MondayTuesday

It is impossible to get a good night's sleep in Florence.  It is either too hot, too loud, or too sunny and I never sleep well, but honestly everything else makes up for it =) However, lack of sleep + walking a whole bunch wears on you, so I took monday off and just relaxed.  Did a little shopping, and sat on my bed.  So then I was rested, but felt wholly unproductive, so I don't think I'll take the day off inside again!


Tuesday we finished Dante (we read Inferno and parts of Purgatorio and Paradiso). I feel like even though we went through it very fast, that we took a very rich bite out of it.  I really don't know how people can study it without knowing about the historical context of Florence, because it has sooooo very much to do with that! Anyway, I'm incredibly inspired to read all of Purgatorio and Paradiso, so I intend to do that when I get back. I've only been to Europe once before this, but that time and this time I feel such a strong desire to learn more about everything. I want to know a variety of different languages well, I want to know how to analyze art, I want to know mythology, I want to know this and that and everything! AH! 
All of that aside, after official class, we went to Santa Maria Novella

We couldn't take pictures inside, but it had many beautiful frescoes, including one of Dante's Divine Comedy! It kind of brought our class full circle because of that fresco and the fact that our next book, The Decameron, starts in Santa Maria Novella! This was the first church where they really enforced the no bare shoulders or knees rule.  They made you put on robes to cover up! Luckily our professor had warned us, and we were properly clothed.  We also go t to see a very important painting that was the first to be painted with perspective. Michelangelo used to study this painting before his work on the Sistine Chapel.  After that, I had a delicious sandwich from a shop in our piazza that gives us student discounts =). I then attempted to go to the Galileo museum, to no avail as it closes early on tuesdays. It began to rain COLD RAIN! and it was a nice break from the heat, although it was doubly muggy after. It was so nice to just walk along the river and go into whatever shops I chose. Here's one of the prettier sights I had to take a picture of when walking

Florence and Italy in general have SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO BUY! AH! From calligraphy and paper stores, to a ridiculous amount of leather purses to masks, to journals to literally everything. It's a problem. After doing my fair share of window shopping I came back to read and make dinner. Chelsea made bruschetta (which was excellent) and I made my signature pasta. . . which is pasta, carrots and pesto (seriously, I've probably made it ten times)

Oh, and delicious freshly grated parmesan cheese. Then I started the adventure of laundry. This is our washing machine. It is SMALL.

And most people have had a giant problem with the washer, HOWEVER! I was successful! Now, in Italy, people don't believe in dryers, so you have to do this:

It doesn't look too scary, but believe me, when you are four flights up, leaning out the window, it is a bit terrifying trying not to drop your clothes four flights down. And then your clothes have little clothespin marks in them.  Italian laundry detergent is definitely harsher than at home. I can't wait to wash clothes at home, omygoodness. 


Other Random Things:
*Italian students are graduating right now from the University, so everyday when we leave class, we see families with flowers congratulating their students on exams.  It's cool, because when they graduate, they get laurel leaf crowns =)
*There are SO MANY Vespa-like motor scooters here. It's beyond description. 

and I don't blame them, I'd definitely have a motor scooter here -- driving here would be terrible. I would have a firetruck red vespa =) 
*Gypsies here are not like the cool Gypsies from Zorro or Chocolat. They shove, and ask for money.  They're the worst because they don't send their children to school, so they just beg in an incredibly rude fashion.
*Florence is the best in the morning when there is no one around.