The Italian Mobleys

As far away as Italy is, it was nice to know I had family close by.  When I left for my trip I got a pep talk from my brother full of advice as well as good tips about Italy. Lane is notorious for his pep talks and this one did not disappoint.

Side Note: When I was in 7th grade he gave me a talking to when I asked to skip a Bruin football game for a birthday party.  He pulled me aside and said, "Look Maddi, we are Mobleys, we don't bleed red, we bleed blue and gold, skippin the game isn't an option, it's in your blood." What can I say, Bruin Born, Bruin Bred.

For those that don't know, Lane has been stationed in Vicenza, Italy for about 2 years now.  He lives there with his wife, Aarika and their puppy Juno. Vicenza is about 2 hours north of Florence by train so I knew I definitely wanted to make a trip to go see them! Vicenza is also about 30 min to the west of Venice which was super convienient for the visit.

This is Aarika, Lane, and my baby niece in the belly!

Everything happens at the right time for a reason. Sounds super cliche but it is true! LdM (The school I attended in Florence) hosted a weekend in Venice the weekend of a big festival there called the Festival of the Redeemer. Well, instead of going on this trip, I decided to head to Vicenza with two of my friends from the program. The plan was to hang with Lane and Aarika and then head to Venice to see the festival (The festival had fireworks which was my main incentive since I missed the 4th.) It was the perfect timing also because I was at the halfway point of my trip and a little family time always keeps you going. 

I also felt the need to display my new cooking skills so I offered to cook dinner for everyone when we got there.  I got a little ambitious and wanted to make the Spaghetti with Clams that I learned in class, only problem was transporting clams for 2 hours on a train in a country that doesn't believe in coolers or ice. Well I did all the shopping in the mercato in Florence for this meal and ended up using the friendships I made to have the Fish man make me a cooler out of bags! It was impressive and it worked perfectly, the only downside was that I smelled like clams everywhere I went. 

Rae, Chez and I jumped on a train Friday afternoon and headed to Vicenza.  I think these two were more excited than me because there were so eager to see how people live outside the city of Florence.   The train was super easy and they met us at the train station. It was so nice to be so far away from home but to feel like I was in a home again.  It's a weird feeling that I don't know if I will be good at explaining, but just the feeling of safety, comfort and familiarity that lacks in a foreign country.  I was very lucky to have these two so close. 

We got there, took Juno for a walk and then cooked dinner. To my surprise, it went perfectly and my clams even stayed alive to make the journey! Lane is a picky eater so he didn't eat the deliciousness, but the rest of us were able to enjoy!

Juno ready for her walk! 

After dinner we got to explore Vicenza with some of Lane's buddies (makes sense why they all hung out, there were all huge goobers like Lane.) It was fun to be able to hang out with my brother, it had been such a long time where it was just us and friends and I am excited to get him back to the US!

Cheesin' hard. 

On Saturday we woke up to the man army downstairs cooking breakfast which was an excellent surprise. Even though they made a mess, the boys know how to cook a great American breakfast (Breakfast to the Italians is a croissant and an espresso and I needed my bacon.) We were able to explore the base and even get a workout in in their gym.  The one thing you need to know about any military gym is that EVERYONE is ripped and in shape and they are kicking their own butts during the work out, a little different than 24 hour fitness. After a good morning on base, we headed home and got ready for Venice. 

Since it was our first time there, we decided to head in during the early afternoon so we could walk around a little.  The fireworks weren't starting until 11:30 so it gave us plenty of time to explore.  

On the train, we met some break dancers and Rae even shared a mutual friend with them! (Small World) 

They explained how much fun the festival is and they made the train ride go by very quickly.

We explored the beauty of Venice right during sunset and it made for excellent pictures.  Since Chez and Rae are both a part of the Art Department at their film school, they were oogling over the doors, windows and buildings that they wanted to recreate. I followed behind and nodded my head and attempted to appreciate they city like they saw it. 

The beauty that is Venice at sunset

Due to this festival, everyone was celebrating with big dinners outside along the water (the water is everywhere you turn fyi), the restaurants were expensive and the Island was PACKED. We paid way too much for an average dinner but that is what happens during events.  Lane's buddies from the night before were meeting us for the fireworks and thank goodness we had Italian phones and they have good navigation skills because they were able to find us in the sea of people as we waited for the fireworks.  

The Firework show was spectacular and reminded me of my junior year of high school when I watched the Macy's 4th of July firework show overthe Hudson River.  There is just something about fireworks that makes me happy!

We ended the night with something that everyone must do in Venice, get lost and explore.  We walked around for a good hour before we finally found our way to the train station. Everything was closed as we walked around because the entire island was enjoying the festival on their boats.

We slept in the next day and then headed home.  I was so happy to get a glimpse into the life that my brother has over here, he is kicking butt in the army and it was amazing to finally meet and cuddle with Juno! 

Excuse the sloppy formatting of the blog and pictures, because I procrastinated for so long, I am working with my iPad and it is not the same. I will fix it when I am home and have my computer. 

Spontaneity

Spontaneity has been the keyword to my trip in Europe.

I came here with nothing planned. The things I knew: 

1. My parents were coming July 29th-Aug 9th

2. My program ended on Aug 2nd

3. I needed to be in London by Aug 14th to meet Lindsay, one of my best friends from Tustin, for a music festival

4. I leave to head home on Aug 20th from London

I had some unanswered questions heading into Florence. Was I going to stay in Florence all month? Who was I going to travel with? How was I going to kill 6 days after my parents left until my next location? 

The Crew in Barcelona's IceBar

Well, if you've been following the blog at all, you know I have barely sat still in Florence. With my travel buddies Sam, Sarah, Alex and Steve (give or take a couple different people at each local) we explored all over Italy and even made it to Barcelona during our weekends. Our Barcelona trip was planned on a Wednesday and we left the next day for our flight. When we got on the plane we had no where to stay... talk about a spontaneous trip! We ended up figuring it out and it all worked out amazingly! 

My parents arrived the day after we got back from Barcelona, also with no plans. We knew we had to stay in Florence for a week so I could finish classes and we needed to spend some family time with Lane and Aarika. We explored Florence for the week, doing all the tourist things I skipped for the month I was there. We then decided to road trip to San Gimignano to Wine Taste, Siena, Modena and then headed to Lane's house in Vicenza. (A whole post will be dedicated to the trips with the parentals)

From Modena, we decided to meet Lane, Aarika and their puppy Juno at Lake Garda because it was so hot outside (by hot I mean 100 degrees every day with at least 50% humidity, this California girl was not ready for that.) From then on it was day trips of our choice. At 10pm on Monday night we decided we wanted to drive somewhere for Tuesday and Wednesday. We basically looked at anything that was a couple hour radius from Vicenza and landed on Innsbruck, Austria. 

Historical Note: Innsbruck is located in the mountains in Austria right past the border of Italy. It is a tiny city that hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics.  It's main tourist attraction is the Golden Roof and it houses the highest elevation Zoo in the world. 

The reason I'm placing such an emphasis on this topic of spontaneity is because it is so unlike my parents. They are very good at planning vacations, but they do it all in advance. The fact that we packed up and headed  to Austria was so spontaneous and fun! 

My next spontaneous choice was choosing how I was going to kill the 6 days until I needed to be in London. My friend Matt, from my program, told me he was going to be in Prague from the 12th-15th of August which was almost perfect.  I ended up finding out that my roommate from this past year Dana would also be in Prague starting the 10th, so to Prague I was going! 

Matt and I in Cinque Terre

I booked my ticket and then found out that one of my teammates in high school Cara, was playing on the Denmark national team while I was here in Europe.  I texted her one day and said, hey meet me in Prague and she booked her ticket that night. Thanks for being spontaneous Cara! I am so excited to see Cara, Dana, and see Matt again all in Prague! All of my trips have just come together, and I am so excited to see how this one turns out.

I really think the spontaneity has added to my experience in Europe.  Never again will I have this freedom to do as I wish, when I please.  I am free to travel, live and learn with each step and each person I meet along the way.  I really think traveling alone to Florence has allowed me this amazing opportunity and I have met some incredible people along the way. 

I promise I will keep updating.  Tim has been on my case about my blog, so if only for Tim, I will get my act together. I am with my brother for the next two days, my parents left today, and I leave for Prague on Sunday so there is time to write. 

Miss you all! 

The Mobile Blog

I am so excited to announce that I just got the Blogger App for my phone! This now means that the posts (should be) more timely and shorter. Yes, I should have thought about this sooner but I love doing it on my computer so I didn't really mind. I am starting to get so behind on posts that I wanted to keep them more current. I also think this blog has a really relaxed feel so mobile posts would add to this nicely. 

I just got back from an incredible weekend in Barcelona and I can't wait to share it with you all! 

We are entering our last week of classes and things are very bittersweet. My journey isn't ending here but most of my friends head home Friday and I will be sad to see them go. 

The parentals arrive tonight and I could not be more excited to share this with them.

I actually have school work so time to write a couple papers to wrap up the course. More to come soon! 

The City Frozen in Time

History Lesson: Pompeii is a city near the south of Italy that was buried under 4-6m of ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79A.D. It was destroyed approx. 160 years after it was founded. It was only discovered in 1559 that there was a city buried and then 150 years later more of it was uncovered. 2/5ths of the site are still not uncovered and it happened just over a thousand years ago. It is one of the top tourist attractions in Italy and brings in over 2.5 million visitors a year.

I was one of those people on the Sunday of my Amalfi Trip.  As much fun as I had, we had to have some history shoved in there! So Sunday morning, we hoped on a bus, and drove about 40 minutes toward Florence to this tiny town of Pompeii.

Once we arrived, we immediately began our guided tour of the ruins.  Our tour guide was this little old man full of information and might have even been around when the Volcano erupted (just kidding but he was pretty old.) Even though he was old, he was so funny and gave us some awesome information and helped us see the city as it was before the eruption.

A man trying to cover his face 

He took us around and we saw homes, the market, and even a brothel. There were a lot of brothels in the city of Pompeii. Some people, mostly slaves were caught in the town when the area was covered and there are casts of those people because when they were uncovered, they remained the way they were when they died.  They cast the bodies and they are now on display. 

It was really weird to me to be walking the streets just as these people had.  The city structures are still in tact and you get a real glimpse into ancient times.  I live in the a city that is full of history but it has adapted as time has gone on, Pompeii has remained the exact same.  It is literally the city frozen in time.

A Bakery Oven

Even though I was exhausted from the weekend, I was so happy I got this experience.  I love seeing the history of how things once were but most of the time you are not enlightened to actually seeing it as it was.

After the hour and a half tour, we went to Pompeii Pizza in the new town of Pompeii and it was delicious! Go if you get a chance. We hung out with the Bus2Alps group there and then boarded the bus to head home. What an incredible way to end our trip. The only sucky thing the whole day was the Trojans that were walking around.  I know it was in the Roman empire but no one likes a trojan.

Ew! The Trojans of Pompeii

The drive only took us 5 and a half hours to get back because we left from Pompeii.  I slept the entire way back because my sickness was still looming.

I was so happy I signed up for this trip. I had an incredible weekend with my friends. Everything was planned for my enjoyment and it was one of the best weekends I have had in Italy, if you get a chance GO.

Maddi and the Art School Kids

So I have talked a lot about my friends here and there in previous posts but these people around me are shaping my journey in a way I could have never imagined.

I came into this program with not only no previous experience in Italy but also no knowledge with film and event art school for that matter.  You may wonder why that matters, well let me tell you. Almost everyone that I hang out with every single day here in Florence is here to make a movie for their film program.

I had dinner this week with two of the guys, Tim and Matt, and we were talking about Football and I was getting a kick out of the fact that they didn't follow or know much about it. I only laugh because this is such a huge part of my life at home.  I am surrounded by athletes on a daily basis and everyone is very into sports.  To meet people with other hobbies and passions is so interesting and a way for me to learn a lot!

Mirror pictures with Tim while Cooking Dinner

I know this sounds very stereotypical and high school group like, but by hanging out with people that share a passion that is art, is helping me to see the world in a different way. They appreciate the city in a way I probably would never have seen it.  I haven't placed art as a high importance in my life or education but I am in the Renaissance city so I better start opening my eyes before I miss it all. Culture is passed up sometimes in LA in the fast paced culture of it all.

Sports has been the center of my life for as long as I can remember.  I can explain to you the game of softball, football, basketball etc. in great depth but give me a video camera and I know nothing more than pointing and shooting. Not only am I learning about food, a new culture, but also the amount of work a movie takes to make.

Well, I am doing my best to learn everything I can from all of these people I am around each day. I joke with terms like raw or magic hour but in all seriousness, it is giving me a new appreciation for the importance of light, the pristine nature of these buildings and the silent interactions between people speaking different languages.  None of that can be seen if you have an ipod in your ears, head down, and speed walking to your destination. They have taught me to take pride in each shot I take and to see the magic everywhere around us.  Everyone has a different eye and to it is important to appreciate everyone's talents.

Capturing magic hour in Venice

These people have truly become my family and I am so thankful to have met them even if they won't let me star in their movie (Something about not looking like a little Italian boy.) But in all seriousness, each person brings a different part to the group and it would not be the same without each and every one of them. Whether they are a cinematographer, audio person, set designer or director, they all amaze me with their skill and talent (and make me super jealous of it all.)

Tim, Steve, Matt, Alex, CJ and I in front of the Duomo

The Crew at dinner 

I also now have a million places to stay in Chicago so at least I know where my next trip is and I have a million pictures of me all around Europe thanks to these clowns.  I should probably be paying them for all the work I ask them to do for me. I am hoping I leave this beautiful place with a better understanding of the picture perfect world around me in more ways than just what I see with my eyes. I cannot thank these people enough for enriching my eyes and sharing some of their craft with me.  If you guys ever want to learn how to play softball, let me know!

Adventure Day: Positano Edition

After celebrating Anthony's 21st birthday, Saturday got off to a slow start for our crew including Steve almost missing the bus. We took a private bus to Positano but when we got there, we had to stop at the top and walk down because the amount of cars, in this miniature town, is very regulated.

The view from the top

We weaved through the hill town for about 15 minutes until we reached the bottom.  The actual town of Positano is very quaint with specialty shops all around.  Some pathways are only two people wide!

The Bus2Alps group was split in to two due to where we were staying so that everyone wasn't cliff jumping or cave swimming all at the same time. We were in the first group so we basically got settled on the beach, took a quick dip in the water and then hopped on a boat for our adventure of the day. 

The view from the boat of this town was just breathtaking. I attempted to capture it but even the picture doesn't do it justice.

Normally, I am a huge wuss when it comes to heights but I kept repeating the phrase, "When in Rome... or elsewhere in Italy" so I hopped off the boat and into the water toward the cliff. The cliff was not too big, they said it was about 25ft high.  I was a little disappointed but that is coming from someone safe on the ground.

Mid Jump

We jumped a couple times off different points and then went a little farther down the coast to go cave swimming.  Alex had a GoPro on the whole day and made this awesome video of our day. Check it out!

Both of these events make the day so unique and made for some awesome pictures (I am a sucker for good pictures.)

After this adventurous morning, we were STARVING.  Little did I know I was about to have the best Panini I have ever had in my whole life.  I am not exaggerating because I still dream about it to this day.    I have been on a panini hunt in Florence (which I will dedicate a whole blog to later) but I have yet to find one as good.  If you ever find yourself in Positano, treat your taste buds to Vini e Panini. No joke, I would fly back there just for this sandwich.

Focaccia Panini with Proscuitto, Tomato, Mozzarella, Pesto, Basil and Artichoke... YUM

We ate our sandwiches and hung out on the beach for the rest of the day. It was extremely relaxing.  I was getting sick the day we were here so I tried to sleep on the beach but ended up sitting in the water all day feeling kind of sucky (I seriously pulled it together for this picture.) 

Hanging out with Alex and Steve on the beach

At around 4 we headed back to Sorrento.  The night was for us to decide so instead of going with the whole group we thought we would go out on our own.  A huge benefit of going with Bus2Alps to dinner is the discount they get for bringing such a big group. Sorrento is not a cheep place and we figured that out once we went out alone. I had one of the most memorable nights that night.  Our entire group ended up hanging out for hours on a pier in Sorrento just telling stories and cracking jokes overlooking the water and checking out Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. Our group had grown from 5 to adding some of Sam and Sarah's friends from Kansas.  They were so cool and fit in perfectly.  It was a great way to just live in the moment and I really appreciated that night now that I can look back. It will be one of the ones I cherish the most because we really got to know each other. 

We headed to bed as soon as we got back because we had Pompeii in the morning!

One last view of the beauty of Positano 

Update Time!

Hi Everyone!

I am just going to do a quick little blurb update to keep you informed until I post my big ones of the weekend trips, cooking class and such.

I just booked my ticket for this weekend to go to Barcelona with the crew. I am beyond excited to explore Espana and there will definitely be a major report when I am home.

Cooking class is going great. I am falling more and more in love with the cuisine each day.  I need to update you all on last week's recipes.

Sneak Peak of Week 2

My smart and artsy friends are starting to film their movie this week which means I am about to sneak my way on set and into the background so watch out for my rise as a star ;)

I am so excited for my parents to get here. They come in about a week and I cannot wait to show them around.

I am in the process of writing a blog for the Bus2Alps blog. Basically a condensed version of the three I  have written on the Amalfi Coast so I will post the link once it is live.  I am so excited for this opportunity to get my voice out there!

I had a great weekend visiting Lane and Aarika, exploring Vicenza and Venice and meeting baby Mobley as well as Juno. Cannot wait to head back up there at the end of my trip and get some more family time.

Juno Loving

Hope all is well in the States.  The Royal Baby has taken over everyones minds and I am not even in GB! Can't wait to see how it is when I am in London in a couple of weeks.

Ciao!