Climbing (Continued) and Cappuccinos

Today was one of my best days in Italy thus far (I know I keep saying this...but my trip really does seem to be getting progressively better). Before I dive in and tell you all about my unforgettable experiences today, let me catch everyone up on what's been going on at Castle Brunnenburg since the last time I wrote.

On Sunday we had a day of rest. As previously stated I made peanut butter cookies for the Princess to take to Sunday tea - they were a fantastic success! She seemed to really enjoy them, and I know the other students did as well. It nice to have a taste of home. After tea my friend Hope and I had a photo op on top of the castle. We had dressed up for tea and thought some fun pictures were in order. It was a blast!

Yesterday - June 8th - I was awoken in the middle of the night by a terrible thunderstorm! I had to close my window (which I usually leave open) to keep out the rain. I promptly fell back asleep, but was surprised the next morning to hear from Dr. de Rachewiltz that we had had some hail! Other than that, it was an uneventful Monday. Classes were intriguing. Dr. de Rachewiltz spoke about fairies and dwarves and the mythology of the Tirol, subjects which I found fascinating. Alex, Hope, Natalie and I also finally bought our tickets for the Uffizi and Accademia (Tavel tip #3: do NOT leave buying tickets for museums until the last minute...not my smartest decision). Luckily we were able to get tickets for both with a little shopping around. Elyse, an art and performance major and one of the students here, also gave us a brief overview of the most important art pieces to see in Florence, a very propitious presentation. The two highlights of the day both had to do with food - shocker!

We made a communal dinner which was very good:

And as always tea with Mary was exquisite. She also showed us her collection of Egyptian scarabs. Her late husband, Boris, was an Egyptologist and collected Egyptian artifacts. It was amazing to see all these pieces of ancient, Egyptian, history in this castle high in the Tyrollean mountains. 

This morning I got up and ate bread and Nutella - the best way to start the day! In Dr. Redman's class we've been analyzing The Merchant of Venice, a Shakespearian play. Portia, one of the main characters, is one of Shakespeare's most complex and intelligent female leads. We also looked at more of the artwork of Venice and examined the development of government and social institutions (such as the confraternities and dowry laws) in the Venetian commune. 

After class we had a delicious lunch, made, once again by Ms. Brigette. Here are pictures from lunch on Monday and Tuesday:

The weather today - June 9th - was absolutely gorgeous! After lunch Michi, Dr. de Rachewiltz son, took us on a hike up to Vinschgau via Gangleg to see the irrigation system of South Tirol and some Roman ruins. There were also reconstructions of dwellings that archaeologists had found in the mountains. It was sprinkling, but never actually poured, which made it very nice for hiking because it was not hot. We passed a small mud slide along the creek. The mountains are stunning:

On the way back to the town we stopped and looked at this:

Jesus and the Two Thieves

And had a brief discussion about Tyrollean customs (the ways in which they welcome spring) and food legislation where we discussed the values of quality versus quantity (i.e., whether using pesticides  or genetic modification to mass produce food is merited when it is known to damage the quality of the items and may damage those who consume them). It was a very interesting discussion, particularly because two of the girls in our group are going into law and one is very interested in environmental and food law. A consideration of differences between the European Union and the United States way of handling these issues also enriched the discussion. 

After this short lecture we descended into the village where Michi treated us to coffees. My cappuccino was very good (I don't think I have to say again how much I enjoy Italian espresso). Then we took a ride down the street to a pizza place.

When we had finished our Italian dinner it was time for the ride home. I spoke with Michi about books and different Italian desserts. It was a very fun evening. I cannot express with enough fervor the beauty of the Italian countryside. Being here is a blessing, and I will never forget the effect these majestic mountains have had on me, or the awe-inspiring experience of sleeping in Brunnenburg Castle in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. Until next time, goodnight from Castle Brunnenburg!

Climbing, Crises and Cookies

Yesterday - June 6th - was an interesting day, to say the least. Two of my fellow students and I decided to take the cable car up the mountain and hike down. It was a beautiful hike, the trails were very well marked and it was a lovely day, though a little cloudy so we could not see as much from the summit as we would have liked:

Tirolean Rose

The Cable Car

The scenery was beautiful!

On the way down the hill we had a bit of a crisis. One of my hiking buddies, started feeling nauseous and had a sharp pain in her side. We made it back to Castle Brunnenburg - just as the clouds started releasing their abundance of rain - and told Dr. Redman about our health concerns. After careful observation we sent her off to the hospital, afraid it might be an appendicitis. It was a bit scary! But she returned later that night with some medication and a reassurance from the Italian doctors that she would be alright. Today she seems much better.

 Last night I also made myself dinner - gnocchi, which I had never tried before. It was very good!

And now we come to the very exciting part of my tale. Princess Mary de Rachewiltz loves peanut butter. For our tea today I made some peanut butter cookies for her from peanut butter I smuggled all the way from the United States! I hope she likes them. It was an interesting experience baking in an oven that has its degrees in celsius and substituting ingredients based on what I had on hand or could get at the Despar (the local "supermarket"). They do not typically carry brown sugar like the dark brown sugar we have in the states or molasses, so I used white sugar and honey instead. I tried one and it was pretty good! Hopefully Mary likes them. Today has been a restful sabbath day. I listened to a sermon online and have been doing homework and enjoying the sunshine. The weather is perfect in the mountains. After our rain last night it is cool and sunny today - lovely. 

Hope everyone has a splendid weekend! Good afternoon from Castle Brunnenburg!

Continuing the Course: Chickens, Conservation and Commodities

So, I realized that for my past two posts I have entitled the piece with "C" words so I'm trying to continue the tradition. We'll see how long I can keep it up. Alliteration is always awesome, adding another amazing aspect to annotation. Though the thrilling theory that the use of alliteration makes writing easier to remember may in fact be true, the consequence of choosing "C" words based only on their letters, can commonly confuse the connotation of the composition; "C" words can not always cut it. Regardless of the title of my post, I have some interesting things to share today.

After leaving my computer yesterday I went to Dr. de Rachewiltz class where we read aloud from the Homeric Hymns - a thrilling experience. I love reading aloud and it is truly becoming a lost art. Dr. de Rachewiltz has a rich voice and it was a pleasure listening to him read. We also analyzed the story of Metis, Athena's mother, which was an interesting subject as the very night before I had told the story of Athena's birth to my peers. If I believed in coincidences....man that would sure be a strange one!

After Dr. de Rachewiltz class we decided to hike down into Merano (about a 45 minute hike) to go to the light show honoring a Chinese poet and the illustrious Ezra Pound. After getting lost twice (and having to call Nik, Mary's grandson, who is an absolute angel) we finally made our way into the town proper. Of course the first order of business (because we were, ridiculously, still early) was to go to a gelato place and feast on the heavenly ambrosia and nectar! Gelato is, without a doubt, one of Italy's greatest treasures.

The food was good. Then we looked for some bus information to determine what time the last bus left so we could make our way to the station in time to catch the bus up to Dorf Tirol (hiking down was not too bad, but there was no way we could hike back up in the dark - lots of loose rubble and steep climbing). Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the last train departed in less than fifteen minutes! We high tailed it over to the bus stop and did not see one beam of the light show. But it was not a complete loss - we got that gelato!

And this view:

We also saw a statue of what I think is Atlas - that was pretty epic!

When we got home we we ate dinner - oh the pleasures of pasta! - and started the long wind down to bedtime. As I was getting ready for bed (I had just taken off my glasses, which made this experience even scarier) I saw something on the wall. It was a huge (relatively, if you know me you know all vermin are bigger in my eyes) SCORPION!! I immediately screamed for help and promptly lost all rational thought as I began the inevitable freak out phase of the night. Natalie, my fearless friend, came to my rescue and stomped on it, bringing that poisonous pest to a definitive demise!

After that things were relatively calm at Castle Brunnenburg. I went to bed around midnight (narrowly avoiding turning into a pumpkin) and woke up this morning refreshed. We descended the mountain once again (oh 45 minute hike, you are good for my Fitbit, but not for my feet!) and attended the market in Merano that has lots of commodities for consumption! I bought a lovely Italian shirt, a bratwurst and the inevitable serving of gelato.

Upon our return to Dorf Tirol, Natalie and I decided to go to the grocery store and the fruit stand to stock up on food for the weekend. These are the fruits I got at the stand:

The strawberries taste like little cubes of sugar...and just 1.80 euro - just saying... I also got to hold a chicken!

And now, sadly, it's time for me to hit the books! Good night from Castle Brunnenburg! Tomorrow I will continue my chronicle - ciao! 

Coffee, "Companion" and other Cool Things

Today, June 4th,  has - so far - been one of the best days I have spent in Italy. Once you've seen the Colosseum and climbed Palatine Hill, you realize that the most interesting thing about Italy is definitely the people. Dr. de Rachewiltz and his family are some of the most well educated and intriguing people I have ever met! His wife, Brigette, is - as previously mentioned - a fine cook, but what I did not know is that she is originally from Austria. Today I ate lunch with the family and got to know them all a bit better. I spoke to her about The Sound of Music - which she seems to like - and her certification in Sustainability, one of the most difficult certifications to obtain. The family was  welcoming and gracious; it was a pleasure listening to their conversation and learning about their lives and how they ended up living at Castle Brunnenburg.

Lunch was pasta, for the first time since I have been in residence at Brunnenburg, and it was scrumptious! Ms. Brigette also offered me some of the Brunnenburg wine which was sinfully delicious. They grow the grapes on their vineyard here and bottle the wine themselves. It was a unique and unforgettable dining experience. Rose and Kasey, the two ladies who work on the farm, are both Americans. I talked to them about how they made their way to Brunnenburg and their dreams of the future, as well as the all important question of Disney movies and heroes versus villains. It was fascinating to see how much I share with these girls - and even the de Rachewiltz family - who live so far from Texas; yet all of us share a fascination with this mountain, a love of fireworks and an appreciation for good food, wine, coffee and conversation.

At the end of the meal they offered me some coffee - I must say that the coffee in Italy is superb. The small cups filled with espresso and then shot through with a dash of milk and sugar have made this bitter drink (for the first time) one of my favorite treats.

Dr. de Rachewiltz, with his study of etymology, has reignited my love of words and languages. Yesterday he broke down the word "companion" for us in class. He examined how the two root words: "com" - together or with - and "pan" - meaning bread - combine to form the word's meaning which is literally "one with whom to eat bread". Today I experienced wonderful conversation, with stellar companions over a meal of bread and pasta.

During class with Dr. Redman this morning he went over the layout of Venice and also discussed the role of food in the social hierarchy of the city and the multiculturalism which one can see through the variety of the ingredients. As a maritime city, and one of the greatest trading Republics of antiquity, Venetians were heirs to a myriad of foods including ingredients and dishes from the Middle East, China, mainland Italy and Greece. The importance of food as a bond between cultures and peoples, as well as individuals, has been one of the main themes of both Dr. de Rachewiltz's class and Dr. Redman's lectures on Venice. It was amazing today to see these themes in action in a real world setting as I experienced true companionship through food and wine.

Good afternoon from Castle Brunnenburg!

Country Chic

June 2nd at Castle Brunnenburg was full of fun and excitement! When I got up the first thing I did was go to see if my clothes had been cleaned (they had) and hang them on the line to dry - I felt very accomplished:

The castle is a champion of sustainability, which means that they like to be self-sufficient and use as little energy as possible. They use solar panels and hang their clothes on the line to conserve energy.

Then on to breakfast (wonderful as always - Nutella is decadent) and Dr. Redman's class. We had a special visitor for lecture, Mary de Rachewiltz, the Princess, came to speak to us about her book. She is a charming lady, sharp as a tac and well-rounded. She can speak multiple languages fluently and is gracious and eloquent. She answered all of our questions about her book and told us tales about her time as a secretary in a German hospital in World War II. 

After Dr. Redman's class we went to lunch. Brigitte made us the best dessert I have had in Italy thus far and, as always, the entrees and salad were scrumptious:

Our second day of class was a national holiday in Italy (Republic Day - their version of the Fourth of July) so instead of lecture with Dr. de Rachewiltz we had a field trip. We hiked for what seemed like hours (pretty sure it was only about twenty minutes) up the mountain to Schloss Tirol, a big castle that dwarfs Brunnenburg. 

Unbeknownst to me, Dr. de Rachewiltz had been the director of the Schloss Tirol Museum for 21 years! He knew the place inside and out. He took us on the best guided tour of my life, explaining in depth all the artwork and sculptures, and how they had found the many artifacts that were on display in the Museum - very Indian Jones like stuff. Archaeologists discovered the age of the building based on the rings on trees used as timber for the roof and floor of the castle. By measuring the distance between rings they can match the boards with the year the tree was felled and date the castle! Dr. de Rachewiltz tour was informative and extremely interesting. 

Then back to the town, Dorf Tirol, for some exploring - we never did find the fruit stand. We returned to the castle for dinner. I cooked for Natalie. We had zucchini, eggplant and shallots with tomato sauce and a tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad. 

I was very surprised at how well it turned out since I usually don't cook. Thank you mama for the advice! 

After dinner we had to do homework. I was up until midnight reading all of our texts, but they were very informative. One of the books assigned (as I think I've mentioned before) is The Odyssey. I was assigned two books from that, and those were a pleasure to read. 

This morning - June 3rd - I woke up and went to breakfast. I made myself a cappuccino - sorry, no picture, but believe me it was good! - and then went to class. No Mary today, but we went over the history of Venice in preparation for our Venice course, looking over some important dates and terms. It was particularly interesting to learn about how the IV Crusade (which I learned about last semester) affected Venetian architecture and artwork. When the Venetians sacked Constantinople with the Christian Crusader army they brought back much spoil and many building techniques which make Venetian buildings a unique blend of Gothic, Byzantine and Islamic styles. 

Then lunch - I ate my meal before I remembered to take a picture, but here's one of dessert:

It was a chocolate pudding with tangy whipped cream and ripe apricots

Then on to Dr. de Rachewiltz's class where we discussed etymology some more (very intriguing) and The Odyssey! Then the "exciting" part of my day - while skipping back to my dorm I fell! 

I scraped up my hands and bruised my back a little, but I'm ok. The dangers of wearing flip flops in the mountains...not my smartest decision. 

Now, as the day draws to a close, I sit here listening to the birds sing, thinking about all the reading I have yet to do, and enjoying the peace that Italy offers. The beauty of this mountain shows the mighty power of God and the sky shouts out his praise. I am so thankful to be here! 

To one who has been long in city pent,
’

Tis very sweet to look into the fair


And open face of heaven, — to breathe a prayer


Full in the smile of the blue firmament.


~John Keats, Sonnet XIV


Goodnight, friends, from Castle Brunnenburg.