Last weekend Ava, Sophia, Emily, Tiffany, and I ventured to Monopoli in the Puglia region of the heel of the boot of Italy. We stayed in a gorgeous stone Airbnb in the center of the town. We first arrived past midnight, so we did not think much of the night life, but nearing our apartment there were crowds of people eating and walking around the main square. The first morning we grabbed breakfast and some fruit from a produce shop for the beach. I got a carton of cherries and Emily got some peaches. The man was nice enough to wash the fruit for us and we snacked on the way to the beach nearby. The beaches were sand, rock, and grass. We swam out to the sandbar and watched people cliff jump. Sophia, Emily, and I ventured to the beach with the cliff and got nervous as it was higher than it seemed. We jumped a bunch until I tried to climb back up and fell back almost taking the man behind me in the water with me. After I swam back to the beach, Emily told me he went up to her when she was looking for me and said “sta bene” meaning I was fine and then reenacted me stumbling back while explaining in Italian. We went back to get ready for dinner and ate at this place called Apluvia with local food. It was so nice and the food was awesome. We got octopus, lobster, and cuttlefish and laughed as Sophia tried to crack the lobster claw and it shot across the table. Afterwards we all walked around the town, got gelato, and explored. The next day we walked around and shopped. It was a little cooler from the salty wind so not really a beach day. We saw a man painting by his shop and the streets were so narrow that we had to go into his shop for the car coming. He started to explain all of his paintings in Italian. I was able to translate some from my high school Italian class, but it was pretty self-explanatory with the paintings in front of us. His name was Gianni Comes and he used to be a fisherman as a Monopoli native. He used fishing nets, fishing jackets, jeans, and wood from the boats as canvases. He then ran around to shut off the lights except for one and put the fishing jacket canvas in front of it. The light glowed through the negative space in the paint, it was gorgeous. All of us were so blown away. He let us feel the paintings textured with fishing nets and other equipment and explained his theme of the “due amore” (two loves) and life. There would be two people or two sailboats and then life of the flowers, trees, and the city of Monopoli. Each of them was so detailed and beautiful. We all bought little ones from the wood from the fishing boats and he wrote messages about each of the paintings on the back. That was truly a highlight of our visit and really showed what beauty comes from Monopoli. We ate lunch on a rooftop for a view of the sea and ate more delicious seafood this time scallops, redfish, and more octopus. We then caught our flight home all exclaiming how Monopoli would be a place to visit again.

 

With this being our last full week, I am trying to explore all of the things I have not yet. Monday Emily and I climbed the stairs to the Duomo terrace which was gorgeous. I pass it twice a day and had not been inside yet. The interior was colossal. The stained glass was so colorful and contrasting against the gothic architecture. We also got to see the archeological area underneath which used to be a baptismal font covered in mosaics. Another place I have been meaning to go to is directly behind Aparto. It is a car themed restaurant called Officina that used to be an autobody shop and the atmosphere was very cool with framed pictures, vintage mirrors, and car signs covering the walls. The food was so delicious I got cacio e pepe which I had been craving for some time as it is not as popular in Milan being a Roman dish. For our last weekend we rented a villa outside of Florence that fit the whole group. It was so much fun to relax by the pool and play games with everyone all weekend. The view was so vast overlooking the Tuscan vineyards.

This week we did not have class as we were given more time to work on our final project. One homework assignment was to watch Erin Brockovich and discuss the movie questions in a group setting. The movie was similar to A Civil Action where it was a true story about small town’s groundwater being contaminated by a nearby plant. This time it was a huge gas and electric corporation instead of a local tannery and the main character was not a lawyer but needed a job and investigated the case and decided it was moral to fight back.

At Giuba 80 this week I had one of my friends model some polos for the Amazon storefront and I organized prices and TPIs for bookkeeping as this season’s book was becoming full. Tuesday we had a networking event in which my boss and coworker came to and spoke to some of my other friends and their colleagues. It was a fun time getting to hear about what everyone did for the month at their internships and what they thought about working international versus back at home. My coworker wanted to show me a few things before I left so we went to a horse race with her parents who go all of the time. It was so fun as I jump horses for the Lehigh Club Equestrian Team but have never been to a race which is a very different experience. The first race we bet 3 euros on a horse named Moorland Spirit to come in first. He was close in second and pushed for first when crossing the finish line. We won 7.50 euros! The second and third races were excellent as it was fun to go to something casual in the area. She then took me for lunch to City Life which was the most relaxed city looking place I have ever been in. Even inside the mall was not really crowded. I will miss my coworker and boss and plan to keep in touch and to meet up if I ever come to visit Italy again. They have given me great advice over this month and great places to come back to.