(I would post Buonanotte, but for you guys it should be Buonasera-- this time thing still has me off balance..)
Since I've finally had a minute to sit down and get on the computer, I am so thrilled to tell you about our time in Florence. We arrived Friday afternoon, grabbed a bite to eat, shopped, and did a little exploring of the city. Compared to Roma, it is possible to walk absolutely everywhere in Firenze from point A to point B-- I LOVED IT! We didn't do too much when we arrived, because our main point of the trip was for our High Renaissance Art Class. Both Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to seeing paintings, churches, sculptures, and such (this weekend was called High Ren Boot Camp and it definitely was!!!). I will try and tell you the places we visited along with some of the pictures; however, some of the places pictures were not allowed, so just bare with me!!!
Just another fun fact: Our professor is Liz Lev. She is absolutely fantastic! She has written art history books, which are actually displayed at stores around Italy. Before class started, I was told she walks incredibly fast and always has high heels on-- YES it was all true! Thankfully I managed to stay in the front of the pack; let's just say I definitely got my workout for the weekend!
SATURDAY/SUNDAY:
We started the day out going to the Duomo and Baptistry, the largest church in the world! The Duomo started the Renaissance period and the idea of perspective painting.
The Duomo
The Baptistry
Inside the Duomo
After seeing all of these things, we continued our journey to visit the Bargello Museum and Santa Maria Novella. Here we did extensive learning on the infamous David (the young boy who defeated Goliath) as well as looked at some of the sculptures. Since it was out first weekend learning about any art, we took a lot of time analyzing the artwork considering all of the aspects. I know this might sound boring to some of you, but seriously it is so amazing! I had no idea that I would have this much passion for anything art, but once you are able to see the beauty it is the best thing ever!
We also visited a lot of different churches and saw works from Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Giotto, Masolino, and Masaccio. It was so cool! Some of the first works of art were present, including Giotto's Jesus dead on his cross. We also so the real, original DAVID.. WOW! It was just so breathtaking! I wish I was able to capture these pictures, but the last thing I needed was to be put in jail or fined for a picture..
We finished the week off with an absolutely fantastic group dinner and mass in the Duomo. It was awesome!
COMIC RELIEF TIME!
So, our last attraction of Sunday concluded on the outskirts of town (let's just say it was a 20 minute Liz Lev walk to the train station- not including our hostel). Our train was to depart at 5:12 and we finished class at 4:30. My instant reaction was to almost immediately cry, but the rest of my group was so determined to make it back to the hostel to pick up our bags and then make it on the train. We ran though the entire city- NO JOKE! It was not only incredibly embarrassing, but so tiring, too. Needless to say, everybody was looking at us like we had about 10 heads and a purple body, but WE MADE THE TRAIN (and with 5 minutes to spare!) It was truly a miracle!! I felt like I was on The Amazing Race.. and if that's what it is like, I'm not so sure if I could ever participate! The train ride was fantastic as always and we made it home safe and sound!
As you all can tell, I had a great time in Firenze. I hope to get back there again soon, but with all of my planned traveling, who knows what will happen. That's all I got for now--
Ciao Ciao!!
Ky xx
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