horses, wine, and hiking

This weekend has been filled with wonderful new adventures and it's not even over yet! Friday the school organized a trip for us to go horseback riding through the Tuscan countryside followed by a wine tasting at a local Tuscan vineyard. The weather said it was supposed to be cloudy with a chance of rain, but we lucked out and had a beautiful day creating wonderful memories.

The day started with us all meeting outside the school building at 8:30 a.m. and walking to meet our bus by the train station. We then had a little over an hour ride to the horse barn where we split into 3 groups. Two groups were doing the horseback riding and the third was not. There were too many of us riders to all go at once, so the first group (which I was a part of) did the trail ride while all of the others went to explore a small "fortress" town on the hill about 10 minutes away. We then switched so we all got to do both (except those that didn't want to ride: they just stayed in the small town the entire time.)

The ride was wonderful! The horses were well-behaved for the most part, they stayed in a line behind the guide horse in the front, and we really only had to guide them if they started to stray toward the side of the trail - to keep them from eating the grass.

  

Because it has been raining so much some of the trails were very muddy so the horses would kind of lurch through those patches because they enjoy walking through mud about as much as an average person = not very much.

I had been on a horse before, for a week-long Girl Scout camp one summer about 10 years ago, but I haven't been on (or even really near) one since. It was a tone of fun, and the view was amazing, but after the hour or so I was ready to get off, stretch my legs, and give my bottom a break!

Once everyone had a turn on the horses it was time to head to the wine tasting! I'm not a big drinker in general, and I don't really care for wine, but I figured the school payed for it and I'm in Italy, I had to do it! We tried 4 types: a rose and 3 reds. I didn't like any of them, but I did like some more than others. It was a really neat experience and I'm glad I got a chance to participate.


I'm still not a fan but every so often - while I'm here - I'll have a glass with my dinner when the whole group gets together. I wouldn't go out and buy a bottle, but if I'm with a group and someone offers me some, I'll probably have a small glass. But I'm much more of a water person. Occasionally juice and, even less frequently, milk. When I get an alcoholic drink it's usually a fruity-cocktail, but that's not a common occurrence.

Saturday I went with Lindsey, Rachel, and Max to explore the Cinque Terre. The views were gorgeous! Unfortunately, we didn't realize how much hiking there would be, so we were not dressed as appropriately as we could or should have been, but we survived. The trails followed the coast, but along the cliffs, so we were miles above the ocean walking along these narrow, sometimes precarious, trails but the view was so worth it!

We started our morning with an-almost-3-hour train ride, leaving at 7 a.m. We went to the farthest town first, to work our way back to where our train would leave when it was time to head back to Florence. We took the train to Monterosso al Mare where we got a snack and explored a bit before setting out on the almost-2-hour hike to the next town: Vernazza. Once there we got some gelato and explored before setting out on the next hour-and-a-half hike to Corniglia. While here we got lunch at a nice sit-down restaraunt over-looking the sea. Since I don't like seafood (with the exception of tuna fish salad sandwhiches) I had spaghetti with meat sauce, which was delicious. To get to the next town - Manarola - we had to take the train, because we didn't feel like navigating the trails (or hiking for another 5ish hours.) Again, we explored and looked for Via del'Amore (lovers lane) which would get us back to the final town: Riomaggiore. However, the path was closed due to 2 rock slides, so we had to take the train :(

I think my favorite of the 5 towns was the first one we explored - Monterosso al Mare - because it had the most beach, even though the beach was mostly rocks.  All of them were gorgeous and the hiking was great, I just wish I had dressed for it instead of wearing jeans...

Overall, it was a great 2 days of adventures, memory-making, and sore muscles. BUT it was so worth it!

This week:
Monday we are doing a second "cultural exchange" with local Italian students. The first occurred a few weeks ago in our Italian class, and we got together with Italian students so we could practice our Italian and they could practice their English. This time, we are all going to a local pizzeria for dinner and probably a bar afterwards to get to know each other better.

Wednesday we have our second of 3 Italian tests (we have one at the end of each month we are here) and then Friday starts our Spring Break!

I am heading with Sam D to England for a few days where we will stay in Grantham for about 2 days. While there we will visit the small town where Sam lived when he was younger as well as Nottingham: Sherwood Forrest = Robin Hood! From there, we are going to Bath for a few days to explore the Roman Baths and do some hiking and whatever else we find.

Wednesday of that week we are heading to Amsterdam for the rest of the week. When we get there, almost all of the rest of our group will be in Amsterdam for one night together, so we'll probably all get dinner together or something before they all head off on the next leg of their journey, and we'll have a chance to explore things such as: Anne Frank's House, the Van Gogh Museum, possibly the Red Light District, and general adventuring!

Then, once we get back I'll have 4 weeks left of classes, projects, traveling, souvenir purchasing, and finals before heading home on May 4th. :)