Florence in Photos

I know I lured you in saying today is the day I have posted Photos of Florence, and they will be here, I assure you, but first stories from today. They're aren't many!

First, I walked around the Eastern/South Eastern side of Siena today, all the way to the Porta Romana (a very, very large gate). I passed the Basilica dei Servi on they way, which is a church and is or was a convent. I walked through the Contrada del leocorno (unicorn), La Contrada del Valdimontone (Ram), and La Contrada del Nicchio (Seashell). This may sound like a lot, but I made the whole walk there and back to the Campo in less than forty minutes. I only had a little while until the other student's had their lunch break at this point, so I then went and sat on the Piazza del campo where I sat and people watched for a while. I was looking at my syllabus when I heard a voice over me say "Buon Giorno." I thought maybe it was someone I knew-but it wasn't. It was just some man who felt like saying good morning to me...I went back to what I was doing and then he fortunately moved on!

My Italian class today went very well, I basically talked with my teacher for an hour and a half straight and then spent an hour working and grammar and talking.

Alright, now I will hand over the pictures!

A carousel on a Piazza

DINNER! Trofie (little corkscrew shaped pasta) with pesto and tomatoes

A parade passes in front of the Uffizi, the building in the beck left corner of this photo. If you can see the white squares directly above the people's heads, those are flags.

Piazza del somthing. Not sure which one it was. It's near the Uffizi though.

Florence from the Ponte Vecchio

We ran into this parade outside the Uffizi. It was for a tournament, Calcio Storico. We thought it was just soccer, but the men on the teams all looked to big to be soccer players. Today though we saw on TV in Siena what it was. It is an old version of soccer. They played on a dirt field and carried the ball. It seemed like a mix between modern soccer and American Football, which could explain the origin of football. I don't know that for sure though, so don't quote me on it.

Ponte Vecchio (The Old Bridge). All of the shops on the bridge sell jewelry

Ponte Vecchio from land.

These three girls plus me saw ALL of the Uffizi!

The chapel (maybe?) across the street from the Duomo.

The Duomo. I am putting in lots of pictures of this so that I can try and give you a full picture of it. It's very, very large and every inch is decorated!

Americans Everywhere! And Sidewalks...

I have been to and returned safely from Florence! We had a wonderful time. My legs hurt and I am terribly tired, but my head is filled with beautiful artwork and architecture so I am quite happy.

Florence is a beautiful city in many ways. It seems to be primarily Renaissance, unlike Siena. This makes sense since I believe Florence became more powerful as Siena became less powerful, which was during the Renaissance with the rise of the Medici family in Florence (Firenze here, pronounced fear-in-zay, roughly. If you have never heard it called that before, I refer to it as both and you may see or hear me do so). The roads are wider and the buildings are newer. Slightly newer, anyway. And the city is just so big! Think of Siena as Charlottesville and Florence as Washington, D.C, Renaissance style.

Another reason for the Washington, D.C. comparison? There are Americans EVERYWHERE! I knew there would be a lot, but they were literally everywhere we went. People speaking in English this way and that way in line at museums, looking at maps, trying to find books at museums in English. I have not heard so much English since I left the states! Signs on stores were in English too, and there were actually shops labeled "Souvenirs" all over the place. I saw two McDonalds. And I have to admit, at some point I thought to myself in a somewhat haughty way, "Why are all of these Americans here?" Of course I am one. But I love Siena so much because it is small and personal and so not Americanized or tourist influenced. Florence caters to tourists and has adapted itself for them. Siena lets tourists come and helps them but does not try to be anything other than itself.

I did love Florence, though, even if I am very happy that I decided to study in Siena. We stayed in a small hotel that took up one floor of an apartment building a few blocks from the Duomo. The owners did everything themselves, and spoke English but not as much as the other people around Florence, or at least they learned that we spoke Italian and then let us speak it with them. Four of my friends and I set out Saturday morning to go to the Uffizi, perhaps Florence's most famous art museum. At the height of tourist season, people will wait for hours to get in! We waited only one, and then we spent perhaps five hours in the museum moving slowly from one work the next until we had seen everything and couldn't stand to look closely anymore! I saw two of Botticelli's most famous paintings, the Birth of Venus and Spring. They were absolutely beautiful, and much larger than I realized! I could have sat and looked at them for hours. We saw many things too from the 13th and 14th century which we were able to put in context from our art and art history class. There were two paintings by Da Vinci which I found absolutely beautiful as well- his Adoration of the Magi, and several other paintings and artists. I may be able to post them.

We went out to dinner as a group for one of the other student's birthdays and had a very good time! The family sitting behind us was, of course, American, and I learned that they are from Atlantic Beach, very near Jacksonville, and have connections to my high school. That was quite a place to meet a family from my area! a small Trattoria on a back road in the middle of Firenze.

Today we walked and we walked and we walked, just like yesterday. We walked on sidewalks, because they actually do exist in Florence, unlike in Siena. And we went to the Academia museum and saw many beautiful sculptures from the early 19th century as well as the David. again, I could have sat and looked at it for hours, it was so beautiful.

And now, I am so tired that I have to stop writing. But I will post pictures from the trip very soon!

Off to Florence

I have been here seventeen days already. How? I don't know. It's flying by.

Headed to Florence today, and I am not taking my computer with me because I am only taking what I can fit in a backpack. But I will be back online on Sunday with pictures and stories from Florence!

Have a good weekend everyone! I guess when I get back though you will still have most of Sunday left to go since it will probably be about noon your time, and it's only 5:38 AM your time now. So have a good Friday and Saturday.