Spring Break 2011 was one for the books. Amazing new sights, ample time with the family, and of course several fabulous meals. Doesn’t get much better than that.
The story begins in Rome. By some incredible coincidence, my brother Oliver’s high school choir trip was to Italy this year, and it overlapped with my spring break! So I was able to spend the first part of my break in Rome with the BHS Choir. And thanks to the insistence of my legendary ex-director, Nancie Tobison, I even got to relive my glory days by performing with the community choir since they were singing songs that I had performed in high school and could still remember…for the most part. We sang in a friendship festival featuring four American choirs and three Italian choirs. The performance was held at Castel Gandolfo, a small town in the beautiful castle region outside Rome where the Pope resides during the summertime. Although we did a fair amount of performing, I still got to see the sights in Rome – Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Roman Forum, and the Vatican. We also visited the lovely Tivoli Gardens at an old palace outside of Rome.
We then said goodbye to Rome and the choir, making our way up the western coast to Vernazza, one of the five towns along the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre (“Five Lands”) is a hiking trail that connects five colorful towns along the stunning Mediterranean. The idea is to spend an entire day hiking, exploring each town before moving on to the next. Things didn’t go exactly as we had planned, however. After hiking the first leg, we found that some of the “easy” ocean-side trails between the towns were closed due to rain damage, so we decided to take on the “difficult” hike from Manarola (town #2) to Corniglia (town #3). This hike took us three hours (compared to the half-hour easy path) but we agreed that the extra time and effort was totally worth it! The trail took us way up into the mountains, giving us spectacular views of the sea and the towns below. Eventually, after cheating and taking the train, we made it to the final town of Monterosso where we relaxed on the beach, gelato in hand. Tough life.
Despite the gelato, we felt we had earned our dinner that night. We found a little restaurant in Vernazza (town #4), and in typical Pringle fashion we ordered the works. The olive pizza was one of the best pizzas I’ve had thus far in Italy, the calamari was fantastic, and the pesto pasta was equally impressive. Pesto actually comes from that particular region of Italy, hence the deliciousness!
The final portion of my break was spent in Florence, showing the family around my temporary home. I took them to all the must-see places. In Florence, you can’t leave without doing the following: shopping around the Leather Market and Ponte Vecchio, browsing Renaissance artwork at the Uffizi and allowing yourself to be astounded by Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia, and finally visiting the Duomo (yes they still allow me back inside despite the debacle a few months back). We walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, a public square with great views of the entire city. It’s one of my favorite places in Florence. We also did some things that I hadn’t done yet, like climbing to the top of the Duomo and walking through the Boboli Gardens behind the decadent Pitti Palace, home of the powerful Medici family during the Renaissance. We even discovered a great rooftop café that serves an excellent cappuccino and overlooks the Piazza della Repubblica.
And although I took the family to my beloved panini and gelato joints, we got to try a few new restaurants for dinner, places I’d been wanting to try. We loved Golden View for its seafood, live jazz music, and location right on the Arno River which offered dazzling views of the lit-up Ponte Vecchio. Acqua al Due was probably our favorite, however. We had dinner there with my roommate Leah and her family, who also happened to be visiting while mine was in town. We tried the famous blueberry steak, but I preferred the pasta sampler, an assortment of FIVE different small pasta dishes each of which is selected daily by the chef. Heavenly. Actually that word – heavenly – is a pretty good description of my break. A typical study abroad spring break involves a whirlwind of travel across Europe, seeing four of five different cities in a week, checking items off a list. Mine was Italy-based and less hectic, but I still got to see and do quite a bit. I loved sharing this amazing experience with the people I care most about. And we certainly ate well! The Pringles know how to make memories and how to chow down, or in this case ciao down. I was born into the right family, that’s for sure.
