Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Dinner in a Castle/Conference

Last night we had an amazing $160 meal in an ancient Castle. This was part of the conference. It was really an interesting experience heading up the castle in chartered buses making hair pin turns. I will post pictures very soon. We had some amazing dishes of Parmaggiano Reggiano Sauces over rice, Guinea Fowl, Vegetable Flan, and fresh fruit dessert. This meal was actually served as a lunch for a king in the 1800's. It was interesting but a little fancy for my tastes.

Well the conference is ending and we're heading out of Parma. I am heading up to Milano or Milan to see the famous painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo Di Vinci. I will then head back down to Rome to see the Basilica and then catch my flight home. I'll keep ya updated o

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Parma and the Confernce

We then made our way to Parma to attend the International Food and Agribusiness Management Conference on Food Culture: Tradition, Innovation and Trust - A Positive Force for Modern Agribusiness.

The conference site was chosen because Parma
is famous for its food: Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (also produced in Reggio Emilia), Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham). In 2004 Parma was appointed the seat of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Parma also has two food multinationals, Barilla and Parmalat.

The purpose of this trip has been to participate in the graduate student case study team where an agrifood related case was given to to the team and we had five hours to analyze and prepare a power point presentation and a two page executive summary. The case focused on PARMA Knowledge Network and getting the region to effectively work together in promoting its products. It was a great experience, however we did not make finals.

The conference has been enjoyable and I will update some more as we go!

Pisa and Venice

Next we left Florence early to drive to Pisa to see the famous leaning tower of Pisa! This is the only thing that there is to really see in Pisa; so we did not stay very long! We quickly found a place to park and took a few pictures of the Tower which is actually a bell tower for a beautiful church at the same location.

We then continued on to our finally destination of the day Ahh Venice! a city in northern Italy, the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). Venice's nicknames include "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", and "The City of Light". We visited St. Mark's square which is pictured in a lot of romantic movies of couples eatting a romantic dinner. We however didn't get to see the actual church of St. Mark's as we arrived after. Located on one of the nearby areas San Giorgio Maggiore can be seen! This is another island with a large church on the island.

We then made our way to Lido Beach via the bust system which are actual large boats that nearlly resemble buses! We went here to meet my Swedish friend, Jasmine, at the free beach! Jasmine and I studied Chinese together in Beijing. We knew we where both traveling around Italy so we tried to coordinate our trips to meet up! We haven't seen each other in over a year! We went out to dinner while my Purdue friends relaxed on the beach. We had a great time catching up on good times over dinner where i had some fresh fish since we where at the beach!

We then made our way back to the Camping Fusina Camp Grounds where we all would be spending the night! I got to hang out with Jasmine and her high school friend who she was traveling around with at the camp bar, which was really crazy with many backpackers from all over the world. We had a great time dancing the night away!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Florence

We arrived today in Florence and had a great time visiting the Uffizi art gallery. Where I ran into a friend of mine I haven't seen in about two years. We knew we where both in Rome but she was traveling with her parents and thought our schedules never met up anywhere. I was randomly walking and out of no where she appeared and said COACH! I was totally overwhelmed to see Alexandra Garza and her parents! It was great catching up and hearing about her stories of her study abroad in Italy and getting to backpack around Europe! It was a great surprise for an already great day!

We then saw the Florence Cathedral or the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore it was an amazingly and beautiful Gothic cathedral in the city center.

We ended our day early and went to dinner and gellotto or an italian ice cream!

Sienna

Sienna is an amazingly beautiful town and I can not wait to come back to this town one day with Kim! It was such an interesting time and its a shame we really didn't do much besides have drinks in the Republic Plaza at midnight when we arrived in the town. We had quiet an adventure in the city trying to find the actual hostel as the city was pretty complex in the road system. Our little car was snugly fitting down each and every road! It was quiet an adventure as we went around the town square at least 4 times.

We staid at a great Bed and Breakfast in Sienna that cooked us a great HOT breakfast of eggs, ham, and toast! It was quiet the treat.

Katy's parents own a liquor store in Colorado and made some contacts for us to tour a Vineyard near Sienna. It was a great experience touring and tasting some amazing wines. I will post pictures later!

Arrival of Friends in Rome

I made it back to Rome without any problems to meet up my friends who would be joining me throughout the rest of the trip. Their arrival however was significantly delayed do to missing flights and having to connect at new destinations. These changes caused the airlines to loose their luggage, to say the least it was an interesting two days without luggage until we found it at the airport finally.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and since our time in Rome was really short we decided to go ahead and tour Rome at night. We started walking around Rome at 11:00 and finished back up at the hostel around 2:30AM. We saw the Arch of Constatine , Roman Forum, Roman Collisseum , Circus Maximus , The Trevi Fountains, and the Spanish Steps. This was a really long treck and we probably walked an estimated 8 miles that night.

The next day we trecked across the city another 6 or so miles to Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel which ceilings where painted by Michelangelo. It was totally breath taking and something pictures can never do justice. The line was amazingly long as we waited for several hours in line.

We then went to St. Peters Square to see St. Peters Square. I will hit the actual Basilica when I come back to Rome in a week.

We then adventured back to the airport to try to find the luggage and pick up our rental car. After a few hours of searching we finally had our rental car and luggage all in hand.

Driving in Italy seems intimidating at first, however its pretty similar to the US just a little more aggressive. We traveled the evening to Sienna.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Arriving in Rome, Naples, Pampai, and Capri

The journey to Rome has been a long journey. The first delays started off in Dallas witha two hour delay due to security issues on the plane, just some seals had been broken, causing the entire plane to be searched thoroughly by the TSA. All went well and we traveled on to Chicago and where faced with yet more delays. These delays ultimately caused me to miss my flight in London Heathrow to Rome, missing the original plane by only 30 minutes. . I had to wait three hours for the next plane. I finally made it to Rome and took a train to the central station where I booked a ticket to Naples or Napoli at a machine. I don't think I booked the right ticket but I made it on a train to Naples. It was an overwhelming experience in Rome as no one seemed to speak any English, and all looked as if they where westerners. In my past abroad experiences in Asia if you looked Western you spoke English. It took nearly three hours to get to Naples from Rome on a train, but I finally made it.

I know I got ripped off by the Taxi cab that only took me a few blocks to the Hostel, oh well lesson learned and will go on from there. The hostel was pretty amazing and lots of nice people stay and work here. When I arrived they where having a party for the last night of one of the workers so though I was tired I went out for a few drinks before coming back to attempt to crash.

The next day I traveled to Pompeii with some new friends staying at the Hostel. Fir those that do not know much about Pompeii it is one of the most interesting archaeological sites because it was completely covered by lava when Mount Vesuvius erupted. The following site is a a virtual tour of the city ruins. http://www.thecolefamily.com/italy/pompeii/. This site has tons of pictures and a map of the city.

We spent about 5 hours walking around the city and seeing the unique sites of the ruins.

The next day I went on my own to the Isle of Capri, this is the island that the Casinos in the states are named after, and no there are no Casinos there. Its an hour ferries ride from the Port of Naples to the Port of Capri. It is just a beautiful island with many rocky beaches that are different from our Sandy beaches in the states. I walked from the bottom of the mountain to the city center through paths and got to see some amazing views of the island.

I took a tour around the island to get to see the sites, but It wasn't a great experience due to so many tourists on this Sunday. I heard the tours shut down early on Saturday evening. I missed the main site of the island because of the hectic waters and large amounts of water. Lots of people on my boat where mad about it. Oh well maybe the next time I'm here.

I came back to Naples and walked around the city a little, but being a Sunday absolutely NOTHING was open. Te only few places open where Coffee bars, the Burger King, and McDonald's.

Things are going good and tomorrow I will travel back to Purdue to meet the others from Purdue!