Italy - Summer 09: Second Week (and Weekend)

May 19, 2009

Second Week (and Weekend)

Sorry it's taken so long for an update, they keep us pretty busy here. Here's the update from the past week, can't believe I'm already midway through my third week....

We had lunch at the Villa Casa Bianca on Tuesday, the upscale residence high on the mountainside with a view of the surrounding area. A nice time, and good food (its always good when I don't have to cook), unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera.

That same night I forgot my camera for the Evening of Italian music. Daniele led us with guitar and vocals, as we sang classics like O Sole Mio together. Took a nice picture of the town...

On Thursday, we had an excursion to Porto Recanati, which meant the beach. It wasn't real hot, and the water was definitely a bit chilly, but I swam for a bit, then walked around and explored the city taking pictures.

Afterword, we headed to Loreto, a hillside town nearby with an awesome panorama of the surrounding area, as well as a very pretty church. Our tour guide, Daniele, went as far as to claim that inside, this church is more spectacular than the Duomo in Florence. (We'll see, we go there on Saturday).

Saturday brought us to Venice, a city I was very excited to see. Very pretty, although not as much water as I expected. Of course its surrounded by water, but a lot of the main attractions are on one section of land, or separated by a bridge or two. We saw the church (a lot of gold) and the Ponte di Realta. Naturally there were the gondolas, and also a lot of tourists (and shopping) here, but another nice (hot) day.

On Sunday night we went to Camerino, a city about 10 km from here, to experience a bit of the two-week medieval celebration. Lots of people dressed up in their favorite peasant outfits, including the waiters and waitresses. A lot of outdoor vendors, and the church was decorated with lights. Then at around midnight, they lit a huge bonfire in the square.

Another exciting week here, and this one is shaping up nicely as well. Were headed to Tolentino and the Castello di Caldarola today, Gubbio on Thursday, and Florence on Saturday, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about.

Talk to you all soon.

Love, Philip