Tour d'Italia, part one

     Last week I got back from a week-long trip to Italy to enjoy the cities, the skiing, the food, and maybe even meet up with a friend. I managed all of that and more, so sit back and relax as you can take a tour of northern Italy from your desk! Those who have been on Facebook last week may have seen a bunch of these pictures already but here I will try to organize them and sort out some of my favorites.

     This trip was just one of many that were taken by students at my university here (Københavns Universitet or KU) as the international students who had taken the pre-semester Danish language course like I did had two weeks off before classes started. A bunch of my classmates went of to sunny Spain while some others, including my roommate, wondered down to Germany while yet others ventured the Danish countryside. I was determined to go cross country skiing, however, so I simply search for the cheapest flight to a country that could offer me some mountains and snow. At 188 Kroner, which is about $27 USD, Italy won out by quite a bit; in fact sending my skis round trip could have bought me nearly three more seats on the flight! The plan was to spend about half of the time up in the mountains to go skiing then take a few days to check out the cities in the north.

     I landed in Bergamo, a suburb northeast of Milan that was actually closer to the region of the Alps I was hoping to go to than flying right into Milan itself. I arrived the night of the 27th with a bus ticket to a mountain town called Bormio in the early afternoon of the 28th. Bergamo really wasn't all too impressive on its own; it seems to be a service-heavy city with a lot of banks and office spaces but little else. That is until I ventured to the Upper City, called Citta Alta, named such due to it being situated in the foothills of the Alps. Apparently this is the old portion of the city that has been inhabited at least since the 2nd century BC by a Celtic tribe and was later used as a common summer vacation spot by the Roman aristocracy. The city has been renovated and reworked many times by many peoples, but one of the distinguishing features are the cyclopean walls built in the 16th century that surround Citta Alta.

One of seven original city gates (only three still exist) called Porta Sant'Agostino 

Panorama from the south−facing walls overlooking the more modern Lower City, Citta Bassa

Shot looking further up into Citta Alta, the top half of the old walls are in the foreground

Look down the path that lies immediately beside the city walls surrounding Citta Alta

     It turns out that Italians don′t really venture out of their homes before noon and I had a particularly early start to my day so I had most of the sites of interest here all to myself. After walking he parameter atop the walls, I cut up to the center of Citta Alta which is an old square known as Piazza Vecchia. Surrounding the square is the former town hall, a large library, a cathedral, a convent, a very old bell tower, and a smattering of cafes and shops. I then just sort of wondered down various streets and came across a whole bunch of cool churches, ruins, and simply gorgeous little streets.

 Street leading to Piazza Vecchia, the white building at the end is a public library known as Biblioteca Civica "Angelo Mai"

Shot of Piazza Vecchia with the city hall in the center and the old bell tower on the right

Opposite shot of the Piazza from a balcony on the city hall with the library at center

Front facade for the Cattedrale di Sant'Alessandro, which was unfortunately closed

One of many pictures I took of painfully Italian−looking streets; the cobblestone really sealed the deal for me

Some ruins I encountered enclosed in a building with a lot of windows for viewing; the plaque was only in Italian but my understanding is that these are from the original settlement from the 2nd century BC

Another shot of the above ruins 

Fresco outside the entrance to Chiesa di San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

Frescoes that were covered with plaster at some point in history being re-exposed in the back of the interior of Chiesa di San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

Yet another fresco from Chiesa di San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

View of the alter and some pews in Chiesa di San Michele al Pozzo Bianco

I came across a small, free WWII museum in the old town hall; I was the only one in there for the whole time I walked around

Some pamphlets and short books sold on the homefront

An etching depicting a foundry producing artillery shells for the war effort

  

A small chapel, Cappella di Santa Croce, immediately adjacent to Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

More of the Cappella di Santa Croce

Some of the crumbling foundation of the Cappella di Santa Croce

Front facade of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, yes all of that is made of various forms of marble

The first of many beautifully painted ceilings inside the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Shot towards the alter still in Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Better perspective of the vastness of the intricate ceiling sculptures and paintings in Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

A minor alter just to the left of the central alter

Central ceiling paintings in the dome of Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Yet another ceiling shot

One more shot of the ceilings, for good measure

If I understood the French tourists I overheard/was eavesdropping on, this was a communal water basin used for washing clothes

     After enjoying the Upper City for the morning, I ventured back toward the Lower City to grab lunch and catch a city bus to the airport where I would be taking my express bus up to Bormio. I had a wonderful plate of tortellini in a creme sauce with prosciutto and still had time to stroll down a huge chocolate market. After some liberal sampling, I ended up getting a hunk of 70% cocoa dark chocolate with rice crispy-like cereal pieces as well as a block of chocolate-hazelnut fudge; both were as delicious as you probably are thinking.

     I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, asked another bus attendant where my shuttle usually arrives, and sat down to wait. Soon it was 2:00pm, departure time, then it was 2:10, then it was 2:15, and the bus had not yet arrived. After borrowing an Italian man's phone and getting in touch with the bus company, I learned that my ticket was actually for the following day and that there had been no tickets purchased at my pickup location so the bus didn't stop there at all. The customer service rep suggested that the next best way to get to Bormio would be to take a city bus to the train station, hop a train to Lecco, change to another train which goes to Tirano, then get on a bus up to Bormio. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled at the prospect of changing transportation that many times with a backpack and ski bag, but it did seem to be the only other means of getting to my next stop.

     At the train station, while buying my ticket, I overheard another man who was going to Tirano as well. He started running after buying his ticket so I figured the train must be leaving soon, but he was mistaken making us both look like idiots. I approached him after we both realized we had to wait for just less than an hour, but he didn't speak any English. After asking back an forth, we both decided that we could speak enough French to communicate in that. Between waiting on the platform and taking the trains I learned that his name is Kazimierz and he is actually Polish but has lived and worked in Italy for 20 years, thus he spoke Italian fluently. So whenever we changed transportation or needed to buy tickets, I would let him speak in Italian then he would explain in French; at one point we came across a confused Alaskan girl who I then explained things to in English, making for a rather impressive game of inter-lingual telephone.

     After reaching Bormio, I parted ways with Kazimierz who was going yet another town further up the mountains to Livigno, where I would be skiing the next day. With the help of the bus driver and a map, I found my hotel, checked in, and went to the in-hotel restaurant that is also run by the two women who run the small hotel. I was thoroughly exhausted and hungry so just about anything would have been exciting at that time, but what I got was far more than I expected. I was told about three menu choices and opted for some sort of tortellini bake with red sauce and a lot of cheese. While waiting, the other women offered me some of the soup but I explained that I had ordered the tortellini. She then explained that she was just offering for me to try a little, so of course I said yes; only she didn't just give me a little sample, she gave me more than half a bowl! Then the first woman passed by again and asked if I wanted to try some of this green gnocchi dish that the region was famous for, to which I of course answered yes, and was once again given what seemed like far more than even a half portion. Finally my actually meal arrived which was just as good as the 'samples' before it. After finishing I got asked if I wanted more, which honestly I did, but it just wasn't possible for me to eat more so I had to decline.

View up the street to my hotel (the brown roof on the right); and yes, that is a mountain basically in the backyard of my hotel 

My attempt at a panorama of my little room, it was essentially just a bed, a closet, and a bathroom but it was perfect for one person on a ski trip, plus it had access to its own balcony facing the above-mentioned mountain!

     The next morning I had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel then caught a bus up to Livigno, one of the best known skiing valleys in Italy. By 11:00am I was out on the trails and my gosh it was incredible. I have never seen a landscape quite like the one I was surrounded by. Unlike the Rockies which I have found to be a series of monumentally-sized towers of rock and ice, the Italian Alps were a series of shorter, snow-capped peaks that seemed to exist in number like trees in a forest. Part of the reason was being in a valley that was already quite high in elevation, but sheer number of peaks surrounding me was something that I did not get used to in the roughly 48 hours I spent there.

     The skiing was pretty good, however the area had been getting unseasonably warm and was nearly 45 degrees Fahrenheit by midday while I was there. When I went back out in the afternoon to ski I was wearing just a t-shirt! My wax was also not quite ready for the warm, wet snow causing them to drag a bit as well as offer little kick (for the skiers in the crow: I was gliding on a mix of Ski*Go Violet and Graphite with a kick base of Ski*Go Violet that I covered with Swix V55 Special Red once it warmed up). The trails were oriented as long loops that stretched the length of the valley while having little width between the out and back trails. To the north was the stretch of villages, and on either side of the valley there were chairlifts and ski runs carved into the trees. Here is a crappy diagram to try to illustrate this layout and then a bunch of not-at-all-crappy pictures.

Looking down the valley, you would see something like this:

                                                             //\\                  /'\/'\/'\     //\\

                                                            //  \\__,,__,,__|_|_|_|__//   \\

                                         Mountains^    Trails^          ^Towns   ^Mountains

Shot of the neighboring valley from the bus

Looking up the valley toward the eastern end, if there was more snow the trails would continue further toward that peak in the center

Attempt at a panorama of the eastern loop; note that the trail on the left and the trail on the right with the skiers actually meet at a right angle opposite me silhouette, isn't photo-geometry fun?

From atop the 'expert' trail, a 3km loop that was technically incredibly challenging but a load of fun; this is looking norther toward over the towns to the other side of the valley

Westward shot of the trail looking fabulous; I had to keep reminding myself to look up and look around me because this was the view I had at any given moment while skiing

Not the best picture from the bus' window but the sun setting on some of the peaks was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen

That night I had a house wine and an amazing pizza with cheese, smoked ham, and an egg in the center

     The next morning I had planned to return to Livigno to explore another trail system leading to an adjacent valley, however my hostess told me to try Santa Caterina Valfura as she had heard that the weather was a tad colder there. I am so glad that I listened to her as the snow was in beautiful condition and the environment was just as gorgeous. It had been about 10 degrees Fahrenheit overnight and was floating comfortably in the mid-teens while skiing (as a result I was gliding a bit better and could kick on just the Ski*Go Violet with a little Swix VR45 under the toe). These trails were not as extensive as they closed off trails that were probably still navigable but not up to their standards, but they were beautifully kept and included a 4km 'expert course' as well that would give Two Tier hill at Lapham Peak a run for its money! The trailhead was also just next to the chalet for both nordic and alpine skiing, so I could ski for an hour or so then grab a sandwich, ski for another hour than grab a cappuccino, and so on.

View down the valley toward a neighboring town 

These are some farmhouses just off of the trail; for most of the day I could smell something really animal-esque along a particular stretch of trail but couldn't figure out why until on one pass I heard a snort and realized there was a rather large pigpen just beyond some trees

Another shot near the farm houses 

 In the foreground is a river that ran down the valley, in the background are more awesome mountain views

Another look down the valley but with some nice mountain slope lighting

Shot of the slopes from a chalet table while enjoying a cappuccino 

Poster found hanging in the nordic changing area; even Italy has Birkie Fever!

Rick Astley can only speak for itself; also while sitting a the chalet enjoying cappuccino

     After yet another successful day of skiing, I had an amazing sandwich with another great house wine back in Bormio. The next morning I left early on the bus that I was supposed to take up to Bormio, ending up right back in Bergamo. From the airport there I took a bus to Milan around the middle of the day where I would spend 24 hours before going to Bologna for another 24 hours and then home to Copenhagen. This post is getting rather long, though, and I still have more reading to do for class so I will have to write another post about the city portion of my trip in the next few days with lots of pictures of cathedrals, art, and architecture. Stay tuned!

State of the Jason

     Hey all, sorry I haven't posted lately. I have been up to a whole lot so I'm breaking it into two separate posts. My Danish class came to an end on Friday the 22nd with a written exam in the afternoon, and was fully completed the following Monday with the oral exam. To reiterate my assessment of Danish from my last post, the Danish language is very hard in many ways, but particularly in understanding spoken language and trying to pronounce pretty much everything. With the written exam including two sections of listening to a recording and answering questions and of course the oral exam requires some pronunciation skill, it was a rather challenging end to a rather intensive course. All in all, though, it was very worth it to take the class; I met so many awesome people right away, learned a good deal about Danish culture from my professor, can now introduce myself and order at a restaurant in Danish even if Danes will switch to English right after, and had a great excuse to come to this beautiful city a month before the semester started!

A lovely class picture with our professor, Mia, in the back right

Some of the squad in post-written exam bliss

     Much to my surprise I actually did pretty well in the class! I managed a 10 out of 12, sort of, for both the written and oral exams. I say sort of because Denmark now uses a seven-point grading scale that isn't just zero to six or one to seven. Instead it's possible to get a failing grade of either a -3 or 00, a just passing grade of a 02, or one of the passing grades 5, 7, 10, or 12. The leading zeros for the 00 and 02 grades are to prevent students from altering them into a 10 or a 12 respectively. Apparently this bizarre system was created to make grade transfers easier, believe it or not. European schools using the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) have, since the establishment of this standard, used a seven-point scale for grading and so Denmark modified their old scale to also have only seven points. The old scale, however, was a 13-point scale, which is why the current system still goes up to 12.

     Our oral exam coincided with yet another 21st birthday in our class (the third in only two weeks!), so that night we had plenty to celebrate. The following day was Australia Day, better known as 'Straya Day, which according to the invite from an Aussie in our class it is a day to "slack off, eat lamingtons, drink tinnies, go to the beach, watch the cricket and celebrate all that is good about Australia. And, while that particular date commemorates the blatant imperialism underpinning the first white settlement in Sydney (the smear on an otherwise lovely day), we'd love for you to dig into some vegemite (NOT marmite) and listen to the biggest musical institution of our calendar - the triple J hottest 100, streamed live from Aus." Needless to say, the dorm was abuzz with cooking, drinking, and the sweet sound of Australian accents. Unfortunately I was able to join in very little because I was attending a volunteer training at Studenterhuset.

     I guess it's not all too unfortunate as I am very excited to get to work at Studenterhuset (The Student House) this semester. It is essentially a student union building for students throughout Copenhagen. It is run exclusively by students who primarily come from my university, KU, but is open to the public and students at any school in the city can become members. Being in the city center, the building is not nearly as large as most American unions would be, but the space is used constantly and for a variety of things. The main floor is a cafe and bar that serves nearly a dozen beers on tap, even more bottled, all the coffee and espresso drinks you know and love, as well as some bakery goods and snack foods. Over the semester the location plays host to scores of music events, trivia night every Monday, swing dancing every Tuesday night, a cheap but delicious meal every Wednesday night, lectures by a variety of academics and professionals, and much more. This Sunday, for example, the place will host Super Bowl events starting at 9:00pm through when the game begins at 12:30am our time.

View of the bar area from the front door

Friday night crowd in front of Studenterhuset's front entrance on the famous shopping street Købmagergade

A (not so great) shot of the interior ambiance; it's always packed, even on a Tuesday night!

     Besides all of the goings on, there are many other student organizations that are under the Studenterhuset umbrella. There's a group called language cafe that meets every couple of weeks for students learning languages to just sit and chat with a native speaker or two; film club both has events for club members and plans film screenings for the public; media group manages all of the PR for Studenterhuset, particularly photography and social media; and then there's the bar group which is who I am volunteering with. Since it is all student run and meant to be inexpensive, nobody gets paid for working there, but there are a lot of benefits. We essentially are paid per hour with food/drink tickets that are good for pretty much any one item off the menu. Since we always work a five hour shift, that really adds up. Also, the tickets can be used on shift, afterwards, or saved for another time or even for a friend to use. After using all of your tickets, you still get an even greater discount than the standard member rate, making an already affordable venue one of the cheapest places to hang out. The people I have met through Studenterhuset already have been really cool, and I look forward to a long semester of meeting new friends and enjoying time back behind a bar once more.