Tuscany (speechless)

Buongiorno!

Florence

I am very displeased that I haven't been able to post anything about my trip to Florence this past weekend. Since I've been back I have been either doing my homework or going to class. Yesterday we were also working on cleaning the building from top to bottom. In class this morning after reading Day 2 of the Decameron we were talking about Fortune. I can honestly say I have been gifted with Fortune after this past weekend. My fortunes ranged from seeing The David to being in a small town called Certaldo where Giovanni Bocaccio lived. I wish to begin with my favorite day of this weekend which was Saturday. Saturday morning we went to the Uffizi museum in Florence. One of the things that stuck out to me in the Uffizi museum was the painting by Botticelli "Primavera" (spring). I was unable to take a picture but I will post one that I found online. The people in this painting are Mercury, Venus and the Three Graces. I really liked this because I had never heard of the Three Graces before and seeing as there are three Grace daughters in my family it was very close to my heart. After looking it up I found out that the Three Graces are the goddesses of charm, beauty and creativity. Afterwards we got lunch and headed towards Certaldo.  Once we were there I was taken back by the beauty of this small town. There are no words to describe the scenery and the overwhelming feeling of comfort that I had while I was here. A couple of us sat down to enjoy a bottle of wine and then went about looking all over the town. There was a "Boccaccio Party" happening because it is the 700th birthday of Boccaccio so there were many different markets set up to purchase goods. I didn't purchase anything while in Certaldo but I did get gelato at "Bocaccio's Gelato". I was sad to leave here but once we got back to Florence we went out for a very nice dinner for the second night in a row. After dinner Saturday night we went to one of the piazzas nearby and got gelato and Prof. Bonanno played his guitalele for us. Friday night we had a huge dinner with people who normally didn't eat with us and it was delicious! It was so nice to enjoy a meal after an extremely long day with friends. The food here always leaves me speechless because there is no way to describe the delectable food that we are fortunate to have. During the day on Friday we were with our renaissance art professor from 10-6 going all over Florence visiting different historical places. Friday afternoon we saw Michelangelo's David and I could've stayed there for hours starting at this masterpiece. There was a copy of The David in the original place where it stood but it simply did not have the same effect as the real one. Unfortunately we were only able to stay in the museum (Academia) where the David was because we were pressed for time. In most of these places we were unable to take photographs but I very quickly got a photo of The David before I was caught by the camera police. The whole time we stayed in Florence we stayed in a convent with the sisters of the Assumpzionisti who were very kind to us. Thankfully after the first night I was able to fall asleep the next two nights because of how exhausted we all were after long days of walking around. Friday night and Saturday night we went out to dinner, like I previously said, and both nights were full of laughter and great conversation. Almost before every plate we did a toast and it always reminds me of how lucky I am to be here and have these experiences. Every morning we were up early which made the trip extremely exhausting and we barely had any free time. The ride home on sunday was spent sleeping or trying to relax. I say trying to relax because it was down pouring on our way home. Before we went back to Rome we stopped in Sienna where PRof. Bonanno did his study abroad trip when he was in college. Even though it was raining it was still a beautiful place and I wish to return there to enjoy it more. Everywhere we went this weekend is definitely some place that I have to go back to. When leaving Certaldo I said that if I never return to tuscany before I die I will be extremely disappointed. With no more words left to describe this trip I think its time for pictures... (I will probably think of more things to say as the day goes on but for now I really wanted to post about my trip in Florence because it was too remarkable to keep to myself) Enjoy!

Florentine Cathedral

This little boy's face is priceless

Panoramic of Florence

Florence

The David!

L to R: Marisa, Me, Sinead, Jenna, Devan & Shelby

Tuscany

my pictures don't begin to capture the beauty

Certaldo

Chianti Red Wine (Certaldo)

Certaldo

Sienna

Botticelli Primavera

Argo River

Sorry that this post is a little all over the place- I wasn't sure where to begin!