All Roads Lead To Rome

Honestly, I don't remember too many huge events that happened between our Cinque Terre trip and our trip to Rome. Except we did have an Italian band come up the villa and put on a concert for us. The band was Passogigante, and they were a really entertaining funk band. They got the audience involved a lot, and I ended up with 3 other guys up front singing a high falsetto "Lets Groove" by Earth, Wind, and Fire. It was a lot of fun.

One of the best parts of the summer was the trip to Rome. I have visited Rome once before, but barely scratched the surface on things to see and do there. The way they organized this trip is they gave each student taking the full Humanities course a certain location or monument to learn about, and when we visited the location they would be our on-site teacher. It was a fun, interesting way to learn about all the places in Rome, and I didn't have to present anything since I am taking the smaller version of the class. We visited TONS of sites across Rome, which I found really fun and educational. I'll try and limit myself to talk about the main highlights.

A block from our hotel was a cluster of ruins from old temples. This wouldn't be terribly interesting except for the fact that one of those temples was where Julius Caesar was murdered. I slept less than 100 yards from that spot. Pretty cool.

I have always enjoyed St. Paul Outside The Wall, which is a large dedicated to... well I'm sure you can guess. The portrait of every pope that ever lived is on the wall lining the church, and there is a spotlight on the portrait of the current pope. However, much more interesting than any pope related thing was the main attraction and purpose of the church: the burial place of Paul. Yes, THE Paul. The writer of the majority of the New Testament himself. I always find that to be a humbling and interesting experience.

You can't mention Rome without discussing the Colosseum. I love that amphitheater, and enjoyed learning about it and going inside. However, it is also important to think about the number of people that were persecuted and executed for sport there, including hundreds of Christians. Something to think about.

We also got to go to a crypt where many Christians of the day were buried. The crypt was 8 miles long and had over 60,000 bodies (when occupied). It was pretty cool to visit (not to mention get out of the sun and underground in the cool area.

Just to mention some of the other famous monuments visited, I also went to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon (which I love), and Piazza Navona. In Piazza Navona, there are a lot of artists that set up and paint and sell their art. I love that modern artists can still find a place in the Italian culture, and I supported them by buying a couple pieces.

I also have to mention going to Hard Rock Cafe. I always love eating there, mainly because it is the ideal American restaurant. This is also the second time I have gotten a free meal at Hard Rock while overseas. The first was in Paris thanks to the Moon family, and this time thanks to the Waugh family who got to go along with us to Rome while they were visiting Europe. It was great to see them again and I am really thankful for their kindness.

We also visited the Vatican Museum, which is one of the most important museums in the world. I actually enjoyed going through and learning about so many of the important works of art. But of course, even cooler than the museum was the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. I cannot begin to describe to you how large St. Peter's church is. Not only is it the largest church in Christendom, but they also have lines on the floor showing where the next several largest churches would fit INSIDE of this church. Pretty incredible. It is vastly ornate, and you can't help but realize how small you are and reach your vision to the heavens. However, I do question what Peter's reaction would be if he saw how much money was spent creating a monument of this size for him....

We also went to the museum in Villa Borghese (the Borghese were an important papal family that were great collectors of art, much like the Medici of Florence). I wasn't expecting much, but I thoroughly enjoyed the museum. It still had a Caravaggio exhibit on display from earlier, which I loved. If you get a chance, look up some of the art Caravaggio has done. It is really incredible how realistic his depictions are and how unique the lighting (much like stage lighting) is used. Also in this museum were some of Bernini's most important sculptures, which were fascinating.

Finally, I want to mention one of my favorite parts of the trip. Throughout our 4 days in Rome, I went to several site on the "Path of Illumination." This is from the book 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown (author of the Da Vinci Code). In it he tells a story of how an underground society killed the pope and the 4 main cardinals at various monuments across Rome, which was deemed the "Path of Illumination." I found every single location, and got to see a few churches and monuments that no one else on the trip went to. I found it a lot of fun, and it helped me better depict in my mind the action from the fictional novel.

Rome is such a wonderful city, and I loved every bit of travelling there. I certainly hope to go back one day.

Ciao!

Taylor

Pisa & Cinque Terre

Well, this sure is embarrassing. Its been close to a month since my last post? Its unbelievable how quickly the time goes. I guess that's just a small illustration of how quickly this last portion of the trip has seemed to go. I will do my best to give an adequate (albeit brief) overview of the main happenings of July.

I'll start with our 3 day trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre. We first went to Pisa to see, well I'm sure you can guess at least one of the attractions. Yes, the leaning tower of Pisa. It was there, and it sure was leaning. Evidently they have done enough corrections to where it will not continue to lean closer to falling, but they left it leaning since it is obviously the largest source of income for the city of Pisa.

Also while in Pisa, we saw the main Cathedral and the Baptistery. The Baptistery was surprisingly cool because it had phenomenal acoustics. They did a demonstration, and a woman stood in the center and would sing a series of long notes, and the sound continued to long that it sounded as if there were multiple people singing harmony. Pretty cool.

About 6 of us decided to make our trip to Pisa even cooler by renting Segways. (If you are unaware, Segways are those devices that have two wheels that automatically corrects your balance, and you operate it by leaning forward of backwards). For 20 euros, we got to tour around the city of Pisa for an hour. It was a great way to see the entire city of the main beaten path, and plus the Segways were just plain cool.

After Pisa, we took a train to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a series of 5 (cinque) towns along the cost that are all placed right on the edge of mountains and cliffs (terre means earth). There is a single trail that connects the five towns, and they are very small, colorful, and picturesque. We stayed in the fourth town, Vernazza. On the second day, we hopped on a quick train to the first town and hiked our way all the way down the trail back to Vernazza. Afterwards, most of us jumped back on another train to the fifth town, Monterosso, to go to the beach (Monterosso is the only town that really has a beachfront).

On our last day, there was a train strike which messed up our plans for travelling home. Instead of hoping on whatever train we wanted, we had to wait for a ferry at 4 to take us to a place we could catch a charter bus. I took advantage of this extra time, and decided to hike the final part of the trail: from Vernazza to Monterosso (which I had to hike back to Vernazza too since the trains weren't running). This proved to be one of the best things I did all week. The view from the trail was stunning and it was a beautiful, fun, challenging trail. In the middle was this nice little waterfall and brook in the shade, which I relaxed in going both ways.

I decided to listen to worship music on my iPod while hiking, and had some great moments basking in the wonderful creation of the Creative Creator. I should also mention that both nights we spent in Cinque Terre, there was a group of us that went down to the dock and sang praise songs for a long time under the stars.

It proved to be a great, fun, upifting, and relaxing three days.

(More to come soon, I PROMISE).

Ciao!
Taylor

il Palio

On Friday, I had to opportunity to take a step back in time and experience a rich piece of Italian history. I went with several of my friends to the city of Siena to experience one of the oldest horse races in the world, which has been taking place since medieval times. It is a huge ordeal, and it occurs twice a year: once in July and again in August.

The city of Siena is divided into 17 districts, or contrade, which are city neighborhoods originally formed as battalions for the city's defense. Each race, only 10 of the contrade compete, and the other 7 will get a chance the next race, with 3 from the first race returning (determined from the drawing from a hat).

The entire city bustles for days before the event, and is an explosion of activity the day of the race. Each contrade parades through their district during the day leading up to the race. The main square (or piazza) in the center of the city, known as il Campo, is where the race takes place. Thousands of people will pack into the center of the piazza, and the horse track surrounds the crowd. We showed up around 4:00 are somehow were able to grab a spot near the rail. We talked to a guy next to us from Italy who had been by the rail since 10:30 that morning in order to have a good spot.

Around 5:30, the parades started around the track. Everyone was dressed in their original medieval garb, and there were displays of the medieval weapons, armor, and all that sort of cool stuff. It was very interesting to see. Each contrade does the same routine, but with 17 of them, it takes a long time. There are drummers, flag bearers, a guy in full armor, the race horse from the district, and others for each contrade.

After 2 hours of continuous parading, the race horses finally came out. Let me a take a moment to try and describe how bizarre and unique this race is. They race the opposite direction of most horse races, the jockeys all ride bareback, they are encouraged to use their whips and canes on the OTHER drivers, bribing and sabotage are fully expected, alliances and agreements form between groups, there are political motives behind each transaction, it is one of the biggest gambling events in the world, and the race itself often lasts no more than 60 seconds (since it is only 3 laps around the piazza).

When the announcer finally declares the starting line up (since there is money exchanging to decide who starts where), the crowd is completely silent. Once the lineup is announced, the jockeys attempt to line up, but at the same time get an advantage over the other horses. Some try and start standing sideways, there is tons of shoving, hitting, and pushing around, and often times they just pull back and start the lineup all over again. It took about 30 minutes for the jockeys to finally get lined up. Once the last rider decides he likes the looks of the lineup, he will come charging in from behind and the race begins. It is one of the most suspenseful and exciting starts to a race or sports event I have ever experienced.

(I will try and post some videos I took from the day... Until then here is a link to a video of the race taken by the professionals. I was next to the rail on the padded corner of the race.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cqNmPK-U94

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that after the race the winner contrade and his rival contrade fight. There is lots of fighting in the streets, and honestly it is a little scary place to be. We followed a trail of blood up one of the streets when we trying to get back to the train station.

Overall, it was an incredible experience, and I can say I've been packed in with thousands of people at one of the biggest and oldest sporting events in the world. Pretty cool.

Ciao!
Taylor

Free Travel: Paris and beyond

Well, turns out we didn't have any more internet opportunities once we left Barcelona. So I will do my best to provide an adequate update with the highlights of the rest of the trip without rambling on an on...

First of all, after my last post we had one more full day in Barcelona. We visited La Sagrada Famiglia, which was really fascinating. It is this huge church, started in the 1800s, that is still being built. The original architect is Gaudi, and his work is all over Barcelona, which we got to see a lot of while walking around the city. After a full final day in Barcelona, our group split in 2: five people in our group spent more to get another night in the hostel, while the other 5 of us went to the airport to spend the night. We got one of the very last trains and metro lines out there, and after a few miracles made it to the airport safely. Once we were there, we grabbed a corner of one of the terminals and just played cards, laughed, and enjoyed ourselves all night. It was a lot of fun, and saved us a good bit of money.

The next morning, we caught our plane (which was delayed) to Paris. We finally made it to Paris, and made our way to the guy's hotel. Ethan's dad had a bunch of Hilton points saved up, so he was able to get the guys 2 free rooms in the Hilton that is like a block from the Arc de Triomphe (with access to the Executive Lounge). It was definitely awesome.

We ended up spending 3 nights in Paris. While there, we saw all the big attractions: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, Montmarte, and the Louvre. I was much more impressed by the Eiffel tower than I expected to be. It was absolutely enormous! It truly is a must see if you are ever traveling in the area.

Kendall, Ethan, and I all got to climb the Towers of Notre Dame, which was a really cool experience. We got to be within arms reach of all the famous chimeras (not gargoyles) and got a great view of the city of Paris from above. I would also recommend doing that if you have the time (and dont mind climbing a few hundred stairs in a straight, tight vertical spiral.
Honestly, one of my favorite parts was visiting the neighborhood or Montmarte, which is a small town above Paris, which was definitely off the beaten tourist path. We took it easy there, saw some historic windmills, then sat in a park, ate delicious crepes, and enjoyed the park scenery with children playing around us for a few hours. It was quite relaxing.

One of the days we were there, 6 of us took a train north and visited Normandy and the American Cemetery there. It was a wonderful, humbling experience. The museum and memorial there were all free, and it was really well done. There were close to 10,000 graves all overlooking the ocean. We also walked down to Omaha beach, which was pretty, but also crazy to think about the thousands that died at that very spot to defend the rights of others. My only regret is that we didn't have more time to spend there.

We were able to get into the Louvre for free with our Student Visas, so that was pretty awesome. Of course we saw the most famous things there: the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.
Long story short, after the French ended their train strike, all trains leaving Paris to anywhere were full. We spend several hours stressing and trying to figure out how in the world we were going to leave. We were saved by Helena, a worker at the train station nearest our hotel. She spent close to 30 minutes looking for any possible way to leave. Our final path ended up being as follows: Paris -> Lyon -> Geneva -> Bern -> Interlaken, spend 8 hours in Interlaken just to grab a little sleep, then Interlaken -> Spiez -> Milan -> Florence. 7 trains in less than 24 hours. It was crazy, but we were just glad to get home.

We were a little upset we didnt get to truly visit Interlaken and do all the acitivites we had planned, but we are planning on going back there at the end of the semester on our second free travel.

There were a few pretty stressful events, especially when trying to figure out how to get home. But I think our group handled it extremely well and without much complaining at all. We rolled with the punches and remained flexible, which is crucial to a good experience while traveling abroad. I had a great experience, and I will be even more prepared for the second free travel.

Ciao!
Taylor

Free Travel: Barcelona, Spain

Well, I am currently in a hostel in Barcelona, Spain. And it. is. awesome.

We arrived here by plane yesterday and took an hour long bus ride into the city (RyanAir serves ariports outside main cities instead of in them, which is why their rates are so cheap). We walked around a little bit, but mainly stayed around our hostel. We are staying in the Urbany Hostel, which is a lot cooler than I expected. We have 4 strangers in our room: 2 Brazillian guys, 1 middle-aged heavier set woman (with an Obama sticker on her computer), and a chinese girl. We have spoken a little bit to the guys, but not much has been said between the others. But thats all part of the experience.

We got up at 6 this morning - yes, 6 - to go to the train station to reserve our overnight train to Paris, which is pretty crucial to our free travel plans. (You can't reserve trains unless you are in that country it leaves from). May I also mention that the Brazillian guys didn't walk into our room until we were leaving, at 6am, from partying all night.

So we get to the train station, talk to some people, and discover that the French railways are on strike, starting today.

Perfect.

We talk and reviewed our options. Apparently those who already had reservations were given a bus that would take them there, so we tried to get reservations on that. However, it was full. So we went back to our hostel and scoured the internet for travel options, hopefully a cheap flight. However, at such late notice (1 day prior to leaving), nothing is cheap. We finally settled for the best deal we could find, which was a 100 euro flight to Paris.

We are still not sure how travelling withing Paris will go (some of us were planning to go to the beaches of Normandy, which may not happen now) and we are not even sure the strike will be over before we have to leave Paris for Switzerland. Please pray that we find a safe and affordable way to continue our travels...

After several deep breaths and some breakfast, we took a short nap and headed out for the city. We walked around all day, found some cheap food at a really cool marjet area, and enjoyed seeing the sights of the city. (yes Mom, I took pictures). We visited some of the famous sights of the city, including a cool Gothic church and the Picasso Museum.

After dinner at a recommended pizza place, we came back to our hostel. Apparently tomorrow is a National holiday, so they are kicking it off tonight. Outside our hostel in the middle of the street was just utter chaos. There was a huge bonfire, fireworks EVERYWHERE (I'm talking these things have been going off nonstop for a few hours now), a drumline, some live music, some fire twirlers, and more fireworks (did I mention there were a lot of those things?).

It was the most fun night I've had in a while, and it was extremely cool to be able to party with the locals (in a clean, alcohol-free way) and celebrate a part of their culture. And it was extra cool that it inculded 3 of my favorite things: drums, fire, and explosives.

Tomorrow we check out of our hostel, plan on going to the beach, touring through this huge family palace thing, and going wherever the wind takes us. At this point, we are planning on spending the night in the airport instead of paying a high price for a last mintue reservation at the hostel. So hopefully they dont kick us out.

Its been a lot of fun so far, even with the setbacks.

Ciao!
Taylor

Southern Italy... and then some

Well. Its been 12 days since my last post. I apologize, but the past 2 weeks have been pretty crazy and have kept me really busy. One week I was out of contact because of a week long excursion through Southern Italy, during which I had no internet access. The last 5 days? Well, I've just been busy and lazy, a combination that doesn't often lead to blogs being written. That being said, I'll do my best to give an overview of whats been happening lately. Hang on tight, this is gonna be a long one :)

Firstly: Southern Italy Trip

Day 1: Reggio Calabria & Taormina

We took an overnight train from Florence to the Southernmost part of Italy, and took a short drive to the town of Reggio Calabria (which is in the very tip of the "boot" of Italy). While there, we visited the museum, which boasts the Riace Bronzes. These bronze statues comprise 2 out of 4 freestanding bronzes of their kind remaining in the world. After the museum, we hopped on a quick ferry across the Straits of Messina into Sicily. In the process of driving to our hotel, our bus got in a car accident, which was pretty exciting. We finally made it to the coast town of Taormina and had the rest of the day free. Some of us went cliff jumping in the ocean across the street from our hotel, which was a lot of fun. We rode the gondola (the cable car that takes you up the mountain) to the center of the city and had a great view of the sea, the city, and Mt. Etna.

Day 2: Taormina & Agrigento

Some of us woke up early to see the sunrise over the bay where we were staying (as seen above on the right - this is the view from our hotel balcony). We visited a Greco-Roman theater (as seen above on the left) in Taormina, which had an incredible view of Mt. Etna and the coastline behind it. After leaving Taormina, we went to Agrigento, which boasts the Valley of the Temples. At one time, the entire city was surrounded by Greek temples, and it was boasted to be one of the most beautiful cities ever built. You could stand at one point and see 3 or 4 ruins of temples all in a row. One of the temples still had its inner walls completely intact, which is rare considering only 2 other Greek temples in the world have any part of their inner walls left. We also saw the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, which if still standing would dwarf the Parthenon in Athens. Consider the two pictures below: the one on the left is one of the preserved "giant" statues (which is about 2 stories tall) that would have been in the temple. The picture on the right is a model of what the temple would have looked like; Notice the figures of the "giant" statues in the temple and notice the relative sizes. Pretty incredible.



Day 3: More Agrigento

We started the day by going to the Agrigento National Museum, where the giant statue I mentioned and showed above is located. There was lots of pottery and small artifacts found there and that have important historical implications, but to be honest, I got a little burned out and exhausted after going through there for a while. However, the afternoon proved to be much more exciting. We went to the beach, but they surprised us by taking us to the coolest beach I've ever been to. It was located at the Turkish Steps, which was a white, chalky cliff that formed natural steps. We had to climb them in order to get to the small, secluded beach you see on the left. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a very unique beach experience, and it was great.


Day 4: Monreale & Palermo

We drove north in Sicily to the city of Monreale, which had a phenomenal and extravagantly decorated cathedral, which is one of the better churches I've ever visited, which is quite a strong statement. After that, we drove a little ways to the port of Palermo. While there we visited a Norman Catherdral as well as a very interesting crypt. Inside were hundreds of bodies; exposed, preserved bodies, hanging on the wall. It was pretty eerie, but at the same time very interesting. It was interesting to see what types of clothes were popular, how tall people were, and what types of things were important to them. It was also humbling to be reminded that no matter how much we toil for earthly things, it will all be turned into dust one day, and we should only truly worry about striving for things of eternal purpose.

Day 5: Naples & Sorrento

After a wonderful nights sleep on an overnight ferry, we arrived in Naples. Now I had been here before, and my impression was not a positive one. I only knew it as a dirty, trashy city. However, last time I didn't see all the cool things that Naples has to offer. There was a great bar we went to, a really impressive Galleria (one of the first malls), and a huge square that reminded me of the St. Peter's in Vatican City. However, even though it was cool, the dirtiness factor remained about the same. Despite the trash, Naples boasts one of the most important and impressive museums in the world. We went to the Naples National Archaeological Museum, which has been my favorite museum by far. They had tons of artifacts found in Pompeii and other cities destroyed and preserved by Mt. Vesuvius that were really incredible and historically significant. They had painting styles, artisan abilities, and technologies that shattered earlier notions of what was available at the time. For instance, they had examples of blown glass that was created 600 years before the city that claims to be the birthplace of blown glass was even founded. Some of the art on frescoes showed use of perspective, which was not thought to be really thought of until the Renaissance, 1400 years after Vesuvius erupted. And most impressive to me was the engineering breakthroughs at the time; they had pipe valves for irrigation systems, ergonomic handles on pots in order to use less energy in pouring them, and all sorts of cool stuff like that. I highly suggest going to this museum if you ever get the chance. After the museum, we traveled to our hotel in Sorrento, which was a nice, quaint town on the coast. We got to watch the USA - England World Cup match in pub, which was divided in two sections: one for each team. It was crazy, loud, and a lot of fun.

Day 6: Capri

I went to mass with Jackie, one of my friends in our group who is Catholic, in Sorrento. After that, we took a quick ferry to the well-known island of Capri. It was really beautiful there. We rode in a cool taxi up the steep hill to the center of town, which is apparently one big tourist trap. We visited a really crowded rocky beach, and ate some overpriced pizza. Although it was packed and touristy, I still had a good time, and it was worth it to see such a beautiful place. However, I was unaware of all the cool things the island had to offer, such as swimming inside caves, renting a boat to cruise around the island (and getting to drive it yourself!) and other stuff that some of my friends got to experience. I still had a good time, but I know the types of things I would do if I ever had the chance to go back.

Secondly: Updates on the last few days at the Villa.

The past several days have been packed with work: work for my classes over here as well as my online Engineering class, which I am coming to regret taking. It is keeping me really busy, especially since I am behind, and we are leaving in a few days for a week of free travel. But, thats life as an Engineering student, so its nothing new.

Anyways, on to the cooler stuff that has happened. On Wednesday, I got the chance to go into Florence and sketch with a former animator for Disney. Now, you should know that I have never been an artist, never been remotely good at art, and honestly never enjoyed it that much. HOWEVER, I actually really enjoyed myself. Once I actually listened to the few techniques he showed us, I was able to break things down and do a decent sketch. And the weird thing is, I actually enjoyed it. I didn't notice that a few hours had passed, and it was pretty relaxing. He is supposed to join us one day in Rome, so maybe I will have another opportunity to sketch there. Also, since I am talking about Mike (the Disney animator), when he saw my sketch, he complimented my work several times and even said I was honestly a natural and I should continue sketching. I thought that was kinda interesting. Here is one of the sketches I made that day: (I tried scanning it and it turned out ok... but I like it better on paper).

Conclusion

So, again, I apologize for the unacceptable length of this blog and the long gap between posts. But hopefully I will be better about it in the future. The Southern Italy trip was absolutely amazing, and I will remember things from that trip for a long time.

Hope to post something again soon!

Ciao!
Taylor

the Creative Creator

Over the weekend I feel like there isn't a lot to update you about. We haven't visited any life-changing monuments or phenomenal new cities, so the weekend has been a little less exciting (in that regard).

There is a group from Abilene Christian University that are staying in the Bible School in Scandicci for the next few weeks. They are all art students, and they have already spent a few weeks in London before coming here. We have had three meals, church Sunday morning, and a devo that night with them. Its been nice to talk to Americans, especially from another Christian school.

However, now that we have met them, we are leaving. Where, you ask?

We are taking a week long trip throughout Southern Italy. We are leaving tonight on a train around 9:30 (so 2:30 local time back home). We are going to Taorina, Catania, Palermo, Naples, Pompeii, and Sicily. I'm not sure what the computer/internet situation is going to be, so its possible that I wont have any blogs for the next week or so. And if thats the case, I'm either going to have a massive blog once I return, or I will end up leaving a lot of stuff out... I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Time seems like its flying by. I simultaneously feel like I've been here forever and like I just got here. Its hard to believe that it's coming up on a month of being here. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I pray that I not overlook opportunities for growth or unique experiences while I am here.

I feel like God is using this trip to help me take a step back and evaluate my life. The year 2010 has been filled with complacency in my spiritual walk, and I have been riding on the excuse of "no time" for too long. I was just reminded of this poem I once had posted up in my room at home:

I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease...
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to sould in need
But at last the time to die.
Then before the Lord I came,
I stood with downcast eyes.
For in His hands GOD held a book;
It was the "Book of Life"
GOD looked into His book and said
"Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time."

The fact of the matter is, you have to MAKE time for these things. If something is truly important to you, you adjust your schedule and your priorities to make sure you get it done. And quite frankly, spending time with God hasn't been a priority of mine. And I'm pretty ashamed of that. I feel like God is calling me to so many things, but I have been wasting my time and my talents by not connecting with Him and living a life that is truly devoted to Him. And its a struggle. Hopefully while I am here, surrounding constantly by the intense beauty of His handiwork, I can make a lasting change in my approach and attitude towards the Creative Creator.

Ciao!
Taylor

Things of Legend

Well, looks like I've got a bit of catching up to do. So I wont dive into too much detail and kinda give a synopsis of what the past few days have been like.

Even though we are overseas, we still have chapel most days, which I am actually really grateful for. It can be easy to be going 90 mph doing everything imaginable and forget the reason we are here and who we serve. I spoke in chapel on Tuesday. I talked about how we talk are living in the same place as some of the greatest artists and minds that have ever lived. Its sort of humbling to walk the same ground as these legendary people, but when you get down to it, they were just ordinary people like us. So we have the capability to become legendary as well. If we do as Matthew 5:15 says and let our light shine before men, we have the ability to make a huge impact on other people. In that regard, we have the ability to become legendary, and more importantly, make God legendary.

We got to go to a concert in Florence that was comprised completely of Gershwin music, which was pretty cool. There was a combo of a piano, upright bass, trumpet, trombone, and drums which was highlighted through the entire concert with an orchestra behind them. The trombone player especially really impressed me, and I thought it was great.

Today we had a long series of on-site classes in Florence. We went through the Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, San Marco monastery, and the Academia. Buried under San Lorenzo were Cosimo the Elder (one of the great legacies in the Medici dynasty), and Donatello. It was awesome to be able to see that. However, the highlight of the trip was definitely in the Academia, which is where The David by Michelangelo is housed.

yes. THE David.
Sadly, this is not my picture which is because they have a strict policy against pictures being taken. They want you instead to buy the pictures and souvenirs in the gift shop, which is annoying. But that's life, and it goes on. Nonetheless, it was incredible to see The David up close, and I truly understand why it is such a masterpiece. The detail of the veins popping out and tendons and muscles and bone structure is remarkably realistic, and the fact that it was done in marble is incredible. Also, this thing is 17 feet tall. I guess I never thought about how big that is. And for little 5 foot Michelangelo to complete it in 2 years is quite a feat.

So, I'm continuing to see and experience some of the most influential and incredible works of art in history. Living where legends once were. And hopefully, I can live my life in such a way that I can add my name to those who make God legendary.

Ciao!
Taylor

Proud to be an American

Today has been a very different experience than most of this trip has been. We started out the day by going to the Florence Cemetery for American soldiers. It is a gift from Italy to the United States to honor the men and women who lost their lives fighting in World War II. In the immaculately kept lawns, there were rows and rows of crosses (and some headstones in the shape of the Star of David to commemorate the Jewish that lost their lives) with US and Italian flags on either side. It was a pretty humbling sight.

I was encouraged, and quite frankly a little shocked, to see a troop of Boy Scouts placing roses (like the one on the left) in front of some of the graves. I talked to one of the scout leaders and discovered that they are actually Americans living on a military base somewhere in Italy. The day before they came out and cleaned all the headstones. It was really encouraging to see scouts out and doing things for their country, even when they are living in a different one.

Robbie told us several stories about Italians who helped the American efforts during the war. He told us about how devastating it was the the Germans bombed all the bridges across the Arno River in Florence to prevent the Allies from crossing; all except for Ponte Vecchio, thankfully, because it was such an important cultural icon and historical monument. He also told us how at the villa we are currently staying in, a German tank got stuck between the wall and the fence, and the owners covered the tank with olive branches to prevent it from being seen and the villa being bombed and destroyed. The ping pong room (aka the dungeon) was also used as a bomb shelter during the war. It put things in perspective thinking about the very ground we are constantly walking is where tons of men, many that were as old as I am, lost their lives.

We attended the Memorial Day Ceremony, which was an incredible experience. There were lots of current and veteran military men and women, both American and Italian. The US Consul General in Florence gave a statement, along with several other people, a Jewish rabbi, and a pastor. It was really sobering to see everyone there together, two nations uniting and solemnly remembering the brave men and women that came before us. At the end of the ceremony when they played the National Anthem for each country as they raised the countries' flags from half mast. I can not remember the last time I had as many chill bumps coursing through my body, literally from my head to my toe. It was a really moving experience.

The ceremony and seeing all the graves really got me thinking about the true meaning of Memorial Day. Normally, while in the States, I just treat it as a day to sleep in and skip school. I don't think I have ever truly given an appropriate amount of thought to the sacrifice that some people made in order to secure our freedom and to attempt to make this world safe from tyranny and oppression. I feel like I need to make a stronger effort in the future to honor these true heroes instead of taking the day off for granted.

After the ceremony, we had a long "Taste of Italy" for lunch at the villa. We tasted lots of traditional and local specialty dishes, which was incredible. There was a lot of really good stuff there, even if it looked or smelled weird.

For dinner, however, we had a great American cookout with burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and coke. It was wonderful.

Today overall has been a large blending of cultures. A Taste of Italy, followed by an American cookout. A memorial service for American soldiers on Italian soil, organized and honored by Americans and Italians alike. It shows the great partnership that has formed between the two countries, and I feel like it is a great sign of appreciation for each other. I can't really describe it in elegant words right now, either because I am tired or it is just too hard for me to try and explain. It is just a really cool thought that we can be globally compassionate and form partnerships with people we once fought against.
Ciao!
Taylor

Scandicci Evangelica

Today we resumed a few of our classes that were put on hold due to Mission Impossible week. For our Italian class, we went to the Saturday Market in Scandicci and had to order something (that we were assigned) completely in Italian. It was a fun experiencing making our way through the market and seeing how many people buy their normal weekly groceries and stuff.

The afternoon was mainly dominated by this festival hosted by the evangelical churches in Scandicci. There was games, music, a movie, drama skits, and all sorts of cool stuff. Our group sang about 10 songs for everyone, and everyone really seemed to enjoy it.

Later, I was looking at a stand of engraved wood with bible verses with David Woodroof, the director of the Avanti Italia program who was translating some stuff for me. At one point in translating the bible verses, the man who made them brought over a young boy and told him to tell David his story about his conversation. Apparently this 10 year old boy used to be a beggar on the streets and he was a pest to everybody, he got beat up, yelled at, cried at night, and had terrible nightmares. Then this man found him and brought him into his home. About a month later the kid had another nightmare, and the man told him not to cry and told him that there is someone who loves him and is building a home for him for eternity. They prayed together and talked about Jesus, and the boy was led to know Christ.

I dont know if he was baptized, or how much he truly understands about the message of Christ, but it really touched me that a kid who was born into being a beggar is being exposed to the gospel and being led towards Christ.

Afterwards, I bought the following verse:

"Io so che il mio redentore vive." -Giobbe 19:25
"I know that my redeemer lives." -Job 19:25

Ti voglio bene,
Taylor

Spiritual Workout

Before about an hour ago, I didn't have much to talk about other than 'I had a yummy pastry and coffee at Bar Mario" or "I took a wonderful nap on a swing outside in the Tuscan springtime" or "we had a cool hour long language exchange with some Italians at the library (which was actually pretty fun and a good experience)."

However, I was convinced to participate in a P90-X workout. I should have known what I was getting myself into. We did the entire thing (minus the bonus round), and by the end I was feeling muscles I forgot existed. The entire thing just reminded me of one thing: I am out of shape.

I've never been a big workout buff. Sure, in high school I was in decent shape because I was constantly working out doing marching drumline stuff, but I have never been a hit-the-gym lets-keep-a-regular-workout-routine kinda guy. Yes, I am aware that I just used too many hyphens to connect words, but you get the idea.

However, from doing tonight's workout, it made me realize that physically straining activities like that would be much easier if I did it more on a regular basis. If I did a little bit each day, my muscles would adapt and grow and strengthen, and then it wouldn't be as tough to do the difficult things.

Then, as I was showering and regretting my workout, it hit me. Thats exactly like our spiritual life.

Its not something we can just assume we are strong with, and never exercise it or stretch it and grow it. It is something that we have to constantly develop, constant work at, constantly sweat and fight for. Is it easy? Well, no, of course it isn't. Is the reward worth all the effort. Absolutely.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 9:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

I am spiritually out of shape. And recently, I have not been willing to put the work into making myself stronger. I keep assuming that it will just happen one day, that one day *poof* I will magically be more mature. Thats not the way this works. In fact, the more I put it off, the weaker I become, and the harder I am going to have to work later.

I need to start today. Right now. I need to work myself out daily, envelop myself in the Word, pray, and actually put some faith in God. One of my bible teachers loved to say "Little faith, little prayer," and I believe thats very true. My sad excuse for a prayer life shows how much faith I am actually putting in God and how much more I am relying on myself and other humans. I can't think of anything more foolish. God is the only one that will never let me down, why put my faith in anything else?

Something I learned on a little "man retreat" this past semester has also stuck with me. Think about how much time you spend with your boyfriend/girlfriend/other friends/family/etc. You make every opportunity to spend as much time with them as possible, because you love them, right? Then how does it make sense that we (well, I can only speak for myself here) spend less time with the one who loves us more than any human will ever be capable of? Why would I not devote at least twice as much time to the very one who is responsible for my existence, and to the one who made it possible for me, a sinner, to ever consider being in the presence of the Lord?

I am grateful to be loved by such a powerful, merciful God. And I am grateful I serve a God who gives second chances. My God is mighty to save.

Hopefully, I can become more devoted, more faithful, and more willing to undergo a regular spiritual workout to become the man of God I am called to be.

Ti amo con l'amor di Gesu,

Taylor

The Power of Music

Today we went with some Italian students from an art school (high school level) in Florence to hike some trails in Scandicci. We helped the groups that are in charge of the trails pick up trash, trim the overgrowth, and repaint the trail markers. It was a great time to just walk through and enjoy God's great creation as well as get to interact with Italians and another culture.

Crossing a culture (and especially language) barrier is always difficult. Its uncomfortable. It is much easier to stick to your group of American friends with you, which I am sad to admit is what I did for the most part (although I did interact with and talk to several students, I just didn't do as much as I feel I should have). They are limited in their knowledge of English, and we are even more limited in our knowledge of Italian.

However, there is one thing i have found that seems to cross and mesh cultures easier than many other things. That thing is music. In our Italian class, we have been learning several Italian songs. We all complained and thought they were just dumb and pointless to learn them. However, when we were on the trail today, I noticed one girl in our group started singing one of the Italian songs. At once, the Italian's eyes lit up in recognition and chimed in and sang along. Although we have few things we can really say in a conversation, we are able to connect to one another and share experiences through music. The group of girls singing helped teach each other songs in each other's languages. I believe the English songs that were sung were "Barbie Girl" and "Single Ladies". Interesting choices, but it was fun and I saw connections and bonds being made that otherwise may not have happened.

Music has always spoken to me. Now I understand that it is so much more than the enjoyment of a melody or some nicely written lyrics. It is about an experience. It is about connecting with something greater than yourself, and through that, you can share that experience with another person and share your connection, even if it is in a different language.

Ciao!
Taylor

Cooking School

Today (after an accidental 3 hour nap), I got to go with a small group to the Giglio Cooking School in Florence. We made an entire Italian meal from scratch, and then got to enjoy the fruits of our labor in a great meal. Our menu was:

-Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli

-Cut Beefsteak with Rosemary and Rucola

-Roasted Potatoes

-Tiramisu

Oh. My. Word. It was one of the best meals of my life, and I only had to pay 25 Euro for the meal, lesson, apron, the whole deal. It would easily cost that much to get all that food in a restaurant, so it was more than worth it. We made everything from scratch. We made the dough, rolled out and made the pasta, stuffed and formed the ravioli, cut and seasoned and roasted the potatoes, whipped the cream and soaked the Lady's fingers for the Tiramisu, cooked the beefsteak in a sauce we made.

Legit. I'll edit this and add a picture later once I steal someone else's pictures (I didn't bring my camera). It was a great experience and I am extremely glad I got to do it.

Ciao!

Taylor

Arezzo & Uffizi

Monday, we had a group assignment called 'Mission Impossible.' They essentially gave us a list of 50 pictures we had to take in our given city and a train ticket to get there and back. Our town was Arezzo, which is another city in Tuscany. We divided and conquered the picture taking really quickly and finished in about a quarter of the time we were expected to, which gave us more time to explore the city on our own. In our free time, some of us went to a museum that is in and of Giorgio Vasari's house, which was really cool. Apparently he painted some cool frescos on the ceiling of his own house, which were amazing. Its always really humbling to walk in the rooms where a world renowned artist once lived, thrived, and painted.

We were also able to go in several churches, some of which had absolutely nobody in there. These churches had beautiful architecture, art, and sculptures in them just like all the others, but for some reason they were off the beaten path and off the main tourist radar. Those were some of my favorite moments on the trip, going into a huge, deserted church and just resting and meditating for a while.

Also in Arezzo is the Piazza Grande, where a few scenes from 'Life is Beautiful' were shot. So evidently it is pretty famous, and regardless of its fame, it was beautiful.


On Tuesday, I got to go to the Uffizi Museum, one of the most prestigious art museums in the world. We had an assigment, so we only had enough time to look at certain pieces, but I have a pass where I can go back anytime for free, which I plan on utilizing. There were some pretty famous pieces there, and art by tons of famous artists. The really cool thing about it is that the art is arranged in chronological order, so you can see how art styles and focus changes throughout different stylistic periods and time periods.

After going through the museum, we went with Ermenita (an Albanian girl who is a student at University of Florence working with Avanti Italia that we've been hanging out with some) to see the University of Florence. We ate lunch in the cafeteria, which blows away any in the states that I've been to, toured a small part of campus, hung out in a park outside, and went to the student center. It was interesting to learn how different the schooling system in Italy is from the US.

Ciao!
Taylor

San Gimingnano and Siena

Saturday we got up early and travelled to San Gimignano. Its an old Medieval style city with a great view of the Tuscan countryside. It was known for its towers, of which its once had 72. Only 14 have survived, but the tallest of them is 54 meters tall. The skyline of the city looks like skyscrapers of a modern city, which is incredible when you consider the time period they were built it.

Siena was pretty incredible. The main piazza, Il Campo, is named the 3rd most beautiful piazza in the world. It is also where the famous horse race takes place. Youtube "Palio di Siena" sometime when you get a chance. Its a crazy race around the piazza where the jockeys have no saddles, they go opposite the normal direction, they have whips, but they can only use them on other jockeys and not the horses, and its just 3 laps long. People cram into the piazza in the center to watch, and the celebration goes on for months afterward. I will hopefully have the opportunity to go to the race later on (July 2 I believe), and im really looking forward to that.

On Sunday, we attended a church in Florence, and the service was half in Italian, half in English. It was good to be able to interact with other Christians in another language and praise God together. We sang songs in both english and italian, which was really cool. Its a little harder to follow sheet music when you have to follow notes and words that you dont know or can barely pronounce, but it was fun and uplifting. They also used wine instead of grape juice. I'll be honest, it tasted horrible. So, just so you other 'Church of Christers' know, we aren't missing out on anything during communion. In fact, I feel like we are fortunate.

Later on Sunday, I went to the open market in Le Begnese and I had an INCREDIBLE Nutella filled crepe. And then we went to the Bible School in Scandicci run by Harding people and Avanti Italia, and we had a good ole' American cookout with hot dogs and hamburgers. It was great.

This coming week is called 'Mission Impossible' week, which is packed full of activities and things to do. So it will probably be a little crazy, but hopefully I'll find some time to give an update somewhere in there.

Ciao!
Taylor

Comune di Scandicci

Today, we had the opportunity to interact some more with the community of Scandicci. We went to the Comune di Scandicci cultural exchange, and got to hang out with people our age (and some older) for several hours. We had friendly competition in volleyball, basketball, and soccer, had fun little dances like the cha cha slide and some Italian dances, as well as just talking - in english and italian - with new people. We ate a nice meal together, and presented awards to the winning team from each sport (as you can expect, we only won in basketball).

I had the opportunity to meet Lorenzo Guiducci and talk to him for a while. He has grown up in Scandicci and will be attending Harding in the US starting in the fall so that he can improve his English and hopefully one day become a literary translator from Italian to English. He is also studying Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, which blows my mind. It was really cool to talk to him, and hopefully we can help each other out in the fall with learning each other's languages.

I'm really enjoying learning Italian, although I wish I had started learning it sooner so I could interact more while over here. But hopefully I will be able to put myself in situations - even if it is out of my comfort zone - where I can pick up more of the language and how to communicate with people. But as it is, I may try and continue my Italian education when I get back to the States. We'll see how things go.

Ciao!
Taylor

Benvenuto in Firenze

Today, we visited Firenze for the first time as a group. It. Was. Mind-blowing.

We walked around the city and briefly hit all the highlights of the town, and it took all day to do it. There were so many incredible buildings and pieces of history. I know I missed a lot of the information, but we will go back to many of the sites and learn more about them in depth.

The building that stood out the most, obviously, was the Duomo. You may not be able to figure out why, but if you check out these pics, if you think about it real hard, you might be able to figure it out.


ok. apparently I am terrible at blogging, because I can't figure out how to fix the format of this to where it doesn't look ridiculous. So I will just keep going and pretend that its all ok.

Overall, today was awesome, and got me extremely excited for going to Florence and learning more details about it.


And for those of you who wanted to see the Villa, I finally have pictures of that as well. I'll post one here, but check back in a few days for some on Facebook or something. I'll try and post them when I find time.














(As someone so kindly pointed out, I foolishly misspelled 'chaio'. so i will get it right this time)

Ciao!
Taylor

Getting settled in

Well, my first weekend in Italia is behind me. Its been so crazy, I haven't really found much free time to sit down and write about anything. But I have loved every bit of it, and I am even more excited about the summer ahead of me.

The Villa (built in the 1400s) is pretty incredible. Its sort of a maze to get around, but this place feels like home already. It sits on a hill overlooking Scandicci and Firenze (Florence), and it is gated off. We have a fair sized backyard with olive trees, hammocks, roses galore, and a basketball/volleyball court. Inside, there are a lot of residence rooms upstairs, a computer room, a loft for studying and such, and a "dungeon" with a ping pong table. In the dungeon is a painted mural on the walls and ceiling archiving each group that comes through here, which we will get to add one of our own at the end of the semester.

I am working here doing like a million jobs it seems. I am an RA (Resident Assistant), which basically means I lock up the Villa at night, check to see everyone is here, and all around do whatever work needs to be done by the directors. On top of that, I am supervisor of the other student jobs, I do "maintenance", which is just cleaning and restocking a few things, and I do dishes occasionally. Hopefully all the money I make from it will make it all worth it.

I apologize for (1) the long pause before my first real post and (2) the fact that I haven't put any pictures up. I promise pictures will come, but it rained all day Saturday, and i just didn't get around to taking many today. But once I have some, They will be posted.

Chaio for now!
Taylor

First (ever) Blog Post

Buon Giorno! So, I'm not really sure what to do with a blog... This is the first time I've ventured into the world of blogging. But, I figured it would be the easiest way to keep friends and family at home updated with my travels abroad. Lets just hope I can actually keep up with it...

So, first things first, here is my (tentative) schedule for the first month of traveling overseas:













You're welcome Mom.

I leave Thursday from Birmingham, and Friday I should arrive safe and sound in Pisa, Italy (Lord willing). From there, let the adventure begin!

Peace and Blessings,
Taylor