I officially fail at blogging

It's been almost 2 weeks and I haven't updated. I am so sorry. I know that many of you that I don't talk to on a regular basis depend on my blog as a way of keeping up-to-date on what I am doing here in Florence...and I have been slacking. Sorry. During the week, there is really nothing exciting going on, so I am thinking that Sunday or Monday nights are going to be my update nights. This way, you can all see what I did during the week and weekend...especially the weekend!

So let's see. Since last week, my cold got better, I took my first Italian Quiz (which I got a 91% on!!), and went on 2 amazing trips over the weekend (which were both AMAZING on their own!)

Trip #1: Castello di Volognano

This trip can really, truthfully be summed up in one word: AMAZING. Every synonym that can be linked to amazing would be fine to use as well. The trip to Castello was a grape harvesting and wine tasting trip. The best was that it only cost 20 euro. One of the wine professors that teachers here at FUA works on her family's generation-old vineyard/castle creating amazing wines. We left extremely early in the morning (our bus left at 7 am!) getting us to the Castle around 8.30. The castle is atop the hills of their specific Chianti region (I can't really remember the name--it was too early!) Of course, the hill was so high that we were literally standing in the mist of the clouds. This made the views AMAZING!!! While we were there, we were given a tour of the grounds, the vaults where the wine is aging in the barrells, the processing tanks and rooms where we were able to watch grapes be processed from field to fermentation tanks. Once the clouds began to retreat, we were lead out into the fields where we were taught a little bit about the science behind grape harvesting, and then were given a chance to harvest ourselves. We got into groups, mine being Olivia, Sabrina, Cat and myself. The funny thing was, we were out there while their actual workers were out there. This meant that not only we were slowing them down, but if we wanted to even attempt to harvest some for ourselves, we had to get in front of the workers. Eventually, they realized that we were slowing down the process, so we made our way back up to the Castle. Once inside, they took us upstairs where we got to take part in my favorite part of the day: tasting. The professor explained to us the meaning and process behind their 3 major wines. Their white is dedicated to and named after her mother, Donna. To eat, they made a FABULOUS vegetable lasagna with a homemade béchamel sauce, paired with the white wine. Then, we had prosciutto with one of their red wines. The third pairing was parmesan and pecorino cheese with another of their red wines. I must say, that I did try each of the wines, and I honestly can say that I am not a fan of wine. It makes me sad since I am in such a wine-famous city, where it is actually cheaper to drink wine than water for dinner. Of all the three, I could tolerate the white wine, if any of them. For dessert, we had these wonderful cookies, either almond of raisin. All of the food was prepared by her mother and their staff at the castle. It was delicious!!

Trip #2: CINQUE TERRE!!!

We finally were able to go to Cinque Terre. And honestly, it was worth the wait. It was so gorgeous. The weather couldn't have been better, and we went with an amazing group. Our train left at...6.10 am!! But that just meant that we were going to get there even earlier, giving us more time to enjoy the towns. We originally had planned to go with Cat, Olivia, Sabrina, myself and our other friend Nicole. But once we got to the train station, we ran into our friends Alexi and MacKenzie! Turns out they had been planning to go on the same train...and we didn't even now it! So our hiking group went from 5 ro 7! The more the merrier!

We started out in Monterosso, seeing as the trails are supposed to become easier if you hike from Monterosso to Riomaggore. We were able to buy a ticket that granted us into each city for the day..only 5 euro! This way we were able to continue hiking and just had to flash our card as we entered the trail to the next city. Now, the map told us that the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza was 3 km and was supposed to take 2 hours. Well, as challenging as it was at some times (and let me tell you, steep steps at 50 and 60 at a time, they were quite a challenge and involved some much needed stops), we managed to get it done in just around 1.5 hours. The trails were probably the scariest part. The path was maybe 4 feet wide, if that, sometimes without any barrier on the cliff side of the trail. But it was all worth it. The views of the Mediterranean Sea and Vernazza were amazing. We stopped in Vernazza to take a break, grab a bite to eat and then take some pictures. Unfortunately in Vernazza is where we had probably the most eventfully funny part of the day. We were down on some of the rocks taking pictures, and I went down to photobomb a picture of Cat. Right as I was walking down to her, I said "Be careful, don;t fall." Of course, as I finished the word 'fall,' my feet slipped out from underneath me...and POOF! I decided that I wanted to take a quick little sit in the Sea...taking my camera too. So, after Vernazza, I had a wet camera, and wet clothes/socks/shoes. I had to continue the day hiking in wet clothes...but thanks to Sabrina and her SHAMWOW I was a little dryer. Nevertheless, the rest of the hikes for the day were amazing. We were able to hike from Vernazza to Corniglia (Corniglia is actually up on the hills, not down on the coast like all of the others). That trail was actually longer (4 km) but took us an hour (said to take 1.5 hours...can you tell that we actually were faster hikers than they thought we might be). The trail from Corniglia to Monarola was closed because of a downed bridge, so we took the 4 minute train ride, where we were able to wander and explore the town a little bit. The last hike is from Monarola to Riomaggore. This trail is the easiest and isn't really on the mountains; it's a glorified sidewalk. It takes only 20 minutes and is nicknamed "Lover's Lane" because of its ease and beautiful views.


Nothing exciting has happened this week, just class on Monday and Wednesday as usual. I have to start writing my paper for Florence Sketchbook, it's on Brunelleschi's "Ospedale degli Innocenti" ("Hospital of the Innocents"). I have all of the research, but starting papers is just so hard for me to do. But I figure that I should go ahead and get it out of the way so that I can have a good time this weekend and enjoy our ISA excursions. Saturday we are going to Siena and San Gimignano, and then Sunday we are going to Assisi. Sabrina unfortunately can't come with us because her sister is coming to visit and they will be in Rome! Exciting for her!! That starts the first of the family visitors...which is exciting!!

Be looking for a blog update on Sunday night...we get back around dinner time so it won't be too late when we get back!