Mi Amo Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino, e Lucca

So I've been super busy since my last post so hopefully I'll be able to post everything. Professor Mariatti took us on a tour of the major monuments/churches in Florence and we got our bearings a little better and went to explore on our own. Florence is not a very big city, we walked from one end to the other in about 45 minutes. But there is a ton to see in this relatively small space. The Duomo would probably be the closest thing to the center of the city which is convenient because you can see it no matter where you are (for the most part). I will definitely be doing a lot of exploring on my own. Professor Mariatti has been working for five years to get us free museum passes for the semester and so we can go to all of them an infinite number of times for free (the art history nerd in me is super happy). 

Classes started on Wednesday and they actually all seem interesting. I'm taking my Italian class pass/fail since I don't get degree credit for it though. They will be more work than I initially thought and I don't want to stress over a class that, while beneficial for my Italian, doesn't count towards graduation. I'm taking a Shakespeare's Italy class that the english nerd in me is really excited about (even though I have to read "The Tempest for the fifth time). We will be performing scenes for everyone at the end of the semester and then writing a paper on our experience. Compared to the two six page papers and presentation I need to do for my European  lit and film class and the two papers for my Art History class seems like a piece of cake. I haven't had a lecture for my Birth and Origins of Renaissance Art class in the tower room yet (where all my classes are, minus Italian), but I have had an on-site lecture at the Baptistry of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore (The Duomo). It was amazing, Professor Mariatti continues to hook us up with amazing benefits. We got to go inside at 8:30 and it doesn't open to the public until 10 so we were the only ones in there. The Byzantine mosaic on the ceilings and the romanesque architecture were beautiful. Then we went into the museum of the Basilica where a lot of the original statues and things are displayed. The facade of the church is not original, it was constructed in the 19th century in the same basic style as the rest of the structure with more ornate frescos and sculptures. I am going to love being on site to study these works of art every Thursday, even if it means waking up at 6:50 to catch the train.

Thursday night was my first night going out in Florence. A huge group of us went to a pub called The Fiddlers Elbow (which was an Irish Pub) and I got my Strong Bow. :) Then we went to a club called Astor. 

Saturday was my first day trip. A big group of us woke up at 7:30 to go to a town called Lucca. It was the perfect day to go, sunny and relatively warm (compared to how it has been). The medieval wall that surrounded is still standing and so we walked around the entire thing. We went and looked at a couple different churches and got pizza and gelato. The highlight of the day was easily climbing the Torre Giagni (I'm not sure if the spelling is right on that). There were two trees going on top of the tower and we climbed up there and enjoyed the amazing view. It was almost surreal, hopefully I can load some of them here. My internet enjoys being difficult. 

Today I went to a park where a lot of girls go running and they told me would be a good place  to exercise (I'm going to try to keep on top of that while I'm over here).  It is another beautiful day here (it's sunny and nearly 50)!  They have paths to run on at the park so I jogged/walked for about an hour and just admired the beautiful scenery. Even in the middle of January, everything is still green and warm. I'm excited to see the flowers bloom in the spring. I then decided since it was such a nice day to take pictures in the Villa's garden. It's massive. It has multiple fountains and sculptures, a hedge maze, a walking path covered by trees, a stream with a cute little bridge,  and Bruno the gardener's pet chickens. 

Well at least I got to upload one picture. I have so many more I want to post. I guess you will just have to take my word that this place is beautiful.