Adventures in Europe

Reggio Calabria, Italy – My home away from home

nbrigagliano — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:03:27 +0000

The five hour train ride from Naples to Reggio Calabria felt like days. I was so anxious to get back to Reggio after two years. As I listened to my Ipod, all i could think about was the love I had for Reggio and the excitement to go back for another month.

When Kat and I arrived it immediately felt like I had never left. We were greeted by our professor and trip leader, Giuliana as well as Domenico and Orlando, our two organizers. Domenico and Orlando took us to our apartment, which was about six blocks from the train station. This apartment was alot different from the one I stayed in two years ago, but I liked it better. We were on the third floor this time rather than the first and the apartment was much bigger. There are three large bedrooms, a bathroom, a decent size kitchen and a hallway with couches. Instead of a living room, we get a hallway with two couches that I thought were inflatable. We also have 2 large balconies, which is nice especially when it is 90+ degrees with no air conditioning.

Jeanne and Christina were already at the apartment when we arrived. They had been in Reggio for the past two weeks working at BMW. Because they are both international business majors they need to study abroad for six weeks not four, so our professor set them up with a two-week work assignment.

After a little unpacking, Kat and I set out to find something to eat and of course we settled on pizza.

We unpacked for the next for hours and got to know one another. There would be two other girls joining us tomorrow as well.

That night those of us who had arrived early, about six in total, went to dinner with Giuliana at Tre Farfalli. This was the restaurant we would have lunch at everyday for the next month. Dinner was AMAZING! We ate so much that Kat almost had to roll me out the door. I think we ate every antipasto that you can imagine plus pasta. I couldn’t even eat the second plate although some did.

After dinner, we headed over to B’Art, the bar that I had went to almost ever day last time I was in Reggio. It seriously felt like I never left! We meet up with some of my Italian friends and had my favorite drink, a June bug! If you have been to Reggio, you know what it is and how good it tastes.

I went to bed that night so happy to be back in Reggio and anxious to see how the next month would be!

Sorrento, Italy – Friday (Day 14)

nbrigagliano — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:59:37 +0000

It was a day we had looked forward to for the entire week. We were going to hit the beach and relax for the day. No sightseeing: no museums, no churches, no tourists!

As we walked to the beach from our hotel, we were surprised by what we found. The beaches weren’t typical sandy beaches with people lying on towels and umbrellas covering those who are trying to hide from the sun. Instead, the beaches of Sorrento are more like piers that shoot off the coast. Rather than go to the “free beach”, which was basically a piece of cement, we decided to pay 8 euros to go to the beach/pier that had chairs and table service. It was nice to be catered to! It was very relaxing just taking in the sun and getting to go into the first water of Italy. It wasn’t even cold, which was definitely a plus!

After the beach, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for another night down in the center of Sorrento. Jared had been told by someone back at home of a great seafood restaurant all the way down the marina. Being sick of pasta and pizza already, we decided to give it a try. Little did we know, we had to walk forever but the food and the view was worth it! It was a great last meal, relaxing with wine and reminiscing on our last two weeks.

For our last night out, we first got gelato (limoncello flavor!) and then headed back to The English Inn. Tonight the bar was filled with Italians and Americans alike. I don’t think I ever laughed so hard in my entire life watching Italians try to dance with us. (When i say Italians I mean 12-year-old Italians whose primary dance move is the shimmy!) It was quite a sight!

Before we knew it, the night was over and our two weeks of travel were only hours away from being over.

Yes, my travel would still last another month but traveling from place to place would be over.

Sorrento, Italy – Thursday (Day 13)

nbrigagliano — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:12:57 +0000

So maybe we needed a little more planning before we set off for Italy. We had not realized that to go from Siena to Sorrento by train was first off impossible without going to Naples and second would take over 6 hours to do so.

We left Siena in the morning and the first train we took was around 5 hours to Naples. The train ride wasn’t that bad, I slept for a good portion of it and for the rest I rocked out to my Ipod and talked to Jared and Kat. When we arrived into the Naples Termini we found the local train that would take us from Naples to Sorrento, this train being about an hour long. Unfortunately, we hit the train right at rush hour and we were stuck standing on a cramped train for an hour. We did meet two men from York who kept us laughing with stories from their travels and their impressions of Americans.

We found out hotel, which was located not in the center of Sorrento but only about a 15 minute walk away. The hotel was nice with a pool and was located not too far from the beach. By the time we arrived it was 8 p.m. and we were ready to get some dinner and find a place to dance. We took the train one stop to the center of Sorrento. Here we found a cute little restaurant that was also located in my Italy 2009 book. After dinner, we strolled the streets and found a bar called The English Inn. Ironically enough, it was filled with Americans. It was here that I had my new favorite drink called the Sorrento Special according to our bartender. ( I would tell you what it made out of but it’s a secret! )

For the rest of the night we danced to American music, which was great to hear. I was beginning to get a little sick of Italian techno music! Before we realized it, it was 3 a.m. and we made the walk back to our hotel.

Siena, Italy – Day 12 (Wednesday)

nbrigagliano — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:49:19 +0000

In the morning, we took the train about an hour and a half south of Firenze to Siena. When we arrived we took a taxi to our hotel, which was located conveniently near Piazza del campo, the main square. Our hotel was nice but very plan. We actually found out that it wasused as a palace during the medieval times and our room still had the old brick arches from that era. Because we only had the one day there, we set out to explore the city. We first made our way to il campo. Piazza del campo is shell-shaped piazza home to the annual il palio, which is a large horse race. We wandered the streets of Siena for the rest of the day looking at various churches and buildings. In Siena there are 17 small districts each of which have their own animal statues. I was able to find a few of them, which was really cool to see but some were extremely hard to find. At night we went to a restaurant located in Piazza del Campo. The food unfortunately was not as good as I would have expected especially because of its location. Being extremely tired from the nights before, I called it a night after dinner and got ready to head to Sorrento.

Firenze, Italy – Tuesday (Day 11)

nbrigagliano — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:59:53 +0000

I hands down did the most exercise I have ever down in my entire life today. OK, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration but not much!

It was our last day in Firenze and our last day to take in all the sights of my favorite city! First stop was the Duomo. When we got there the line was incredibly long to get inside. I guess when things are free, you can’t go wrong. Rather than wait in a 3 hour long line to get inside to just see the Duomo, we decided to do the climb up to the dome of the Duomo. That was what we really wanted to do anyway and the line only took 30 minutes.

Now let me explain what I mean by climb to the dome. How does 463 steps plus little narrow passageways plus me being scared of heights sound? At first it sounded like the best idea I ever had ( I was going to conquer my fear of heights) until we began the trek up the stairs with people going two ways on stairways the size of a closet. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea. After huffing and puffing my way up the 463 steps ( I don’t understand how senior citizens were climbing it and faster than me none the less) I made it to the top of the Duomo and was able to see all of Firenze. It was probably the coolest experience so far and was well worth the 463 steps. Not only did I get an amazing view but now I don’t need to exercise for the next 9 years!

After snapping tons of photos from above it was time from the trek downwards, which wasn’t too bad except for the steep steps and the times when larger sized people were walking up and you were trying to squeeze your way down.

When we did reach the bottom, Kat and Jared were off to do a vineyard tour about an hour south of Firenze and I was left to explore the rest of the city. It was definitely nice to have time on my own to wander around the city, snapping pictures and seeing things I had yet to see. I even found Tiff’s old apartment!! (I took a picture for you tiff even though I am sure you have a million!)

At night, the three of us decided to go to a nice restaurant recommended by Mike and Tiff called The Golden View. The restaurant was on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio and had an amazing view of the bridge. The food was also really good! I definitely recommend the restaurant for anyone going to Firenze.

After a long dinner, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. We were going to be up early the next morning to head to Siena.

The last four days had been amazing and I fell in LOVE with Firenze. I can’t wait to return <3

Pisa & Lucca, Italy – Monday (Day 10)

nbrigagliano — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:41:08 +0000

Well before I begin I want to apologize for being the worst blogger ever!! I didn’t think it would be that hard not having a computer but I could not have been more wrong. Finding time in a day to go sit in a computer lab (on broken computers none the less) is extremely difficult. I actually went to Pisa over a week ago and now I must go back and blog about it. I am sorry again, but lets recap.

Today we woke up, had our usual breakfast at the hotel (yogurt, rolls with jam, eggs and pineapple juice) and headed to the train station.

It takes an hour and 15 minutes by train to get to Pisa. When we got there we decided to do the walk to the leaning tower, which was a little bit of a hike in 90 degree weather. The leaning tower was really cool to see up close. It is something you always see in books or postcards, but to see it right in front of you gave you a different sense of it. I thought the building was going to topple over at any second and at my luck it would!

Kat, Jared and I took the usual pictures; the ones of us posing to pretend we are mighty strong holding up the building. What tourists! We thought about doing the tour inside the building but the wait was over 3 hours long. If you plan to go there and want to go inside the leaning tower, make sure you book it in advance!

After seeing the leaning tower, we went to a little pizzeria on the way back to the train station.

We then took the train to Lucca, a town about 30 minutes away. This town is surrounded by brick walls. It was a cute little town with little narrow streets and piazzas.

In my opinion I wasn’t overly impressed by Lucca and Pisa but it was still cool to see them both. It was also a relaxing day away from the hustle and bustle of Firenze.

When we returned to Firenze, we decided that we were so impressed by the restaurant the night before that we went back there for dinner again. Once again the owner or Capo as the picture on the wall described him loved us and made sure we had a great time. We were even required to finish almost an entire bottle of limoncello again.

On our walk home bound, we stopped at a bar nearby. It was a place I had heard Mike and Tiff talk about. Unfortunately being a Monday night, there was not a lot of people there but we still managed to start the dance party for an hour or so. With me loving the stanky leg so much, Kat and I found it necessary to dance on the steps of the Duomo on our walk home. This was probably the highlight of Firenze and probably the best video ever taken. ( If you want a good laugh, let me know and I’ll show you )

Firenze, Italy – Day 9 (Sunday)

nbrigagliano — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:42:43 +0000

It was our first full day in Firenze and there was a lot to do and see. We had breakfast in the hotel and headed out to find the Galleria dell’Accademia, home to Michelangelo’s David. On the way to the museum we found a market filled with street vendors, we LOVE markets! They had everything from leather bags, to souvenirs to jewelry. Kat got a ring and the vendor gave us both a free bracelet with little bells on it. Now where ever we go we can always find each other! I was tempted as well and bought myself a leather jacket, I always wanted one and there is no better place for leather than in Italy. I was even able to talk the owner into giving me the jacket for 95 euros with the original price being 200! Italians love me :p. We made it to the museum to be met with a line, we thought it was take forever but to our surprise it only took about 10 minutes to get inside. The museum was filled with sculptures by Michelangelo , which were really awesome. The David statue is incredible! I honestly thought it was going to be tiny but it is HUGE and the detail in the statue is amazing. I kind of have a little crush on David! After the museum we made our way over to the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge covered in jewelry shops.On the way we walked through Piazza Singoria, which is home to the David statue copy as well as numerous other statues. We made it to the Ponte Vecchio, which doesn’t even feel like a bridge as you go over it. From the center of the bridge you get a great view of the river and the smaller bridges as well. (I’ll post some pictures soon I promise!) With the weather being unbearably hot, we decided to head back for a little siesta. After our longer than usual nap we were ready to head to dinner at 9:30 p.m. We headed towards the Duomo to find a good restaurant. We stumbled upon a little restaurant around the side of the Duomo, the food and atmosphere was amazing. It was probably the best food I have had in Italy. Not only that, the owner loved us and made the experience worth every penny. He loved us so much that put the bottle of limoncello on the table and told us we couldn’t leave until we finished it. Before we knew it, we had the waiters drinking with us. I just want to remind you/let you know that limoncello is my favorite drink.

It was a great night and day in Firenze, and I was becoming more and more in love with the city.

Florence(Firenze), Italy – Day 8 (Saturday)

nbrigagliano — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:05:03 +0000

Today marks one week of the adventure and minus the exhaustion that has begun to set in, I am pumped to head to another Italian city. After almost killing pedestrians and tourists in Venice trying to get my luggage to the train station, we were on board for a 2+ hour train ride to Firenze. Traveling by train is great as you get to see the Italian country side even if that only lasted a total of 10 minutes before I was unconscious. Although I missed some great picture opportunities, it was great to take a nap and be recharged for Firenze. When we arrived we found our hotel, which was literally across the street from the train station… prime location! Our first mission was to find food and we found a little pizzeria close to our hotel. Not only was our hotel close to the train station but it was extremely close to the center of the city. As we walked back from the pizzeria, we passed numerous shops filled with clothes and shoes; I was in heaven. We passed stores like Gucci and Prada, it was hard to keep myself from going crazy! I knew what had to be done: I needed to change into some cute clothes and hit the streets to shop.

After Kat and I got changed into some cute dresses, we walked up via Tornabuoni; home to Gucci, Max Mara, Prada, Roberto Cavalli and the list goes on. Kat almost had to take my credit card away .

After spending a couple of hours shopping (I BOUGHT NOTHING! Although I was tempted by a Gucci purse when I realized I have no money!) we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and a night of exploring the Firenze nightlife.

We ate at a cute little restaurant near our hotel and I got gnocchi alfredo, which was yummy. We decided that it was time to break out our dancing shoes and we headed to Space Electronica. Being the Americans that we are, Kat and I were able to convince the bouncers to let us in for cheaper, it’s great to be a girl! The club was two floors, one for karaoke and the other for dancing (a discotecha). We spent the night on the dancing floor, dancing to Rhianna, Beyonce and crazy Italian techno. It was hilarious to witness the way Italian men attempt to dance with girls, I couldn’t help myself from laughing out loud on multiple occasions. After hours of dancing and having no feeling left in our feet, we called it a night.

Venice, Italy – Day 7 (Friday)

nbrigagliano — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:57:05 +0000

After an Italian breakfast at the hotel, we were back on the bus towards Venice. It was going to be a good day, hot as it was almost 90 degrees, but full of sightseeing and Venice waterways! Our first stop was the Galleria d’Accedemia. This museum is filled with painting from famous Italian painters, must of them scenes from the Bible and religious icons. By the end of this museum you could tell that we were museumed out and wanted nothing to do with anymore museums. We took the vaporetto to St. Mark’s Square again, this time to the Campanile or bell tower. We took the elevator to the top and had the best view of Venice. We were even up there when the bell rang and let me tell you it was extremely loud! We decided that we wanted to head to the little island of Murano about 45 minutes by boat. This is where Murano glass is made and we went to watch a glass blowing demonstration. It was neat to see how a little piece of glass is molded into huge vases and horse figurines. We became friends with the tour guide, Paulo, and he took us on a separate tour to see more Murano glass jewelry and statues. The best one was a huge palm tree and parrots made from glass.

After heading back to the main island, we went to the ghetto for dinner and wandering the streets once more. It was great to see the way the people from Venice live their lives. I would love to live there if I could (I will before I die!).

That night we met up with Paulo and his friend and they showed us the way young people of Venice spend their evening. But first, we got to take a private boat around Venice, it was absolutely breathtaking! I wish I could do that everyday, sit on a boat and drive around Venice! We went to a bar that was filled with young people around our age and had vino and drinks. I got to have my infamous Italian drink of rum and pear juice, it was great.

Before we knew it, it was late and it was time to head back to the hotel as we were heading to Florence early in the morning.

Venice, Italy – Day 6 (Thursday)

nbrigagliano — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:43:54 +0000

Ciao from Venice!

We had an early flight this morning and had to wake up at 5:40 a.m… it was a little brutal. We decided we weren’t taking any risks this time and got to the airport more than 2 hours early. It was so quick to check in that we all relaxed for a while waiting for our flight. The flight was good, only about an hour and 40 minutes and before I knew it I was in my favorite country ever, ITALIA!

We stayed in Mestre, which is a 10 minute bus right outside of Venice. Our hotel was really nice and spacious, helpful when you have a lot of stuff. After changing, we headed off to Venice and I was able to use my italian skills to help find our way. Luckily enough and surprising as well, I can speak Italian a lot better than I thought.

We arrived in Venice and the first stop was the train station so I could report my lost eurail ticket. The Italian police and train operators are not as nice and understanding as I thought they would have been. I had to basically use my sassy New York attitude in order for them to actually believe me and it worked really well. It pays to be a New Yorker .

It was time to hit the water ways. With gondolas being super expensive we decided the best way to travel was by vaporettos or water taxis. They are so convenient and provide you with a great view. We took the vaporetto on the grand canal to St. Mark’s Square. It was gorgeous! We walked around St. Mark’s Square and went inside to see the church.

The best thing to do in Venice is to get lost. As weird as that sounds it is the best thing we did! You really can’t get too lost as you are on an island but it is great to walk the tiny streets and see the little bridges that carry you throughout the city. We stopped for lunch a cute trattoria and I got my first Italian pizza, it was phenomenal!

After we walked the streets stopping at numerous shops on the way. There was so much Murano glass it got overwhelming at times. We made our way to the Ponte Rialto, which is the main bridge of Venice covered in shops. We continued our walk to the ghetto, not the ghetto like in America, but the old Jewish areas. This area was much more residential than the other areas of Venice. It also was filled with some inexpensive and nice restaurants. (Too bad we just ate!).

After a long day of walking, I mean at least 5 miles, we decided to call it an early night and get ready for a great full day of Venice fun!