Monday, February 16, 2009
Let it snow...
I thought when I came to Italy that I was done with snow for good, but I was wrong because this morning it snowed on my way to class. It was kind of exciting, since I have not seen snow in over a month. Okay, that's a lie, I did see snow when I went skiing, but you get my drift. So I caught a few flakes on my tongue, but the excitement quickly faded because now it's just really cold and drizzling outside. So today is a pretty low key indoors homework day. I feel for all of you in Minnesota, although I've heard it is finally "warming up" there, meaning that it's about 40 degrees.
Grrrrrrr....taxes
I spent about two hours today working on my 2008 income tax returns, which is pretty much my least favorite thing to do in the world. I usually put it off until the last minute, but I figured since I will be travelling around Europe in April, I should probably have them done before then. The plus side is that I'm getting about $300 back, a nice little cushion in my bank account that is quickly being depleting from all this travelling. I am beginning to think I should take the Italian approach to income taxes. Hardly anyone in Italy reports their full income, so they don't pay the full amount of taxes that they technically should. However, since everyone does it, the government can't do anything about it. Here are some statistics from the Wall Street Journal (06/28/2007): unpaid income taxes in Italy from the country's black market economy constitute 27% of Italy's GDP; only 0.8% of Italians claim to earn more than $134,000 per year; Italian restaurant owners declare an annual average income of just $18,000 (less than school-teachers); there are 5,800 people in Italy who declare incomes of less than 5,000 euros per year, but who drive cars worth more than 100,000 euros. The reasons for these tax evasions are complex, but one reason is that the Italian government bureaucracy is notoriously corrupt, and taxpayers believe their tax dollars are squandered, which, in many cases, is true. I guess I feel a little more confident that the tax dollars I pay to the U.S. government are at least doing some good. Plus, if I didn't pay my taxes in the U.S., I'm pretty sure the IRS would be on my tail eventually. So I guess I will be a good American citizen and pay taxes, and I shouldn't complain too much because at least I'm getting some money back.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Better in black and white
I tried to publish this post yesterday, but I was having Internet issues:
2/15/2009 12:00 a.m.
Today I went to a black and white photography exhibit in Florence with Ania. I have wanted to go to it ever since I first got here and saw the advertisements, and today was the last day of the exhibit. It was my first time visiting an art gallery on my own volition, and I really enjoyed it. I felt quite sophisticated wearing my dress and walking through the exhibits, quietly commentating on the works. Usually I have some trouble really digging deeper into a work of art, getting beyond its face value, but I have never had this problem with photography, especially black and white photography. I think it has something to do with the writer in me, but I just love to look at photographs of people from many years ago and think about how their life was and what they were thinking at that moment. The exhibit in Florence was very striking because of the age of most of the photographs. Many were from the 1850s, and they portrayed life in Florence and the surrounding country. It was very interesting to see what has changed and what has remained the same since that time. My favorite work in the entire museum was entitled "Springtime," and I believe it was by Roberto Robinson. It is a portrait taken of a young couple from behind as they walk down a country road in Holland. The man has his arm around the woman, and they look very happy and in love. On the right there is a Dutch windmill, and much of the country landscape is visible. I thought this photo really captured the emotion and beauty of the moment, and, even though it was taken over 100 years ago, the emotions it captures are still applicable today. Someday when I have an apartment/house I really want to collect black and white photography and have it all over my walls. I would probably never get anything done because I'd always be looking at my pictures and thinking about what those people were thinking, but at least I'll be thinking.
2/15/2009 12:00 a.m.
Today I went to a black and white photography exhibit in Florence with Ania. I have wanted to go to it ever since I first got here and saw the advertisements, and today was the last day of the exhibit. It was my first time visiting an art gallery on my own volition, and I really enjoyed it. I felt quite sophisticated wearing my dress and walking through the exhibits, quietly commentating on the works. Usually I have some trouble really digging deeper into a work of art, getting beyond its face value, but I have never had this problem with photography, especially black and white photography. I think it has something to do with the writer in me, but I just love to look at photographs of people from many years ago and think about how their life was and what they were thinking at that moment. The exhibit in Florence was very striking because of the age of most of the photographs. Many were from the 1850s, and they portrayed life in Florence and the surrounding country. It was very interesting to see what has changed and what has remained the same since that time. My favorite work in the entire museum was entitled "Springtime," and I believe it was by Roberto Robinson. It is a portrait taken of a young couple from behind as they walk down a country road in Holland. The man has his arm around the woman, and they look very happy and in love. On the right there is a Dutch windmill, and much of the country landscape is visible. I thought this photo really captured the emotion and beauty of the moment, and, even though it was taken over 100 years ago, the emotions it captures are still applicable today. Someday when I have an apartment/house I really want to collect black and white photography and have it all over my walls. I would probably never get anything done because I'd always be looking at my pictures and thinking about what those people were thinking, but at least I'll be thinking.
A great Valentine's Day after all
In spite of all my doubts, Valentine's Day turned out to be pretty great after all. The goodness began with dinner last night, which turned out to be the best dinner I've ever had in my life! We began with a bottle of white wine then ordered our first and second courses with a bottle of Chianti. My
first course was ravioli filled with goat cheese in an orange sauce with tomatoes. It was the best ravioli I've ever had, and I really want to learn to make goat cheese when I raise goats someday so I can make something like that. All of the food here is just so fresh and authentic, I don't know how I am going to react when I go back to eating preserved and processed foods in America. My second course last night was a fillet-mignon with a sauce made from fresh grapes, and I also had a side of fresh grilled zucchini, eggplant, and red pepper. The beef was definitely rare, but ever since I've been here I've discovered that's the way I like it. It would be illegal in American restaurants to serve beef as rare as they serve it here, but I think the texture and flavor are so much better when it is served this way. So when I go back to America people will probably look at me like I'm crazy when I eat my bloody steaks. Also, after all that food last night, we still had dessert. I had almond biscotti that came with a dessert liqueur to dip it in. It was pretty good, but I couldn't bring myself to drink the liqueur afterwards, which is what Bob said I was supposed to do, so Ashley drank it for me. Then we finished the meal with limoncello as an after dinner drink. So I must say I was slightly tipsy after drinking about four glasses of wine and the limoncello with my meal, but all-in-all it was a great meal!
Today we were going to go to Bologna, so we went to the train station around 11 a.m. to figure everything out. This was all of our first times figuring out how to buy a train ticket and board a train on our own, so it was a bit frustrating and confusing. To begin with, we couldn't find any local trains to Bologna, and the only ones we could find were expensive EuroStar trains. So on the spot we just decided to go to Pisa instead. A one way ticket to Pisa is about 5 euros, and it takes about an hour to get there, so it is a nice place to go for a day trip. We finally figured out how to buy our ticket and found our train and boarded. However, none of us realized that we had to validate our ticket before we boarded the train, so the conductor got a little angry with us. Overall though he seemed to be fairly understanding, he just wanted to make sure that next time we validated our ticket, which is understandable because otherwise we could use it again without charge. So the train was a live and learn type experience. Once we got to Pisa everything was very easy to figure out. We stopped at the tourism office and got a map, and we made our way on the ever-so-common tourist pilgrimage to the leaning tower. And, sadly enough, we did cave and take the obligatory tourist pictures of us holding up the tower. Other than the tower and the cathedral there is not much else to see in Pisa, so we found a place to eat a late lunch and then went back to the station and bought tickets back. The ride back was much less stressful than the ride there, as we actually sort of, kind of knew what we were doing. So now I'm done for the day, exhausted, but glad to say that it was a happy Valentine's Day. Oh, and I did receive two Valentines: a poem from Eldon and a rose from Bob (well, he doesn't say it's from him, but all of us girls got one, and the note is in his handwriting).
first course was ravioli filled with goat cheese in an orange sauce with tomatoes. It was the best ravioli I've ever had, and I really want to learn to make goat cheese when I raise goats someday so I can make something like that. All of the food here is just so fresh and authentic, I don't know how I am going to react when I go back to eating preserved and processed foods in America. My second course last night was a fillet-mignon with a sauce made from fresh grapes, and I also had a side of fresh grilled zucchini, eggplant, and red pepper. The beef was definitely rare, but ever since I've been here I've discovered that's the way I like it. It would be illegal in American restaurants to serve beef as rare as they serve it here, but I think the texture and flavor are so much better when it is served this way. So when I go back to America people will probably look at me like I'm crazy when I eat my bloody steaks. Also, after all that food last night, we still had dessert. I had almond biscotti that came with a dessert liqueur to dip it in. It was pretty good, but I couldn't bring myself to drink the liqueur afterwards, which is what Bob said I was supposed to do, so Ashley drank it for me. Then we finished the meal with limoncello as an after dinner drink. So I must say I was slightly tipsy after drinking about four glasses of wine and the limoncello with my meal, but all-in-all it was a great meal!Today we were going to go to Bologna, so we went to the train station around 11 a.m. to figure everything out. This was all of our first times figuring out how to buy a train ticket and board a train on our own, so it was a bit frustrating and confusing. To begin with, we couldn't find any local trains to Bologna, and the only ones we could find were expensive EuroStar trains. So on the spot we just decided to go to Pisa instead. A one way ticket to Pisa is about 5 euros, and it takes about an hour to get there, so it is a nice place to go for a day trip. We finally figured out how to buy our ticket and found our train and boarded. However, none of us realized that we had to validate our ticket before we boarded the train, so the conductor got a little angry with us. Overall though he seemed to be fairly understanding, he just wanted to make sure that next time we validated our ticket, which is understandable because otherwise we could use it again without charge. So the train was a live and learn type experience. Once we got to Pisa everything was very easy to figure out. We stopped at the tourism office and got a map, and we made our way on the ever-so-common tourist pilgrimage to the leaning tower. And, sadly enough, we did cave and take the obligatory tourist pictures of us holding up the tower. Other than the tower and the cathedral there is not much else to see in Pisa, so we found a place to eat a late lunch and then went back to the station and bought tickets back. The ride back was much less stressful than the ride there, as we actually sort of, kind of knew what we were doing. So now I'm done for the day, exhausted, but glad to say that it was a happy Valentine's Day. Oh, and I did receive two Valentines: a poem from Eldon and a rose from Bob (well, he doesn't say it's from him, but all of us girls got one, and the note is in his handwriting).
A day of rest
Everyone in our group except for Allyson, Ania, Ashley, and me went to Venice today. They are staying there all weekend, so it is just us four here at the hotel. We didn't want to go to Venice because it is Carnivale weekend and Valentine's Day, so it will probably be super crowded. Plus it is still really cold there, and we'd rather go when it gets warmer. Next weekend I hope to go to a Carnival celebration (similar to Mardi Gras) at a small town called Viareggio. Today we were thinking about going to Pisa as a day trip, as it is only about an hour away by train, but none of us were quite feeling up to it today. Allyson and I are both recovering from our colds, and Ania just caught one. So instead of going to Pisa, I stayed in my pajamas until 2:00 p.m. and looked up information on Cinque Terre online. Cinque Terre are five little towns on the coast of Italy connected by a hiking trail. Everyone I've talked to who has travelled in Italy has said that it is a must see. So I decided that is what I'd like to do for my birthday weekend (March 14). All 14 people in our group want to go as well, so I'm in the process of figuring out how to get a hotel or hostel for all of us. I've contacted a few places via email, but I haven't got any responses yet. There is this really cute place called Manuel's Guesthouse that the group last year stayed at. My friend Ryan recommended it to me, and I would really like to stay there if the rest of the group is up for it. It's a bit more expensive than a hostel, but at least we would know what to expect. Other than looking into that, I went for a long run/walk, and I found a new public hiking trail that snakes through part of an olive orchard. It was really pretty, and it was a fairly nice day today: sunny and 46 degrees. It had been a while since I went running with midterms and all, so it felt really good to get back into it. Tonight it will just be us four girls and Bob for dinner, but the rest of the group has already paid for meals because of their meal plan. So Bob said that we would get a really fancy meal tonight. He is talking about ordering prosecco, wine, and steak along with other more high-class item menus. I've been trying not to eat a lot all day so that I can enjoy this dinner to the fullest. Tomorrow we are going to Bologna, but I don't know if it will just be a day trip or an overnight thing. Bologna is only about an hour away by train, so I'm kind of hoping for it to be a day trip, but it depends on what everyone else wants to do too. So all in all it has just been a nice day of relaxation to recuperate from midterms and my cold. I think it is a good thing that I did not go to Venice, because I would probably still be tired and sick if I did. Even when you're travelling sometimes you just need to take time to relax and realize that you will never have time to see everything. This is something that I learned when I was in Colorado for a summer working as a camp counselor. While I was there I tried to pack as much into every weekend as I could, and by the end of the summer I was just so tired that I had very little energy to do my job. So the moral of the story is, you have to find a happy medium of experiencing new things and taking time to relax and take it all in. The end.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Midterms = Death
Sorry I did not write yesterday. I had my history and language midterms, and it was just not the greatest day. I'm pretty sure I did really bad on my history test because I studied all the wrong information. I knew what happened in the history of Florence backwards and forwards, but I did not study specific dates. Then when I got to the test it was all multiple choice, and most of it was on dates. I'm in denial that I ever took that test right now, but hopefully next Wednesday won't bring too unpleasant of news. The language test was really easy, and after I took that I spent the rest of the day studying for the art midterm, which is today at 5:00. This morning we went to the Uffizi, and now we have some time to study before the test. I also caught a cold this week, so I think I may take a short siesta before doing more studying. I seriously think my head might explode right now, and out of it will come a masterpiece of all the Italian artists combined with my sweat and blood. Sorry for the graphic image. I will be so glad when all of this is over. It is just such a different teaching style, and it is so hard to know what to expect. So after today the blogging should be back to normal. It's just been a rough couple days.
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