I can’t promise that there are super fun stories for this blog, but it is one hella adventure! I know I left off with severed heads and mail, which by the way…where are my letters? Just kidding. Kind of.
I’d love to say that’s it for the dead bodies and preservation of saints BUT it’s not. Not even close. Two Saturdays, we went to Cortona, which was quite a small, cut quaint, despite the TWO medieval bodies. TWO PEOPLE. Once again, SKINS AND BONES AND OLD. I can claim that she is Saint Margherita. She had really small feet. But let’s talk about the second body. THE SECOND SKELETON I MEAN. No, this was not a Halloween prop. This was a real life skeleton from that time and age, not anyone special. Just some cool cat who was able to stay skull and bones forever in a church in Cortona, Italy. And I’m probably not done seeing dead bodies yet, so don’t be surprised if Mother Susan makes another appearance sometime soon.
So now time to get to the good stuff. WINE. Well, my wine labeling project. As a part of my studio project, after the handmade journal I crafted, we get to create our own wine label. THIS IS THE PROJECT OF MY DREAMS. So *insert me pushing my hair back and rolling up my sleeves* here’s my pitch. My winery is called BIG TRUNK wine. I think there is more information and stuff, but I’m not going to make you yawn or go to sleep while you read this because I know most of y’all are in school or just waking up by the time you read this post. SO. Big trunk. This wine label is modeled after the first relief print I did here in Italy, and has a cute elephant butt on the cover as it sneakily smiles with its trunk curled upward. Don’t worry, there’s a small screenshot in the gallery. Just finish this post and enjoy the pictures.
So keep on scrolling
And scrolling.
In the time you scrolled, I MADE IT TO ROME. ROMA. THE ETERNAL CITY OF LOVE AND SELFIES. Patent pending. Well, the first day, we walked around different plazas and squares. We saw the Pantheon, fountains and different Baroque statues, where we learned about some of the history of Rome, and blah, blah, blah. I was just looking for Paolo, so I could become an Italian pop star and really fulfill my Lizzie McGuire study abroad experience. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Do you want to know why? THE TREVI FOUNTAIN WAS CLOSED. CLOSED. Water gone and scaffolding. Don’t worry it’ll be finished in…Fall of 2015 or was it 2018? I’ve had some bad days, but I was so disappointed. Now I’ll never be able to toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain and I’ll never be able to return to Rome and I’ll never find Paolo. I’m so over it. Not really. On the bright side, I hung out with the pope the next day. Well, it was us and maybe a few thousand other people, but that’s besides the point. I went to the general audience held every Wednesday, where he blessed people and kissed babies heads while riding the cute little Italian golf carts. Even though it rained, it was still an amazing experience. Afterwards, I bought lunch and made my way to my GLADIATOR TRAINING. And by gladiator training, I mean I walked around the coliseum and learned the history of what actually happened during the Imperial Age of Rome. I was a little disappointed in the lack of actual gladiators, but I guess that’s past there times. But it really was an amazing experience walking around the amazing piece of architecture that has stayed around for years in such great condition, except for the DANG SCAFFOLDING on the side. I came to Italy for cheesy tourist pictures and exciting sights, not disappointing eyesores and scaffolding. Besides that fact, the coliseum was cool. And then we got to ROAM around the ROMAN Forum (HA. You see what I did there? No. Oh. Ok.). I got to see outside of Augustus’ palace and his temple and such seeing how EVERYTHING HERE IS COVERED IN SCAFFOLDING. But the other cool parts there where the ruins and old aqueducts and numerous stories that I have forgotten by now. Our tour guide for these adventures was…interesting. I’m just going to leave it at that. BUT THE NEXT DAY I GOT TO SEE THE SISTINE CHAPEL. We waited in line for too long, and then made our way through the Vatican, seeing Raphael and his student’s work along different museums and walked around the way to the Sistine Chapel, where the beauty of Michelangelo’s work really took my breath away. For real. My breathing stopped. All the walls are covered in beautiful, Biblical scenes and even some small passive aggressive behavior towards Michelangelo’s haters. True story. A little dazed and star struck, we walked around the Saint Peter’s Basilica, which the Sistine chapel cannot compare. If there were a word for feeling superior to architecture, faith, beauty and art around you, then I would insert that word here. Nothing can compare to how majestic and grand St. Peter’s stands.
So as that ends my Roman adventure, I didn’t do much to just say ‘When in Rome.’ Except for that shirt I bought. Or the three and half glasses of wine I had. Or the sketchy kebab place I ate at. WHEN IN ROME. AM I RIGHT?
Sadly, I left, but I got to start an absolutely amazing adventure that has been my favorite part of this entire trip. MY FAVORITE. First, I sang Bastille’s Pompeii all the way to Pompeii, and then walked around the ruins of the ancient excavated city. I even saw the dormant Mount Vesuvius. If it helps anything, I debated hiking up it…but obviously I didn’t. The old city of Pompeii took an entire day in itself. I was in a group of about ten other people, and together we explored the old frescos, mystery house and brothel. Yeah, that’s right. They had some weird stuff happenin’ in Pompeii back in the day. That’s something they don’t teach ya in history class. Maybe that’s a good thing. Anyways, we stayed in Sorrento, where I stayed in a tent. Yes. I, Sadie Long, stayed in a tent. My princess ways are quickly deteriorating; however, it was a tent with a cot, so I guess it’s a step up right? Well, if the tent shocked you, you are going to fall of your chair over the adventures of my next day. I can say it was THE BEST DAY EVER. REALLY. THE BEST DAY EVER. Anyways, my group of ten woke up and went to the port at Sorrento and found a boat company, who could fit fourteen people on a boat to head to CAPRI FOR SOME CAPRI FUN. Sun and fun it was. On my grand adventure it was my ten people and four other great people from California who is studying in Castiglion Fiorentino with us. We crammed onto our small boat with our skipper named Marco, where I know he was thinking the entire time, these dang American’s and their loud mouths. Anyways, I can say I was absolutely terrified for most of the boat ride, especially when we hit this HUGE wave, and Marco faked frantically splashing water out of the boat, and all fourteen of us mimicked him. He laughed and turned on the switch for the drain. Very funny Marco. Very funny. Continuing on this incredibly beautiful journey to Capri, I couldn’t soak in the sun or the scenery enough. The water was so deep blue it was sapphire, just like a jewel. The best part is that we got to jump in and swim at different grottos in this beautiful water, where I could see my feet when I swam. It was like a giant pool, except super, super salty. The best part was jumping off the boat into the grottos to splish and splash. It was at the point that I realized that just because you have a pool in your backyard doesn’t make you a strong swimmer. I AM WEAK. VERY WEAK. I’ll be signing up for some swimming classes when I get back. Along with pizza on the island, the wind in my hair, and the salt on my skin, this day could not and will not top anything I’ve done so far in this so called life. I just wanted to stay there forever. I think my heart and body melted when I saw the sunset across the Mediterranean Sea. I’ve never been so happy in life. I think I left my heart there.
It killed me leaving. Literally, mainly because our train from Naples to Rome was canceled then we missed the one from Rome to our town, so a normal six-hour trip took ALL DAY. The best part was the eight o clock train that took us home; I sat next to this family from Delaware. I think he heard my friend Chel and I talking about drawing him to improve our people drawing skills. So, he sat in front of us and said ‘Draw me like one of your French girls.’ Thank you McKinsey from Delaware for letting me draw you and not getting creeped out. Or maybe you were, but I’ll just stay on my own mindset.
Well, that’s all folks. My grand adventures come to an end.
Currently, I am starving because the lunches here are harder and harder to eat, discovering that I for real don’t like pork or mushrooms, which luckily for me is a fan favorite here. I guess I’ll stick to stashing Pringles and unripe fruit in my room to secretly feed myself.
I’m sorry for these novels, you have to read for these blog posts. I’ll try to keep it more weekly/daily or whatever really pleases your needs. Just let me know in the comments below. I’m never going ten days without writing again. Your feedback is really important to the staff and users of this website. I mean blog.
With all the nonsense and love, I miss you guys in America. Save my seat at thanksgiving. I’ll just be hand washing my clothes until then.
Sincerely yours,
Sadie
I’d love to say that’s it for the dead bodies and preservation of saints BUT it’s not. Not even close. Two Saturdays, we went to Cortona, which was quite a small, cut quaint, despite the TWO medieval bodies. TWO PEOPLE. Once again, SKINS AND BONES AND OLD. I can claim that she is Saint Margherita. She had really small feet. But let’s talk about the second body. THE SECOND SKELETON I MEAN. No, this was not a Halloween prop. This was a real life skeleton from that time and age, not anyone special. Just some cool cat who was able to stay skull and bones forever in a church in Cortona, Italy. And I’m probably not done seeing dead bodies yet, so don’t be surprised if Mother Susan makes another appearance sometime soon.
So now time to get to the good stuff. WINE. Well, my wine labeling project. As a part of my studio project, after the handmade journal I crafted, we get to create our own wine label. THIS IS THE PROJECT OF MY DREAMS. So *insert me pushing my hair back and rolling up my sleeves* here’s my pitch. My winery is called BIG TRUNK wine. I think there is more information and stuff, but I’m not going to make you yawn or go to sleep while you read this because I know most of y’all are in school or just waking up by the time you read this post. SO. Big trunk. This wine label is modeled after the first relief print I did here in Italy, and has a cute elephant butt on the cover as it sneakily smiles with its trunk curled upward. Don’t worry, there’s a small screenshot in the gallery. Just finish this post and enjoy the pictures.
So keep on scrolling
And scrolling.
In the time you scrolled, I MADE IT TO ROME. ROMA. THE ETERNAL CITY OF LOVE AND SELFIES. Patent pending. Well, the first day, we walked around different plazas and squares. We saw the Pantheon, fountains and different Baroque statues, where we learned about some of the history of Rome, and blah, blah, blah. I was just looking for Paolo, so I could become an Italian pop star and really fulfill my Lizzie McGuire study abroad experience. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Do you want to know why? THE TREVI FOUNTAIN WAS CLOSED. CLOSED. Water gone and scaffolding. Don’t worry it’ll be finished in…Fall of 2015 or was it 2018? I’ve had some bad days, but I was so disappointed. Now I’ll never be able to toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain and I’ll never be able to return to Rome and I’ll never find Paolo. I’m so over it. Not really. On the bright side, I hung out with the pope the next day. Well, it was us and maybe a few thousand other people, but that’s besides the point. I went to the general audience held every Wednesday, where he blessed people and kissed babies heads while riding the cute little Italian golf carts. Even though it rained, it was still an amazing experience. Afterwards, I bought lunch and made my way to my GLADIATOR TRAINING. And by gladiator training, I mean I walked around the coliseum and learned the history of what actually happened during the Imperial Age of Rome. I was a little disappointed in the lack of actual gladiators, but I guess that’s past there times. But it really was an amazing experience walking around the amazing piece of architecture that has stayed around for years in such great condition, except for the DANG SCAFFOLDING on the side. I came to Italy for cheesy tourist pictures and exciting sights, not disappointing eyesores and scaffolding. Besides that fact, the coliseum was cool. And then we got to ROAM around the ROMAN Forum (HA. You see what I did there? No. Oh. Ok.). I got to see outside of Augustus’ palace and his temple and such seeing how EVERYTHING HERE IS COVERED IN SCAFFOLDING. But the other cool parts there where the ruins and old aqueducts and numerous stories that I have forgotten by now. Our tour guide for these adventures was…interesting. I’m just going to leave it at that. BUT THE NEXT DAY I GOT TO SEE THE SISTINE CHAPEL. We waited in line for too long, and then made our way through the Vatican, seeing Raphael and his student’s work along different museums and walked around the way to the Sistine Chapel, where the beauty of Michelangelo’s work really took my breath away. For real. My breathing stopped. All the walls are covered in beautiful, Biblical scenes and even some small passive aggressive behavior towards Michelangelo’s haters. True story. A little dazed and star struck, we walked around the Saint Peter’s Basilica, which the Sistine chapel cannot compare. If there were a word for feeling superior to architecture, faith, beauty and art around you, then I would insert that word here. Nothing can compare to how majestic and grand St. Peter’s stands.
So as that ends my Roman adventure, I didn’t do much to just say ‘When in Rome.’ Except for that shirt I bought. Or the three and half glasses of wine I had. Or the sketchy kebab place I ate at. WHEN IN ROME. AM I RIGHT?
Sadly, I left, but I got to start an absolutely amazing adventure that has been my favorite part of this entire trip. MY FAVORITE. First, I sang Bastille’s Pompeii all the way to Pompeii, and then walked around the ruins of the ancient excavated city. I even saw the dormant Mount Vesuvius. If it helps anything, I debated hiking up it…but obviously I didn’t. The old city of Pompeii took an entire day in itself. I was in a group of about ten other people, and together we explored the old frescos, mystery house and brothel. Yeah, that’s right. They had some weird stuff happenin’ in Pompeii back in the day. That’s something they don’t teach ya in history class. Maybe that’s a good thing. Anyways, we stayed in Sorrento, where I stayed in a tent. Yes. I, Sadie Long, stayed in a tent. My princess ways are quickly deteriorating; however, it was a tent with a cot, so I guess it’s a step up right? Well, if the tent shocked you, you are going to fall of your chair over the adventures of my next day. I can say it was THE BEST DAY EVER. REALLY. THE BEST DAY EVER. Anyways, my group of ten woke up and went to the port at Sorrento and found a boat company, who could fit fourteen people on a boat to head to CAPRI FOR SOME CAPRI FUN. Sun and fun it was. On my grand adventure it was my ten people and four other great people from California who is studying in Castiglion Fiorentino with us. We crammed onto our small boat with our skipper named Marco, where I know he was thinking the entire time, these dang American’s and their loud mouths. Anyways, I can say I was absolutely terrified for most of the boat ride, especially when we hit this HUGE wave, and Marco faked frantically splashing water out of the boat, and all fourteen of us mimicked him. He laughed and turned on the switch for the drain. Very funny Marco. Very funny. Continuing on this incredibly beautiful journey to Capri, I couldn’t soak in the sun or the scenery enough. The water was so deep blue it was sapphire, just like a jewel. The best part is that we got to jump in and swim at different grottos in this beautiful water, where I could see my feet when I swam. It was like a giant pool, except super, super salty. The best part was jumping off the boat into the grottos to splish and splash. It was at the point that I realized that just because you have a pool in your backyard doesn’t make you a strong swimmer. I AM WEAK. VERY WEAK. I’ll be signing up for some swimming classes when I get back. Along with pizza on the island, the wind in my hair, and the salt on my skin, this day could not and will not top anything I’ve done so far in this so called life. I just wanted to stay there forever. I think my heart and body melted when I saw the sunset across the Mediterranean Sea. I’ve never been so happy in life. I think I left my heart there.
It killed me leaving. Literally, mainly because our train from Naples to Rome was canceled then we missed the one from Rome to our town, so a normal six-hour trip took ALL DAY. The best part was the eight o clock train that took us home; I sat next to this family from Delaware. I think he heard my friend Chel and I talking about drawing him to improve our people drawing skills. So, he sat in front of us and said ‘Draw me like one of your French girls.’ Thank you McKinsey from Delaware for letting me draw you and not getting creeped out. Or maybe you were, but I’ll just stay on my own mindset.
Well, that’s all folks. My grand adventures come to an end.
Currently, I am starving because the lunches here are harder and harder to eat, discovering that I for real don’t like pork or mushrooms, which luckily for me is a fan favorite here. I guess I’ll stick to stashing Pringles and unripe fruit in my room to secretly feed myself.
I’m sorry for these novels, you have to read for these blog posts. I’ll try to keep it more weekly/daily or whatever really pleases your needs. Just let me know in the comments below. I’m never going ten days without writing again. Your feedback is really important to the staff and users of this website. I mean blog.
With all the nonsense and love, I miss you guys in America. Save my seat at thanksgiving. I’ll just be hand washing my clothes until then.
Sincerely yours,
Sadie