...Next week I kill you!

This weekend was great! Since we're going to be doing a lot more travelling in the upcoming weekends, we really wanted to explore what is around the city of Genoa (the periferia, in Italian). We have Italian lessons all weekend, so we couldn't go very far.
On Friday, we started with an Italian lesson, and then followed with the syllabus-course introduction to our lecture class on Italian Rationalism, meaning the architecture that was a result of Fascism in Italy, between the two World Wars. The professor ended the lecture with, today was easy, next week I kill you! Haha. It reminded me a little of Achmed the dead terrorist (Jeff Dunham) or something... however, it was still pretty scary.
After the lecture, we had pranzo (lunch) which was delicious, then headed to Righi, a neighborhood at the top of the mountain that Genoa is situated on. We took the funicolare from Zelle (1,20 Euro) and began the ascent. When we arrived at the top, we were greeted with amazing views of the Italian Alps and the city on the other side of the mountain, as well as the centro (downtown) of Genoa, and Castelletto (the neighborhood where the villa is). My camera is downstairs in studio and its 2:30 am so I am going to wait to add pictures, but I promise they'll be up soon.
Once we were finished taking pictures from the funicular station, we started a hike up to the top of the hill, where three forts had been built to protect those brave enough to try to climb the mountain and invade Genoa when it was an important port. They were so beautiful! It was interesting, the Italians build and modify all of the beautiful old buildings for current needs, and the forts were no exception; they were covered in cell towers and satellite dishes, but nonetheless amazing. We only hiked to two of them, it was much more windy at the top of the mountain than at the villa (first full sunny day we had) and we were getting cold. So we headed back to the villa for dinner and a relaxing evening.
Today, we woke up for an early Italian lesson, made some quick lunch (Prosciutto and cheese on fresh bread, and an orange) and headed to il centro to get cell phones. The vodafone on via xx settembre only had 4 of the really cheap phones, so I have to wait until Tuesday to go with our professor to get phones. After that, Sam, Stephen, Tyler, Ashley, Nathan and I walked down to the Principe station and grabbed a quick train to Nervi, a suburb of Genoa about 20 minutes by train away. Since it was within Genoa, the ticket was only 1,20 Euro, which is amazing! Anyway, Nervi is right on the coast, and the city has built a long promenade along the coastline that everyone walks on. It is in extremely good condition and a beautiful walk. It was sunny, a little cold, but absolutely beautiful. We stopped at a set of benches and sketched a tower (perhaps an old lighthouse or fort?) for a few minutes, and then explored the gardens. We returned to the promenade to watch the sunset finish.
We then walked through the town for a little, stopped for some gelato (chocolate and hazelnut) and to explore a rather large di-per-di (grocery store) before catching the bus. Sadly, the bus decided to turn around halfway back to Via XX Settembre, so we got off, found another bus going to the Brignole train station, then walked the rest of the way back to il centro. We found a nice pizzeria and ate some delicious food (pizza con funghi and prosciutto, or mushrooms and cured ham, and a glass of red wine), and then began the long climb back to the villa.
Tomorrow, I plan to sleep in, go on a site visit to begin the site analysis process, head back to the villa around 4... at 5 we have another Italian lesson, and then we are headed out to a group dinner by the port at 730. A wonderful weekend.

Random thoughts:
Since I'm using Italian internet, using the Google search bar on my computer sends me to google.it which is very annoying when I need information!
I learned how to validate my tickets, which is good.
Cell phones are good to have, especially when traveling with a group as it is hard to coordinate. I am excited about getting a phone soon (they're pretty reasonably priced and good to have for emergencies too).
I had a coke today. It was amazing.
We are making some travel plans for next weekend! Nothing set in stone yet, I don't want to ruin the surprise.
Pictures to come tomorrow, I promise.