Italy

Florence=Fantastic

Se Firenze era un Uomo...

Dreaming in Italian...

A Snippet of Sweetness

Weekend Update

Some Calcio and a Little Gypsy Dancing

I'll Bet You A Tollar

"Quite-Fond-of-The-Whole-Pig"

I am Indiana Jones!

Porn Star Pizza?

Vacay Pt. 2

HOW TO *NOT* PICK-UP AMY HERRON (ITALIAN STYLE)

Florence = Fantastic!

Sep 2004

Ciao Miei Amici!

Florence is so amazing I hardly know where to start. I live about 15

minutes walking distance from il Duomo and 30-40 minutes from NYU's villa

where my school is. I am living with a family that speaks no English, they

have a 3 year old daughter (Viola) and 2 cats...I have my own room, we all

share one bathroom. Most of the time, I have no idea what they are saying.

But they cook breakfast and dinner for me everyday, which is fantastic.

Dinner is an event in itself. Gaia, my 'mom', cooks five course meals that

normally take 2 or 2.5 hours to eat...Pasta, then meat or fish, then

vegetables and bread, then fruit, then dessert...It is orgasmically amazing,

dinner is like the best thing ever, even though conversing is difficult and

every two seconds mi dico (i say): "un momento" and then look a word up in my

dictionary.

There is another NYU student, Danielle, who is also living in the apartment

with me. We are very different but get along very well. Her Italian is better

than mine, and she has friends that are totally fluent, so I have found a good

nitch to hang out with and talk "solo in italiano" with...I have made a rule

with myself, Danielle, and my new friends that can speak Italian, that we are

only speaking italian: "solo in italiano"....No english! I am determined to

really learn the language. And everyday, I can tell that I get a little

better- speaking and understanding.

Ok, the gelato here, gets its own paragraph. I love icecream, but gelato

isn't just icecream. It is, like, proof there is a God, it is absolutely

amazing: divine intervention via icecream = gelato!

E dopo there is the pasta and the pizza and the coffee...good golly, it is

all so good. There are so many restaurants I want to try, but it is actually

better (for those planning to visit sometime) to go to trattorias--they are

normally cheaper, the food is better, and the local yocals go there- no

tourists.

But I do so much walking around Florence- I walk everywhere, everything is

within walking distance and there are a lot of pick-pockets on the public

buses, that I won't become a fat cow, which is nice. And I am hoping to run a

half-marathon at the end of September around Florence (to raise money for

breast cancer research) and to run in Florence's annual marathon in

November...we will see about that though...I have yet to start really running

much here.

And my classes are super sweet, I hardly feel like I am going to

class. I am taking Intermediate Italian (which meets M-Thurs)...Italian

Politics (Tu), Cities and Their Environments (Tu)[translation we get to travel

to Napoli, Venezia, e Roma! at the expense of NYU], and Medieval Church (M)

[we get to visit monasteries and churches and maybe a museum or two].

Basically, I am going to have plenty of time to bop around Italy and learn

Italian! And of course, visit friends (cough if they email me cough) or show

anyone else who can get out here (cough everyone i'm emailing cough) around

Florence.

The guys are ridiculous here, you can't walk around for two minutes

without 'ciao bellas' being thrown at you, it is like coke in compton.

Personal goal: to find myself some random hot Italian dude who will pay for

things and talk to me and drive me around on his moped through the countryside

and expect nothing in return. Hey, it could happen.

So that is life at the moment, in fabulous Firenze...I am not sure I will

ever want to return to the USA...write me!

Amy Herron

NYU Villa Natalia

Via Bolognese 106

Firenze, Italia 50139

A dopo,

Amy

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Se Firenze era un uomo...

Buona Sera!

Se Firenze era un uomo---> If Florence was a man...I would totally marry him!

(and that list is quite small: Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Taye Diggs, and Ty

Pennington and now Florence)

Ok, my weekend (the weekend officially starts on Friday, because class ends on

Thursday here):

Friday- I walked all day, travelling outside the city of Florence itself.

It started as a "get to know the city, walk around the city" day...but then I

was curious as to what was on top of a hill that I saw... and it morphed into

hiking up the hills that surround Florence...where I had amazing views of the

city, but I also became so hungry that my hand was starting to look appetizing

and I wasn't sure if I would make it back to Florence. Luckily though, I

wasn't as far away from civilization as I thought...and made it back into the

city by 6:30, just enough time to do some browsing through the nicest shopping

district in town. Yep, I went into Gucci (and got to shake hands with

someone important, but since I wanted to act like I could actually afford the

stuff in there, I didn't ask him who he was), Armani, Prada...and then Dior.

Ok, ignoring the fact that I was grimy and sweaty from hiking all day, they

all were very friendly to me...and I actually saw and then was inclined to try

on a dress from Dior that...well...wow...it would be worth killing someone

for...it was the MOST AMAZING DRESS I'VE EVER TRIED ON...which isn't

necessarily saying much b/c I don't wear very many dresses...just trust me

though, I understood high fashion after this event...it, well, yea,

exceptionally nice...unfortunately though, it is a little out of my price

range (I don't happen to have an extra 4,000 Euros lying around for random hot

dresses).

Saturday- Visited Lucca, a small town about 1.5 hours away from Florence by

bus. Famous for its olive oil, it is a very cute, very old town with 100

churches inside the city walls...only about 9,000 people live in the town

itself...I saw the "Face of God" there...what is supposed to be a copy of the

original cross on which Jesus was crucified in St. Martin's church...If anyone

ever visits Lucca---eat at Trattoria da Leo Lucca---fabulously marvelous! The

entire city shuts down from 1 to 4 for lunch...and this is the place to

go...totally Italian, no tourists, relaxed, tons of free bread, cheap wine,

wahoo! And, then eat an "Il Frate"---Lucca's version of a funnel cake, but

lemon-flavored and covered in regular sugar...yum!

Sunday- Went to the beach, ViaReggio. Sadly enough, though, everyone and

their mother got the memo not go to the beach b/c it was going to be cold and

rainy. Everyone, that is, except for me. And the beach was weird, tons of

chairs covering the entire beach and only 6 ft, literally six feet, of free

public beach right beside the pier. I won't be revisiting this beach, but it

had potential: if it had been sunny and populated by hot italian guys, I would

have enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Monday to Present- School and bopping around Florence and always enjoying

Gaia (my 'mom'), her cooking, and trying as many different gelatarias as

possible.

Lessons Learned So Far:

1. It is good to be a girl here. Think: FREE STUFF...free internet usage,

free scarf, free stamps, free drinks, free food, and free phone numbers. I

appreciate the internet usage, I gave away the scarf...I don't like alcohol,

but I give it to friends that want it...food, well, there is always room for

italian food...and phone numbers, I suppose that is just a bonus that I have

yet to follow up on.

2. Cheese with honey---> very good! For dinner yesterday, we had some local

cheese that started with a 'p' drizzled with honey- fantabulous! Sounds

strange, but quite nice. Honey is really an underrated condiment.

3. Girls, don't attempt to wear a cute, pink, strapless dress if it looks

like it is going to rain. It will rain, and then your dress will get wet and

want to fall off. Signs of rain---> think comfortable (not cute) clothing.

4. My cute Italian moped boy...haven't found him yet...I have yet to call

Antonio, who I mentioned previously, and he hasn't called me...but that is ok,

I am patient. I have found two guys (one owns a bar and one works at a cafe)

who are willing to just talk to me every day, so that I can practice my

Italian...which is totally sweet. I need as much practice as possible.

5. Italy totally rocks! Come visit! Or write:

Amy Herron

NYU Villa Natalia

Via Bolognese 106

Firenze, Italia 50139

Ciao,

amy

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Dreaming in Italian...

To continue where I left off...

Let's start on Friday morning for my 2.5 hour bus ride to Verona...(Speed

update for those unfamiliar with Verona: think Romeo and Juliet, it is the

town with their balcony and Juliet's statue and is famous for that reason).

I sat beside a cool guy named Rudy who had been bopping/backpacking around

Europe for the past five months and was running quite low on cash and was

going to return to Charleston again in a week...very chill dude...a bartendar

who wants to be a chef, played b-ball for the College of Charleston, etc...and

then this Italian girl jumps into our convo...she had studied in the States

for a year when she was in highschool...being the dork I am, I mentioned how I

am really trying to learn the language, yada yada...she said, "you know you

really got it, when you are dreaming in that language, it took me four months

to dream in English"...

So, I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will soon be dreaming in

Italian...

[mental note to self: I am totally putting "bop around Europe for 5 months

on my to-do list]

I planned to stay with three other NYUers at a hostel in Verona. Being the

dumbo that I am, I forgot my passport...and the lady at the hostel was

insisting that I have my passport in order to stay at the hostel...so I pull

out my military ID (along with my driver's license, my two school ids, and my

library card) in order to be able to stay...she absolutely flips at the sign

of my military id...saying that Bush is bad, the war is bad, etc...at this

point I am frantically trying to explain that I don't like Bush either (no mi

piace bush, no mi piace bush, no mi piace la guerra)...luckily though, I went

with a guy named Greg, who is totally fluent in four languages, one of which

is Italian, and he was able to convince her to let me sleep in the

hostel...whew....Lesson #1: Bring your passport to hostels. Lesson #2: Never

show anyone your US Military ID.

Verona, quite a romantic town, I must say. So when everyone is planning out

their honeymoon, keep it in mind, it gets my thumbs up approval. We ate

dinner for three hours right by the river as the sun set...we took pictures of

the famous balcony...saw everyone holding hands and, as cheesy as it sounds,

you could just feel the love in the air...sigh...

Enough mushy stuff...on to Venice.

I visited Ian and Daidree (friends from Duke) on Saturday and Sunday in

Venice. Venice reminded me of Disneyworld, everything was so perfect and

there were no cars, you take water taxis everywhere, and the water is that

perfect putt-putt water color. Thus, Venice: check.

Last night, I was walking around downtown (near the Duomo) and this Italian

dude started talking to me (surprise surprise) in Italian of course. It turns

out he is an opera singer and is now gonna hook me up with tickets to the

opera this thursday, he'll be singing as a tener. Very sweet, so I am excited

about my soon to be opera experience, and even more excited that it is going

to be a free experience!

But this morning, I have my first Italian quiz, and I really should study a

bit...I hope all is well...Keep in touch...Scrivi presto! (write soon!)

a dopo,

amy

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A Snippet of Sweetness

Buongiorno coolrockers, dudettes, e mia famiglia!

I have discovered the BEST sandwich shop in all of Florence. It isn't just

that the sandwiches are ridiculously amazing, or that is located in an obscure

part of the city, that involves a 40 minute walk up a hill from my house, or

that it is family owned and always hopping with customers...no, no, no. It is

much more than this.

I went to this sandwich shop, that has no real name from what I can gather,

about a week ago and ordered a sandwich because I enjoy wandering around an

entering into stores that seem full of Italians. This was a gargantuan

whopper of a sandwich and it ended up costing me five euros (but for the size

of this sandwich, that was more than fair). Unfortunately, being the poor

college student that I am, I did not have enough money to pay for my sandwich

as I only had 3 euros to my name. The little old lady behind the counter told

me not to worry, it wasn't a problem, just come back tomorrow and pay (she

said this in Italian, no English is spoken in this shop, which earns it

immediate bonus points). I took my WONDERFULLY AMAZING sandwich vi via(to

go) and ate it in my favorite little park that overlooks the city of

Florence. A park that is only full of old people holding hands and people

with dogs, all Italian, with the sounds of children playing on a playground

somewhere below, very peaceful: a perfect park for contemplation and sandwich

consumption.

Being the slacker that I am, it took me a week to get money out of a bancomat

(aka ATM) machine, so I could pay her back. I returned to the sandwich shop

to explain my story and to purchase another sandwich. I explained my story to

the man behind the counter (the husband of the lady, it is a family-owned

sandwich shop) and he was so impressed with my honesty that he gave me my next

sandwich for free. And it, too, was absolutely fabulous! I am going to

become a once-a-week-Wednesday-regular da ora in poi (from now on).

Moral of the story: Honesty is the best policy. And Italy rocks the house!

A dopo,

Amy

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Weekend Update (Secret Bakery!)

Buongiorno tutto!

Yes, I realize today is Thursday. Yes, it does make me a slacker that it has

taken me this long to write. However, most of ya'll are slacking off too in

the writing back department...cough, cough. So here I go, with my weekend

update~

Friday: School fieldtrip to Rome with my Etruscan History class---->weee free

fieldtrips! After a painfully early 2 hour train ride, we arrived at the

Vatican Musuem Friday morning to find that the Etruscan section of the musuem

was closed. But since our professor is perhaps, THE Etruscan Expert in the

entire world, he was able to do some sweet talking and convince the Vatican

people to open up that section of the museum just for us. So we saw lots of

old jewelry, pottery, and other things in our own private tour, nice.

At this point, you are probably thinking: who in the foo are the Etruscans?

Good question, and just to demonstrate that this fieldtrip was not a waste of

NYU funds, I'll give you a quick recap---> The Etruscans are the people that

lived in central Italy before the Romans. They gave Romans the idea of the

gladiator battles and arena, the swastika (which the Germans obviously later

stole), and the dice---that little cube still used today by everyone reading

this email in sweet games like Clue. Plus, Romans give Etruscans credit for

putting Rome 'on the map' so to speak. The Etruscan King, Tarquinion the

Proud, laid the foundation for the Forum and built the drainage system that

kept it from flooding and still works today. (See, I am learning stuff this

semester.)

We also went to the Colosseum, the Forum, the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City,

etc. I saw Michelangelo's "Creation of Man" and "The Pieta" and

Raphael's "School of Athens" among other amazing works of art. It was just

enough art to be arted-out for the rest of the weekend. Additionally, I

bought 40, count 'em forty: 40, postcards for one Euro. You can't buy a

cappucino for a Euro, but I managed to purchase forty of the most budget

postcards ever. So far, they are winning the 'best bang for your buck' award

for things I have bought so far while here.

Saturday: Back in Fantastic Firenze, I decided to get gelato at my favorite

gelataria. Walking back, an American guy started talking to me in Italian

because HE THOUGHT I WAS ITALIAN. This was very exciting, normally everyone

automatically things I am American, go figure. He quickly learned that I was

American (as he asked if I was a student, i said yes, he asked where i

studied, i said nyu and then we switched over and started talking in

english). We talked a bit and then he asked if I wanted to get gelato, that

he had a favorite place...yep, you guessed it, his favorite place and my

favorite place were the same place, so I ate more gelato courtesy of James

from California, thanks dude.

Later in the afternoon, Ian, Tosh and Daidree, DUKE friends arrived. We

bopped around Florence. Then, that night dun, dun, dun...

---Drum roll please---

We went to 'secret bakery.' This bakery doesn't actually have a name, so I

have given it a title: secret bakery. It is only open from 1 to 5 in the

morning and rumor has it that they make most of the pastries for the city. We

just followed the glorious scent of pasteries, into a back alley in, well to

be polite, not the most posh part of town, to find the best pastries known to

Florence. Warm and gooey and yummy, well, Thank you 'secret

bakery'......You've helped make my life complete.

Sunday: It rained, the first real day of rain I've had since being here. We

kept ourselves entertained by watching people's umbrellas flip inside-out in

the wing and debating whether or not a moutain lion, puma, panther, and cougar

are all the same cat. Just so you know: I was right, they are. They are

different subspecies and are different terms used by different people

depending on what region of the world you live, but they can all interbreed

and produce viable offspring. Quindi, my title of "Cat Genius" remains intact

and my friends owe me a euro (which I could buy 120 more postcards with).

Hope everything is kickin' with ya'll. Updates are always welcome: the

election, the current time the sun is setting, the shoes you just purchased,

your thoughts on the after-life...any and all communication is welcome so

scrivi presto!

ciao,

amy

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Some Calcio and a little Gypsy Dancing...

Team Read-About-Italy:

CALCIO! CALCIO! CALCIO! Italy is crazy about Calcio! What is calcio, you

ask? Soccer or futbol or football or futebol depending on your language of

choice. I went to my first game between Florence and Siena on Sunday afternoon

and it was pure madness. They had police all over the stadium to prevent

fights between the opposing fans. Imagine the intensity of the DUKE-Carolina

football or basketball game and that is the intensity found everytime

Florentina plays calcio in Florence. Virtually the entire fully-packed stadium

was decked out in crazy purple outfits, shouting insults at the other team or

encouragement for their own team for 2 hours. A real hoot and a half!

Plus, I picked up some not-so-nice Italian phrases and gestures too which I

suppose is a whole new type of non-school-like education. And, instead of

drinking beer at games, Italians drink expresso shots (you could tell who was

American b/c they were the only people guzzling down the booze). My theory on

life while here is the old saying- "when in Rome do as the Romans do"- so I

treated myself to two expressos and joined in the festivities and cheers like a

true Florentine.

It was quite nostalgic event for me, though, as I realized I will really

miss Duke basketball this year and even Duke football.

Monday I had my first midterm, for Medieval Church (which I started studying

for at 10 pm the night before)...and after our exam was over our professor took

us to what she considers to be the best pizzeria in Florence. And from what I

have eaten here so far, I am inclined to agree with her, as it is owned by a

family from Napoli and is about as good as the pizza I had in Napoli.

On the walk back, I ran into some gypsies breakin' it down (aka dancing) in la Piazza

della Repubblica and I paused a moment to watch. The next thing I know, they

have me out there dancing with them. I am sure I looked like an idiot, the guy

who pulled me out of the crowd said something in Italian like, "you have a

body, now learn to shake it." Fair enough, I suppose I'll have this dancing

thing down pat after a few more lessons from the street dancing gypsies.

(Think a lively latin dance kinda thing with a twist of african drumming and

dance thrown in.) It was such a riot, totally one of the most fun things I

have done since I got here.

Who knew Sundays and Mondays could be so cool?

Hope things are chillin like a villain wherever you find yourselves. Of course,

letters and emails, always appreciated (cough cough) here.

ciao ciao,

amy

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I'll bet you a tollar!

12 Day Vacation Update, Part One:

I went to Slovenia (no, I didn't make it up, it really is a country, the
second safest in the world in fact) for a long weekend with Duke buddies Ian,
Daidree, Jin and Toshio. Slovenia was soooo absolutely amazing, in spite of
the fact that I was kinda an emotional wreck the whole time, that I hardly
know where to start. I have 300 tollars leftover from the trip and my
passport now has a stamp in it, making me quite the happy camper.

We visited the capital, Ljubljana, and then Postojna and Bled. We hiked up
and up and up to a really kick-ass castle on a hill (is there such a thing as
a non-kick ass castle?), and then up a little more to the top of
the castle, which gave us a fabulous view of the capital city, Ljubljana.
While we were admiring the view, I noticed a little dot, that looked like it
might be a church, on a hill far away. Being the goon I am, I made it a goal
to hike to the dot by the end of the day. But before embarking on that
journey, we walked around the city and visited this pristine park, ate
icecream and drank cappuccino. Let me just say, for the record, I'll bet
anyone a tollar that I can eat more icecream than they can. After watching
children play in the park, and playing a bit ourselves, Daidree and I decided
to start hiking up our mountain to find the dot on the hill...

Unfortunately, we were hiking up the wrong mountain and thus never found the
dot-church. Instead, as we were trecking through mud up to our ankles, two
Slovenians asked us if we were lost...We said yes (somehow the sight of me in
a skirt and flip-flops walking around woods full of bears must have given it
away) and then they offered to give us a ride to wherever we wanted to
go...Being true to our gender, we asked them to take us to somewhere to
shop... So we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the biggest mall
complex I have ever seen. Sweet. I finally bought some European shoes; no
more "automatic american radar" (aka flip-flops) for me, yay!

We kept things multi-cultural, eating at Japanese and Mexican restaurants.
Those currently residing in the US- eat that on my behalf, I miss that food.
And I learned the Icelandic boogie from Tosh, adding another talent to my
expanding dance repertoire, weee. Jin also drew my name in Japanese and then
told me it meant "reflection and beauty." Yea buddy, I am pensive and lovely,
go team!

I am tired of churches, but caves are amazing, like Nature's version of a
church, but way cooler. We visited giant caves in Postojna and saw blind
proteus salamanders (that can live for 60-100 years and go 2-3 years without
eating). The stalagites and stalagmites were a delightful changes from the
billions of cathedrals and churches that dot the landscape of Europe; I find
Nature's caves much closer to anything holy and God-like than anything that
people ever build, there is just something so pristine and amazing about caves
(but I won't get preachy, so lets move on).

Overall though, Slovenia taught me I had amazing friends, that sometimes I
worry I take for granted. I was having a rough time with stuff, but they
totally had my back, life is better when you are surrounded by people you love.

We took a 2:50 am late night train back to Venice on Monday and then I flew to
Spain...Update Part Two to come...

Hope all is well (in spite of the fact that Kerry didn't win)...I'll bet
everyone a tollar that half the people on this list won't respond, so...Scrivi
presto!

tanti auguri,
amy

ps- google the tollar, educate yourself on slovenia and eastern europe.

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"quite-fond-of-the-whole-pig"

Elvis Impersonators, Shoe-Shiners, Bull-fighters and the rest~

12 Day Vacation Update, Part Two:

SPAIN!!! Perhaps when looking up Spain in a Thesauraus, you should

find "totally-freakin-awesome" as one hyphenated synonym and also "kicken-like-

chicken" and "quite-fond-of-the-whole-pig"...The pig one, only because, they

are all about eating every part of the pig in Spain, including the feet and

the brains. In spite of the fact that the food in Spain can't hold a candle

to the food in Italy, the company there made this trip absolutely wonderful.

I visited my roomie Lara in Sevilla and my high-five-bud Tosh in Madrid. I

flew into Madrid and spent the first night in a hostel with Tosh and then took

a high-speed train the next morning to Sevilla, where I spent the next three

days, and then returned to Madrid for the weekend.

Sevilla: My first night there was spent meeting Lara's new Carolina buds and

watching the states change to red or blue...because it was election night. If

you know me, you already know how I feel about the outcome, so we won't go

there. Instead, I'll just mention alcohol (yea, b/c I think 59 million

Americans might have been too intoxicated to think straight when they went to

vote at the polls) so I did get to try a bit of Tinto, a Spanish drink of red

wine and Fanta. Pretty good, if you like Fanta.

The next day was spent exploring the city with this kick-ass Columbian dude

who was staying in my hostel (two beds down, yep...you guessed it: it was a

pretty ghetto-tastic hostel)...we walked around Sevilla, by the river and past

churches and statues and Plaza de Espana, it worked nicely because neither one

of us had a destination, and he spoke Spanish, so I was good to go. Yea, so,

sidenote: I'd love to go to Columbia over Christmas break! Unfortunately, I

figure the parental units aren't going to be all about that...but mom and

pops, look at it as in investment, I can bring back some coke, the trip can

pay for itself!

The next day was spent shopping and exploring the city further, everything

is cheaper in Spain. I also got to eat lunch with Lara's host family

(garbonzo beans and spinach- a match made in heaven!) and go to a club to

watch some Flamenco dancing one evening. Flamenco ain't got nothin' on a good

ole southern square dance though :)

Overall, though, the best part of Sevilla was just getting a chance to see

and catch up with Lara, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed her and relied

on her advice until I saw her again...I got to meet her new man (yea and boy

was he a looker, sheesh!) and she got to listen to me complain about mine (but

we are good to go now, so no worries). Obviously, we had much to talk about,

quality "roomie-only" stuff. She really helped me take a step back from

things and remain calm when life had gotten a little crazy. Aaah, the

coolness of seeing one of your best friends in her element in Sevilla...weee!

Stay tuned for the second part of Part Two...Madrid!

Until then, my people, enjoy some icecream and a good book!

Ciao,

Amy

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VACAY Pt. 2, Madrid

Members of the Read-About-Amy's-Adventures Team:

The Second Half of the Second Part of My 12 Day Vacation, Spain--->Madrid!

A 2.5 hour speed train from Sevilla on Friday morning, puts me back in the

happenin' city of Madrid for the weekend with Toshio...oh baby, oh baby :) We

spent Friday afternoon walking around the city, looking at things like random

Egyptian pyramids on hilltops. Along about sundown, we rented a boat and went

paddling (and by 'we' I mean that Tosh did all the paddling and I just sat in

the boat) around a lake right near Tosh's house. Totally movie-like (can

someone please say "The Notebook"!) being on the water with sunsetting and the

birds...but without all that love-stuff. After our hour of rental time was

up, we headed on to El Corte Ingles...a ridiculous large store that sells

everything you could ever want, except for perhaps live dragons...think Macy's

meets Wal-Mart to buy stuff.

We ate at a Mexican restaurant~when in Spain do as the Mexicans do?~ and then

we topped Friday night off by discussing and dealing with our problems in a

mature, adult-like fashion. Yep, we complained about life and love in a

totally mature way (and by totally mature, i mean totally not mature) way,

that involved a lot of "fix me Tosh," "the room is spinning" and "in the end

it doesn't really matter."

Lessons learned from Friday night:

1. Sometimes wallowing in problems, although it doesn't make them go away it

allows you to reach a point where you see the wisdom in moving past them.

2. 10 is a big number. 13 also a big number. 16 is an even bigger number.

3. Don't judge a man till you've walked two moons in his mocassins.

Saturday we went to the Museo Nacional del Prado...where we spent the

afternoon looking at really awesome Spanish art...Picasso... "Every child is

an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." and Goya

(google: "perro semihundido en la arena") being my two favorites... And also

the painting of "The Garden of Delights"...sometimes, art can totally rock my

socks off...the above paintings/artists managed to do just that.

Later that Saturday night (3 am, so really, quite early the next morning) in

our hostel, once I was in my pajamas and quite ready for some sweet sleep but

Tosh orders me "to change, clothes, we are going out." So I got to experience

some of the nightlife of Madrid, it was the most fun I've ever had dancing in

a club setting before...we danced until about 6 in the

morning...weee...apparently i've "freakin learned how to dance" (this coming

from Tosh who is one of the best dancers I know, so I am taking it as a real

compliment)...so watch out DUKE senior year! Then we went and ate churros

with chocolate, yum, finally falling asleep at about 7 in the morning.

Sunday was Tosh's birthday! After eating some really weird things (like horse

calluses or the fat off the neck of a sheep, I'm still not sure which) his

host mom's paella was like heaven. In fact, it is the best paella I've ever

eaten. Oh so good. So, so good. A nice topper to quite the entertaining

weekend. But after a wonderful lunch, I had to head back to the airport and

return to Venice...where I ended up staying an extra day and a half, visiting

with Ian and Daidree (Duke buddies) and watching my favorite movie: Life is

Beautiful.

Spain recap: Spain---> totally cool (especially when you meet cool people and

get to hang out with some of your best buds who know Spanish) but Italy is

still cooler!

tanti auguri,

amy

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I am Indiana Jones!

Question:

How many people do you know can say they've been to Chiusi, Orvieto,

Tarquinia, Cerveteri, and Volterra?

Answer:

At least one~ and you are reading an email from her! And boy, do I like the

idea of being able to casually say in conversation, "oh yea, Tarquinia, I've

been there."

I went on a two day fieldtrip last weekend and a one day fieldtrip yesterday

with my Etruscans class. It wasn't a waste of NYU funds though, I did learn

that even though the Romans are given credit for having invented the keystone

arch, it was actually an Etruscan invention. Consider that your school lesson

for the day and spread the word!

Chiusi: Musuems and tombs in a cute medieval town. It was all done on Friday

morning, I wasn't necessarily very awake yet.

Orvieto: Two more museumes (old stuff in museums doesn't really do it for me,

but this was pretty cool stuff) and then a Necropolis in the valley below the

city. This was such a nice necropolis, once you get past the fact that there

are a lot of dead people there, it was sooo peaceful. And you didn't here any

cars or people, just nature; the chirping of birds and the

breeze...aahhh...sigh...the wonderfulness that was the noises of nature! Our

professor, who is actually the coolest professor ever, no kidding, took us

then to the site of the ruins of an ancient Etruscan temple. But it was

closed and fenced off. Since I live with the "fences are meant to be climbed"

motto, I asked if it was ok if we just climbed over. He said, "the sign says

you are not supposed to, I am not telling you you can't."

Translation: Go for it! So that is what I did and the rest of the class

followed, so we explored ancient Etruscan ruins in the dark, weee!

Orvieto also gets the designation of being the town with the best white wine

and Risotto ever...dinner there really seemed like heaven was shining down on

us and angels should be singing...I'll never be able to eat Risotto that good

again, wow.

Tarquinia: You guessed it, a musuem and some tomb sites. The tombs there

were really cool though, they were elaboratly carved house-like tombs down

below the ground, with paintings of party scenes decorating the walls. Like a

festa house for the dead, weee!

Cerveteri: Wins the award for coolest tombs so far! 300 acres of huge mounds

and tombs, a city dedicated to the dead that has pretty much remained

untouched since 80 BC. So I spent the afternoon crawling around, getting

battered and bruised and muddy, looking at ancient tombs with flashlights. It

was a hoot and I felt just like Indiana Jones (without happening upon some

devil worshippers who want to rip out my heart). I was quite the site myself

when it came time to get back on the bus and go home, being covered in dirt,

while everyone else looked relatively clean. But whatever, I only live once

and I wanted some exploration...I was just repping it for women explorers

everywhere!

Volterra: Went there yesterday. It wins the "I could take a picture of

everything" town award...so amazingly cute and old and wow... And of course,

we went to a musuem and some tombs and all that jazz.

Even though I've got less than a month left in Italy, I still have lots to

do: Milan, Sicily, a concert in Rome, etc...oh yea, and work too (4 exams, 2

7-10 page papers, and a final project, no problem).

Hollar for a tollar!

a dopo,

amy

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Porn star pizza?

Ciao Homeslices!

This past weekend I visited a brooding catastrophe, the sight of an ancient

catastrophe and the Eurotrash Capital of the World! Yea all expenses paid

school fieldtrips!

Brooding catastrophe: Friday, I hiked up Mt. Vesuvius. It was cold and

drizzly the whole way, but it cleared up right as we got to the top, so we

could see inside the Volcano and all the way to the water several miles away.

Mt. Vesuvius, though, is a catastrophe waiting to happen...It normally erupts

on 2000 yr and 400 yr cycles; the last 2000 yr eruption was in 79 AD and the

last 400 yr eruption was in 1649...you do the math. And there are 700,000

people in the surrounding area that would need to be evacuated before the

eruption b/c they would be killed by pyroclastic flows within 5 minutes once

the major eruption started...(see, I learned something on this fieldtrip).

After all that hiking, we were starving. We went to a family owned trattoria

(like a restaurant only cheaper) that was literally 10 feet away from the

ocean, Trattoria di Emilia in Sorento. House wine was free, but you had to

pay for water. I ordered gnocchi (potato dumplings, yea buddy!) and local

mixed fried fish. Yea, local WHOLE mixed fried fish: head, eyes, fins, tail

and all...once you got past the fact that your food was still looking at you,

it was really good. And then these accordian players started playing music

and there was a group of loud Italians celebrating a birthday, and with free

wine...well, it was fun.

Next, I walked around Sorento, a little town known for its lemons, and by the

beach (not alone, with Erin, Philip and Justin- NYUers, safety first is my

motto)...it was lovely at night, very quiet, and peaceful. A perfect ending

to the perfect italian day.

Ancient Catastrophe: Saturday, we went to Pompei. Erin and I got a free tour

from this Italian banker who just started talking to us and who was an

archeologist-nut on the weekends, so we learned a lot about Pompei and got to

practice our Italian. Sweet. But you can only take so many hours of old

ruins...so we decided to leave Pompei early in search of the infamous pizza

found only in the Eurotrash Capital of the World: Napoli.

Napoli was the most poor, trashy city I have ever been in. But it had the

best street Eurotrash stuff I've ever seen; huge sunglasses, fake gucci bags,

and prada shoes sold at virtually every corner we came upon. But it was

totally worth the hour and a half we spent walking around, enduring the

ridiculous cat-calls from the Eurotrash-tastic Italian dudes, looking for the

perfect pizzeria...We found a really ghetto, really cheap pizzeria in what was

probably the poorest section of town...but that pizza, oh wow.

It was only pizza crust, tomatoes, and mozarella: Margherita it is called,

but somehow, it was amazing. I can only think of this vulgar, though quite

accurate comparison.

Everyone reading this has eaten regular pizza, and most of you probably

think you've eaten really good pizza too. All that pizza, that is like having

regular sex, with your regular average joe. NAPOLI PIZZA, is like the PORN

STAR of PIZZA, it is just not even on a comparable level with all other

pizza. I have no idea why it was so much better, but it was, and I will never

look at pizza the same again. (And relatives and friends, esp. Mom, don't

worry, this was only an imaginary comparison, I haven't had sex with a regular

person or a porn star, remain calm). It was a huge pizza (the size of a large

pizza hut pizza) it was three Euros...And, it was soooo good, I ate the whole

thing and considered getting a second one.

Then we headed home, four hours on a train back to florence. I ran a half-

marathon on Sunday, bad idea- b/c I didn't really do any real training for

it. And now, I am back to school and the lot. Life is good- it would be

better if I got some mail though...so scrivi presto!!!

A dopo,

amy

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Take a work pause, enjoy this email breather and learn...

HOW TO *NOT* PICK-UP AMY HERRON (ITALIAN STYLE):

1. "Ciao Bella!" How unoriginal, lazy and cliche. If you can't at least

bother with the extra syllables in "principessa" don't even think about it. I

am not going to waste my time even talking to someone who can't at least put

an ounce of creative thought into their initial pick-up line. Plus, I'd way

rather be a "principessa" than a "bella"---> hello! Being a princess would

totally rock (yes, so Prince William, there is an open invitation here).

2. Asking "Are you American?" BEFORE you ask me "What is your name?"

This is incredibly lame for several reasons:

a. You already know I am American. Come on, get real, I even know that you

know that I am an American.

b. To your disappointment I'm sure, just because I am American, does not make

me easy. I am not going to sleep with you because you are Italian. Not all

American women are easy, you want an easy one, go elsewhere. I am the

antithesis of "easy."

c. I plan on merely using you to help with my Italian language skills. You

won't, however, be using me to 'get some.' The tables are turned; take that

Italian boy(s).

3. In fact, talking to me in English just isn't going to cut it. Me- Not

interested in your english skills, I got English down pat. If I explain to

you, in Italian, that I want to learn/practice my Italian...it doesn't work

for you to continue talking to me in English. Forget it, play the game--> wow

me with your Italian language skills, not your lame bits of english knowledge.

4. Talking to me in Italian but then casually bring up that you are

a "massaggiatrice."* Saying, when I ask what that means, that "it is

difficult to explain, let me show you" and then attempting to give me a

massage is not going to fly. I've got a small list of people I find

acceptable massage-givers, you Italian dude I just met, are not one of them.

You've invaded my bubble, get out of my bubble. This is sketchy not suave.

5. After talking to me for less than an hour (in Italian at least), announcing

that I am "the girl of your dreams." Followed by "Can I kiss you and then

make passionate love to you?"...what?!?

-Perhaps the first statement was kinda flattering (except obviously merely a

ridiculous line you probably use on all american girls. Until you can spell my

first name correctly you really can't know if I am that girl; cough---'amy'

not 'emi or emy').

-The second half is just down right, YIKES!

6. Owning a vespa. Why is it that the guys who seem to own nice Vespas are of

the "scapone"* variety?

7. Offering to cook me dinner. Oh wait, that one might actually work. Except

if you follow up this invite with "do you like wine?" me: "no." "Really?

Well, ok, that is a shame. What about orange juice?" Um...who drinks orange

juice for dinner? No one, the host family says, that is not normal anywhere in

Italy. Can anyone please say date rape? I think I'll pass.

8. Throwing rocks at me from your apartment window while I am jogging in the

morning. Even after you've pegged me in the shoulder and I pause to figure

out what that was...I am not going to take your invite to come on up to your

apartment. Get real. Throw your rocks in a pond.

9. Honking or whistling of any type. This merely reminds me of fat-beer-

drinking-redneck-construction-workers. You are doomed before you even start

if you do anything that reminds me of fat-beer-drinking-redneck-construction-

workers.

10. And the list goes on and on, you get the idea.

~Would you like the HOW TO *SUCCESSFULLY* PICK-UP AMY HERRON guide? Email

this guy: crh18@duke.edu He has done a ridiculous-"hot damn"-bang-up-job so

far. :)

Ya'll have little time to redeem yourselves for the poor communication this

semester...but it can be done! Let me know how life is in your neck of the

woods!

yours truly,

(the girl who will return to the world of biscuits and tea on the 17th)

-amy

Vocab Review:

*(massaggiatrice = masseuse)

* scapone = Italian slang for a guy who thinks he is too cool for his

britches. In thinking this, his britches become automatically too cool for

him, minus 50 cool points. Become familiar with this word, I plan to bring it

back to HKY and DUKE.

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