MAMBO ITALIANO!!!!! (this is going to be a very, very long post)

I carried a small notebook with me all around Italy so that I could write everything down, so now I'm going to share it all with you! Enjoy :)

ITALY: January 16th-27th 2009

Jan. 16th:
I flew to Milan at 6:00 a.m. with the 3 other girls I'm touring Italy with: Lilli, Elli, and Liora. We landed at 9:15 a.m. Italy time (one hour earlier than Israel time). We pretty much spent this whole day traveling: we took a bus from the airport to the train station, where I ate my first Italian pizza (the first of MANY, so delicious), and then we hopped on a train from Milan to Florence. We walked to our hostel, which was really nice. We had a room of 6, so there were two other people in our room. They were nice, but we only talked to them for a little. Friday night we ate Shabbos dinner at the Florence Chabad house. It was kind of silly- there was just one long table filled with people from all over the world who we didn't know and a lot of food, and we had to listen to the rabbi speak for about 45 minutes, but we all fell asleep because we were completely exhausted. After dinner, we walked back to our hostel (about a 15 minute walk) and passed out.

Jan. 17th:
Our hostel served a cute little breakfast every day of granola cereal, pastries, and rice cakes (and jelly, milk, etc.), so we woke up and ate that. Then we spend a few hours wandering around our neighborhood window shopping, before heading to the Chabad house for lunch. It was pretty much the same experience as Friday night. After lunch we went to the Duomo, a big, famous church in the center of Florence, only a 2 minute walk from our hostel. You can pretty much see it from all over the city, because it's towers over the city. The outside is as beautiful and ornate as the inside, and it was amazing to look at. After that we all took naps, and then got a suggestion from this guy who works at our hostel for a good place to go to dinner. We walked there (it was called Muna), but it was full, so we made reservations for the next night and then walked to a different restaurant called Borgo Antico, where we had our first real Italian meal. We ordered three different pizzas, with all kinds of cheeses (buffalo mozzerella is our favorite) and vegetables (mushrooms, artichokes, eggplant, zuchini, tomatoes), and a big salad with avocado, tomatoes, and mozzerella (dressed with oil and vinegar). What a meal. After that we went to this really cute place called La Cite, also recommended by our hostel guy. It's a library/live music venue/bar, so that was a lot of fun. We all got hot chocolate or tea and flipped through Italian books that we couldn't understand. Then we walked back to our hostel and went to sleep.

Jan. 18th:
We ate breakfast at the hostel, and then headed over to the Galleria de Academia, where we saw Michaelangelo's David (that is the highlight of the museum). I took a bunch of pictures, even though you're totally not allowed to do that. Then, we went to the Great Synagogue and Jewish museum of Florence. The synagogue was huge, because it had to compete with local churches. It was really cool. Then we walked around the area and found a kosher restaurant and a kosher market. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to the hostel to buy bread and apples, and then ate lunch on the terrace of our hostel (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, leftover pizza from the night before, apples and peanut butter, and cheerios). Then, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. Wow. It is so big, and there are so many paintings there by really famous artisis! My favorite was The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli. After the Uffizi, we had a truly life-changing experience: our first Italian gelato. The place was called Grom, also recommended by our hostel guy. There is a Grom in New York City, but it is not the same. The gelato at Grom was heavenly. I had chocolate and vanilla, but I also sampled pear and pink grapefruit, both delicious. The vanilla especially was like biting into a cloud. It was unbelieveable. After Grom we went back to the hostel for a little to relax, and then went to dinner at Muna. What a cute restaurant! We ordered 2 pizzas, 1 pasta dish, and a salad, and then for dessert, dark chocolate fondue with bananas, pears, apples, pineapple, and mandarin oranged. It was amazing. After that, bed time.

Jan. 19th:
We ate breakfast at the hostel, and then took a train to Pisa! The leaning tower was way smaller than I imagined, but it was still really cool to be there. We also visited the beautiful Cathedral next to the leaning tower, and then took a public bus for free back to the train station and then a train back to Florence. We ate lunch (PB&J and pringles) on the train, and then, when we got back to Florence, we had Grom gelato #2, this time I got vanilla and pear. Then we walked over Ponte Vecchio (a really cool bridge with stores on the sides), to Palazzo Pitti, home of the Boboli Gardens. The gardens were vast and beautiful. It wasn't flowers though, it was just grass and trees and some statues, all beautifully landscaped, with a giant castle in the background. Lilli wants to get married there. After that, we walked around the shops on Ponte Vecchio and in the area for a little, and then had dinner at a small vegetarian restaurant recommended by, guess who, our hostel guy. I had pumpkin soup, cheese quiche, and chocolate cake. Lilli's friend Laine who is studying in Florence for the semester came to hang out with us for a little, and then we went to sleep.

Jan. 20th:
We had breakfast at the hostel (it's free, so we eat it every day), and then walked (well kind of hiked.. it was quite uphill) to S. Miniale al Monte or Piazza della Michaelangelo, a beautiful lookout of all of Florence. It was really windy up there, but so, so amazing. Then, we had Grom gelato #3. Then we went to San Lorenzo market, which is what I like to call a Stuff Shuk- there were scarves, jerseys, jewelry, and a ton more stuff. We all bought Italy jerseys and scarves. We had a delicious lunch at Osteria Dell' Agnolo of pizza (the best was the broccoli and mozerella- it might be the best pizza I've ever had) and a caprese salad. We continuted on to the train station, where we traveled to Venice. In Venice there is only water, no streets, so we took a public bus-boat across Venice to our hostel. After putting our bags down (this time we had a private room- it was more like a motel), we wandered around for 35 minutes in the rain looking for somewhere to eat. We had gotten a recommendation from the front desk guy at our hostel, but we accidentaly held the map the wrong way so we went the opposite way of the restaurant. Finally, we crossed the Rialto Bridge and found a little place. I had spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese, and then we went right to the hostel to sleep.

Jan. 21st:
This hostel did not serve breakfast :( so we ate bars and rolls and jelly for breakfast. Then we walked to St. Mark's Square, and St. Mark's Basilica. It was kind of a gloomy, rainy day, but the Basilica was amazing, like many churches in Italy are, and there was a pretty lookout from the top. We bought some small tuna/cheese/tomato sandwiches, then we had tea and pastries (and a white chocolate bar) at Pasticeria Ponte Delle Paste, and then real lunch in our hostel room (PB&J). Then we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, an amazing collection of modern art in Peggy Guggenheim's house. Liora in particular loved it, but we all did. She had paintings by lots of famous artists, but what was really cool was that because it was her private collection, the paintings weren't famous ones that we recognized like you can see in bigger museums, but less-well known works. Then we had dinner at Trattoria Rivetta with another Nativer Eli and his mom. We ordered lots of food. After dinner we ran into 3 other Nativers: Berdugo, Ribnick, and Avi! That was exciting. Then, bedtime.

Jan. 22nd:
We had another hostel breakfast of bars, and then took a boat to the island of Murano, the island of glass blowing! We got to see the factories where the do the glass blowing, as well as an endless number of stores selling all different things made out of glass. We stopped at a little cafe to get spinach and cheese sandwiches, and got gelato, of course, and then headed back to Venice. We went to the Jewish ghetto. We got to see 3 different synagogues, as well as a small museum. We ate peanut butter and jelly in the ghetto. Then we went back to our hostel to hang out for a little, and then had dinner at Pier Dickens with Eli and his mom. Pizza, pasta, and caprese. So good. Then, back to the hostel for bed.

Jan. 23rd:
We woke up and took a train to Rome!! I was particularly excited for Rome becasue I finished reading Angels and Demons on the plane on the way to Italy (which takes place in Rome), so I was super excited to see the city and and all of the places mentioned in the book. We checked into the hostel, and then took a walk to one of the churches from the book, called Santa Maria della Vittoria, where there is a famous statue by Bernini of the Ecstasy of St. Theresa. We got set up with a host family through the Chabad of Rome for Shabbos meals, so that evening we walked almost an hour to the home of the Guettas. It was really, really special to meet an Italian family who practices Judaism very similarly to how I'm used to at home. Their 5 kids all went, or still go, to the Jewish Day School in the Jewish ghetto area of Rome, and they did all of the Shabbos rituals I am used to, and of course, the food was amazing. We were happy to have meat. After dinner, we walked all the way back to our hostel and went to sleep.

Jan. 24th:
We slept really late, until noon, and then walked back to the Guettas for lunch. We ended up staying there talking to their daughters until Shabbos was over, and then the mom drove us back to our hostel. Then, we walked to Campo de'Fiore in the rain, and ate a delicious dinner at Magnolia. I had manicotti with spinach and ricotta. Then we went on a night walk across Rome that was in our guide book. It was a lot of fun, even thought it was raining a little. The walk started at Campo de'Fiore, continued to the Four Rivers Fountain (also in Angels and Demons), the Pantheon, Giolittis (a famous gelato place- ended up being a huge let-down. The people there were mean), the Trevi Fountain (my favorite place in Rome-it's so, so beautiful), and finally, ended at the Spanish Steps. After our night walk we were quite tired, so we called it a night.

Jan. 25th:
This was probably my favorite day the whole trip: Yom Vatican City. The last Sunday of every month, enterence to the Vatican Museum, or Musei Vaticani, is free. So, when we got there at 7:45 a.m. by metro, there were about 50 people already in line (the doors opened at 8:45), but shortly thereafter, at least another 500 people got in line. It was insane and packed. The museum was really cool, but the best part was, obviously, the Sistine Chapel. It was so big, and the ceiling and walls were so grand and amazing. No pictures or descriptions could ever do it justice. It's an incredible sight. After that, we went to St. Peter's Square. The architecture of the square is so awesome, and I finally got to see Swiss Guards in their silly outfits (http://z.about.com/d/german/1/0/U/b/1/SwissGrd250.jpg). Then, after waiting in line for about half an hour, we went into St. Peter's Basilica. It was huge. Amazing. The biggest church I have ever seen. I can't even describe it. We then payed an extra 7 euro to climb up to the top of the dome, and then on top of the dome to a lookout of all of Rome. My goodness was it beautiful. You could see St. Peter's Square and the Pantheon and so much more. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. My birds eye view photo of the square is the new background of my computer. After that, we got gelato (surprise, surprise). I got chocolate and raspberry. Then we walked by Castel Sant'Angelo (in Angels and Demons), over Ponte Sant'Angelo (Ponte=bridge), and then walked to Piazza del Popolo, to see another famous church that was in Angels and Demons, called Santa Maria del Polpolo. They happened to be shooting the new Daniel Day Lewis movie called Nine in the square when we got there, so that was cool. I have no clue what the movie is about, but there were lots of extras dressed up in nice 40's-50's era clothes, and lots of old cars. We went inside the church the one chapel mentioned in the book, the Chigi Chapel, was under construction. You could still see the statue that I wanted to see, but the rest of the chapel was tarped off. Oh well. We took the metro back to our hostel, and then had dinner at a restaurant called La Gallina Bianca, the White Chicken. I had a delicious pizza with mozzerella, broccoli, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes. Jake and the boys he was traveling with were in Rome too, so after dinner Jake and I walked back to the Trevi Fountain (I just love it so much). Then bedtime.

Jan. 26th (Erev Birthday):
We ate a small breakfast at the hostel, and then went to the Colesseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. It was cool to see, but got boring after a while, because it's really just a lot of ancient ruins. After that we went to the Jewish ghetto where we bought kosher challah rolls and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then we went to the Pantheon so we could see the inside (it wasn't open at night). It was cool because it was raining, and there is a giant hole built in the ceiling of the Pantheon, so they had to rope off and area in the center that was wet. Then we went to see the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps (we wanted to see them during the day), and then took the metro back to the hostel. After resting for a little, we went to Erev Birthday dinner at Saby's in Campo del'Fiore with Eli and Jake. We ordered almost the entire menu, no exaggeration. Pizza, pasta, caesar salad, bruchetta, caprese, and for dessert, chocolate mousse with candles in it! Lilli, Elli, and Liora gave me a Venetian Carnival mask for my birthday, because every store that we went to I loved to try them on (http://www.unitedmaskandparty.com/Masks/images/decorated_half_masks_feathers.JPG). After that, Jake and I walked around for a little. We wanted to go to the Trevi Fountain one last time, but it was a long walk and it was late at night and we were tired, so we just went to the fountain in Piazza Della Repubblica, and then went back to our hostels for bed.

Jan. 27th (MY BIRTHDAY!!!):
We woke up really early and took a train to the airport for our flight back to Tel Aviv at 10:15 a.m. On the plane we watched Nights of Rodanthe, the new Richard Gere movie. When we landed, we took a train to Beit Yehoshua, where Tovik picked us up, fed us dinner, and then took us to see her son play basketball. It was fun, but we were all really tired. It was a good birthday.

Jan. 28th:
We took a bus back to JERUSALEM!! Italy was amazing, but we were all excited to get back to Israel. Only about 5 other Nativers were here, so it was quiet around Beit Nativ. We just hung out, looked at pictures, listened to music, and then went to dinner at Cup O' Joe.

Today:
So far today all I've done is write in my blog and have oatmeal for breakfast with Elli and Liora. Elli, Liora, and Misha went to the Israel Museum, but I didn't go with them because next week we were split into groups for some touring around Israel days and my group is going to the Israel Museum. It's okay though. I'm just unpacking, organizing my stuff, and cleaning my room before my roommate gets back later today (I think).

That's about it! I put 6 albums of Italy pictures up on facebook, but I have about 300 more pictuers that I didn't put up because there were just too many. I'm going to send them all to my mom, so ask her if you want to see them. Thanks for reading this whole thing!!

-Sarah

GADNA

Last week I pretty much just relaxed a lot, because I finished my finals and I had nothing to do. Shabbat was just a lot of sleeping, and on Saturday my friend Michelle and I laid out blankets and read in the park. Then, on Sunday, we left for Israel Experience Week. Some people went to Poland, some people trained to be first aid respondents for Magen David Adom, some went to volunteer in Haifa, some did an archaeological dig in the North, and the rest did Gadna. If you don't already know, Gadna is a 5 day long army experience for teenagers around my age. Here is what I did all week on Gadna (Keep in mind that no one showered from Sunday-Tuesday):

Day 1-Sunday:
-Nativers split into 3 groups. I was in group 9!
-got our uniforms, sleeping bags, and blankets
-opening ceremony with the samelet and MM (two high ranking officials in Gadna)
-3 hour long kitchen duty (you get a different duty every day)

Day 2-Monday:
-wake up: 5:30 a.m.
-field day!
-learned how to army crawl
-learned how to run away from a grenade
-built secret hideouts
-talked with the MM about weapon safety
-class with our mifakedet on being Jewish vs. being Israeli
-current events with mifakedet (commander)
-talk with MM about different army programs
-duty: sweeping dirt out of the street

Day 3-Tuesday:
-wake up: 5:45 a.m.
-flag ceremony
-gun lessons:M16! (safety, assembly and disassembly, behavior in the shooting range)
-relay race against another group
-scavenger hunt run by the MM
-lesson with mifekedet on the purity of the weapon, one of the values of the IDF
-got officials to sign our paper
-lesson with mifakedet on different rankings, symbols, and beret colors in the army
-current events with mifakedet
-no duty!

Day 4-Wednesday:
-shooting range!
-shot an M16!!!!
-army games
-lesson with mifakedet about the Israeli flag and Hatikva
-lesson with MM about Antebbe
-army style exercise with the samelet
-duty: cleaning the M16s with oil

Day 5- Thursday:
-cleaned up tents
-returned uniforms
-found out that our mifakedet was only 19

A few things that apply to every day:
-sha'atash: an hour or so before bed to do whatever we want
-my job was to take attendence every time the group met after a break and to receive the mifakedet
-we always had to march everywhere in 2 lines, stand in 3 lines shaped like a box missing a side whenever we stood still, and answer "ken ha mifakedet" or "lo ha mifakedet" for everything
-mifakedet of tzevet 9 was amazing!! We loved her

This was SUCH an amazing week. I am very tired and sick, but I don't have time to think about that because in an hour I'm leaving for the airport to go to ITALY!!!!!!

Happy winter break (for me)!

-Sarah

End of classes, HAPPY NEW YEAR, bye bye family :(

Tuesday was just a normal day, so I'm going to skip that.

Wednesday the 31st was New Year's Eve! I had my Hebrew final and then my last Talmud class, and then came back to base. I hung out with my family for a while, which was nice, and then at 11 we had a little part at Beit Nativ for everyone and we rang in 2009!!!

I had to go to class on New Year's Day, but it wasn't so bad. I had my last Hebrew class ever. Both of my teachers came and we had lots of snacks, sang songs, and did a scavenger hunt around Hebrew U.

The past few days have been me trying to finish my foreign policy term paper and study for my art history and foreign policy exams, all of which I turned it/took yesterday. For Shabbat I took my mom and Rebecca to Shirah Chadasha Friday night (it was so, so crowded!) and then Kedem Saturday morning. Saturday night we went to dinner with Tovik and Shimon!!

Yesterday night was my last night with my family :(
My mom's friend works at a really, really nice hotel near Tel Aviv and he let us stay there for free, so it was a great last night. This morning I went to the airport with them and then I couldn't go through security with them since I didn't have a ticket, so I came back to Jerusalem by myself... I already miss them so much :(

Now I'm just hanging around. I have one paper left to write, Talmud, due Thursday, so I'll probably get on that at some point.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

-Sarah