I wanted to highlight some places in the Tuscan region that tourists should visit that are “off the beaten path.” Here are just a few:
Tarot Garden
Nikkie de Saint Phalle created the Tarot Garden tirelessly working towards her passion from 1979 – 1996. She created a tarot garden depicting the 22 tarot cards in an old stone quarry in Maremma. She even lived in one of her creations while building others. The 22 figures consist of sculptures, architecture, and monuments. Phalle directed a team of artists to create these remarkable figures of concrete, mosaics, and ceramics. Some of the larger figures include The Empress, The Magician, and The High Priest. The monumental sculptures were made from welded steel bars. Phalle’s idea of a monumental sculpture park was influenced by Gaudi’s Parc Guell in Barcelona.
One of the most impressive sculptures of the garden was The Empress which represents a sphinx. The Empress is the great goddess. Phalle and her husband Jean Tinguely even lived in this monument while building others. Phalle also used The Empress for meetings and coffee breaks with her crew. Phalle describes her as the “Queen of the sky. Mother. Whore. Emotion. Sacred magic and civilization.
Maremma and Bolgheri
Maremma is one of the most visited tourist areas of the Tuscan area bordered by the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas. Many different vineyards are found in Maremma making some of the finest wines known world-wide. Bolgheri is located in Northen Maremma which produces Bordeaux wine varieties such as Cabernets, Merlot, and Petit Verdot which thrive in high temperatures. Bolgheri also grows Rhone grapes such as Syrah.
Marble quarries of Carrara
Carrara is located in a commune in the Tuscan region in a the Province of Massa and Carrara. Carrara is noted for it’s white and grey-ish marble. Carrara marble has been used for many centuries. It dates back to it’s use in The Pantheon and Trajan’s Column in Rome. The Carrara marble is exported all around the world. The marble is extracted from the mountainsides of the Apuan Alps. Due to excessive mining, the marble from this area poses a risk of almost being extinct.
Marble in Carrarra began over 200 million years ago when skeletal remains of shellfish and other creatures formed limestone sediment on the deep sea floor. As continents began to shift and collide, mountains formed and created white marble. The marble was bought to the surface of the Apuan Alps.
Viareggio
Another Tuscan city is Viareggio, which located in northern Tuscany on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also known as Versilia and is the second largest city in the Province of Lucca. Viareggio is home to the Carnival of Viareggio which features large paper-mache floats. Carnival of Viareggio is considered one of the most important carnival celebrations in Europe. This carnival dates back 1873 and often features floats dedicated to current political satire. The carnival takes place in the weeks before Easter. The craftsmen build their famous floats in Cittadella del Carnivale all year long. From the very beginning, the carnival was dedicated to politics. In 1873, a wealthy man organized a parade of floats with flowers. Local citizen protested the parade by wearing masks showing their refusal to pay higher taxes for the carnival.
These are just a few suggestions for your Tuscan tour guide. Enjoy! Ciao!

Well we are back home in the states and my first meal was a burger and fries. I loved the trip, although I would have changed a few things if I did it again. The mainly find and way to make more native friends.

Of all the places we went the Great Wall of China was the most incredible thing that I have ever seen. Not only in China but in my 21 years of life thus far. Chinese is much harder than I thought it would be, even though I knew it would be very hard. It’s going to take a few more years of studying for me get where I would like to be but I liked it so I’m willing to put in the effort.

On our last day in China we went to our favorite dumpling place again. The owner showed us how she makes her dumplings so I’m excited about trying to make them some time in the near future. I must say the one of the downsides to such great food is that I don’t know if I will ever enjoy Chinese food here at home as much as I did before.

I am already looking forward to my next trip abroad. This was just such a great experience. Anyone who can should study abroad. You will not regret having that life experience and you will have a blast.

Friday May 25^th

I can’t believe it has only been a week. I have already learned so much Chinese (what I retained is a different story though). I have two tutors that tutor me for 16 hours in the week. So I have been moving really fast and have covered so many new words I am now having trouble sorting through them all. Next week I have my first dictation in which I’m supposed to listen and then write what is said. I am supposed to write in characters but as of today I can barely read a sentence without by handy vocab book.

On the other hand, I have been having a really good time so far.  There is a dumpling place that has the best steamed dumplings ever!! You can get anything you think of in them (egg and garlic, lamb and radish, pork and corn, and vegies just to name some of the ones I’ve tried). Today I tried noodles made from potatoes and tomorrow we get to try Beijing’s famous roast duck. It will be a while before I will be able to eat Chinese food in the states.

Duck #1

Thursday May 17^th

Well I had my first Chinese class today and I learned a lot. Now I will have to study my butt off so that I can remember it all. I have four hours of class each day and it’s just me in the class which has its pros and cons. I like my fist teacher so far and it seems like we will move very quickly so I will need to really pay attention. I want to get as much out of this trip as possible.

On the other hand we have had so much great food and at such a cheap price. Also people like to eat family style here and the waiters get really mad when people at the same table try to pay separately. So we have been trying to avoid doing that. Even when we do we have to figure out the change and everything ourselves so that we can pay the waiter in a lump sum.

This campus has so many students from all over the place. I just met some more students from UofL which was nice.

This weekend we are going to the Great Wall which I am really looking forward too. Well I’m off to review all of the stuff I learned today so I hope everyone in enjoying their summer J

Tuesday May 15, 2012

I’m feeling a little bit frustrated today! I just broke the top of the toilet seat in our apartment bathroom which I am going to have to pay for. I still don’t know exactly what is going on with my classes. And the shower is not heating up, plus it is super weird and I don’t like it.

We got in today after 12 hours on a train, maybe 5 hours of sleep. All I wanted was to take a nice shower, and wash my hair after that. We got to the university and checked in which was stressful cause I had no clue what they saying as they checked stuff off made me sign that everything was ok.

*** Ok well the shower wasn’t that bad. But anyways…

The campus is really nice and I am sure that I will get lost on it in the very near future. There are students from all over here which is nice but I have a feeling that with so many foreigners it will be hard to make friends with native Chinese speakers in such a short time. Especially with my Chinese skills being nada and there being a lot of what seems to me, advanced Chinese speakers from all over.

We have had 2 full days in china and it’s been pretty cool for me. On the first day that we arrived which was the 10th here, we just went out to We had no clue what we were doing. The food was pricy by china’s standards and really wasn’t very good.

Yesterday we went to see some more of Shanghai. We walked to the Shanghai museum which was pretty interesting. We also went to the canal where we took a fairy and saw some of the city. We were supposed to go later in the evening when all the lights were on, which would have been so much nicer than during the early evening when we went. We also got food from a place our student guide likes to go. I was the only one who was completely satisfied with my meal though. It was really stressful on our guide trying to order for us, and on top of that they were out of a lot of things. Fortunately I was quick and simple and told her to just get me what she usually gets. By the time others found out that their item of choice was out, saw mine, and wanted what I had, there was no more left.

Today we went to another city called Suzhou. It is a city that still had a lot of old architecture and was really pretty. We first went to a garden which used to be owed by a rich family in the area. The garden was amazing and beautiful. We also went to silk factory. How intricate the work of making real silk is, is truly amazing. Literally everything from the silk worm can be used for something.

Today was also my first experience with the squat toilet; luckily I remembered to bring a roll of toilet paper with me (the other girls in my group were also glad I remembered). It wasn’t too bad though.

The past two days I have seen a lot of really cool sights and attraction and it just so happened that I was one of them. I have been stopped more than 5 times to be asked to take a picture with someone. Mostly Chinese but I was also stopped by two middle aged eastern European woman as well. But it hasn’t been just me, a few people from my group have also been getting asked for pictures. As a matter of fact walking the board walk people were taking pictures of our group randomly. It was a little weird but pretty funny as well
So far so good though I’m excited to see what the rest of the trip has to offer.