First Full Day at the Villa

Well I finally made it here after some plane mishaps. My flight out of O'Hare that was supposed to leave at 2:33 didn't leave until 9:15ish and therefore we missed our connecting flight in Frankfurt to Florence. We got into Frankfurt around noon and took a 4:45 flight to Florence from there. We got to the Villa around 6:30, about a half hour before dinner and it is BEAUTIFUL. I can't believe I live in the villa of an Italian Count (his family has rented it to Wisconsin and Michigan for this program for 23 years). I live in one of the "tower rooms" and I have two other room mates (Kate and Kelli) who are both from Wisconsin. We also have our own bathroom with a lot of storage space (major plus). We only had time to take our suitcases to our rooms and then we had dinner (pasta and chicken, the pasta was awesome). 

I didn't really walk around the villa until today. We had a tour from Professor Marriatti (Art History) and she showed us the Count's private rooms and the garden (which is beautiful, even in the winter). I will definitely do more exploring outside in the HUGE gardens (including a hedge labyrinth and an English garden) when it gets a little warmer out. I did a little wandering on my own then. There are so many paintings, frescos, and sculptures so the villa feels a little bit like a mini museum. 

All of the classes will be taught in the actual villa and we got a rundown at our orientation this morning of what they will be like. Every Thursday morning the other students in my Art History class and I will take the train into Florence before 8:30 to meet Professor Marriatti on site at the places/pieces we will be studying and we will have discussions on Tuesday afternoon. I'm also taking a Shakespeare class specifically focusing on his plays set in Italy (go figure). At the end of the semester we will be acting out scenes from the plays we've studied for the rest of the group on the stage in the garden (scary). I'm also taking a film class (which supposedly counts as an Art History class. I hope that's true because I can only take one of the two Art History classes offered here), and third semester Italian. Classes start on Wednesday. Tomorrow We are being taken into Florence and go on a walking tour and then we have to get ourselves back to the villa. It shouldn't be too difficult because there is a bus that stops right in front of it.

My internet won't let me post my pictures right now but I will try to put some up soon. Ciao for now.