Midterms! Then Back To My Life Of Whimsy

Finally! Proof that I am going to actual school! Last week I had my Italian midterm which I think I did well on, but we shall see. This week I am studying for my area-studies midterms. My brain is practically bursting with all of the different pieces of art I need to know and their significance. It's pretty crazy. The class I'm most worried about though is Contemporary Italian Politics. Learning such a complex and utterly crazy political system is definitely difficult, and then how that system interacts with the European Union, it's madness! The Italians sure do love having crazy political scenes. But the sooner I get through my midterms means the sooner I leave for my fall break!
I really am living the life over here. For my fall break I am going to Barcelona, Madrid, and then Amsterdam! I'm really excited to be traveling with all of my roomies and explore all of these cities! In Barcelona I'm most excited just to immerse myself in Spanish culture and walk around pretending like I'm Picasso!

Barcelona: It looks pretty magical

Next stop is Madrid. Madrid is where I'll get to experience the art of Francisco Goya and his contemporaries. Also, the Botanical Gardens sound like they'll be pretty cool. I've also heard that the food's pretty great :)

Madrid: so excited

The last stop on our fall break is Amsterdam. We're all pretty excited to visit the Science Museum and the Ann Frank House. We also plan on taking as many water taxis as possible down the canals. It should be interesting going to a place that I don't really know that much about.

Amsterdam: looks like fun

Only The Living Allowed

On Friday I went on a field study to the Etruscan Necropolis!! For those that don't quite understand my excitement, the Etruscans were a civilization living just outside of Rome and were an established culture before the Romans even existed. However, the Etruscans were crucial to the development of Rome. The Etruscans traded with the Greeks and then traded that information to the Romans. Without the Etruscans the Romans would not have obtained the Greek/Latin alphabet as early as they did. The Etruscans were also a highly evolved civilization, for example women and men were treated fairly equally. Women in the Etruscan culture were allowed to dine with the men and drink wine; things that would never happen in the Greek and Roman cultures unless the woman was a prostitute. The Etruscans also built quite lavish tombs in the Necropolis which include stone beds and chairs and well preserved frescoes. So, being as in love with ancient history as I am, I was super excited for this trip! Here are some pictures of the awesome things I saw:

Tomb of the Leopards

That mound is a tomb. Amazing.

Friday was also the first real Fall weather day. It made me so happy! Apart from this excursion my weekend has been fairly tame. I've mainly just been doing laundry and studying for my midterms that are coming up!

Not Oktoberfest

grapes adorn the fountains

This weekend most of my flatmates went to Oktoberfest. However, due to the large price tag, I decided not to go. Instead, I went with some other Wooster people and some new friends to the Marino Grape Festival! We only went for the day on Sunday but still had a blast! Marino is an old medieval town that was once used as a summer getaway for the Roman nobility who built large villas there. Marino is 21 kilometers south of Rome and is famous for the grapes and wine that are produced there! Every year they have this festival to celebrate their town and the miracle of the fountains. The miracle of the fountains is when the water that usually flows turns into a golden white wine. Before the fountain miracle there is a parade with people dressed in medieval costume and lots of good food! However, the town does distribute free bags of grapes, and they were quite delicious! The wine that flows from the fountains is also free, but it was a little difficult to get to since there were so many people there also trying to get their cup filled. We did eventually get our free wine and it was really quite good but it was definitely worth going just for the festival atmosphere and the free grapes! Did I also mention that the train to get there only cost four euro round trip? I love the European public transportation systems :)