Buon giorno! It’s Amy in Florence, Italy again, so sorry I haven’t updated this in a while, I’ve been pretty busy! There is so much to tell so this is probably going to be a pretty long post, hopefully I don't forget to add anything!
Florence had a gelato festival May 25-29. I learned that the reason the festival takes place in Florence is because the origins of gelato can be traced back to Florence. The festival had a lot of unusual and interesting flavors like mandarine, ricotta, avocado, almond, pear, and apricot. And the night of the 25th I went to a gelato workshop put on by student services here and we made gelato ourselves. It was really good; we made strawberry with a hint of rosemary in it, and hazelnut gelato.
I’ve been to the town of Lucca twice since I last posted. I love Lucca. I recommend going. It is a small medieval town near Pisa, and is easy to get to by train from Florence. It’s a nice, less crowded and peaceful change from the crowds in Florence. Both times I’ve been it has started raining while I’m there, and I didn’t have an umbrella either time. When I was there the second time this past Thursday, which was Republic Day in Italy, they had a little parade celebrating. Also while there, I had some really amazing carbonara pasta for lunch.
I also went to Venice last Saturday and Sunday with a school tours field trip thing. It was a lot of fun, more so than the first time I went to Venice. I think I liked it more this time because we had a lot of free time to do whatever we wanted. We went inside St. Mark’s Cathedral, it was really beautiful. And then we went on a short tour of the city, and then had some free time till dinner. During our free time we road on a gondola, which was really nice and relaxing. I got some really great pictures from it too. That night we stayed in a super nice hotel outside of Venice. And then the next day we went to the island of Murano to see a glass blowing demonstration and to do some shopping.
Venice:
Back in Florence, I have discovered the Central Market. It’s a large open air market where you can buy fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dry pasta, a bunch of different cheeses, and every kind of meat you can think of. And I really do mean every kind; along with the normal stuff I’ve seen hearts, intestines, stomachs, brains, feet, and tongue. That stuff is not why I like the Central Market. I like the Market because it’s all fresh and local stuff. A couple mornings when I haven’t had class I’ve gone and got some fresh fruit to bring back for my breakfast and for a snack. I love the apricots. A lot of the cheese stands can vacuum pack things for you so that you can bring them home in your suitcase too. I plan on doing this. The Central Market also has some small restaurants along the side where you can sit and eat. I will probably use some of this paragraph in the paper I just remembered I had to write about the Central Market for my food class.
This weekend I’ve done several museums that I haven’t done in my art history class. Yesterday I got to the Uffizi at 9:30am and waited in line for two hours to get my ticket and go in. It’s faster if you reserve tickets, but for my class we got museum cards that get you free tickets into all the state run museums. I got mine through my class and my roommates ordered them through FUA but I think you can purchase them at the info desk in the Uffizi also. I was kind of disappointed in the Uffizi actually. It looks really big on the outside, but it didn’t seem to have much inside. I did see a few paintings I learned about in the art history class I took at the U of A though, which I thought was cool. And Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus really is beautiful. But in all, I probably saw less than 10 things there that I liked, which, to me, was disappointing.
Next, I went to the Santa Croce. The museum card didn’t cover this and the ticket was 5 euro’s but I definitely think it was worth it. I walk by the Santa Croce all the time because I live near it, and I’m glad I finally made time to go in. Inside the Santa Croce there are tombs and monuments to a bunch of famous and not so famous dead people. Most notably are the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. There is also a monument for Dante. Dante however, is not buried there, which a lot of other tourists who didn’t read ahead before going were confused about. There is also something on a wall that says “Leonardo da Vinci” and he’s not buried there either. I don’t know why his name is on the thing on the wall though.
Santa Croce:
Today I woke up extra early so that I could beat any possible lines to get into the Accademia (covered by museum card). The Accademia is where Michelangelo’s David is, along with my favorite sculptures, The Four Slaves, or Prisoners. I got there at 7:30am (the museum opens at 8:15) and was first in line. Anyway, while the David is beautiful, I like the prisoner/slaves more. The reason I like them, even though Michelangelo technically didn’t finish them, is because the figures literally look like they are trying to break out of the stone. Also, seeing these gives you an idea of how all the other sculptures were created. You can see the chisel marks and the un-carved stone right next to the carved parts, showing how they started out as a big chunk of marble and were slowly and carefully formed into a shape. I went back to look at them 3 times before I left that part of the museum.
Pictures of Postcards:
After the Accademia I went to the Archeology Museum. This also isn’t covered by the museum card and is 4 euro’s to get in. On the first floor, I was really bored and wondering why I paid 4 euro’s… it was very empty with some old pottery and stuff here and there and all the captions were in Italian. However, on the 2nd floor there is a surprisingly large collection of Egyptian artifacts. Including mummies. I’m not going to lie; I thought the mummy room was kind of scary. It was pretty dark and quiet and I was alone. It was a good museum overall, and a nice change from all the medieval and Renaissance art.
Not sure what I’m going to do for the rest of the day. I do need to write that paper though… Tomorrow I’m going to Siena. I’m really excited about it because all the pictures I’ve seen of it are really beautiful. And then Friday and Saturday I’m doing day trips to Verona and Ravenna. I’m also really excited about those. I also need to send some postcards and do some shopping.
Ciao!
-Amy
