Italy Days 8 & 9: Bologna and back to Rome

We had decided to go to Bologna because it is supposed to have some of the best food in the country. Also, our guide book recommended the town in general. Well, it was a bit of a disappointment. Yes, the food was very good, but the food all over Italy was good. And there really just wasn't much to see in the town. Additionally, it was not a tourist town, so we felt a little out of place and had some difficulty getting by with our extremely limited Italian. On the bright side, the bed and breakfast we stayed at was very charming, and the owner or manager was very nice. He was a middle-aged, stocky Italian man who was always running around frantically and sweating. He didn't seem like your typical B&B proprietor, but he sure made a good breakfast. If we had it to do over again, we would have just stayed another day in Venice. But, I'm content with one "just ok" day compared to 8 awesome days.

 Neptune's Fountain in Bologna. I didn't realize there was a kid sitting there; that makes me look like a creeper.

We went back to Rome for our last night before flying back. We had decided to splurge on a little nicer hotel room since it was our last night, and it was well worth the price for the bed. It was the only truly comfortable bed we slept in the whole time. We walked down to Castel Sant'Angelo and across the Tiber River. Then we enjoyed a final delicious dinner and, of course, a final gelato.

It was such a wonderful trip. I feel like we had a really good balance of seeing a lot of sights but also taking time to relax and just enjoy being on vacation. Yes, there were a few minor hiccups, but I don't think any trip is ever perfect. The whole time Darby and I just couldn't stop thinking about how lucky we were to be there. I highly recommend it to anyone as a vacation destination.

As great as it was, I can't say I was too sad to come home. I love routine too much to ever be one of those people who travels for months at a time (not to mention the fact that 10 days is about our budget limit). It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 5th anniversary (a little early), and, whether we're in Italy or Illinois, I feel incredibly blessed to be married to Darby.

Italy Days 6-7: Venice

 Sites Seen
Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

San Rocco
This was a guild house and consisted of a school and church. The school was amazing...beautiful ceilings and paintings. No pictures allowed on the inside, though. :( 

The Genius of da Vinci Museum
We just stumbled across this museum when we left San Rocco. It had models of many of da Vinci's inventions that you could operate/climb on. I loved it!

St. Mark's Square and Basilica
This is the main attraction in Venice, and the square is very impressive. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy the day we went, so we couldn't spend too much time walking around and enjoying the view. 

These statues actually move and hit the bell on the hour. It was cool. 

Palazzo Ducale
This palace was the home of the medieval Venice doges (kind of like kings of Venice) and also the seat of government. I didn't know Venice had such an interesting history. We thought this was one of the most beautiful buildings in Italy (which is saying a lot). Darby really enjoyed the display of all of the medieval weapons.

Ponte Rialto

Lessons Learned

• If you're traveling by train on the weekend, buy your tickets early so you don't end up with seats in two different cars. 
• If it's raining, just go ahead and invest the 5 euros in an umbrella, instead of waiting until you're soaked, then buying one. 
• Do not try to subsist on only a croissant until 2:30 p.m., especially when you have been walking since 9 a.m. Well, at least if you're me. Darby seemed to do ok, but I had a major meltdown. 

Favorite Memories

• Eating our giant "individual-sized" pizzas. 
• A pigeon pooping on Darby's head while we were waiting in line for the Palazzo Ducale. I couldn't help laughing, but Darby was not amused. After several hours, though, he was able to quit pouting and joke about it. 
• Meeting a couple from Boston who were looking "to make lifelong friends in Italy." They got my e-mail address, but I haven't heard from them yet. Hmmm...
• Walking through the streets (when it wasn't raining). You hear about how crazy the streets in Venice are, but you just can't understand until you've experienced it. It can be frustrating, but if you just go with it and enjoy getting lost, it can be quite fun. And, especially after the craziness of Rome and Florence, it's amazing to experience the quietness of some of the little alleys and bridges.

Italy Days 3-5: Florence

Florence was hands-down our favorite city. It is beautiful and so easy to navigate. We got everywhere by walking. It was less busy than Rome, and it was so fun just to walk around and admire all of the beautiful churches, occasionally stopping in to a little shop. We also absolutely loved the little hotel we stayed in; all of the staff members were so nice, and it was in a great location. We had planned to take a day trip from Florence to Lucca, but we loved Florence so much we just decided to stay there.

Sites Seen
Il Duomo
This was so beautiful, and the pictures definitely don't do it justice. We walked by it several times a day and were always gawking at it. 

The Baptistery
This ceiling was gorgeous. It was illustrated with Biblical stories, and Darby and I spent a long time identifying each story. 

Piazza della Signoria 
This plaza is home to a lot of statues, including a copy of the famous David statue. The real David is in an art gallery. We didn't feel like paying for tickets, so we decided the copy was good enough for us. :)

Palazzo Vecchio

Uffizi Gallery
This art gallery was huge and had tons of famous pieces. But, I think I've decided that art museums are a little like gardening for me. I want to be the type of person who likes art museums (and gardening), but, in reality, I'm not. I love other types of museums, but I don't have enough knowledge about art to truly appreciate it.

Piazza Santa Croce

Galileo Museum
We just happened to see this museum and thought it sounded interesting. It had a bunch of different scientific instruments (some belonging to Galileo), and it was actually interesting to me. The collection was very well-curated. Plus, I had just read a book about Galileo, Galileo's Daughter, so it was really cool to see some of the things I had read about.

Ponte Vecchio

Piazza Santa Maria Novella, etc.
I think we went to every piazza in Florence (and there were A LOT). It was fun to people-watch. 

Pitti Palace/Boboli Gardens

Piazzale Michelangelo
We had heard that this piazza offered the best view of Florence. I think that fact should have clued us in to the fact that the piazza would be on top of a very large hill, but we were oblivious. After huffing and puffing our way to the top, we did enjoy a pretty nice view. But, it might have been worth it to take the bus.

Lessons Learned

• Trains in Italy have assigned seats. You'd think we might have noticed this the first time someone told us to move because we were in their seats. But, no, it took us about 3 times to realize all seats are assigned.
• Walking through the Boboli Gardens is more of a garden hike than a garden stroll. 
• If you are going to climb up a huge hill to enjoy the best view of the city, check the weather beforehand to make sure you won't get rained on the whole time you're up there. 

Favorite Memories

• The waiter bringing out Darby's HUGE raw steak for him to approve before cooking it. That was the biggest steak I've ever seen. We ended up sharing it, and it was delicious. 
• Buying a leather jacket for Darby from a street vendor. The guy was very nice and told us he'll be moving to Texas with his family soon. He was a little worried, though, because there are "so many guns in Texas." And, Americans always say Italy is dangerous! :) 
• Seeing Il Duomo for the first time. 
• Eating our huge "appetizer" plate at the wine bar by our hotel. 

Italy Days 1 & 2 - Rome

 Sites Seen

Vatican Museums

These include a gigantic collection of art and sculptures. The buildings themselves are as pretty as the art. The tour ended at the Sistine Chapel. It was cool to see something so famous, but, honestly, after seeing all of the other ceilings, it didn't seem too special.

St. Peter's Square and Basilica
I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing this, but it was actually really impressive.The basilica was so huge and ornate.

Trevi Fountain 

Villa Borghese/Borghese Gallery
This art gallery within a mansion is located in a giant park. We had to check our bags, so I didn't have my camera with me, but here's a picture of the gallery I found online.

Spanish Steps 

Colosseum
We paid for a guided tour of the Colosseum, and it turned out to be well worth the money. Our guide was a stereotypical "macho" Italian (I'm sure it was mostly an act), and the tour was hilarious as well as informative.

Palatine Hill/Roman Forum
To me, this area is what I always thought of when I imagined Rome (other than the Colosseum, of course). I loved looking at all of the ruins.

Pantheon
I had no idea that the Pantheon has been turned into a church. It was cool to see, but the most interesting thing was the protest going on outside. Based on the pictures they were holding, we think it might have been an anti-vasectomy protest?? 

 (Also found online)

Piazza Navona

Lessons Learned

•  If someone offers to take your picture for you, don't let them, unless they look like a tourist, too. We ended up paying over $10 for 2 stupid Polaroids. Ah, well. 
• The street names in Rome are on the buildings, not on signs. 
• Don't linger too long at the posted outside menu of a restaurant unless you want to be forced to a table.

 Favorite Memories

• Enjoying our first big Italian meal, complete with complimentary limoncello, biscotti, and a rose for me.
• Eating our lunch on the Spanish steps. We finished seconds before guards told another couple that there was no food allowed. 
• Stepping off the Metra and seeing the Colosseum right there in front of us.

Catching Up

Wow, so much has happened since I last posted. The last three weeks have been CRAZY but very fun. Of course, I have a lot to post about our Italy trip, but I don't want to forget the things that happened before that. So, a quick recap.

1. Mom and Dad visited. I mentioned this before, but I didn't get to post this picture or talk about the awesome time my mom and I had getting pedicures, going shopping, and doing Pinterest crafts while my dad was at his conference. I loved getting to spend so much time with her. 



2. I got a job TAing summer school. This was a huge relief, as I was unsure for a while whether I would have any job this summer. I'm excited about meeting a new group of students in June. 
3. The school year ended. This was very bittersweet. I was definitely ready for summer. But, most of my classmates graduated and are moving away. So, there were many end-of-year get-togethers. And, since I was never really sure if a certain get-together would be the last time I would see people, there were many, many goodbyes.

Making joomok bap, a yummy Korean dish, at Narae's baby shower. I, obviously, just followed directions from the true Korean chefs.

My MATESL classmates: Cassandra, Jenna, Mica, and Katy. Mica's sticking around with me next year (yay!).

I messed something up, and now it won't let me change the number on the next item to 4. Just pretend, ok?

1. My little brother graduated from college. How can he be a grown-up? It was so great to see all of my family, including grandma, aunts, and frousins (and especially little Samuel). While I was in Abilene, I was able to eat breakfast and enjoy a wonderful chat with my friend Laura, which is always a treat.

Matthew, Amy, Samuel, Darby, me, Matt, Tori, Hannah

April Books

Halfway Heaven: Diary of a Harvard Murder by Melanie Thernstrom
This is the true story of a murder-suicide that happened at Harvard in the mid-90s. Both the victim and the murderer were female international students. The author explores the isolation that many international students experience when they come to the U.S., which is interesting to me as an ESL teacher, and exposes how ill-prepared Harvard was to handle serious mental illness. It was very sad, obviously, but a worthwhile read.

Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans
I recently started reading Rachel's blog and wondered how I had gone this long without reading her. Her thinking on faith-related issues is very similar to mine. Plus, she's a great writer and very funny. This memoir is about her journey from the fundamentalist certainty of her childhood through doubt to a new kind of faith. I could relate very well to her story (although my upbringing and college experience weren't as extreme), and I found this book very encouraging. I'll probably do a separate post about it in the future.


The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
I picked up this book on a whim and wasn't too impressed by it. It is the story of a lonely, twice-divorced middle-aged man, the relationships he forms, and how all of those people eventually become interconnected. The author is very skilled at writing in several different voices, but I just couldn't connect to the characters.


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
I've loved all of Atwood's books that I've read, and this one did not disappoint. Like many of her other books, this one has an unreliable female narrator, and Atwood keeps you turning the pages with her gradual revelation of  key details of the story. I can't say much about the plot without giving some of the surprises away, but it's set in a cult-like dystopian U.S. in the near future (technically now the past, as this was published in 1986). Very thought-provoking.

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball 
If I had to pick my favorite genre of book, it would be memoirs about food. So, of course, I loved this story of a city girl who falls in love with a farmer and rehabilitates a run-down farm with him. They had a dream to establish a "whole diet" CSA (a farm that provides its paying members with all of the food they need, including meat, grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, etc.), and it's amazing the amount of work they put in to realize that dream. Almost made me want to move to a farm (except for all the passages describing how they slaughtered pigs or castrated bulls). Even if you don't completely buy in to the local foods movement, this book will encourage you to be intentional about the way you spend your time and the products you buy.

Things worth bragging about

This was a great week for the Hewitt/Anderson family.

On Wednesday, Darby passed his preliminary exam. This was a major step towards his Ph.D., and I'm so proud of all the work he put in. There's no rest for the weary, though, as he has to prepare for a conference he's leaving for in a week.

Mom and Dad came into town on Tuesday night. Dad had a conference in Chicago, and Mom came along to hang out with Darby and me. This morning, we all got up early to cheer on Dad as he ran the Illinois marathon. This was his fourth marathon, and he did awesome. It was a lot of fun cheering him on. Running a marathon is definitely a big accomplishment, but we all had to laugh when Dad told us about a woman who yelled at the runners, "You're all heroes!" That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we're all very proud of him. :)

Me gusta chocolate

I'm taking a Spanish conversation class this semester. The theme for this week's chapter is "Coffee and Chocolate." Awesome, right? Anyway, the class is almost all girls and the discussion about chocolate today was one of the most lively we've had all semester. Here's about how it went (translated into English, of course):

Teacher: What's your favorite way to eat chocolate?
Student 1: I like chocolate ice cream.
All other students: Oooh. yum.
Student 2: I like 100 Grand Bars.
All other students: Oh yeah, those are good.
Student 3: I like chocolate fondue.
All other students: Ohhh, fondue.
Teacher: One time I ate a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries all by myself.
All students: Wow. Yeah, chocolate-covered strawberries are sooooo good.
Student 4: My favorite chocolate is Lindt.
All other students: Mmmm-hmm. Yes.
Student 5: Dove is also really good.
All other students: Oh yeah!

And that went on for about 15 minutes. I was dying laughing. It didn't matter what anyone said. Everyone would say oohh and nod their heads vigorously. Normally, the teacher has to pry answers out of people, but we probably would have gone on talking about chocolate for the whole hour. It seems that talking about chocolate is almost as good as actually eating it...almost. The lone guy in our class just didn't get it.

Party Like It's 1999

On Friday, we went to Mica's "millennium" themed Tex-Mex birthday party. Guests were encouraged to dress like they did in the 90s. I decided to go all out and curl my bangs (although I didn't have bangs in the 90s) and pull my hair back with a claw clip. Darby was not a fan of my hairstyle. The first thing he said when I showed him was "I'm so glad it's not the 90s anymore." I also wore my late-90s/early-2000s uniform---a long-sleeved shirt under a short-sleeved shirt.

We watched 90s music videos, hula hooped, played with an etch-a-sketch, and watched 10 Things I Hate About You, which was my favorite movie in high school. I don't remember how many times I watched it with my girlfriends. I could still quote practically the whole movie.

Since I forgot my camera (as always), I stole these pictures from Mica's facebook.

Darby wasn't so sure about Harrison's hairstyle.

Jin, me, and Cassandra doing the macarena. Man, that song is long. And there's really not much to the dance.

The only 90s hand sign we could come up with was bunny ears.

Jin was awesome at the hula hoop. She barely put forth any effort.

It was such a fun party. I love spending time with my MATESL friends anyway, but the awesome theme and yummy food were the icing on the cake (pun intended).

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. We don't get any days off school for Easter, but we enjoyed a lovely weekend nonetheless. On Saturday, a package arrived from the Easter Bunny: Darby and I each got a book from our Amazon wish list and 2 Reese's eggs (yum!). I love that our parents still send us holiday treats. It's so fun to get those unexpected packages.

After church this morning, we went over to our friends' house for a delicious Easter lunch of pork loin, sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus and sweet potatoes, and strawberry pie. I was so happy when they invited us. Last year, I had a lot of fun throwing an Easter brunch, but I just didn't make it a priority this year. I was kind of sad that we might not do anything special to celebrate.

Easter weekend always brings back memories of LTC (Leadership Training for Christ), which was a conference our church always went to over Easter weekend. Kids could participate in different events like chorus, puppets, drama, art, etc., and earn medals. Being the huge nerd that I was and still am, I always participated in a bunch of events. I went through my old photo albums tonight to find some pictures from LTC.

The conference was always held at really fancy hotels, so in our down time, we would go exploring. Jessica, Hannah, and I found these creepy kid statues and thought it would be cool to mimic their poses. Dorks.

Our puppet team and our famous vegetable puppets. I was always one of the three snow peas. This was our senior year, and some of our team members had graduated, so either Whitney or I had to be two peas' voices, so Stephanie could play the corn (named Corn E. Cob). Thinking back on my puppeteering days cracks me up, because it's so random. Are puppets only a big deal in the church of Christ? Or do other denominations have them, too? They're kind of creepy when you really think about it, but we always had so much fun planning and performing our skits.

Our Bible Bowl team. Bible Bowl was my favorite event. You studied one book of the Bible for several months; my dad was usually the coach, and he always came up with fun games to help us prepare. Then, all of the teams gathered in a huge ballroom and answered questions about the book. The atmosphere in that room was so tense; it's hilarious now to think how worked up I got about it. Your team sat in a line, so you couldn't see each other, and everyone displayed cubes with their answers on it. Then, they would announce the correct answer, and your scorer would hold up the number of people on your team who had gotten it right. When the number was less than 4, I was always thinking, "Who missed that one? That was easy!" I was perhaps a teensy bit high strung. But overall, it was such a fun experience, and most of my Bible knowledge is from those years. In December, I was a scorer for a small Bible Bowl competition at our church here, and it brought back so many good memories.