Wed-Fri, Jan 27-29

Ciao!

I realize it’s been a long time since we posted everything…maybe because we were in Florence too busy doing all the things that are bloggable.  Actually, I just didn’t bring a computer.  So here’s a digitized version of the handwritten journal I kept so diligently in the meantime.

 

Wednesday:

            This was our first day in Firenze and sure enough it was a busy one.  The air was cold but the sky was clear and cloudless—much more agreeable weather than the freezing rainstorms predicted.  With any luck the weathermen will continue to be wrong.

         

We took the 8:45 express train from Rome and arrived here around 10 AM.  Class started at 11:00 with a coffee break at the most decadent café I’ve ever seen (also one of the only places in Italy to serve a frappucino).  We followed that with an overview of the Medici family’s beginnings and the life of Cosimo de Medici as we finished our snacks in the huge piazza outside the café.  Then it was off to the famous Duomo to see the fruits of Medici patronage.

            We were all let loose on the city for lunch before continuing the Art History lecture in Santa Croce where Michelangelo and Galileo are entombed.    We also looked at works by famous Early Renaissance artist Giotto and learned the bloody history of the Peruzzi family as enacted by Mick, Erika, Nick and myself.

            Around 4:00 PM we were released back to our hotel to thaw out after our extended exposure to the elements and prepare for an amazing meal at Trattoria ZaZa.  Every student received 20 euros to distribute among courses at their discretion.  There was a lot of cross-table sampling and very few plates were left with any food on them.  Isabelle and Marissa (Julie’s girls) challenged almost everyone to staring contests and went undefeated until stone faced Carissa out-glared them.

            We are all impressed with the city so far and can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds.

 

Thursday:

            So it was another full day here in Florence.  After the food coma of last night we stared the day a bit slow with Hotel Giada’s continental breakfast.  Regardless what Lisa says to its discredit I’m pretty sure everyone found something to eat.  Then it was off to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the Medici family’s palace built a block from our hotel.  It includes the best surviving chapel fresco, depicting the three magi (with some suspiciously familiar Medici-looking faces among the crowds).  Truly incredible to see. 

Tooling around the rest of the building it was amazing, especially if you imagine the patter of bambini feet running through the opulent rooms or the scraping of sulky teenage Michelangelo dragging his feet—to imagine that people actually lived here!

We followed the visit with a breeze-though of the Museo del Bargello to see the two bronze Davids by Donetello and Verrocchio.  Donatello’s version at one point stood in the courtyard of the Medici palace and is the first bronze nude made since ancient times.  After lunch we swung through the Uffizi, the office space of the Medici’s which has now been transformed into a museum of Renaissance paintings.  It was truly delightful to see originals of so many iconic pieces of art.  After a quick tour of the most significant paintings we were left to our own fancies for the rest of the afternoon.  I haven’t heard back from everyone but it seems the time was not wasted; we have reports of wandering from Piazza de Donatello to Piazza de Michelangelo.  Derek and I chose to scale to Duomo for part of the time.

Hope tomorrow is just as exciting.

 

Friday:

            Today our class experienced a mini Black Friday.  After a quick spin through the Accedemia to see Michelangelo’s David (which, I admit, after of lifetime of being underwhelmed by pictures, is spectacular), Lisa introduced us to a friendly family of olive oil connoisseurs who taught us the subtleties of making and tasting olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  They also showed off some unbelievable Italian foods like sundried Sicilian tomatoes, truffle honey, sage salt and lentil pollen.  The prices were steep but not enough so to deter many of the kids from dropping some money in exchange for one ore more of those amazing treats.

            After lunch, Julie took us on a ½ hour train ride over to Porto, a nearby town known for its textile industry.  We walked through to experience the very different and modern-feeling town before examining a church with multiple chapels covered in frescos.

 

           For a final act of the night, Lisa took anyone who cared to drop more money to a leather wallet + purse store that knows her well.  She helped us all haggle so everyone walked away happy.  Hopefully no one reading this is vegetarian, because we killed a lot of cows today (see pic).  Tomorrow we have a tour through the Palazzo Vecchio (another, grander Medici living space which has also served as a prison and a museum) and hopefully the secret passageways that riddle the Medici palace before we scatter for the weekend.  Destinations include Cinque Terre, Assisi, Orvieto and Rome.  Florence has been amazing but it’s time to get back to the thrum of the eternal city.