Italy - Summer 09

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

First WeekEND

In an effort to keep things interesting (and keep you all from waiting), in addition to weekly posts, I think I'll update after each weekend as well. There's plenty to write about...

This weekend we went to Assisi and Perugia on Saturday, and Siena and San Gimignano on Sunday. Having been to all these cities, except Perugia, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it as much, but I came to find that I didn't remember much from seven years ago.

Assisi was the first place we went that felt a bit touristy...lots of gift shops, people, and signs of english, like this food stand.

We first saw the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli at the base of the city, then scaled the mountain (by bus) and got to see the rest of the town. Including the Basilica of Santa Chiara and of course the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi. Assisi is a very pretty, old mountain town, with lots of great views of the Tuscan countryside.

The next stop, after a brief break in an Italian mall for lunch, was Perugia. Gianni was supposed to arrive there at noon by bus, so I figured when we arrived there at 3, he'd be waiting. I gave him a call, and after riding the mini-metro to the top of the city, I met up with him in the piazza. We walked around a bit, the main stretch of Perugia was rather small, and waited for our bus that left at 5:30.

Fountain in Perugia

We arrived in Siena that evening, and went straight to Gianni's apartment. It felt great to sit down for the first time that day, but it wasn't long before we were off again for dinner, with Irene and a few of Gianni's friends. Later, we went out for a bit and got some gelato, but went home pretty early, I was exhausted.

View from Gianni's Apartment

I stayed the night at Irene's apartment and got to sleep in for the first time all week (until about 11). Had some cereal for breakfast, then Gianni came over and we did some sightseeing. Afterword, we made some lunch, actually Gianni and Irene made lunch and I tried to stay out of the way. Unfortunately, after calling my teacher, I found out we had very little time to finish eating and meet up with the rest of the group. We had to run a little to catch the bus, but I made it without getting in too much trouble.

The next stop was San Gimignano, a small hillside town near Siena. Here we were given some free range, so I mostly just walked around taking pictures (I'm now at about 1,000 ==> 1,000,000 words). Very nice, again I didn't remember much, but I was more than ready when it was time to head back.

Quite the capstone to an eventful week, I'm looking forward to seeing whats in store this week. Talk to you all soon...

Love, Philip

First Week

Well I'm here in Italy everyone. I know a lot of you have been looking for updates and pictures, so I decided to start this blog. I'll do my best to post a blurb about each week, and maybe a picture from each day, (I already have over 400). I'm new at this though, so bear with me...

I arrived in Rome on Sunday afternoon, and after a three-hour bus ride arrived at about midnight here in Castelraimondo. I checked into my room, which is very nice - balconies, a small kitchen and a bathroom (with hot water). Here's a view of the airport at sunset, and then the balcony view from my room.

Castelraimondo is a very cute little town in a hilly region of the "Marche" province. On Monday we started classes and had a tour of the town. We have four hours of class everyday, and then an excursion or some free time. The iconic tower of Castelraimondo is shown below. The weather has been nice all week, sunny and clear during the day (maybe 60 degrees), but cool at night.

There's an interesting mix of people here...a lot of older people/famalies/couples, especially from Argentina and Brazil. Only two other Americans, but its an enjoyable mix so far.

On Tuesday we went to Macerata for the afternoon, and got to see a bit of the University, some of the chapels, and the Teatro Lauro Rosso, which is seen below.

Thursday was our trip to San Severino, another small town about 20 minutes away. Very pretty and some awesome views when we climbed to the top to see the castle. This picture shows the town from above.

Fridays in Castelraimondo there's an open-air market and people come in to sell fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and a ton of other goodies. I picked up a panino with porchetta, and some other groceries, mostly fruits like these.

Tomorrow we go to Assisi and Perugia, and the plan is to meet up with Gianni (my cousin), and stay with him for the weekend.

I'm very lucky to be here, and want to thank everyone for their love, support and prayers. Unfortunately comments are limited to umich students, but if you'd like, please email me at pjmin@umich.edu. Also, feel free to share with friends, or people who may want to see this but don't have internet axis.

Talk to you all soon,

Love,

Philip