To Florence, by train

Look a little closer at the picture, and you may just see three Southern belles on their first train trip to Florence, thanks to the train reflection.

We had quite an adventure on Tuesday. Bobbi and I don't have classes, and we convinced Heather to be wild and skip her class, so we jumped on a train to Florence, one of my favorite places so far. We didn't really have much of a plan for the day except a- shop b- see a fresco cycle in Santa Croce that I will be working on this semester for one of my art history classes. Otherwise, we were roaming the streets, but it was such a lovely day, I'll recap it for you here:

7:04 - I wake up two grumbling roommates to make the 7:40 bus from Cortona to the next town, Camucia. We grab a roll and jam from the breakfast room and race down the mountain to Piazza Garibaldi and wait on the bus. Right on time! (Supposedly rare for Italian public transportation, though I haven't had any problems yet.)

8:15 - The bus drops us off right at the train station, and it is only here that we realize we don't really know what we're doing. Oh well - buy a ticket in the general direction of Florence, and we'll get off when we get somewhere close.

8:26 - Almost hop on the wrong train to Roma. NOT where we want to go... I dislike Rome and Romans a good deal. Luckily, we manage to correct our mistake and hop right back off before it shoots south. We get on the right train, rather excited for this beautiful day and 1 1/2 through the countryside. (And, it looks just like the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter, so we might have pretended we were on our way to Harry Potter land. I wish)

10:04 - Off the train and out in Florence. We get about 40 feet before we stop at our first shoe store. One of about 3008 for the day. We shopped a lot. No luck here though, so we press on and make our way across the city towards Santa Croce, a church that we didn't visit on our first trip and it houses Michelangelo and Galileo's tombs, Giotto frescos, and a huge monument to Dante.

1:08 - Lunch and a glass of wine at a quiet ristorante near the river. I will never tire of lasagna. Never. Lucky for me, Italy will never let me run out of it. We ate lunch in typical Italian fashion - a glass of the house wine, and a long, slow lunch. It's the biggest meal here. In fact, towns basically shut down so that families can eat lunch together. Even the kids get out of school at 1:15 so that they can share the meal with their family. It's a big deal, so we took it slow.

2:30 - We find Santa Croce, and it is worth the treck across Florence. I had no idea it was this beautifully. Unfortunately there is construction, which really obstructed the full view, but there is so much to see, it was fine. My fresco cycle was hard to see due to a lack of lighting, which isn't uncommon. There is so much art, so many 'masterpieces' that a ton of art gets excluded and put on the back burner.

3:44 - Bobbi and I wander down a seemingly unexciting street, and stumble upon a tiny storefront with paper to make books in the window. I have been buying paper left and right, so I dragged Bob in. Little did we know we would meet Erin, a Canadian who studied in Italy, went home, and came back immediately, homesick for Florence. She's only a couple years older than us, and learned Italian, and calls Florence home, and makes books all day long. Ahh... the sweet life.

6:23 - I'll wrap this up by saying, we couldn't figure out how to get home, so we just jumped on a train. It was the wrong one - go figure. We got fined 5 euro, but it wasn't a really big deal. It dropped us off semi-near where we needed to be, and an hour bus ride later, we made it home again. Exhausted and exhilerated, we had a real adventure I'd say. Next time, I'll be sure to check bus schedules and know how to get home... but it worked out this time.

Today we went to Lucca and Pisa, but I'll wait to post on that when I have all my pictures together. I'm working on getting a snapfish account too so that I can upload a few albums. I had a very good easter and thanks to all the well wishers. Love you all!

Hello all and Happy Easter! I hope that you all enjoy enough quality family time for me and you both. Luckily, these 50 students here, from all parts of the world have become my family (in a temporary sense of course), but most of us are going to the Duomo right in the middle of town for Easter Mass.

Mom just emailed and asked if Easter was a big deal here. Sorry Mom, but I had to laugh a little bit. Everyone, and I mean everyone is Catholic. I'm not even sure if there will be enough room in the church... because the whole town comes. There are actually several Easter events in Cortona. Last night, a procession with a cross walked from the beginning of town, through the main square, to the Duomo (which is church in Italian), and tonight they are carrying a statue of Christ into the middle of the church at midnight and having a mass tonight too. I'm sad because during our field trip to Orvieto, the priest was in the main piazza today, blessing everyone's eggs that they will eat on Easter morning. I really wanted my eggs blessed, but alas, I was in Umbria. I suppose another Easter. So yes, Easter is a big deal... but don't worry. Our director gave everyone a huge chocolate egg called a Kinder Egg, so it feels a little like home.

Last week, as part of my art education class, Bobbie, Brenda (another student here), and I marched into a 2nd grade classroom, full of bright-eyed, brown haired Italian children, and gave a lesson plan on coat of arms and American and Italian flags. Oh yea... it was totally in Italian. Basically I'm fluent in the language these days... NOT! We practiced and practiced and prayed and practiced a little more before we went in, and had a blast. The kids hung on our every word and loved us and gave us hugs when we left and are dying for us to come back. It's part of the art ed program, and the schools expect us every spring. But trust me... it's totally new to me. But we go in scared and come out smiling and have about 22 flags painted by the most precious children you've ever met. I am going to scan a couple to my computer so I can share them with you all. You'll love them too.

I'm going to tell you a little tale of Bevagna and Orvieto, 2 different cities with similar stories - 52 American students herded down a mountain to two charter buses, grumbling and grumpy because it was freezing both of these Saturdays and RAINING! It's not supposed to rain here, but it does anyway. So, my roommates and I decided to make the best out of the rather wet situation, and played rockin' music the whole way to the town. We couldn't sing the rain away immediately, but after or so of wandering around these towns in they gray, sad drizzle, the clouds parted and the sun showed me the cutest towns. It's like they were completely different places when the sun shone on them. Orvieto is steeped in history, though I guess every town here is. But it was rich, then poor, then almost wiped out, then bounced back. And there are ceramic stores on every corner because Orvieto was at one time the leading ceramic producer, back in the 13th century or so. The only store I walked in, the owner/artist was in the room painting pieces. And so, with a mix of Spanish, English, and Italian, I learned all about medieval ceramics. Probably the best part of all though... the paper that he wraps the pieces up is perfect for making books. So if you get an Orvieto book from me... know that there is a long story behind it.

Wow, now that I think back on the places I've been since I've written, it's been awhile since I've blogged. I forgot all about the Assisi Problem - which is a real art historian mystery - that we traveld to Assisi solve. It isn't quite resolved, but we did our best, and possibly made a few advancements. Here is a picture that I pulled off the internet because I didn't have my camera that day, though I don't believe that they'd allow you to take pictures. Hope you enjoy them, and I'll try to stay on top of my blog this week. I had a rather hectic work with school, which is, let's remember, the reason I'm here. Sometimes I get confused :)

Happy Easter... again. All my love - Casey

Let the day of crazy begin

The day of the crazies... that's how Bobbi and I refer to this day of madness. It begins at 8 am, down in town to drive to Arezzo to the hair show. Davide (my stylist) dyed my hair last week, and it definately falls into the crazy category. It's taken quite a bit of time to come to terms with "intense copper" hair, as he so eloquently calls it. Bright red is what I call it.

But so, 8 am, we drive and arrive. We whisked to make up, not having really any idea of what is to come. I've been promised a relatively normal hair cut. Soft layering and shoulder length. OK, I say. I can dye my hair back... at least I'll have a good, solid cut. Obviously, I wasn't thinking! The same person that dyed my hair was going to cut my hair. Anyway, fast forward to the pictures. My hair isn't normal.... but I love it. Very mod. Very Italian. And for the next two months, it's going to be Very Casey. I already feel like a rock star, so watch out. I think I personality may be changing.

On the way back from our fabulous Italian hair cuts, our driver and friend of the hair dresser, Andrea, was very entertaining, telling stories about his farm and the restaurant his dad owns. Naturally, we're all dying to see it. 1- A real live olive grove. 2- He's gorgeous and all 4 of us want to spend as much time with him as possible. 3- He swears his dad is the last cowboy in Italy, and we'd understand if we saw the restaurant. So off we go... to the American Salon Restaurant, perched perfectly among the olive trees with an amazing view of Tuscany and a small farm to one side! Horses, dogs, cats, and OWLS! At one point, looking at the owls and hearing stories about how one dances to Barry White songs, I look at Bobbi and ask, How did we get here... in Italy... with crazy hair... on a farm... surrounded by animals?!

We were wiped out from our crazy Italian day. I came home and crashed. Then went to dinner with all my schoolmates, who oo-ed and ah-ed over the crazy Italian new look we all had. Quite a day. So, if you are looking at these pictures and gasping (mom) or crying (grandmother) or laughing (paw-paw), don't worry. I do believe that, while I look super cool and amazingly Italian, I think I'll return to the States completely normal, leaving my crazy Italian hair in Italy.

Next blog will include, but will not be limited to... my hour teaching the cutest Italian children about flags and coat of arms... in their Italian language, Bevagna and medieval book presses, and flower pots. Sending all my love! Casey

Ok, so you've been asking for it. Here's a lowdown on the people in this crazy Italian life of mine:

Bobbi Estelle, (black sweater standing beside me) she loves life, and I’m glad I’m here with her. I think I love life more just walking beside her through the streets of these precious, tiny towns. We stop and look at doors, cats, postcards, and shop windows, and we whisk ourselves to another life, an Italian life, where we stop and look at cats and shop windows for the rest of our Italian lives. She is an English major, so it makes a little sense that she and I get along… we’re not artists and don’t have all their weird, moody, quirky traits. But we dream most of our days away, which is easy to do here.

Olga (white coat) is our mother, simply put. Our personalities are hilarious together because we are all such bossy people, but it’s safe to say that she is the mother hen. She cooks for us most nights when meals aren’t provided for and plans out our field trips. Generally, we just go along with it. She was born in Eastern Europe, and has really lived through a lot, so she’s got a great outlook on life. Again, this is someone who is doing all she can to enjoy life and living it up. She has no worries and doesn’t let the small stuff get her down. Olga can talk to anyone about anything, anywhere. She is going to school to be an art teacher, so she’s just a joy all around.

Heather (red coat from College of Charleston!!) is, luckily, our passive member of the group. We couldn’t handle anymore bosses. She is go with the flow, and has a sweet personality. I don’t even know why she hangs out with us because she is so much milder and kinder than we are. (I guess she just needs some spunk in her life.) She loves fashion and wants to go on to school to work in the fashion world. Her focus right now is in drawing flowers and sewing onto the pages, so her sketches are really fun to look at and talk about.

Gino, finally, is our groundskeeper that lives on campus, in the same building as the boys. He loves, and I mean loves us students. When we went to the ballet the other night, the school took up about 8 boxes, and he walked around to each one and popped his head in and chatted for a few minutes before the show started. He lives off our youth and energy, though he as more energy than any of us. I’ll always remember him, walking into the room where I sat alone playing the Beatles and he danced through, singing along to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Don’t worry Poppie and PawPaw, I’m being looked after by a grandfather of sorts here too.

I have so many people dancing through my days, and I wish you could get to know them all. My teachers, they are another page entirely. They are so intelligent and knowledgable, sure, but also lots of fun and I wouldn't want to be led through another country with anyone else! This program has to be one of the best out there. Maybe I'll go on to graduate school and come back and teach here... we'll see.

I'm uploading a few more pictures too, but from here on out, I think that I'm letting everyone else do the picture taking. I want to see these placed while I'm here, and steal pictures from other people to show you. I feel like I'm missing out when I'm looking through a camera lense. (Sorry Santa Clauses).

I, among all children, am blessed - Shout out to dad

I'm sitting here, sipping my coffee, trying to wake up a little for a quick walk to town for some fruit, and then class.

But I was reading the blog comments and thinking of you all, and I just wanted to let you know I am so blessed with family and friends that feel like family. I feel so loved, even with an ocean between us. I love you all.