Segesta

Remember how I said the tower of Pisa is old? Joking! At Segesta there's a temple and amphitheatre dating back to the 5th century BCE and they are in excellent shape. Being a not-so-nice Sunday morning in January, we were pretty much alone at the site. There was an American couple, and a handful of others (we kept trying to help the American couple by translating for them, though I'm not sure how much they appreciated it...) 

Sitting on the stone seats, I kept trying to picture Greeks in robes, as they perform their dramas and tragedies. It certainly makes history come alive, as you realise that they were once a people, alive as I am. 

Florence

After a few days out in the country, I headed back to Florence, taking the train. My host mom was clearly anxious about me taking the train by myself, despite my reassurances of "I flew from Canada to here, by myself, not speaking Italian at all, and managed it". (Note: I almost didn't make my flight out of Rome due to not checking in at the right place and not having a proper ticket, but I didn't mention this to my host mom.) She still asked a random stranger going the same direction to let me know of the stop. That was probably for the best as our train was early and so I would've missed it.  This is also why I don't have a photo from the trip. 

I was picked up in Florence by my host sister and her dad, and after dropping my bag off at home, we walked into the centre to go to the Museum Galilei. Couldn't take photos inside, but I did get these of the zodiac calendar outside:

It was a science museum, so showed telescopes, globes, models of the human body, and many more fascinating things for someone with a twin love of math and history. I liked watching north America grow through the ages, and seeing incredibly detailed, incredibly complex, but incredibly wrong, models of the solar system. Favourites also include seeing a visual of an Archemedes screw, a chemistry table so the rich scientist could do experiments while on the road, and the fingers of Galileo's right hand. 

I spent the next week walking around town, getting lost, taking in the sights, and hanging out at home. I even learned how to make Tiramisu, which is not as difficult as I thought it was. The last (and only) time I made Tiramisu in Canada was a disaster. I had the wrong equipment and wrong ingredients, and was just taking it way too seriously. Making it with Nonna Anna was fun, though I'm sure I was driving her crazy much of the time ( Nonna - "now, lightly, gently, fold the egg whites in". Me - nodding head enthusiastically, and attacking the bowl with my spatula). Anyhow, I love Tiramisu, in all it's raw egg glory. 

Before Christmas, the cathedral was a bit too busy to get to see easily, so I went back one day to see below it, where there are the remains of the first church built there, and the successive enlargements. It was sort of creepy at times, with a very low roof as you walk past the tombs of various bishops.

 

 Hanging out with my host sister and her friends, we went to several movies. I find watching Italian movies in Italian more pleasant than watching English movies in Italian. There's just some draw of having the mouth move to match the sounds. I really enjoyed "La Bellezza del Somaro" and "Che Bella Giornata".

One night, my host sister, her dad, and I went to the Bronzino exhibit at a gallery. It was after 10 pm, yet there was at least a dozen of us in each room. Luckily for me, like in many places, there were English translations of the explanations of each painting. I didn't think it would be a good idea to take photos inside, so here are some Bronzino works from the internet:

It's amazing to think of how many incredible pieces he made in his lifetime. 

In my wanderings around Florence, I came across this church:

It didn't look like much from the outside, but it was actually quite large. It was also incredibly beautiful, and asked for no entrance fee, only putting out discreet donation boxes requesting help with the upkeep. 

I have approximately one million photos from Florence so I'll be putting them up soon.

Countryhouse Number 2

After Christmas, we went back to Florence for one night, before heading out to another house in the countryside, this time on the other side of Florence. We were hosting, this time, so there was a lot of work to do. We had to heat and set up the house, and cook massive amounts of food (this will have a separate post). It was certainly fun to help out in the kitchen, and I learned a lot about Italian cooking. A key point that I noticed, was how simple the ingredients were. Most of the food we made involved very few "exotic" ingredients (though some cheeses might seem exotic to some Canadians). And it always turns out so good.

Though cooking did take up a good amount of time, I did manage to go for a few walks around the countryside. The first day I wandered around, finding overgrown roads crisscrossing in the trees. I made it my goal to get to the top of a small hill nearby, despite it getting dark and being unable to see anything because of the trees.

Otherwise it was pretty uneventful. It was certainly my tamest New Years in a while (though perhaps the most delicious!).  We had a few other couples over, and ate tons of lentils for fortune in the new year, as well as many other items (31 by my host moms count!). In fact, the evening went a little like this: appetisers, pasta, main course with meats, vegetables, and lentils, dessert, fireworks and champagne, and then it had been at least two hours since anyone had eaten, so a midnight snack of fruit, nuts and chocolate was required. 

Between dessert and snack, roughly 11:15 pm, the men decided it was about time for fireworks. The women all tried to stop them, asking to wait until midnight, but in vain. And so began a one hour session of fireworks. I'm not the biggest fan of fireworks - they're too loud, smelly, produce garbage and release chemicals - but it was amusing to watch a bunch of grown men shouting, dancing and singing with happiness as they light explosive items. I also enjoyed watching the fireworks go off at nearby houses and towns.