Certaldo e Copenhagen

A Street in lower Certaldo, with the older town in the background

Andi and I in upper Certaldo

Our family dinner :)

Award-winning Gelateria in San Gimignano

View of Sam Gimignano from the top of its tallest tower

Two weekends ago I went on a trip to a little Tuscan town called Certaldo with Andi, her brother Ben, and his three friends; Bryan, Nick, and Nate. One of my favorite aspects of the weekend was the adorable Bed & Breakfast we stayed in. The owner picked us up at the train station, and was so accommodating and friendly! It was great to be able to stay in such a nice place, especially considering all the hostels I’ve been staying in. After getting settled into our weekend home, and taking advantage of the free coffee and tea, we decided to explore Certaldo.  We started out in the lower part of town. That part was fairly urban and somewhat reminded me of Parma. We then headed to the upper town, the older part of Certaldo. This part of the town included medieval, castle looking-buildings amongst a gorgeous Tuscan landscape. It was a very quiet town, mainly because it gets most of its business in the summer tourist season. But it was nice to just walk around and enjoy the scenery. We eventually wandered into a wine bar called Enoteca Boccaccio and sat down to enjoy some Chianti and bruschetta.  After wandering around the medieval town for a while, we headed back to the B&B to make dinner. I was so happy because I was finally able to cook, which I’ve been dying to do since we don’t have access to the Villa kitchen. I made pesto rigatoni with pine nuts and tomatoes. We busted open a few bottles of wine and had a very relaxing evening.

The next day would be slightly less relaxing, but still very enjoyable. We had our hearts set on riding bikes to San Gimignano (another Tuscan town which I briefly visited at the beginning of my program) and the owner of the B&B told us it was only about 6 miles. When we woke up it was gray and rainy, but we decided to be adventurous and bike anyways. There was a bus we could’ve taken, but the route of the bike ride included a bunch of wineries and we wanted to stop on the way. The B&B had bikes for all of us, so we set off in the rain towards San Gimignano. I think the owner thought we were insane for riding in the rain. But the ride started off pretty pleasant. The landscape was so incredible that it was hard to care about a little bit of rain. We arrived at the first winery and decided to check it out. Unfortunately that one was closed, so we headed to the next one. This one was very far back in the hills. We had to walk our bikes up, up, and up to only later find out that winery was closed too. We soon realized that since it was a Sunday, most wineries were closed. We decided to continue and to wait until we reached our destination to have wine. As we continued we began going more and more uphill. As we went up, we could see a clearer view of the Tuscan hills, which was beautiful.

By the time we reached San Gimignano we had been riding for 2 hours. We were wet and exhausted, so we found a restaurant to dry off and relax in. After resting a bit, we were able to get up and explore San Gimignano. I think it is one of my favorite Tuscan towns.It is such a picturesque, quaint little town.  The last time I was in San Gimignano we were told it has a world famous gelateria, but unfortunately it was closed. Luckily, this time it was open! And it was delicious!  After gelato we climbed one of the town’s famous towers and got a great view of the whole place. We ended our activities by going to a torture museum, which was strange but interesting. We then rode back to the B&B. I was definitely not excited for another 2-hour bike ride. But because the way there was extremely steep, the way back only took about a half hour! We had another relaxing night after we all got out of our wet clothes and showered. Nick cooked steaks, we had a salad, and some more of the wine.

It was a very enjoyable weekend. I was happy to just relax and enjoy some other Tuscan towns. I hope that someday I will be able to come back in the summer. If those towns are beautiful now, I cannot even imagine how incredible they are in the summer.  It would also probably be a little more pleasant to ride bikes in the summer sun, rather than on a gray, rainy day.

This past weekend was also a little bit cold, although luckily not rainy, because I was in Copenhagen! I left with Andi and Melissa early Friday morning. We took Swiss Air, so it was nice to be on a real airline. Although, because we were flying into big international airports our flights were delayed. We had to run through the Zurich airport to catch our connection to Copenhagen! We thankfully made it with a few minutes to spare.  Andi’s friend Allison is studying in Copenhagen so she and their other friend Sara picked us up at the airport when we finally arrived. We converted our euro into kroner and were on our way. It was interesting to hear about Allison’s study abroad experience because it is very different from ours in Florence. Her program is huge with over 700 people and she lives in dorm-style living. She has a single room, and the 5 of us had a nice cozy squeeze both nights we were there.

Once we set all of our stuff down in Allison’s room we headed to a street of shops. We wandered into the Lego store (since legos were invented in Copenhagen), which was fun, and just looked around. We also went to one of Allison’s favorite cafes. The coffee was incredible. In Italy they don’t really do normal coffee, just espresso and lattes. So it was really refreshing to have a large cup of coffee to just sip and enjoy. The cafes and restaurants all have a very cozy ambience. So this café had dim lighting, couches, and relaxing music. Every café we walked by looked awesome! And they all had very fresh, organic food and drinks. Another thing I noticed as we walked around the city, was how environmentally conscious it was. Only 30% of the population drives (they make it very expensive for people to have cars), so they’re public transportation is very efficient. And everyone bikes! It was really cool to see everyone out and about on bikes even in the cold.

That night we decided to go out to dinner, and I got to satisfy one of the foods I’ve been craving since January- Thai Food! It was pretty expensive, as are most restaurants in Copenhagen, because people don’t generally go out to eat. The Thai Food was wonderful, and definitely worth the expense. I got spicy pad see ew with vegetables. Yum. After dinner we went out to the bars. We had some delicious beer and it was a fun night. All the Danish people were very friendly.

We started off our Saturday morning with a bagel breakfast. Bagels are very big in Copenhagen.  I got a wonderful whole grain bagel with locks, cream cheese, onions, and lettuce. It was a slightly warmer sunny day, which was nice. After our breakfast we headed to the Carlsberg Factory. It was my first visit to a brewery and I really enjoyed reading about the history of a brewery. When we finished at the brewery and drank our two free beers we went off to one of Copenhagen’s round tower. On the way up there was an exhibit called Hungry Planet, which is based off of a book. It displays pictures of families from all over the world standing with their average groceries. It gives you an idea of the differences between food cultures. The exhibit also included posters on food and water issues and solutions. I got excited because there was a poster on 350 and the international day of action that I helped organize with WISPIRG. Overall, I loved the exhibit and was really excited that Danish people are so interested in food issues. When we got to the top of the tower there was a great view of all of Copenhagen. There were beautiful buildings and we could see wind turbines in the distance. We were up there at the perfect time, right as the sun was setting. The last touristy thing we did was go to this village called Christiania. It was this very strange, hippie village that doesn’t consider itself part of Copenhagen and has no government. It was an interesting environment but we were able to get some great food. There was a café with fresh veggies, hummus, and pasta salad. The hummus was wonderful, and it is another food I’ve been really craving while in Italy. That night to save money we decided to cook in Allison’s dorm room. I made a veggie stir-fry and we just hung out the rest of the night.

Sunday morning we went to another great café and had some delicious pastries and coffee. It was a lovely end to our weekend. I really loved the city, especially how environmentally conscious it is. It was refreshing to see an urban city be so aware of its ecological footprint.

I can’t believe it but my program ends in one month! And then I will be traveling for two weeks after. I just booked my flight home, and am coming back May 10^th. I have an exciting month and half ahead of me though. I have a lot more of Italy and Europe to explore. Miss you all at home and can’t wait to see you fairly soon!

Tanti Baci!

-Laura

A lovely harbor in Copenhagen

Carlsberg Brewery

Hungry Planet Exhibit

Melissa and I at the top of Copenhagen's Round Tower

View of wind turbines from the Round Tower

My Spanish Spring Break

Melissam Andi, Taryn, and I at Park Guell in Barcelona

The port in Barcelona

Our seafood paella

La Alhambra in Granada

          I just got back from spending nine wonderful days in Spain for my Spring Break.  I visited the cities of Barcelona, Granada, and Seville with three other girls from my program: Andi, Melissa, and Taryn. Nine days of Spanish food, drinks, beautiful parks, beaches, tourist attractions, and friends from home: it was definitely a relaxing, fun-filled break!  I’ll break down this post into sections since nine days of traveling is a lot to cover in one post. I’ll divide it into sections of Food, Drinks, Nightlife, Friends, and Tourist Attractions.

Food:

       I found Spanish food to be a hit or miss for me. I liked a lot of what I ate, but the food is very different from what I’m used to eating. One of my favorite meals was the first one I had when arriving to Barcelona: seafood paella. We had it at a restaurant that was right on the beach. The weather was great when we first got to Spain, about 70 and sunny.  So sitting outside next to the beach, eating paella in Barcelona was a nice way to start off of the break. It was a little on the expensive side, so we tried to eat cheaper the rest of our time in Barcelona. For a few meals we just got baguettes, proscuitto, and cheese to save money. One other great meal I had in Barcelona was at a sandwich shop. It had super fresh veggies, a variety of sauces, and delicious meats. The shop had a line done the block, but it was definitely worth the wait. We also found a great sandwich shop in Granada. I got a wonderful panini with goat cheese, caramelized onions, and spinach two days in a row.  We had a lot of tapas throughout the trip too. My favorite was in Seville at a place called Coloniales. It was also super packed, which is usually a good indicator of how good the food is. We ordered a bunch of dishes for everyone to share including chicken, potatoes in a spicy sauce, a friend egg with proscuitto on bread, and goat cheese and honey on bread.  It was all really good, and well priced. I went there two nights out of the three I was in Seville.

Drinks:

      The one drink I had the most whenever we went for tapas in Spain called Tinto de Verano, which is just wine and sprite. It was super tasty, light, and cheap. Another great drink we had was in Seville is called Aqua de Seville.  Not exactly sure what was in it, but a few types of alcohol and lots of fruity juice with whipped cream on top. The juice in Spain was wonderful! It’s so fresh and there are a huge variety of flavors. Also, we had a lot of Sangria while in Barcelona. I loved all the fruit in it. It was a good drink to share with a large group of people.

Nightlife:

        The nightlife in Spain is slightly different from the states and Tuscany because people don’t usually go out until 1 or 2 am and don’t come home until 6 am or later.  This is partially because they eat dinner so late, usually around 10ish. We experienced their crazy nightlife hours right away in Barcelona. The first night we were there we stayed out until 5 am at a club called Razzmatazz. It was very fun, lots of American music (which seems to be the usual in European discos), and lots of dancing. We were so exhausted though because we had gotten up at 5 in the morning to leave Italy the day before. So we were literally up for 24 hours. Ahhh. But that didn’t stop us from staying out that late once again our second night in Barcelona. That night we went to a club called Catwalk. A lot of people from my program were also in Spain for Spring break and we ran into a ton of them at Catwalk. There was huge line, but we finally got into the club around 2 am. It was a great time. Unfortunately the fun night ended badly when I my camera got stolen at the club. I felt better having all my possessions on me instead of in our hostel, and I was careful with my purse but somehow someone opened it up. It was super scary because when I realized it was open I looked down and my passport was on the ground. I quickly swiped it up, and checked my purse and everything was there except for my camera. The camera was on top of my purse and was in a wallet-looking case so the pickpocket most likely thought it was my wallet.  I bought a new camera right before I got to Seville. Andi, Melissa, and Taryn were so nice about the whole thing, and let me use their cameras when we were in Granada. Luckily, I don’t lose my wallet or my passport, so in a sense the camera was probably the best thing they could’ve taken. I will for sure be even more careful from now on. The next time we went to a nightclub was in Seville. This time we were staying in a hotel with a lockbox so I felt safe leaving all my valuables there. This disco was called Buddha, and had three different floors! It had a super fun atmosphere, and once again lots of American music and dancing.

Friends:

            One very exciting aspect of this break was that I have a lot of friends studying in Spain. It was great to see familiar faces from home while in Europe. I had one friend, Maddie, in Barcelona. We got lunch and hung out for our last afternoon there. It was wonderful to catch up. I also had a friend in Granada, Audrey. We went out for tapas one night. She had some crazy stories about her home stay experience!  That was another nice thing about talking to friends studying in Spain, hearing about their study abroad experience. It is vastly different from mine in Italy, because all of them are doing home stays. Also, most of their classes are taught in Spanish, so they are being more integrated into the Spanish culture. I really love the set-up I have here in Italy but I am jealous of how immersed they are able to get in a new culture. I have three friends studying in Seville- Melissa, Claire, and Jasmine. I got to see all three of them a ton while I was there! They did a great job of showing me around the city, taking me to good restaurants, tourist attractions, bars, etc. It was really wonderful being with all of them, and it was nice to get a taste of home while abroad.

Tourist Attractions:

            Barcelona had some awesome tourist attractions. One of my favorites was the Park Guell- a famous park designed by Gaudi.  The park is filled with strange looking building, lots of bright colors, and many beautiful gardens. I also enjoyed looked at another famous Gaudi attraction- La Sagrada Familia. Another very cool looking Gaudi structure with strange columns and arches, the Church is one of Barcelona’s main tourist attractions. Unfortunately, it is under construction right now, which took away some of its charm. We didn’t end up going in, but just walking along the outside of the Church was exciting. We also went to the Picasso Museum while in Barcelona. It was interesting because each room showed the progression of Picasso’s work, starting out with his sketches and ending with his most famous works. The final touristy thing that I loved about Barcelona was the beach. Even though it was exactly laying out weather, it was gorgeous! I loved that there were so many restaurants and bars right along it too. It definitely felt like Spring Break when we were able to just sit and relax on the beach in the afternoon. My favorite tourist attraction in Granada was the famous La Alhambra, which consists of palaces, extravagant Moorish art and architecture, and beautiful gardens. We spent about four hours there, and probably could’ve stayed for another hour or two in order to see everything. It was a little chilly out that day, but the sun was shining, and it was a very exciting experience walking through such a beautiful, historical place. Our last destination, Seville, included a lot of must-see attractions as well. The first thing we saw was the Alcazar- a royal palace with gardens and more Moorish architecture. The Plaza de Espana was another awesome part of our time in Seville. This plaza was lovely with a moat in the middle and beautiful bridges over it. Another fun thing we did in Seville was see a free Flamenco show. Since it was free it probably wasn’t the best show, but I still really enjoyed it. The dancers and singers were extremely passionate, and the clapping was so cool! The last touristy thing we did in Spain was the Plaza de Toros. We took a tour of the bull-fighting arena. When we got there some of Spain’s most famous matadors were in the ring, promoting the upcoming season. We continued on a tour of the Plaza de Toros museum, it was very interesting to learn about bull -fighter strategy and its history. I would love to go back someday and see a bullfight!

            So I apologize for such a long post, but I hope it gives a taste of what my experience in Spain was like. I absolutely loved Spain, and I think Seville was my favorite city of the three. It seemed to have the most culture, and it reminded me a lot of Florence. I am happy to be back in Italy, to be around a language I understand and food that I love. (I got pizza within an hour of being back at the villa). Overall, I had a wonderful Spring Break! But now that’s it’s over it means my program here in Florence is over halfway over. I really can’t believe that. I have a lot more excitement to come in the next couple months though. I am going on a wine tour this coming weekend! Can’t wait.

Miss and love everyone as home. Hope all is well! Keep up the protesting in Madison, wish I could be there with you guys.

Tanti Baci!

-Laura

Standing next to a beautiful view of Granada at La Alhambra

The Alcazar in Seville

Plaza de Espana in Seville

Flamenco Show in Seville

Plaza de Toros in Seville