All I have to say is that school was awful today. Language classes from 9-12, lunch from 12-12:45, university class from 1-3 (I fell asleep in that one), language class from 5-7. I am EXHAUSTED and angry that this is how we'll be spending every day. We told our teacher in the 5-7 slot that it's not going to work much longer since we are so over-tired at that point. I think they're going to try to change something.
Anyway, I won't be writing again until Sunday or Monday as I'm leaving for Oktoberfest tomorrow at midnight! We're sleeping on the 8 hour bus ride and then arriving in the morning and heading straight for the festivities! It's going to be a long, but fun weekend. I'm so excited!
Updates soon!
Ciao :)
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, September 28, 2009
First day as a student at the Universita degli Studi di Firenze
So, I got up really early today and put on my first day of school outfit. :) Andrea and I arrived a half hour early to our Museologia class and just stood around sticking out like sore thumbs until we were able to go in. The lecture hall felt like a dungeon. It was poorly lit, the windows were barred and covered by black curtains, and the walls were a dirty off-white. Not very conducive to learning in my opinion, but whatever. I'll keep an open mind.
Class started a little late, as is normal for Italians, but it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Of course, I only understood bits and pieces of what the professor was saying, but she spoke at a decent pace, so I wasn't completely lost- I knew she was talking about museology and museography! I thought we were doing a good job blending in as Italians until the professor asked, in Italian, "how many foreign students do we have today?" So, I had to raise my hand. Well, that gave it away. It was nice while it lasted.
I proceeded to take notes on what I understood and of course, 15 minutes in, my pen ran out. I decided that it was probably better to just listen anyway, considering the fact that I have tutors to go over the material with. She decided to end the class at 10 instead of 11, and handed out some papers. Apparently, there was a pile of papers for foreigners and a pile for Italians, but I couldn't tell the differences between them because nothing was labelled. So, I took two different pieces of paper, but some other ones were already gone. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Dobby asked us to go back and clarify with the professor the things we should have taken.
After class, we took our exam at CLIDA to see if we passed the level. It was a nightmare. After the 1.5 hours it took me to finish, my head was spinning. I certainly wasn't alone though. We spoke with the secretary when we were leaving (she is Italian), and she told us that the only way a person can do really well on that exam is by being able to speak fluidly and understand cultural phrases, etc. So, that's proof that we are nowhere close to understanding everything, but it also shows that they have some sympathy for us.
We got some lunch and gelato, and then I ran a few errands. I booked the Trenitalia train for Rome (for Paul's visit) so that's all squared away. Now, I'm just sitting here in CLIDA waiting for 5:15 to roll around. This break is too ridiculously long. 5 hours?! I only wished we lived a little closer so it wasn't so inconvenient to run home for a nap or something. I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll see a museum to kill time.
I don't anticipate much happening later today. After class, we're going home for dinner. I am most definitely staying in for the night. I need sleep before Oktoberfest!
Ciao!
Class started a little late, as is normal for Italians, but it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Of course, I only understood bits and pieces of what the professor was saying, but she spoke at a decent pace, so I wasn't completely lost- I knew she was talking about museology and museography! I thought we were doing a good job blending in as Italians until the professor asked, in Italian, "how many foreign students do we have today?" So, I had to raise my hand. Well, that gave it away. It was nice while it lasted.
I proceeded to take notes on what I understood and of course, 15 minutes in, my pen ran out. I decided that it was probably better to just listen anyway, considering the fact that I have tutors to go over the material with. She decided to end the class at 10 instead of 11, and handed out some papers. Apparently, there was a pile of papers for foreigners and a pile for Italians, but I couldn't tell the differences between them because nothing was labelled. So, I took two different pieces of paper, but some other ones were already gone. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Dobby asked us to go back and clarify with the professor the things we should have taken.
After class, we took our exam at CLIDA to see if we passed the level. It was a nightmare. After the 1.5 hours it took me to finish, my head was spinning. I certainly wasn't alone though. We spoke with the secretary when we were leaving (she is Italian), and she told us that the only way a person can do really well on that exam is by being able to speak fluidly and understand cultural phrases, etc. So, that's proof that we are nowhere close to understanding everything, but it also shows that they have some sympathy for us.
We got some lunch and gelato, and then I ran a few errands. I booked the Trenitalia train for Rome (for Paul's visit) so that's all squared away. Now, I'm just sitting here in CLIDA waiting for 5:15 to roll around. This break is too ridiculously long. 5 hours?! I only wished we lived a little closer so it wasn't so inconvenient to run home for a nap or something. I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll see a museum to kill time.
I don't anticipate much happening later today. After class, we're going home for dinner. I am most definitely staying in for the night. I need sleep before Oktoberfest!
Ciao!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
La festa dell'uva
Today, Andrea and I woke up around 11 and took the bus into the center to try to catch the 12:30 shuttle to Impruneta. Of course, we couldn't find it and missed it, but there was another one coming at 2:40. To kill time, we toured inside the church of Santa Maria Novella which was beautiful and absolutely enormous! After that, we found the famous Santa Maria Novella farmacia. It was awesome! Not like any of the other farmacie. We walked through a long, marble, dimly lit hallway lined with statues and arrived in the first room. That room sold chemicals to mix for perfumes and types of elixirs. It smelled amazing. The second room sold natural herbs. The third room sold potpourri and looked out to the private piazza of the monastery to which the farmacia is attached. The whole place had beautiful frescoed ceilings and dim, old-fashioned lighting. Of course everything was ridiculously expensive. We even saw some soap dishes and pill boxes that we watched the metal smith make a few weeks ago on our artisan tour. He had told us how he sells to Santa Maria Novella farmacia. Of course, they were marked so much higher than it costs him to make them. 70 euro! Ridiculous.
Once 2:40 rolled around, we made it back to the bus and hopped on. I of course passed out the second I sat down and, within a half hour, we arrived at Impruneta for La Festa dell'uva. This festival was the 83rd annual, where Italians honor the importance of the grape to their wine culture. There was a ton of food and so many meats and cheeses that I had never seen before. There was also an awesome parade that lasted about 2 hours. I had never seen such intricate floats or costumes. The large floats had grapes hanging from them and also arranged as images of grape vines, stars, etc. One of the coolests floats was 2 stories. On the top deck was a woman wearing this crazy blue dress and headpiece. She was surrounded by grapes. The bottom deck had a bunch of men dressed as Italian farmers. They were clearly having a blast because there was a little table set up with a grill next to it. On the table, they had cheeses, breads and dried meats. One man stood by the grill and smoked raw meats, etc. There was also a garden hose with an unlimited supply of red wine that they pumped into water bottles of people in the crowd. I was a little far, so I couldn't get any. So yea, they were getting drunk and eating great food while moving along in the parade. There were lots of other floats, but that was definitely the most memorable. I have lots of pictures to come.
Being at that festival was such an amazing experience for me. While I was watching, I had one of those cultural rushes of euphoria. I felt immersed and so privileged to be able to see such a unique parade that was so important to the lifestyle and culture of the Tuscan region. The music and dancing was great, and even though we were able to spend only 2.5 hours there, we had a great time.
Now, I'm back at home waiting for Maria Pia to finish making pizza. I have a lot to study tonight because we have our level test tomorrow to find out if we pass to the next level or not. We also start university! AhhHh! I'm so intimidated. Good thing a lot of us are in the same class.
Ok, off to study!
Buona notte!
Once 2:40 rolled around, we made it back to the bus and hopped on. I of course passed out the second I sat down and, within a half hour, we arrived at Impruneta for La Festa dell'uva. This festival was the 83rd annual, where Italians honor the importance of the grape to their wine culture. There was a ton of food and so many meats and cheeses that I had never seen before. There was also an awesome parade that lasted about 2 hours. I had never seen such intricate floats or costumes. The large floats had grapes hanging from them and also arranged as images of grape vines, stars, etc. One of the coolests floats was 2 stories. On the top deck was a woman wearing this crazy blue dress and headpiece. She was surrounded by grapes. The bottom deck had a bunch of men dressed as Italian farmers. They were clearly having a blast because there was a little table set up with a grill next to it. On the table, they had cheeses, breads and dried meats. One man stood by the grill and smoked raw meats, etc. There was also a garden hose with an unlimited supply of red wine that they pumped into water bottles of people in the crowd. I was a little far, so I couldn't get any. So yea, they were getting drunk and eating great food while moving along in the parade. There were lots of other floats, but that was definitely the most memorable. I have lots of pictures to come.
Being at that festival was such an amazing experience for me. While I was watching, I had one of those cultural rushes of euphoria. I felt immersed and so privileged to be able to see such a unique parade that was so important to the lifestyle and culture of the Tuscan region. The music and dancing was great, and even though we were able to spend only 2.5 hours there, we had a great time.
Now, I'm back at home waiting for Maria Pia to finish making pizza. I have a lot to study tonight because we have our level test tomorrow to find out if we pass to the next level or not. We also start university! AhhHh! I'm so intimidated. Good thing a lot of us are in the same class.
Ok, off to study!
Buona notte!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Shopping!
Ciao a tutti!
Today we had a leisurely stroll through downtown and I finally settled on a good pair of black, leather boots. It took me a while to find some that I was willing to pay good money for, but these are just perfect, and beautiful leather! So, now I have my first (and most likely last) Italian leather item from Florence!
We walked around some more, got some gelato and then headed home. Tonight, we're probably going out dancing so Andrea and I are resting up! I'm pretty excited! We were hoping to participate in a breast cancer walk tomorrow, but they are full (I didn't think that kind of thing happened with charity events). So, I'm not really sure where tomorrow will take us. I'd like to explore something new. We'll see what happens. I'm going to squeeze in a nap before dinner.
Ciao!
Today we had a leisurely stroll through downtown and I finally settled on a good pair of black, leather boots. It took me a while to find some that I was willing to pay good money for, but these are just perfect, and beautiful leather! So, now I have my first (and most likely last) Italian leather item from Florence!
We walked around some more, got some gelato and then headed home. Tonight, we're probably going out dancing so Andrea and I are resting up! I'm pretty excited! We were hoping to participate in a breast cancer walk tomorrow, but they are full (I didn't think that kind of thing happened with charity events). So, I'm not really sure where tomorrow will take us. I'd like to explore something new. We'll see what happens. I'm going to squeeze in a nap before dinner.
Ciao!
Le fotografie
These pictures are from last weekend's outings. It just takes a while to get them all up on the internet!
Inside il duomo di Prato
Sacred altar inside the duomo
View from the Piazzale Michaelangelo
Friday, September 25, 2009
L'universita, l'aperitivo e le canzoni
Ciao! Yesterday morning was absolutely BRUTAL in our grammar class. Because we have our exam to pass/fail the level on Monday, Maria was hammering "grammatica" into our heads for 4 hours straight. I was ready to punch someone after that session.
After our tour, we headed back for our 4 o'clock class. We enjoyed this one because we had a chance to vent (in Italian, of course) to our teacher about our grueling morning.
Around 6:30, we met with Elia (our 22 year old cultural advisor) in the Piazza della Reppublica. He brought along 2 Italian friends, Luca and Chiara. They too, are just as awesome as Elia is. We all went for aperitivo which was amazing! I had never done something like this before, so I had to learn the process. Basically, you enter during a certain time frame and order any alcoholic beverage (usually wine or a cocktail). Then, you help yourself to the buffet of aperitivi--- for free! This place had pasta with meat sauce, risotto, rice salads, potatoes, cheese souffles, bread, grilled veggies, veal, pork, fruit, and a bunch of other amazing foods. It was all you can eat, but I could barely finish what I had chosen! Everything was very rich. Our group spent about 2 hours talking and then once we left, we met up with Elia, Luca and Chiara's other Italian friends. One girl, Margherita, was absolutely adorable! Once she found out that we were American, she got sooooo excited and started jumping up and down and telling us about how badly she wants to learn English and visit the States. It was really nice to hear what she had to say. Once everyone arrived and gathered together (there were about 20 Italians and 5 of us Americans), we all headed for gelato at the BEST PLACE EVER!!!! Grom. We had been there many times already, but it never gets old.
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that all of these foods and drinks were paid for by Holy Cross. :) So, after gelato, we went to a piazza and all sat down. The Italians handed out little packets to everyone there and just randomly started singing along to the songs that were pre-selected in this packet! A boy played the guitar, and a girl played the flute. A lot of tourists came up and took videos and pictures. It was such a crazy, awesome experience for us because it was just so spontaneous! A bunch of Italian friends just decide to sing in a piazza! What?! They were so welcoming to us and sang a hilarious song in honor of our presence. It kind of made fun of Americans, but we loved it! It was very accurate, after all.
After about an hour of that, we decided to call it a night. It was about 11:30 and we hadn't been home since 8:00 that morning. I am so happy with how the night turned out. We still felt like Americans, but blended in much better. On the way back, we joked about how each of our families has, thus far, paid $150,000 to Holy Cross so that we could have just a few Italian friends. Way to go HC for paying Elia and his friends to hang out with us! Even though this is true, I think they actually like us.. thank goodness.
Anyway, I'm on break right now in between classes and after class at 4, it will finally officially be the weekend! Yay! We're not sure what we are doing yet, but we know that we want to go out tonight. Potentially some shopping and/or musems tomorrow. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.
Ciao ciao!
During our lunch break, Elisa's assistant (who we call Dobby *from Harry Potter*--- she really looks like him!), took us for a little tour of the Universita degli Studi di Firenze. Classes start Monday, so we all wanted to know where we were going. Walking into the first building was quite a shocker for us "spoiled Americans." Graffiti covered the buildings inside and out, there was trash all over the ground and even a homeless man sleeping along the wall. I tried my best to be optimistic and open-minded about the surroundings, but they were certainly different then what we are all used to. I guess the sight suprised us as much as it did because even the public, city universities in the states look better than this. Thankfully, the library was beautiful. It's in a convent, so I would have been appalled if that too was a disaster. Anyway, school is school and I'm going to be just as confused with the language regardless of the appearance of my surroundings!
After our tour, we headed back for our 4 o'clock class. We enjoyed this one because we had a chance to vent (in Italian, of course) to our teacher about our grueling morning.
Around 6:30, we met with Elia (our 22 year old cultural advisor) in the Piazza della Reppublica. He brought along 2 Italian friends, Luca and Chiara. They too, are just as awesome as Elia is. We all went for aperitivo which was amazing! I had never done something like this before, so I had to learn the process. Basically, you enter during a certain time frame and order any alcoholic beverage (usually wine or a cocktail). Then, you help yourself to the buffet of aperitivi--- for free! This place had pasta with meat sauce, risotto, rice salads, potatoes, cheese souffles, bread, grilled veggies, veal, pork, fruit, and a bunch of other amazing foods. It was all you can eat, but I could barely finish what I had chosen! Everything was very rich. Our group spent about 2 hours talking and then once we left, we met up with Elia, Luca and Chiara's other Italian friends. One girl, Margherita, was absolutely adorable! Once she found out that we were American, she got sooooo excited and started jumping up and down and telling us about how badly she wants to learn English and visit the States. It was really nice to hear what she had to say. Once everyone arrived and gathered together (there were about 20 Italians and 5 of us Americans), we all headed for gelato at the BEST PLACE EVER!!!! Grom. We had been there many times already, but it never gets old.
Oh yea, I forgot to mention that all of these foods and drinks were paid for by Holy Cross. :) So, after gelato, we went to a piazza and all sat down. The Italians handed out little packets to everyone there and just randomly started singing along to the songs that were pre-selected in this packet! A boy played the guitar, and a girl played the flute. A lot of tourists came up and took videos and pictures. It was such a crazy, awesome experience for us because it was just so spontaneous! A bunch of Italian friends just decide to sing in a piazza! What?! They were so welcoming to us and sang a hilarious song in honor of our presence. It kind of made fun of Americans, but we loved it! It was very accurate, after all.
After about an hour of that, we decided to call it a night. It was about 11:30 and we hadn't been home since 8:00 that morning. I am so happy with how the night turned out. We still felt like Americans, but blended in much better. On the way back, we joked about how each of our families has, thus far, paid $150,000 to Holy Cross so that we could have just a few Italian friends. Way to go HC for paying Elia and his friends to hang out with us! Even though this is true, I think they actually like us.. thank goodness.
Anyway, I'm on break right now in between classes and after class at 4, it will finally officially be the weekend! Yay! We're not sure what we are doing yet, but we know that we want to go out tonight. Potentially some shopping and/or musems tomorrow. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.
Ciao ciao!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
small update
Yesterday, I found a 5 euro bill in the street... that was cool! It must have been a good sign because today, I'm feeling better. My nose and head are clear, but I still have a pretty bad cough. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow or something.
Today in class, we watched Diavolo veste Prada (The Devil Wears Prada). It was sooo funny to see it in another language, but cool because I understood most of it since I have seen the English version about 100 times.
I was thinking about not going out tonight, but I changed my mind because 2 girls, Erica and Hadley, are visiting Florence from Spain. They go to Holy Cross as well. So, I think all 10 of us are going to go to a pub or something. I'm definitely going to plan on getting back early though. It will be nice to get out. I've been getting a little bored all cooped up in here.
Tomorrow, after our 4 hour morning class, we have a short lunch and then a tour of our University classes so that we don't freak out on the first day (Monday). After the tour, we have aperitivo with Elia. I'm definitely looking forward to that! I've never done aperitivo before!
Anyway, that's about it over here. Maybe I'll write more tomorrow if I find something worth writing about!
Buona sera!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Artisans!
Today was a normal day in the morning, but I wasn't feeling too well, so it made things worse. I have a bit of a cold... hopefully it will pass soon.
Anyway, in the afternoon, we saw three more artisans' workshops with our advisor, Elisa. The first place was the workshop of an etcher. He showed us how he etched onto copper plates, covered them in ink, and then printed his masterpieces onto paper. It was soooo cool! He explained that each etching takes about a month to complete. So after that, I really appreciated and understood the prices of art. It makes more sense now.
After the etcher, we saw the workshop of a very famous costume jewelry designer. Her name is Angela Caputi. Her designs were a little too gaudy for me and incredibly expensive. But they were still fun to look at. 60% of her sales occur in the US. We unfortunately didn't get to meet her because she had travelled to New York to show her 2010 summer collection to buyers (fashion is so far ahead!!!).
After the jewelry artisan, we saw the workshop of a leather shoe maker. That was pretty awesome too! He explained what makes a good, handmade leather shoe versus a factory-made leather shoe. He showed us how he stitched his shoes together and things like that. I could tell that he was passionate about his work because he kept talking and talking when we were trying to leave. Really funny guy.
Anyway, I'm taking it easy tonight and trying to get to bed early. We have a test tomorrow and I also want to be better by Thursday when we have aperitivo with Elia, our cultural advisor.
A domani!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Old blog
Just in case anyone wants to access my old posts and photos... my old blog's address is:
http://elsadiruggiero.blogspot.com
It still exists, I just can't add anything to it, so enjoy both!
Starting over...
So, I was very disappointed to discover that I can no longer access my previous blog. Everyone, myself included, can still see it, but I just can't edit it. Therefore, i started a new one that looks about the same, it's just missing my previous entries... Now, I'm going to post something that i wrote yesterday, hoping to have my blog fixed by then. So, it's a little off with the timing, but it was a long and important entry:
Ciao!!! I haven’t written in a few days because there hasn’t been much to say. I’ve just been doing the school thing. Last night, we went out for a few drinks and ended up meeting up with our foreign language assistant from Holy Cross! His name is Daniele, and he studied at Holy Cross this past year while teaching our practicum language classes. It was cool to be hanging around with an Italian- then other Italians think I’m Italian! We decided to call it an early night, but still had a hard time waking up this morning to go to Prato. But, we made it!
We met Elisa (our advisor) at the train station at 8:50 am and went to Prato, a small city in the Tuscan region. It’s famous for its textiles, so we went to a museum dedicated to that industry specifically. It was actually insanely boring because the tour was conducted completely in Italian and I was so exhausted that I couldn’t get the energy to understand, so for a while, I just stood there. After the textile museum, we went to the Duomo di Prato. It was one of the most magnificent churches that I have seen so far! The frescoes were unbelievable! We were also lucky enough to see the back areas of the church, where other tourists are not allowed to go. We walked through the back walls and climbed some stairs that overlooked the whole church below. We also went up another flight of very narrow and steep stairs to the clock tower. It was a really cool experience.
After seeing the church, we went to the underground area where Cardinals are buried. There were a lot of cool rooms and passageways to explore. After this tour, we were absolutely starving. So, even though we had the option to hang around Prato, we decided to head back to Florence to eat.
We met my cousin, Benedetta (and her friend) for lunch at this awesome pizza place. I wasn’t interested in getting pizza because Maria Pia is planning to make it tonight. So, I ordered what said “focaccia, formaggio e insalata”. I thought it was a simple assortment of foods. Instead, it was a pizza. It was still delicious, of course, but humorous because it was clear evidence that I still have a lot of things to get used to. Oops!
After lunch, we did a little shopping and I bought a fall coat, since I don’t have one. I was hesitant because I hate buying things, but I guess I do need to keep warm. Haha. Anyway, we decided to head back to the house early because Andrea and I both need a nap. We’re looking forward to going out tonight. There’s a new discoteca opening called SPACE that I think we’re going to go to. I’ll update again soon. A presto!
Ok, so that was yesterday's. Today, Andrea, Maggie, Kevin and myself walked to the top of Piazzale Michaelangelo to get a view of the city. It was so high up and everything was beautiful! We grabbed some lunch at the supermercato because no restaurants were open. Then, it started to rain, so we all went our separate ways. I've come down with a bit of a cold since I stayed out too late last night. We went to a discoteca called SPACE. It was a huge place, lots of fun, and really crowded and smelly. I got in around 4am. Ugh.
So, that's it for tonight. From now on, I'll be updating this blog, the other one will RIP.
Buona notte!
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