Weekend in Florence!

This weekend, a bunch of friends and I took the 1-hour bus ride to Florence. Despite freezing temperatures and a ton of rain, we made the most of it and had a great time. Florence is a lot like Siena, only much bigger. Still, everything remained within walking-distance.

We got the 8:10 bus to Florence on Saturday morning. Everyone reading this should be really impressed by my ability to actually make it to the bus stop this early in the morning. The bus dropped us off pretty much AT the Duomo ... Definitely the most amazing church I have ever seen (thus far). I still cannot get over the massive size of this place.

(that's my friend, Molly, right in front of the Duomo)

Right across from the cathedral are the Gates of Paradise, a name coined by Michaelangelo. These doors are the doors to the Baptistry and are absolutely incredible. I know I use that term a lot in the scope of this blog, but seriously, this was probably my favorite thing to see in Florence. The story that my art-history-major friend told us about the doors made them even more fascinating (sources have been fact-checked and she was 100% right):

Originally, the chance to complete the doors was determined by a contest between all of the famous sculptors of the time. Ultimately, two sculptors, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, won and they were supposed to make the doors as a team. However, Brunelleschi was so insulted by this proposition that he moved to Rome for years with the goal of studying architecture so that he might become a better artist than Ghiberti, leaving Ghiberti to complete the doors solo. When Brunelleschi finally returned to Florence in the 1460s, he got revenge on Ghiberti by going ahead and completing the entire dome of the cathedral all by himself, an intentional slap-in-the-face to his rival.

Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise" from the early 1400's. It took him over 20 years to complete. Each panel depicts a different story from the Bible.

Afterwards, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. We could've wandered around for hours, but we narrowed it down to some of the most famous works, like Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus." The museum is massive, though, and pretty much every single piece of art was Jesus-centric (shocker).

Then, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and the weather finally began to clear up. The shops on the Ponte Vecchio are all really expensive and beautiful jewelry stores so we had fun looking at the amazing pieces of jewelry.

The Ponte Vecchio

One of my friend's mothers had visited Florence 20 years ago and specifically remembered one restaurant called Ristorante Mamma Gina's and said it was her favorite restaurant in the world. It's right off the Ponte Vecchio and that's where we ate for lunch. It definitely lived up to the hype and everyone who is reading this NEEDS to go to this place. The website is: http://www.mammagina.it/ and it was actually one of the best meals I have ever had. Get the Panzerotti pasta dish!

We walked around the high fashion district in an attempt to walk off our huge meal, but of course we got sidetracked by the gelato. The gelato in Florence is allegedly the best gelato in the world, but I really could not tell the difference...all of the gelato that I've had in Italy has been superb!

Later on, we went to a friend of a friend's apartment and got ready to go out. We went to a club called Yab and although it was so fun, had great music, and I got to see my friends from home, it was a complete rip-off and every single American student who goes to that place should beware that the place charges as you're leaving, not when you enter. WITHOUT a drink, I had to pay 20 euro! As each American student was leaving, one by one, they all were so shocked when they were asked to pay. The girl who I stayed with told us that because of situations like these, her greatest expenses have not ended up being food, travel, clothing, etc.. .... but the nightlife! I'm very grateful that Siena is not such a tourist trap.

In the morning, we went to see Michaelangelo's sculpture of David at the Accademia Gallery and then headed home. Now I'm back in Siena getting ready for my first day of classes!

fava beans and a nice chianti

On Wednesday, we visited one of the 17 Contrade of Siena. A "contrada" in its most basic form is an Italian subdivision, kind of like neighborhoods in America. However, the contrade of Siena are legendary. The entire city is divided into 17 contrade, and only true Sienese whose families go back centuries are allowed membership.

The contrade were originally created as a means of defending Siena against other city-states, like Florence, from invasion during the Middle Ages. Now, however, they're more symbolic. Each contrada has its own church, mascot, flag, colors, and traditions, the most important of which is the horse race that occurs each year in the main Piazza against all other horses. This horse race, called the Palio, is a catalyst for civic pride throughout the year for its members.

The churches for the contrade are usually closed off to the public, but we were allowed inside the church of the Onda Contrada, whose mascot is a dolphin. The church was beautiful, and downstairs was a museum that contained all of the titles won at each Palio by the Onda, dating back hundreds of years. Even today, the jockeys wear traditional garb, and the jockeys are selected and trained from childhood to be able to ride. In the Middle Ages, it wasn't uncommon for a losing jockey to be killed by his contrada, but we were assured that today, losing jockeys are merely punched a few times in the face...

The following day, we went to a wine tasting in the Chianti region. It was so fun! We also got a tour of the winery, which happened to be in a beautiful, picture-perfect villa. The wine that we tasted sells for about $200 in the States, but was only about 12 euro at the winery so of course I had to buy a bottle.

For anybody who is thinking of traveling to Italy, and to Tuscany in particular: BRING DRAMAMINE. In fact, go a step further and also buy yourself those motion sickness prevention bracelets. The roads in this area are ridiculous and caused every single person on the bus to become car sick, even those who boasted of being able to complete crossword puzzles during roadtrips. Fortunately, a friend gave me some dramamine, but even still, it was an awful ride there and back for everyone, especially with wine in our systems.

Apologies for the poor writing...I'm really tired!

A Walk around Siena..

Ciao, Regazzi

It's finally the weekend here in Siena and I really needed it -- finally time to explore the city without any time constraints. Last night, a bunch of people met at my apartment and got ready to go out. We figured out that since buying drinks at clubs and bars is SO expensive here, it's just much more economical to buy wine (literally as cheap at 1 euro/bottle) before going out...the Italian pre-game :)

We then headed to a disco called The Gallerie and I felt like I was at any American club. The place was full of another huge group of American students who will be in Siena for their orientation for another week before going on to Florence for the remainder of the semester. Besides the all-American crowd, every single song was American, too. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised at all, but I was a little disappointed. It was fun, but nothing I can't get back in the States. The one thing that was very cool was that since all of the buildings here are so old, even the club had awesome alleyways and was built using other medieval trends.

Finally I was able to sleep in this morning. I woke up and fiddled with my Blackberry for a good hour. If anyone who is reading this has ever had a problem locating data on their phone after backing up their phone onto their computer, I'd really appreciate your help!

Anyway, I met my friends at the beautiful fountain in the center of the Piazza and we got a quick lunch of pizza and then got AMAZING gelato and people-watched for a while. Afterwards, we meandered around the city and visited a bunch of the shops. I was finally able to buy a new hair straightener since my old, dependable, and very loved Chi couldn't quite handle the outlets over here.

For dinner, we found a restaurant where I basically ate macaroni and cheese, only better. Yet again, we ran into that other group of American students...all I have to say is that I'm really glad that I chose to go on this program instead.

Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm not sure how religious this town is. I was planning on going to look at some of the churches depending on whether or not they are actually open! The one church that I have gone into, Saint Catherine's Church, was absolutely beautiful and also beautifully restored as well. I can only imagine how expensive and time-consuming such a restoration must have been. The weirdest part: when Saint Catherine died, her head was mummified and placed in an open area of the church for everyone to see, including me, to see. It was crazy!

"Helloooo to Everybody Who Knooooows Me"--a quote that will never get old

Ciao! (That's the extent of my Italian)

After 2 flights, a train ride, taxi ride, and a 3-hour bus ride, I'm finally in my apartment in Siena! I live with 3 other girls from my program and I even have my own bedroom. Best of all,
my apartment is literally footsteps away from the main Piazza in town.

Last night was our arrival reception at some really good restaurant and they even served Prosecco..very classy. After dinner everyone crashed and we had to be up early this morning...those who know me well can only imagine how tired I am.

Today we had a walking tour of the city -- it isn't like Milan, Rome, or Florence...the city is really small and extremely walkable. It's BEAUTIFUL. Also, everything is SO clean. The city is extremely environmentally conscious and law mandates that everyone recycle. Littering is also very taboo - the streets are spotless. All of the shops are so nice and there's probably a gelateria or a pizzeria on every corner; even the food is gorgeous.

Also of note, there are adorable dogs absolutely everywhere. I left my camera at home today, but I'm sure that if I had brought it, the memory card would be full of cute dogs.

Last Day in the States

Hi, guys!

I'm going to be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Siena, Italy and it's going to be a long trip. I'm flying from IAH in Houston to Dulles in D.C., and then from Dulles to Rome. From Rome, I'll be taking a bus to Siena. There are some other students from my program who will be landing with me in Rome, so fortunately I won't be completely alone on the last (and probably most complicated) leg of my journey.

For those of you who don't know, which I'm sure is pretty much everyone considering Siena is so small, the town that I'm going to is located about 25 miles away from Florence and is in the central/northern area of Italy. It's mainly a college town and, according to Wikipedia (my main resource...just kidding...but seriously), sounds very nice.

Obviously the most important thing prior to my departure is ensuring that I get enough "American" (if there really is such a thing) food to sustain me for 4 months, so of course I'll be eating at a steak house tonight with my family despite my mom's brilliant suggestion that we go to a "fantastic French restaurant"....because I won't be eating ANY French food.

Next time I update this, I'll be in Siena :)