Rome!

Hi everyone,
I got back from Rome a couple days ago and it was amazing. I did a bunch of sight seeing that I think the pictures in this album can explain much better than I can.

Rome: July 2009

If you ever make it to Rome, I would highly suggest going with a local. My friend Paul attends university there and took me around on his motorbike the entire week. How great is that! It gave me a great mix of touristy (Read: Colosseum) and nice finds (Read: roof-top terrace party and fresh, milky Mozzarella di Bufala.)

The days were packed and hot but enjoyable. My favorite sites were the Pantheon and this orange grove/garden on a hill overlooking the city. I cannot wait to go back.

Tomorrow, after teaching (I have Friday off this week) I'm off to do some hiking in a naturally gorgeous part, a UNESCO Natural Heritage Site, of Northern Italy. Can't wait!!

The Mountain House

This past weekend, I went up with the Seppi's to their house in the mountains. In the past, families used to spend the entire summer in their mountain house because it was too hot in the valley to be comfortable. Now, however, most families just go up for a week or two at a time in the summer.

The house we stayed in has been in the Seppi family for over 100 years. It was built by the family several generations ago and continues to be used. It was a gorgeous wooden house, built in a traditional mountain village style. Everything up there looked incredibly picturesque.

Here's a picture of the village from the balcony of the house.

Just beyond the house, was a path leading into a forest. The forest looked exactly like something out of a fairy tale. On Sunday, we walked through the forest to a lake to lay out, relax and go for a swim. Everything was so clean, well kept and unlike anything I had seen before. This picture does not do the forest justice, but it was similar to that for the entire hike to the lake.

Here's a closer picture of the mountains from the earlier post. They were so beautiful, and close. It was only a 2-3 hour hike up one of them from the house we stayed in. Unfortunately, the weather didn't allow us to do so...it was raining the first day we were there.


The house had apricot trees growing around it and we were there just at the beginning of apricot season. A bowl of fresh apricots were picked and so delicious.

That's one thing I've noticed since being here. A lot of the products used in the kitchen come from the Seppi's region of Italy or someplace in Italy. Everything tastes so fresh and flavorful...the freshly grate parmesan, the fruity olive oil, the newly picked apricots, apples, and peaches...it's got me thinking this is the way we should all eat all the time.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Rome!!!!

Quick Mountain House Preview

I took this pictures at the soccer match tonight. Do you see those two little peaks to the left side of the mountain/hill in the distance? That's were I'm going tomorrow. I can't wait.

Adventures all over.

Most days I go for a bike ride down a path along this river. I know I've mentioned these rides before but they are a nice break for me. I go alone. It gives me time to reflect and recharge to make the most of my time here in Italy. There are usually quite a few other bikers on the path. For the most part, people in this region of Italy are pretty active and athletic.

However, yesterday I didn't really feel like biking, so I took a little hike/run up to an old castle. I completely regret not bringing my camera. The Seppi's village is in a valley, kind of like what you see across the river. As you drive up the hill, their house is about half-two thirds up that hill. On a neighboring hill is an old castle that I can see from my bike rides everyday.

Paul gave me great directions, drew me a map and after a quick 15 minute trail run I was to the castle. And boy, were the views amazing. You could see the entire village, Terlano, that the Seppi's live in as well as many neighboring villages and farms.

While I was wandering around what was left of the castle (I'll grab a picture of it soon to show you guys), I tried to imagine what it would have been like to live there. I couldn't. Life would have been so incredibly different.

Tonight I'm off to a futbol/soccer match with Paul and Andy. Tomorrow I'm going to a mountain house with the family for a long weekend and then I'm off to Rome, and potentially some days at the seaside, with Paul for a week! Life is so good right now. I hope it's great for all of you too!

Apples!

Ah, week 2. Things are going great and I'm starting to get into the grove...I mean groove. There are apple orchards everywhere here so please excuse my confusion.

Ok, bad joke, sorry.

The rows upon rows of the apple trees was one of the first things I noticed when I got here. But it took me a while to realize what I was looking at. The fruit looked like apples, but the trees they are growing on didn't look like normal apple trees to me. I asked Paul about it and he explained that this region of Italy produces a lot of the apples for all over the area and to increase production, the farmers forced their trees to grow upwards. The trees you see here produce as many apples as what I was picturing, but in a much smaller space.

And here is a picture of what an entire orchard looks like:


Picture this for kilometer after kilometer on one side and a river on the other and you have a pretty good idea of what I get to see on my bike rides. Pretty amazing.

I hope you're all having a great day! The weather here was hot but not humid and a little windy, so very nice. Everything else was great as well...I went into the city this morning after my museli (kind of like granola, but not crunchy) and came back to play with and teach Andy. This afternoon we were out by the pool enjoying the weather. We had dinner outside and are just lounging around in the evening. A great day.

It's already Friday?!

Hello everyone!
Italy is lovely. The weather has been pretty nice so far. We've had a couple small, short rain showers and some clouds, but overall not too hot, not too cold.

Teaching Andy is going well. We still play a lot of card games and wii, but we've also started playing ping-pong and 20 questions. I'm also going through the house, room by room, to help him work on his vocab. He seems to be enjoying it so life is good. :) And he's also reading an English Goosebumps book.

I'm teaching Andy 6 days a week and yesterday was my day off. The Seppi's live in a small village outside of Bolzano so yesterday I met Paul and some of his friends at a nice little cafe in the city. After lunch, I took the train back to his house and went on a bike ride on a path near the river; the path was lined with the most amazing scenery. This part of Italy produces a lot of wine and tons of apples. Everywhere you look there are apples and grapes growing and a lot of people who live in this region are farmers.

Tonight for dinner we had bbq chicken which was a real treat for the family and a taste of home for me. And this beautiful picture was taken from their terrace a couple hours after dinner. Goodnight!

Around town

The main square in Bolzano.


A church in the main square of Bolzano.


A park in Bolzano.

Hello from Italy

Hi everyone,
It seems like so much has happened since I left Chicago, and it's only been two days.

Andy (the boy I'm teaching English to) is great, as is the entire family. We play a lot of card games and wii because the weather has been a little hit or miss since I've been here. It's been overcast and rainy so not too much to do outside. However, I've heard it was supposed to be sunny today and when I woke up this morning it was! Hopefully we'll get to do a bit outside.

And their house is absolutely amazing. It's located in a valley surrounded by mountains. I'm in complete awe. Pictures to come soon, I promise.

And the food, wow. Nori (Paul's mom) is an incredible cook. She's made a lot of dishes specific to this region of Italy, some with pasta, others with meat, and some with veg as the main component, all delicious.

I'll probably write again this afternoon, because this post is very short, but I want to let everyone know that I don't have a very strong internet connection in my room. This will probably make it a bit more difficult to update the blog and post pictures because I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do before I go to bed at night. I'm still figuring out how much free time I have during the day. And it also means that we'll have to set up skype chats because I won't just leave it signed on. :( [but really, if that's the most disappointing thing about this trip, I don't have too much to complain about to be honest :)]

Miss you guys!

Good Morning Switzerland!

Good Morning everyone! I made it safely to Zurich, Switzerland after an 8 hour flight from Chicago. I'm now waiting in the airport, thank you 2.5 hour layover, before boarding my plane to Munich, Germany. From Munich,I'll be traveling into Italy; it's about a 2.5 hour drive. Here's a photo out the airport window of Zurich (I hope the weather in Italy is better!):

My flight over was good. I sat next to a woman who will be presenting a portable medical device with the ability to perform 70-80% of the things done in a doctor's office remotely and it's run off solar panels so the procedures can be done anywhere(!) to the WHO. It's pretty amazing stuff. The food was typical airplane quality and I tried to sleep a bit, but I'll probably have to grab a coffee before the drive to Italy.

Sorry this post is a bit boring, I promise they will get more exciting so stay tuned!

Around this time tomorrow, I'll be in Italy!

I'm all packed and ready to go. In about 7 hours I'll be boarding the plane and well on my way to Italy. The city I'll be living in is Bolzano. It's in the northern region right below Austria. This youtube video gives you a little visual description of what awaits: Bolzano, South Tirol, Italy -- just a warning, its a little different than Wisconsin or North Carolina!

You read it here first!

Welcome to my blog. I'm glad you came, it's nice to have you here. I hope you enjoy reading, dreaming, and maybe even drooling at times, about all of the fun I'm having on my latest adventure. I wish you all could be with me every step of the way, but until you grab a plane ticket, my descriptions of all the amazing architecture, incredible food, and fantastic wanderings will have to hold you over.

Haha, but in all seriousness, I'm extremely fortunate to have the opportunities I've had in my life. And I'm happy to be able to share them with all of you. So, enjoy!