CET Student Correspondent News: Andiamo a Sorrento!

By Courtney Rogers

I can’t believe it’s already mid April and high time that I fill you in on Sorrento! I took the train from Naples to Sorrento and then a cab ride up to Agriturismo La Lobra, which is on the westernmost part of the peninsula. It was after 7 when I finally put down my bags and I was absolutely drained. The people of La Lobra were so nice to me, “the American girl.”

That first night, they made dinner for the guests and asked me if fish was okay. Not wanting to be rude/ not having the energy to protest, I said, “Sure!”. We were literally down the street from the fisherman’s marina and you’re supposed to try new things when you study abroad. I was fine with the pasta course, which had mussels but they were delicious. The second course, however, nearly made me a become a vegetarian. They brought me a plate that had a whole fish, eyes, tail, the works. Not only did it look like it had just been pulled from the ocean, they had even posed it so that the fish appeared to be swimming in the sauce!! I couldn’t even look at it and all I felt just like Sebastian watching the crazy chef from "The Little Mermaid". True, I wasn’t being cooked, but I just stared at this fish and didn’t even know where to start. They asked if I wanted something else, but I thought that would be the ultimate lame American move and said I was fine.I finally nudged the bread basket so that it blocked my view of the fish’s blank stare. Apart from the fish, every meal I ate there was amazing and flawless with fresh salads, wonderful pasta dishes, and home made pound cake for breakfast! They even made their own limoncello, which was the best I’ve had in Italy.

"I’m not a huge fish person, it’s just not how I roll, but we were literally down the street from

the fisherman’s marina and you’re supposed to try new things when you study abroad."

On my first full day back in Italy, I decided to explore a bit and walk into Massa Lubrense for the afternoon. As you can see, the walk was gorgeous and the weather was so nice; hooray for shorts. I had a delicious lunch in town and my waiter was very nice. He brought me “presents” of complimentary bruschetta and fresh orange juice and he kept asking me where my boyfriend was. Had I known enough Italian vocabulary, I would have replied, “You know, I’m not sure. I’ve been looking for him everywhere but I just can’t seem to find him.” Later in the day, while I was back in my hotel room, the innkeeper rang my doorbell and when I opened my door, she had a bouquet of roses in her hands! It turns out I must have made quite the impression at lunch, as the waiter asked to see me again. I hate to burst the bubbles of all the romantics out there, but I didn’t end up seeing him again. Blame it on the movie “Taken” but as a girl traveling alone, it seems like pretty common sense to not wander off alone with some local guy you’ve just met. But nonetheless, the roses were very beautiful and an extremely flattering gesture.

"The view from my room ... lemons everywhere!"

My time at the lemon farm was both restorative and challenging. I have never traveled by myself anywhere except to and from Vanderbilt, so it was a lesson in being prepared and completely self-reliant about travel plans. I can’t say it didn’t get lonely, but by the end of it, I realized that being lonely is a choice. You can choose to not talk to anyone and spend your day doing solitary activities, or you can strike up a conversation with other guests and make new friends. It can be intimidating when you’re alone and everyone else is in groups, but I found some of the nicest people to spend time with and they were more than willing to let me crash their vacation for mealtime. Most importantly, I felt so accomplished after traveling alone. Being a girly girl, it’s easy to let other people step in, make the plans and help you every step of the way. But Sorrento? That was all me. I planned it, I did it, and I had a lot of fun.

Courtney Rogers,
CET Florence, Spring 2010

NB: Check out some of Courtney's freelance fashion writing at http://blog.blush.com/

Travelling Seminar a Venezia

Italian Cultural History students with Professor Kristin Stasiowki on our way to Ca' Rezzonico from a group lunch.

ICH Students listen to Katie's presentation on Casanova

before taking the "secret itineraries tour" of the Doge's Palace.

Imagery and Public Space students observe Zanchi's painting of the 1630 plague in Venice

on the scalone of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. To read more about this Venetian confraternity, famous for its canvas cycles by Tintoretto, click here.  

IPS Students discuss Titian's Pieta', his last painting, in the Gallerie dell'Accademia.

To learn more information about the museum and its collection, click here

Emily and Bentley act out Veronese's explanation of his painting, The Feast in the House of Levi (orinally meant to depict the Last Supper), during a session of the Inquisition Tribunal.

To read the dialogue, click here.

Heading back to Firenze. Arrivederci, Venezia!

CET Student Correspondent News: Buona Pasquetta!

Lo Scoppio del Carro
by Courtney Rogers

Ciao readers! I can’t believe that Easter has come and gone, spring really is here! Holly, Ellie and I celebrated Easter in a fully Florentine manner. In Florence, there’s a tradition known as Scoppio del Carro or Explosion of the Cart. It’s this huge procession and fireworks display in the piazza del Duomo and it was so cool to see. Before the fireworks, we had breakfast a Guibbe Rosse got to pet the oxen that are walked around in the procession! They were huge but looked so relaxed munching on hay and wearing all of their flowers. They were truly decked out for the occasion.

At the cathedral, the show begins with the flight of a “dove” (rocket) that is shot from the high altar of the church on a wire connected to the top of the cart. What ensues is a lengthy fireworks display and lots of purple, white and red smoke, Florence’s colors. After the fireworks are done, the procession heads around the baptistry. It’s a tradition that’s been carried out since the 11th century, though the Pazzi conspiracy kind of put a damper on it for awhile. If Sunday was any indication though, the tradition is alive and well and we had a great time watching.

Courtney Rogers,
CET Student Correspondent
Florence, Spring 2010

Want to learn more about the history of the Scoppio del Carro? Click here 

Natural Born Pizzaioli!

A pizzaiolo is a pizza-maker, and this week we tried our hand at this age-old trade ...

                                                   Waiting to begin at the Pizzeria Il Teatro

Ally volunteers to go first

getting ready to lay out the dough and choose toppings

Caroline prepares to put her creation in the oven

                          Proud pizziaoli! Buon appetito!

CET Student Correspondent News: Piazzale Michelangelo

One of the best Florence adventures I have taken is walking up to the hills right outside the city walls to Piazzale Michelangelo. To get there, you have to cross over the Arno River on the Ponte San Niccolo', the bridge south of the Ponte Vecchio ...

... and follow the various street signs to the Porta San Niccolo ...

and many steps up to the hills ...

... until you reach the square. Once you climb the steps, you are treated to an incredible panoramic view of the entire city and of Florence as well as the surrounding countryside.

I walked up to the church of San Miniato and graveyard to take pictures with my manual camera. The graveyard was not creepy--it was actually pretty interesting to walk around and look at the different marble facades of the tombs and see fresh flowers people recently left.

It's nice finding new spot where I can look forward to re-visitng in the upcoming weeks. It's about 40/45 minutes away, which is not bad at all.

Ellen Barg-Walkow
CET Student Correspondent
Spring 2010 Florence

Travelling Seminar a Roma March 4-7

Visita al Colosseo ...

... Forum ...

... and the Pantheon.

Day 2 at the Vatican ...

... San Pietro ...

... and a visit to Palazzo Madama, home of the Italian Senate.

... at the top of the Vittoriano

 Italian Cultural History lecture at the "Altare della Patria"...

Italian Cultural History class visit to the

Museo del Risorgimento

Ciao, Roma!

CET Student Correspondent News: An Uphill Battle? By Courtney Rogers

Ciao a tutti! I am actually typing this post with my eyes closed right now because it has been such a long day! After class, all I wanted to do was curl up in pajamas with a cup of decaffinated instant cappuccino (they grow on you, trust me) but that was not in the cards because today, I was off on an adventure. A rock climbing adventure.

I had the pipe dream of improving on my skills in my recently acquired love of rock climbing while here in Italy. Although my dream of living out some twist of either the “Lizzy McGuire Movie” or “Roman Holiday” has yet to materialize here in Italia, the rock climbing one is even better than I expected! I joined a gym called Stone Monkey that’s located across the Arno in a very un-touristy part of town (case in point: no gelato stores).

The class was really fun! I think most of the other people in the class were rather wary of me and thought I had no clue what was up, until they saw me on the wall. In fact, I made a few friends who were all highly complimentary of my spidery flamingo moves. The class itself consists of an aerobic warm up, free climbing on the wall, and then an instructor puts you on a path on the wall. It’s so funny because the holds for my path were marked D and S for Destra and Sinistra (right and left). Does this count as studying for Italian?

One of my new friends, Lucia is from France and she takes the same bus that I take to get home from the gym, so I even have a bus buddy! Another girl is still in high school and studying English, so we’ve agreed that I will help her with English and she will help me with Italian, totally a fair trade ...

Courtney Rogers,

CET Florence Spring 2010