Duomo day!

So, today started off rather interestingly. We had class at 9 and the teacher stopped it early again, so we were pretty psyched. We walked around the Mercato Centrale for a little while and Maggie bought a really nice leather bag. On our walk, we decided to run to the bathroom (because I had to go) in CLIDA and then tour the inside of the Duomo and the cupola.

We were halfway up the stairs when we ran into one of the instructors who said "aren't you all supposed to be in class?" Of course, the girls blamed it all on me, since I always have to go to the bathroom. I felt really badly. So, after I went to the bathroom, we headed to class instead of the Duomo. I was fuming for about the first 30 minutes, then I sucked it up. Turns out we are supposed to be going to language classes, which run from 9-1 every weekday, whenever we don't have university class. We also have a lesson from 5:15 to 6:45. We were all pretty upset considering the fact that it means about 6-8 hour days for us. Once our Independent Cultural Immersion Projects and tutors begin, there's no way that we are going to be able to do everything. I don't think they get it. It's ridiculous! I shouldn't get into it or I'll go on forever...

Anyway, class was over at 1, so we got some lunch and then decided to still take care of our original plan. We first viewed the inside of the Duomo, which was enormous, but strangely simple and empty! It was still very cool though. The tiling was so intricate and the designs on the walls and of the sculptures and statues were beautiful! After the inside, we paid the 8 euro to climb to the top of the dome. If memory serves me correctly, that was 453 or 456 stairs. The trek up was very steep and windy. I saw a lot of old people taking breathers along the way. Before making it to the top, the stairs brought us to the inside of the dome, right alongside the frescoes. They were so intricate and cool. The scenes of Hell were VERY graphic. The entire climb itself took about 20 minutes and it certainly built up some anticipation. We reached the top and discovered that the view was most certainly worth the 8 euro we had paid. We took lots of pictures, found the Maggies' houses, our schools, etc. We spent about 15 minutes up there and then headed back down. I'm so glad that we were able to do that! What a wonderful experience.

After that, we walked around for a little, and then had class at 5:15. It was fine. We had some new students in our class, one of whom was only in his second day of Italian. So, it was a little frustrating for us to learn colors all over again. I think our instructor knew there were issues, so she's probably going to separate us from the newbies.

After class, I met with Michelle (a girl I went to Salve with). She is still studying there, but is spending this semester in Florence. We had dinner together at a trattoria called ZaZa. It was sooooo nice to catch up with her. We spent about 2 hours talking. I can't wait to do it again! I really missed her.

Anyway, I left my computer on all day so that I could download One Tree Hill while in class. So, that means it's time to watch it!

Until tomorrow.. or Thursday!

Ciao!