Under The Tuscan Sun: February 2014

Yesterday my friend Kara and I took a day trip to the biggest town in Southern Tuscany, Grosseto. Once we got to Grosseto we took a half hour bus ride to the beach coastal town of Castiglione Della Pescaia. It is a beautiful town that sits on a mountain top overlooking the beach and the Mediterranean Sea. There is a castle on the mountain as well that has turned into an overlook and apartments it seemed like. We went to the Saturday morning market the town was having and walked around looking at the boats docked and enjoying the quietness of there being barely any people around. We found a good restaurant for lunch and we had spaghetti with clams. We got gelato after and went down to the sea! The weather was pretty nice but the water was cold. We watched the fishermen on the beach with their stationary poles stuck into the sand. After walking along the beach and getting some gelato, we headed back to Grosseto. We walked into the town’s main piazza where there was an antique market and where a carnival celebration was happening. All of the little kids were running around in the piazza with their costumes on and throwing confetti everywhere. We headed back to Siena at night after enjoying another Tuscan town and feeling excited that we got to go to the beach!

Ciao!

-Rachel

Spaghetti with clams in Castiglione Della Pescaia.

Castiglione Della Pescaia

Mediterranean Sea in Castiglione Della Pescaia.

Castiglione Della Pescaia

Too much hair...

Mediterranean Sea in Castiglione Della Pescaia.

Grosseto

Carnival in Grosseto

This past weekend I went to Venice with my friends Adam, Kara and Hailey! We took a bus to Florence and then a train to Venice. Venice is the most beautiful and coolest city I have ever been to! It is amazing how it is all built on water and was so fun to see the way of life there; no cars, “police boats”, “emergency boats” etc. We stayed at a decent hotel that was right next to the train station and in one of the city’s busiest parts. Right outside our door were tons of great restaurants, lively crowds and good shops. We went to dinner that night and I had delicious gnocchi Bolognese. We got gelato and just explored Venice at nighttime! We bought the unlimited water taxi pass so were able to get on and off the boats whenever we pleased. We took the water taxi around all night and marveled at what an amazing place it is! It was definitely cold on the water but seeing the city lit up at night and looking at all of the boats and gondolas was worth it! On Saturday we took the water taxi around more and actually got a little bit lost. The Venice water taxi system is extremely confusing. Constantly throughout the weekend we would be standing at the dock to get picked up and every time it seemed as if we picked the wrong dock to stand at because everyone else was getting picked up besides us. Then we would go to the busiest dock and a boat would never come. The routes they take are also very confusing because it was a brand new place to us. So we ended up on the island of Lido when we wanted to go to Murano. It was a fun ride though so ended up being fine. We all made it to the island of Murano which is famous for their glass blowing. Every shop there was filled with beautiful glass blown objects all with intricate designs. Next we went to the island of Burano, which is famous for their handmade lace. Every shop was filled with lace clothing, tablecloths and doilies. Burano is also famous for their houses, with every house painted a vibrant color! It was so bright and picturesque! It was nighttime by the time we finished sightseeing on the islands and we headed back to Venice where their annual carnival festival kicked off! We put our masks on and walked through the city enjoying all of the costumes and excitement. There was a huge parade going through town with loud drums and neon lights and almost everyone you passed either had on a fun mask or a great costume. It is almost like Halloween because the kids run around in their costumes eating specialty candy the shops put out and throwing confetti everywhere. The adult costumes are more themed and people usually dress in ball gowns and other period type clothing. On Sunday we took a gondola ride! The boat ride was easily one of the most fun and cool things I have ever done! We were taken through the Grand Canal and through the old parts of Venice, weaving in and out of bridges and pathways for boats. I guess a sign of the modern times around us was that our gondola man was on his phone and texting while he was taking us around. We saw lots of the men doing that as they moved past us but it was fun seeing how they all interact because all of the guys know each other. There are also mirrors at certain points of the small pathways so that the gondola man can see if anyone else is approaching. If there are not mirrors and the water is at a four way intersection, he would yell something to let people know he was passing. After the gondola ride we watched a boat parade going down the Grand Canal. Every boat was decorated differently for carnival and the group within the boat all had matching, elaborate costumes. We then headed to Piazza San Marco to enjoy more liveliness of carnival. I visited Doge’s Palace and loved seeing the elegant gold and sculptured ceilings, beautiful murals and the underground prison that define the palace. It was unfortunately time to head home at that point so we took one last water taxi ride and then attempted to find the bus station. We got to the bus station but it was the wrong one. We ran around for about an hour asking anyone that could help us locate the “other” bus station. We finally figured out we had to take a train to get to the station that was practically outside of Venice. By the time we were on the train to get to the station we knew we had missed our bus and that we were going to get there 10 minutes late. In a last effort we called the bus company, the person who answered the phone spoke English and she ended up calling the bus and they turned around to get us! Luck was definitely on our side and we were so happy to finally get on that bus and get home to Siena Sunday night. It was an unforgettable weekend in an amazing city!

Here is a link to the Venice Carnival website explaining what the event is:

http://www.carnevale.venezia.it/ (Select English in the upper right hand corner to translate the website.)

Ciao!

-Rachel