After a week in Slovenia, we're back in Italy....for the night at least.
We spent a very nice week in our home in Ilirska Bistrica. The Skrlj family are very nice to us, letting us use a house, preparing meals... all sorts of things for us. My former student Helena, though, poor thing, is forced to "work" whenever we're there. She's a translator by profession, so even when she takes a day off to spend with us, she ends up translating between us English speakers and the Slovene speakers. By the time we leave she's exhausted!
You'll just have to wait until I'm back in the US to update pictures. Right now I'm doing this from the lobby of our hotel in Bergamo. It's a town just NE of Milan. Ryan Air uses this smaller airport as its Milan location.
Today we (Kim, that is) drove from Slovenia to the main Milan airport, Malpensa, NW of the city, where we returned our car. She drove well over 3,000 miles in just 31 days. We took a bos from the airport to the train station, then a train to Bergamo. Not really far (total of both trips $9), but waiting for the bus to leave and the train schedule, it ended up taking us an hour to drive from Bergamo to Milan Malpensa (we dropped our bags off before dropping off the car), then almost 2 1/2 hours to get back. As Kim said, though, we had all day to get there and nothing else to do. It was a fun excusion.
Off to London tomorrow.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
So much has happened in a week that it would take more time than I have to report it all.
We left Sicily on the ferry boat Tues night/Wed. morning. We were fine in bed, but when we had to get up, rough seas made things a little questionable for Nicole and me. We finally made it up and out on deck by about 9, a half hour out of port, also meaning seas were calming. The fresh air helped, too.
Kim then drove us from Salerno (where the boat docked) to Macerata, our "home" three years ago. We walked a little inside the city (not nearly as much as we would have liked to) visited with Filiberto, the AHA program director in Macerata, had dinner with him in our favorite mom and pop restaurant in town, then went back to his house to watch a pre-season soccer match involving Juventus, Filiberto's favorite team and one of Nicole's.
Last Thursday we drove from Macerata to "our home" in Slovenia. The Skrlj famiy gives us the use of a home (it was my student Helena's grandfather's) all to ourselves. We have done a little touring since here, even driving back to Venice (actually closer to Slovenia than Florence). Kim loves Venice, and has been there more times than I have. We also visited the town of Nova Gorica where we met up with another of my former students from my Fulbright experience in 1995. She is working as a journalist for the newspaper in NG.
NG is a very interesting town. Gorizia was made part of Italy after WWII. Nova (New) was created on the Slovene side after the war. The two towns are "separated" by a low fence. There is a piazza with no fence showing the unity between the two cities (though it is officially illegal to use it as a border crossing, there are no guards or security). There was a big ceremony there in 2004 as Slovenia entered the EU. We visited a Franciscan church at the top of a very high hill as well as a Franciscan monastery.
Another very interesting trip was to Soline, a place where sea salt is still harvested as it was centuries ago. We had a tour of the salt pools (I can explain the whole process to you if you'd like), then lunch in the beautiful coastal town of Piran. We finished the day in Koper where there was a festival going on. We didn't stay very late (my fear of driving winding 2-lane roads at night) but were still able to see break dancing, soccer matches, a grafitti artist contest, etc.
Our itinerary calls for us to leave Slovenia Thursday. We must return the rental car to Milan . We have a flight to London on Friday to visit our good friends from Iowa, Tom and Linda Emmerson.
Hope to be able to update this again before we get home but I don't know if/when I'll have access before returning Aug. 3.
We left Sicily on the ferry boat Tues night/Wed. morning. We were fine in bed, but when we had to get up, rough seas made things a little questionable for Nicole and me. We finally made it up and out on deck by about 9, a half hour out of port, also meaning seas were calming. The fresh air helped, too.
Kim then drove us from Salerno (where the boat docked) to Macerata, our "home" three years ago. We walked a little inside the city (not nearly as much as we would have liked to) visited with Filiberto, the AHA program director in Macerata, had dinner with him in our favorite mom and pop restaurant in town, then went back to his house to watch a pre-season soccer match involving Juventus, Filiberto's favorite team and one of Nicole's.
Last Thursday we drove from Macerata to "our home" in Slovenia. The Skrlj famiy gives us the use of a home (it was my student Helena's grandfather's) all to ourselves. We have done a little touring since here, even driving back to Venice (actually closer to Slovenia than Florence). Kim loves Venice, and has been there more times than I have. We also visited the town of Nova Gorica where we met up with another of my former students from my Fulbright experience in 1995. She is working as a journalist for the newspaper in NG.
NG is a very interesting town. Gorizia was made part of Italy after WWII. Nova (New) was created on the Slovene side after the war. The two towns are "separated" by a low fence. There is a piazza with no fence showing the unity between the two cities (though it is officially illegal to use it as a border crossing, there are no guards or security). There was a big ceremony there in 2004 as Slovenia entered the EU. We visited a Franciscan church at the top of a very high hill as well as a Franciscan monastery.
Another very interesting trip was to Soline, a place where sea salt is still harvested as it was centuries ago. We had a tour of the salt pools (I can explain the whole process to you if you'd like), then lunch in the beautiful coastal town of Piran. We finished the day in Koper where there was a festival going on. We didn't stay very late (my fear of driving winding 2-lane roads at night) but were still able to see break dancing, soccer matches, a grafitti artist contest, etc.
Our itinerary calls for us to leave Slovenia Thursday. We must return the rental car to Milan . We have a flight to London on Friday to visit our good friends from Iowa, Tom and Linda Emmerson.
Hope to be able to update this again before we get home but I don't know if/when I'll have access before returning Aug. 3.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Just a short post today.
We drove down from Florence last Friday. Right around Salerno, the toll road stops and things get appreciably worse - number of lanes, quality of road, mountain curves, etc. We stopped for the night in Lagronegro. After having spent a week in Rome and 4 in Florence, the hotel was very nice, and very cheap by comparison.
We've spent Sat. until today with my cousin in Messina (my blog from Nov 2002 has pictures). Tonight we will leave at midnight on the overnight ferry to Salerno, rather than drive it again. It does cost more, but not appreciably given the cost of gas, a night's stay in a hotel, ferry, etc.
Yesterday we were on our way to Mt. Etna. We were at the base. The towns were built from volcanic rock but we weren't up enough for the temperature to drop. The other car (with my cousin's daughter, son in law and kids) had car trouble so we never made it up. We were close enough to see plumes of white smoke. Three years ago we didn't go because it was erupting. Either it is jinxed or we are.
Macerata next, then Slovenia.
We drove down from Florence last Friday. Right around Salerno, the toll road stops and things get appreciably worse - number of lanes, quality of road, mountain curves, etc. We stopped for the night in Lagronegro. After having spent a week in Rome and 4 in Florence, the hotel was very nice, and very cheap by comparison.
We've spent Sat. until today with my cousin in Messina (my blog from Nov 2002 has pictures). Tonight we will leave at midnight on the overnight ferry to Salerno, rather than drive it again. It does cost more, but not appreciably given the cost of gas, a night's stay in a hotel, ferry, etc.
Yesterday we were on our way to Mt. Etna. We were at the base. The towns were built from volcanic rock but we weren't up enough for the temperature to drop. The other car (with my cousin's daughter, son in law and kids) had car trouble so we never made it up. We were close enough to see plumes of white smoke. Three years ago we didn't go because it was erupting. Either it is jinxed or we are.
Macerata next, then Slovenia.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
I posted only a couple of days ago, but I'm not sure how long it will be before I get back online. Tomorrow will be a full day for me. I give the final at 10 a.m. (both classes will meet at the same time). Afterward I go back to the room and grade while burning DVD copies of the documentary for each person to take home. I really should say "first version" of the documentary.
Although I've only voiced it publicly to a few people, I was prepared to have the five week class end with less than a "polished" product. Frankly what 15 students have done in 5 weeks with no budget and only a PD 150 camera and G4 laptop has been pretty impressive. Six of the students had absolutely no video experience whatsoever. Two others had some, but limited. Pedagogically speaking, there is great learning that can occur when things don't go exactly as you'd like. I have no issues with any of the students, though. All of them have done what asked to the best of their ability.
So, one or two volunteers will work on the production when we get back. I got an e-mail from a grad student in music at BSU who has offered to provide original music. Version one will have the canned stuff we brought with us. Version two will instead have an original score. Cool!
On Friday we make the long drive from Florence to Messina. Depending on when we get out and the traffic, we will either arrive Friday night or Saturday. The plan is to spend 4 nights, although we were advised by my Bologna cousin that the mosquitos are pretty bad down there. If that's the case, we may have to leave earlier. Kim was eaten alive in Rome. Not just bites, but swelling and oozing (sorry about the image, but it was really quite gross). This picture, in the town of Ganzirri, is taken very near the spot my mother and father were married 57 years ago.
Nicole and Kim went to Pisa Monday and today they're in Siena. I've never been to Pisa but Nicole and Kim tell me I didn't miss all that much. The 16 Euro price to climb the leaning tower is not what kept them away. It was the 4 hour wait! I did enjoy Siena when I was there. Still, I'm happy that they get out and about in Tuscany without me. I'm not a very good passenger in the car. I'm way to uncomfortable. Before we leave for Sicily Friday I'm going to have to take one of the "happy pills" (as Steve calls them) that I usually take to fly.
One unexpected pleasure here in Florence has been the ability to go see Michelangelo's David for free. Call me cheap, but it's one of the most expensive tickets in town. The Accademia, where he is housed usually charges, but it's free Tuesday nights. Several of us have made it a regular weekly event to visit Dave (as we call him) every Tuesday night after dinner. It's truly magnificent. But, we were very disturbed to see a description in the museum stating that his pose is just after having slain Goliath. That is contrary to everything not only I know (I've never claimed to be an art historian) but also contrary to 2 art history experts and a book sold in the Accademia gift shop. A colleague speculated that some local professor/"expert" has probably tried to build a reputation by taking a radical position. It does cause one to reflect on other informational material provided in museums, and whether that has been vetted by others.
As a media guy, some of what I really want to bring back has been media: videotapes of Italian TV shows, music videos, commercials; CDs of music; newspapers (I'm saving one from the day after the London bombing); magazines, books. Unfortunately I have neither the money nor the room in my suitcase for all these things. I have told myself that I can get any books I want once I get home, either through the local bookstore or online. The hotel owner did videotape one thing for me, though, Calcio Storico (the site's in Italian but they have a button for photos). It only vaguely resembles soccer. It's more like a cross between rugby and a rumble. I met one guy who has played for 16 years. Back in 1993, he was on the operating table for 10 hours while the put his eye back in its socket. Many of the students went to see a game and have asked me for a copy of the video once I get it dubbed to NTSC.
I have been disappointed that the TV game shows I enjoyed so much just 3 years ago are not on the air. I was espcially attached to one (Kim, Nicole and I even were in the studio audience for a taping, and I met the producer, a writer and the host), but there were several on the air a few years ago. Now there are none to be found. They do have lots of summer special programs on, especially music festival programs. Probably the best known is FestivalBar. It's a series of shows from a piazza in four different cities with lots of different artists. Speaking of music, we enjoy music videos. I've tried buying them in record shos but to no avail. I've asked the hotel owner if he can record some but haven't gotten them yet.
Although I've only voiced it publicly to a few people, I was prepared to have the five week class end with less than a "polished" product. Frankly what 15 students have done in 5 weeks with no budget and only a PD 150 camera and G4 laptop has been pretty impressive. Six of the students had absolutely no video experience whatsoever. Two others had some, but limited. Pedagogically speaking, there is great learning that can occur when things don't go exactly as you'd like. I have no issues with any of the students, though. All of them have done what asked to the best of their ability.
So, one or two volunteers will work on the production when we get back. I got an e-mail from a grad student in music at BSU who has offered to provide original music. Version one will have the canned stuff we brought with us. Version two will instead have an original score. Cool!
On Friday we make the long drive from Florence to Messina. Depending on when we get out and the traffic, we will either arrive Friday night or Saturday. The plan is to spend 4 nights, although we were advised by my Bologna cousin that the mosquitos are pretty bad down there. If that's the case, we may have to leave earlier. Kim was eaten alive in Rome. Not just bites, but swelling and oozing (sorry about the image, but it was really quite gross). This picture, in the town of Ganzirri, is taken very near the spot my mother and father were married 57 years ago.
Nicole and Kim went to Pisa Monday and today they're in Siena. I've never been to Pisa but Nicole and Kim tell me I didn't miss all that much. The 16 Euro price to climb the leaning tower is not what kept them away. It was the 4 hour wait! I did enjoy Siena when I was there. Still, I'm happy that they get out and about in Tuscany without me. I'm not a very good passenger in the car. I'm way to uncomfortable. Before we leave for Sicily Friday I'm going to have to take one of the "happy pills" (as Steve calls them) that I usually take to fly.
One unexpected pleasure here in Florence has been the ability to go see Michelangelo's David for free. Call me cheap, but it's one of the most expensive tickets in town. The Accademia, where he is housed usually charges, but it's free Tuesday nights. Several of us have made it a regular weekly event to visit Dave (as we call him) every Tuesday night after dinner. It's truly magnificent. But, we were very disturbed to see a description in the museum stating that his pose is just after having slain Goliath. That is contrary to everything not only I know (I've never claimed to be an art historian) but also contrary to 2 art history experts and a book sold in the Accademia gift shop. A colleague speculated that some local professor/"expert" has probably tried to build a reputation by taking a radical position. It does cause one to reflect on other informational material provided in museums, and whether that has been vetted by others.
As a media guy, some of what I really want to bring back has been media: videotapes of Italian TV shows, music videos, commercials; CDs of music; newspapers (I'm saving one from the day after the London bombing); magazines, books. Unfortunately I have neither the money nor the room in my suitcase for all these things. I have told myself that I can get any books I want once I get home, either through the local bookstore or online. The hotel owner did videotape one thing for me, though, Calcio Storico (the site's in Italian but they have a button for photos). It only vaguely resembles soccer. It's more like a cross between rugby and a rumble. I met one guy who has played for 16 years. Back in 1993, he was on the operating table for 10 hours while the put his eye back in its socket. Many of the students went to see a game and have asked me for a copy of the video once I get it dubbed to NTSC.
I have been disappointed that the TV game shows I enjoyed so much just 3 years ago are not on the air. I was espcially attached to one (Kim, Nicole and I even were in the studio audience for a taping, and I met the producer, a writer and the host), but there were several on the air a few years ago. Now there are none to be found. They do have lots of summer special programs on, especially music festival programs. Probably the best known is FestivalBar. It's a series of shows from a piazza in four different cities with lots of different artists. Speaking of music, we enjoy music videos. I've tried buying them in record shos but to no avail. I've asked the hotel owner if he can record some but haven't gotten them yet.
Monday, July 11, 2005
This begins the last week of class. Now is the time for the editing crunch. I was a little concerned today when the people responsible told me there were still "one or two" things left to shoot. At this stage, we should not still be shooting. The VO audio was recorded this morning but will have to be re-done. Tried doing it in an upstairs bathroom (for the quiet) but it echoed too much. Not easy finding a quiet place in the city.
Kim's birthday was Saturday. On Friday Nicole got a cake for her (she had ordered it 10 days earlier). We shared it with the hotel owner and the only student we found around the hotel. The important thing is that we had cake, and we sang Happy Birthday. Friday night there was a free concert in one of the piazzas of Beethoven's 9th conducted by Zubin Mehta. Kim and I only stayed for a portion of it, as a very loud, very drunk couple sat down next to us about a half hour into the program. Don't think they were Italian, but couldn't really tell the way he slurred his speech.
On Saturday Kim wanted to go to the beach for her birthday. The closest beach is Viareggio, on the Mediterranean, about a 45-60 minute drive from here (depends on traffic). The system involves renting an umbrella and beach chairs for the day from any of the many bath houses along the coast. We went to Bagno Zara (couldn't find a website for them) and spent 4 1/2 hours without leaving the beach. We were only a little tender, though, thanks to sunscreen and the umbrella.
For her dinner, Kim chose a restaurant that she and Nicole visited twice before, Trattoria Marione. The owner is very nice and takes good care of his customers. A great meal for a reasonable price, especially as he keeps throwing in free stuff - glasses of wine, appetizer plate of figs and salami, etc. I suspect we'll visit again before we leave town Friday.
On Sunday Nicole was pretty tired (still in bed at 10 a.m.), so Kim and I went to the nearby Tuscan town of Lucca with Gil Smith, a prof from Eastern Kentucky U. Another nice, small, walled town. The previous night there had been a George Benson concert, but we just spent our time walking around, having lunch and taking lots of pictures.
I want to tell one other story, about the San Lorenzo Market. Those of you who have been to Florence know the market. For others, it is an incredible gathering of leather, ceramics, foods, etc. Everything from cheap dollar keychains to ceramic orginals costing thousands. Well, we visited one of the food booths. Lo and behold, the guy who made our sandwich is pictured in the front of the Williams-Sonoma Florence Cookbook that my son gave me for my birthday! The people were very nice, including his daughter who worked the booth and an American ex-pat who married an Albanian and now lives in Italy. We went back a second time. He said "I'll make your sandwich" (in Italian, of course). It was wonderful. Roast pork with sauteed onions. He also handed me an open bottle of wine from behind the counter from which he invited me to help myself. Their website has lots of stuff for sale, all of it good. I'll gladly promote his business.
Kim's birthday was Saturday. On Friday Nicole got a cake for her (she had ordered it 10 days earlier). We shared it with the hotel owner and the only student we found around the hotel. The important thing is that we had cake, and we sang Happy Birthday. Friday night there was a free concert in one of the piazzas of Beethoven's 9th conducted by Zubin Mehta. Kim and I only stayed for a portion of it, as a very loud, very drunk couple sat down next to us about a half hour into the program. Don't think they were Italian, but couldn't really tell the way he slurred his speech.
On Saturday Kim wanted to go to the beach for her birthday. The closest beach is Viareggio, on the Mediterranean, about a 45-60 minute drive from here (depends on traffic). The system involves renting an umbrella and beach chairs for the day from any of the many bath houses along the coast. We went to Bagno Zara (couldn't find a website for them) and spent 4 1/2 hours without leaving the beach. We were only a little tender, though, thanks to sunscreen and the umbrella.
For her dinner, Kim chose a restaurant that she and Nicole visited twice before, Trattoria Marione. The owner is very nice and takes good care of his customers. A great meal for a reasonable price, especially as he keeps throwing in free stuff - glasses of wine, appetizer plate of figs and salami, etc. I suspect we'll visit again before we leave town Friday.
On Sunday Nicole was pretty tired (still in bed at 10 a.m.), so Kim and I went to the nearby Tuscan town of Lucca with Gil Smith, a prof from Eastern Kentucky U. Another nice, small, walled town. The previous night there had been a George Benson concert, but we just spent our time walking around, having lunch and taking lots of pictures.
I want to tell one other story, about the San Lorenzo Market. Those of you who have been to Florence know the market. For others, it is an incredible gathering of leather, ceramics, foods, etc. Everything from cheap dollar keychains to ceramic orginals costing thousands. Well, we visited one of the food booths. Lo and behold, the guy who made our sandwich is pictured in the front of the Williams-Sonoma Florence Cookbook that my son gave me for my birthday! The people were very nice, including his daughter who worked the booth and an American ex-pat who married an Albanian and now lives in Italy. We went back a second time. He said "I'll make your sandwich" (in Italian, of course). It was wonderful. Roast pork with sauteed onions. He also handed me an open bottle of wine from behind the counter from which he invited me to help myself. Their website has lots of stuff for sale, all of it good. I'll gladly promote his business.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
We've been keeping very busy. Since last I wrote, we've had a chance to do some tourism. Friday we went to San Gimingnano, a small Tuscan hilltown noted for its towers. After having spent a week in Rome and two weeks in Florence, the first thing I noticed was the quiet and cleanliness of a small town. There's a reason I don't live in the big city. It was really pleasant just to walk around the town (limited wheeled traffic inside the walls).
We spent Saturday and Sunday with my aunt, uncle and cousins at their condo in Cesenatico. It's a beach town on the Adriatic that actually reminds me a lot of Hollywood, FL. It's a real family-oriented beach with lots of small shops, restaurants, etc. Kim greatly enjoyed driving. In both cases we took highway one way and small roads the other. In the case of Cesenatico, we came back a road that went right over the spine of the Appennine Mountains. Beautiful views, but we had to drive very slowly, and Nicole and I were still uncomfortable (motion sickness is a tough thing).
Both my cousins Nico and Cettta are married. We spent most of the weekend with Cetta (my age) and her husband Stefano. Her older brother is a plastic surgeon and head of surgery for a hospital in Bologna. He arrived late Saturday and left 24 hours later. We didn't get to see too much of him. He did have enough time to go diving while there, and we enjoyed the fresh mussels he fished out for Sunday dinner. The Emiglia-Romagna region we were in is quite well known for its good food. We went to a restaurant and had an incredible meal. Just the platters of appetizers would have been enough, but then we sampled 3 different pastas and had a bit of lamb after that.
Yesterday I taught class but Kim and Nicole went off to Assisi. This must make Kim's 4th trip. Obviously she is very fond of the place.
As for the documentary I feel a bit better about some things but more concerned about others. We still don't have a completed script and we will cut the narration audio on Monday. But the good news is all the interviews with experts have been completed except two (the Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Bureau) and those are scheduled for tomorrow. I wish we had some female experts but I'm pleased with the mix we got:
a church official on the Cathedral board
a Syracuse prof who is a Brunelleschi expert
an Eastern KY architecture/art history prof
a Ball State architecture prof
Can we get it all edited in a week?
We spent Saturday and Sunday with my aunt, uncle and cousins at their condo in Cesenatico. It's a beach town on the Adriatic that actually reminds me a lot of Hollywood, FL. It's a real family-oriented beach with lots of small shops, restaurants, etc. Kim greatly enjoyed driving. In both cases we took highway one way and small roads the other. In the case of Cesenatico, we came back a road that went right over the spine of the Appennine Mountains. Beautiful views, but we had to drive very slowly, and Nicole and I were still uncomfortable (motion sickness is a tough thing).
Both my cousins Nico and Cettta are married. We spent most of the weekend with Cetta (my age) and her husband Stefano. Her older brother is a plastic surgeon and head of surgery for a hospital in Bologna. He arrived late Saturday and left 24 hours later. We didn't get to see too much of him. He did have enough time to go diving while there, and we enjoyed the fresh mussels he fished out for Sunday dinner. The Emiglia-Romagna region we were in is quite well known for its good food. We went to a restaurant and had an incredible meal. Just the platters of appetizers would have been enough, but then we sampled 3 different pastas and had a bit of lamb after that.
Yesterday I taught class but Kim and Nicole went off to Assisi. This must make Kim's 4th trip. Obviously she is very fond of the place.
As for the documentary I feel a bit better about some things but more concerned about others. We still don't have a completed script and we will cut the narration audio on Monday. But the good news is all the interviews with experts have been completed except two (the Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Bureau) and those are scheduled for tomorrow. I wish we had some female experts but I'm pleased with the mix we got:
a church official on the Cathedral board
a Syracuse prof who is a Brunelleschi expert
an Eastern KY architecture/art history prof
a Ball State architecture prof
Can we get it all edited in a week?
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