Lesson #64 Lampredotto . . .

     Lampredotto.... Some things really should not be translated. Really, just let it remain an unknown, a beautiful Italian word, a delicious something or other that you really do not want to know what it is..... No? Are you sure? Ok.... You asked for it....

     Lampredotto is the fourth and final stomach of a cow. Yes, it is a type of tripe, but so named because it resembles the inside of an eels mouth. Yummy...

     Well, when in Rome (or Florence).... So of course even know what this loveliness was, we still had to eat it. We decided that in a sandwich it wouldn't be so bad. The sandwich consisted of tripe, garlic sauce, a teensy bit of spinach, and a bun... Unfortunately, there wasn't enough garlic sauce or spinach. I mean, I'm not one to be a fussy eater or anything, and it's not like it was bad, per say, it just wasn't great. The first few bites are manageable, and then you start overthinking the whole thing, like the fact you are munching on the fourth stomach of a cow....

     My biggest problem with the lampredotto is the smell, which is so distinct you will soon become an expert at recognizing. That lovely smell is the part that makes you remember what you ate for hours afterward and will make you queasy every time. And of course, lampredotto is a very popular peasants dish in Tuscany, so it will be everywhere!

     So, Lesson #64: You must try the lampredotto because it is famous, but you may take a "no thank you" helping (aka: try only a little just to say you tried it).

Lesson #63 Leather Markets!

     Oh Italian leather. Italian leather is some of the most sought after leather in all of Europe, and Florence is known for it's fantastic leather. If you walk down the side streets of Florence, you are bound to stumble across the San Lorenzo Florentine Leather Market. This market is essentially a bunch of tents set up all over the place.

     All the vendors are yelling prices, haggling and trying to get the best deal. If you are smart, you haggle. Never settle for the first price they throw at you... EVER. Now I'm not saying be stingy, I'm saying haggle. If you manage to get a genuine leather boots down to a good price, BUY THEM!!!! That's one thing I regret. Those gorgeous Italian leather boots are tough to find in the states at a price a ramen-eating college student can afford! If you find something you like, buy it and try not to think about how light your wallet just became!

     As with all markets around the world, be cautious with what you buy. If you are looking for the absolute best leather in all of Italy, these stalls aren't your cup of tea. Some stalls have great finds, while others maybe not so much.... I managed to escape the market with a beautiful purse for my grandmother and a wallet for my dad for about 60 euro! Good luck....

     Lesson #63: Buy those gorgeous genuine Italian leather boots! (Regret the lack of money for food and transportation later....)

Lesson #62 Restaurants for groups

     In Italy, it's weird to be by yourself, but if you have an odd number or more than 4 people, it is also weird. We discovered this in Florence . . . Apparently good family run restaurants can turn away your business, especially if you have 10 girls. Well, this good family-run restaurant tried to run in fear from 10 American girls who would sit 2 by 2 just to be fed. They seriously did not want our business, so when that happens, hit the streets and discover your own recommendation spots! The evil restaurant that turned us away was also apparently, only so-so. So, we wandered around Florence and found a place happy to take 10 people and feed them! We all ordered delicious red wine and amazing lasagna. The restaurant ended up being only 2 blocks away from our hotel too! If you're going to Florence, I highly recommend "Le Volpi e L'uva" (also known as "The Fox and the Grape")! It is used often by Bus2Alps groups, and has some gorgeous Italian men serving!

     So, Lesson #62: Find a place named after an animal eating grapes. Chances are, it's quite delicious and has cute Italian servers :)

Lesson #61 Pictures in museums . . .

     Taking pictures in museums can be a daunting task. Depending on the museum, gallery or church, the rules change. Sometimes having a camera out can just get some really dirty looks, other times it can get you kicked out all together. Well, when going to the Uffizzi in Florence, taking pictures of Michelangelo's David is probably the largest boo-boo you can do. The real David is inside the Galleria dell'Accademia and is heavily guarded. So, my suggestion if you are going to violate ALL the rules: take a picture the second you enter the galleria and crop it later . . . (*You can insert evil laugh here*). 

     If you are not as deviously sneaky as I am, there are two options. The first of which is going to the central piazza in Florence and taking a picture with the fake David, but it is fake . . . The second option is following the kid named David on our tour group. David wanted a picture with David, I mean who wouldn't right? But the student David was not too bright . . . He decided to try to pose next to Michelangelo's David and point . . . kind of a dead give away to the fact that he was taking a picture. So this Italian guard woman starts screaming at him, and he runs away. Now for most people that would be enough, but not for student David. Student David came back another 3 times in an attempt to get the perfect picture. Unfortunately for student David, the Italian guard woman got a bit intense and started following him around the museum yelling nasty things at him in Italian for the rest of the museum trip. The sad part of the story is, student David's camera deleted all the photos he tried to take. How's that for karma? 

     Lesson #61: Don't be like student David while sneaking pictures of forbidden museum pieces . . .

Lesson #60 Florence!

     What do you think of when you think of Florence? The worlds greatest history of art? Michelangelo's David? The prisoners? The Medici family? The famous duomo? How about ALL of those! Florence is the most amazing city, but I doubt I expected it to be THAT small. You can literally walk across Florence in less than 2 hours . . . .

Ponte Vecchio

Michelangelo's David

Michelangelo's Prisoner

Lorenzo de Medici

Florence Duomo

Florence Leather Market

     Lesson #60: Florence is AMAZING, and BEAUTIFUL, and THE PERFECT ITALIAN CITY!

Lesson #59 Transportation in other countries . . .

     Did you know the word for train in French? I DO! It's the exact same. Well, that was lucky for Kristy and I when we were stranded in Disneyland Paris and had no idea that the RER transportation was a train, not a bus . . . So in case you are travelling in Paris, the RER is a train, not a bus. Good to know . . .

     Luckily for us, I have taken 7 years of non-existent French and there was a very kind elderly french lady that helped me distinguish my right from my left and gave us directions!

     Lesson #59: Know what "train," "bus," "right," and "left" are translated into several different languages . . .

Lesson #58 I miss my pasta!

     After eating nothing but pasta for 2 months, not eating it for a week was strange . . . very very strange. During our Fall break Kali, Kristy, Laurel and I went to Paris, London and Dublin! For this excursion, we only had one rule: NO ITALIAN FOOD. Which basically meant no carbohydrates in pasta or pizza form . . . Well, I missed my carbs! We ate french onion soup, delicious Parisian sandwiches, fish and chips, burgers, the European equivalent to a burrito and of course hearty irish food!

    Unfortunately, I chose Italy for it's delicious and nutritious pasta choices :)

     So, Lesson #58: LOVE PASTA

Lesson #57 Did you know there is a train station there?

     Trastevere is one of the biggest residential neighborhoods in Rome! There is even a train station there!!!!!!! Well, we lived on Viale di Trastevere for about a month without knowing where exactly the train station is . . . Pathetic, I know. Well, it gets worse . . . When we finally found the train station we realized it was only a block away from our apartment. Yep, only ONE BLOCK! Yah . . . . knowing that probably would have helped us get to the beach in less than 3 hours . . . but what kind of adventure would that be?

     Here is the view from our apartment and the little red arrow is the train station . . . embarrassing . . .

     So, Lesson #57: Read a map and learn what's around you . . .

Lesson #56 Let's go see the Pope!

     Being in Italy, especially Rome, it seems only right to visit the Vatican. Whether you are religious or not, the Vatican is amazing and has the best postal service in Italy! Well, every Wednesday and Sunday the pope greets people at the Vatican with a special audience. On Wednesdays you need to reserve a free ticket for a seat and get to see the pope up close and personal from his pope-mobile! Yes, it is actually called that.
     And it looks like this:

     But, if you decide to just show up on Sunday, you get to see the Pope from his papal apartments. He just gives a short speech in Italian and then speaks to the crowd in a bunch of different languages. He starts with Italian, then French, then English, then German, and so on . . . In all, it takes about 45 mins to get to the Vatican, and 15 mins for the Papal audience. Even though it is only 15 mins, just the atmosphere of the crowd is fun! People come from all over the world with fliers and banners that show their love of the Pope and where they are from. On the occasional Sunday, he will even address the specific people there!
     I dunno if you can see the Pope in the picture below, but he is the size of a pin from the square as well, soooooo bring a camera with a really good zoom!

   
     Lesson #56: Spend a Sunday visiting the Pope! And try to recognize as many languages you can!

Lesson #55 Personal Space? What's that?

     Oh personal space, how I miss thee! Having been in Italy for a few months, you tend to realize that NO ONE GIVES ANYONE ANY SPACE!!!! If you are in line for something, you have Italians pressed against you on all sides. If you are on the bus, you have Italians pushing you. If you are randomly walking down the street, you have Italians bumping you.
     I need a personal bubble like this kid!

     So, Lesson #55: Personal space does not exist in Italy.

Lesson #54 Cars . . .

     Italians like their cars like they like their coffee: SMALL! Whereas Americans like their SUV's. I honestly think you might thrown out of Italy if you tried to drive and SUV here . . .

     Italian Car:

     American Car:

     Lesson #54:  Italy likes their small cars . . .

Lesson #53 Coffee . . .

     Has anyone ever noticed that the coffee sizes in America are ridiculous! We seriously make the largest cups for beverages out of anywhere in the world. If you don't believe me, walk into a 7-Eleven and look at a "Big Gulp" . . . its kinda ridiculous! Well, since we have been here a while, we have heard the Americans complaining non-stop about how it is impossible to get a large coffee. Everyone misses their "Venti Starbucks Frappuccinos", which is bizarre because we are in the land of coffee!
     Well, Italians like their coffee small and very strong. They never get coffee to-go and if you ask for it in a to-go cup they know your a foreigner!

     You see how small that is?!?!?! If you ever see an Italian with one of these (below), you be sure to let me know!

 
     Lesson #53: Italian coffee is small. Do not expect anything larger than 6oz or less . . .

Lesson #52 Photography Professor vs. Bartok faceoff

     An interesting aspect of being here in Rome is my classes. Now, of course I took some classes that would complete my study abroad experience as being more abroad than study, hence my Photography class. Now you think that a photography class would be loads of fun, especially in a place like Rome, right? But what you wouldn't expect is the fact that we spend most of our time in a dark classroom talking about other people's work for hours at a time! 

     Well, when you are taking a class that is so focused on talking and less on the actual learning process, you tend to find things to distract you, like your professor's voice. Which is good because that means you are actually listening to him, right?? 

     So, my photography professor has a slight Boston accent and a slight lisp, so when he gets excited, he tends to sound like Bartok from Anastasia. 

     Is it bad that all I wanna do is ask him to say that line? Probably . . . 

     

     So, Lesson #52: Bartok wins.

Lesson #51 Postage stamps

     This is a Rome postage stamp. Not that I have ever seen one, but apparently, this is what they look like. I have been in Italy for 2 months and have visited 2 post offices and multiple Tabacci shops to search for this elusive stamp.
     You may ask, "What city requires this much effort to find stamps?" The answer is simple: ROME, ITALY!
     Yes, that's right. Rome has run out of stamps. One of the post offices I visited managed to convey this in Italian to me by just looking at me like I was crazy. Granted, I was asking for 20 stamps, but they didn't even have one! The other post office just kept saying finished. And all the tabacci stores that supposedly sell stamps actually don't.

     Instead, all of my postcards have stamps like this! YAY for Vatican City and their postal services. The Vatican is renowned around all of Rome for saving Italian's from their own mail service. Although PosteItaliane, the Italian postal service is ALWAYS crazy busy, no one is actually sending mail from it. The Italians pay their bills direct to the post office, so clearly mail and stamps is not a priority.
     I would just like everyone to appreciate how much of an effort was spent in sending those darn postcards. It took several horrible attempts in Italian, lots of snooty looks, a special trip to Vatican City to buy the stamps and another to send them. So, to all of you who recieved post cards, your welcome!

     So, Lesson #51: Never trust an Italian post office!

Lesson #50 Fashion Suicide

     Yep, that's right. The ultimate form of fashion suicide in Italy, I have committed. It all happened because of that darn rain! Well, if you are wondering what fashion suicide in Italy is, it's wearing yoga pants. Yep. I love my yoga pants, so actually I'm surprised it took me this long to crack! Well, Rome is notorious for torrential downpours, and after you walk through one once, you will never be tempted to wear jeans again, hence the yoga pants.
     Well, I thought that this was just fine and dandy, until I got to my Italian class. My Italian teacher is this cute little Italian woman who is always wearing AMAZING shoes and cute clothes. She was also wearing yoga pants accompanied by sneakers. When I showed up, she asked me if the rain had destroyed my shoes and outfit too and if I didn't have time to go home and change . . . Her outfit was her workout apparel, which no Italian in their right mind would wear in normal circumstances, so clearly I am not Italian. I like my yoga pants too much!

So, Lesson #50: A love of yoga pants is the death of fashion.

Lesson #49 Singing in the Rain!

     RAIN! I feel like whenever you see umbrellas and rain, you immediately start singing! Or at least I do! So in honor of that, here is Gene Kelly singing in the rain!

   
     So, Lesson #49: No matter where you are in the world, be it Italy or the U.S., SING IN THE RAIN!

Lesson #48 Designer fanny packs . . .

     What is it with men and fanny packs? I had previously thought before I came to Italy that fanny packs were left back in the 80's. Unfortunately, it seems they are still with us. Yay for fanny packs! Although they are occassionally useful to help fend off the pickpockets, there really is no reason for a fanny pack without a water bottle holder for hiking! That is the one and ONLY time a fanny pack should be used. Also, if you are using it for that purpose, it should generally be a neutral color and made out of sporty fabric. Not 80's neon . . .

     In Italy, they have a different view of what is acceptable in the fashion realm of life. For example, designer fanny packs. Yes, that's right. DESIGNER FANNY PACKS!!!!!!!! Crazy right?? But they are everywhere here!!!!!!!!!! It's really as bad as a man purse . . .

     Lesson #48: Beware the return of the fanny pack!

Lesson #47 Opera . . .

     Oh opera. It is a beautiful art form. Well on our recent adventure to Perugia, we had massive amounts of chocolate consumption and lucky for us, and opera midterm to study for! Well, here in Rome, our opera midterm and finals consist of listening to opera and naming the composer and his dates, the aria and opera, and the voice types. This meant non-stop opera listening for us and we were even dreaming of our opera music. Luckily some of the music is bearable, but for those songs that aren't, you have to find a way to make it bearable.
     For me, that consists of singing! And for those of you who know me, singing is never a good thing, especially when it comes to opera. Unfortunately for my roommates, I was attempting to sing Rossini's very high soprano from the Barber of Seville. One of my roommates actually barged into my room because she thought someone was hurt or dying or something.

     So, Lesson #47: My singing opera sounds like a dying person . . . good to know . . .

Lesson #46 Karma

     You would think that stepping in doggie poopies once would be enough, but apparently in Rome, you can never step in it enough! Perhaps this fallacy that stepping in dog poo is lucky is why no Italian has ever picked up any of their dog's business. Ever. Our daily walk to school is a hop, skip, and a jump. Literally. You hop around the doggie poo, then start skipping when you see someone else has kindly stepped in it first and created poopie footprints, and if all else fails, you JUMP and hope that you miss most of it and land on the other side of the poo trail.

     So, Lesson #46: Stepping in dog poo is lucky when you are in Italy. When you are in Rome, you are always VERY lucky.

Lesson #45 People are nice!

     If all else fails, look extremely lost and try to ask for directions. Luckily, I'm a girl and don't have the strange complex that men have about asking for directions. On our chocolate adventure to Perugia, the city somehow managed to shut down all the public transportation out of the city and only had buses coming in. Unfortunately, we wanted to leave the city of chocolate heaven and could not manage to leave. Some people might of seen this as a sign to stay and eat MORE chocolate. But unfortuanately, we had midterms, so even signs like no transportation out of the city, must be ignored.
     There is a major bus station in the center of Perugia that was somehow miraculously managed to get to there and realized there really no buses leaving the city. In an interesting turn of events, people were amazingly nice! They actually tried their best to help us, which in Rome is more of a 'do it yourself' kind of attitude. They pointed us in the correct direction for the bus (always a first step) and then managed to convince a bus driver to take us to the train station. It was off the kindness of others trying to help that we finally managed to make our train out of Perugia. And the bus didn't even stop for anyone else on the way down.

+

=

     Therefore, the moral of this story: Lesson #45: In towns where there are chocolate festivals, people eat chocolate, chocolate makes people happy, happy people are nice people, and nice people like to help!

Lesson #44 CHOCOLATE

     CHOCOLATE! Really, that is all that needs to be said. Well, besides the fact that it's nutritious and delicious and has it's own festival in Perugia. Which is AMAZING! If you get a chance to go and spend a couple of days there, do. Perugia was incredible. It is such a small city compared to Rome. People actually stop to say hello and have conversations, where as in Rome, it's just rushing around. The chocolate was of course, AMAZING! The festival brings in chocolate from all over Europe! There is basically every brand of chocolate that is delicious enough to come, plus a lot of carts selling fresh homemade chocolate! Of course, there was also chocolate covered everything specialty hot chocolate everywhere! The hot chocolate is really just that, chocolate heated up. No additional milk added. It was delicious.

     The chocolate festival is so large that they now sell EuroChocolate cards, which are cards with different stations where you can get samples of CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!! It was very exciting, and allowed us to try some chocolate that I never would have  . . . and got us a chocolate picture-frame (made out of CHOCOLATE!)

     Well, what kind of chocolate festival would be complete without giant chocolate sculptures?

So, Lesson #44: Eat, Live, Breathe and LOVE chocolate!

Lesson #43 When someone says "Dress Accordingly" . . .

     You know those times where you look outside and it's a beautiful day, then you get outside and it's freezing? Yah, we had one of those weekends. You see, we thought we would be smart and check the weather which said it was going to be about 70 degrees. Beautiful right? WRONG!!!! Apparently it also said if feels like it's 50 degrees out. Plus wind. COLD!

     We went to Assisi and Perugia last weekend. I have come to the conclusion that Italy is a beautiful country. No matter where you are, the views are amazing and the culture is surrounding you no matter where you go. Assisi is a beautiful historical hill town famous for it's patron saint, San Francesco. They have amazing churches and incredible frescoes that blow your socks off! Unfortunately, I wasn't wearing socks and the wind was really blowing hard! Perugia was even colder, but it was the EuroChocolate festival, so at least there was hot chocolate!

     I guess that the hill towns are colder than Rome, which we kind of spaced out. Our program advisor even sent an email saying dress accordingly! I was wearing  a t-shirt with a light sweater and flip-flops, while the Italians surrounding me were wearing down coats with fur collars, hats, gloves and fluffy boots.

     Lesson #43: When someone says it's going to be cold, don't be an idiot and wear flip-flops. You will freeze.

Lesson #42 Cute little fire trucks!

     Italians have their ways to life, one of which does not include a manual to fire safety. In our apartments in Rome, there is no plan if there is a fire (or at least none that I know about). It's odd really because Italians have gas stoves, but there is one staircase in our building and one exit. There is also no smoke detector. For my family, no smoke detector is a sin. What with grandpa inventing the first battery operated smoke detector and having at least one in every room (including the tree house) since before I was born, it is a bit odd. However, in Italy, I have yet to come across a store that even sells one! It's just not the culture. But, they at least have firetrucks!

     One our way home from dinner one night, we actually saw a fire! I guess it was just a little one, but the cute little firetruck came ripping down the street and set up a ladder to go put it out. The fire was up on the balcony of an 8 story building, so the firemen sent the ladder up there and all we could hear was the sound of a fire extinguisher. Yes, speeding through traffic, sending a ladder 8 stories high and then using a fire extinguisher. Vai Italia!

     Lesson #42: Fire safety is rare in Italy, but they drive cute firetrucks!

Lesson #41 Alici translated means anchovies . . .

     Anchovies. They really are an acquired taste. Well, Italians, especially those from Naples love their anchovies! A Neapolitan pizza has mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and anchovies! This is really something good to know, especially if you are one of those people with whom anchovies don't quite hit the spot. Well, unfortuantely, menus in Italian don't just say ANCHOVIES on them in big writing. They say alici, which translated means anchovies. It's one of those things you wish you knew, then didn't and feel stupid about.

     Well, unfortunately for Kali, that happened. These little fishes were in her pizza! But, because she felt like she should have known that alici meant anchovy, she ate the whole pizza. Every single bite looked slightly painful, but she finished it off and the waiter looked very pleased.

     Lesson #41: Alici means anchovies, if all else fails, feed them to Kali! (Just kidding!)

Lesson #40 Dogs pee on cars

     Well, the lesson is fairly obvious. If you have the wonderful opportunity to come to Rome, walk down a side street and take a look at all the bumpers of Italian cars. All of them, and I mean ALL of them have pee stains on them. Italians let their doggies go everywhere, and rarely pick it up. But if you walk along the street around 5:30pm, you will see all of them stop and pretend not to notice their dogs peeing on other peoples cars. No car is safe, not even a Porsche!

     So, Lesson #40: Do not brush up against any Italian cars, you never know what's on them!

Lesson #39 Pizza Crust vs. Quiche Crust

vs. 

     It really shouldn't be that complicated right? There is a definite difference between a pizza crust and a quiche crust. For example, one is cooked flat, while one gets a cool pan. Whoops. 

     We buy pre-made pizza crust from the supermarket here in Rome. It's actually kind of awesome because it is cheap and so are we! Well, the store ran out of our pre-made pizza dough, and we thought we would be awesome and sidestep the need for pizza crust with quiche crust! Not one of our better ideas. Quiche crust with pizza toppings cooked like a pizza? Kinda mushy and gross. 

     

     Lesson #39: Stick with the Italian favorite: Pizza is much better than quiche. 

Lesson #38 Cobblestones

     Cobblestones. The word cobble is actually supposed to be wobble, because when walking on cobblestones, its more like wobbling on cobblestones. They are strategically placed to trip you. It's actually quite amazing the patterns that are created with cobble/wobblestones. Many of the cobblestones in Rome are replaced in the exact pattern they have been for years. But, in Rome, they wait for years until they are all at different angles to replace them, hence the tripping.

     Another interesting thing in Rome is the original paving stones that are still placed throughout a few of the historical districts. These original paving stones are THE ORIGINAL stones used back when Caesar ruled the Roman empire! There are even the tracks from the carriage wheels still engraved in the paths they traveled. It really is amazing, but they are gigantic! When you are busy looking at the amazing things around you, you really are not paying attention to where your feet are going, which again equates to tripping!
     My main question is all those Italian women in heels, HOW DO THEY WALK!?!?! I can't even walk in a straight line in tennis shoes here, so heels? Out of the question!

    Lesson #38: Wobblestones are the Italian version of cobblestones

Lesson #37 Allergic to Italy?

     Am I allergic to Italy? Well, that is a beautiful and charming question. One that I am still wondering about . . . . You see, ever since the 1st day here, I have been suffering allergic reactions like none other. First it was the regular seasonal allergic reactions to pollen and what have you, but then? Random rashes all over my legs? Well, lets just say one of my first real Italian language tests was in the Italian pharmacy.
     In Europe, basically everything is necessary through a doctor's prescription, including Advil and Tylenol. That makes it tricky for unexplained issues, such as leg rashes with unknown causes. I gave up on trying to figure it out and walked into the pharmacy anyway. I tried to explain the situation to her and finally just pointed at my legs, the red splotches all over my legs were fairly apparent in my shorts . . . She just reached over into her stash of magical medicines and handed me a tube that says prescription only in about 6 languages. YAY!!!!!!!!!

     Lesson #37: I'm probably allergic to Italy, but at least I'm friends with the lady at the pharmacy!

Lesson #36 Honking, Revving, Sparking

     Awhhhh, the sounds of Roma . . . honking, revving, sparking . . . The wondrous sounds of a city. Its loud. We live on a major street in Rome and it is LOUD! A tram line passes straight past our apartment, so you can hear that all night long, the trash pick-ups, the motorcycles, the cars, the double-parked people getting angry and laying on the horn, the list goes on. It's actually quite entertaining to just sit on our balcony and relax and take in everyone else's crazy life!
     However, there are  certain noises that FREAK us out still! The first and foremost would be the sparks that come off of the tram lines. The lines connecting it are low and rub whenever the tram passes creating a giant spark that sounds like a gun-shot! It is terrifying and highly confusing when there is lightning . . .

     Another sound is that of the bus air-brakes. I swear they go off whenever they see me on the balcony or walking by . . . I jump about a foot every time . . .

      And the last of my examples, but by far my favorite is that of the non-stop horn blast. Roman's are crazy drivers as everyone knows, but they also park wherever they think they can get away with it. Often times, that happens to be behind other cars. Well, when that happens, the owner of the blocked car gets mad, of course, and lays on the horn like its no tomorrow. Oh yah, its fun!

     Lesson #36: Get used to the honking, revving and sparking noises. They keep life exciting.