Week 9

We got back from Fall break early on Sunday, so I was rested for a new week come Monday morning! I started off the week with my drawing class. We went to a nearby garden area and got to meet an artist named Dawn. She specializes in oil painting and actually lives in California, but she was in Sorrento, Italy for an exhibition (which we got to attend). It was really cool to see the work of an artist, and actually be able to sit and talk with them. Dawn also explained and showed us how she work using pastels to capture moments in time. Later that day I had my History of the Mafia Class which is always fun and then an advising meeting with my home university. I chose the classes I'm going to take in Spring 2024, which is my final semester (although they won't be as fun as my Italy classes).

The next few days were spent going to my regular classes and enjoying the coast of Sorrento. Almost every Monday and Wednesday, the girls and I go to our local Italian market and eat bread and cheese and get a glass of wine. One the other day's we usually go out for gelato. On Wednesday, my school was holding a cookie making event, and we got to make lemon cookies. This week my friend Lili's mom was visiting. She took us out to dinner on Wednesday and we went to Bar 2000 and I had pizza and wine. I have so much fun getting to meet all my friend's parents, and Lili's mom was a blast! After dinner she took us to gelato and we all walked through the streets for a bit. On Thursday, I had a field trip for my Archaeology class, and we went to Herculaneum. Herculaneum is similar to Pompeii. Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town, located in the modern-day commune of Campania. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the same day Pompeii was destroyed. Pompeii and Herculaneum, although destroyed by the same eruption, were covered by different types of material from the volcano, so Herculaneum was carbonized and preserved throughout the years following the eruption. Due to this, there was a lot more intact objects you could see and visit at this site. After my field trip, I got back to the dorm in the evening and started packing for my next trip. This weekend I was going to Verona, Italy.

We spent 2 nights in Verona. The first day we got there in the afternoon. We checked into our hostel and dropped our bags off. Then we just walked around the area for a bit and it was so beautiful. All the buildings were so brightly colored in pink, yellow, red, green, and orange. While walking around we found a vegetarian restaurant and I got Pad Thai. After eating, we just kept walking around and going into all the local shops. We went into bookstores, flower shops, jewelry stores, and gift shops. That evening, since it was Halloweekend, we wanted to do something more traditional. We ended up going to Gardaland, which is the biggest amusement park in Italy, other than Disney. Since it was Halloweekend, Gardaland had all kinds of decorations and all the kids were dressed up. We got on a few roller coasters and then went to try the food. We assumed that the amusement park food would be similar to what we have in the States but it wasn't. It was all Italian food and no funnel cake was around! However, they did have a smores bonfire, and you could buy a stick of marshmallows, so we did that. It was also fun there because instead of a haunted house, they had a haunted street. The "monsters" didn't roam the grounds, but there were designated streets that they were on, so obviously we went to those as well. We held on to each other, trying to avoid contact with each "monster". Yet they still succeeded in making us scream. After spending a few hours in Gardaland, we went back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next day, we walked to breakfast, and while we were headed there, we stopped at the main canal in Verona and enjoyed the view for a bit. We crossed over the canal and stopped at a cute cafe we found ahead of time. It was called Elk Bakery (The Garden). There are two Elk Bakeries in Verona but we went to the Garden one. I highly recommend this cafe for breakfast, but I believe they have lunch as well. The food was very affordable and delicious. I got fruit and chocolate chip pancakes with a caramel iced coffee. After breakfast we headed to Juliette's house. Juliette's house in located in Via Cappello in Verona, and it is linked to the universal ideal of love. Across all the walls near the house, people have inscribed their initials to show there eternal bond together. These types of inscriptions are all over Verona, due to its connection with Shakespeare. We got tickets to go into the house and stand on the balcony. The house was so pretty and throughout had works dedicated to the Shakespearean tragedy.

It was so cool to visit the house, especially the balcony. Many tourist come to visit the house, but there is a line for the balcony so each person gets time to stand up there individually. After seeing the house and balcony, we went to the gift shop in the same square, and bought a red lock, with multiple keys. We planned to lock this key somewhere in Verona that was significant to use, with all our names on it. Our whole group of friends wasn't on this trip, so we plan to leave locks in other countries as well!

Next we went to Ponte Pietra which is the oldest bridge over the Adige river. This bridge is made of bright red bricks and there are actually stairs that lead to the top part of the bridge, about a story high over the middle part of the bridge. My friend Caroline and I climbed up there, and it was one of the best views of Verona. After a few hours of walking around, we got lunch and wrote our Letters to Juliette. in 2010, Letters to Juliet was released. It is about a young American women who goes on a honeymoon in Verona. Whiles exploring Verona she learns about the "letters to Juliet". which are left in the courtyard under the house. Women for all over the world write these letters seek comfort, ask for advice, or tell stories about love. Then a group of women would respond to the letters. Since this movie was released, many people starting doing this, to the point that Verona made the Juliet club a real thing. Now you can write a letter to Juliet and place it in boxes near the house or around Verona. Many people get responses!

After spending a bit of time writing our letters, we finally sent then off. We still hadn't found a good place to put our locks, because a lot of the locks on the bridges had been torn down. Our next stop was The Tomba di Giulietta. While here we got to see a museums as well as the tomb of Juliet, according to traditions. There was also a garden at the entrance which was beautiful and filled with all kinds of plants and statues. One of the items in this garden was a wishing well. We saw that a lot of people had thrown coins in there making wishes, so we did the same. Many people will get married here in the garden or places there locks on the gates, as a sign that there love will go beyond death. Since some of the locks were from years ago, we decided to leave our here. The entrance gates was very tall, so one of my friends climbed up the wall, and put our lock as high up as it would go. We all got to keep our keys and I put mine on a necklace. Some people through it in the river and others keep it in their jewelry box. Now we get to say we have a love lock in Verona!

Next we went to one of the main piazza's to look around and shop. There were lots of vendors there and we looked around but didn't get anything. After looking at the vendors we went shopping. I bought stuff from Zara and Brandy. Whenever we are on these trips, we try and pack super light, so we have an excuse to buy clothes (sorry Dad!). After our shopping spree, we ended up walking around and finding this cute little restaurant. It was very fancy and the price of our meals reflected that, but it was so worth it! Verona is known for its Prosecco, so we had a few glasses at dinner, along with our pasta, After the main course, the waiter said we needed to try their desserts, so we did. I told him to get me whatever his favorite dish was. I had Tartufo, which I have never had or heard of before this. Tartufo us an Italian dessert made of gelato. It usually has two different flavors of gelatos and has either nuts, chocolates, or fruit in the center. This dessert is in the shape of a ball and is usually covered with a thin layer of chocolate on the outside. I'm not quite sure what flavor my Tartufo was, but I know it was delicious. After dinner we started waking back to the hostel and there was a street preforming on the Violin. He was so good, so we stayed around and watched him until he left. We danced and sang to all the songs he played, and go did others. So many people were there having a good time! The next day we headed back to Italy!