WEEKEND NUMBER 3: MANTUA, MONASTRY & MODULES !!!

Me looking out over the 'Lago Superiore'

CIAO again! It's been a week, so time for another update on 'Mi Vita Erasmus' and by god I have a lot to blog about! It's been a really great weekend, and the best part was a trip to the small provincial city of Mantua (Mantova in English!) on Saturday with Vicky. We got up really early and met at the train station at 7am, and just two short hours later and a change in Milan Rogoredo station we arrived in Mantua for 9am. I had a map at the ready, but it was really not needed as there were plenty of signs pointing to the 'centro città' (city center). We wandered along some cobbled streets admiring all of the buildings, and soon we were entering the center of the city. We were a bit pekkish so were planning on a stop to a bakery for a croissant, and soon found a cute little place on the main street into the center. We went in, and were met with a huge range of yummy looking pastries/cakes/foccacias and pies! Instead of a croissant, Vicky chose a spinnach and Parma ham pie tart, and I chose a sun-dried tomato focaccia bread! we then went and sat down on the steps of the church on the Piazza Mantegna in the sunshine to eat our breakfast whilst watching the world go by. 

Vicky's spinnach and ham tart, and my sun-dried tomato focaccia bread!

Once re-fuelled, we began to wander around the ancient center of Mantua which was incredibly beautiful. To me it seemed so quintessentially Italian, and I especially liked the clock tower on the 'Piazza delle Erbe'. After studying a module on the Spanish Inquisition at Leicester in Year 1,  I am quite interested in the way that criminals were treated in the past, and when I was reading my guide book, I was interested to read that in Mantua there are a still a few examples on show depicting how criminals were treated in the 1300's. On the Piazza Broletto in the center you can see under a bridge that there are metal rings embedded in the vault, and victims were chained by the wrists and then hauled up and suspended in mid-air. You can also see that on the nearby 'Torre delle Gabbia' (Tower of the cage) that there is actually a metal cage suspended near the top where prisoners were apparently displayed so that everyone could see them and that they would experience public humiliation for their crime. Very interesting I thought anyway!

The Sant'Andrea church on the Piazza Mantegna

A view from the Piazza delle Erbe

Piazza delle Erbe - see the wonderful clock-tower?

The bridge where you can see the metal rings used to hang criminals

A closer view of the rings on the arches.... can you see them?

Torre della Gabbia where you can see the metal cage used to display prisoners.

After wandering around the center, we decided to go for a walk to see Mantua's three surrounding lakes. We started off by heading for the Lago Inferiore, but instead wandered along the shore of the northern Lago di Mezzo westwards towards the Lago Superiore. Along the way we stopped for a few irresistable photos! The Lago Superiore is certainly called the superior lake out of the three for a reason! It was incredible, the water was still, and the area was so unspoilt and very picturesque. 

Me on a log by the Lago di Mezzo

Vicky and Me down by the lake!

Vicky and Me looking out onto the Lago di Mezzo

The still waters of the Lago Superiore

Us sunbathing on the banks of the Lago Superiore

Me enjoying the sunshine!

After our wander down by the lakes, and a good hour or more of sunbathing, we decided it was time for a refreshment stop. We found ourselves a cute little cafe on the main Piazza delle Erbe where I had a cappuccino and a coke and Vicky had a coke and a bottle of water. We relaxed in the sun for a while longer whilst enjoying people-watching! I think that having a drink in a cafe on a piazza in the sunshine has to be one of the nicest ways to spend time in Italy and absorb the atmosphere!

A view of Piazza Broletto and the small market

A view through the arches onto the Piazza delle Erbe

Our cute little cafe with the seatng in the sun!

Our relaxing refreshment stop!

After having another look at the guide book, we then decided to go in search of the castle down by the lakes on the northern edge of the city. We first walked through some arches and came to Mantova's Piazza Sordello which is a long rectangular cobbled piazza lined with cafes, and to the far end stood an impressive Duomo, and to the right was the Palazzo Ducale. The Duomo's style according to the guide book is Baroque, and the Palace was once the largest palace in Europe. We had a look inside the Duomo as it was free, but refused to pay the 7 euro entry price for the palace! We also went into a cute little garden which was through an archway off the piazza, and had a wander around in the there before heading north to the edge of the city center where we found the large impressive 'Castello di San Giorgio' (castle). You couldn't go inside, and it looked a bit abandoned to be honest..... but it was never-the-less still impressive! Something else interested me about the castle, and this was something Vicky mentioned. It had a moat which was still full of water, but in most places in the world castles were built on hills so that they could see the enemy approaching, but in this case not! The same goes for the castle in Pavia! I wonder why that is! 

The Piazza Sordello (facing towards the city center)

The impressive Baroque Duomo

The Palazzo Ducale

The Castello di San Giorgio

Vicky in the gardens

It was around four in the afternoon by the time we had finished wandering around by the lakes and the castle, so we decided to head southwards towards the Palazzo Te which is the second of the city's palaces. It was around a 20 minute walk, and on the way we passed the ancient Fish market and the red-brick tower next to it. 

Me by the canal which leads through the ancient Fish market

The attractive red-brick tower by the Fish market

20 minutes later we arrived at the edge of the Palazzo Te and could see the gardens in front of the palace were hundreds of people were sunbathing, children riding bikes and people walking their dogs. We also noticed that there appeared to be a funfayre going on, so we decided to wander over and take a closer look! It was quite a large fayre, and full of rides for all ages. Vicky and I got very excited and couldn't resist going on a few rides! I wanted to go on one which spun in the air, but Vicky wasn't convinced so we ended up on a 'kangaroo bouncing' type ride which was so fast! (Faster than it looked from the ground anyway!). It was really good fun, although we came off feeling slightly sick from all of the bouncing up and down! After recovering we went to choose another ride, and decided upon a waltzer-style one called 'Tornado' where you were spun around in little rocket seats incredibly fast! The ride seemed to last forever though- you definitely got your money's worth on that one!

The fair-ground!

The kangaroo hopping ride that we went on!

The Twister ride! (notice the speed of the carriages :O )

By 6pm we were feeling pretty hungry as we hadn't had any lunch (no need after our tart and foccacia bread snack just after we arrived!) so we decided to head off back to the city center to find somewhere to eat. We did walk past the Palazzo Te on the way back, but we were quite disappointed as it didn't look that spectacular. Soon we arrived back in the center of the city, and decided upon a pizzaria on the Piazza delle Erbe. It was really posh inside, but wasn't overpriced. We ordered a large salad to share and a pizza between us as we knew how big the pizzas in Italy normally are! We even had the candles at the table lit, and felt like we were on a date or something! The meal was lovely, and the pizza was especially great- they are so much better when they are authentic Italian pizzas and not pan based pizzas from Pizza Hut! By the time we came out it was dark and the center looked so pretty when lit up. We then wandered back to the train station for 8pm to catch the last train back to Pavia. It was a really great day out and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to visit Mantua - well worth it!

Our meal

The view of the front of the restaurant at night after we left

Now if we hadn't already had enough culture from Mantua, on Sunday Vicky and I met up again to go for a visit to the Cathusian Certosa di Pavia monastery which was only an 8 minute train ride north of Pavia. It's referred to as 'One of the most extravagant monasteries in Europe' in my guide book, and one of the highlights of the region of Lombardy. After a few minutes on the train, we arrived in Certosa and the first sight we had was of the gigantic monastery rising above the flat rice fields.

A view of the monastery from the other side of the high walls

The fantastical facade of the Church

The terracotta works on the area surrounding the courtyard

The grassy courtyard and the monks' houses

To get to the entrance, we had to walk around the high walls for 15 minutes, and once inside, we were greeted by a huge courtyard with a beautiful church at the far end. We joined a free guided tour in Italian, and this was led by one of the monks who had been released from the strict Carthusian vow of silence. He led our group around some of the most important parts of the monastery. We first went to an outside courtyard with beautiful terracotta decoration, and even though photos were strictly forbidden I couldn't resist taking a snap as it was so pretty! We were then led into the 'refectory' which was where the monks would eat together on Sundays and holy days, followed by a visit to the 'great cloister' which was a large open grassy courtyard surrounded by the monks' houses. This was pretty much the end of the tour, and Vicky and I were a bit disappointed that we couldn't further explore around the grounds.  We then hopped back on a train and soon arrived in Pavia where we went enjoyed a bit of retail therapy and a cappuccino, followed by a very non-Italian dinner of McDonalds!

Yesterday I finally managed to sort out my modules after over 2 hours of queuing to see various staff members. I first went to collect my new Uni card from the Erasmus Office as I had been put in the wrong department by Leicester, and then made my way to Uni to try and find one of the Spanish teachers in the labyrinth of offices! After 20 minutes wandering around I finally found her office and  she was very friendly and advised me on what modules I can take. I ended up choosing a Spanish civilisation and history module which doesn't start until the 4th trimester (16th April-26th May) as well as a Spanish Language module. I then went to the office of the secretary of my faculty (Lettere e Filosofia) where I queued for a further half an hour to see her and discuss my other modules. I then chose a beginner's French module as well as an Italian acquisition module for foreigners. I hope this selection will be okay with Leicester, as I'm fed up of hunting for modules and now just can't wait to start the classes. 

The yummy ice-creams!

And as a finishing note, Lizi and I went for an ice cream followed by cappuccinos after all of the module stress yesterday, and then on to our Italian Language evening course. Yesterday we were learning lots of Italian expressions such as 'Ma noooo' (But noooo!) 'Che Peccato!' (What a shame!) and 'Ma sei pazzo?' (But are you crazy?). Needless to say, it was a fun lesson. Right, that's all from me for now, I need to get ready to go to my first 'Italian Language Acquisition' module! I really hope it is okay, and fairly easy to understand! Florian is coming out this Saturday so I'm now very excited and planning lots of things to do! Saturday evening Lizi and I are taking him to try 'Loft' one of the bars with a buffet, and then on Sunday morning Flo and I are going to VERONA! I just can't wait as I've always wanted to see this city! I'll be back early next week with all of the news! baci da Pavia xxx

The very pretty cappuccinos!