Castiglion Fiorentino

AH: Now that we are closing in on our trip we have seen many diverse towns and I have enjoyed them all. Most of them all for different reasons. My favorite town of all surprisingly was the Castiglion Fiorentino. I loved the quaint feel of home and the back porch view. So much horticulture out there growing. I was able to do some wandering on my own during our free time. Some others and I were able to find a back road to a church that we would often work out on. On this road we encountered many different things. The locals would zoom by of vespas, the snakes would slither by and the dogs would even try to run with us from time to time. During this run we would first pass by the vineyards, that we now understand a little bit better after attending our first agriturismo. The further we traveled the smaller our path would get and the more only nature would be surrounding us. We passed many native cypress trees, cacti and flowers. The farther we ran the smaller Castiglion Fiorentino got in the distance. It was a beautiful site that truly made me appreciate the little things, including the horticulture that I was embraced in.

Wine-Tasting Round II

On a toasty afternoon in Montepulciano, our group experienced our second wine-tasting event.  Our guide, a delightful British woman, took us through wine cellars where we saw giant barrels of wine, some valued at 35,000 euro.  The cellars were cold and damp and obviously ancient, also very dungeon-esque.  The staircases on which we descended were also featured in the New Moon movie, an obvious point of excitement. 

We then went to a large dining room with place settings set with four wine glasses.  Two glasses were of the same size, one was a bit larger, and one was very small.  We snacked on bread, cheese, and cuts of ham while our host explained the different types of wine we would be sampling.  He poured us three different red wines, showed us how to look at the wine’s color through the glass, how we should savor the wine in our mouths before swallowing, and what cheeses went best with which wines. 

The oldest wine was my favorite.  It had been aged since 2007 and was served in the largest wine glass to increase the surface area.  We ended with a dessert wine and pieces of delicious chocolate. 

The sentiment often expressed these days among us students is a new-found appreciation for wine.  Many of us barely tolerated it before this trip, but we are glad to now appreciate the various tastes and types and are starting to develop our own preferences.

-Macy Hicks

Gardens Near and Far: Comparing and Contrasting the Gardens of Tuscany and the Texas Gulf Coast.

"No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden." ~Hugh Johnson

I thought I knew everything there was to know about gardens until my eyes were opened up to a new world of possibilities in Italy. I was shocked at the variety of plants and herbs the first time I stepped foot in a Tuscan garden!

After touring through the local gardens of Castiglion Fiorentino, I observed that vegetable gardens in a typical Tuscan town are much more diverse in contrast with those of Texas. The primary reason for this difference is that the Italian climate is more temperate and ideal for a wider variety of crops. Texas soils (especially in College Station) are not the best, though they vary by region (because Texas is huge!). Additionally, Texas experiences extremes throughout the seasons. Summers are miserably hot and dry while there are unpredictable freezes or ice storms in the winter. 

Cherries from a tree in Italy

My home garden is in Richmond, Texas, located southwest of Houston near the Gulf Coast. My mother, a Texas Master Gardener, typically grows a spring/summer vegetable garden and sometimes a fall garden. On the Gulf Coast of Texas, the most common crops for a spring/summer vegetable garden include tomatoes, potatoes, cucumber, okra, green beans, various melons and peppers. Tomatoes, leaf lettuces, carrots, and onions are successful crops in a Texas Gulf Coast autumn garden. Almost all fruit trees can grow in Texas, including pear, peach, plum, and apple. However, on the Gulf Coast there are not many chill hours (hours below a certain degree when a plant stores up it's energy in order to produce a fruit), so only certain varieties are successful in Texas.

Typical residential garden in Italy

Tomatoes in my garden in Texas

In Texas, the size of a vegetable garden depends on the size of the lot and the amount of time the owner has. Ten by twelve feet is about average for a residential garden. Planting in raised beds, also called square foot gardening, can range from a four by four bed to larger. Raised beds allow the gardener to bring in soils and compost, rather than planting in the existing soil. This is done in areas of Texas where the soil contains too much clay. 

Artichokes bloom in Italy

In Tuscany, residential vegetable gardens are much larger and commonly include a large variety of crops such as tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, eggplants, cabbage, zucchini, artichokes, fennel, mushrooms, celery, asparagus, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower and lettuce. Fruits include berries, citrus fruits such as oranges, blood oranges, citrons and lemons, figs, pears, cherries, apples, and plums. Beans are also very popular, especially in Tuscany. Common legumes include chickpeas, green beans, and lentils.

Potatoes grow in feed sacks in my Texas garden

Peach tree in my yard in Texas

Attitudes among Texas gardeners regarding fertilizers have changed dramatically in the last several years. Compost, a natural option, is brought in to increase soil fertility. Local Texas stores such as Home Depot and Lowes now carry compost as many gardeners are becoming more informed about the fertilizers and soils that they use. I have gathered from my tours that the same is true of Italy. There is a progressive movement towards all-natural agriculture here. One farm that we visited went above and beyond the organic standards to ensure production of high quality produce, completely free of harmful chemicals and fertilizers. One practice, for example, is to leave weeds and bugs undisrupted in the vineyard. These types of organisms exist in nature for a reason and it is unnecessary to eliminate them with chemicals.

Example of progressive agricultural practices in Italy

Vineyards, both large and small, characterize the Italian countryside. It is not uncommon for homeowners in Italy to grow grapes in their home gardens. While wine is part of the lifestyle in Italy, we also enjoy wine in Texas! Grapes can also grow in Texas, and vineyards are rare but do exist.

Tomatoes in my garden in Texas

My time in class and spent touring through Italian gardens has changed my perspective on gardens throughout the globe. While I now realize that significant differences exist between Texan and Italian gardens, there are also fundamental similarities between the two. As the saying goes, some say tomāto, some say tomăto, Italians say pomodoro! (Too cheesy?)

Until next time, Ciao from Italia!

-Jules

The Secret Gardens

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Pompeii, a city obliterated and simultaneously preserved by mount Vesuvius's volcanic ash in the cataclysmic eruption of 79 A.D., was once a model Roman city. On the way home from a weekend trip to Sorrento, five classmates and I hopped off the train and took a journey through time to explore the eerie remnants.

There is still evidence of traditional Roman gardens within the ruins of Pompeii. While the remaining gardens could not possibly compare to those in the heyday of Pompeii, the structures give one an idea of what they might have been like. 

It was during Roman times that much advancement was made in ornamental horticulture. Traditional Roman gardens were often enclosed within the walls of the home, as public gardens did not conceptualize until more recently in history. They were meant to be a sort of refuge, or escape from the urban life that existed just outside of the home's walls. The walls surrounding the garden were often painted with frescos and lined with a covered patio held up by columns. One or more focal points such as statues or fountains were placed carefully throughout the garden. 

Within the many acres of ruins, there exist several homes that are still mostly intact. Evidence reveals that even lower classes of people with smaller homes had gardens. The gardens were adjusted in size to meet the space constraints of the home. In these homes, the gardens are clearly visible and have been somewhat restored to what they would have looked like in the past. However, we learned in class that the plants used in these restorations are not necessarily native or period appropriate. 

I think of Pompeii's gardens as being sort of 'secret gardens.' From the outside, a person would never know that a garden oasis existed just beyond the walls of the house. Additionally, they are secret in that we will never know exactly what the various gardens looked like in the past. We can only imagine based on the remaining clues what Pompeii might have been like in Ancient times. 

Exploring the ruins

Rose in one of the restored home gardens

Wildflowers on the outskirts of Pompeii

Pompeii sits in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius

Ancient table remains standing, shown through a hole in the wall of a home

Poppies overgrown on the steps of the stadium

Pompeii was quite an interesting place to visit. While I am left with more questions than before I came, some of Pompeii's mysteries will simply never be solved.

Ciao from Italia!

-Jules

Gardens, Towers, and Beaches, Oh My!

EB: This past week has been jam-packed with traveling and new sights. Beginning on Thursday, we made the journey to Florence to go to the Boboli Gardens and the Uffizi museum. The gardens were a perfect way to start off my day. The views and landscaping were absolutely beautiful; Italy continues to take my breath away. We meandered through covered arches, past wondrous fountains and aspiring artists trying to capture all that beauty.  Passing by a hydrangea bush, Keith, my ever-helpful horticulture guide, pointed out that some of the blossoms were a different color that the rest of them. Explaining *slowly for us non-hort majors* that this was because the soil had different pH balances. The blue color resulted from a more alkaline soil and the red from a more acid composition. Having both colors on the same plant meant that the soil was pretty well balanced.  Besides that fact that I now felt very knowledgeable with this information, the flowers were also lovely to look at.  After exploring the rest of the gardens, and winning gelato, we made our way to the Uffizi museum. The art work in there was absolutely exquisite. Getting to see famous pieces, such as the Birth of Venus, was such a blessing.  Winding down our day we made it back to Castiglion Fiorentino, to get ready for the next day.

Waking up early, our group of travelers made our way to Cinque Terre. However on our way there, we made an obligatory stop in Pisa in order to get the best, most clichéd tourist pictures possible. While the tower was impressive, watching everyone take leaning pictures was even more entertaining.  After that excursion we made our way to Levanto and then to the beach.  Enjoying the waves and playing volleyball with some nice Germans was the perfect way to end a long day of traveling.  The next day we woke up early, taking the train to Corniglia to begin our hike. The hike *a.k.a uphill climb* took us through the beautiful Cinque Terre cliff-side, passing through Vernazza before ending (3 hours later) in Monterosso. After the exhausting, but totally worth-it trek, we made our way to the beach where chairs and waves were waiting for us. 

Again, it was a great way to end yet another 

magical day in Italy.

I’m not sure I will ever want to come home.

Can I please stay?!

Signing up for this study abroad was one of the most spur of the moment decisions I have ever made, but also the most rewarding and wonderful. Italy is a country beyond compare and I know I am only going to want to keep seeing more and more of it. Going on all of these excursions with twenty-six of my newest friends has been absolutely incredible. It is by the grace of God, that I am able to be here; seeing all these beautiful sites and going on all of these life-changing journeys with these extraordinary people. While I know that our Italy exploration is nearing its end, I hope that the adventures never stop. 

It's the Climb

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” 

-- John Muir


 

Counted among the most beautiful regions of the globe, Cinque Terre was the destination for our group's most recent weekend trip. Twenty-four students embarked on the five-hour journey north of Florence to the western coast of Italy.

After settling into the incredible accommodations in Levanto, one of the small towns near Cinque Terre, the group hit the beach and the town to explore.

Thousands of people flood to Cinque Terre each year to hit the trails that run from one town to the next along the spectacular  landscape. The next morning, that is just what we did. Beginning in Corniglia, which we reached by train, the group hiked an hour and a half to Vernazza and then two more hours to Monterosso for an afternoon at the beach followed by fresh seafood for dinner.

Miley was right, its about the climb, not the destination. Each town was interesting and uniquely beautiful, however, the trails took my breath away (no pun intended!). Along the gorgeous hike, each view topped the last. During the hike I was able to truly appreciate the impact that horticulture had on my experience. Trees, vines, bushes, and periodic small farms composed the gorgeous landscape. 

The first town we saw, Corniglia, was actually my favorite. It was the smallest that we passed through, made up of small vineyards lining the steep hills and crumbling buildings clumped together in a disorganized fashion. I liked the smallness of Corniglia. The town was more authentic and less touristy. It felt almost accessible, as though I could have put an offer on one of the rundown farmhouses and lived out the rest of my days tending to my own small vineyard at the edge of a cliff.

Boaters enjoyed the beautiful waters

Cherry tree in Levanto

Peaches along the trail in Corniglia

View from Corniglia

Flowers of all colors lined the gorgeous trails

Corniglia

Vernazza

Hiking buddies for the day! 

Locks of love along the trail left by backpackers from around the globe.

The beach in Monterosso was just what we needed to cool off after hiking!

The trails, the towns, the nature, and the beaches were a recipe for the perfect weekend in paradise. If you are planning a trip to Europe, definitely put Cinque Terre on your short list.

Ciao from Italia!

-Jules

The Gardens of Florence

Ponte Vecchio

Last Thursday, we all went to Florence on a field trip.  First we went on the Ponte Vecchio, which is their famous bridge that goes over the Arno River. It now houses many expensive shops that are mainly jewelry stores. It has a great view of the river, though. We actually went to Florence during their fashion week so we saw many interesting outfits worn by the locals. We then made our way to the Boboli Gardens which is at the Pitti Palace, formerly owned by the Medici family. It also happened to be right across the street from Dr. Lombadini's middle school, which is now a bank.

Cornflower at Boboli
Gardens

Fountain at Boboli Gardens

The Boboli Gardens is a massive but gorgeous Italian garden. One of the first sites we visited in there was the Buontalenti Grotto. It contains these figures that look as if they are formed out of stalactites which creates a natural feeling in this grotto. We then walked around the garden which has massive hedges everywhere that create giant walls. We also saw many varieties of flowers and citrus in certain parts of the garden. much of the space was very open and much was greenery as opposed to flowers. In the garden, we saw a long fountain that went all the way down a stretch of a pathway. Dr. Lombardini explained how the fountain was used to draw animals into the area in order for the Medici family to be able to hunt. There were many beautiful archways to walk under to help shield from the sun. The garden also had a gorgeous view of the city of Florence. After we finished at the Boboli Gardens, some of us went with Dr. Lombardini to the Bardini Garden. The Bardini garden is an Italian Renaissance garden that is very close to the Boboli Gardens. Although it was not as big as the Boboli Gardens, they had nice archways and different layers to the garden.

Quinten and I using our Amazing
Race skills

Florence has beautiful gardens that continue to impress. I'm excited to return this Friday to another one of the Medici villas. Until then, Ciao!

Bethany Kennedy

Palm Trees and Positano are Oh-So-Wonderful

Alexis M.: The day after we visited the island of Capri, I traveled with a small group to the town of Positano that is situated on the Amalfi Coast. We only spent approximately 3 hours there, but it took hold of my heart for sure:

When we arrived and descended from the bus, we were met with an outstanding view of beautiful mountains, numerous boats floating in the water, and bougainvillea vines everywhere. I have a bougainvillea plant back in Texas so seeing it definitely reminded me of home.

After that we needed a place to store our luggage, so we went on a search and quickly found a nice hostel that kindly offered us assistance. From there we decided to walk around and shop a little bit. As we made our way deeper and deeper into the town, the views just kept getting better and better. As we looked around we saw tons of gorgeous palm trees, more bougainvillea, and lots of greenery. I loved it all!

We made our way to the bottom of the town and then decided that we needed to head back to Castiglion because we had such a long train ride ahead of us. Our time in Positano was short but I will remember it forever!

 



Macy, Adrienne, Bethany, Me, and Sarah!

 

 

Adventures in Pizza-Making

The afternoon sun shone bright on 5 June, and our Survival Italian instructor, Rossella, beckoned us down a long winding road toward the semi-unknown. An afternoon of pizza-making at a local agriturismo awaited us hungry collegiates. Following Rossella, we traipsed down long paved roads and long dusty roads, dodging tractors and runners and dogs. After an hour of walking and accumulating much dust, we arrived at a large house and were welcomed by a nice Italian couple.

Crackers and chips sated our hunger while we followed Rossella’s Italian language lesson on pizza ingredients, and she warned that the couple from whom we would be learning spoke almost no English (so it was either pay attention or make bad pizza – we paid attention).

Our hosts then took us to their back porch where we found a long table. At each spot at the table was a bowl that held a flour mixture, and beside the bowl was a small cube of yeast and a small cup of water. We made our dough from those ingredients, hanging on Rossella and Dr. Lombardini’s translations and adding much more salt than was instructed. We added olive oil to our dough and then began the seemingly-endless kneading. This process was met with various degrees of success, some efforts helped by the magical hands of our hosts which produced sensationally smooth mounds of dough. Some dreams of self-made pizza were crushed (others relieved) when our host informed us that because our dough wouldn’t have time to rise, we would be using pre-made dough and using the dough we made to make bread. He showed us different ways to cut and roll the bread. I chose a flower formation, and others chose other flowers, snails, and other strange objects. We left our dough creations to rise while they brought out the pre-made dough which we covered with tomato sauce, cheese, and toppings. Those pizzas went to the wood oven while we played outside and took pictures. While we waited, our host showed us a scrapbook detailing the purchase of his house, the family’s move there, and the house’s renovation. I greatly enjoyed getting to see pictures of the house as it was before (completely dilapidated), its destruction, and then the building of the new house.

Our pizzas were soon ready. We moved to the beautiful dining room with large windows depicting a wonderfully-real Tuscan landscape to eat our creations. I found the pizza to be different in a good way. It had a simpler taste than the pizza I’m used to at home, and it was wonderfully coupled with red wine and followed by chocolate cake.

The pizza-making experience was unforgettable. Making pizza from scratch gave me a greater appreciation for my good friends at Pizza Hut back home, and hearing the story of the home added a feeling of authenticity to the whole evening.

-Macy Hicks

Bacon Achieved

    This past weekend I had Italian Bacon for the first time.  The apartment we stayed in had a kitchen so a few of us decided to save a buck and cook.  Sticking to tradition Keith R. and I decided to stay back and take it easy.  While everyone left to go on the Cinque Terre death march, he and I made breakfast.  Going off a tip we got, we went to a nearby meat market and got everything required to make the closest thing we could to America breakfast.  I think we actually did pretty well.

    The funny part about the whole experience was getting the bacon.  We were looking at the sausage and eggs when all of a sudden the younger butcher leans in and says “you want bacon”?  It felt like we were buying drugs.  We looked at each other and both with massive smiles said yes sir.  We got back to the apartment and cooked it all Texas style, bacon first and then everything in the grease. It was a much appreciated break from all the Italian meals and took us back home for a couple minutes.  Sometimes you can take the boys out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boys.

    The rest of the trip was spent chilling on the beaches and walking around the town.  We also rented bikes and took a leisurely jaunt over to Monterosso, another port city.  It was a great day with great views.  That night we went and partied with the locals on the beach.  It was a fun time.  Until next time the Wolf of North Gate.

C. Siller