Cortona, Italy

Hey everyone!

Today we ventured outside of Perugia for the first time since arriving and headed for Cortona, Italy. It's a small town in Tuscany and about a 45 minute train ride away from "home." If you've ever seen the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, you've seen Cortona; the entire movie was filmed there.

There were about 8 of us that decided to go, and our first adventure with european transportation actually went fairly well! Considering we had to use a mini-metro, a train, and a bus to get there, we were all pretty proud when we arrived without any major glitches. 

Cortona is perched up on veeeeeery steep hillside, and we definitely got an incredible workout just walking around town. We grabbed some lunch at an incredible little restaurant that overlooked the valley below and of course enjoyed a couple glasses of wine :) I can honestly say that I have yet to have a glass of wine here that was anything less than amazing. This country definitely has its priorities straight. 

After lunch we ventured towards La Chiesa di Santa Margherita. Its an absolutely beautiful church located just short of the highest point in town. It took us about 30 minutes to walk there (which isn't too bad), but holy smokes....I thought Perugia was hilly, but it is nothing compared to this place. I might as well have been climbing mount everest. Some advice: wait until AFTER your "hike" to enjoy the vino. Ouch. 

Perched even higher than the church was the Fortezza del Girifalco, an ancient Etruscan fortress which was first used by the Goths and later by the Lombards. The view was so absolutely INSANE from here, it felt like we were on the top of the world. Check out the pictures, please...even though I know that no photo can even come close to capturing the enormity of the landscape. Seriously breathtaking. It felt like a dream. 

On our way back down to town we passed through a beautiful little park. Conveniently it was right at sunset and we ended up staying there for quite a while, just trying to soak it all in. Again, please look at the photos. Words cannot do this justice. 

All in all, it was a fabulous day. You can't help but feeling like the italians know more about having a good time than we do. It's a simple kind of "fun," but it honestly warms your soul. Despite the chaos that comes with being in a foreign country, and despite all the confusion that comes with TRYING to speak in a second language, I feel absolutely at peace here. Never before have I felt so grounded with such an enormous challenge in front of me. While I'm sure there will be difficult days in which I miss home so much it hurts, there is no doubt in my mind that I am doing something incredible. I wish you all could be here. And I can honestly say that the thing I look forward to the most is the day that my family arrives in Rome.  I can't wait to share everything with my fellow Davi :)

Love you all enormously. Talk to you soon (hopefully!!!)

Sarah

www.picasaweb.google.com/SarahLiz00

Buona sera a tutti! 

So it's been a week since I've been here and...oh my goodness...SO much has happened, I don't even know where to start, so bare with me if my train of thought seems super random :)

Our second day in Italy I moved into an apartment with my friend Julie (we took italian classes together in Boulder). We live on a small street called Via del Melo about a five minute walk from the center piazza. We're the only students from our school on our street (and probably within the couple "blocks" surrounding us) so it's definitely very different than living on the hill in boulder or in on-campus housing! It's been fun though trying to get to know our neighbors who of course speak only italian. We certainly have an interesting and homey little apartment: there's one biiig bedroom for the two of us, a living/dining room, a kitchen, and one bathroom. The furniture is definitely a little quirky and I have never seen such tiny kitchen appliances in my entire life, but the view from our balcony/windows is absolutely breathtaking. We look northeast towards the Apennine Mountain Range and I pretty much have to pinch myself every morning when I wake up and look out my window. It is definitely the highlight of the entire apartment.

If I had to describe Perugia in one word (besides "amazing," of course) it would without a doubt be HILLY. Oh my stars. One of the streets that takes us to the center piazza is a 23% incline. My legs are like noodles by the end of the day...which is probably a good thing: perhaps it will counteract all the actual noodles I've been eating since we arrived. All the hills make for amazing views of the city once you finally reach the top, but geeze-louise...they kill me. 

Difficult terrain aside, this town is amazing. It was actually built by the Etruscans and was first mentioned in writing around 310 BC (!!) so just the history alone is enough to blow your mind. Every morning I walk through a 2000+ year old arch on the way to school...just a little bit different from Boulder, CO :)

Though this probably goes without saying, we are spoiled rotten here when it comes to food (and wine). Just today I had a pizza with prosciutto and carciofi (artichokes), amazing spumante, a cappuccino, a caffe marocchino....all before 3pm. It is heaven. It's taken a little bit of effort getting used to grocery shopping though. Who knew there wouldn't be a safeway or whole foods in italy!? :) Since this is a fairly small town, we have to do the majority of our shopping at tiny hole-in-the-wall grocery stores, most of which are owned and operated by the cutest old italian women you'll ever see. Every saturday there is a huge open air market, so we're headed there tomorrow to stock up. The fresh seafood is supposed to be amazing....so perhaps it's time for me to learn how to cook. Wish me luck...

I've got to head out for now...but I promise more "blogging" is on the way. Also, check out my Picasa page...I've already uploaded tons of pictures for your enjoyment :) 

Ci Sentiamo!

Sarah

Photos

Just got done with our first attempt at grocery shopping (we made complete fools of ourselves) and I don't have tons of time to write since we're having people over for dinner tonight, but I wanted to let everyone know that I've posted some photos on Picasa. I'm sure there will be TONS more to come, but I uploaded a few pictures of our apartment and a couple different areas around town...just in case you're interested. Check it out and I miss you all! 

-Sarah

www.picasaweb.google.com/SarahLiz00

Oh, and I originally posted the wrong skype name....I corrected it, but just in case you want it: Sarahliz4688

Home Sweet (Away From) Home

Buona Sera! 

After the longest two (three?) days of my entire life, I am finally in Perugia! All I can say is no more plane rides please...at least for a while. Our flight out of New York ended up getting delayed, so we didn't leave the US until around midnight yesterday. My seat was sandwiched in between two very nice italian businessmen, who enjoyed asking me questions and watching me botch my way through answering. Not the most impressive display of communication, but entertaining nonetheless. 

I must say that when it comes to in-flight meals, AlItalia seriously trumps anything I've ever seen. We had dinner (with a couple glasses of wine, of course) and breakfast (with espresso, of course), and everything was delicious. United Airlines has some catching up to do, to say the least. 

Once we arrived in Rome, we all loaded onto a charter bus for a three hour ride to Perugia. We were all absolutely exhausted, and I couldn't help but take a little naperoo - but from what I saw when I was awake, this country is fantastically beautiful (no surprise there). 

We're staying at Hotel Gio tonight, which is right in the center of town. We have a big welcome dinner in an hour or so, and then we're all probably going to hit the sack. My roommate Julie and I get to move into our apartment tomorrow morning around 11, so photos will follow soon after! 

I am absolutely exhausted though, and looking at my computer screen is seriously making my eyes burn. Hope everyone is doing well and managing SOMEHOW to go on without me there, though I know it must be difficult :) Talk to you all soon

-Sarah

P.S. Skype me! Sarahliz4688 

P.P.S. I highly recommend flying over the Alps at least once in your life. Breathtaking to say the least. 

Welcome!

Well Hello!

As everyone knows (hopefully), I'll be heading off to Perugia here in just a few days (yikes!). While four and a half months isn't an eternity, it's still quite a long time to be away from home, so in an attempt to actually stay in touch with everyone, I've created this wonderful blog. Throughout my stay in Italy and where ever else my travels take me, I'll be documenting my experiences, escapades, and exploits so that perhaps it won't seem to anyone (including myself) that I've disappeared off the face of the earth...or at least the US of A. 

For all of you who have been disheartened by my communication abilities in the past (i.e. my complete inability to answer my phone), I promise to be inspired by Obama's campaign for change...YES WE (I) CAN! Also, I'm fairly certain that if I start slacking, little Annie may just fly out to Italy for the sole purpose of lecturing me (love you mom). I'm not sure how often I'll be "blogging" since I don't really know what my schedule will be like, but I'll keep everyone posted (ooooooh, PUN INTENDED!) 

Just in case you were wondering, I leave Junction on Wednesday the 7th. I spend the the night in New York before flying to Rome on the 8th. I should arrive sometime on the 9th. Wish me luck!

Love you all,

Sarah