Pienza
Trip Start
May 11, 2008
1
15
22
Trip End
Jun 27, 2008
Pienza, Italy
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Well on Thursday night after all of that good wine the girls went out and bought the cheapest wine they could find for the sole purpose of getting drunk. And this is precisely the circumsance in which the art of wine tasting has been completely lost. I went back to my apartment and rendezvoused with the Monte Brianzo (my apartment building) crowd. They were all tired from visiting Pompei all day so I went back out with the nutrition folk in anticipation of a fun night out. But it ended up being another one of their typical nights of sitting in the Piazzas with cheap bottles of wine looking like stupid American tourists, walking to the next place and doing it all over again in an embarassing parade which I do not like being part of. So, after saving Ange from them by walking her home, I called it a night.
Friday
It was nice to sleep in Friday morning and, feeling especially refreshed (a rarity on a trip of late nights and early mornings), I went for a run along the river. At 1:00 Jamie gave a pre-trip orientation/introduction lecture on Florence and Venice with another one of his fabulous powerpoints. He had to cut it short because students were nodding off, a very rude gesture if you ask me. And so begins my bitterness towards the majority of the Penn State students here. But I am trying not to let it affect my trip too much and I often escape the drama with a frequent solo adventure.
When I got back to my now-welcoming apartment I was greeted by Kevin and the girls and invited to join them as they cooked and feasted. It was an extraordinary joint effort and we successfully managed to feed 9 people with a wonderful salad, pasta with a ham alfredo sauce, cut vegetables sauteed in pan, bread and wine. Then a few of us hung around the table for awhile listening to Stan Getz and enjoying having no obligations. The girls went to see the Sex and the City movie while Kevin, Shane, Tammy, Val and myself hung out and played cards in the apartment. Then those mentioned left for the Spanish Steps while I retired early in anticipation of a very early departure (7:15) for our ARCH/NUTR north trip.
Saturday
The deal with departures for trips here is to meet 15 minutes before and get on the bus, which leaves sharply at the predetermined departure time regardless of any missing persons. So I set my alarm for 6:15 Friday night and planned on leaving my apartment by 7:00 to make the 7:15 bus, which left at 7:30. Turns out I accidentally set it for 6:15 PM!! and so I was awoken by a scary phone ring, sat straight up in bed, looked at my clock and it is 7:31!! Well Claudia and Jamie were nice enough to let the bus pick me up in front of my apartment and, while they were coming, I scurried around the apartment creating a tornado of things flying into my suitcase, putting contacts in, and brushing teeth. I sprinted out to the meeting place and walked onto the bus, tail between legs but actually feeling like quite the sleep-thief and the luckiest guy in the world to get away with such an act.
The first stop of the day was Caprarola, where we visited Palazzo Farnese, a magnificent Renaissance palace with breathtaking rooms. Every single room in the palace is painted with stunning murals of religious and political significance. There is hardly a bare square inch in the whole place, which climaxed with a room of the maps of the world painted on walls and a ceiling of the entire constellatory sky. I took dozens of pictures and will upload them when I have the chance.
After Caprarola we took the bus to Bagnaia to visit the beautiful gardens of Villa Lante. The garden had mazes of hedges, lemon trees, a complex system of fountains and waterways, walls made of coral stone, decorated walkways, and a path through the woods which served as an excellent escape route. We were given free time to walk around and I was soon off on my own in the peaceful woods where I found a great pool of oriental-looking fish to watch. Then I made my way back to the town for lunch and got a delicious porchetta panino (pork sandwich), a specialty of Bagnaia.
James Bond entertained us on the bus as we rolled over loopy hills in the rain toward our hotel in Pienza. It is the same hotel in which I write from now and is actually a very nice accomodation. Pienza is a very small town in the beautiful Tuscan countryside, known for its superior wines. We walked around town a bit and then ate dinner at the restaurant adjoining the hotel. As soon as they could, the drinkers were off buying wine for our first night of the trip. Ben, Cait, Aly and myself went for a night walk and talk before snoozing off earlier than most.
This morning we had a hotel breakfast and are leaving in a few minutes for Florence.
