A Tale of Two Cities

when the weather's getting colder...

2010-09-02T15:15:00.003+02:00

i'm not sure if i've mentioned this guy before but i've been listening to him a lot since way back in florence and i thought i'd share one of my current obsessions with you all. the name's joe purdy and his music is quite...mellow... depressing, really. it's kind of sick that i like listening to him, but i really enjoy the nostalgia he conjures up in me. it makes me feel like the past is tangible, like people i've lost or miss are not that far away from me because the feelings they made me feel so long ago are still right there for me to do with them what i will. maybe this is sad because it means i haven't moved on, but it doesn't bother me too terribly. i have this idea that i have to hold on to these things until i am able to do something with them, creatively, emotionally, something, to utilize them in some way and i put off this utilization over and over again because i'm not sure what i want to do with things for a long time, but i am glad i can still access them, that even though i wont ever hold this person or that person close again, i still know what that felt like.

you can listen to all of his music online at www.joepurdy.com - just click on the music tab and check him out!

currently, my repeat-fav is on his self-titled album, "joe purdy" :

ah-song:

Sitting in a Dixon garden, wishing that you and I weren't parting
For the last time, the last time
And I said, "Why you want to get married anyway? That man's got a family"
And then you say, "Couldn't wait on you forever, or could I?"
"Guess not"

There's an awkward silence for the first time, so many years
And as I recall you used to be mine, not some property of his
And I sing "Ah la don't go, ah la stay
Ah la don't go, don't go away."

Maybe I should apologize, for I treated you so
And I'm so sorry that I left you here, I just wish I could have known
You say, "You never can tell, and it's not your fault
See these things just happen when you're dealing
with the hands on a clock of a woman"

"And he treats me fine, and anyways I'm getting older"
She said, "Oh but I still miss you sometimes,
when the weather's getting colder"
And she sang "Ah la don't go, ah la stay
Ah la don't go, don't go away."

Do we say goodbye, or just see you later?
She said "Don't make me cry,
'Cause it's enough just to know
That I won't ever hold you close
And I won't ever smell your skin,
And I know how I'm supposed to feel,
Here we go again singing, "Ah la don't go, ah la stay
Ah la don't go, don't go away."

i need to be commited...

2010-08-30T14:49:00.002+02:00

blah. so apparently i COULD have flown into the wonderful world of stanford land as early as september 16th but alas, much to my dismay, i will not be arriving until quite late september 17th. this will leave me with approximately 3 days to get adjusted to a place i haven't been to in over 8 months, get our room nice and cozy (yay co-op quads!), buy my books, get my life in order and generally have a good time. well. we'll see what happens.

more on the home front of austin texas:

adah. my sister's daughter, way sweeter than the sweetest thing, will be turning two in my absence. i am a sucker for this kid and have already, over three weeks in advance, given her her birthday present, a bunch of little golden books from half price bookstore. she's stoked. i'm stoked. also, preparations are being made for the arrival of another little one to the guerra household, tristen, my nephew-to-be (numero NOVE!) is coming to a hospital near you (or not so near, rather) late september/early october. yet another birth i will miss due to coming classes, the third one in three years in a row. what are the odds.

in addition, emma. emma, my niece-by-close-relations, is quite awesome as well. it has been really exciting to watch her learn and grow this summer. spending time with her mommy, one of my besties, emily, has been quite fun as well. that lady is something, let me tell you. all of my sisters, blood-ones and otherwise, goodness gracious, i am surrounded by the best women int he world!

what else, what else? i've never been very good about systematic or orderly updates--all these thoughts about what is important or awesome that i would want to share come to me in spurts. i guess that's why it would be better to do this more often but... meh. we've already had the conversation about my ineptness in that department.

ah. jenny. the love of my life. jenny lewis has dropped yet another album, this time under the guise of "jenny and johnny" with her musician/lover (?) man johnathan rice. and let me tell you about how she tortures me so: she is going to be in san francisco this weekend, little temptress, so far away from me. she will also arrive in austin right after i leave. yet again, she eludes me. AND she's scheduled to be back in california october 3rd BUT way down south in her hometown of LA, opening for another great, belle and sebastian. shit bricks, right? oh no. she will not deny me forever. another love of my life, natalie jabbar, made my day the other night by informing me that the temptress miss jenny will be performing with her man at the hardly strictly blue grass musical festival that runs october 1st-3rd in san francisco and it is free, free, free. oh yes, i fully intend on camping out and catching a glimpse/listen of her newest tunes. if you too are as interested as i am, you can catch a first listen before the record drops courtesy of npr right here.

what else, what else? aha. so my summer has been full of theatre and fun. for the second summer in a row, i have been working at zachary scott theatre, now preferably known as ZACH theatre, solely and truly. some marketing tactic or something. i don't mind. check it out!

alright, that's it for now. back to work!

chelsey OUT

Austin...

2010-08-13T15:08:00.002+02:00

Home at last. Well, I've been here for a while really, but I am only just now telling you all (hmm...) anything about it.

I have no time to blog these days, really, what with work at the theatre and life and practically no internet access except when I am resting at a coffee shop in between work shifts (before, at lunch, sometimes after). I don't have that much time now but I was getting bored searching the internet for future job opportunities, future apartments (possibly in san francisco with my gals?? who knows).

I know i need to spend more time reflecting in this manner but it can be so difficult to make such a commitment to my own thoughts. it is far easier to let them remain fleeting, undeveloped, ephemeral rather than to concretely (hah, as concrete as the internet can be!) lay them out for all the world (uh huh) to see.

i think the real problem is that i, like everyone, i'm sure, have so many thoughts, i don't even know where to begin developing them! i feel like my life is pulling me in a million directions at once, so many possibilities, open doors and closed ones, surround me and i am not quite sure what to do with myself. there is so much to consider: my family, my friends, what i want to do, the weather, money (EUGH, MONEY!)... Life beyond the great bubble is not something i am totally looking forward to because i am not so certain that i will be able to handle this. i have spent so much time avoiding the inevitable entry into the "real" world... why can't i just avoid it forever??

i think that after work, i am going to come back to this coffee shop, enjoy a beer and contemplate life some more. it might be helpful to have some time to myself which, i know that maybe a lot of you won't believe this but, i haven't had a lot of this summer. i have spent less time alone this summer than i have in a looong time. it's kind of funny because i always tell people that i have no friends in austin. this isn't entirely true. not even close. while i don't have a multitude of people i hang out with regularly here, i do have my good friend emily, her family and my family, my sisters, my nieces and nephews, my brother... some of them i haven't seen at all, some of them i haven't seen enough, but i still feel like i've spent more time with them this summer than i have in ages. even if i haven't been WITH them physically, i have been thinking about them a great deal and in that since they have been with me this entire summer.

i think it is a good thing that i have been giving my family and friends more attention than i have in a long time. not that i was always focused on my self before, not at all, but i spent a lot more time going places alone. this summer, not so much and it's sort of funny. i feel like i almost have nowhere to go...

like i said, i just don't know what to do with myself besides ramble ramble ramble.

love love love. chelsey OUT (yay rockstar week!)

there must be some kind of way out of here....

2010-06-20T08:20:00.002+02:00

i think it is fitting that, on my final morning in oxford, this is the song stuck in my head:

all along the watchtower

everyone loves oxford. i am not everyone. i don't loathe the place but, unlike apparently everyone else, i cannot blindly be content in a place--i can't just automatically be happy and pleased with everything. i am tired of feeling bad for not liking this place, for feeling like the crazy one who just can't be happy--i didn't like this place for a lot of reasons, reasons i can't necessarily share because of various reasons, but i have them. so don't look down on me or pity me or be sad for me because i didn't LOVE oxford--there were plenty of things about it i DID enjoy: my tutorial, doing Titus Andronicus with awesome people and a few glimpses of friendship with other people, but on the whole, I'll be singing this song, written by the beloved Bob Dylan and performed by the insane and talented Jimi Hendrix.

chelsey OUT

"A very Temple of the Winds" --Stonehenge

2010-06-18T18:14:00.004+02:00

I am not going to say that I will continue doing this until I have documented as thoroughly as I should, but for now, when the mood strikes me, I suppose I shall post an image from my trip and some little commentary or something or other. Perhaps it will be illuminating. Perhaps not.

But first....

Stonehenge:

Stonehenge is a mysterious place. All I could think about while I was there is this passage from Thomas Hardy's Tess of d'Urbervilles. I think he hit the place pretty spot on:

They had proceeded thus gropingly two or three miles further when on a sudden Clare became conscious of some vast erection close in his front, rising sheer from the grass. They had almost struck themselves against it.

"What monstrous place is this?" said Angel.

"It hums," said she. "Hearken!"

He listened. The wind, playing upon the edifice, produced a booming tune, like the note of some gigantic one-stringed harp. No other sound came from it, and lifting his hand and advancing a step or two, Clare felt the vertical surface of the structure. It seemed to be of solid stone, without joint or moulding. Carrying his fingers onward he found that what he had come in contact with was a colossal rectangular pillar; by stretching out his left hand he could feel a similar one adjoining. At an indefinite height overhead something made the black sky blacker, which had the semblance of a vast architrave uniting the pillars horizontally. They carefully entered beneath and between; the surfaces echoed their soft rustle; but they seemed to be still out of doors. The place was roofless. Tess drew her breath fearfully, and Angel, perplexed, said----

"What can it be?"

Feeling sideways they encountered another tower-like pillar, square and uncompromising as the first; beyond it another and another. The place was all doors and pillars, some connected above by continuous architraves.

"A very Temple of the Winds," he said.

The next pillar was isolated; others composed a trilithon; others were prostrate, their flanks forming a causeway wide enough for a carriage and it was soon obvious that they made up a forest of monoliths grouped upon the grassy expanse of the plain. The couple advanced further into this pavilion of the night till they stood in its midst.

"It is Stonehenge!" said Clare.

"The heathen temple, you mean?"

"Yes. Older than the centuries; older than the d'Urbervilles! Well, what shall we do, darling? We may find shelter further on."

--from chapter 58

and so it is...

2010-06-17T23:32:00.002+02:00

sorry ladies and gentlemen. i have utterly failed at properly documenting the second of the two cites in my stint abroad. what can i say? that i lacked inspiration? things to write about? the will to upload and comment on picture after picture? i mean, i like the details and silly stories that come with each photograph i take, but more than blogging about it, i like thinking about it.

and i've been thinking a lot this quarter. i mean A LOT. not just academically, though, boy howdy, did i learn a lot! more so, i've been thinking about my life, what i want out of it, what i need... who i am, what that even means. i can't say i've come up with a lot of answers, necessarily, but i think i might have come up with some.

for one, my FRIENDS and FAMILY really are the most important thing in the world to me. I don't think i really realized this until recently. i seem to have an uncanny knack for making the people around me feel far less important or worthy in that moment in which i am around them--this is horrible of me and i don't mean to do it, but i always seem to be longing for someone who is not there, my friend who is on the other side of the world, a partner of the past, an old shirt, anything--instead of letting the people i am with in the moment know that i really do think they are spectacular (as i often do think--people are kind of miraculous, at times).

i guess that's the problem with being a reflective person. (???) if i spend all my time thinking about all these moments, when am i actually in the place where i physically am? am i ever? is anyone?

who knows. but, Friends, Family, here, there and everywhere: i love you immensely. and i can't wait to hold you in my arms again.

oxford, you are a fine place with amazing people too. i am so glad that i had the opportunity to live and work (school) here for a little while. you're food could be better but your people are lovely. i am so glad i got to work with the titus andronicus cast. i am so glad i got to fall in love with the brilliance of shakespeare. i am so glad that i had the time to find out some very important things about myself.

and i hope, one day, to turn my reflection into action. let's see what happens! :D

lord what fools these mortals be...

2010-05-13T09:18:00.004+02:00

Here at Oxford I am taking a rather lovely Shakespeare (& Friends) course in which we not only get to read these amazing plays but we get to go see them performed in and around London as well! Tuesday night, we went to THE GLOBE THEATRE--that's right, the original home of all that is Shakespeare! It was very neat to see one of his plays performed there and it was especially neat since I had recently learned a bunch of interesting things about the theatre from my Shakespeare in Performance Tutorial.

Though it wasn't the best Midsummer Night's Dream I've ever seen, I still enjoyed the performance. It's A Midsummer Night's Dream--how could you not?!?

If you ever get the chance to see one of Shakespeare's plays at The Globe, you definitely should!

open your arms and sing for us...

2010-05-11T09:46:00.005+02:00

last night in london, celeste and i had the. pleasure of seeing she & him perform.

it was wonderful. zooey, the writer and singer of most of the songs, is so childlike and jumpy, just like her music. it is really lovely. and m. ward, well... that man and his guitar are quite sexy together, i must say.

though we left oxford a little after noon and got to london around 2:30 where we waited until the concert hall doors opened at 7 pm and i lost the feeling in my toes for a while, it was totally worth it. front row much? ohh yeahh.

good times, good times.

Thou map of woe, that thou dost talk in signs...

2010-05-08T10:18:00.003+02:00

I auditioned for a part in a play being put on by an Oxford student group, Titus Andronicus (its one of Shakespeare's plays and, if you remember, I am studying Shakespeare pretty much exclusively while I am here) and...

I got a part!

I am Lavinia, Titus Andronicus' daughter who gets raped by two evil guys and has her hands and tongue cut out so she can't tell anyone what happened to her. Not to worry though, as her dad Titus gets revenge on the evildoers by cutting their throats and baking them into two pastries which he then feeds to their mother, who is the real beginner of all this evil, and then her dad, to end her suffering, kills Lavinia (and the rapits' mother) himself.

It is a very violent revenge tragedy, not the prettiest, unlike anything I've ever done, I can tell you that. But I am excited. It will be challenging--my character, since her tongue is cut out, doesn't have a lot of speaking lines, but she is onstage for most of the play and has a lot of other things she must do and communicate while having no hands, no tongue... I can't wait to get to work on this! AND its the first time I am playing a WOMAN in a full-length Shakespeare play! Yay!

I wish you guys could be here to see it, but not to worry, i will tell you how it goes (and try and send pictures, perhaps).

onward and forward...

2010-05-06T08:29:00.009+02:00

i have come to the conclusion that i can will probably not ever have the time to adequate fill the world-wide-web in on all of the places i have seen and all the things i have done in the interim between florence and oxford. while that is regrettable because i visited a great many places and had a grand ol' time at each of them, the truth of the matter is this blog was meant to document the two cities which i am supposed to really inhabit at this time in my life, florence and oxford. Though i have already been at oxford for 3 weeks or so, i have said nothing about it and i feel i must change that.

so--here's a quick listing of some of the places i have since traveled too and some of the more awesome things i have since done since last i had the senses to keep up with this thing:

-monterosso al mare & la spezia with elaine!

-a brief home-stay in meinerzhagen, germany with a good german family of friends:

-an even briefer home-stay in paris, france (the Versailles neighborhood):

-ireland (the wicklow region and dublin):

-amsterdam with helen (and beer!)!

-arrival in oxford:

-Bing trip to Wales:

-The War Horse in London and Romeo & Juliet and King Lear in Stratford-Upon-Avon

-Current state of affairs:

Tea (and caffeinated beverages in general) is my life.

where are the words for all of these moments and how can i ever hope to hold onto them?

2010-05-06T00:31:00.002+02:00

"The places that we have known belong now only to the little world of space on which we map them for our own convenience. None of them was ever more than a thin slice, held between the contiguous impressions that composed our life at that time; remembrance of a particular form is but regret for a particular moment; and houses, roads, avenues are as fugitive, alas, as the years."
— Marcel Proust (Swann's Way)

I am afraid I cannot.

oxford....

2010-04-26T22:56:00.001+02:00

so behind, i will never catch up on this. i am currently in the second of the two cities but at this time am swamped (perpetually, probably), with work. with any luck, i'll update the blog by the time i get back to austin, june 23rd.

smooch!

volterra + siena fail

2010-03-25T11:36:00.006+01:00

FINALLY, the famous VOLTERRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Volterra is awesome. It is Rick Steves fav. Elaine and I left our dinky hostel at 6 in the morning to make the bus trek to this original setting of the, you know it before i say it, Twilight. I tried to get elaine to do the edwarddullenlookatmeimasparklyshinyvampirethatwantstodiebecausemygirlisdead pose at the door of that one building with the clock tower thingy, but she just didnt get it. also, so slightly provocative (and by provactive, i mean disturbing) photos were taken of me in front of the visitors center with a photo of him or her or something or other, its all very blurry in my mind at the moment.

we happened upon the ruins of a theatre. awesome, as usual.

we tried in vain to drink a supertuscan but the place was closed.

we ate some yummy pizza with an amazing vista.

then we tried to get on a bus that would take us to the AMAZING COLLE VAL D`ELSA and then on to Siena, but, ahem, we got on the wrong bus and ended up back in Volterra for a couple extra hours.

at this point, we decided to booze it up with the rest of my montepulciano wine and then some tasty san gimignano wine we got there. again, properly enjoyed an amazing vista. then back to the theatre ruins where elaine mesmerized me with her flamenco dancing skills.

we came to the following conclusions: 1) Volterra is the shit. 2) Vacation in Italy with good friends and fun mishaps is fantastic. AND 3) Wine makes everything better.

colle val d'elsa

2010-03-25T11:36:00.005+01:00

probably the best place in italy, this tiny little pit stop on the way to volterra and siena is probably second only to the illustrious poggibonsi, with its cute little old men loitering, as usual, at the bus station.

again, if photos were at my disposal, you could see the AMAZING cites of this miraculous place:

the best cafe´ ever.

an outstanding obelisk.

and, aha... equestrian monuments!!!

Colle Val D`Elsa, I will never forget you.

san gimignano con elaine!

2010-03-25T11:35:00.002+01:00

bleh. blogs minus pictures are boring and harder to write.

anyways.

san gimignano, in a nut shell, was, hah, quite the trip.

we randomly ran into scott there (yeah, scott. hi scott! why are you everywhere?/i hope you had an awesome time touring the tuscan country side)!

and it was rainy, but nice nonetheless. elaine and i walked around the wall, after some confusion and a brief period of time in which we walked between two walls. excitement!

we climbed a tower and sat on a bench. i got mad at a bird. we got lost trying to find this wine shop we had done a free wine tasting in (so NOT as epic as montepulciano, but still fun).

also: we found a purse shop that i am pretty sure is the one run by toms uncle but i was too chicken to ask.

basically, san gimignano is a crazy town of twists, turns and, duh, towers.

elaine in italia!!!

2010-03-25T11:34:00.001+01:00

i was quite the lucky ducky this past week when the most wonderful of people, elaine, no longer in spain but in cape town, came to see me in florence in her in-between-time. if i were able to post a picture, i would post several random shots of me and elaine and our private room and yet oh-so-cheap-ten-euro-a-night hostel, complete with snarky comments. alas, you will just have to use your imagination.

PICTURE IF YOU WILL: Tom and I waited anxiously for Elaine at the airport. Alas, her plane was late and we played cards for a while. I bought a copy of the little prince in italian (so exciting!! i can understand it and only partially because i know the story by heart!) and then i made tom hold my elaine welcome sign: Elaine F%°$ing ALBERTSON. I hid behind a strange display of modern technology and giggled at my own ingenious stupidity. i was so so so excited to see her!

The rest of the few next days together were more or less blissful minus some unfortunate shit that went down involving evil frogs and theiving pilfering saints. do tell, do tell! you shout. dont worry. i will (ish).

lucca da sola

2010-03-19T21:18:00.002+01:00

as i am not currently able to connect to the internet with my own computer and as i am extremely behind on posts and such, the next few will be brief, pictureless, but special nonetheless. pictures to come, perhaps?

(also, i am typing right now on the oh so strange german keyboard and mistakes are bound to ensue. be prepared.)

so. lucca.

after completeing my final final finally on friday, i decided to set off by myself to a place where everyone else from stanford at florence decided to go to their first weekend here, the big L town, Lucca.

it was quite pleasant, with a wall slash park slash running track surrounding the whole thing. that short guy from france gave the town as a gift to his special lady friend and she (or some she after she?) re-vamped the place and made it park like every where. she is THE lady bird johnson of lucca.

the whole time there, i kept thinking how fun it would be if my neice adah and my sister alisha were there--i think she (alisha) would LOVE this place, as i described to her in a post card that i will probably only get to her once i return to austin (her address eludes me), it has everything she could want in a place. minus, maybe, live music, though i dont know because i wasnt there at night...

it was quite cute and relaxing. altogether, id say, lucca is lovely. la la la.

settignano

2010-03-17T07:36:00.004+01:00

Another glorious day of random travel when i should have been studying, tom and i take another bus to Settignano.

Waterz gutter, of course.
The Tuscan countryside is soooo beautiful....

Even on a warm day, Italian women sport their fur coats.

Relaxing in a meadow, looking out at the hillside, soaking up some sun...

green, green, green...

When everyone else was picking flowers, tom picked onions. yum. and i made him wear my hat.

this stick person was too funny. ahh!

pretty trees.

Gli alberi conoscono il dolore del tempo.

The trees know the sorrow of time.
So true..

And again, another spectacular view. Ahh sunsets...

verona

2010-03-09T17:28:00.004+01:00

Verona is, without a doubt, definitely a beautiful city of love. There was love everywhere...

love between the pretty pink and white marble that lined the streets...

love compelled my hat to fly off this tower...

and find its soul mate in a trashcan far below...

Shakespeare, the Bard, the inventor of love has his place here too (well, um, duh)...

a wall of declarations of love outside "Juliet's House"

the text of this romantic tragedy is to be found all over the city. it all made me really excited to be studying shakespeare this next quarter at oxford.

locks of love, not cut off hair for cancer patients, but literal locks... i first heard about this trend during my first week in florence on a little tour. we were on the ponte vecchio and the guide pointed out these locks that had been locked to something or other and he said that lovers, though it is illegal, would come and latch a lock and throw the key into the river as a testament to the long lasting nature of their love. since that, i have seen the locks everywhere...

love notes in the trash (they'd fallen off the wall)... ah trash...

more love locks on their oldest roman bridge that we crossed to go to this old roman theatre... so cool.

there's even love in the leaves and puddles. beautiful.

venezia con celeste e melissa

2010-03-09T17:27:00.006+01:00

A couple weekends ago, I went off to Venice with Celeste and Melissa. I went as a student of art, mostly, because I had to write a paper about art in Venice for, of course, my Art History (aha) course. I spent a great deal of time there in museums, looking at church architecture, equestrian statues and the like. I found that I was quite content to do so. Everyone who goes to or has been to Venice says they love it there, that it is one of the most beautiful cities they have ever seen. I thought it was pretty nice, myself, but I didn't fall in love with it. Maybe I didn't spend enough time out and about in it, though I did walk around quite a lot. I also might mention, I'm not crazy about water and sea and ocean and such. At least not yet. The colors of the city were beautiful though, that is for certain...

The famed Rialto Bridge--every city seems to have a major famous bridge (have I mentioned this before?)--New York has the Brooklyn Bridge, San Francisco the Golden Gate, Austin has Congress Bridge (those damn bats...), Florence has the Ponte Vecchio and this place, the Rialto.

in the Piazza San Marco...

Maybe part of my lack of absolute undying love and enamor for the city came from the fact that I was creeped out by how easy it would be just to walk into the sea and disappear forever. I couldn't help bu think, every time I got close to the water, "What if I get pushed in and just...sink to the bottom?" Unlikely, as people, due to our natural buoyancy, are supposed to float, but still...

The Gondoliers were so serious in their black uniforms and ready-for-action stances. That, coupled with their funny hats, I thought, was quite picture worthy. They're like a little Gondola FBI.

SEE? I mean, doesn't this look like serious business?

The water was mesmerizing...

And the view from the bridge was just as beautiful, if not more so, at night!

current dilemma:

2010-03-08T18:32:00.004+01:00

so many things to report, past and present, so little time to report them. with finals rapidly approaching, school work has become, alas, inevitable.

on a happier note, i have just found a rather warm spot on my bedroom floor that appears to be heated from somewhere beneath my room. at the moment, the heater in my house is not on so the actual source remains a mystery. I have since planted my feet on the brown-wood floor and am reaping the benefits. mmm toasty.

also, i had no idea that was how you spelled dilemma. psh, english.

**Quick note on the pic: soccer game in italia--who won?? more info coming... uh... eventually?**

one rainy wish...

2010-03-01T08:11:00.010+01:00

One of my favorite moments of winter quarter took place on what started to be one of the crappiest days. the old story of my blah blah blah self pity of not traveling all around while other people did (such old news at this point, i have absolutely no regrets about how i spent my time or money) was happening and i was at a loss as to what to do with myself. it was raining outside and cold, of course, so motivation was lacking, but i just couldnt be inside anymore so... i took a walk.

i crossed the arno at the ponte della grazie, that good old bridge i would so often take on my way to school, and i took a left. down the road and to the left, there is a little tiny open parkish space, with benches and trees and such, quite nice, quite tranquil (natalie, this is where i wrote your postcard). there is also a ramp which you can walk down to get closer to the river.

Down there, i found these cool terracotta pieces and made a flower out of them. i also filched the pieces and am taking them home.

I continued my walk and started the climb up to the piazza della michelangelo. pretty rainy fountains awaited me. i took my time, enjoying the moment and the music of the rain.

moss and rocks. i love em.

more beautiful gutters. i just cant get enough.

i dont know if any of you remember the part of the movie of the war of the worlds in which the aliens spit the blood of the humans out of their big machines and then the earth is covered with red veins of blood or something, but that is what the stuff on this wall reminded me of, only it was beautiful and i wasnt severely freaked out and scared out of my mind.

so many pictures of the duomo from some high place... it is just such a site to behold...

artsy fartsy broken umbrella photo. the object struck me, also because my umbrella had collapsed upon me and met its maker earlier that day. it was nice to know that others had met the same fate. *sings* 'no one is alone...'

i really like tiny tiled mosaic surfaces.

and the trees here, with their imposing majesty... rain makes every photo look dramatic. i love it.

fiesole

2010-03-01T08:11:00.008+01:00

Quite a few Sundays ago, Tom took me up to Fiesole, the place of his birth, a tiny little town just outside of Florence (still a part of Florence, really, I think).

We took the bus.

It was actually my first public city bus ride in Italy.

When we got there, there was a pleasant little open-air market/fair going on. There, I saw this adorable little fairy dress I wish I could have gotten for Adah, but alas, I didn't have enough money on me.

We climbed up this hill thing and laid around on the grass, something I'd been dying to do all quarter. I love green grass.

There was this little church/monastery up at the top of the hill and we went inside, though I felt like a fiend. I think it was okay though. Monasteries are so cool--like little dormitories. Actually, that's exactly what they are, except...religious (aren't you just enthralled by my brilliant insight??).

We continued walking around and saw pretty flowers on a wall...

and a park!! did we swing? You bet we did! and I wished, again, that Adah was there so I could take her down the slide.

As we continued our walk along off-beaten paths, I noticed this strange figure far off in the grass. Now, the weather was a bit gray that day, though it felt wonderful, it was a little creepy. This only added to the eeriness of the situation, though, it turns out, the thing is not any real thing at all, but some sort of pig statue that was in the middle of the field? I am not sure--but doesn't this photo look remarkably fake??? It's like a spotting of a Chupacabra or something... MAYBE IT WAS?!?!

At the very least, the view was spectacular! I plan to take Elaine there... TODAY, actually! :D

montepulciano

2010-03-01T08:10:00.017+01:00

What seems like forever ago, Heather, Brigin, Ale and I went on a little day trip to the beautiful hill town of Montepulciano. Immediatly upon entering the little hilly town, I was in love. Also, they have the best wine ever.

We got to participate in so much free wine tasting, it was wonderful. Thís place pictured here was when we stoped by the Rick Steves recommended place with this little old man named Adamo, adam... he was all over Ale, called him his Eve. (get it, adam and eve, hah... wonder how many times he has used that line?)

This place has recently had an influx of visitors, i think, because the infamously popular Twilight series saga part two, New Moon, was partially filmed here, though the books says the vampires live in Volterra (which you will read about later, when i finally upload those photos... fingers crossed). This is that one building with the clock tower seen in the movie.. town hall? sort of like the one building in florence, in the piazza della signorina... crap, i dont know why i cant remember the name... eugh...

candles in their old school unfinished on the outside church... oooooohhh...

so many wine barrels in all the cellars we visited... i wanted to take one home so bad. mmm, vino...

I really really loved Montepulciano. The beautiful weather probably had something to do with that.

Si, e´ vero, la vita e` bella!

carnivale a viareggio...

2010-03-01T08:10:00.013+01:00

Some time ago, on the last day of carnival celebration) which was actually after carnival had already ended and lent was supposed to have begun, I went with a friend of mine from F.E.S.T.A. and some of the kids from our program to Viareggio, a sort of beach town on the western coast of Italy. It was rather cold but also rather fun. There were some amazing paper floats, paper mache` people, and costumes galore. Carnival here is a family affair with entire clans dressing up together for this special celebration. Children and adults throw confetti and silly string in the faces of passerbys, all in good fun, and the streets are littered with the celebration. Here are a few visual high-lights:

My favorites, by far, Italian transvestites. Awesome.

Most of the costumes at this event were not scary, though with everyone walking around in masks, I can understand why some people might get unnerved. Here however, children faced their fears of the evil man in a black cloak by drenching him with silly string. I love the celebration and triumph of life over death at this time of year.

One of the little girls from our F.E.S.T.A. program, this kid is hilarious--she was having none of it at Carnival: "I'm so over this."

A slightly creepy but also very funny Michael Jackson float. On it were dozens of Italian Michael Jackson's doing "Thriller," "Dirty Diana." and various other extremely entertaining dances.

Giant swans getting some action??? I'm not sure...

I know the photos might seem a little eerie in color--the sun wasn't exactly shining, but everything was incredibly bright and lively and amazing. If you ever get the chance to go to a carnival of any kind, you definitely should. I'm really glad I didn't miss it, even if my experience was rather tame compared to some others. ;-)

le viste

2010-03-01T08:10:00.009+01:00

Another thing I will miss? The views. It turns out I love greenery and tiny buildings and things hanging out the window to dry and old city walls and secret gardens and pathways. This view may not seem particularly amazing to you and this photo doesn't really capture it the way that I saw it, but when I saw it outside the window of the Stanford Center, I knew I would want to remember it.

Florence is full of amazing views and I have enjoyed getting to see each and everyone of them, at various times of the day. Morning, noon, evening, night. Each time I see something beautiful here I am grateful again for all the time that I spend here, for having made so many memories in so many places around the city. It is my hope that when I return, I will be able to remember these moments, as I pass by the bridges and buildings, that I will be able to see the faces I have seen and hear the voices I have heard, remember the feeling and the words and the moment. It's the moment that I love the most, and reminders of the moment, physical, emotional, pictorial, they help me hold this place in my memory, in my body, in my soul.

Florence, my dear, I will come back to you.

on the street where you live...

2010-03-01T08:08:00.005+01:00

It's the little things I see day to day that tickle me the most here in Florence. For instance, this knight that guards my street--there are little images like this all over the city on many a street corner and each time I see them, I have to stop and smile. The little differences, the works of delicate art all over the city everywhere you look is one of the things I will miss the most about this place.

as we melt, let's make no noise...

2010-02-27T08:08:00.005+01:00

I am new to the world of taking pictures. Before this past Christmas, I had never had a digital camera or otherwise to call my own and so, until recently, I had not been accustomed to taking photographs. Even now, I don't know what I am doing, really. Most of the time I am frustrated that what I see in real life cannot be captured with my camera--the way I see things in the moment can never translate into what I see on the screen of my camera. Ah well. What I have discovered about myself and picture taking is that I like to capture the unseen things, the strange things that people don't take photos of, things like gutters.

A gutter in Rome, flowers left on the pavement, possibly from some New Years celebration struck me as beautiful despite their disheveled state. The red and yellow and green against the gray pavement... reminds me of a line from a song, "we're two white roses lying frozen just outside your door, i made you so happy and so sad, which should i be more sorry for?"

More rose petals on the ground by St. James, the American Church here in Florence. With all of these things, I cannot help but wonder and ask, how did these things get here? what purpose do they serve? who placed them here and why? and what is it that makes me stop and reflect on them now?

The side of the road filled with remnants of Carnival, cigarette butts and confetti stuck to the muddy pavement by the rain, pieces of broken wine bottles laced with grace that tries to escape from the concrete that smothers it, stifling it for decades upon decades, i imagine.

Even the drains here in Florence are floral and beautiful. The green moss on the wet pavement, my favorite shade, the sound of the water underground, mysterious and clear, eerie and comforting, foreign and familiar, I find myself already nostalgic for this moment in the rain in Florence.

My little life

2010-02-26T14:30:00.003+01:00

The next few posts will be tiny glimpses into small moments of my existence here as I have realized, more and more, it is the small moments here, the seemingly insignificant ones, that have meant the most to me.

Moment of tranquility: Sitting in the courtyard of the Oblate Biblioteca (libary) right around the corner from my home-stay on a slightly chilly and rainy late afternoon, the sun is going down and I am reading for my Classics course in this place that used to be a peaceful monastery where individuals seeking some kind of truth would contemplate the things of heaven and the things of earth, where now, students desperate from some knowledge or other, maintaining a silent reverie for this sacred place of learning, are granted the peace of academic solitude.

Sono a firenze, sempre

2010-02-26T12:21:00.003+01:00

I have been inspired, as of late, but a wise individual, be be content with what I have, and so I am writing to confirm the fact that I, Chelsey, am happy right where I am, here in Firenze.

I say this in part for self-affirmation. It is very easy for me to feel not so hot about the fact that while everyone else in the program gallivants off to this place or that every weekend, I always, always stay in town. It is easy to feel as if I am missing out on something as I look at all the pictures that people take of during their visits here and there. But I am working on drowning out that little voice that tells me I am wasting my time here because I know, certainly, I am not.

Why do I stay here every weekend, you wonder? Well, primarily because every Saturday, from around 2 to 5ish, I have work. Work?!? Well, yes, of sorts. Actually, I am an intern for F.E.S.T.A (Florence English Speaking Theatrical Artists) and every Saturday I help with their current children's theatre project Don't Laugh At Me, as mentioned and described in detail in the Florentine article mentioned in a previous post.

Though at times, I may feel hampered by such an obligation, every time I get there and start working with those kids, all of those worries about missing out on things, about not having the weekend (well, the Saturday) to visit exotic cities or ones right outside the city, they vanish. I am happy, here in this moment, to be changing the lives of children, to foster growth and compassion within their little selves, to get to see a side of Florence that not many college students here do get to see.

When I think about the long-lasting impact such a decision to work with F.E.S.T.A. makes, not only on my life, but on the lives of the children involved, no ephemeral picture or souvenir or night on the town can compare. Sono contenta cosi, I am happy as I am.

And these are not just words. This is the truth. I am so lucky to be here, to do what I am doing, to experience this city the way I am experiencing it, and why would I want to trade that? I wouldn't. I don't.

I will return to Italy, certainly. I will see the world, someday. Perhaps. Maybe I won't. I am beginning to realize though, that seeing things is not what matters. Making an impact where you are, learning from the people you live and work with, working in a field you love, that is what matters. That is what I want my life to be. More than traveling, more than seeing things and taking pictures, I want to live.

And what is life, what is living? Life is here, living is being where you are and nowhere else, life happens where you work and learn and eat and play. Life, for me, right now, is Firenze.

C`est la vie

2010-02-22T18:40:00.005+01:00

So I figured out why I haven't been scribbling in here as much and this is the conclusion I have come to: it is because most of what goes on here has become, well, la mia vita-my life. I have a life here. I am not just a visitor passing through or some random American on the street. No. I live here. I work here. I have various sorts of encounters, and friends and a family and a place I can call my own. My host parents said to me the other day, "Tu sembra come una figlia"--I seem like a daughter to them and when I am not around, they wish I was there. You can't imagine how welcome that made me feel.

I wasn't around you ask? Well, no. For a few days, I house sat for my FESTA Theatre associate who was out of town for a film festival in Germany. For the weekend, I lived on my own on the other side of town with a dog named Betta and a cat named Cat. I took Betta for walks and felt like such a local. I cooked for myself and bought ingredients at the local supermarket right next door. It was great--a little lonely at times and I missed my host family and their cooking, but it was great, a glimpse of what life here could be like and, in many ways, is.

I've begun to cook more for myself at my homestay too and I find that it always puts me in a better mood. I've made pasta for lunch, a panino on various occasions. I love how the supermarkets here are so close to where you live in comparison to the huge ones that are so spread out in the States. Italians are all about making life in the kitchen easer. My host mom has shown me all sorts of cool kitchen gadgets, like a salad spinner that tosses and dries your salad for you, a hand-held food processor for making soups and such (compared to those huge ones found in Co-Op kitchens on the Stanford campus) that can become a blender and a masher and a . . . etc. Now maybe we do have these things in the States, but I've never encountered them and I think the Italians are brilliant.

So more past-life updates coming, daily perhaps, in an effort to catch up on all that I have missed. What can I say though? La vita e' bella.

No posts in February yet???

2010-02-15T10:25:00.002+01:00

Apologies again, more posts/belated updates coming soon!

Carmen Consoli e' una bella cantautrice

2010-02-09T14:59:00.015+01:00

A while back, what day it was at this point, I can't even remember, but the illustrious Bing Family once again pulled out all the stops and financed an Italian concert evening for us lucky Stanford students. It was a really fun and entertaining evening featuring Sicilian singer Carmen Consoli.

Ascolta qui !

I especially enjoyed the venue, the Teatro Verdi, a beautiful theatre with old-school style opera balcony seats and what not.

Good times, good times.

gli stivali italiani

2010-02-09T14:59:00.010+01:00

Ho comprato questo stivali. Sono felice.
I bought these boots. I am happy.

The Florentine publication and all its medicority...

2010-01-29T07:14:00.003+01:00

Though I should be preparing for my Italian quiz, what I really want to do at the moment is share with you all, very quickly this article:

http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=5296

The sentence construction is, by and large, passive and horrible and everywhere they say, "Loftus says" is inaccurate. I wrote this press release, I basically wrote a much better version of this article and though I did not expect to be given credit for it, I also did not expect that they would take my well-written words, make them crappy, call them someone else's in part, and publish it as their's. Ah well. But I just want you all to know, my opinion of the writing capabilities of most of the world, and particularly of the Florentine staff, remains low.

Back-Track: When in Rome...

2010-01-27T08:25:00.008+01:00

Way overdue, as usual...

About two weeks ago, all of us Stanford kiddos went to Roma, Italia, the eternal city. It was pretty sweet. We kicked it Bing-style, with a luxurious hotel in which I took the best shower/bath of my life and had the best breakfast ever. In addition, the Bings (this super-wealthy/super-generous family that likes to treat Stanford students like VIP) made sure that we had a private bus and walking tour around the city, a private (I mean no one was in there but the twenty of us) tour of the Vatican Museum INCLUDING the Sistine Chapel, and a sumptious, multi-course dinner.

SO: When in Rome...

Check out the ancient roads with mysteries hidden beneath...

Have pizza and beer with friends for lunch, Italian style (not that the Italians would drink beer with their pizza, but to each his own)...

Sit pretty among the ruins of the ancient Roman forum...

And then do some yoga...

Illegally climb upon some old remains of the Coloseum for a group photo...

See the School of Athens with your school...

Take illegal photos while you contemplate the wrath of God in the Sistine Chapel...

And then have another half-pint of Guiness while you act like an old-man in a Scottish pub...

Good times, good times.

A night at the opera...

2010-01-27T08:08:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, for most of the day, I was feeling pretty crumby--it happens, sometimes--all the little things in your day seem to go wrong, its rainy, its cold, you're body aches, the world is against you. And the last thing I expected to cheer me up was a multiple-hour long show in which the singers are shrilly screeching at me in a language I can't really understand, creating, for me, what will inevitably be a very expensive nap. But that wasn't the case last night at L'Italiana in Algeri, the opera that the Bing family that sponsors all expensive events for Stanford's study abroad programs, the angels with the very large pocket books and even bigger hearts.L'Italiana in Algeri, which you can read a little bit more about here and also here, was quite the experience. It proved to be very funny, very entertaining, and I didn't hit the snooze button once! The set and costumes were great--very colorful, very appropriate for the light-heartedness of the opera. I especially enjoyed the three women body-guards who seemed to me to be the shows little parody of Italian women, drinking their coffee, smoking their cigarettes, and looking absolutely amazing, even when dawning a huge turban on their head, wearing their stunner shades at all times. The lighting, the contrast of day and night, the way the stars looked on the backdrop and the way light was effectively used to create a sense of coolness and warmth at various times was inspirational. The acting of all of the singers was quite good, but I was particularly drawn to the man who played the cat--the physicality of his character, his commitment to the part with no lines, was admirable and he executed the role seamlessly. It really added to the show, for me, and I know everyone else enjoyed it as well.

I could go on, really, but I won't. On to the day! The sun appears to be shining, which is a welcome blessing.

Buona Giornata per tutti!

The Posts of Days That Passed, Part Two: Lo Spetacolo

2010-01-21T20:11:00.013+01:00

During my first week in Florence, I began working with the theatre group, Florence Speaking Theatrical Artists (FESTA) and helped them launch their children's theatre production of The Velveteen Rabbit. It was a spectacular experience, to say the least and I had a ton of fun. The show featured local children who spoke both Italian and English, along with some adult actors. The set was paid for by American Actor John Malkovich's textile company, or something like that... Anyways, here are a few visual highlights:

This is the theatre--it was spectacular!!!

I helped primarily with the set, following orders and cutting and hot-gluing millions of felt pieces to other felt pieces. It was slightly dangerous, but fun.

I was given some creative license with the Christmas presents on this tree, so I had quite the time!!

The set turned out to be pretty miraculous--I was definitely impressed with all that they were able to do with nothing more than a
This is an amazing bed Olga made entirely out of felt so quickly I couldn't even believe it.

The details were so intricate and precises, I was really amazed by the artistic capabilities of the people working on it.

The theatre where all of this took place, the Pergola, is one of the oldest theatres in Florence. I was kind of obsessed with it.

The kids in the show were so freaking cute and talented, I almost couldn't handle it.

Even most of their costumes were made out of felt. It was pretty impressive.

Though this photo fails to capture his essence, this guy, for me, is the epitome of tech guys of the Italian theatre, or exactly what you think they would be like--casually fashionable, thick-rimmed glasses, with a cigarette always hanging out of his mouth. Perfection.

And so concludes Part 2 of The Posts of Days That Passed.

The Posts of Days That Passed: Part One, La Befana

2010-01-21T20:11:00.007+01:00

Alright. So I realize that a lot of time has gone by since I have been here and a lot has happened, so I am going to attempt to update you all on a few key things that I should have updated you on a long time ago. Please pardon me while I redeem myself. This post will mark the first of a few that will attempt to make up for my oversight/laziness of late.

Part One: La Befana

La Befana is a holiday celebrated here in Italy on January 5th, the Eve of Epiphany, the day on which Christians celebrate the revelation of God to man in the person of Jesus Christ. La Befana is a witch-like old woman who places candies/presents in the stockings of children who have been good, much like the State's version of Santa Clause, but different than Babbo Natale, or Father Christmas here in Italia.

This year, my Italian family presented me with my very own La Befana:

So that's mine over there on the far right...

Isn't she sweet looking???

And this is all the candy that was inside! Yummm....

And so, the First Part of The Posts of Days That Passed concludes. Thank you for tuning in.

I am not a good blogger...

2010-01-21T19:58:00.005+01:00

Dear readers,

I feel as if I haven't let you down immensely--here I am, I've been in Italy for about 3 weeks now and all I have managed to write are five lousy posts since my arrival. Shame on me. But you should know: it is not easy for me to think of what is and is not blog-worthy. I could just post some random crap everyday and ramble on and on about blah blah blah (like I am doing now) but the truth of the matter is I find such efforts to be a waste of time, yours and mine, however hilariously entertaining or incredibly distasteful my posts might be.

"But what have you been doing with your time, Chelsey?" you desperately ask. Truth: I've been reading Twilight's third installment by night (I am finally done, thank goodness) and doing homework, by and large, by day. Or walking around, or listening to music, or catching up with friends, or... well not everything is blog-relevant, so I'll just stop there. I am sorry to disappoint, but my life really isn't that exciting... (Or rather, it is exciting, quite, but not everything is meant to be laid out in the open like a body on an operating table--some things are sacred people, geez!)

So get off my case.

Also, I love you. And I promise to keep you posted when actually exciting things that I want you to know about happen. :P

Va bene? Va bene.

-Chelsey

I love me some Rhum.

2010-01-16T20:19:00.003+01:00

Yep, while waiting for the next episode of 30 Rock to load on Mega Video, I decided I finally had time to blog about life in the little city of Firenze. A lot has happened since my arrival almost two weeks ago (What the hell?!? I've already been here two weeks?!? What am I doing with my life?!?), some of it worthy of report, most of it not. I've only had gelato twice, I haven't seen Michelangelo's David yet (*wink*wink*), and I'm still afraid to leave my house for fear of making some dastardly mistake while out and about with the Italian people--what if I don't emphasize the second "n" enough when pronouncing, "Ho ventuno anni," and I accidentally tell someone I have twenty-one anuses (ani)--what will happen to reputation in Italia then, when one no longer believes that I am like any other human being with simply one??? So naturally, I spend a lot of time in my room or at the library down the street, doing homework and not talking to anybody.

But then there's Rhum, good ol' I-won't-judge-you-no-matter-how-many-anuses-you-may-or-may-not-have Rhum, my host family's dog:

I love Rhum and much to my delight, he is not hairless in any way. An Irish Setter by birth, but an Italian Setter via naturalization, Rhum was named after my host-dad's favorite liquor, rhum. And what a delight he is, just like that oh so smooth alcoholic beverage of Caribbean bliss. He is soft, and kind and won't give you head ache in the morning as long as you use him responsibly. (I may be trying a bit too hard here...).

As it stands, Rhum, ti voglio bene.

And now on to 30 Rock! Oh how I love thee, Tina Fey.

Il cibo di Angelica

2010-01-14T16:25:00.004+01:00

The food my host mother makes me here in Florence is amazing. She cooks the simplest dishes, but with the finest ingredients. The family has also introduced me to very Tuscan dishes, as they say, deserts from Sienna, the best cheese and marmalade combination you could ever imagine, and more. Here is a picture of la bistecca con formaggio that we had the other night that I want to eat until the day I die:

It is cooked and soaked in the most scrumptious olive oil you could ever imagine, made by her friend who lives in the neighborhood. That is why everything here is so great--because it is fresh, made locally and eaten seasonally. I have never been able to eat so much in my life--they pretty much give me 3 huge pieces of meat a night, heaping servings of vegetables (potatoes galore--I am in heaven), bread, and more. And the kitchen is so beautiful:

And the view? Mi piace molto.

I am quite fond of the city skyline here. I find it rather quaint. Very different from big cities in America, but still definitely cities nonetheless. Florence is a big small town, they say. And I'm likin' it.

Il cibo buono...

2010-01-08T08:40:00.002+01:00

Now I don't have a picture of it, but you should know (though any person with common sense should know this) that the food here in Italy actually is the best in the world. We had a delicious dinner last night at a famous ristorante, Omero's along with a private tour of Galileo's house (which is right across the street). The night was exquisite, the company was grand and all in all we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Yes, this blog entry is a bit lame, full of none of the usual hilarious (bahhaha) intrigues, but, what can I say? I have to eat breakfast. Even after last nights cena grande, I still work up with my stomach growling! Si, e` vero--sono una buona forchetta!

Sono a firenze...

2010-01-04T23:14:00.004+01:00

and things are pretty difficult here. I seriously have forgotten all of the Italian I have learned and there are lots of little things here that I am not used to, like eating while holding the fork in my left hand, eating an orange and a pizza with a knife and a fork, etc. etc. My host mom had to show me how to do it, they must think I am so dumb. I tried to explain that in Texas, we eat everything with our hands. They must think we are barbaric. Sorry guys. And appearance is very important here too and I have been pretty junky looking for the past few days, so I'm sure I'm not making a great impression on that front either. Eugh. Life is complicated. Anyways, I am trying to keep my hopes up, I mean, I have only been here for a few days, so we'll see how it goes.

OH!--also, I have been battling a cold, blowing my nose as disgustingly as possible as often as possible. It turns out becoming a life-size tissue for my niece did have some repercussions. Ah well. Her cuteness and love is worth anything. Really, I hope I took the sickness away from her and that she is feeling all better now because babies shouldn't have to suffer like that. I know, I know. I'm such a saint. :P

And again, I don't know why this photo is not the right way, but see: Aunt Chelsey, deranged and loving every minute of it after a day of looking after wonderful and full of snot Adah.

See how sweet we are together???

Until the moment of truth, when she communicates to me that she has . . . a poopy diaper. Gross.

On an evening in Roma...

2010-01-04T08:45:00.010+01:00

So my blog maker is acting funky and I typed out this whole blog it won't let me publish all at once, so I am going to start it now and publish it piece by piece each time I can, so you can all have the visual updates I know you so desperately crave.

Here are a view visual highlights of the trip thus far:

--I don't know why this won't flip the way I want it to, but whatever...--

Emily, you were right, the food on the plane is amazing. I was so hungry by the time it came, I devoured it very quickly. And Elaine, thought you'd be glad to know--they gave us reusable metal utensils to eat with! Che bello!

You can't really tell from this photo, but the sunrise from the plane was beautiful, the idea of it more so, I couldn't stop smiling--a new year, a new beginning, the first day of it all in Europe. Amazing. I am so excited for all of this.

My first cup of coffee in Rome at the airport. It was so tiny and bitter, it hurt so good.

This is the door to the hostel we stayed at. It was impossible to get open. Celeste and I almost cried when we finally got back to the place after a day of walking around Rome and we couldn't get in from the outside and the people there couldn't open it from the inside. It was ridiculous.

On our first night there, us American girls of the hostel ventured out into the rain and walked to the Colosseum, not because we had the energy but because Celeste and I were trying to avoid the jet-lag we would get if we went to bed too early. So far, so good. On our walk, we came across this bike. My first instinct, of course, was to take it, but I settled for this picture instead.

This photo speaks to me. It was taken when we walked the entire way around the wall of Vatican City to get to the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica. Why did we do such a thing, you ask? Who knows, but I think it was well worth it, if for nothing but this photo.

Once we got to the god-like embracing arms of the Basilica, what did we see but of course, nuns. And a priest who ran into Celeste. Good times, good times.Celeste and I continued our walk outside of the Medici Mansion. Big whoop. But this really regular, not so amazing fountains (actually, it was filled with trash) was outside across the street from it and I took this photograph that makes it look pretty artsy fartsy, if you ask me. Very, "Look at me and my fountainous glory with my water bursting forth over the rim and splashing down to form slight ripples of motion!"

And you know what? There were a lot of other things that we saw and a lot of other pictures that I took, like some of the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, castles, churches, odalisques, and other ordinary things like that, but am I going to leave you with any of these? Nah. Instead, I'm going to treat you all to a little eye candy. CAUTION: Children, please avert your gaze. Elaine, this one's for you:

These are our steamy Brazilian hostel-mates who slept practically in the nude, much to my delight. And they're not just hunks either--one of them is in law school! Oh la la. Brains and a body. * sigh * And yes, I took a picture of them while they were sleeping--how else was I supposed to document this moment?!?

Until next time, may the force be with you.

And also with you, you sexy Brazilians...

It's the final countdown...

2009-12-31T15:56:00.004+01:00

Or rather, the final countdown is up. For the past twenty four hours, I have been wide awake (more or less) and quite ready to embark and now here I am, in the Houston International Airport, embarking. I am currently en route to Italia where I will indulge in la vita bella, and eat genuine Italian cooking and drink genuine Italian wine. But in the mean time, back in the states, I had my final taste of all that is American at Double Daves, Austin's master of Pizzaworks (like fireworks, but greasier)--pizza and beer.

There were also m&ms, but I was under the impression I shouldn't venture towards those.

In my final moments of sanity, Emily the Brave and True joined me in my quest for sleep deprivation and helped me make a list of the final things I had to take care of before I took off:

I found it to be most helpful.

Safe travels to all my beloveds embarking on their own journeys near and far. Happy New Year!

Cinema Italiano

2009-12-27T20:35:00.009+01:00

Maybe it's because the great nation of Italia has been on my mind and maybe it's because I've been watching more movies in the theatre than I usually do, but it seems to me that the universe is aware of my upcoming trip. Everywhere I look, every film and preview I see, there is Italia. Observe:

First I will of course note New Moon, which features scenes in Volterra, Italy, which is actually a real place--go figure. Here is my favorite moment from the movie:

Do I plan on visiting? You bet I do. Celeste, take note.

Next, there is the musical Nine (which I saw last night with Miss Emily) based on the life of Federico Fellini, an Italian film director and the many women in his life. It features an all star cast, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Dame Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Fergie and the amazing Marion Cotillard as his wife. I encourage you to at least watch the preview.

The next two are previews I have seen that are likewise intriguing and involve Italia. The first is Letters to Juliet with Mamma Mia's Amanda Seyfried.

And the final, perhaps less promising, but still out and about Rome, or Americans in Rome at least, When in Rome, starring Kirsten Bell--I don't know who she is really either, but does it matter?--No.

Well look out Rome--no more blondes for you; this redhead is coming to town!

Christmas Feasts

2009-12-26T21:11:00.003+01:00

Great American food, for the last time in a while. Here's what went down:

Christmas luncheon with the Huffs--

And Christmas dinner with the Littles--

DELIGHT!

Bon Voyage! Part One

2009-12-26T01:23:00.007+01:00

It's Christmas Day and we're doing it Little-style here in Austin, Texas, cooking up a Thanksgiving-size dinner made up of all our family favorites. Here's what's on the menu:

-deviled eggs
-ham (with pineapple and red-hot cinnamon flavor)
-turkey
-stuffing
-mashed potatoes
-green beans (with cheese and sour cream)
-corn
-baked beans
-buttered rolls
-pumpkin pie (with cool whip)

A good dinner is one of the special things that can bring our family together and so, as a part of my big "good bye" before I take off for the Old World, all of the family is coming together to chow down.

Christmas Eve was likewise a spectacular extravaganza of food and family. My dearest sister Alisha blessed me with a camera for my trip and I was able to capture some good shots.

We spent the day at Alisha's house where Thomas' mom made the Littles and Guerras a Christmas Eve feast of delicious Mexican food: cheesy chicken enchiladas, beans & rice, tamales, empanadas and more. It was pretty tasty.

Presents were also exchanged on Christmas Eve, so in addition to the camera, I received a beautiful leather-bound journal from my brother's girlfriend to document my travels with:

So as a a part of my documentation process, I have decided to use the journal to draft these blogs and take note of all the random things I come across on my travels. Occasionally, I might try and scan some pages in and post them for general amusement but mostly I will taint the journal with my horrible hand-writing and silly thoughts. C'est la vie!

Now on with the feasts! Let the good times roll!

FIRST STEP: Planning the Journey

2009-12-23T05:38:00.020+01:00

The details:

On December 31st of the year 2009, Chelsey the Great will embark on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean and into the wild that is Western Europe. Arriving in Rome (or Roma, as any reasonably precocious philoitalia might refer to it as) on January 1st of 2010, she will spend the wee small hours of the morning going through customs, waiting around in the airport reading the insatiable third edition of the Twilight saga, Stephanie Meyer's Eclipse as she anticipates the arrival of her good friend and travel buddy Celeste who will also be gallivanting about Europe for the following six months (for more details, see her very own, much cooler than mine ever will be--you guessed it--BLOG).

After all that jazz of the intitial stint of travel has passed, she will stay with Celeste in the cheapest hostel it was possible to find (15 euros a night baby!) for the first two nights in the boot of Europa. On January 3rd, they will make their way to Florence (yeah, yeah, yeah Firenze, we know) for Stanford's Winter Quarter Orientation--a.k.a. the Here's All The Crap You Need To Know Very Well In Order To Survive Your Quarter Away From All That You Know And Love While Simultaneously Having To Maintain Academic Excellence-_Come On Kids, You Still Go To Stanford!--But Hell Isn't Italy Awesome?!? Fest. Classes begin January 7th. Enjoy!

From there, three months of luxury and learning at the world's finest and most artistically mesmerizing city in the world. Finals start March 15th. Last day of residency: March 18th-and then we kick your ass out! "Departure Date" is March 19th.

During the 3 week interim: who knows? I have yet to figure all that out. *Sigh*

April 12th is Oxford's arrival date, so at some point i those three weeks, Chelsey must make her way to that great island from which all that is sacred in the world spawns from--William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf, Robert Pattinson . . . oh yeah--and Harry Potter. Another, much shorter Orientatio to follow. Classes begin April 14th. No rest for the weary. You poor thing.

Then, three months of fish&chips, fuzzy hats and intense tutorials that make your want to die, but oh, it hurts so good, you love Shakespeare so much, remember? fun. Finals. Kick you out. Time to leave the country. Adios Europe. Resume your misery.

I kid, I kid. Austin isn't misery, it's just hot as hell. And June 23rd 2010, Austin will again know the sound of Chelsey the Great's footsteps click-clocking along on her concrete-paved paths of musical joy. *yes!*

So it is...

2009-12-23T05:30:00.002+01:00

As all the cool kids are doing it, as they say, and as I am, of course, extremely susceptible to peer pressure, I too have decided to create a travel blog. Mock my futile attempts if you must (I know I will), but I feel that if I don't at least try to document my journey in some fashion or form now, I never will and I will regret it later. The wonderous INTERNET ERA allows us all to communicate our silly thoughts at lightning-bolt speed, to keep our family and friends and random internet stalkers up-to-date on every facet of our lives no matter where we are in the world or what ungodly hour it might be--so why not take advantage of it?!?

So I will be yours, snarky and honest as ever, with love and cynical musings for all.