Last School Week in Firenze

I have so much to catch up on!!! I’ve been incredibly busy soaking up my last week in Italy.  I am really not ready to leave -- but, as my professor says, that is perhaps the best time to leave (when you aren’t tired of it). In any case, I am very much going to miss it. I’ve had such a wonderful time -- and honestly, next to Italy, the United States isn’t really that cool! 

Sunday night: Ah! It was such nice weather! There was a cool wind all day -- it was wonderful. That night, I took the bus up to Fiesole (I love that name) to watch the sunset. The view was AMAZING and I sat and talked to one of the girls from the program for a while. Fiesole is a lovely town -- it’s quiet, very close to Florence, and just quite charming. 

View from one side of Fiesole:

Awesome Modern Art Sculpture in the town center

VIEW!

Monday I had my last presentation for class: Machiavelli’s The Prince. We got out pretty early, so we went grocery shopping -- which really becomes the highlight of my day. I love going to the market! Ah! Anyways, then I made lunch and went to the Boboli Gardens with Kelsey and Chelsea.  There was a costumes exhibit inside, which was fun to fawn over =) Then we went and attempted to explore the gardens. 

View From Gardens:

Gardens

Another View =)

Another View

Fountain

It was beautiful, but there were lots of stairs and we were hot and tired. . . so we ended up taking a shade break on some stairs for a longgg time. We left Boboli and dropped by Edison (the bookstore) and then went to try one of the top five gelato places in my lonely planet book: GROM. GROM WAS AMAZING. I’ve had some pretty fabulous gelato this trip, but Grom was definitely the best. wow. I had Creme di grom and Venezia Ciocollatte. . . it was incredible. 

Tuesday I went to class, and then we all headed to Santa Croce. 

Santa Croce is a beautiful church, and many famous Florentines are buried inside.  We saw Michelangelo’s and Galieo’s tombs, among others. 

Michelangelo's Tomb

I then went home and took a longggg nap (I didn’t sleep well the night before).  After that I went shopping for gifts, which was slightly frustrating because I was being very indecisive about what to get people! ah! I was mildly successful though and headed back to make dinner. I made spaghetti with pesto for dinner, which was quite delicious =) Then I met my friend Gina and we went to take a mini-hike along the last set of walls of Florence. As we crossed the Ponte Vecchio, the sun was setting. . . It was so gorgeous. 

We found the wall, and had a nice hike around it -- of course, all the views were beautiful and so peaceful. 

We stayed until it got dark, and then had a slightly scary walk back, as it wasn’t well lit! However, we did make it back, and it was a lovely night =)

Wednesday I got to sleep in! We met at Capella Medicci in San Lorenzo at 11:45 (where we couldn’t take pictures by the way). Wow, the Mediccis were ridiculous. Their tombs are perhaps the most lavish and ostentatious things I’d seen. It was beautiful, but absurdly lavish.  We also say Michelangelo’s Night and Day, which was pretty cool -- except that she definitely looks like a man. . . her womanly parts look added on. It was a Michelangelo day, as we went to the Accademia too! I always thought Michelangelo was someone whose works would really strike me -- but actually, I think Donatello’s works appeal to me more. However. . . the David was awesome. I didn’t realize how big it is. . . and how beautiful a man he is. . .wow. Phenomenal. It’s pretty captivating. The Accademia also has a pretty cool collection of musical instruments from the Renaissance too.  I learned how a harpsichord and a piano work! Anyways, I was just exhausted for some reason, so I took a very looooong nap and then worked on my final literally all night. I took a one hour nap from 3-4AM and then finished the final by 7 AM -- sent it in, and worked on my journal until we had to leave for the hike at 9AM, which brings us to. . . .

Thursday! Which was just one long, exhausting day. On no sleep, we went on a 2 hour hike through Chianti ending in Greve.  It was funny -- I can’t sleep on busses, so the only people awake on the bus were me, the professor and her husband. EVERYONE had stayed up all night doing the final. It was pretty hilarious. It was a lovely hike though. Most of it was down hill =) And of course, everything is beautiful in Tuscany.  

We got there (finally) and had a nice lunch, where I was introduced to prosciutto e melone which was absolutely glorious. 

We then walked a little through town, and then bussed back to Florence. I was so. tired. After an hour of downtime (i.e. packing really quickly and then napping) we were off to the train station to go to VENICE!

Finals

This marks the beginning of my final week in Italy. 


Which also means I have to turn in my journal and Final paper on Thursday, which means I am going to be very behind on blogging, so I apologize! 

The Ancient Pompeii and the nice part of Naples =)

Saturday we woke up, had breakfast at our hostel and headed to Pompeii. Now Saturday was supposed to be the hottest day of the year, so we weren't too excited to walk around in the heat, but after a nice bus ride, we got there and there was a really nice breeze which cooled us down -- so that made the experience much more enjoyable. That being said, I still sweated more than I think I ever have in my life. We didn't have enough money for a guide, but I did use Rick Steves' tour -- I am quickly becoming a huge fan of Rick Steves' tours. . . they never fail to be interesting! Anyways, so we walked in through the streets of Pompeii, and it was just like walking through a Roman ghost town (which it essentially is, although more ruined).  It was easy to imagine Romans bustling through this town. . . you could see where chariots had worn in tracks on the stone and where pedestrian only streets would be. This was the basilisc (which was court basically). The columns actually weren't destroyed in the volcano eruption, but had been demolished several years prior because of an earth quake. You can't really see from here, but they're entirely made with terra-cotta brick that would eventually be covered with a facade to make it look marble. 

One of my favorite parts of Pompeii was that there were sleeping dogs everywhere.  At the house of the tragic poet in the town, there is a mosaic in the entrance way with a dog that says "Cave Canem" (beware of dog) -- which was in one of my Latin books. . .I was excited. Apparently many houses had mosaics like this and nowadays, they welcome stray dogs in Pompeii. So if you go, bring some dog treats =) the dogs are very loving. 

This is the forum and you can make out Mount Vesuvius in the background. Vesuvius is the volcano that made Pompeii what it is today. Look at Vesuvius in the picture and continue the triangle that it begins -- That is how big it was before it blew. . . it's ENORMOUS. 

I really enjoyed walking around and learning about life back then. The Romans had a ton of knowledge that wasn't rediscovered until the Renaissance -- like floors had perspective, which is a huge stride made in the Renaissance. Amazing. More cool ruins:

Also, we saw a neighborhood brothel, which was actually kind of hilarious. They had a menu for sex, basically frescoed on the wall. The pictures are priceless, but rather inappropriate, so I haven't posted any. Lastly, we made it to their theatre, which was modeled in the Greek style. I was pretty excited about it =) . Even better -- they were doing an opera in it at night, so there was a modern set and lights and such. LOVE modern meeting the ancient. I wish I could have seen it!!! 

We left Pompeii ready to go back to the hostel.  And we left by way of some particularly pushy vendors. . .wow. They were intense! Anyways, we went back and I had a lovely run-in with a controller on the bus (the guy who makes sure your ticket is stamped) because even though I put my ticket into the box, it didn't get stamped. SO! I had to pay a lovely fine for that. augh. It's just one of those life charges, I suppose. Bah! After that, we slept through the heat of the day in our AIR CONDITIONED room. . . it was amazing. Then we got up and headed to see what there was to see in Naples. We actually found a very nice area that looked like this: 

There we found a 100 year old shopping mall that was GORGEOUS. The light was amazing, and it was a cavernous space. Here's a hall: 

On the floor they had the signs of the zodiac mosiaced, so here I am with Aquarius . 

Across the street was the oldest theatre in Europe (who knew it was in Naples!) called "Real Teatro Di San Carlo." Apparently it's amazing inside -- I wasn't able to get in, but it was just cool to see it outside =)

Around the corner was this random giant building that I really have no idea what it is, but it was cool! And classic Naples. . . if you can see this gorgeous building, with grime on it and rather shoddy apartments in back. There's also graffiti everywhere. eh. interesting. 

After that we walked along the water, which was SO PRETTY and it was so nice to smell the salt air =)

We then sauntered over to one of the most renowned pizza places in Naples.  They only serve Marinara or Margherita (which is their version of cheese).  Pizza in Italy is so different from Pizza here -- and I swear it has to be burnt here, or it's not pizza. That being said, it was quite tasty =) 

After dinner, we headed home for a quite night, so we could sleep and get up early. However, ten feet outside our hostel, I heard cursing and saw a guy on a scooter drive away holding Kelsey's purse. . .I knew it was going to be a long night. Scooter thieves suck. They are gone in seconds. Luckily our hostel was awesome and helped Kelsey with everything. After a later night than planned, we went to bed and got up early to go to the train station (where, btw some guy stole some change from me). We couldn't wait to get out of there. Now we're back in Florence, and I'm having a lovely, relaxing Sunday.  There's a nice breeze, and I did laundry (which is scary when there's a breeze) and skyped with my parents and just chillled out =) Now I'm heading up to Fiesole to watch the sunset. Only 1 week and  less than two days left! AH! 

Napoli Day 1

   Friday (yesterday) we took a three hour fast train to Naples -- mostly to see Pompeii, but also to get a feel for another place in Italy. Now Rick Steves claims, "Italy intensifies as you plunge deeper. Naples is Italy in the extreme -- its best and its worse." My professor says that the further south you go, the less they follow the law.  I say, it was nice to see it at this point in my life and get a little more color in my cross section of Italy, but I highly doubt I will ever come back. 

   My professor was talking about how cities were built, as if the city was a giant house -- the streets are the hallways, etc and I didn't really understand that until I saw Naples. I felt like I was intruding in someone's private home. It's not that people are rude, it's just that the city is VERY lived in and I feel like I'm intruding on their culture -- which is different than how it is in Florence. In Florence, they bring you into their culture with open arms. . . here, they just kinda ignore you.  Naples is also incredibly dirty and packed in.  They don't really preserve their monuments -- again, everything is very lived in -- so most aren't very kept up.  Oh and I feel like I take my life into my own hands every time I cross the street.  Seriously, red lights are just suggestions here. . . I feel like I've almost been hit by a car or scooter at least 10 times. And Kelsey's purse was stolen by a scooter thief. But! Aside from all the negative aspects, I am glad we came. It was nice to see how Italians further south really live. . . watch kids and families (more families than I've seen in Italy so far), see shops that are for residents, not for tourists and just kinda get a feel for it all. Naples is also the birthplace of pizza, so that was great too =) 

     After arriving in Naples, we found our hostel and checked in. It was my first time staying in a hostel and it's been really quite awesome. We had a private room for the three of us, because that's all that was available, but it's pretty awesome, cheap and includes breakfast. 

Oh, and our room is lime green =) Anyways, the people are very nice -- lots of energy and very helpful. AND WE HAVE AIR CONDITIONING! omygoodness. . . it's wonderful.  Anyways, we first went to find pizza, because we were STARVING and went to a place the hostel recommended. The pizza was delicious -- so tasty, and the crust was very light.  

However, you really can't compare Italian Pizza and American Pizza. . . they are truly two very different things. For one, you eat Italian pizza with a knife and fork -- and it's all about the sauce. So tasty. We then walked to the Archaeological museum which holds all of the art from Pompeii and is basically the only thing in Naples that Rick Steves recommends (I don't really think he likes Naples either). As we were walking, it struck me how many book shops with 1 or 2 Euro books outside there were. . . it made me very happy.  We also stumbled upon a lot of cool architecture, like this

This is a much nicer part of Napoli, where the Archeological museum was.

The museum was pretty awesome -- the art was amazing.  They also had a life of Michelangelo exhibition, which I really enjoyed. He apparently restored part of this 13 foot sculpture, which is the "tallest ancient marble group ever found and the largest intact statue from antiquity" (straight out of the guide book). It was pretty incredible. 

Also on display were some of Michelangelo's sketches and writings, which were pretty fantastic to see. These were studies for the facade of San Lorenzo (the church next to my apartment). 

It was definitely a worthwhile museum. One of my favorite parts didn't even have to do with ancient art, but was the giant open room at the top floor which used to serve as the great hall of the university.  It was massive, and just gorgeous. 

The only sculpture in here was of Atlas, but with the celestial sphere on his back, not the Earth. . . I really liked this sculpture. 

They also had every day things from the excavation of Pompeii -- like cooking tools, which I thought were pretty cool

View from the Museum of Naples

The Museum was quite tiring, and it was INCREDIBLY hot outside, so we grabbed some gelato and headed back to the hostel, to make an early night of it.  We passed this bookstore, which may give you a little taste of Naples.

We watched Gladiator which was fun in the context of where we'd been, and I worked on some things, and then I had possibly the best night of sleep in Italy. . . air conditioning is magical. 

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 =)