Bassano del Grappa

Bassano del Grappa is exactly what it sounds like. It's the city where they first started making grappa, which is also known as "poor man's vodka". The word grappa actually comes from the mountain that the city is named after..Grappa and hence came the name of the city and the alcohol. The city is interesting despite it's famous name. It was involved in WWII, and has a street name "Via delle Martieri" or the street of the martyrs. This is where 33 Italians were hung between 1945 and 1946 when they created a resistance group against the Nazis. This is also the city where Ernest Hemingway was and where he based his "Farewell to Arms," so it was cool when I was able to recall the book and actually put a picture to what he wrote about. I'd really like to visit it again when it snows, because there are mountains and a covered bridge over a pretty river and I want to see it snow covered.
The picture at the top is of the street dedicated to the 33 martyrs, the bottles are bottles of grappa, the the bottom picture is of the view of the city and its bridge.

Rimini. Itay

So me and my friend Jordan decided that instead of going with the rest of the students in our program on their trip to Bologna, we would go to Rimini. Rimini is basically the Myrtle Beach of Itay, to give you a mental picture... It's Europe's biggest resort beach, so people from all over Europe go to Rimini for the beach and the parties. We went during the day in late September so we missed the beach weather, but we also missed the tourists :-)
What we discovered there was so much better than a touristy place though. It's got some really cool history and we actually went to the city center and saw places like the Piazza of the Three Martyrs, who died there during WWII.
The architecture was beautiful and I'm really glad we went. We also went to one of the best places in Italy for a piadina (like a tortilla stuffed with mozarella and prosciutto). It's a really tiny, family owned, hole in the wall that's been there since the 1950's. We were only there for the day, but that's all you really need to see Rimini.
The pictures are of the city of Rimini in the distance and me in a really big camera..just to give you an idea of HOW geared this city is towards tourists.

8/28-9/4 First week back to Ferrara

So, my first week back in Ferrara was wonderful. I went to the CIEE office and picked up my bike that had been waiting for me since May. The I took it and explored the city again. Believe it or not Ferrara is way hotter and more humid than down in Puglia. Annndd noone in Ferrara believes in air conditioning. So, it was hot and humid, but there's always gelato.
The semester for my study abroad program started on Wednesday (sept. 2nd) as well. So, I got to meet all of the new students..a total of 12 new people haha
They all went on the tour of the city and did all of the orientation stuff I did last semester, so I literally only joined the group when food was involved. I'm pretty sure it's the food here that keeps me coming back to the country..I'll never get tired of it and I'll ever be able to say no to a plate of gnocci di pomodorro.
This picture is of the Buskers Festival that was in town for a week. It's a festival where people from all over the world come and do hobo things...For instance I watched a Spanish man ride on a unicyle and juggle fire..or another man do a one man show out of toilet paper, a bike, a hat, and a lighter...it was a good time.