Cinque Terre

So we caught the 9:10am train to Cinque Terre Sunday September 14th. (Sorry, I know that I'm a bit behind, but I've been really busy...and sick!) We got there around 1:30pm, ate, and were on our way on the trails by 2:00pm.

Cinque Terre is a series of five (Cinque is five in Italian) coastal towns that are all connected by mountain hiking paths. The paths are all along the coast, so going was pretty slow at first. We were all shutterbugs and took a bajillion pictures. I went with Nancy, Michelle, Rene, Binoy, and Lauren; it was a pretty fun group to travel with. The first two towns (Riomaggiore and Manarola) took about 20 to 30 minutes to hike, but on our way to the third town (Corniglia), it started to downpour. We were still pretty far away from the third town, so we just kept on trekking through it. We were completely soaked, but it was still a good time. After 30 minutes, it was bright and sunny again, and actually got unbearably hot. We experienced a lot of mother nature, but it was worth it. I can't even explain Cinque Terre, it's beautiful.

We got through the first four towns in less than three hours, but we still didn't have time to hike the longest and hardest hike to Monterosso. Nancy and I seriously pounded out the trails, we were running and we each fell :(. We had to catch the 6:55pm train back to Milan, so that was pretty much impossible. We settled on taking the train to Monterosso from the fourth town (Vernazza), and ate seafood for dinner. It was a long day, and no explanation will do Cinque Terre justice. Here are some pictures. Above is a picture of some random hikers that really wanted to take a picture with Nancy and I, they were the nicest old men ever! Below is a group shot of us finally arriving in Vernazza.


Our final destination, Monterosso!

Milano

So I had my first taste of European Ultimate on Monday with the Milanese teams. I guess it's a separate men's and women's team, but they go to coed tournaments together. They're actually heading to Burla Beach Cup, which is a beach tournament in southern Italy. I'll be sitting my four hour Italian exam that Saturday, so unfortunately I won't be able to go. :(

Playing ultimate was very comforting, mainly because it's something I'm used to and something I love. We didn't really drill; we ran three-man, and then we scrimmaged the entire two hours. It appears that most of the team is comprised of older men and women, out of college, so there's a bit of an age gap, but they were extremely nice. I was very willing to learn Italian Ultimate terminologies, and they in turn loved learning the American terms. Playing with the Milan team is something I plan on doing regularly, but this might not be possible until my Italian crash course ends.

Tuesday night, we went to the club, Hollywood. Apparently many famous Italians go there, but I didn't like it. It was tiny, packed, underground, and flashy. I seem to remember a lot of people making out on the dance floor, and I ended up taking care of some girl from Wisconsin that I don't know...

Classes started Thursday with Arts and Culture II, and Business Strategy. My A&C class seems very new age, and just different: Design is manipulation! But my professor wants us to keep a blog for class (and it seems like we don't have a final at all except for our blog!) and I'm already doing that for traveling, so it's pretty awesome. My Business Strategy class is just like BC's Computers In Management class, so I don't really foresee any problems there.

And finally, to get up to speed, we (several kids from my Italian class) decided to eat chinese food at the Duomo. It was actually pretty good, and it ended up costing me 13E. I had duck and fried rice (this just makes me miss chinese food more!). And of course we went out for gelato after!

Lake Como

After our six hour class on Saturday the 6th, some of the guys from my class decided they wanted to play ultimate with me! Most of them are from India, and on their campus, they played a very different form of ultimate. They are really small fields, and you don't pass to a receiver, but just through a goal. (I told them that this is not how real ultimate was played lol) After ultimate, we were supposed to go on a water canal tour, but we got the times all mixed up, so we ended up missing it.

This is when we decided that we would go to Lake Como (located north of Milan), so we boarded the 7pm train for 3.60E (so cheap!) and arrived at Lake Como in less than an hour. From there we went in search of housing, and settled on the Ostello Villa Olmo, a hostel found from our Lonely Planet guide! It was only 15E a night, with breakfast included. So Binoy, CD, and I dropped our things off, and headed out to dinner. The lake was beautiful at night, but none of those pictures came out that great. Here's one of the lake and some store fronts at night. And this was also the first time Binoy and I had gelato in Italy, and it was delicious! Now I crave gelato and Fanta everyday!

There was a 12:00AM curfew at the hostel, so we had to pack it in pretty early. It was a good idea though, because we ended up waking up at 7:30 to catch the 9:15 ferry to Bellagio. The boat ride was incredible. It was 7.90E for the 2 hour boat ride, and it was gorgeous. It was exactly what I expected Italy to look like. There were mountains with clouds cast over them, there were little towns on the waterfront, and there was even a waterfall!

So we finally arrived at Bellagio (the casino in Vegas is named after this town!), and it honestly felt like a short ride since we took pictures the entire time. It is a picturesque little town set on the lake, and upwards onto mountains. We shopped around, took lots of pictures, and ate gelato (of course). The rain was falling on and off all day. We took the hour bus ride back to Lake Como, which was extremely scary. The roads are only wide enough for one car/bus, and we're basically weaving up mountains and forcing other veichles to back up and out of our way. All in all, it was a great trip, and exactly what I needed.

The Week in Retrospect

Wednesday
This entire week is International Students' Week, which means that clubs are cheaper for us. We pay 10E for two drinks versus 10E for one drink. All of us from the Arcobaleno (my dorm) headed to Old Fashion, which is at the Cadorna stop in downtown Milan.

Drinks in Italy are strong, and thus worth their money. I had a Screwdriver, a Mohito, and a Negroni. There were two to three shots of alcohol in each drink, so we can say that I was pretty wasted. Don't ever order the Negroni, it's absolutely gross. The Italians may love it, but it's three types of Gin and just disgusting.

The club itself was pretty cool; it was an outside bar with a dance floor and three separate bars. There were couches and tables everywhere, and they were playing American music for the most part.

Then I got back to the dorm and drunk skpyed some people....

Thursday
We had our six hour Italian class at 9AM, and needless to say we were a little late (only half an hour). I was so hung over, and ended up puking twice on the way to class. I slept through most of the class (so I don't know anything about ordering food in Italian now) and when I woke up, I ended up running to the bathroom just in time to puke. I've learned my lesson: no drinking for 9AMs, it's simply not worth it.


Friday
Binoy, Andrew, CD, Ali, and I decided to visit the Duomo after class, and it was beautiful. This is a picture of me and Binoy in front of the Duomo. It made me feel a little better about being in Milan since I've been so bummed with how industrial it looks. We'll be going on a tour soon, and supposedly they're taking the cross down on Saturday for some reason. I just heard that. We went around to the shops, but they were all really expensive. We did see the Ferrari store though, which was pretty cool. (I bet you're jealous Phil!)

We ended our trip with Aperativo, which is the best concept in Italy. Aperativo is usually from 5pm-9pm, and you the restaurant may charge from 6E to 14E. You get one drink of your choice, and then it's buffet style for the food! It is declicious, and the best bargain that I've found in Italy thus far. Eating's about the only thing I feel consistently like doing here!

Day Two

So we had our first six hour Italian course today, and it was long. I think I learned "Ciao, Di dove sei, and Bounjourno." Not bad for six hours. :) Sono Americana! We're to take an exam at the end in hopes of receiving a certificate! (I don't know what that's supposed to do for me). I keep on trying to pronounce Spanish words whenever I see Italian, so it's a bit difficult.

Binoy, Andrew, Anthony and I had meant to go out tonight to Milan to drink and just have some fun before the semester started, but that plan fell through. We were all napping or too busy with other things and we just simply never got our act together. There was luckily an international hangout at the first floor of our dorm, so Binoy and I actually got to hang out with several BC kids, as well as other Americans and Brazilians. The Italian police came and kicked our ass, so we all peaced out.

What's funny is that Italian wine is the cheapest thing ever. It's about 3 euros for 1.5 liters. But everything else is so freaking expensive. I want to save my money to travel, and right now all I can worry about is how many euros I'm spending at the supermarket. Sometimes I wish that I were in China instead.

Arrival

So after two flights adding up to eight hours and a six hour layover, I am finally in Milan. Actually, that is a lie, I am South of Milan, and it isn't what I had expected. I think I had envisioned Venice and Rome whenever I thought about studying abroad, and my dorm is nothing like that. It's like a three star hotel, filled completely with foreign exchange students, which is pretty cool, but at the same time, it's not the same friendly dorm feel. I have a roommate that I have not met yet, and the air conditioner doesn't work in my room :(. Honestly, I am a bit disappointed and a bit homesick, but I know these first days will be the hardest.

Where I am, everything seems to close really early. We tried to go out to buy some wine tonight, and the stores were all closed by 9pm. There isn't really a night life here we're not located anywhere near the heart of Milan. I was hoping that there would be distractions to keep my mind from thinking about home. I think once I start seeing more of Italy I'll feel better about studying abroad.