coastal adventures

I started my job on Tuesday at the La Pietra Policy Dialogues office, and it's great! It's such a chill environment, and my boss and the 3 other work study students are all really nice. I worked on designing the posters for a couple of the upcoming dialogues, and it made me miss working on yearbook in high school a lot. In addition to that, 2 other students and I met with an Italian student who is going to be a research assistant in the office. She just graduated from a Master's program in Florence and provided a lot of insight into the differences between American and Italian/European schooling. I think I'm going to be working with my boss Megan on developing the long-term dialogues, working primarily with their urban development programming.

Besides work, school takes over my week here. So, other than beer pong part 2 at an American bar here, I didn't do much this week.

me and my partner/roommate Laura

The week culminated in my first visit to the coast when I went on an NYU sponsored trip to Cinque Terre! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Everything was so colorful and the water was the unbelievably clear, and super salty.

Map of Cinque Terre

Kodia, Laura, me and Carmen

Cinque Terre (translated: 5 lands) is made up of 5 different villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore, and we visited 3 of them. I went with my roommates Laura and Kodia, and I knew a few other people on the trip as well. We arrived in Riomaggiore and toured the town, and then we walked up the coast to Manarola on a path called Lover's Lane. The whole pathway is lined by a fence where couples put locks on and then throw the key into the sea.

at the end of Lover's Lane

When we arrived in Manarola we took a hike through the grape vines planted on the slopes and natural ridges above the town, and then we were set loose for 2 hours to find food. Me and a couple other people ended up at this restaurant specializing in seafood, all of which is totally fresh. I had a salad and grilled calamari, and also tried some of Laura's stuffed anchovies and David's fried anchovies and octopus and it was all delicious! I was really glad I decided to be technically a pesketarian instead of a vegetarian, that seafood was much too delicious to pass up. After lunch Laura and I, with the rest of our group in tow, practically sprinted to the gelato stand I had seen when we arrived because there was a sign advertising the brioche gelato sandwiches I had heard about! I got a sandwich with raspberry and pistachio, and it was delicious.

David and I with our samiches

nomnomnom

After lunch we took the train to our next and final stop in Vernazza where we got to go SWIMMING. The water was clear and super salty, it was by far the best swim in the ocean I've ever had. We just treaded water and chilled on the beach for an hour. It was the perfect end to a perfect day!

the beach in Vernazza

Molly, the surfboard riding dog

New thing: stuffed sardines