But ses, again, I have been slacking in the blog updating. Forgive me…I have an excuse (somewhat). Last you heard from me, we had just gone to Verona for the weekend and had a great weekend. Classes weren’t super exciting, but its class, what do you expect. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of my classes, but the act of going to class is always just something you never want to do. (If that makes sense!) Friday, we took our day field trip for my Italian Renaissance Architecture class to Pienza.
Pienza is a part of Siena and is located up on the very top of a hill. There even is a church that is so precarioiusly perched on the hill that in the coming decades, its likely that it will slide down the hill and collapse (hopefully it stays where it is for a LONG time because it is a beautiful church. We didn’t have a lot planned for the day, since it takes just over 2 hours to get there (by private coach) and we had to make sure that we were back at a decent hour. We supposedly took a longer and “ridiculous” route (as our teacher put it) to Pienza, so we got there a couple minutes later than we were expecting. Upon arrival, we had tours booked to see Palazzo Piccolomini. It was very simple on the exterior and façade, but once you entered through the door, you are presented with a grand internal court and then beautiful Italian Renaissance gardens in the back, which provided us with a stunning view of the countryside. The palace inside was just as gorgeous and interesting as the exterior was. There were a ton of us, even though we had been divided into 2 groups, which meant all of us not being able to fit into the smaller rooms. The crowds meant that Sabrina and I were able to stand outside of the rooms, “listen” to the super fast speaking tour guide and sketch various elements of the palace (we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside; “no foto! No foto!).
After the tour, we were allowed to wander around for about an hour, get something to eat (a delicious salami and pecorino sandwich) and do whatever until we had to meet at the bus. Alva, Sabrina, Cat, Katie and I found a little sandwich place…AFTER we spent a good 20 minutes in a cheese shop. Pienza is known for it’s pecorino cheese. The smell from the street was intoxicating. I didn’t buy any that day, but Sabrina and I really want to go back about a week before we leave for home and buy a whole wheel, get it vacuum-packed and take it back to the states with us.
Friday started my day of sickness: a really bad sore throat. I thought that I would be fine, but it was really hurting me. Saturday we were planning on going to Arezzo and unfortunately, I was feeling so under the weather (my throat hurt when I swallowed and I could barely breathe through one nostril) so I reluctantly opted to stay home during the day while Olivia, Sabrina and Cat ventured off for a day trip to Arezzo. I literally stayed in the bed all day (except to go to the bathroom and the kitchen) and should have gotten so much more done than I did. I was pitiful; so pitiful that I was passed out by 11 pm that night (only 20 minutes after the girls got home) with all of the lights on (and if you know me, I usually can’t do that…that’s a sign that I am sick or really tired!). I had taken a Tylenol PM, which let me sleep so well that I didn’t even hear the girls leave the next morning. They went off to spend their Sunday in Bologna. I was feeling much better, which allowed me to do all of the homework that I put off on Saturday. The girls said that both places were really pretty and had gorgeous churches, so I am thinking that I will definitely have to either go back another time with them, or take Mom there when she comes over fall break!
So it’s Monday again. I am starting to feel a little bit better…taking my Emergen-C and nasal decongestant and being “that girl” who carries around a roll of toilet paper in her backpack! Haha, whatever works, right?! Tomorrow I will be studying Italian all day, seeing that we have our first quiz on Wednesday and a lot of it really just depends on memorization so that we can start to really learn forms of verbs, nouns, adjectives…those kinds of things. This weekend, rain or shine, we ARE going to Cinque Terre. I think that we are staying overnight Saturday, even though it is possible to do all 5 towns in one day. Hopefully, we will have good weather…either way; we will make it a good trip ☺
Until next time…buona notte!
And beware...this is what impending sickness can do to someone...
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