Settling in...

THE REAL LIFE ACTUAL VIEW (NO LIES) FROM THE VILLA (click on it for a bigger picture)

Now that I've been here a few days, I have a few more experiences to share.

Stairs. Never in your life will you ever estimate the amount of stairs it takes to get to the port of Genoa. I was prepared for stairs, I was not prepared for a descent into hell. My legs are going to be amazing in four months.... haha :)

The food here is amazing. Downstairs we have espresso machines and delicious bread and fruit available all day. We have a pantry that I have yet to raid, really, because the focaccia is so amazing, and gelato is just a 10 minute walk down 200 some stairs. Mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, vegetables, mushrooms, rice, soup... most of our meals aren't really what you would consider Italian food in the states, but more regional dishes and what people truly eat in the Italian home. It's nice to get that experience. On every corner there is some sort of bakery or vegetable store or pastacceria or something... we're all tempted to eat every time we pass one, as the smell is amazing, but we have been doing a pretty good job of keeping walking and saving our appetite for meals in the villa.

The view out our window is the back terrace of our garden, which has orange trees and lemon trees in it. The weather is generally nice, it rains almost every day, but we do get a few minutes of sun. I'd say the temperature is from 50 to 60 degrees (60 only when the sun is out). Sam, Stephen, Evan, Tyler, and 3 graduate students share the biggest bedroom, which has a large terrace outside of it, and the view out of their window is amazing. From there you can see the entire city of Genoa and well out into the Mediterranean sea. (The picture at the top of the post)

We haven't had much time to explore the city, but we've made do with the little time we've had. We have an Italian instructor here until the middle of next week, so we have Italian lessons each day so people can learn some essentials. I am doing ok since I've taken three semesters, but it still takes a lot more courage to try to talk to people in their language. I feel awkward about it sometimes.

This weekend we have Italian lessons. We're hoping they're in the morning so we can spend some time doing some site analysis and exploring the coastline some more. Our project for studio this semester is a mixed use public building (shops below, apartments above) in the center of the medieval city. That means the streets surrounding it are very narrow and they are curvilinear. There are three palaces (yeah, palaces) around the site, and the building we are replacing was a post-WWII solution to a building that was bombed during the war. It's not a very good building at all.

Today, we began classes. First of all, I began my day with a delicious shot of espresso. We started the semester with a 3 hour lecture on contemporary European architecture, which I really enjoyed, then Italian, then lunch (delicious porcini risotto and mozzarella), a break, then studio at 3. They introduced the project and then we went to the site, talking about the city as we went. This semester is going to be great.

I'm working on getting some more pictures posted, facebook has been sort of reluctant in letting me upload pictures lately, so they might have to be hosted somewhere else. More to come on that.