Ogni giorno imparo piú di Vicenza e di Italia- today is my
fourth day here in Italy and so far I love everything I’ve seen! My family
keeps asking me, “ti piace?” (Do you like this?) and all I can say is “Si si
si, é bello, bello, bellisimo!” Bello is the word for beautiful, and I’ve been saying
it so often I had to ask Marta (my older host sister) for synonyms! When I get tired of repeating bello, fantastico
is my new word of choice :) Yesterday we went into the downtown area of Vicenza
for the first time, with Ellen, an exchange student from Nevada, and her host
family (who are close family friends with my family). It's the most beautiful city I've ever seen! Vicenza is a very old
city (it’s even a UNESCO world heritage site), and I love the cobblestone
streets, colorful buildings, and stone churches and monuments. As we were
walking towards the city, I could vaguely hear music from the main square- and
guess what kind? A VOCAL WOMEN’S TRIO! For some reason this really made an
impression on me. It was so perfect that the first time I walked into the city,
my favorite music was welcoming me –it seemed like a sign that I really am meant
to be here in Vicenza. We ate at an amazing pizzeria outside, and afterward
tasted gelato (which I have decided will be a daily ritual) and wandered
through the city at night. I got my touristy –but necessary- picture taking in of course, see for yourself!
Yesterday my sister Marta, aunt Luisa, uncle Gaetano, and cousin Davide took a day trip to Verona, land of Romeo
and Giulietta! Of course as soon as we got into the city I took it upon myself to recite the
entire prologue of the play, which I had dutifully memorized in eighth grade.
Verona is also a gorgeous city- we got to go into the ampitheater and see the town square from above as well! As we walked through the streets, passing stores like Gucci and Prada, I felt pretty underdressed
in my shorts and t-shirt because everyone was dressed really nicely. I'm going to have to buy myself some fancy Italian clothes! In the evening I ate at my zio and zia (aunt and uncle's) house, and then we all went into the cittá (downtown Vicenza) to eat gelato, meet friends, and walk around. Davide, who is my age and goes to my school, explained to me that on weekend nights all the young people in Vicenza walk around the city to socialize. Marta also took me to visit her university friends and they were all very excited to meet me! Some of them had studied abroad in the US and wanted to speak in english with me. I'll post pictures as soon as I can!
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