Leone is to Sicily as Johnson is to Minnesota

My apologies for the tardiness of my blog posts! This past week my friend Lauri was here, I had a project due, and a final.

Bravo: Lauri and I went to the island of Sicily. Many of my family members lived there before moving to the United States. The island is mountainous and beautiful. Along the beach crushed red coral washes up with the waves leaving beautiful patterns on the sand. Bravo #2: It is always nice to have a guest, Lauri and I did many of the tourist things such as: Colosseum, Roman Fourm, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Via del Corso, The Vatican (including a tour of the underground necropolis which contains the tomb of Saint Peter, very cool), and many more things.

Bruto: Last weekend we went to the Adriatic side of Italy. We did not take it in to account that it is the tourist off season. Much of the town we went to was closed for the season. It was not quite what I expected.

Interessante: I've always known that my last name is very Italian and means lion. What I did not know is that it is a Sicilian name and that it is as common there as the last name Johnson is in Minnesota! The owner of the hostel we stayed at was surprised when we arrived that I did not speak Italian.

Poop, Literally

Today the inevitable happened, I got pooped on by a seagull. Never again will I hope for a "more interesting" week.

A Week Dominated by School

I have not had many interesting adventures this past week, just the monotony of school, I guess it can not be avoided, even in Rome.

Bravo: The weather in Rome has been really beautiful, it is still in the mid 60's ever day, with very little rain. Bravo #2: This weekend I attended a cooking class hosted by my art history professor who before becoming a professor was a professional chef. We spent eight hours eating some of the most delicious food.

Bruto: The birds are still in town and fly in swarms around dusk, pooping everywhere.

Interessante: On Sunday my roommate and I walked to a nearby flea market where I purchased 10 euro boots. I wanted to get an inexpensive pair so I would not have to worry about getting them dirty or scuffed. Well, I got exactly what I paid for, the "suede" does not really feel like suede and they have a lingering smell of gasoline. Cheap Cheap Cheap!

I know this weeks post has been pretty mundane, this coming weekend my friend Lauri is coming to visit and we are planning on taking a day trip to the Adriatic Coast, hopefully there will be a little more adventure to write about.

Milan and Venice

This past week I went on a field trip to Milan and Venice. I remember thinking the Science Museum was an awesome field trip. This week just blew the Science Museum out of the water.

Bravo: In Milan I had the opportunity to tour the design work room of Achille Castiglioni. He has designed many famous products. His work space was so systematically organized! We had a tour led by his daughter who's personal insight was fascinating. He was such a logical thinker, everything had a specific purpose. Also while in Milan one of the art museums we went to had an exhibit on Frank Gehry, who happens to be one of my favorite architects. I loved being able to see his projects from conception to completion. I also got to see the ballet Giselle. After two days in Milan we took a three hour train to Venice. The minute you walk out of the train station you are greeted by a canal and water taxi stand. I have always known that the city is built on a marsh and uses canals rather than streets, but I don't think I ever anticipated how scenic it would be and also how many canals there actually are! The city is so beautiful, historic, and romantic, the architecture style is much more middle eastern than Rome. On Saturday my roommates and I sat along the main canal that runs through the city and had lunch over looking the water and basking in the sun. One of the days we took a longer boat ride out to the island of Murano, there we had the opportunity to watch an actual glass blower make a lamp as well as a tiny pony.

Bruto: Milan and Venice are both about a four hour train ride north of Rome, it was significantly colder. The temperature was definitely an issue during one of the art exhibits we saw in Venice because the venue it was in an old arsenal and was not heated.

Interessante: In the same exhibit that was not heated there was a piece of art that covered the majority of a wall (approximately 30'x30') made entirely of human hair. Grose. Interessante #2: November is the rainiest month in Venice. Due to its location and nature of what the city is built on the city often floods during this time of year. When we arrived the city it had not begun to flood but along all the sidewalks were platform sidewalks raised up about two feet off the original so that when it floods people will have a place to walk without their feet being completely submerged in water.

The Chase Over Italy With Mommy

Bravo: My mom was in town for five days (see post below). We did lots of fun things together, traveling to Florence (duomo, ponte veccio bridge, leather market, the david, etc) we went inside the pantheon and the colosseum, and went to the vatican museums. It was nice to have a new companion to see Rome with. Bravo #2: I just finished part of a semester long project, designing a lighting show room in Rome.

Bruto: BIRDS. It is mid migration season in rome and there are birds everywhere. They fly in droves, and are impossible to avoid. People walk with umbrellas to avoid getting pooped on and the streets are covered with stinky bird poop. Imagine the movie "Birds" and think 10 times worse (minus the killing nature of them). This morning I asked my professor, he said that they will stay for another 3 weeks!

Interessante: After searching for the "perfect boot" all week with my mom I found them two days after she leaves. Go figure. Interessante #2: time change in Italy happens a week before it does in the United States, so all week my time has been only 6 hours ahead versus the usual 7.

Mom on the loose

Guest Blog Post from Nora Leone

Bravo:
Gina and I can talk art together. All her art history classes make every walk through Rome a lesson in famous painting and sculpture. Throw in a little Roman history and a visitor like me can have a very pleasant day. It has been a very "Hinshaw-type" vacation so far. I sounded just like Grandpa CJ when I admitted I needed a nap on my first day, and Gina reminds me of Uncle Craig when she tells me art tid-bits. When we pondered if the 8 Euro was a fair price to pay to climb to the top of the dome in the famous Duomo in Florence, I could hear Hinshaws saying we came on vacation to see things, might as well pay!

Bruto:
Tired feet. Small coffees. Few public benches.

Interessante:
After Gina and I went through the Vatican museums, we searched the gift shops for the perfect thing to buy Grandma. Only later did I realize that none of them sold any Bibles.

In Plymouth, every store sells snacks at the counter. Home Depot, Walgreens, Block Buster, Holiday Gas Station . (I have only seen one gas station so far.) That isn't the case in Rome. I haven't noticed many snacks here. No one walks around with a carry-out coffee or soda, either.

A Craic Time in Ireland

Can this post just be one big Bravo? I just spent the most amazing weekend in Dublin.

Bravo: On Friday my roommates and I took a tour through the Irish country side, which was breathtaking. It was everything I had imagined the Irish country to be and more. Everything was so lush in comparison to Rome, which has almost no foliage. Our tour started with breakfast at an adorable breakfast/clothing shop, then brought us into the rolling hills covered in a light fog, where the Irish once collected turf ( similar to coal) before the weather changed. Next we stopped and looked at the Guinness estate, lastly drove on to walk through a graveyard that boasts the worlds oldest Celtic cross, and walked through a wooded path to look out over two lakes. That evening we stopped into the Temple Bar and had a pint. On Saturday I toured the city on a city walking tour, we saw everything from Saint Stevens Green to the layout of an ancient viking home (who we found out actually never had horns on their helmits) . After our walk we stopped for lunch and toured the Guinness storehouse. The whole experience was sublime.

Bruto: I had to leave Ireland, and to make the matter worse my flight was at 7am.

Interessante: After spending some time in Ireland, my roommates and I noticed that several brochures and people using the term "craic", we could not figure out what this word meant. At Temple Bar I asked our bartender (who had the thickest accent I encountered)what the word meant. He told me craic means to have a good time. The whole trip to Ireland definitely was a craic time.