Week 14

This week for me went by really fast. Many of my professors were sick, so a lot of my classes ended up getting canceled. However, I did still have my drawing class on Monday we went to the Inlaid wood shop, Stinga Tarsia. The Stinga Tarsia company has a long experience in the production of inlaid wood works. They specialize in the creation of inlaid furniture, tableware, home accessories such as trays, Lazysusan, placemats, wooden boxes, tables, music boxes, and more. Their products vary in design and is continually renewed, with the introduction of new and unique articles. Their production and design is all assigned to their artisans from beginning to end of the production chain, allowing the customer personalize a design and size of any product present in our catalog. During this trip, I got to meet the makers of this inlaid wood work, and see each step of production. I didn't realize how much time goes into each box, but a medium size box takes close to a month. Each step is made by hand. If you are interested in seeing how Inlaid Woodworks are made, visit these two links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE3VRxGnTC4 and https://www.stingatarsia.com/ After that class, I hung out with my friends until our next class, History of the Mafia. The next day, all my classes were canceled so my friends and I just hung out the whole day. Although my classes aren't stressful, it is always nice to have days off to spend together and just enjoy our host city. Wednesday was one of my favorite day's. We had a whole shopping day getting clothes, shoes, gifts, and more. A lot of the local shops, that aren't on the main plaza, have super cheap good quality clothes. We went and bought a few sweaters and then went to the markets to get gifts for our family. While we were out, I bought an Inlaid music box and it is the most beautiful thing I have gotten while abroad.

The next day I had an Archeology field trip to Campi Flegrei. Campi Flegrei is a supervolcano situated to the west of Naples, Italy. It is part of the Campanian volcanic arca, which includes Mount Vesuvius. The area consists of 24 craters and volcanic edifices; most of them lie under water. There are also effusive gaseous manifestations in the Solfatara crater, which were regarded in ancient times as the mythological home of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan. We got to see many interesting spots in this area, most of which has ties to mythological stories. After the field trip, I met my friends back in Sorrento at a coffee and bubble tea place called Orbit. We go here pretty often and always enjoy talking to the owners.

They next day we headed out to Prague! We left the school at 3AM on Friday morning and we were in Prague before noon. Our driver to the airport was the best! He blasted Taylor Swift for us and let us sing and scream, again at 3AM. When we got to Prague we first stopped at a bagel store nearby, called Just Bagel. It is so hard to get bagels here in Italy, so any chance we have we get them. While we were eating it started to snow and it was so pretty. We walked around in the snow for a while looking at all the main sites in Prague. One of our first stops was Charles Bridge. It is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most), but has been referred to as "Charles Bridge" since 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. On the bridge there are so many statutes depicting various saints and patron saints venerated at that time. While we were on the bridge there was also a group playing classical Czech music, and we all stopped and listened for a bit.

After the bridge we then went ice skating, which was my first time! All my friends knew how to ice skate, so they were all teaching me, especially Bella. It was so fun to learn to ice skate but I was definitely exhausted after 2 hours. After ice skating we were getting hungry again so we went to a nearby Mexican place called Burrito Loco. It was similar to the set-up of Chipotle, where we got to pick everything we got on our burrito.

After lunch we then went to Prague Castle! It is a midieval castle that has many churches, halls, palaces, and towers. They had the castle all decorated for Christmas, and it was such a beautiful site! From the castle, you can see the whole cite of Prague, and with all the snow it looked like a fairy tail.

After the castle we went back to the hostel to warm up for a bit, since we had been out in the cold for hours. We just hung out and then when it was dinner time, we had a reservation for a restaurant on the water called Marina Ristorante. It was a fine dining Italian restaurant with the most spectacular view of the Vltava river and the snowy old town. After being in the cold I just wanted something warm, so I got tomato soup and a salad. My friend Bella and I also wanted to try one of the desserts, so we got a chocolate mouse. After dinner, we called it an early night and went back to the room.

The next day we went to brunch at a place called Venue. I have two friends, Nikki and Adela, who are from and currently live in Prague, so they met us for brunch! Last time I saw them was a year ago in the States, so it was so fun to meet up with them in their hometown.

After brunch, we went to the Old Town Christmas Market. The Prague Christmas Markets consist of brightly decorated wooden huts, stocked with local handicrafts and traditional Christmas treats. Among the wares on display are ceramics, jewellery, glassware, embroidered lace, wooden toys, candles, Christmas tree ornaments, winter hats and gloves, and puppets and dolls dressed in traditional costumes. While you can find nice souvenirs on the stalls, to take home to decorate your house with or to use as Christmas gifts, the markets are about much more than shopping. There is all kinds of local food and drinks to sample, a lot of it prepared on the stalls in front of you. Popular Czech foods on offer include: large hams roasted on spits, barbecued sausages, chips, smoked meat dumplings, and pancakes or crêpes. I bought two things from the markets, as well as some chocolate covered strawberries. After the Old Town Christmas market we then went to H&M and shopped for a bit. After H&M we then went to the 2nd biggest Christmas market called Wenceslas. While at the Wenceslas market, I got a sausage sandwich and chips.

After Wenceslas, we went back to the hostel to get ready for the ballet Swan Lake. Swan Lake tells the story of young Prince Siegfried who falls in love with Princess Odette. Odette and her companions transform into swans under the spell cast by evil sorcerer Baron von Rothbart. Their days are spent gracefully gliding on a lake only to return to their human form at night. Swan Lake was such a beautiful ballet, but sadly we weren't allowed to take any pictures. After Swan Lake we went for dinner and got Dim Sum which is a traditional dumpling dish. I also got Trdelnik which is a traditional old Bohemian sweet pastry made of yeast dough. Strips of dough are rolled onto a cylinder and baked over hot coals. Baked trdelnik is coated in sugar mixed with cinnamon. Mine was also topped with cream and strawberries. After dinner we all hung out for a bit and then walked back to the hostel. The next morning we went back to Sorrento.