Week 2: Italy

The week started with a 5 hour bus ride to Piacenza where we went to the University and had lunch and lectures. It was a warm afternoon and the school does not have air conditioner which is ridiculous in Italy. We checked into our hotel in the evening which was a nunnery with a building from WWII era that they have converted into a hotel. The nuns still live next door and we saw them many times walking through the gardens. The place was beautiful but far from the city. We went into town for dinner which was not a good idea because it was a Monday and everything was closed. This was just another example of the school overlooking some minor details about the plans they make for us.

Later that night we sat outside in the gardens and drank wine with the fireflies. I can’t remember ever seeing them before so it was really fun to see so many flying around. Of course with the fireflies there were also several other very large bugs and most of us were eaten alive.

The next day we had more lectures in the morning followed by a visit to Franciacorta in Lombardy. This place was amazing and huge! They are one of the largest sparkling wine producers in this area. Basically this region is hoping to someday be recognized in the same way Champagne is. They want worldwide recognition for their sparkling wines, and they are off to a great start so far. The whole region has come together to form a marketing and growing alliance that allows them to get their name out to the public faster. They also have a lot of support from private investors which allowed them to build a facility that had to cost close to $20 million. I have never seen anything like it. It went underground at least 5 stories and each had incredibly high ceilings in order to hold all the equipment. They also have the whole facility set up to be like a museum too so that non-industry people can see most of the tanks and barrels through glass windows.

On the drive home that night we stopped in a small town on a lake for dinner (shows you how much they tell us about where we are). We had our first Italian pizzas all to ourselves. In fact Ryan and I ordered another to share after we had each had our own because they were so good. We also had amazing gelato, which there was no shortage of anywhere we traveled in Italy.

The next day we drove to Tuscany. We stopped in the middle of the day in a small village that I never did find out the name of and they let us walk around for an hour since it had been long morning of driving. Unfortunately they didn’t plan this well either because it was siesta time and all the shops were closed. Luckily it was a beautiful view of the Tuscan hills so it was enjoyable. Afterwards we went to a very small University in Tuscany. It was a very quaint little place with lots of charm, including the sweltering heat we sat through while they gave us lectures on the territory. There was a nice unexpected afternoon rain that helped to cool things off, until it finished and then the humidity was twice as bad. That night we stayed in Poggibonsi. Ryan and I took a walking tour around the city and got really lost. After going in circles for some time, we ran into people from our group that told us it took them 5 minutes to get to where we were from the hotel, not an hour plus! Oh well, we got to see a lot of the city that night. We had a great meal and for the first time all week we weren’t on a time schedule for dinner which meant we could have a real Italian meal that lasted 3 hours or so. Ryan even ordered another bowl of pasta after finishing his salad, pasta and meat dishes.

On Thursday we drove to Siena and spent the morning at a company that does all of the chemical analysis tests on wine from the local wineries. It was a little dull for my liking but interesting to see. Afterwards we drove to Siena, and to our surprise, we were told we had the whole rest of the day free to explore the city. As great as this was, it was also a little cruel, since they brought us to Siena the day AFTER the Palio. The Palio is a great horse race that takes place in the Piazza. There are 17 communes within the province of Siena and each has a different mascot. Twice a year they fill the Piazza with dirt and pad the walls with mattresses. Ten horses are chosen by lottery from each of the communes. The people of the villages are insane about this race. People party for weeks to celebrate before and after the race. The horses are brought to the church in the Piazza to be blessed before the race and then they make 3 laps around the center, for a total of less than 2 minutes, and then its over. People go crazy! This year the Porcupines won and they were awarded the Palio banner which is painted by a local artist and it features the Virgin Mary. They carry it around town in full costume with flags and drums for days and days, because the point is to make the losing villages feel really bad. So fortunately we didn’t miss the gloating, and we saw several parades throughout the next two days featuring the Porcupine crew.

Later that night we met near the edge of the city for dinner. We were sat outside on a hill overlooking the entire valley and castles were lit up all around us. It was an amazing meal and an amazing view, but towards the end of the night I got a little sentimental and couldn’t stop thinking about Chris. I wanted to go home and sleep so I could make the sadness go away. I was almost convinced I was going to skip the next day because I was so tired of the group and I needed some time to myself to think. But by the next morning I was refreshed and ready to go, which was a good thing considering what the day had in store for me.

Friday we spent the whole day in Montalcino, specifically with Brunello producers. For those of you who know what this means, you can imagine I was absolutely beside myself. Brunello di Montalcino is one of the most prestigious wines from around the world and is hard to find and expensive everywhere outside of the area. It finally hit me that we were in Tuscany Italy! Took long enough, but I was thrilled to be spending my Fourth of July in such an amazing and breathtakingly beautiful area. We went to three different producers and a museum of Montalcino. It rained heavily in the afternoon again which was so nice and refreshing. We saw some wine collections that were as old as 1892, and found out that the 1984 vintage was a horrible year L Oh well. We were treated to lunch at the last winery after not eating for 8 hours, so it was the most amazing meal of homemade salamis and cheeses I have ever had. That night we were free for dinner and everyone wanted to go out for the 4^th, but after dinner I laid down for a minute on the bed to cool off and fell asleep for 2 hours. When I woke up at midnight, I didn’t know where anyone was, so I caught up on emails and called it a night. When I saw everyone the next morning, I found out they had stayed up until 4AM and they were all a wreck. I was so happy I slept.

The bus left at 8AM to head back on a 10 hour drive to Switzerland. I decided to convince Ryan to spend the day in Florence and take the train back to Lausanne. It was tough, but he finally agreed that it would be a waste to spend the whole day on the bus instead of seeing Italy and taking a night train home. So we went to Florence and spent a few hours in the Uffizi museum. I saw many sculptures and paintings that I have read about and seen in books for years. It was very nice and relaxing and I was so happy not to be on the stuffy bus. Now I am on a train ride home which is starting to feel a little long. Its only 7 hours total but it is hour 6 now and sleep is far away.

**As a side note, you will have to forgive my lack in decent adjectives. I am so tired the only words that come to me are lacking greatly in substance.

All in all it has been a great week. Italy was different than I expected. Many parts were not like the pictures I had seen, but a few were better, so those made up for it. Today has been a good day, which was my biggest goal. Today is July 5, 2008 and it is my dear friend Chris Ramos’ birthday. He would have been 23 today. I wanted to be sad today and grieve the loss of my friend, but I forced myself to find the beauty in the day and dedicate it to him in a joyful way instead. I love and miss you Chris; you are always on my mind and heart.