Pisa with Mama, Auntie, and Toni!

Yes we did make it to the leaning tower in Pisa...it was a fun night! Toni and I decided we should go, so after class we hoped on a train and made it happen! Even though it was in the evening, we all thought it was just as amazing and maybe even a little bit more so because of it. These were my favorites from our little adventure!

This is the church and battistero. Both of these were of gothic origins, so they were very detaied and contained a lot of dark marble. Both of these were done by a Pisano, two very famous architects known through tuscany.

Yes that is me..yes I am holding up the tower..hehe!

The tower was said to be an experiment on the nature of gravity by Galileo..could be true or could be legand. However, facts that are known are that the tower was supposed to be a bell tower for the church, construction started in 1173, and once they reached the third story the leaning began. They architects attempted to correct this by various methods, but ended up making things worse. Since then people have tried to anchor it firmly to the ground, but who knows how long it can stand....

Although a little blurry you know it is us! Mama, me, and Auntie Joanie:)

Next up..Zurich!

Brolio Castle..better late than never!:)

So sorry it has been so long, but you can all blame my mom and aunt for coming into town:) This is the beautiful Brolio Castle! We went as a group to go wine tasting and see the whole process! This is the view as you walk onto the walls of the castle.

The different views from the top of the castle..I wish I had a panoramic to show the full view because this just doesn't look right...

This is me..lol! With the fantastic scenary!

This is Brolio Castle..yes it is a castle...

These are the barrels that the wines sit in to age..

The wine was so good! We got to sample two differnt types of the chianti wines.

This was a cool view I snaped while walking around Siena, of the duomo in the distance.

...and the sun setting on another lovely day in Siena:)

Can't wait to see you all, and I hope you are enjoying the updates!

Ciao!

A Spring Day in Siena

Today I took a little walk around town and took some picture of our surrounding area! The rolling hills of Tuscany are certainly nothing to be taken lightly. The view is constantly surprising me!

These I believe is Italy's version of cherry blossoms. They are everywhere here!

I love this picture because this is our main road just down from my apartment and right behind is the universita di Siena where we go to study the language.

The gorgeous red poppy is everywhere right now. On sunday they all decided to bloom throughout the country side, so now anywhere you look you will find them. I take comfort in these because they remind me of my grandma, and although she isn't with us anymore, I feel ike I have a piece of her with me in Italy. Sounds odd I am sure, but if any of you have lost someone you find joy in the the smallest things. A book I am currently read states "the true Italy is found by patient observation." I can believe this and relate it in so many ways.

To me Italy is quite the country, and not simply for the monuments but because of so much more. I love the Tuscan country side, the flowers, the smell of the lemon blossoms in Sorrento, the color of the sea at Capri (a deep and light blue, that reminds me of twilight) and of Elba(a deep turquise green), and the fact that on any given day the Sienese can be celebrating their medieval heritage. I hope I can experience more of the little things around Italy. I am a country girl and would love to see this country! :)

Ciao!

Sailing Elba Island

This past weekend I had the pleasure of sailing for two days around the island of Elba! It was amazing (at least the part that I did not get sea-sick during...), there were great views, fun people, and just plain good times.

We began our trip on Friday evening just as the sun was setting...

It was soooo beutiful to be out on the water. It felt as if we could actually see the sun going under the sea itself, with all the color it cast as it set.

We of course had to open a bottle of wine to kick off the trip, that we deamed appropriate to call the Shasta/Elba trip...5 out of 8 are in a sorority or a fraternity:) Holla!

We woke up to the site of the bay of Elba. This is all of the island we really got to see..the other side of the island is actually a large protected animal refuge.

Gotta love it when the captians are sitting on the very tip of the boat....:)

This was our fearless leader Tony! He was an awesome captain! He made all our meals, took us to the beaches, and drove us back and forth from Siena! Overall it was an amazing journey and experience to have!

Gondolas, Sunsets, its just Venice...

This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Venezia, or in inglese..Venice! It was wonderful! It was just as beautiful as I had hoped it would be! It is a town built on water, with nothing but bridges, boats, and islands.This is a photo from our gondola, coming into San Marco square from the grand canal. This is where San Marc's basilica and the palazzo ducale are.

This is the beautiful Rialto bridge! It was originally the only bridge that crossed the grand canal.

oh yeah..this is me in the gondala! I ended up hagling them down on the price for the six of us to go! Yes, I do also have wine in hand! We stopped and got a bottle un-corked and the store owner even gave us the plastic cups! Also one of the girls on the trip had her boyfriend come visit in Venice, and he ended up proposing to her on a gondola that night!!

We visited 3 islands within the lagoon of Venice. The quiet town on the island of Burano is known for it's colored houses and their lace. It was the most picturesque place I have ever been too!

The island of Murano is known for its glass blowing! We got to see a glass-blower make this horse from above!

Here are Toni and I at dodge palace and one of my favorite canal pictures!

Of course here I am in one of the canals of Venice..

A beautiful view of the campallie, the 340ft tall famous bell tower..


We also went to the Peggy Guggenhiem museum/collection! It was amazing to see all the art in real life! Picasso, Pollock and Kandinsky, as well as the wonderful garden! In her private garden there was this sign (that I fell in love with!) and a wishing tree. It is a tree that people come all over the world to place thier wish on. I did make a wish, and yes all of you were a part of it:)

Wish you were here to share this with me! It has been amazing so far, and I have grown and learned so much about Italy and myself over the past month. It has been a real experience!

Ciao, Buon Giornato!

Charlotte