Tuesday morning, I jumped from bed and got dressed to go. I layered and made sure I would be warm upon arrival in Ferrara. As I walked down the steps, suitcase in hand, I honestly didn't have a clue what to expect; the program always seems to take the cheapest way possible so I honestly thought we would be riding in something like a school bus. Instead, we had a wonderful bus with comfy seats and a luggage compartment (which I was excited about since I wouldn't have to sit with all of my stuff). I slept most of the way, and was woken up by Dr Prebys screaming over the microphone that we were entering Ferrara and needed to immediately prepare to 'disembark.' A half an hour later, we arrived... I was a bit upset I didn't get that extra half an hour of sleep, but oh well. The first day we went to the Jewish Cemetery and explored the city center. It became immediately apparent upon arrival in the Cemetery that the week long trip was, as we had thought, was going to be based on Bassani. Why this annoyed us all is a bit of a long story and I will be happy to share it with anyone who asks. We walked right by elaborate graves and names that seemed familiar to the very last grave in the cemetery that looked like a strange modern sculpture. This was the grave of Giorgio Bassani, an Italian author. It was interesting, but we stayed for quite a bit longer than most would have liked at the grave. After that we went to the hotel. Room picks were literally set up as a race. First one to the lobby (with the passports of everyone they wanted to room with) that got to Dr Prebys got first pick. The quint was the coveted room because Dr Prebys made it out to be the greatest thing ever, and that was what we wanted. So I was chosen to be the runner and one of my friends was going to get my suitcase. They all handed me the passports and I got ready for the bus to stop. Other groups had planned much the same sort of thing so it was very tense. I was seated right in the front so when the doors opened, I jumped from my chair and went right out to the lobby, girls running behind me trying to catch up. We won and were awarded the quint. Not only was it separate from the rest in its own private section, it had two massive floors, two televisions, a fridge, a sitting area, an eating area, and an exercise bike. The birthday girl was extremely excited and said it was the perfect birthday present. We had the time of our life all week in that room dancing, singing, watching movies, eating copious quantities of food (such as nutella sandwiches, boxed wine, yogurt, and cookies; not all at the same time of course). After an hour of relaxation, we head to our next tour. The town center was neat, we saw a castle with a mote in the center and that was fun to see. Two girls did reports on two of Bassani's books which supposedly occurred in Ferrara. At the end of the day, we went to the hotel to relax. At the end of the day, we went to a nearby restaurant for some famous ravioli and went to sleep.
Wednesday, we met at 8am and left for Mantua. We visited the Palazzo Te and Palazzo Ducale. We saw tons of frescoes and gorgeous art. After lunch, which consisted of Nutella sandwiches, chips, and soda, we head back to Ferrara. The rest of the afternoon was mainly spent wandering the city and trying to recover from both the weekend before (which we were all still sore from) and the walking of those past two days. It was so much fun being with my group, and I really loved everything about our quint. The night felt like a sleepover, talking for a few hours before getting to sleep pretty early. A kind of funny thing that night was the drama over the bathtub. Some of the girls thought it was disgusting and were unhappy we had no shower so one of my friends asked if we would pretend to be hair stylists and wash her hair for her. It was hilarious. We all through on tshirts and sweatpants, set up a chair leaning back into the tub, and actually washed her hair for her so she wouldn't have to touch the basin.
Thursday was a bit more stressful for me. It was the day of my presentation. I had spent the hours on the bus the day before practicing and going over it multiple times trying to get everything just right. We left for Ravenna at 7:30 in the morning but the bus ride and morning seemed to drag longer, especially as we neared San Vitale where I would be speaking. Our first stop was San Apollinare in Classe which is a town outside Ravenna. It had a neat mosaic covered apse, and we all sat bundled in the freezing cold church as our professors told us all about the history of the church. Next was San Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. A girl did her presentation there, which was wonderful and interesting. After this church, we head to San Vitale. I shook the entire way. They tricked me at one point because we stopped and I thought I was going, but instead we were stopping at Dante's grave which is half way between the two churches. I laughed because we literally spent a quarter of the time here than we did at Bassani's grave. Finally we got to San Vitale and I got up to talk. Surprisingly, my voice came out completely clear and I was able to go on and on about all of the symbolism. Not only that, but people were actually interested! I got questions which I could answer and excited "Oh wow!!"s from the crowd. Afterwards, I was congratulated by the professors as well as my fellow classmates. It was a pretty good time. Two more presentation took place across the way at the Mausoleo of Galla Placidia, then we broke for lunch. We went to a restaurant for some amazing pasta and got back on the bus to see Mesola and Pomposa at which all we heard about was Bassani. We got back late to Ferrara so in a tired stupor, we grabbed food at the grocery store and went up to the room. The rest of the night was spent watching the Lizzie McGuire movie (which is a Disney movie about a girl going to Italy and being discovered by an Italian pop star) and dancing like idiots all around the room laughing hysterically.
Friday morning we got up early and met at 7am. We spent the morning in Padua visiting the city center, the Basilica, the markets, and the Scrovegni Chapel. The Scorvegni Chapel was the most interesting simply because of the silly sanitizing room. Everyone had to sit in a room for 20minutes to be 'sanitized' so that we didn't damage any of the frescoes with our presence. The whole thing was a huge joke. When we went through all of the space age doors into the chapel, and examined the frescoes, we noticed that on the far wall was the original entrance to the church with such huge cracks, we could see clear outside. The frescoes were stunning in the tiny room, though, so it was definitely worth visiting. We got lunch at a restaurant by the Basilica and head to the bus. The afternoon was spent in Vicenza where we visited the Teatro Olimpico and the Basilica. The day was very worthwhile and neat, but we were exhausted when we got back to Ferrara.
Saturday was the last day of the Northern Italy trip. We met at 8am, loaded up the bus with all of our luggage, returned our room keys, and went on our way to Bologna. We visited the Piazza Maggiore, Casa di Re Enzo, the Duomo, the Chiesa di San Domenico, Il Compianto, the two towers, and the university quarter. We pretty much rushed through all of the churches, which was a tad disappointing, but we got to see a lot of neat life-size terra-cotta sculptures representing the time just after the death of Christ. The towers were cool, though we didn't get to go up them since Saint Mary's was too cheap to buy us the tickets and kept us busy until they were closed. The university quarter was very cool, though. It was full of medieval structures, and we found out this was where the first woman graduated from university. At one point we passed a girl wearing a wreath around her neck, and apparently that marked she had just graduated from the university. We decided we should bring that tradition back to the US because it looked like fun (and we were verging on slap-happy at that point). The rest of the day was ours to explore Bologna so, of course, we ate and shopped. I got pasta with bolognese sauce, a few pastries, and various other snacks. That was all I bought. Some girls bought some clothes from the boutiques we looked through, but there really wasn't any 'souvenirs' (I guess since Bologna is known just for food and the university...) We left for Rome around 4 and got back to the Tiziano late at night. A bit later than expected because a few girls took over a half hour at the rest stop eating dinner... I guess they didn't realize it was only supposed to be a bathroom stop. We got some food quick at a cafe and got to sleep early since five of us were getting up early once again the next morning for Venice.
Venice was probably one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. Getting off the train, I didn't really know what to expect, but we literally stepped right out looking onto one of the canals with a bridge leading into the city. It was the official first day of Carnival so everyone around us had masks and confetti. We quickly made our way to the very first booth next to the station which had very cheap masks, bought one for each of us, and put them on right then and there. They didn't come off more than twice all day. We spent about the first hour wandering the city before making our way to the main Basilica for the official 'Flying of the Angel' ceremony and then mass. Little did we know that literally thousands of other people were doing the same. When we got to the piazza, we were forced into the middle by a crowd behind us and then were pretty much stuck motionless surrounded by hundreds of people in a small side area just to the back right of the main piazza. We couldn't see much but it was definitely the best view we were going to get. After about 20minutes of music and people dancing on a stage (which felt like miles away from us) the big screen showed us the woman who was to be flown from the top of the Basilica to the stage across the piazza. We watched in awe as she flew down, moving slowly in a massive red and purple gown, singing the entire way. As soon as she landed it was as if everyone around us was like "well, now that's over" and the entire mob started forcing its way in all directions. All we wanted to do was get to the doors of the church just a few yards from where we stood. We made a train, linking arms, and I led the group forcing myself between all of the people. Thank goodness we didn't bring any bags or anything because it would have been effortless to pickpocket us. When we got to the door, we removed our masks, and I spoke to the guard in my very best Italian requesting entrance for mass. He let us in with a smile and told us where to go. We were a few minutes late since we couldn't get through the crowd so we grabbed five seats at the back. I spent the entire mass in absolute amazement looking at the incredible architecture and golden details in the Basilica around me, which distracted me just enough to keep me from being able to understand the Italian. Mass ended and we made our way back out into the chaos. As soon as we got back through the crowd, we went to a small restaurant for lunch. The wait took forever, understandably, but the food was worth it. (Well, I thought so at least. One girl felt sick and couldn't eat her pizza, another got lasagna and was disappointed by how tiny it was, and another got just a salad. My pasta was massive and amazing!) After we finished eating, they practically through us out to get the next group in (the line was out the door). The rest of the day was literally spent trying to get through crowds, playing with confetti, taking pictures, riding in a gondola, and shopping. I found the perfect gifts for my grandparents and then got my parents a gift I think they will love. It was so much fun, but I don't think I can express how delightful it was to crawl in bed after a long shower that night. I am so very happy to have a relaxing week ahead of me (well, minus the midterm exams, but still...)
The only thing to note from today was the delicious lunch at the Tiziano (pasta with red sauce, cicken, potatoes, carrots, green beans, bread, and gelato) and the fact that I got an A on my presentation last week. Other than that, I have done nothing eventful; not even unpack or do laundry which needs to be done asap... Maybe I will go do that now. Well in any case, arrivederci!!
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