L'Amo Italia

Italy...AGAIN!!!

Yes, I did indeed go to Italy for the 3rd time! Lucky, I know. I just love it so much and I was able to see a new side of Italy, the true Italy. My friend Jessica, who I met while studying in Santander, invited me to come stay with her and her family in Italy for 5 days. She lives in a small town called Castelvetro, which is tiny, but beautiful with its green landscapes. Her family has a 3 story house (...WOW...) and she lives with her twin brother on the top floor (like a private apartment because each level has a door that you enter through) and her parents live on the second floor (where one of the rooms has a movie screen...they have their own small theater!). She has an older sister who lives in Milan.

Anyway, I went last Saturday, March 28th, to visit her and stayed until this past Wednesday. She also has a female cat, Gatto (cat in Italian, named after cat in Breakfast at Tiffany's) who actually liked me because she continuously sat on my lap for me to pet her and she has a dog named Lilli who was adorable. Her mom was so sweet to me and made me REALLY good Italian pasta.

So the first night we went out to dinner with her friends, Silvia and Mauro, who both speak English and were really friendly with me. We had pizza...of course and walked around in the rain for a little bit.

The second day we went to the city of Cremona which was beautiful and has a lot of venetian architecture. It rained the whole day so we didn't do much, but we visited the cathedral which was really nice and had Gelato...a must! When we got back to her house we watched a movie and just talked and played Wii....finally! It was pretty fun.
The tower of Cremona. It is the largest tower in all of Europe...just an interesting fact.
Il Duomo di Cremona
Jessica and I in Cremona...even though it rained we still enjoyed the city, with some gelato!

The third day, Mauro offered for us to visit him in the city of Brescia (pronounced bresha) because it is where he goes to med school. Brescia was absolutely beautiful. It is a half medieval and half renaissance town. When you walk around you can really notice the difference. There are some Roman ruins, that have been found underneath the cities roads, which are really cool. Mauro gave us history on the city as well as information about the different churches within the city. We visited over 10 cathedrals, all so unique and beautiful in various ways. We had panini and some really good, but extremely strong Italian coffee. Italians really know how to make their coffee.
Jessica & I in front of one of the hundreds (well maybe not that many) medieval fountains in Brescia. There are so many fountains in the town because the townsfolk used to drink water from them.
Medieval next to a more modern building. This was a bell tower...we were able to hear the bells chime...yay!
Mauro and Jessica in front of the church on the highest hill in Brescia. This one we actually went into and the cloisters were very beautiful. This monastery is now a museum.
This was in the monastery of the pic with Mauro and Jessica. This (I forgot what it is called, but it is used to hold the goblet for communion) was used a long time ago when priests gave their sermons with their back facing the pews. The sermons were placed on the front of this so that if a priest forgot a part of it, he could look at it to remember what he was to say. This amused me very much. :D
One area of the roman ruins. This was a temple, but is now a home to many stray cats.
This is a side view (I do have a front view of this) of the main cathedral in Brescia. It is very beautiful and completely made from white marble. Unfortunately it was closed. Mauro said that this cathedral was built by Mussolini; he also pointed out other buildings that were built under Mussolini and all have one thing in common. They're all very tall and large buildings, to demonstrate his power...hmmm

The last full day I had with Jes, we went to Castella'rqcuato (yes I did learn how to pronounce all the cities I visited) with her mother. She actually drove us to the city because Jes' brother had their car. Castella'rqcuato was completely medieval and empty! There was no one there, but it was fun roaming around the empty streets. We walked through some gardens, walked up to the castle (it just so happened the Saturday before there was a medieval reenactment there), we had gelato (of course) and took lots of pictures. If you're wondering, Jes' mother does not speak English although she knows a few words and with her little bit of English, my little bit of Italian and Jes translating, we were able to communicate.
Jessica and her Mom, Cosetta, in Castella'rqcuato. Behind them you can see a small part of the castle.
The amazing medieval castle from a distance.
Gatto....how can you resist a face like this?
Jessica and I. Photo taken by her mom; it was hilarious hearing Jessica speaking Italian to try to explain to her mom how to use a camera!
Beautiful landscapes and patios.
Used as an old entrance into the city.

The last day was mostly traveling and it was so much fun staying with Jessica and her family. Her mom even gave me pesto and linguine to take home so I can make some authentic and delicious Italian pasta! I can't wait. They invited me to go back and visit them whenever I come back to Europe, maybe next year? Anyway, it was a lot of fun. And as you can see from my pictures, it was absolutely beautiful.

Love and Kisses, Celeste