and thoughts on my time in Valencia.

Valencia

A couple days before coming to Spain, we had a discussion at dinner about our favorite cities in the world.  I said I didn't have one but now, I believe I have found it.  If I had to live in a city, Valencia would be my first choice.  Why is Valencia so great?  Well, it is neither too big nor too tiny, the climate is moderate year-round, and it has great beaches, gardens, and museums, just to name a few!

One of the things I loved most about Spain was the abundance of gardens and green spaces in the city.  Italy (at least from what I have seen) doesn't have this and I must say, although the architecture in Florence is lovely, I really do miss seeing green things!  Another great thing about Spain is that many museums are either free or very low cost (1-2 euros).  I was especially lucky because I didn't have to pay any entrance fees to museums in Valencia because I was there during semana santa (lit. Holy week, that is, the week of Easter).

Graffiti at an ice cream shop

Valencia, looking towards the central market.

Valencia's symbol is a bat!

Traditional dresses

the cathedral

Fantastic (and free!) archaeological museum.  The ruins are underneath the blue, see-through flooring!

Stopped to eat my lunch under the orange trees :)

When I came back to Valencia after visiting the south, I saw the more modern part of the city during a trip to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (city of arts and sciences).  I also went to the beach and saw a huge sand sculpture!

Along the way, I stumbled across this awesome playground of Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.  The book recounts all of Gulliver's adventures and this playground is inspired from his first voyage when he is shipwrecked on the island of Lilliput.  He becomes the prisoner of its tiny inhabitants, the Lilliputians.

So fun!!

Another difference between Spain and Italy is the siesta.  While most businesses in Italy are open throughout the day, in Spain the majority of stores and museums close for lunch around 1 or 2 and then reopen at 4 or 5pm.  In Spain, lunch is the main meal of the day and happens in the early afternoon and is often followed by a siesta.  Because lunch is had later in the day, dinner isn't until at least 10pm and staying up late is the norm.  Thankfully, I didn't have to adjust my schedule too much because I am already used to late dinners in Italy with my host family.  We eat around 9pm, although I am told that by Italian standards that is late and most Italians eat around 8pm.

Speaking of food, one of the things I loved most about Valencia was the market!  It's really beautiful and full of delicious foods and fresh fruit juices.  In addition to sneaking many free turrón (a type of candy made from honey and almonds) samples, I had a glass of coconut milk as well as a glass of horchata (a sweet milky drink made from chufas or tigernuts) for 1 euro each!  I also bought my own turrón, pan de higo (a fig cake made from only figs and nuts), and a special kind of pure dark chocolate that is made in Valencia.  I also found a stand that sold products from Latin America, so I bought some guayaba (guava) and alfajores for my friends.

Mercado Central

Chocolate!

One of the many stands offering 1 euro juices

It's such a pretty building!

This vegetarian didn't buy anything from this stand... :p

Thanks for reading!  Hope you all are doing great! :D

Venice and Carnevale

Last weekend took a day trip to Venice for Carnevale.  It is located in northeast Italy and was roughly about 2.5 hours from Florence by high speed train.

What is the Carnevale di Venezia (Carnival of Venice)?
Carnevale is an annual celebration that takes place during the days leading up to Lent.  The holiday ends officially the day before Ash Wednesday, a day known as Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, which is observed by gathering for a huge feast and eating food that one will abstain from eating during Lent, such as sweets or meat.

Although Carnevale is celebrated all over Italy (and many other countries as well), Venice is particularly famous for their celebrations and history of elaborate masks that come from the Italian theater, the commedia dell'arte.  Everyone dresses in creative costumes and masks and at night there are parties and music.  You will also find confetti (in Italian: coriandoli) all over the streets during Carnevale.  Check out the steel drum players we ran into:

Before going to Venice we had a workshop where we made our own masks using the original technique.  Below is a picture of me in Venice wearing my mask and posing with someone in a very pink traditional costume.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a costume but I did put my hair up in a bow on top of my head in an effort to be more festive, although it isn't very visible in the picture.

Making the masks.  That's me on the right!

In Piazza San Marco celebrating Carnevale!

Venice, the Floating City

Venice isn't just all about Carnevale though.  Historically, Venice was a very wealthy city, especially during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, due to its importance in the spice, silk, and grain trade routes.

Today Venice survives mostly on tourism.  It is considered one of the most romantic European cities and is the setting for many famous works of literature such as Shakespeare's Othello and The Merchant of Venice, as well as many others, including Henry James' The Aspern Papers.  Venice is also famous for Murano or Venetian glass and there were many stores selling beautiful jewelry.

Because it is made up of 117 islands it is very easy to get lost in Venice.  My friends and I spent over an hour wandering in tiny alleys, crossing small bridges, and pushing our way through enormous crowds just to make it to Piazza San Marco!  After that we took the water taxi back to the train station, which is the system of public transportation used in Venice instead of having a bus or metro.  Not nearly as practical but definitely more fun. :)  In fact, here is a video I made of our Water Taxi ride which includes a few guest gondola appearances.  The music in the background is La stravaganza by Vivaldi, a famous composer who was born in Venice.

Below are a few more pictures from my visit to Venice.  Thanks for reading!

This is what the water taxi looks like.  A one-way ticket from San Marco to the train station costs 7 euros!!

Some folks enjoying a gondola ride

Piazza San Marco

A fleet of gondolas following us on our water taxi ride

Laundry day :)

Sicily Trip: Food and History

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it is already February!  We finally finished our fall semester and right after we finished finals, our entire program went on a trip to Sicily.

Sicily is the island right next to the toe of Italy's "boot"

We flew into Palermo, in northwest Sicily.

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean and was known as the "pearl of the Mediterranean." Throughout its history is was sought after by many nations.  Here is a quick outline:

• In about 750 BC, it was colonized by the Greeks.  It was part Magna Graecia, along with the rest of Southern Italy that was under Greek domination. There are many ruins of Greek temples and cities that we visited during our trip.  It also reminded me very much of Greece, so the Greek influence is still evident today. 
• The Romans took over in 242 BC and Sicily became the first Roman province outside of the Italian peninsula.
• After the fall of room, the Byzantines conquered Sicily, bringing the Greek Orthodox tradition and Greek language to Sicily again.  
• From 827-1091, Sicily was under Arab rule, adding a new language, religion, and new foods to the mix of cultures.
• Next, the Normans (from northern France) conquered Sicily and build many grand churches and buildings.
• In the 1280s, the Spanish took over Sicily, along with many other southern Italian cities on the mainlan
• Finally in 1861, Italian unifies and Sicily becomes part of Italy!
• Today, Sicily is its own region (province) and is known for its rich history, great food, and unfortunately, a strong mafia presence.

Food in Sicily

Every region in Italy has its own special cuisine and Sicily is no exception.   Sicilian food is very different than Tuscan food we have here in Florence and this is largely due to the great mix of cultures in Sicily.

The use of sugar, citrus, melons, saffron, and spices is due to the Arab influence; in fact, Sicily is famous for have decadently sweet desserts.  Fava beans, pistachios, fish, and olives are from the Greeks, and the Normans introduced more meat dishes in Sicily.  The Spanish brought products from the Americas, like chocolate, peppers, and tomatoes, which are a big part of Sicilian cuisine today.

N.B.: I didn't actually take pictures of the food, so these are all gleaned from the internet. 

1. Pasta alla Norma

  

A very simple dish, made with pasta, tomatoes, fried eggplant, and ricotta cheese.  It was very different for us because in Florence we usually eat our pasta with tomato sauce only.

2. Arancini/Arancine

These are balls of rice, usually stuffed with ragù, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and peas, although the stuffing can vary.  They are then coated in bread crumbs (so not gluten free) and fried.  Arancine means little oranges.

3. Caponata

This is a starter made from fried eggplant, celery, capers, and sweet vinegar.  They also add tomatoes, peppers, and/or olives, depending on where you buy it.  It is a very sweet dish - a sign of arab culinary traditions.

4. Marzipane

In Sicily you can buy marzipan fruits almost everywhere.  They are especially popular around Christmas and All Saints Day.  Marzipan is a paste of almonds and sugar, and here it has been dyed and shaped into all sorts of fruits, including lemons, watermelons, bananas, etc.  It is not fruit flavored though, it only tastes like almonds.  I did actually try this and I surprisingly enjoyed it!  Mine was a little orange :)

5. Cannoli!!

Most Americans are familiar with cannoli but did you know they are a Sicilian specialty?  You won't find these in Florence, that's for sure!  The crispy pastry shell is stuffed with a sweet ricotta cream and served with chocolate chips, pistachios, or candied fruit on the ends like the in picture above, or plain.  The name means little tube and comes from the Sicilian cannolu, plural cannola.

Fun Fact: Canolo is the singular, and cannoli is the plural, so "cannolis" isn't a thing.  You can have 1 canolo or 1000 cannoli :)

Let me know if you've ever tried any of these dishes before and what you thought of them, or if you haven't tried them, which ones you think you'd enjoy :)

Un abbraccio!

Video

Ciao a tutti!

 

We are FINALLY at the end of the fall semester!  I am in the middle of finishing final projects and studying for exams and wanted to share this video with you all.  I made it as part of a final project for my language class and thought you all might enjoy getting to see Florence this way - as I see it every day.  It documents my daily walk to class and highlights a few points of interest along the way.

 

Enjoy!

 

Roman Holiday, part 2

Ciao,

After thoroughly exploring the Colosseum and taking pictures at nearly every angle possible, I went on to the Roman Forum.  Unfortunately due to the strike, the Forum was closed until 2pm.  I had about an hour to wait so I walked back to the Arch of Constantine, which is between the Colosseum and the Forum and snapped this quick picture:

It's 21 meters high, or 68 feet!

The Arch of Constantine was built around 315 AD to honor the victory of Constantine I (a very important Roman emperor) at the Battle of Milvian Bridge.  It was actually modeled after the Arch of Septimus Severus (another Roman emperor) in the Forum but this arch is special as it is the only one that extensively uses spolia, which is Latin for "spoils" and refers to the practice of re-using building material or decorative sculpture from old buildings on new monuments.  The arch features several major reliefs from monuments built during the 2nd century AD and is thus very visually interesting because it is full of intricate details.

After walking around the arch a few times, I found a nice spot outside one of the entrances to the forum to eat lunch.  I had been carrying around a panino with me all morning, which I had bought at the gluten-free panini shop the day before, so I decided that as it was quite sunny, I should go ahead and eat it.

I still had time after I finished, so I wandered up the Palatine Hill to see what I could find.  At the end of the path I found this tiny church:

Turns out this is the church of San Bonaventura, which I believe was built during the 1600s. Unfortunately there is neither much information on the signs nor on the internet, so I can't share anything more about it, other than that it was a nice surprise to find it at the end of my walk.

After walking back I STILL had to wait a few more minutes for the Forum to open so I sat down and people-watched.  By now there was a pretty large crowd waiting to enter, so when they did open the gates, I waited a bit longer for everyone to go in first so that I wouldn't feel rushed.

The Roman Forum is located in a valley between two very important hills, the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill and was the center of Roman public life for centuries and elections, speeches, triumphal processions, trials, and sales took place there.  The site remained important from the founding of Rome to the Middle Ages.  That's all I will say for now; I want you to be able to simply enjoy the beauty of the site as I did when I was there without getting caught up in long and detailed (but fascinating!) history.  I plan to return to Rome and do a more in-depth post at a later time.  Of course, if you have any questions just ask and I'll will happily respond. :)

Entering the Forum

The view as I started to climb up the Palatine Hill

A bathtub?  In case you just felt like taking a bath in the middle of the garden.  I was quite confused by this, honestly.

 It was around 3:45 by the time I wandered up to the top.  The sun was strong, as it always is at that moment right before it begins to set, and bathing the ruins in its light.  Excuse me for waxing poetic but it was so beautiful!

Rome, the Eternal City

Of course I managed to find a cat, too! :)

After my adventures at the Forum, I scurried back to my hostel before the sunset so I wouldn't be out alone in an unknown city in the dark.  I really enjoyed my solo adventure in the ancient ruins, which surprised me since I usually prefer to have company while out and about.  But, it was very nice to have time to be contemplative and fully enjoy the fact that I was finally getting to see the sites which I had dreamed of seeing since my first Latin class in high school.

Onwards,then, to Greece!

P.S. If anyone ever needs a hostel in Rome, I would highly recommenced the Beehive Hostel.  It was very clean, safe, and about as quiet as a hostel can be and the staff was very friendly.