Two Days, Three Museums and an Opera

Wednesday began with my morning routine of going to my latte lady (affectionately called "buon giorno lady" for her charismatic morning greetings) for coffee and a cornetto.  I was the only one to go down that morning, as Kelsey and Chelsea discovered the coffee machine at the University.  It was a lovely way to start my day, as always -- the energy of the market does as much for my energy as coffee does -- but it was made even more lovely, because I actually had a semi-conversation with her in my limited Italian =) I love when people are so good humored when trying to help you with their language! ah! It made my morning. Especially, because she basically told me not to use the formal tense with her, which was very nice =) Anyways, then we had class and headed to the Bargello museum. You can't take pictures inside, but here are some of the courtyard ones:

The Bargello used to be a barracks, and then a prison, and is now an art gallery.  We were able to see more works by Donatello -- like his two Davids and such. I'd like to learn more about him.  We also saw a few famous works by Michelangelo (always a treat) and many household items of the renaissance. After which, I found the perfect necklace I was looking for and then went home and ate a quick lunch.  I then headed to the Galileo Museum, which was very interesting -- I was able to see many of the machines Galileo used in his experiments, along with my globes that were celestial spheres (i.e. a globe that has a map of the stars on it) and other such things like this: 

This I took before I realized you weren't able to take pictures... oops! I also saw a couple of Galileo's fingers and a tooth.  They had an obsession with relics! A church in Siena has the head and the thumb of some saint and her body lies to rest elsewhere! Anyways, it was a good museum, but I wish I had gotten an audio guide or something, so I could have learned more. After that, I decided to explore a part of the city that I hadn't explored before. On my way, I had to take a picture of this classic line of motor scooters (and this wasn't even the whole line!)

Anyways, I had a lovely time walking along -- and seeing more of the part of the city where the citizens of Florence live. I then was so hungry, that I bought my first take-out pizza and it was amazing. The flavors here are amazing!!! After a short nap, I went to my gelato place to read and listen to music (see last post) and then went to bed. 

Thursday we finished up the Decameron and our 3rd week of class. It's gone by so fast! I really enjoyed the Decameron, and I feel like I've learned so much in such a short amount of time... even now we're watching Gladiator and I can understand it in a totally different way than I would have been able to before this trip. Anyways, after a brief lunch we headed to the Uffizi (which used to be the Medicci offices and now is an art museum).

Again, we couldn't take pictures inside, but the ceilings were phenomenal (as usual).  It was a smaller museum, but that was actually quite nice, as it was very walkable. However, as I grow older, I feel like I need a bit more than just the appreciation for the art -- I want to learn more about the art and how to analyze it.  That desire aside, it was  still wonderful to see "The Birth of Venus" in person, along with many other masterpieces.  I feel like there were many skillful artists, but the ones who are truly great are the ones who have something more to say with their art. I know that seems obvious, but it especially dawned on me when I was looking through the paintings at the Uffizi. It was also exciting to go on the Uffizi patio and see the Ponte Vecchio a little closer up.

After my Uffizi trip, I did a little shopping, napped and then went to dinner in Mercato Centrale (i.e. our piazza). I had the most amazing ravioli with pecorino cheese and pear. . . it did not need any sauce. . .it was phenomenal. I cannot wait to go back to that restaurant! I also had cafe americano for my first time here, and it was lovely to drink just coffee for once (albeit, reallly strong coffee). We then got all dressed up, as we were seeing "Il Flauto Magico" at the Boboli gardens that night. Here's me and my friend Gina right before we walked over:

I mostly did my hair in a nice up-do because it was so incredibly hot.  Watching other girls try to straighten their hair was comical and rather miserable as the apartment got really hot! We made the trek over, and settled into our seats out in the humid air. 

I was excited to see it because I'd never seen an entire opera on stage before and because opera is extreme theatre (seriously. . . everything is taken to the next level with opera).  Anyways, it was alright. . . they had major sound issues, and the acting was terrible (I know singing comes first in operas, but you really lose me if they aren't convincing).  But it was beautiful to hear Mozart's music done by an orchestra and passable singers! Well, it was an experience for sure.  It was also rather funny, because the opera itself is written in German, so they sung in German, but spoke in Italian. . . it was so strange. Not that I could really understand either. I can pick up about every 10th word in German, and like a word a scene in Italian.  It was around midnight when the opera concluded and we walked home. I like walking through Florence at night, but the Italian boys get incredibly obnoxious, so that was unpleasant -- harmless, but unpleasant. Then I packed for Naples, and went to bed! More on Naples tomorrow =)