Sarah in Firenza

A Video from Sienna

2008-06-09T15:02:00.001+02:00

This was just too cute not to share!

The Otrarno

2008-06-08T21:21:00.001+02:00

Mary Beth and I had decided earlier on in the trip to make a day of it on the "otra-arno" or the other side of the Arno. The original plan was to spend the morning at the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens and then spend the afternoon visiting Fort Belvedere and heading up the endless stairway to San Miniato again.

The Pitti Palace and the Palazzo Pitti were HUGE! The Pitti Palace was the seat of power for the short time when Italy was ruled by a constitutional monarchy of which Firenze was the capital.

We discovered upon arriving that there had been a price hike, and that it was 8 euro to visit some of the palace and galleries and 10 euro to visit the garden and the rest of the palace and galleries. We went the 8 euro way and I resolved to go back to see the Boboli Gardens before I leave Firenze.

I could see them from inside of the Palazzo though!

For lunch we at at Gusta Pizza, and on the walk there we passed by a Medici Palace, made evident visually through the appearance of the family crest of six balls and also the elaborate sgraffito on the exterior walls---where we get our word for graffiti!

There is another one of these palaces near our study center, but the sgraffito is not nearly as well as preserved.

While waiting to meet one of my roommates for lunch I ducked into San Spirito, a small but important church near the riverbank. The interior shots from there were some of the best church photos I have taken!

This church was of particular importance to Michelangelo. During the beginning of the Renaissance it was unlawful to dissect bodies. In exchange for sculpting a wooden crucifix for San Spirito, Michelangelo was given permission to go down into the crypt and perform dissections!

Due to its relationship with Michelangelo the church itself had some copies of some of his most famous works. One not so well known was there as well, the "Risen Christ" that I had seen when I visited Rome!

After lunch we made the hike up a hill to the fort, and passed by Galileo's house! No wonder he was so interested in the effects of gravity! He lived on a crazy hill. If he had been a child and had lost a ball playing out front, he would've had to have gone about a quarter of a mile down a hill to fetch it!

When we finally arrived at the fort... we were dismayed to find it to be closed until later in the evening. After making the climb, we had to follow the city walls back down the hill to get to the base of the hill leading up to S. Miniato. It was a picturesque walk. (Where the numbers are will be updated with pictures when the network at school isn't acting icky!)

The picture above shows S. Miniato on its hill--that's were we were headed!

I didn't take many pictures of the climb back up because I had documented it in my previous post on the monastery. I can say, however, that the walk up was much much MUCH easier this time than it had been the first time around. It was a good feeling--and the view over Florence was still amazing.

We toured the monastery again then enjoyed the view until the store at the top opened, were I bought honey filled candies made by the monks themselves.

After descending S. Miniato we stopped by the Piazzale Michelangelo, touted to have the best view of Florence--personally I liked the view better from S. Miniato, but we could see our house from the Piazzale (we live behind the copper-topped Synagogue).

Arezzo on My Own

2008-06-07T17:41:00.000+02:00

As part of my paper project I was charged with going to Vasari's hometown of Arezzo to see the frecoes of his house. I woke up early on Saturday and got all of the necessary supplies for a train trip then took off for Santa Maria Novella. I took the intercity train and within an hour I had arrived.

My professor had assured me that it was a small town and from the centrally located train station. I was able to see up to the center square and also Arrezo's Duomo at the top of the hill (which I discovered was located at the furthest side of the city).

It was also the best labeled city I have ever been to! I followed the signs to a tourist information shop (about a 15 minute walk) and picked up a map. When the shop worker handed it to me she pointed out my current location and I had already practically crossed town!

I really enjoyed walking the streets because there was no one around--no tourists... no townspeople. It was a little eerie but the peacefulness was welcome.

I'll also have to see the movie "Life is Beautiful" when I get back to the states, apparently it was filmed here!

On my way to Vasari's house I stopped by a small church and snapped a picture of a Crucifix done by Cimabue.

I made a few quick turns between streets and I was at the Casa di Vasari in short time.

When I arrived I was unsure of how to enter, so I waited a few moments to see what other visitors would do. Two other sets of tourists walked by, read the signs and took pictures but then walked away. I knew I was visiting within the right hours, but it took me a little while to translate the bottom line of the plaque--"For visiting play the bell."

Once inside I only had to pay 2 euro to walk around. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but since I was doing important research I snuck some!

After I finished at the museum, I walked around the rest of Arezzo and finally started to see more groups of touristi and residents. Maybe they had been hiding from the rain. On the way to the main piazza and up to the Duomo I started to see preparation's for the town's joust! I almost wish that I could stay another week in Italy so I could attend all of the festivities that will be going on! The Paolo in Siena, the feast day of St. John the Baptist in Florence and the Saracen Joust in Arezzo!

Can you tell that Vasari designed the building in the above photo? It was planned out just like the Uffizi!

Behind the Duomo was a large park that (sadly) was littered worse than any I have seen in America, the view from the top was amazing though!

Last stop, the Duomo! When I visited the church was closed to the public, but when I walked by the main doors I heard a wedding march.

I then took the walk down the hill (once again not bad) down to the train station. I bought a ticket for the train to Firenze within a minute of it arriving and headed back home. I did take a charming little picture of this shop before I left though!

Siena

2008-06-06T17:54:00.000+02:00

Friday we woke up early once again and met at the bus to take a short drive to Siena, another city in Tuscany where the Medici came to hold sway. On the way there I was sure to grab a lemon flavored Powerade for my throat! I listened to my iPod the whole short way there admiring the countryside. When we arrived in Sienna we had to walk around the city walls and were granted a short break. Our meeting place was on the stairs of a relatively small church. I was neither hungry nor longing for the bathroom so I visited the church.

The inside was an eclectic mix of Renaissance architecture with (seemingly) modern stained glass windows. I strolled by the side chapels and the high altar, looking for anything recognizable from anyone of my art historical texts. While I didn't find anything I recognized, I did find a head!

The head--that is--of St. Catherine of Siena. I don't know her story, but I do know the combination of the words. It was in an odd and elaborate reliquary that had its own room. I was surprised, but its fun having surprises on these journeys!

After the break we took a walk to Siena's cathedral and I shot pictures of the sites. Some of the streets looked more like a movie set than actual places.

After walking up a good bit of hill we made it to the cathedral and were able to go inside and see it's marvelous marble-work on the floor. We were not allowed to take photos inside but you can get an idea of the quality of work from what was visible at the front steps.

Afterwards we took a short walk to the main piazza (seen also in the first image) and were able to tour the main government building and peer at the famous fresco works there. Once again, I was unable to take photos, but I did get an interesting shot of the bell tower from the interior courtyard.

After our tour of the building we had a few minutes to sit out on the famous fan-shaped piazza and catch a little sun until the other part of our group arrived. Preparations had not yet began for the Paolo--an insane horse race that occurs around piazza in early July.

After our groups met up we went to lunch at a lovely little trattoria at the base of one of Siena's hills. The food was delicious! It rained a little toward the end of the meal, but finished before we headed to Siena's ospedale, located directly across from the cathedral. While we at we got to watch Paolo flag bearer's practice for the race--but I was unable to get good pictures of it.

After touring the ospedale, which had some creepy labyrinthine storage spaces three floors down (no pictures.... : ( ) we were released to do some tourist shopping. We wandered a few streets and grabbed some gelato before heading back to Florence. Overall it was a lovely little day trip and it was nice to be somewhere that was not overloaded with tourists!

Regarding Comments

2008-06-05T20:30:00.000+02:00

It's a little bit late for me to be sharing this information, but if you are interested in leaving comments you do not need to have or sign in with a blogger account.

When you go to leave a comment you have the option to "Choose an identity." From there you can select the option for Name/URL and a "Name" section will appear where you can just type in your name. When you hit "publish your comment" your comment will appear with the name you type in.

I hope this prevents any further confusion and also reduces inhibition to post comments! Thanks everyone and keep them coming!

Playing Catch Up!

2008-06-05T19:32:00.000+02:00

Hi again everyone! I'm not dead yet!

I'm getting better, thanks to finding chicken noodle soup and investing in the restorative powers of Gatorade! I have half a voice, but pain finally left my throat today! Just like last week I will be updating with this weekends events within the next couple days (but I hope I will have everything up Monday morning!)

Just to give you all a heads up on what is in store, Friday we went to Sienna walked through museums and civic and religious structures, as well as laid out on the fan-shaped piazza. Saturday I took a train to Arezzo on my own and capped off the evening by going to Il Gatto e la Volpe for dinner (I got the Stracchiatelli Alfredo, which equals Fettuccini Alfredo!). Later that evening I discovered Devandra Barnhardt (and Karl you were right, I do like his music!).

And then today (Sunday) we spent the day on the other side of the Arno. I went to the galleries of the Palazzo Pitti (but will have to go back for the gardens), and then we ventured up to the Fort--which was closed! We followed the city walls back down the hill and then made the steep climb up to S. Miniato again to listen to more Gregorian chants and enjoy the marvelous view over Florence. On the way down we stopped by the Piazzale Michelangelo--which was not what I expected it to be, but still had a good view of the city. Finally we went all the way down and back over the river to go to the study center, so I could check e-mail and buy Calcio tickets (more info soon)!

Anyways, I'm ready to be done with being sick and get alot of work done on my paper while hitting all of the things that I still haven't got to see! Wish me luck!

Follow Up!

2008-06-05T18:15:00.003+02:00

Hi again!

I'm still sick as a dog but I'm getting better. I'm trying to save up my energy because I have a busy weekend planned! On Friday we will be going to Sienna (with free food offered at lunch since only half the group is going--they saved $ by not having to hire another bus). Saturday I will be headed to Arrezzo to look at Vasari's house and the tomb that he designed for himself for field research. I plan on spending Saturday on the other side of the Arno, visiting the Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, Fort Belvedere, San Miniato and finishing up at the Piazzale Michelangelo to view the sunset!

I truly hope that I can get over this sickness before it ruins my plans! Good news is that I was able to buy chicken noodle soup today--and that is working miracles, I just wish I had had it sooner!

Thanks everyone for putting up with my slow posting as of late! I really wish I could keep up with the updating. Only 14 days left!

EDIT: And I've lost 26.5 pounds since arriving!

A Day in Pompeii

2008-06-03T19:36:00.016+02:00

On Sunday we didn't check out until 11 am, so my bungalow mates and I packed and sat out on the porch and talked until our time to set out.

The drive to Pompeii took an hour and I listened to my iPod the whole time since they didn't put in a movie. Pompeii the modern city is very tiny and quaint, I would say it is the smallest Italian city I've seen--a one bancomat town!

Also, the vendors outside of Pompeii are the most insistent and aggressive of any I have ever met! If you like to haggle over prices than this would seem the paramount place to do it--especially since I think these were also the most expensive souvenir stands I've ever encountered. Luckily I found a nice young gentleman who really did let me go with some great deals and some free things (comparatively speaking).

After the touristy shopping we ventured down the hill to the original "port" entrance to Pompeii and entrance to the ruins.

We had a tour guide named "Antonio" who walked us through some of the major ruins. Without a guide, I'm sure we would have gotten lost, Pompeii was a very large city in its heyday, and archaeologists have only finished uncovering a little over half of it!

The above pictures show remains of the judicial seat of Pompeii. The city had a unique way of constructing strong columns from terracotta and plaster.

The above is a view of the main piazza which fronted the judicial building, multiple temples and the main marketplace. Some temples:

And the main marketplace building:

There were some remains of fresco but there were some other remains that people were more interested in seeing (warning... there are real bones from real bodies in the following pictures):

Nearby was a covered reservoir of many of the artifacts found by archaeologists that were not being kept in the museum.

Afterwards we entered the building that housed the Roman baths. Here we found more frescoes, interesting architecture and sculptures.

Afterwards we toured a few of the villas and saw mosaics, architecture and frescoes!

We toured more of the main roads and many small shops before we arrived at the most famous and most well preserved buildings in all of Pompeii, the brothel (note the larger amount of tourists here)!

We completed the trip and took more pictures down the main road. See how short Vesuvius appears? Before it blew its top it was white capped and 10,000 feet tall. When it erupted, it lost 7,000 feet of its height--burying the surrounding area and even filling in the sea port!

We had a short amount of time to walk back to the bus before it took off again, this time back to Florence. On the bus ride back we watched Talladega Nights, V for Vendetta and Wedding Crashers. We got back to Florence around 10:30 and walked back home to Mattonaia -- where we got marvelous sleep back in our own beds--not bungalows!

Downtime...

2008-05-31T23:22:00.000+02:00

Hi Everyone!

It's getting pretty late and I've been sick for the last couple days so I will (hopefully) finish the weekend posts (with the one about my visit to Pompeii) tomorrow!

I hope everything is going well back in the states!

A Day at the Beach in Sorrento

2008-05-31T19:37:00.007+02:00

Saturday was our day at the beach and instead of jumping between Amalfi and Positano we decided to spend all day in Positano. Our bus driver dropped us off at the top of the hill and we had to walk all the way down. The view was great, so much so that I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and slipped and fell totally scraping up my leg!

I was okay but bleeding a bit--and I felt really embarrassed! I found a balance between watching my steps and taking pictures of all the lovely shops we passed.

After the long walk we were rewarded with a black sanded beach! The color is due to volcanic ash and rocks.

I didn't take to many pictures at the beach--we mostly enjoyed the cool water and laying out on the beach. We didn't burn much since the clouds decided to come out shortly after we arrived.

Around 4 P.m. we packed up are things and headed for the ferry back to Sorrento. We were the last ones on but we made it! We were sad that we didn't get to browse the shops in Positano, but glad that we didn't have to wait 3 hours for the next ferry!

After arriving in Sorrento we browsed shops on the way back to our bungalow site. We also had to climb more outrageous stairs! I should've taken a picture of them--but for an idea we climbed up the side of the wall show in the picture below (and even more yet after that).

As we walked further away from the city the road became narrower and the views more breathtaking! Dodging crazy Italian bus drivers is not fun!

In the above photo that is Vesuvius looming in the background.

The rest of the evening was spent showering and snacking--we wanted to save our Euros to be able to afford the tour guide at Pompeii on Sunday!

Capri Sun!

2008-05-30T21:58:00.001+02:00

Thursday evening we packed and headed for the Santa Maria Novella Train Station to catch our bus to Sorrento. On the way down we got to see three movies: The Devil Wears Prada, Man on Fire and 12 Monkeys. It was good to see Man on Fire all the way through for the first time, I hadn't realized that I hadn't seen the first hour of the movie!

We arrived in Sorrento 2 hours later than expected because the bus got lost in the twisty-turny roads of Sorrento. I don't blame him--it was crazy trying to get around--but I lost a lot of sleep since I didn't sleep on the bus and didn't realize that we were pulling in at 3:30 am!

We stayed in what were described as "cute bungalows" which means really tiny trailers on a campsite. At first it was off-putting, but it was really peaceful being perched so far away from the heart of the city.

It was also in close (walking) proximity to pick up site for boats, we only had to descend a windy trail down the side of the cliff we were perched on, but the view at the bottom was gorgeous.

The water was the most remarkable because it was the most amazing shade of blue!

We took a boat out to the island of Capri. It was a long and bumpy journey, but so much fun! I sat toward the front of the boat. When we got closer we were given a little boat tour of the island, including of its natural wonders.

When we arrived we took a quick photo op at Marina Piccola and then climbed the craziest amount of stairs ever up to Capri town.

The amount of stairs was sooo crazy that I fell behind the others and lost my group. At first it seemed an easy task to meet up with them as there were no viable turns off of the main path. But then I arrived at a fork in the path and got a little worried.

I chose one of the paths and asked people as I walked by if they had seen a large group of girls go by. When they said yes I felt confident I was on the right path--until I arrived on the main road of Capri town and had no idea where to go. I asked a few people if they had seen my group to no avail... and that was when I panicked. I didn't want to miss any of the group activities or be lost on the island with no idea where to go. So I bawled my eyes out and found an officer directing traffic. He offered to help my find my group.

We drove around a bit and I spotted one of the girls from my tour group. She had fallen behind because she had an asthma attack on the way up. Since she had a workable cell phone she was able to contact the group and know how to catch up with them. I was sooo relieved!

I waited in the square until people I knew showed up. It was not a bad wait, I picked up a melon-flavored granita (slushie) and enjoyed the view over Capri.

We met up again and took a bus up to Anacapri, a small town at the base of Capri's largest peak. Our first stop was at the most famous site for custom-made Capri sandals. I had a pair created by Salvatore Pandolfi... a sweet old man that we really put to work when we arrived! This is him working on my sandals.

After the sandal excursion, my bungalow group decided to hit the chairlift to ascend the peak of Anacapri. It was a little scary getting on, but the ride was really peaceful and pleasant. It took awhile to reach the top!

When we got to the top we wandered around the building at the peak finding the best angles for taking photos. We were literally in the clouds and looking through them at some points.

When we finished up top we headed back down on the chairlift to find something to eat for lunch!

Lunch was a delicious (but expensive) pizza from the cheapest place we could find... it served a lot of touristy food. Note the lemon in my Coca-cola. Capri is well known for its growing of citrus fruits and its lemon products, especially limoncello. I thought it was some kind of dessert, but its actually a drink similar (at least in alcohol content to moonshine--and it burns!

Afterwards we browsed the shops and picked up our sandals and made the long trip back down to Marina Piccola--just in time to catch our boat back to Sorrento.

Before we headed back we received a boat tour of the other side of the island, which also showed us the location of the "Blue Grotto." As part of our trip we were supposed to make a stop there, but mother nature impeded and the swell was too large to be able to enter. You take a small boat inside and it is said that the air inside appears blue because of the refraction of light under the cave. Unfortunately, we were unable to witness this natural wonder--all the more reason to return to Capri someday!

For dinner that night me and my bungalow mates opted to stay close to the campsite and eat at the on site restaurant. It was decent food--but at much better prices than anywhere else in Sorrento! (the seafood plate belongs to a bunkmate, I had the calzone!)

Oh and I saw Mr. Sorne on my pizza box!

Upcoming Events!

2008-05-29T16:10:00.002+02:00

Sorry for taking so long to update about my side trip to Rome! All of the information is now up so I am now completely caught up!

I have spent the main part of this week with my head buried in books, as this is such a short semester and there is sooo much to do! I even had a midterm in my Italian class yesterday (and I think I did pretty well). The only other news coming out of the week has been a roommate situation--just a clash of personalities. I just tell myself that I'm not here to "play friends" with or take care of other people--I'm here to enjoy the experience myself. If one girl doesn't get up on her own its not my responsibility to wait on her and make myself late to class as well! Especially if this person has been nothing but nasty to me. If she can't treat me with respect why would she expect me to play friends with her?

It's not as big a situation as it sounds... its just an annoyance. I believe its because she doesn't want anyone to be seen as smarter or more mature than her and since I likely am I get the brunt of it. I just try to avoid her at all costs for my own sanity and keep to myself. There are so many things I would like to say to her--but I know it won't change her nasty personality, I just hope karma gets her back later on!

Rawr.

Anyways, upcoming events! I won't be able to post again until Monday because this weekend is the Sorrento/Amalfi Coast/Capri/Pompeii trip and we won't get back to Florence until late Sunday evening. It will be the longest time I've been away from the city since I've been here--but I here it should be fun and beautiful!

I just hope that it stays sunny for our days at the beach! Ciao!

Indiana Jones and the Odeon Theater

2008-05-27T00:30:00.000+02:00

Monday I got up early and collected my clothing from the line. After straightening some things up I went back to the study center and did more research... a theme that would continue for the rest of the day. The topic was very dry... Florentine burial practices and customs from the 1300s to 1520--which will hopefully come in handy for my paper.

Since the majority of the day was spent trying not to fall asleep studying, I will skip to the evening (it was much more exciting!)

I stayed at the study center until it closed, since one of my roommates works in the library. Our original intention was to catch the early showing of the new Indiana Jones movie, but since she had to work me and my other roommate waited for her (and the waiting included gelatto!). Gelatto could not hold us over until 10:30 when the movie started however, so we ate at one of the Trattorias on the Piazza della Republica in the heart of Florence (you can see the almost unreal-appearing arch in the center photo).

I had the linguini alle genovese--basically noodles with garlic, oil and pesto. It was pleasant but very warm... and very noisy. The empty table in the middle picture had been occupied by a very loud (and perhaps very drunk) Australian.

The only English-speaking theater in Florence is the Odeon, and the English movies are only presented on certain days, Monday being one of them. They have Indiana Jones playing for two weeks starting tonight and we were very excited to go and see it after weeks of anticipation.

The Odeon is also remarkable because it is a historic theater, originally a palace built in 1462. It was remodeled into an art-nouveau theater in 1922 and still retains the original decor it had at opening... including an impressive stained glass cupola.

Here's a picture of the two roommates I talk about all of the time. Katie is on the left and Mary Beth on the right. Mary Beth is the one I share a room with... she's a little obsessed with Indiana Jones!

All in all it was a fun evening made better by the great atmosphere of the theater!

La Casa, la Gatto e il Volpe

2008-05-25T21:38:00.000+02:00

Sunday was a short but exciting day. Most of the roommates took off for Cinque Terre, a visit I'm saving until the last Sunday of my trip--and also a visit not considered lightly after two nonstop days in Rome.

I took advantage of the emptiness of the house to get my laundry in the washer (it takes two hours here... for some reason) and then wait around and clean up my room until I got it on the line. Once the laundry was hung up and properly clothesline clipped I grabbed my map and promptly headed south to find the "Casa Buonarotti" (or Michelangelo's house). The property was bought by Michelangelo however he never lived in it himself and it is one of five others he bought in the surrounding area when he was just 25 (his mastery of sculpture had earned him many high profile commissions... including from popes!).

His nephew Lionardo adored his uncle so much that it was in this property that he tried to save and collect all of the works of Michelangelo that he could. The Casa Buonarotti is best known for having the greatest collection of drawings, writings and models by the artist himself and also for his two first works in sculpture--the "Madonna of the Stairs" and "The Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs."

As amazing as it was I walked up and down the street (Via Ghibellina) three times and missed it each time! I was truly worried that I would not be able to find it. My map had even had the wrong address, but I knew it had to be in the proximity of the street bearing Michelangelo's name! It took a little while, but I found it!

I was unable to take pictures inside. The temporary exhibit going on was called "Il volto di Michelangelo" ("The face of Michelangelo") and featured works by many different artists who represented the master in their own works. They had original copies of Vasari's 1568 writings for the "Vite" with a woodcut of Michelangelo... a feature that may help me with my paper.

The other collections were eye opening. Lionardo cared dearly for his late uncle and you can tell he took great care in collecting works, even having some paintings done after the ones that were present at Michelangelo's funeral.

I bought one of the guidebooks from the gift shop and took it to Santa Croce. While reading through some of the details I found that I had missed a room with some of his most important drawings--so I will definitely have to make the trip back out there to find them... and also make sure to bring a notebook in case anything else might come up to help with my paper!

I forgot to mention this before: Santa Croce has a large piazza and on the feast day for Saint John the Baptist (June 24th), the patron saint of Firenze, the Florentines have a no-holds-barred soccer match right in the piazza. They dress up in traditional clothing and the city erects stands all around the central area to accommodate spectators. The Florentines have held this soccer match since the middle ages--they did not even postpone this match when the city was under siege in the 1400's! It is truly sad that I will have to leave the city before I see this age-old tradition enacted in the piazza!

I spent the rest of the day browsing some shops and picked up extra supplies for my capri trip, mainly a sarong and another bit of enrobement.

When I got back to the apartment Mary Beth asked if I wanted to spend some meal tickets at "Del Gatto e la Volpe" and I said YES!

The "Cat and the Fox" is one of my favorite restaurants here so far. The food is always amazing and the service is fairly nice to "touriste." Its a little on the pricey side, but we find ourselves there when we've been too stingy in spending our meal tickets for the week.

The interior is dark but confortable, and the coke is the way that coke should always be! I haven't ordered another drink there yet because it is so good!

Another thing you should know--the Italians (and this could just be the northern Italians) never put herbs in their olive oil! They take it plaaaaain. It takes some getting used to! Il Gatto e la Volpe makes the transition a bit easier by putting herbs on the bread.

Today, I had the Pizza Fiorentina, which had cheese, peppers, olives, oregano, olive oil and salami! Don't let the darkness of the picture fool you--it was delicious!

The rest of the evening was spent in the student center, gathering my sources and creating a "carell" for them in the library, and checking out one to begin some reading!

A Roma: Day Two

2008-05-24T22:02:00.000+02:00

After arriving back at the hotel I packed up my things and headed downstairs for breakfast where I met up with my two favorite roommates and Mr. Nero. I got to recount my morning adventures over a croissant and pear with a glass of multifruit juice! When I told Mr. Nero that I had tried to find the Caravaggio church he said he would've told me the way if I had let him know earlier! It's too bad that I hadn't resolved to see them on my own earlier than the previous evening!

In short time we were told that the bus had arrived and we had to board it to go to the Vatican Museums. We were lucky to have group reservations, otherwise we would've had to have braved the line that stretched as least 10 blocks away. I have no idea how long these people would have to wait before getting into the museum... at least 3 hours certainly... at the very least. I wished I had taken more pictures--that line was crazy!

Inside I was able to take pictures of many things... but our main point of interest was trekking to the Rafael rooms and the Sistine Chapel.

It felt like it took forever, but when we got to the room with the famous "School of Athens" I looked over my shoulder and saw this!:

Michelangelo, my man! It was incredibly fortunate for him to be the first thing I saw when gazing upon the famous room.

Shortly after we were escorted to the Sistine Chaper, where we were no longer allowed to take photos. It was the highlight of my trip and better than I had imagined it to be! I only wish that the other tourists there would have been more considerate... it truly felt like a desecration and detriment to the chapel. I tried to block them out as best I could and admire the amazing work of Michelangelo. We stayed for 20 minutes, which was just not long enough, and exited out into Saint Peter's Square.

We were let loose for a short while until we met up with Mr. Nero for a short tour of the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian Church in the world!

Inside, I saw Michelangelo's Pieta, Bernini's large bronze canopy above the high altar, St. Peter's tomb, St. Peter's Cathedra, the housings for the relics and many many wall tombs! Here are some pictures from the interior.

After St. Peter's we were let free for lunch. Unfortunately we had no idea where to go, but a short walk away there was a decently priced diner and gelateria with ample seating, and it won our choice.

Afterwards we had some extra time so I took pictures around St. Peter's square.

We met at the obelisk at St. Peters and made a short trip to some catacombs just a short distance away from the outskirts of Rome. There were no bones in these catacombs, just dark, dank and deep underground with various small cubby holes where bodies had once been entombed. The little section we walked through was just a very small portion of the entire complex... these catacombs stretched for 11 miles under the surface! Since we were closest to the opening we saw the graves that had been subject to grave robbers who had sold the bones they found as relics to the local churches. Our guide was German and very knowledgeable and friendly. No pictures were allowed there either.

After finishing at the catacombs we got back on the bus again and headed for Florence... tired as ever! Although we had really spent only a day in a half in Rome, it had felt like a week away from "home."

I took some pictures of the surroundings on the way back.

Art Quest alle Roma

2008-05-24T11:05:00.001+02:00

This morning (Saturday) I got up super early--at 7 am--to embark on a quest to see art! I was supposed to do it with one of my roommates but when she didn't make it to our proposed meeting place by 10 after I went out exploring on my own. (I love the morning pictures because they are so remarkable absent of tourists!)

I passed by the Pantheon and first tried to locate a church with two large (and very famous) works by Caravaggio. Unfortunately the maps provided to us featured intersections that didn't exist, so I found myself walking around in circles! After a short time I gave up, but it was still a long enough time spent looking for it that I wasn't able to go further down and see the street where Caravaggio killed a man. It would have just been a fun art historical thing to do and say I've done... : /

When I came up empty handed in my Caravaggio quest I moved onto Michelangelo! One of his lesser known sculptures "Risen Christ" was located in a church right beside the Pantheon. I didn't take any pictures because some of the priests in the church were doing prayers at an altar that was nearby, and I thought it would've been inappropriate, ce la vie! I still got to see it!

The last work I had wanted to see was the St. Theresa that I and Marybeth had tried to see the previous day, so I held tight to my water bottle and made the long trek across the city once again!

I stopped at an "Area Sacra"--a location of ancient Roman ruins. This one was particularly notable because it had become known as the "cat sanctuary." Hundreds of strays call these ruins home and there are some ladies that take care of them here. Another interesting story about this area is that it is in close proximity to the area where Julius Caesar was killed, in fact it is located in the piazza between the two peach colored buildings!

I also stopped to pet a kitty! He looks meaner than he was. He was trying to ignore me at first but when I ignored him was when he decided it was time for some attention!
Here are some interesting sights from the walk up to the Bernini church!

And then I finally made it! My prize? "St. Theresa in Ecstasy" by Bernini and a remarkably dramatic church interior. I did get to take pictures of these! Sorry if some are blurry, but the trompe l'oile is amazing!

After I finished in the church, I had to make the long trip back down to meet with the rest of the group at the hotel--all of whom were just beginning their day, whereas I had just made a good day's journey!

A Night in the Eternal City

2008-05-23T23:32:00.000+02:00

Warning: This entry not to be read while hungry! : )

For dinner our entire group stopped by a fancy sit down restaurant (I'm not sure of the name) and had a large traditional Italian dinner with apertif, primi piatti, secondi piatti, insalade and dessert!

Primi piatti was spaghetti and marinara sauce (the first spaghetti I've had since being here).

Second piatti (or the main course) was delicious! It was cooked pork with cheese and bacon on top, marinated in a sauce that was similar to chicken bouillon.

We received our salad and insalade at the same time. The salad was okay, a little strong for my tastes, the other plate was filled with fried things! Fried artichoke, mozzarella balls (PS: the mozzarella is really different here... very wet and usually immersed in water), riso balls and other fried vegetables.

I think only one person liked the dessert. It was some sort of flan cake covered in a sweet sauce... but not sweet enough. After trying some and waiting awhile I looked around and everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing I was... it's the first thing I've had here that I haven't liked!

Believe it or not, I've mistakenly ordered a tripe sandwich on two occasions and liked it--meanwhile its a gallette (cake) that is the only thing that hasn't lived up to expectation! I find that very funny... especially because all of the sweets here have been delicious.

After dinner the professors took us for a walk to the Trevi fountain. On the way we passed a few landmarks, but many of them were under constructions, including Bernini's "Four Rivers" which was impossible to make out through the scaffolding.

The Trevi Fountain has a more mystical and romantic air to it at night. It definitely seems to possess magic. Mr. Nero gave me a great description of what was going on in the fountain (meaning, symbolism, etc.) and I left that evening having a much greater appreciation for it!

And I threw a coin in!

The Colosseum and the Pantheon

2008-05-23T19:38:00.000+02:00

Our final stop on our Forum visit (Friday) was to see the Arch of Titus. This was another one of those art historical objects that I had seen represented so many times in school presentations. All of the objects in the forum are of intense importance as these were the works that Italian and Renaissance artists were looking to for inspiration. I got close up shots of the rosettes on the arch interior and the scene of the Roman soldiers bringing back the treasures of Jerusalem.

After finishing at the forum we took a walk down another original Roman road to the Colosseum (which was not too far away). It was hard to imagine that all of the empty space between had likely bustled with Roman activity and been filled with other architecture in many years before.

We got to go inside of the Colosseum and were let loose for a short while to wander around inside of it. It was a lot smaller than I imagined it to be, but still an impressive and monumental ancient structure. I spent most of the time snapping pictures and imagining being witness to the activities that would have taken place within its stone walls.

As soon as we were at it was time for a water and rest break! We all refreshed ourselves between the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum before making our way to our next destination: the Pantheon! But before we got there we stopped to admire the location of the world's first shopping mall, the piazza of Trajan with Trajan's column.

We also stopped by an old governmental palace, famous during Mussolini's time for having the balcony he often made speeches from. Today it's a national museum.

On the way to the pantheon we passed a famous statue of an elephant by Bernini that holds up a column pilfered from Egypt (and there are many of these columns and Egyptian symbols throughout Rome. The pantheon was my favorite visit of the day! The entire temple is the only architectural structure that has survived wholly intact to current day (an what an amazing example of Roman ingenuity it is)!

From the outside it appears as a regularly planned temple and square shaped building, but when you enter you can truly feel like you are entering a divinely inspired space. To Romans 2000 years ago they would feel like they were in the presence of the gods within this one-room marvel. The hole in the ceiling lets everything in, sunlight and rain! Luckily for us, the weather was beautiful. Mr. Nero told me that its believed that you can tell time by reading where and how the light of the sun hits the coffers, higher up in summer, lower in the winter. Unfortunately I did not get may pictures because my camera battery died!

After the Pantheon, it was suggested to all of us to sample an amazing coffee drink that is only offered at one particular cafe that was quite nearby. When I can remember the name of it I will post it. The drink had whipped cream on the bottom, a scoop of frozen espresso in the middle and more whipped cream on top! It was good although it would have been better with chocolate (it was probably the closest thing to a frappacino that I'll get while I'm here). Also it gave us a nice boost for walking back to the hotel! My camera wasn't operational, so my roommate Marybeth took these for me!

The Eternal City - The Arrival

2008-05-23T19:11:00.001+02:00

When in Rome... do as the tourists do!

On Friday I went to Rome with half of the students (the other half departed Saturday) by bus. I was one of the last ones to get on, and as luck would have it I got to sit beside by art history teacher Mr. Nero. It was a long bus ride (about 3 and a half hours) and we spent it discussing options and ideas for my paper and for more sources and side trips for research--as well as our love of "the divine" Michelangelo. He also suggested I take a trip to Urbino... as that is the only place in Italy that he would want to live in besides Florence.

When we arrived in Rome we got to see a few sites by bus including the Vatican, the world's first hospital and the Castel S. Angelo--a fort used by popes when the Vatican city would come under attack. We arrived at Hotel Tiziano (a four star hotel) in short time and were fortunate that it was close to all of the major sites we were going to be seeing. I shared my room with 3 other girls, one of which was my roommate, and I took a fancy couch shaped bed on the corner. I caught a glimpse of the room rates and ours was €330 a night. Wow! O_o

After we arrived in Rome we were let loose for lunch and Mary Beth and I found a cute little diner with cheap eats. The owner was one of the nicest we had ever met so it was a very pleasant experience for only picking up panini and cokes. Mary Beth had mapped out the location of a church she had wanted to visit (which had the very famous "St. Teresa in Ecstasy" by Bernini housed within) and I immediately agreed to go with her to see the work. Although it looked close on the map, we crossed almost to the completely other side of the city to get there! Unfortunately, it was closed for lunch when we had arrived--which almost made it a wasted trip except for the fact that it was fun to explore the city. On the way back we made a quick stop to admire the Trevi Fountain--it was nothing like I expected it to be! It was huge! We ran and arrived back to the hotel just in time to join the group to walk to the Capitoline Hill on the way to the Forum.

On the way to the Capitoline Hill we passed the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, situated on a very large building dedicated to one of Italy's top political players. We also passed some old Roman apartments that showed how cramped living spaces were, even for those higher up in the social hierarchy. Walking up to the Capitoline Hill was a treat even though I had misstepped and heard a lovely "crunch" from my knee. I think it is because I had already hurt it in the past that I was able to bounce back easily and continue the journey with no problems. Michelangelo (my favorite Renaissance man) designed the building facades and piazza for the hill. It was important for me to look at their details carefully to determine what elements resembled those on his tomb.

Walking down from the hill we got a spectacular view of the old Roman ruins. They were nothing as I had expected and more numerous as well. We took the old Roman road throughout the entire facility--it was extremely painful to our feet and very tricky as well... everyone had to watch their step. We couldn't even imagine how many horses would have had to have been put down from missteps on these terrible (though innovative) roads.

The first monument we saw was a lesser triumphal arch that was, however, still standing and dedicated by Septimus Severus. Next was the facade of a temple to Saturn and nearby we looked at the remnants of what is known as the Bascilica Guilia.

We then looked at the original facade to a temple dedicated to Faustina and Augustino, two Roman lovers. Deep marks in the columns are evidence of later Christian inhabitants who tried to pull them down with ropes and horses. When the columns refused to budge, they added a church to the monument and rededicated it to the worship of Christ. The next set of ruins we looked at was a reconstructed portion of the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, who stoked the eternal flame and made sure that it did not go out. Their building was small and round in shape. Vestal Virgins were dedicated to their duties for 30 years, however they enjoyed great privileges in ancient Rome. We ended our tour of the forum with a look at the Arch of Titus.. which I will talk about along with the other day's adventures during my next post! Buona Sera!

Santa Croce, Part Duex!

2008-05-22T20:41:00.002+02:00

I was at the steps of Santa Croce again this morning, this time for class. Again it was raining and I had to take notes with one hand while holding my clipboard and umbrella with the other. When we got inside we found out that the frecos we were going to be studying were being filmed by the BBC, so we wouldn't be able see them. On that news my professor seemed pretty down... as nothing is seeming to go as scheduled for the class. On top of that we were supposed to be going to the famous Brancacci chapel filled with Masaccios that inspired all of the major Renaissance artists, but half the class was summoned to an immigration meeting--including me! I was so upset about having to miss the lecture--but Nero decided to cancel class again and said that he would arrange some sort of large make up class so we could see everything that we've missed so far. He walked those who were interested around to talk about some of the other interesting features of the church, including what I posted yesterday.

On the way out I ran back to the Michelangelo tomb and lingered awhile. In one of his letters he had written that he had wanted to be buried in the front of Santa Croce so that on Judgement Day, when the dead were arising from there tombs, the doors of Santa Croce would burst open and the first thing he would see would be Bunelleschi's Dome. Well, some of the custodians had just opened the enormous front doors. I peered out and unfortunately current day Florence had obstructed the view. : (

I had to leave right after to meet everyone at the student center to WALK again... further out than ever before to the immigration office. Luckily our time there is short.. all they had to do was compare our faces to our passports. After that I took the long walk home in the rain, but as soon as I had got to the house the clouds opened up and it was sunny again. On the chance it would rain again I stayed inside... but cruelly, it has been sunny all afternoon. I was tricked! The weather here has been crazier than in Florida!

We plan on going to the Lion's Fountain tonight to split a bottle of wine and use their free internet! No other plans except to pack for Rome. We'll be there Friday and Saturday. No plans yet for Sunday as well but I promise to post as soon as I can.

My Man Michelangelo

2008-05-21T19:49:00.001+02:00

Today I had no classes because my Italian teacher had canceled them for today and Thursday, so I had planned on making a day of it and visiting sites that wouldn't be seen on our regular tours or classes. Although we are scheduled to
go to Santa Croce tomorrow I just couldn't wait for it--especially since I would had to visit Michelangelo's funerary monument on my own since I'm sure we will focus our attention somewhere else in the Church.

So I got up early and did my laundry... as soon as it was up on the line I made the short walk to Santa Croce and within short time (despite the tourist and school groups) made it inside. Unfortunately the view of the whole chapel was marred by a lot of floor to ceiling scaffolding. It took me a moment to locate Michelangelo's tomb (I had assumed it was on the opposite wall) but it was the first one I visited. The fruit of my labor! The most favorite of my subjects for research! The monument I know inside and out! I was ecstatic. : )

Michelangelo's Tomb was architected by Giorgio Vasari-known as the first art historian. With money donated from Cosimo di Medici and help from the Accademie di Disegno he threw a funeral ceremony that rivaled monarchs, only fitting for the partria or "father" of the arts. The tomb was Vasari's final project, and it was completed by his assistants a year after his death.

Other tombs located in Santa Croce included Galileo (who wasn't granted a Christian burial until 100 years after his death), Machiavelli (writer of The Prince, and infamous handbook for dictators), the writer of the Barber of Seville (Figaro! Figaro!) and a sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. There is also a monument to Dante although his body was not interred here as he had been exiled for being of a rival noble family. Another interesting is a robe of St. Francis held in a reliquary.

After walking the tombs I peered into some of the chapels which had fantastic fresco programs, and then ventured through the courtyard and to its side museum which housed a fantastic and imposing Crucifix by Giotto's master, Cimabue--which had misfortune in 1966 when the Arno flooded. The waters ripped the Crucifix off of the wall and was unable to be found for days. When the friars finally did find it, it was covered in mud. They believe much of the damage was due to chairs bumping into it. It's story was remarkably sad and what is there to day was as much as they were able to restore of it.

On the back wall of the refractory (eating area for the friars) is a fresco that is considered to be one of the first last suppers--and most importantly, where Leonardo got the idea for his famous composition for a refractory in Milan (unfortunately, I tried to book a viewing but they are all full up until mid-July!). We still plan on going to Milan!

For lunch, I promised to meet up with some of my roommates for more of that delicious pizza from Gusta Pizza. Afterwards, the weather became poor again and we headed back to the apartment. My original plan was to then go and see the Medici Chapels, but I learned that the newly discovered Michelangelo drawings were under restoration, so I will wait a little while before I head there and pray that I can view the drawings before I leave.

Instead of going out I stayed inside and tried to nap. Later that evening I was in the student center and was lucky enough to chat with Karl for awhile. I stayed there until close, went to the supermarket and went home.

Gelatto and the Porcellino

2008-05-20T22:32:00.000+02:00

This evening we left the apartment to find gelatto and walked to the Piazza della Repubblicca to sit down on one of the benches to enjoy it. I snapped some night shots.

After we finished the gelatto we decided to walk around a little more and found the Porcellino, a pig that is the equivalent of the Trevi fountain in Rome. Its said that if you rub its nose and put a coin in its mouth, and the coin falls into the grate below you will return to Florence (you can see where his nose is worn down from all the rubbing). It took 3 tries (I used too big of a coin) but it got in the grate. : )

Tuesday al Fresco: S. Ambrogio and Santa Maria Novella

2008-05-20T19:20:00.001+02:00

This morning I got up early for my 9 am class with professor Nero. This was our first real class out with him since the first one was just an introduction and the second one had to be canceled because he hurt his leg. This particular class is the one that I look forward to the most... but it seems to be beset with misfortunes... today's being more rain!

We began by going to a small church in the neighborhood where my apartment is--one that I walk by at least four times everyday (no joke!). Inside we learned what components made up the typical Catholic church (including tabernacle and high altar), their uses and also received an introduction to catholic ritual. We were also in for a treat because the church had a wonderful fresco that was created by a relatively unknown artist--but we discussed the technique of fresco with it as an example.

Karl you would think this was funny--The teacher often uses me as an example in his lectures, mainly because he knows my name but also because I am a fellow Michelangista. In this church I was the fresco artist--ordering my assistants around, climbing the scaffolding, mixing pigments and applying plaster, so on and so forth. Even more coincidental that I am an artist myself!

It was useful to go to this particular church because restorers had actually separated the fresco from the wall to reveal its synopia layer underneath, which is quite telling of the techniques utilized by the artist. I thought that it was extremely interesting!

When we finished with San Ambrogio (the small church) we opened our umbrellas once again and made the long walk to Santa Maria Novella--all the way on the other side of the city. Although it was taxing it was worth it 100 fold. We waited outside in the rain (while the teacher acquired our tickets) in the church's interior loggia, which was very pretty despite the rain.

Once inside I immediately spotted Masaccio's Trinity on the left wall and I didn't want to take my eyes off of it. This piece was the first to successfully use the principles of linear perspective and is considered the first work of the Italian Renaissance--as such, it is brought up in every class in Western art that I have taken. It was AMAZING to finally see it in person--but it was not the first work we were there to visit. Giotto's Crucifix hung from the center of the ceiling--a large work demonstrating his knack for naturalism--and it was imposing in the central space of the church.

After the class we were free to wander around but I and two of my other roommates stayed to gaze at the Masaccio. The professor came up beside me and asked me what I thought. All I could say was that it was amazing and that I had come almost half a world to see it. He said "and it was soooo worth it." I wished I would've had more to say, but I just didn't! We had stood in front of it for more than 40 minutes while he lectured, and there was just nothing else to say--it was awe-inspiring and if my feet hadn't hurt so much from standing I could've stood there and looked at it for an hour more. I definitely plan on going back. €2.70 is nothing!

Afterwards I walked back to my apartment to pick up my backpack and books for my Italian class--we had our first test! The rest of the afternoon was spent at the student center catching up on e-mails and news.

Raindrops keep falling...

2008-05-20T15:48:00.004+02:00

The weather here has been rainy, rainy, rainy! Today we got much more rain than all of the days before--it did not seem to want to let up.

Yesterday was uneventful. I got up early and went to the student center to check my e-mail and request some sources from the FSU library for my paper. I then ventured back to Standa, a super-mini supermarket between the student center and my residence where I picked up some groceries--bread, meats, salad and lots of pasta... oh and a chocolate bar! When I got back to the house I cooked some tortellini for lunch and then went to my Italian class. After Italian I walked all over the city to try and find a bathing suit for the capri trip... but to no avail... I found lots of two pieces though. Hopefully I will have more luck another day.

Today my art history class went to Santa Maria Novella and we got to see Masaccio's Trinity one of the first known uses of linear perspective by an artist, and quite successfully. Since my battery is about to die I won't go into too much detail about how awesome it was to finally see this piece of work--but it was amazing! To give some perspective, all art history classes utilize this work to illustrate a point about how art changed or where art was headed... unless its an Asian art class. Another interesting thing is how different these works are then what I imagined! I'm gaining new perspectives as well!

Tomorrow my class is canceled so I will have the whole day to do productive things! If the weather gets better I will definitely have a lot more to post to my blog tomorrow. Ciao!

La Galleria delghi Uffizi and the search for Titian's "Venus"

2008-05-18T17:34:00.004+02:00

While most of the house was in Pisa yesterday, one of our roommates was standing in a long line outside of the Uffizi Gallery. In the few hours that she was there she had only moved up in line about a foot and a half, so she gave up and resolved that she would come back on Sunday morning--and I happily volunteered to go with her!

The gallery opened at 8:15. We got in line around 7:45 and finally got in at 9:15. It was not too overwhelming of a wait, but it beat waiting until the middle of the week for a reservation at a premium price.

Like everything else in Italy, the galleries seemed mythical and we weaved in and out of the salas (rooms) and admired the multitudes of works and the wide decoration of the ceilings. Grandma--you'd be happy to know I only came across one sala of Tintoretto's! I got to see some Raphaels, Botticellis (The Birth of Venus, Primavera and The Annunciation), a Michelangelo (the The Doni Tondo), Giottos, Lippis, Leonardos, Durers and Caravaggios (The Medusa, Sacrifice of Isaac and The Bacchus). I was a little disappointed that their Caravaggios seemed to be more of an afterthought as they were placed far away from the other galleries and right at the exit. Most of their notes said that they were discovered in the museums archives in the early 1900s. Some not so famous "pleasures" that I fount there were The Portinari Altarpiece by Hugo van der Goes, Rogier van der Weyden's Entombment and Artemesia Gentileschi's Judith Slaying Holofernes.

When my roommate and I were coming to the end of the galleries we found ourselves searching for Titian's "Venus of Urbino" and had to resort to our guidebooks to discover the sala to which it belonged. We retraced our steps through the Michelangelo and Leonardo rooms and wondered how we could have missed the Titian. When we arrived in the room we saw a big empty glass enclosure with a sign saying that the painting would be in Tokyo on display until May 18th--today! We both hope that it will be back in the Uffizi when we visit the gallery with classmates toward the beginning of June.

The Leaning Tower

2008-05-17T18:55:00.000+02:00

I woke up around 8:30 (that's sleeping in for me!) and went through all of my Venice images and prepared the text to go along with them for posting. One of the girls took the initiative to go through the kitchen and living area to clean up after the other's messes--so I decided to go to my room and straighten up as well. Around 10:30 AM I got the news that some of the roommates were going to Pisa for the afternoon and I decided to tag along with them. Unfortunately, waiting for four girls to get ready took a lot more time than expected and stopping for a bite to eat during peak time put us even more behind schedule, so we didn't leave the Santa Maria train station until 2 PM!

The train ride was only €5 and lasted for a little over an hour. Once we arrived we discovered that another house from our FSU group had decided to make the trip as well as take the same train that we did. Having them along gave us a much larger group and an unintentional free bus ride to the Tower and Basilica complex. We got off at a stop that looked promising and luckily it lead directly to the grounds!

Upon entering we were overwhelmed by the amount of tourist carts and street hagglers, waaaaaay more in Pisa then can be found in Firenze. Immediately we took out our cameras and began taking quirky snapshots with the tower. Here's one of me and some of my roommates (I have 6 total):

We walked the grounds and admired how pristine everything was. The baptistry out front is one of the few round baptistries in existence (most are octagonal). We didn't go inside any of the buildings except for the crypt, as the tourist fees were outrageous. The grass out front was roped off because it is known as "The Field of Miracles" not only for the Tower that still manages to stand, but also for the fact that bodies interred within its soil (supposedly) decompose to bone in only 3 days.

Here are some highlights from the crypt:

As you can tell from the photos it was kind of a dreary day, however the rain we received was mostly sprinkles and not detrimental to the experience. We would have seen much more rain had we stayed in Florence for the day, and this was the first rainy day we had received since the trip began.

Everyday a new surprise! When I woke up this morning I had no idea that I would be visiting THE premier Italian monument! I wonder what tomorrow holds...

Ahh... Venice!

2008-05-16T21:05:00.000+02:00

We woke up early (had leftover pizza for breakfast) and ventured west toward the train station, passing some pleasant parks and famous landmarks along the way, including Brunelleschi's "Ospedale" or orphanage. After a bit of searching we found the Santa Maria Novella Train Station and although we thought that we had left early we arrived right on time! We stood at our meeting place (in front of a McDonalds) for awhile before we boarded the train. I'm not sure that I've ever rode a train before (maybe I have and just don't remember) unless you count the mini train at Disney World : ). It was extremely comfortable and we were grateful for it since it was a 3 hour ride to Venice. Along the way, we enjoyed the countryside, peering at the villages and contemplating the rolling mountains.

There was excitement in the cabins when we crossed over water and could see buildings emerging from the mist. We had arrived in that fabled city! After exiting the train station we walked out to the water and admired the buildings and boats, after snapping some pictures our private vaporetta had arrived to ferry us to St. Mark's Square. We battled hoards of tourists to make it to the line for entrance into St. Marks Bascillica and admired all of the architecture.

We were unable to take photos within the bascillica but once inside we were treated to a remarkable view. The church was built in the 11th century (upon the foundations of another which had burned down) and it believed to house the final resting place of St. Mark. Its other claim to fame is its 43,000 square feet of mosaic constructed of gold, precious stones and metal that blanket every square centimeter of the walls and ceiling. Once inside we were also able to see the Pomodori, an altarpiece completely designed with gold and every known precious mineral or otherwise ornamenting its surface. It was absolutely mind boggling!

We journeyed upstairs to view the church's other riches--a set of four large ancient horses that are the world's only existing example of Greek sculpture in the round. They had been pilfered by Napoleon and were returned to Italy where they were placed on top of the basilica, until acid rain proved to be a serious detriment to their existance and they were moved inside. The attention to naturalism was amazing, and I would have to say that viewing them was my favorite part of the entire trip!

We were able to walk out onto the balcony to have a view over St. Marks Square where tourists mingled with mutant pigeons. We could also view close-up copies of the horses that stand in the place where the originals once had. It was a lovely view over the square and also a closer view of the tower across the way.

We walked a far and winding distance through the city, over some canals and by some very high class fashion shops. When we were thoroughly lost our guides let us free to find some lunch. I had some sort of prosciutto and mozzarella wrap followed by another taste of gelatto! We enjoyed our treats while sitting on the steps of a church overlooking the Grand Canal. After our lunch we were supposed to decide which one of the museums we were going to attend and meet there. One of my roommates and I decided that we hadn't spent enough time in Venice (and wouldn't if we visited either of the museums) so we spent the afternoon wandering the streets and shops and taking pictures of various sites.

Some shop highlights:

Bonus: The Leaning Tower of Venice!

Toward five we headed back to meet our group at the Ponte' Accademia, but not without stopping to split a Kebab at a delicious smelling shop. As it turns out, a Kebab in Italy is not a Kebab in the American sense--it's a gyro!

We left just in time to miss the storm and rain that was rolling in--but it was extremely windy and enough to toss the waters in the Grand Canal and give us a bumpy vaporretta ride back to the train station. We boarded the train and shared stories from the trip until we pulled into Firenze. Then, exhausted from the adventures of the day, we walked home and soon fell asleep in our cozy beds.

Quest for Pizza, Featuring the Ponte Vecchio

2008-05-15T23:22:00.000+02:00

I wrote earlier on Thursday to tell you about my first museum expedition in Florence, just a week after arriving. After leaving the Student Center (where I was doing the updating) I went back to the apartment and met up with Katie to scope out the €5 pizza place called "Gusto Pizza" on the opposite side of the Arno. At first we weren't sure about going since we live well north of the main portion of the city, but we decided that authentic (and cheap!) pizza was well worth it.

We walked through the city center past the Duomo, Casa Alegheri and Piazza della Signoria and walked along the Arno until we got to the Ponte Vecchio. The bridge we needed to cross was the next one over, but we strolled the Ponte Vecchio (architected by Giorgio Vasari) since we hadn't yet had the pleasure of walking it. Back when it was first created, it was home to shops of butchers and bakers (and candlestick-makers) who would throw all of their waste into the Arno. When the Medicis grew weary of the mess (especially because of the proximity of these shop owners to the governmental offices [Uffizi] and the Palazzo Vecchio) they evicted these owners and put in their place 41 goldsmiths and jewelers, all of whom continue to operate shops on the bridge to this day! It was not yet dark and about half of these shops were still open when we walked by, but I didn't take pictures until later that evening, when all had closed up shop (much in the same way that they would have in the 15th century!), and many of the lights of the city had come on.

Back to Pizza! We didn't know the exact location of the shop but we stumbled upon quite quickly. We were invited in and ordered two Margherita Pizzas (molto bene!). Our order number was cinquantacinque. While we waited a gentleman from the establishment walked by with a large bowl of fried and salted bread and offered us some, it was extremely tasty--very much like popcorn! I watched as they made our pizzas and took video of them putting the pies into a large brick oven, tuscan style! Here are some pictures of the establishment and a video of the oven:

Sidenote: Not exactly sure what was going on tonight, but there were fireworks going off by the Duomo. I wish I could have gotten to see them, but I have to get to bed slighlty early this evening because we are going to Venice tomorrow (expect lots of pictures!) and we have to trek to the far west side of the city to meet everyone who's going at the train station. When we arrive we have a choice of going to the Accademia of Venice or to the Peggy Guggenheim collection.

I don't know which one I want to go to yet--the Accademia has Leonardo's "Vetruvian Man" and a few famous works by Giorgione, but I don't know if I can pass up Picassos, Pollocks and Kandinskys. I'm not a huge fan of contemporary art, but it would be nice to see some if I'm going to be stuck in the 13th to 17th centuries here in Florence... not that that is a bad thing! I'll blog about it to let you know which one I ended up going to.

P.P.S. I'm booked a trip to Capri and Pompeii at the end of the month! I couldn't pass up seeing Pompeii knowing that I am soooo close (the other incentive was hearing that there were only 10 seats left). Now I just have to find a swimsuit... not for Pompeii, for Capri! : )

Food Glorious Food

2008-05-15T18:23:00.002+02:00

I've been meaning to write more about my exploits with food, I will try to be better from here on out because the food is awesome and, yes, at times even pretty! (Note to self: bring camera to meals and take pictures of food, glorious food!) So here for starters is what comprised my lunch at the Loggia Delgi Albizi, one of our student meal ticket restaurants. Today I had a slice of spinach and riccotta something-or-another, it was very much like a large quiche (and went a little all out) with a piece of dolchette (cake). The Loggia Delgi Albizi's pastries are the best! As indulging as decadent as this chocolate monster appears in the photo, it was actually quite light and not rich at all. It was two layers of chocolate cake frosted with custard, with a topping of mini chocolate chips and cocoa. This is actually the first chocolate-anything that I have bought since I've been in Florence, and that's what made it to die for when I saw it behind the glass! Yum!

And if the meal portions from here on out look small, its because they truly are, and honestly I have never left an establishment feeling hungry for more. I'm always satisfied and with all the walking from one end of the city to the other, its an excellent diet. Lunches for me have typically been sandwiches and in the evenings I've picked up either pasta or pizza or even nothing at all (as we typically eat late, around 3pm). When I grocery shopped at STANDA (a mini grocery store... and when I say mini I mean teeny-tiny) I made it out of there with 2 bags of grocery items for only €16 and often times end up snacking on them in the morning and evening instead of having full meals.

I have yet to pick up a bottle of wine anywhere yet though, mainly because I have no idea what's good (besides looking at the price)! At home in Tally I prefered the reds, but here when I've been at the shops the whites have been much more to my liking!

Michelangelo at Last!

2008-05-15T16:37:00.011+02:00

This morning we were supposed to meet on the stairs of the Duomo to visit the church itself and the Bargello along with our art history professor, however plans changed when the professor injured himself on the way to the Duomo and was forced to cancel class. He said that we would make it up at a later time, because there is no way that we can miss any class since they are so integral to the experience, so I can still look forward to going to those places and writing about them in my blog.

Katie and I decided to go back home to get our cash and then visit a museum that was not included in our trip, and wisely we decided to go to the Museo della'Opera di Duomo, located right behind the Duomo. It houses the original sculpture programs from the Baptistery and the Cathedral (currently the facades have copies). Upon entrance we saw the original statues of Christ and John the Baptist with an angel attending, and further in many sculptures and pieces from the original programs spread all around but with an effort to keep similar elements together. Here's a couple photos:

I turned a corner and my heart leapt to see one of Michelangelo's final "Pieta's" at the top of a set of stairs, set in its own room with dramatic lighting. The figures were life-size and the experience was all to real! You could see Michelangelo's handiwork on the face of the stone--it was amazing! I walked around it and viewed all of the angles and it was awe-inspiring... when I went to leave the room and took a seat in the next I almost cried! I think Michelangelo is my favorite artist... : )

Here are more pictures of the deposition group:

It is interesting to note that Michelangelo actually smashed the arm of this piece in frustration (should be visible in the post's introductory image). He had worked on it on and off for 8 years, supposedly intending it for his own tomb before discarding it. Upon his death one of his servants recovered the pieces and sold them to someone who was able to restore the arm. One of Michelangelo's students (Calcagni) completed the face of the Magdalene on the left.

We also got to see Donatello's "Penitent Mary Magdalene" which was also housed the in Museo della'Opera and like the Pieta we were also able to walk around it. I found the view behind her fascinating--what do you think?

Piacere Mio!

2008-05-13T16:30:00.004+02:00

Classes began this week and I was in a bit of a spot when I found out (at orientation) that I couldn't attend the interior design courses that I had signed up for. Many of the other classes that are being offered are at the 2000 level or are courses that I already attended in the states. On Monday, I sat in on an Italian I class and although it will be the third language I have learned, all of the information--even in just the last two days--has been extremely beneficial. I now know how to properly greet shop owners (Salve and not Ciao) and have other useful information about customs and being respectful of the people living in the city.

The other class I am taking is a traditional art history course, but taught by Frank Nero, a pupil of Jack Freiburg--my favorite professor in Tallahassee. The paper he had in his syllabus called for 6-8 pages about a work in the city but after class I met with him and he said that I could continue work on the paper I started for Freiburg's class regarding Vasari's tomb for Michelangelo--which made me extremely happy! I really enjoyed working on it last year but wasn't satisfied with the final results (I got a B+ on the paper, but an A in the class), plus I want to extend it now that I am in the city with the object and have the Florence library to supplement my sources. My teacher said that he was really excited about it because he mostly gets boring assignments and papers, and this would be a new challenge. He offered me sources from his personal library and we even plan on meeting at Santa Croce to take a look at the monument together. I'm ready to get this underway, and since it is such a big task, these will be the only two classes I'm taking this summer, but well worth it. The only other one I could take requires a lot of outside reading... and I know I'm capable, but I want to focus on my paper now as much as I can!

So far, the best place I've eaten has been Il Gatto e Volpe, but the best place for lunch is Antico Noe. Today I picked up a "Numero Otto" panino and instead of Spinach it had grilled artichokes on it! It was awesome. The other fixings included herb-roasted pork, peppers and oil, all served cold. They do have some soft drinks here in Italy mainly "Coca," Sprite and Orange Fanta. Today for the first time I tried their orange "Fanta" and it tastes very different, less like the flavor orange and more like the actual citrus fruit.

I'm learning so much already! Nero knows the city like the back of his hand and Menchi (my Italian teacher) was born and raised in Tuscany. I get to hang our in Firenze until Friday when we leave for a day trip to Venice! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Salve tutti!

The Color Purple

2008-05-11T18:55:00.001+02:00

Today there was an important soccer (or should I say football?) game that took place in the city. Fiorentina vs. Parma to decide who would go to the finals and it was also Fiorentina's final home game. By the time we found out about it tickets were already sold out, but we showed our pride by buying team spirit shirts and accessories as it seemed that all others in the street were decked out in purple--the home team's color. One person had even spray-painted their bike in the color (unfortunately it's hard to see in the photo just how freshly painted the bike was--there was even spray paint on the sidewalk). As we walked down from S. Miniato later towards the evening many cars were honking as they drove up the road. At first we weren't sure what was going on, but then this car drove by and we realized that Fiorentina had won the game!

Monastery of San Miniato al Monte

2008-05-11T17:46:00.000+02:00

Our next trip was to S. Miniato... another crazy-hard uphill climb. On the way, we passed by street artists. Unlike the trip to Fiesole however, a bus couldn't take us up even halfway... so we walked the whole distance from our arpartment on the North side of town all the way to the Arno, beyond the city walls and up to S. Minalto. Some say that the best view was from Fiesole, but I argue that the best was from here. This time the monks (Benedictine) did not chase us out, instead we were in for a treat--real Gregorian chants (in the monastery's crypt)!

We plan on making the trip back up the hill When the monastery's cemetery is open--our professor said that it would be well worth the look as it had been toughted as one of the most beautiful cemetaries in Europe. One of his previous students had even proposed there. One the way back down the hill we once again admired the view and stopped for a respite at the Rose Garden, a large exterior park were many people were picnicking and enjoying the sun. As it turns out, we were fortunate that we made a stop here, since the garden is only open when the roses are in bloom.

An Evening Among the Giants

2008-05-10T23:08:00.001+02:00

Katie and I decided to go out and spend the evening surrounded by art, the freest place to do so being the Palazzo. I took some more night shots, one of these days I'll get more during the daytime:

Fiesole

2008-05-10T20:36:00.000+02:00

Our first visit outside of Florence was to Fiesole, a hilltop town as ancient as it was full of wealthy Florentines. There we visited an archaeological site with Etruscan and Roman ruins including an amphitheater, a multilevel temple and Roman baths. Visigoth warrior tombs dot the area as well, however those buried were not as impressive as their name makes them out to be, they barely reached four and a half feet tall!

Following the archaeological site, we strapped on our hiking packs and made ready our water bottles for the steep climb up the hill to a monastery (which had real Franciscan friars dwelling in it. It was brutal, but the view over Florence was amazing and well worth the pain (I took video). We were not there long because they were beginning confessions, and our first experience with one was him telling us in Italian to "Get Out!"

Dinner in the Plazza de Signoria

2008-05-09T23:05:00.002+02:00

Ciao!

Our first Real Florentine Dinner happened this last Friday. We feasted in the Plazza de Signoria in view of famous (and infamous) sculptures by Cellini and Giambologna (seen in the images from the last post). We had bread and oil, cheese and spinach tortellini, herb-roasted chicken and sausage, potati (french fries!), salad and finished with our first experience with gelatto! It was definitely not as I had expected--it was soooo awesome and delicious.

Following dinner we were invited out to clubs, but were so tired from the day and large meal so we walked back to our apartment and enjoyed a night walk in the city and stopped at a few sites, including a public church. Made it home safely... though very late in the evening.

Some pictures from the walk home:

First Encounters

2008-05-09T19:21:00.001+02:00

For breakfast today, Katie and I had our first slice of real Italian pizza! We had planned on getting to the student center early in order to use the computers there, but unfortunately they weren't opening the room until later that afternoon, so we decided to find a quick bite to eat to give us energy for the day. Around 11 we met for our orientation, and listened to alot of information regarding FSU and Florence, Academic Policies and survival guides. We received our meal tickets (yes literally) and went out to eat again! I had a delicious croissant with a large block of cheese and herbed turkey on it and a drink... once again for $4,50. We returned to the orientation to get our first REAL walk in Florence. Here are the sites we saw (mouse over for names):

Crossing the Pond

2008-05-08T17:01:00.000+02:00

I got to Florence safely this afternoon, landing slightly after 12pm. The flight (although mercilessly loooong) was rewarding. I hadn't anticipated that we would fly right up the U.S. coast and then cross toward Europe from Maine, but I preferred it to flying over wide expanses of water. We flew over the emerald green isles of Ireland and crossed the English Channel. I was even lucky enough to spot the Eiffel Tower from my plane window (it is much bigger than I had thought and quite an impressive sight to see!). As we flew to Italy, I snapped many shots of the Alps and made sure to focus on the tallest peaks.

Although all of these were breathtaking, none of these sights could even compare to the view of the starscape that I had Wednesday evening while on the plane and crossing over the Atlantic. One vocalist fell short when he described it as "a black canopy with hole punched in it." Unlike any I've seen before, these stars were numerous and had depth and shape (like oval and oblong, round and diamond) and it was difinitive which ones were closer and which farther away. Because of the sheer number of stars, it was impossible to determine their constallations, however I could make out the pale red of Mars and the second-sun like glow of Venus. Another positive to having a clear night is being able to see "through" the Milky Way to thousands of other galaxies, which appear as a thick cloud of stars across the sky. It was amazing to say the least.

Navigating airports was easy except for the one in Paris. If there had not been a whole group of people from FSU looking for that flight, it would've been a nightmare. But luckily we made it through OK.

Florence is beautiful and so is the amazing apartment we're living in. I plan on posting a video that I made of all the rooms and the fantastic views. I switched rooms though, because... you should never pass up the oppurtunity to have the Duomo right outside of your window. : )

I've already made a few runs through town. My first meal was a delicious "chicken and herb" panini sandwich and a drink for €4,50. We walked to the student center so that we would know how to get there and then I went off on my own in the evening to find a certain tea house. The tea house happened to have moved down the street a number of buildings, however it did not appear to be open after 5 p.m. I plan to make another run sometime... it's not too far away and so it would not be an inconvenience to try to go there again.

Sadly, I haven't found any wi-fi hotspots from which to connect to. I really want to get on the internet and post all of the new and wonderful things so that you all can see them, as well as let my dad and grandmother know that I made it here safe... but until then... it will just have to wait. Not too much of a loss, I can't believe it's only 4pm in the states, it's 10pm and sleepy-time here. I feel that I've already adjusted to the schedule thanks to the short night caused by the plane flight!

For Kyle:

2008-05-07T05:15:00.000+02:00

Kyle, if you are reading this the mission is accomplishable!

Flight Info

2008-05-07T04:45:00.000+02:00

For any that are curious, here is my flight schedule for today and tomorrow (yes you read right! Two days of airplanes!):

Leave Tallahassee at 12:00 noon
Arrive in Atlanta at 1:00 pm
Leave Atlanta at 5:30 pm
Arrive in Paris, France at 8:00 am
Leave Paris, France at 10:00 am
Arrive in Florence, Italy at 12:00 noon!

Wish me luck and no delays! Ciao!

"All my bags are packed..."

2008-05-07T04:05:00.002+02:00

This will be my last day in the states and I feel it will also be one of the most trying, as it is 3:30 in the AM and I am having trouble sleeping--too excited about my trip to even be superstitious about the hour that I am currently up (anyone that knows me really well knows that I am easily uneased by the supernatural--and if I ever were to find myself up at 3:00 in the morning I would shut my eyes tight and hope to fall asleep in short time!). If this sounds odd, it has a long accompanying story.

Yesterday I found myself gathering all the last minute items I could remember to get a hold of, including an FSU shirt (so others in the program might spot me so I won't feel that I'm traveling completely alone), "Winter's Heart" by Robert Jordan for reading material while on the plane or waiting during the times between them, a CD of Italian for travelers and a small language guide, sketchbooks and a new album to listen to on my iPod (ask me on facebook if you must know what it was! : P).

Unfortunately, I forgot to stop by the bank and also pick up some notebooks (I will be taking classes while I'm over there and it would be good to take notes for them!), so I will have to combat traffic and run these errands in the morning. Gladly, I did find my shiny (and awesome) Target Credit Card so I will not be in as much of a pinch while I'm over there, as the bank recommended that I not use my debit card.

Last night Karl and I had lunch together and went light on dinner and after he took me to all the places I had to get. We met up with a friend who had a "mission" for me and I gladly accepted the challenge--to deliver a letter to a person he met while he was in Florence last year. I'm excited about the prospect and I hope I will be successful in this endeavor!

The other reasons this day will be trying are because the majority of it will be spent in airports and also because I will be saying my goodbyes to my family and Karl. I'm glad we live in the Internet age and will still be able to communicate despite the distance.

Even though this is my last evening here before the journey... I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm really truly going to Italy--one more story before I close out:

I called my grandmother Monday after work because I had the memory of receiving a postcard from her and my grandfather's cruise in Europe years back with a picture of the Trevi Fountain of Rome on it. She said that they threw in coins for my little sister and I, and the legend of the fountain is that by throwing coins it ensures a trip back to Rome. My coin is calling!

"Fare thee well, though I go 10,000 miles..."

No cancellations!

2008-05-05T19:40:00.000+02:00

I checked up on the status of my flights this evening and nothing has been canceled (celebrate!). I even got to log onto Delta's site and look at my seating arrangements. On the trip there and back I will have window seats, not that there will be too much to see flying over the ocean... but I'm happy with the seating assignment.

Yesterday my grandmother threw a small going away party for me with extra presents for the trips and good comfort food--including a delicious banana flavored and coconut topped cake. I will definitely have to get the recipe!

Tonight I'm looking forward to eating some homemade Chinese food at the Sornes! Everyone wants to make sure that I'm well fed before I leave. : )

Fortelling Food

2008-05-04T21:06:00.002+02:00

In an odd coincidence Karl, Brad and I ended up eating at "The Leaning Tower" in Tallahassee on Saturday afternoon--I suppose to serve as a reminder of Americanized Italian "eats" here in the states. Our paper cups were wonderfully decked out with green, white and red flags (the Italian fashion) and paper placemats displaying all of the landmarks I will see on my voyage. Karl and I split a "booey," a giant sized calzone. It was alot of fun and a reminder of what is to come!

Wanderlust

2008-05-03T18:42:00.004+02:00

In honor of my voyage I present to you Bjork's newest video and single "Wanderlust." I wish I could ride a yak to Italy instead of flying... Not just any yak, these fluffy googley-eyed ones! As a side note, if I had been creating a music video for Bjork it would have the same look and feel as this one. Minus the weird cat-like water spirit... maybe.

Housing Assignment

2008-05-03T09:06:00.000+02:00

So you might have been wondering (as I have) where exactly one stays when they study abroad. For the student program we will be sharing doubles and triples in apartment style flats fully equipped with a kitchen, living area, shared bathroom and washer and dryer with a weekly cleaning service.

I received my housing assignment and I will be on the top floor (yeay!) of one particular complex which has access by elevator. The building I will be staying in appears to be located near one of the largest green spaces in the heart of Florence. I'm praying for an excellent view of the city (but I'd settle for a window over the interior loggia). Unfortunately these satellite images didn't reduce well, but if you click on them they can be viewed full size.

The blue dome seen in the above picture belongs to a local Jewish synagogue. The next picture shows my proximity to some of the most popular sites in Florence:

The Duomo: the gravity defying architectural wonder masterminded by Brunelleschi and fronted by the Baptisery (which originally featured Ghiberti's bronze "Doors to Paradise").
Palazzo Vecchio: The loggia outside of the original seat of Florentine government which now features reproductions of the famed sculptures which once inhabited its square and flanks the world renowned Uffizi Gallery.
Santa Croce: Large chapel that holds funerary monuments for Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and other masters.
Basilica of S. Maria Novella: Architected by Giorgio Vasari, Florence's first basilica features important works of fresco, including Masaccio's "Trinity" most known for its innovative use of the technique of perspective.

And here is a view from the top of the Duomo looking toward the Arno River and capturing the trademark rooftops of the city. I cannot wait to take amazing shots like this one!

I am definitely looking forward to seeing sites from my studies, in addition to walking in the footsteps of Michelangelo in his own hometown--and more than 500 years after his own studies!

Ciao!

I'm only in to this to ENJOY!

2008-05-01T19:00:00.003+02:00

This is travel blog of Sarah Smith.

I am currently a senior at Florida State University and have been enrolled in FSU's International Programs summer excursion in Florence, Italy, thanks (in all parts) to my grandmother who knew this would be a special opportunity for me for me to go abroad as well as experience my major first-hand. "Firenza" is considered the cradle of the Renaissance and I am exstatic to walk along the same streets as Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Cellini, Giorgio Vasari and many many others while experiencing their artworks in a way no textbook could!

I intend for this blog to be a main point of contact for family and friends during my six-week sabbatical (from May 7th to June 19th), where I will share stories, film and photos from my stay--as well as save it as a digital keepsake of the journey I'm about to undertake. I'm definitely in this to ENJOY!

Thanks to everyone and wish me luck!

~ Sarah