Ravenna is worth it

Ravenna is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The city is absolutely amazing. It helps when you get a private tour from your former Italian professor who is a native Ravennese... Ravenneis... Ravennian...? person from Ravenna.

The city is pretty close to the sea too, so there is a really beautiful springtime breeze. We tried to go to the beach, but we didn't know where to get off the bus and kind of just rode in a big circle for 40 minutes on the bus. I think the beach was hidden behind a bunch of pine trees and we had to walk down 1 of these really weird dirt roads to get there.

We did get to see a ton of gorgeous mosaics, though, which made up for everything--including a really, really creepy guy who stared at us the entire train ride (no joke). He even called his mom over to come stare at us for a few minutes. It was rather bizarre and chilling at the same time. My friend blamed it on my blonde hair. Apparently no one in Italy has ever seen it before.

(No picture because I was too afraid for my life and dignity.)

But I think I can endure 1 hour and 8 minutes of freakish staring for this. -Basilica di San Vitale

I think it is also worth mentioning that I love my Panasonic Lumix camera. I mean, sometimes the "forced flash off" pictures come out a bit shaky if my hand moves mid-snap, but if you hold the camera with two hands, it takes pictures which beat all the other digital cameras in my group!

Besides the little bit of sunlight coming through the tiny doorway with a curtain covering most of it and those small alabaster-covered windows, there wasn't a lot of light in Mausoleo di Galla Placida.

And when I get my own house, I think a mosaic ceiling like this would be really nice, right? 

Ravenna is also the final resting place of Dante Alighieri and wow, are the people of Ravenna proud of that fact. They won't let Florence forget it! Or have him back, of course! During WWII, Ravenna went to great lengths to keep his bones safe from bombs and looters, Florentines, etc. and hid them under this big pile of dirt and ivy. 

I'm not really sure why people weren't confused or suspicious of a big mound of dirt appearing suddenly overnight, but whatever. 

This is the former tomb of Dante. I guess the mound of dirt was a good idea if this was the only other option available.

Dante's new mausoleum/tomb

Dante's current headstone/tomb

The Basilica of San Apollinare Nuova was also really interesting if you have someone knowledgeable and awesome with you to explain why there are floating hands on some of the mosaic pillars.

This used to be a pagan temple with people in between the pillars. But when they converted it to a Christian church, they took out the people and put in curtains. I guess they got tired or were too lazy to fix the pillars, though. Or they thought no one would notice that those hands don't have bodies.

The Basilica di San Francesco, though, has to be the coolest thing about Ravenna. And, really, it's only this really small space in the whole huge church that is so amazing. It's behind the rather unimpressive high vaulted ceilings and naves and what-have-yous (okay, I mean, they would be impressive if you hadn't seen ancient Greek architecture in Sicily and amazing Byzantine mosaics in all the other churches in Ravenna). See, the soil in Ravenna is super soft--good for agriculture, but really crappy for building preservation. And because the soil is so soft, the old buildings in Ravenna are actually sinking. The Basilica di San Francesco has been sinking for a really, really long time. During that time, the people of Ravenna have had to keep building a new floor so that the church remains at street level. And the water table is so high that the water has covered some of the lower floors (there are about 3 or 4 floor levels). But the really cool part is that under that water, the first floor of the church was once covered in mosaics (much like the rest of Ravenna). Because the water is covering these mosaics, the church keeps goldfish in the water to keep it clean so you can see the awesome mosaics from this little balcony in the back of the church.

In Ferrara this weekend, we had a Chocolate Festival (yes, Italy really is that awesome). This is a picture of the absolutely adorable--and edible!--chocolate animals at one of the booths.

Flying Solo

This weekend seemed to be the weekend of unsuccessful plans.If anyone was going anywhere, it seemingly didn't quite workout the way they had planned--or in some cases, they didn't plan at all. I was supposed to go hiking in Tuscany, but I wasn't packed, no one made departure plans, and the whole thing got really confusing. Then, I was going to tag along with some girls going to the Celtic festival in Bologna for St. Patrick's Day. Except that got sort of complicated and I don't think anyone went to the Celtic festival at all... But I was determined to do SOMETHING and go SOMEWHERE this weekend, so I took the train alone to Bologna and saw some of the sites by myself. I did have a pretty enjoyable time, though, if you neglect the fact that I didn't have anyone to talk to pretty much all day, well... unless you wanted me to talk to Sir Stu and get committed to an asylum...

Somehow, I don't think that would have been a very nice end to my day. I did get to see a lot, though, and all without having to worry about another person!

Piazza Nettuno

There is a bit of a story behind this fountain/sculpture, according to my guidebook (which I should mention, recommended a restaurant that does not exist 1 year after the copyright... so, I guess take it with a grain of salt!). Pope Pius IV took exception to Neptune's (Nettuno's) package and made the sculptor, Giambologna, downsize it... except Giambologna took exception to the pope's exception, and sneakily restructured the statue so that Neptune's original package is still on view from the steps located behind and a bit to the left of the statue. Really, it's just Neptune's gesticulating hand, but I guess if you squint and erase the fingers... you can kind of see why the pope would be upset. 

I also got to see the former seat of the first university in the western world--the University of Bologna. The Palazzo Archiginnasio, besides being really cool because of all the shields and seals that decorate the walls and ceilings (basically graffiti from students in the 16th century who wanted to honor their professors and other students at the university), also houses the Teatro Anatomico, the old med-student hang out where they used to perform dissections.

Yeah, that white slab? That's marble... and the old dissection table. Of course, not the original because a bomb was dropped on the courtyard of Palazzo Archiginnasio and this room had to be repaired after all the damage.

Sir Stu liked this place a lot too. He felt like he fit in.

I also got to pay 3 euro to climb 468 narrow, rickety wooden stairs for a very nice view of Bologna. 

............................

Worth it.

The really funny thing to watch were the couples climbing the tower. All the men were upfront, kind of breathing a bit heavier than usual and irritated that their female companion was lagging about 20 steps behind, breathing like she just ran a marathon, sweating, clutching the railing and grumbling. LOL! 

The highlight of my trip, though, would probably have to be the food. I found a pizza too big for me to finish in 1 sitting--and too big for the plate they served it on!!--and quite possibly the world's best gelato. Seriously, I wish they had this shop in Jersey... hell, I'd even settle for just Ferrara! Of course, it was all thanks to my guidebook because I never would have ventured down this side street reeking of urine if they hadn't told me there was gold at the end of the not-so-nice-smelling rainbow. (Okay, I tried my best with the St. Patty's Day reminder, but seriously, I don't think Italians cared all that much. Barely saw any green all day and to be honest, I sort of forgot a few times...)

(Food) heaven on earth.

They are also home to the weirdest-named and most-creative flavors I have ever seen. This is what I got: Samurai and Inferno.

In other words: Mascarpone/Ricotta/Cocoa & White Chocolate/Berries/White Chocolate wafers. Also known as: Why can't I eat this stuff every day?!

Of malls, markets, and mysteries

I took yet another journey to the mall yesterday. And to all my EB people out there reading this: Le Mura doesn't have anything on Brunswick Square Mall, which is an indicator of just how small this mall is in comparison to any American mall out there. For reference to people who have never set foot in the degenerate Square... think of Le Mura as the tiniest square of your local mall (Freehold, Woodbridge, Bridgewater... geez, I don't know where you people shop!)

[I don't have a picture for you and people don't seem too keen to post pictures of the "mall" on Google images, so you'll just have to use your imagination.]

BUT! The one redeeming quality of the mall, besides this really sleezy discount store that I am pretty sure is run by the Chinese mafia and which provides endless amusement to me:

How do you like my stealth pictures of the underwear/lingerie/shoe department??

No, the only real redeeming factor of the mall is Ipercoop.

This place is the mecca of anyone looking for cheap food in Ferrara. I would live there if I could. This is basically the Italian equivalent of BJs or Sam's Club or Costco, etc. It is the BEST!!! I can find almost anything I need here... except all Heinz ketchup in Italy comes in the glass bottles that have kind of been phased out in US restaurants. I guess I know where they all went!!! The only thing I have not been able to find are notecards. I think Italians just don't believe in or know about these wonderful little pieces of re-inforced paper with lines on one side and none on the other.

In fact, I find so much stuff that I risk falling off my bike on my 10 minute ride home. On real streets. No sidewalks. With real cars zooming by. I would take a picture, but navigating a traffic circle on a bike is hard enough!

So, I feel like this wasn't the safest way to ride home, but it was efficient. No way was I about to walk my heavy bike all the way home. And hey! I got a nice workout... trying to balance 50 extra pounds on my bike and having to sit on the front of my bike seat.

By the time I got home... I really regreted buying that 1.5 liter bottle of water for 14 cents AND both 1liter juices. But now I don't. :D

In other news, I went to the market on Saturday (Ferrara has a market in the central square every weekend with a different sort of "theme").

This week's theme I think... I think, was meat and cheese. You think?

I guess this is the best of both worlds?

Roasted pig head anyone?

Now I really get to see who reads this blog... What kind of cheese is this?

(A fabulous prize from Italy could be in the mix!)



So, Sicily...

Ahaha... Sicily is just as contradictory as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I had A LOT of fun, but it's hard to only think well of an island that basically coined mafioso and tried to steal my passport. Oh, that's right. The 4-star, incredibly gorgeous hotel in Agrigento (Hotel Ulisse, so don't stay there!) tried to steal my passport. It was a whole ordeal that lasted over an hour. Basically, for everyone who hasn't been to Europe (or Italy, specifically), hotels like to keep your passport for traveler information. I'm not really sure as to the reason, because in Italy the police can stop you to check your identification, so this doesn't seem like the best idea, but whatever. They usually keep it in the cubby hole allotted for your room key.

We had to hand in our passports the night we arrived at the hotel. The directors of our program went around and collected them from everyone and I handed mine to my friend who was closer to one of them and WATCHED HER hand it to him. He then put his stack of passports (mine was in the MIDDLE) on the desk for the clerk to check in. That night, they called his room because he had forgotten to hand in his passport, so they just needed his info. At that point, no mention was made that the clerk had only received 20 passports (instead of 22). The next morning, everyone got their passports before going out to the bus. Mine was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND!!! The clerk kept asking if I had it. Yeah, right, like Miss OCD doesn't know where that sucker is at all times. Ironically, or I guess interestingly, my passport is the only old passport amongst everyone at CIEE: it has a very flexible cover, no microchip and is much easier to fake.

The clerk NEVER alerted anyone to the fact that my passport was missing and got angrier and angrier about us asking him to check behind the desk, etc. The nicest and BEST bus driver in the whole world (seriously, this guy navigated scenic, windy roads up cliffsides like it was nothing) crawled around under the registration desk to look for it. Basically, Riccardo and Richard--two of the directors--were arguing with the clerk and some other flunky who showed up as well.

After an hour, when the passport was still MIA, I had to go out and dig through my bag to make sure it wasn't there (best line ever was my friend telling them it wasn't in there because "she has OCD. Her passport wouldn't be anywhere she didn't know about." Yeah... it wasn't there of course.

Riccardo and Rich went back inside without any students (who knows what went down then...) and the owner of the hotel had to come down as well. Richard said very loudly that we now had to go to the questura (police station) to report the theft (which meant really un-fun things for me in Agrigento) and then they went back to the bus. Low and behold!! Just as we were about to pull out of the parking lot the flunky runs out to the bus with my passport in hand (the whole bus started cheering). Wow. Apparently it was "under the registration sign on the desk" (which it wasn't because Richard looked under there and it would have been lopsided if it was under there).

Moral of the story: Never. Give. Anyone. Your. Passport. In. Sicily.

Needless to say, I was very happy to have it back.

But the rest of Sicily was a lot of fun. If you want to see all the pics, I'm slowly going to be loading the good ones on facebook over the next week(-ish)... (give me a break, there are about 800 of them).

Highlights:

Palermo

You fly into the Palermo airport right over the Mediterranean. The runway is right next to the water.

Monreale

Cloister

Back to Palermo

Cathedral of Palermo (beautiful outside, it used to be a mosque; ugly inside: all 19th century...)

Seafood salad (!!!)

CANNOLI!!!!

Castellammare

Segesta

Selinunte

Agrigento

Mother Etna

Catania

Siracusa

(Syracuse... but it sounds so much nicer in Italian and less like a BE school)

Greek!

Ortigia

This used to be a temple, but the Christians converted it to a church. You can still see the original columns.



Isola dei cani: It still belongs to the British because during WWII Churchill thought this would be the perfect island for a naval base. :D

Noto



Best cannoli of the trip.

Taormina



Etna erupted the last day we were in Sicily.

All those black specks? Yeah... that's ash from Etna. It was all over us.