Fun in Florence & San Gimignano

The weekend started off with a bang with my friend Anne coming to visit from Rome! We spent friday in Florence shopping, walking around Ponte Vecchio, seeing The David in l'academia, etc. I headed back to the villa for dinner, and then my roommate Caroline and I decided to head back to Florence to meet up with Anne and her roommate. For some reason public transportation was a major struggle! As we were leaving the villa we ran into a couple of kids from the program. As we were stopped to talk to them, we saw a bus come around the corner... oops. We continued walking only to see another bus drive around the corner. We ran to catch it, but since there was no one at the stop, it didn't stop, and we again missed this bus. The next bus wasn't scheduled to come for about 20 minutes, so we sat at the bus stop waiting. As the next bus pulls around the corner, it flashes its lights at us, and then passed right by without stopping. Apparently you are supposed to wave the buses down, or they don't stop. Who knew?

On Saturday, a group of us took a day trip to a beautiful Tuscan town called San Gimignano. San Gimignano is known for its medieval architecture, and a white wine called Vernaccia. The town is often referred to as the Manhattan of Italy because of all the large towers that can be seen miles out of the city. We first got some lunch at a little cafe, and then did some exploring. There was a cool little trail/path along the outskirts of the town we walked through with fantastic views of the surrounding landscape. We then went into a museum housed in the tallest tower in the city. There were a few rooms of painting and frescos that we took a look at, and then we climbed to the top of the tower. The view of the city was strikingly beautiful! I'm not exactly sure how long we spent up there, but we literally had to talk each other back down because no one wanted to leave. Lots of the little shops had free wine tasting, so once we made it back to ground level, we decided to take advantage of that. The woman in the store gave us a variety of different wines to taste, and also some olive oil made in the region. It was delicious!

I took so many pictures on this trip, so I'll share with you some of my favorites!

L'Opera: L'italiana in Algeri

On Tuesday night, we went to an Italian Opera called L'Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers). Although I don't speak Italian, and had very little idea of what was going on, I really enjoyed the experience. The music, clothes, and scenery were all fantastic. The band geek in me loved the orchestra!

Here are some pictures of us before the opera:

My roomies

Some of the girls at the Opera House

Trip to Pisa & Lucca

On Saturday a group of us decided to take a day trip to two cities, Pisa and Lucca. Both cities are part of the Tuscany region, and only about an hour train ride away from Florence. Pisa is a fairly small town, and as I'm sure you know, is famous for its leaning tower. Besides the tower there is not a ton more to do in the city so we went to see the tower, take our obligatory touristy photo pretending to hold it up, grabbed some lunch and headed for Lucca.

Before the unification of Italy, many cities built walls to completely surround their city. Today, many cities have a part of the wall still standing, but are no longer entirely enclosed. Lucca is one of the only cities in Tuscany who's wall is completely intact. It was built to protect the city against its enemy, Florence, but today tourists and natives alike, walk and bike on top of the wall. Along the outskirts of the wall are beautiful buildings, trees, and mountains lining the background. While in Lucca, I got the chance to walk along the wall, and also explore the inside of the city.

Sitting on the wall

Moons of Jupiter

Around 6:45 last night, while I was quietly doing some reading before dinner, Professor Shank came running into the library to announce, "I've got the telescope out and there's a clear view of Jupiter and four of its moons. You've gotta come see this!" So along with about eight other students, I grabbed my coat and headed out to the garden with the professor. With the naked eye there was a clear view of Jupiter just below the bright moon. He first adjusted the telescope to get a glimpse of the moon, and the magnification was enough so that you could see craters. Then we took a look at Jupiter and you could see four tiny dots surrounding it. 400 years ago this month Galileo observed exactly what we did, from the same city, with a telescope of the same magnification, and was the very first to do so! How cool!?

Siena & Wine Tasting

Buon Giorno! Friday was AMAZING day! We had our first program scheduled trip which consisted of spending the day in Siena and wine tasting at a Tuscan vineyard. Siena, a smaller town in the Tuscany region of Italy, is about an hour and a half away from Sesto by bus. We left the Villa at 8am and made it to Siena by 9:30. First, we saw two different Cathedrals and the museum. Again, this trip was guided by my art history professor, Professor Mariotti, so we of course learned a lot about Siena. The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the view of the city from the top of the museum. It was beautiful, and there was a great view of the tuscan hills surrounding the city.

On the way back we stopped at a vineyard for wine and olive oil tasting. We toured the vineyard, and saw all the machines and equipment used. Then we sat down to taste three different types of wine and two types of olive oil. I thought a lot about my parents on this trip. Mom, Dad, you would have loved seeing this vineyard! Maybe we can take a trip back together?

Olive Oil Barrels

The Villa Corsi Salviati

As promised, here are some pictures of the Villa where I am living. As you'll see, the gardens are amazing. I cannot wait to see them in full bloom this spring!

These next couple pictures are from my favorite room in the villa. The fresco's are so intricate, and when you look at the ceiling it looks more like a carving than it does a painting.

Classes at the Villa

Classes began this week and I am really excited about my schedule. I am taking an Italian language class, an Art History class about Florence & the Renaissance, Galileo Galilei: Life and Times, and Comparative European Fascist Cultures: Germany and Italy. As I've mentioned before the art history class meets both in Florence to go to the museums, churches, and other monuments, as well as at the villa for a discussion. All of the rest of my classes are at the villa, however, we do have some other excursions planned. This year is a huge for Galileo; it is the 400th anniversary of his discovery of the moons of Jupiter. There's an exhibit in the Museum of Science that we will get to explore. We also have a day trip scheduled for Pisa, Galileo's birth place.

The one of the coolest things about the classes at the villa is our interaction with the professors. First off, the maximum class size is 20 students, and many of my class are closer to about 15 students (something I've never experienced). Secondly, most of the professors also live in the villa. That means we eat our meals together, and get more time to interact with them. It's been an awesome experience so far, and I'm excited to be able to get to know them better. All of my professor are extremely passionate about their field of study, which should make for really engaging classes!

First Trip Into The City

On Sunday, the Villa scheduled a trip for us into the city. My roommates and I woke up around 8:30 to get to breakfast by 9, and then we all boarded a charter bus at 10 to head for Florence. The Art History teacher, Professor Mariotti, led us on a two hour walking tour. We saw everything from Brunelleschi's Basilica di Santa Maria, known for its dome, to the outer walls of Florence, to the Arno River. Professor Mariotti is probably the most knowledgeable person I have ever met. Listening to her talk about the city was such a treat, and it made me really excited to be taking her class this semester. The art history class meets twice a week: one discussion at the villa, and once in Florence to see the museums, churches, and other landmarks.

Once the guided tour was over we were given the rest of the day to explore the city on our own. Me and four other girls decided to have lunch at this little cafe that looked out at the Duomo, and then walk around to see the shops and more of the town. Around 5 oclock we headed towards the bus station to catch the bus back to the villa. Public transportation here is great. There are two buses from the city to Sesto, that drop off within a block of the villa. There is also a train that has a stop right near the villa.

Here are some more pictures from my trip into the city:

View of the city

San Miniato al Monte (church that sits on the higher point of Florence)

The Arno

The Duomo

Arriving In Firenze!

After almost 22 hours of traveling, we finally made it! I was thankful enough to be traveling with 11 other UofM students from my program. Our flight was scheduled to leave DTW at 7pm on January 7th. Around 7:15 they began to board to plane, only to be kicked off due to "technical difficulties." The pilot informed us that it would take at least two hours to unload and reload our luggage onto a new plane. We boarded the next airplane around 9:40 and took off around 11:30. Because of the delay we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt at 11:30, and had to wait for another that left at 4:30. We finally made it to Florence at 6pm, grabbed our luggage and headed out on the search for a taxi. Two of the other students I was with can speak Italian, so they took the lead when talking with the cab drivers. When we arrived, dinner was waiting for us. We had pasta al dente, salad, cheese, and fresh clementines (which are in season here and are delicious!). The remainder of the night was spent unpacking, and trying to get some sleep.

While the large city I am staying in is Florence (or Firenze in Italian), I am technically in a town called Sesto Fiorentino, which is basically a smaller town six miles outside the city . There are about 40 students from both UofM and the University of Wisconsin, and we are staying in the Villa Corsi-Salviati. The Villa is beautiful and I will put up pictures soon for you to see. There are many gardens on the ground and they are considered to be one of the most treasured Renaissance style gardens in Italy.

I am living in a triple room, with two other girls, Caroline and Savannah, who also go to UofM with me. Our room is right off of the Villa library. Here are some pictures:

The library right outside our room

The door to our's & our neighbors rooms

Our closet area

The bedroom

My Bed

The Bathroom

Saturday was spent in orientation meetings. We learned more about the classes we will be taking, met the professors and Villa staff, and received more information about Florence and Sesto. We also took a walking tour around Sesto and a tour of the Corsi-Salviati family's private quarters in the Villa. The Count, until recently, actually spent much of his time here, but he passed away before this Christmas. Here are some pictures of this part of the villa:

The ceiling in one of the rooms

Tomorrow we take a tour of downtown Florence, and then classes start on monday, but that's all for now. Arrivederci!