belle nuit
I should be studying for my Italian midterm that I have tomorrow morning, but instead I'm drunk off red Tuscan table wine and updating my LiveJournal. Whatever; I aced my oral exam today, and I don't have to worry about architecture exams from hell anymore. For the time being, anyway.
So, although now it has been long enough that I don't remember too much, two weekends ago I went to a small town in the Tuscan countryside ten minutes north of Pisa called San Giuliano Terme. I went there on a mission. My mission was to help out my second cousin who is attempting to get all the Carli clan Italian citizenship. This means that someday I may be an Italian and EU citizen. Dare to dream. Anyway, so this town is very small and charming, although most of it seems to have been built in the 1970s. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must have looked like when my great great grandfather lived there. That's right, this is the town he was born in, and therefore, the town the Italian side of my family came from (although there's supposedly some Venetian thrown in there as well, along with an Austrian bastard child, hence my original blonde hair and blue eyes). My mom told me that I was the first member of the Carli family to set foot in San Giuliano Terme since my great great grandfather left it to move to Brazil. She cried as she told me this. It was very humbling, and it made me feel very privileged to be in such close proximity to my roots.
Last weekend was all about fun, however... I went to celebrate the carnival season in Venice! It was so exciting! I met up with Amanda in the Venice train station after a very nice Eurostar Italia train ride (I fucking LOVE travelling by rail!) and we set off for our apartment, which was near the station and had a cat that would come to the window and let Amanda play with her. Venice has got to be one the most beautiful cities I have ever seen in my life. So many people have compared it to Disneyland, but I didn't see it. Sure there were plenty of people and their main source of income is tourism, but everything was REAL. The city is a maze, but after finally finding our way to Piazza San Marco, it was so surreal. I was in fucking VENICE! It's indescribable. The "Carnevale di Venezia" itself was very fun; I bought myself a "Casanova" mask (after much indecision), and everyone was just out and about having a good time and wearing masks and partying. On Saturday night, after having a dinner full of wine near San Marco, Amanda and I encountered a huge street party on our way back to our apartment. It was so awesome; it was full of young people, all at different levels of sobriety, with music and everyone just having a good time. Even though it was about 2 degrees Celsius, I got Amanda a gelato because she was in Italy and wanted a gelato and I couldn't argue with that.
Overall, Venice has been one of the highlights of my time in Europe. It was so great seeing Amanda, and I cannot wait until I visit her in Paris. But Venice was just jaw-dropping... I am very glad I will be returning with my architecture class. Una città piú bella; Venice is beautiful, and the Venetians know how to party.
Friday I'm going to Rome. And not only that, but I'm going to Rome to tour the Cinecittà film studios and doing so with my Italian Cinema professor who is an actual Italian movie director. I'm hoping at some point to sip espresso on the Via Veneto whilst discussing Fellini's religious allegories displayed in La Dolce Vita. Oh, if only Rome was the same place it was in the 60s....
So, although now it has been long enough that I don't remember too much, two weekends ago I went to a small town in the Tuscan countryside ten minutes north of Pisa called San Giuliano Terme. I went there on a mission. My mission was to help out my second cousin who is attempting to get all the Carli clan Italian citizenship. This means that someday I may be an Italian and EU citizen. Dare to dream. Anyway, so this town is very small and charming, although most of it seems to have been built in the 1970s. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must have looked like when my great great grandfather lived there. That's right, this is the town he was born in, and therefore, the town the Italian side of my family came from (although there's supposedly some Venetian thrown in there as well, along with an Austrian bastard child, hence my original blonde hair and blue eyes). My mom told me that I was the first member of the Carli family to set foot in San Giuliano Terme since my great great grandfather left it to move to Brazil. She cried as she told me this. It was very humbling, and it made me feel very privileged to be in such close proximity to my roots.
Last weekend was all about fun, however... I went to celebrate the carnival season in Venice! It was so exciting! I met up with Amanda in the Venice train station after a very nice Eurostar Italia train ride (I fucking LOVE travelling by rail!) and we set off for our apartment, which was near the station and had a cat that would come to the window and let Amanda play with her. Venice has got to be one the most beautiful cities I have ever seen in my life. So many people have compared it to Disneyland, but I didn't see it. Sure there were plenty of people and their main source of income is tourism, but everything was REAL. The city is a maze, but after finally finding our way to Piazza San Marco, it was so surreal. I was in fucking VENICE! It's indescribable. The "Carnevale di Venezia" itself was very fun; I bought myself a "Casanova" mask (after much indecision), and everyone was just out and about having a good time and wearing masks and partying. On Saturday night, after having a dinner full of wine near San Marco, Amanda and I encountered a huge street party on our way back to our apartment. It was so awesome; it was full of young people, all at different levels of sobriety, with music and everyone just having a good time. Even though it was about 2 degrees Celsius, I got Amanda a gelato because she was in Italy and wanted a gelato and I couldn't argue with that.
Overall, Venice has been one of the highlights of my time in Europe. It was so great seeing Amanda, and I cannot wait until I visit her in Paris. But Venice was just jaw-dropping... I am very glad I will be returning with my architecture class. Una città piú bella; Venice is beautiful, and the Venetians know how to party.
Friday I'm going to Rome. And not only that, but I'm going to Rome to tour the Cinecittà film studios and doing so with my Italian Cinema professor who is an actual Italian movie director. I'm hoping at some point to sip espresso on the Via Veneto whilst discussing Fellini's religious allegories displayed in La Dolce Vita. Oh, if only Rome was the same place it was in the 60s....