omg CRISIS.

So I am officially entering Siena withdrawals. With my last two weeks in Siena rapidly approaching, I'm starting to experience separation anxiety from the most beautiful country in the world. I'm also really bad at posting but a LOT has happened since my past post. I can't believe the summer is already almost over and I am definitely not ready to 1) start school or 2) leave Italy. But more on that later...

Cathy et al, IM SO SORRY I HAVENT POSTED! I have been running around crazy with lab trying to get some reactions to work so I wouldn't just be presenting my pretty pictures of Italy at the symposium, struggling with parents visiting, a labmate's crazy exboyfriend and their disasterous breakup and a week and half without internet in the dorm... But it's all under the Tuscan sun so how much can I really complain.

So since my last post forever and a half ago I have been able to fully explore almost every large city in Italy, meet some strangers and pretend to be a tour guide, AND get my reactions to start working. So first, the traveling.

I was fortunate enough to have my parents come and visit me in Italy for our annual family vacation. They flew into Zurich and drove down and I met them in Milan on the 26th of June (don't worry I took a week off as approved by my boss). So we spent a night in Milan and saw the 4th largest duomo in the world (Megan you would know, haha). I also went to Galleria Vittorio (I think that's the name) and spun on the bull for good luck!!) It was really hot but Milan was interesting and expensive, not as picturesque and medieval style as the other Italian cities though.

Milano Duomo

did i mention i elevatored up to the roof?

Spin for some good luck!

After Milan we drove to Venice and enjoyed a beautiful boat ride along the Grand Canal, which served to be gorgeous. Venice was everything I expected it to be, and more. All my romantic dreams of gondolas and masquerades and operas were fulfilled the instant I sat down on the vaporetto (the boat taxi system) and cruised along the grand canal watching as tourists and locals alike bustled around the city. I guess I never imagined what it would be like to actually live in Venice but I soon came to the realization that everything and anything needs to be transported a boat to get anywhere, which must be frustrating and expensive for them but was extremely cool for me!! I did, however suffer a mild heart attack when I found out that a gondola ride is 100 euros per half hour and 150 after 7:30pm... My childhood dream of romantically meandering the Venetian alleys while a gondolier romantically belted out "that's amore" were crushed on the spot... I guess I'll just have to wait until I develop my multimillion dollar peptidomimetic and return for that long waited ride! Also, gondoliers aren't so friendly either... I did all the kitschy things, bought murano glass and a beautiful mask and left in the morning to Florence.

these are the streets, WHAT?!

beautiful... right next to the big duomo

gondolas next to the Rialto bridge

alleyway

In Florence it was sweltering hot with millions of mosquitoes but the Arno River was positively fantastic. The apartment my family and I stayed that night was miserably hot because they didnt give us the remote for the AC but other than that it was fantastic to walk the Renaissance streets and imagine my buddies Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci strolling through the cobblestoned streets. The city is much more modernish than Siena as the Medici family hoped hundreds of years ago when they took over and ransacked all the money from Siena before the Renaissance hit. I saw the famous David, finally. You know, for a statue that is very simplistic and present on a multitude of postcards and aprons sold in Italy it was definitely spectacular to gaze upon the brilliant work of Michaelangelo in person. One word: breathtaking. Walking around the museum I saw art students, tourists, and angry photo police guards alike gaze upon the masterpiece as it stood on a pedastal overlooking us without a care. If you guys can keep secrets I even took an illegal photo of it on my iPhone... so ask to see it if you're interested!! Other sights in Florence? My mother and I bravely climbed up and down 900+ stairs to the top of the Florentine duomo's dome and stared at the beautiful artistry that inspired the Sistine chapel. As Michaelangelo said many a year ago, It's sister chapel will be bigger but not nearly as beautiful as the original (in reference to the Sistine and the Florentine respectively).

the dome we climbed the red one. the very tip was where i stood staring at Florence romantically

the inspiration for the Sistine

the modern art version of david... not as great but very pink~

piazza della republica at night.

after Florence we went to Siena, after Siena we made our way to Roma. Rome was...much larger than I expected. There was lots to do and I visited so many historical places in two days it is still a big jumble in my mind. We hit all the great places, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, the Palatine Hill, Capitol Hill, Vittorio Emanuale Monument, Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps... and the list goes on and on. The city was extremely fantastic and in a stir as Italy made it to the Euro Cup finals. With people waving both Italian and Spanish flags I could no longer rely on the noise of cafes and drunken crowds to tell me what was going on in game... Unfortunately, and let's really not talk about, the Italians fought so hard 4-nothing (haha get the joke? they lost to Spain 4-0...). Regardless of that Roma was fantastic. The aquaducts were able to always supply us with chilly water in the heat and I am not an expert of traveling on public transit no matter where in Italy I am... 

The second day my family ventured on the only tour I would let my father book. With our headsets and umbrella laden tour guide we wandered through the Vatican museum and viewed the gorgeous Sistine Chapel along with St. Peter's Cathedral. We paid a visit to good ol' Pope John Paul II and gazed on him as he lay patiently waiting to become a Saint (I don't know the stages...). The church was gorgeous and I couldn't take enough photos. I swear by the end of this trip I'm going to turn into a catholic... Until then I am sad I couldn't hang out with the Pope but at least I know I was within one kilometer of him (I think/hope...). Also, I found out that besides the Pope mobile, the Pope has a blue mercedes and a Jaguar I think (or something equally expensive). It must be nice to be his Holiness.

Also I can read maps now, who knew! As we left, I was sad to see my family go, to see my vacation end, but was happy to get back to work.

colosseum! didn't find gladiator husband though...

definitely no shortage of beautiful fountains.

last functioning roman structure. this church is more than 2000 years old... woah.

monument of vittorio emanuale, a general pivotal in the unification of italy

i dont even remember what this is from, maybe a church, but it's pretty!

st peter, the keeper of the key's to heaven is buried here. that's intense!

i made my wish!!

fountain in front of the spanish steps

St. peter's cathedral!

Finally back home and back to work. So for my project, as I have mentioned before I have been working with three different catalysts to try to develop benzamidizole formation from combined hydrazines and a range of primary, secondary, and tertiary amines. For the majority of the summer my reactions have been proving to be unproductive, forming random intermediates, unideal side products and giving me minimal yields sometimes too little to even analyze... which of course is extremely frustrating. The reaction I'm trying to develop is based on the borrowing hydrogen methodology and the fischer 3,3 sigmatropic rearrangement. In English? I'm making rings that could be used in pharmaceutical development using the MW to make it faster. So in the last two weeks, my reactions finally started working, with the pivotal point being the fact that through my development I have been able to reduce the stirring time for one of the reactions from 24 hours (overnight) to just 2 hours using MW activation. I feel so accomplished.

As I watch the number of my lab mates slowly dwindle down to nothing as everyone goes on August vacation I'm forced to deal with the fact that I will be returning from this beautiful country to an empty home and MCAT studying very soon... it's extremely bittersweet as I'm excited to be around my family again and be able to enjoy the comforts of my home and the company of my roommate I have missed once again. But alas, today as we were cleaning up the lab I found myself crying as I hugged some of my lab mates, unsure of if I will ever see them again. Outside of fb promises and skype exchanges I will deeply miss the people that I have grown to love here in Italy... They kept saying to me that this isn't goodbye forever, but just a goodbye see you tomorrow, or rather in the future. I hope that I can find myself back in this beautiful sipping coffee and daydreaming about the romanticism of a country with over two thousand years of history and culture. Until then I will spend my last few days enjoying the weather, working on my poster, and living in an ongoing sense of crisis as my time dwindles. At least I got something accomplished and met some great people. Oh, and got an espresso maker, can't forget that one.

My last few days here will be spent in lab with the departing weekend in Cinque Terre hiking the five towns and making my last stop in Pisa for a day of sightseeing and sad goodbyes.

Until the departing day message of tears and sadness,

much love and olive oil!
~ciao, V