Room to Think

Manarola, third of the Five Lands Another Friday is here, and I'm ready! Today's Florence Friday is a follow-up on the Amalfi Coast.  We're going to learn a little more about it's cousin to the north, Cinque Terre. Also, I have an embarrassing admission to make. The first picture in my Amalfi Coast Blog , is actually a picture of Manarola. >.< See how confusing this is??? Cinque Terre is probably the coastline I laid eyes on first in my google searches, as it is much closer to Florence than the Amalfi Coast is. This map is particularly helpful to me...what with my need to learn basic Italian geography before I head over there. >.< **also, Milan isn't on there, but from my hotdog pizza post, I know it's more north than Venice is! =) Like the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cinque Terre National Park), and it literally means "The Five Lands".  These five lands are the five villages along the co...

Cinque Terre! NOT the Amalfi Coast! Whoops! I've never posted here about the Amalfi Coast (Costiera Amalfitana), but it's one of my favorite places to post on my Italy Tumblr . I love the colors of this place...granted, this particular picture is edited to increase vibrance, but I'd love to take a picture like this for myself one day. The Amalfi Coast is in Southern Italy, actually at the Southern tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula. It's actually listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site . Most of their commerce is related to tourism, since there's only one road in and out of the area. Because they're listed on a coastal cliff there isn't much room for agriculture, unlike the rolling vineyards of Florence's Tuscany. However, they are known for their limoncello liqueur--because they can grow lemons, known as "sfusato amalfitano" in terraced gardens along the coast. More exciting than booze, though, I found out that the Amalfi people ...

As requested, I'm going to make an attempt at bringing Florence Friday back. I was running out of pictures and the energy to research more, so I just let myself fall out of it. Unfortunately, I lost a good chunk of you dear readers, and I want to bring you back too! In the last few weeks, I heard a story about a woman from Milan who was visiting the States. When she was asked what her favorite Italian food was, she kinda squirmed a little and said, "Well, I'm from Milan. We're right on the border. But I actually really like pizza." "Great!" we said. "What kind?" And here, she sort of blushed a little and said, "Well...being so close to the border of Switzerland and Austria and all...you're going to think this is weird, but, my favorite pizza has hot dogs on it." Yep. The exotic Milan woman likes HOT DOG PIZZA. I couldn't believe it. So, like any good internet fiend, I turned to my good friend GOOgle(images). ...

Today's Florence Friday   is a simple video I came across in my "research".  That's right people, I'm posting on time this time. That's not to say that I'm not WAY behind in my homework, or my job search, or episodes of my TV shows, or hanging out with all my friends, or redoing my resume for the 71st time.  I just can't seem to focus on anything right now.  I researched Search Engine Optimization last night for a workshop I'm teaching this morning, but I'm using the data this blog has generated so it's only fair that I give you all a post.  =) The video?  It's called "Venice in a Day",  Venizia en un giorno . (I wonder how capitalization is in Italy...do they capitalize all the words in a title?) And it's beautiful. Hope all your Fridays are sunny like today!

I suppose it's only fitting that today's Florence Friday be about The Italian Carnival, as it just ended on Tuesday. "The Carnival starts 58 days before Easter and ends on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday or Marte di Grasso, the day before Ash Wednesday." -Wikipedia It's been held (officially) in Venice every year since 1979.  The Italian government decided they needed to bring back Venitian history and culture, and Carnevale seemed like the best way to start. **So, Venice isn't Florence, but, it's close enough, right?** "Teatime" by Horst Raack It was voted 2012's La Maschera piu bella" (Best Mask) Supposedly this "Best Mask" contest is held in the last week of the Carnival and is voted on by a panel of international costume and fashion designers. I'm digging her hat.  Horst Raack also won in 2011 and 2009. There's also another fancy designer who won Best Mask three times as well: Tanja Shulz-Hess . ...

Roman Amphitheatre in Volterra Good morning!  It's a beautiful Florence Friday and I'm cheery not because of the weather, but because I just skipped an interview with a potential employer...on purpose.  (but that is a post for another time) In truth, I'm still in my bed, so I can't see what Bellingham looks like today, but it's certainly not sunny. And I just checked the weather in Florence... It's not so cheery there, either.  30degrees Fahrenheit and it's drizzling. (shouldn't it be snowing then?) Regardless of the weather, I'm still terribly excited about Italy.  I haven't made much progress in planning my Italy trip since last Friday, and blogging has made me acutely aware of how quickly the weeks go by.  I'm still a little disgruntled about Mr. Franco's email to me. But one of the reasons I've always been drawn to Italy (and Greece) is the ancient history built into the cities. I'm a huge fan of Gre...

Let me start out with this.                      That's right people, there are Segway tours in Florence. AND I'm over 18. So I can ride one all by myself. So I did some more research and found this pixellated lie: Small print: 1 hour=18 Euros This ad is design genius.  Because the things that really are offered "free of charge" are the maps and the helmets, and they live in the "Free of charge" oval.  You have to  pay   for the segway rental.  That's why it lives outside the "free" oval.   Pure. Marketing. Genius.   Lure in the stupid Americans like me. 18 Euros an hour isn't so much...but on a student's budget? Yeah... I'll do it someday. Bike Rentals are much cheaper.  They're 10 Euros a day for students.  I can rock yellow, can't I? On another note...I received some bad news last Friday. We all know I inten...