I haven't written a week, mainly because throughout the weekdays everything seems too normal to write a post about. But then I have to remind myself that I'm living in Italy which isn't normal. However, it's still nice to feel like I'm settling into a routine here.
I was very proud of us this weekend, however. We had a planned day trip to Mantova, Italy through our program for today (Sunday). Since we had Friday and Saturday pretty open, most of us decided to take a short trip to Florence, (or Firenze as we say here in Italy).
Talking about taking a trip and actually making it happen are two very different things. From the train tickets to hostel reservations, trip planning was a learning process. But we made it there and back in one piece, and had a blast doing it!
Some people left Thursday night or Friday morning, but I went with a group of friends after class on Friday afternoon. We took a train from Verona to Florence. We had to make two transfers during the train ride and after only mild anxiety and confusion about which train to take we made all of them!
We arrived in Florence on Friday night and walked to the hostel we had booked, which was also where our friends who had gotten there earlier were staying. We walked through the main piazza, and that was when I first saw the duomo. Duomo is a term for Catholic Church, and in many cities in Italy you can simply ask "Where is the duomo?" and be pointed to the largest church in town.
The one in Florence is called Santa Maria del Fiore. Seeing it at night, it almost looked unreal. It was so massive and elegant compared to everything around it.
The duomo is so massive and even though I tried there was absolutely no way for me to capture the whole thing in one picture.
We continued our walk and checked into the hostel. We saw our friends there, but the woman checked us in she said "Ok, five minute walk to your room" and put her coat on. We figured out pretty quickly that our room was in a completely different building. We were a little nervous but walked into a small apartment that had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. 1 bedroom was being rented out by two other girls, but we had the other two for the six of us. And having our own bathroom was a big plus.
After getting settled we went out to a delicious dinner and had some drinks before turning in. We wanted to get lots of sleep so we would be ready to explore.
On Saturday we woke up later than planned (anyone surprised?), and stopped at a cafe for croissants and cappuccinos (well I didn't have one. Italy has still not converted me into a coffee-drinker). The man working at the cafe gave us directions to where we wanted to go, and offered us a discount on sandwiches if we came back later in the day. Those €2.50 sandwiches we got to take on the train later were delicious.
After breakfast we headed to Galleria Della Accademia, which is home to a number of famous art pieces, but namely Michelangelo's "David."
We walked around and admired paintings for a while, and then made our way into a hallway lined with half-completed sculptures on either side. All of the sudden I looked up and at the end of the hallway was the sculpture of David. I think that this might be the first time in my life I can use the word breathtaking and truly mean it. I was so surprised by the affect this sculpture had on me, but it was beautiful and so much more than I had been expecting.
(We weren't allowed to take pictures in the gallery, which was very disappointing).
The statue is of David from the biblical story David and Goliath. Sculpting began in 150 and took Michelangelo two years to complete. It towers over the public at 17 feet tall, and is considered one of the most perfect human sculptures in existence.
We all just stared up at it for a long time, trying to take in the fact that we were in front of one of the most famous pieces of art in the entire world. It was absolutely beautiful.
After that we headed to the Duomo, and went inside walk around. The cathedral was massive and the bishop still celebrates mass there every Sunday!
The first stone was laid in 1296. The original structure had a courtyard, which no longer exists, and it was in this courtyard that Michelangelo found the marble from which "David" is carved.
I made sure to light a candle and say a prayer for my little niece :)
The cathedral was incredibly peaceful and filled with all kinds of beautiful artwork, including the ceiling. After walking around for a bit we decided we wanted to go the top, which looked out over all of Florence.
There is no elevator, so we braved the 463 stairs up to the top. The original builders clearly didn't have tourists in mind, because the stairway was narrow and dark, and at times we walked up spiral staircases for what felt like hours. The entire time we were walking I kept thinking, "I paid €8.00 for this?!"
Halfway through the ascent we walked out onto a ledge that circled the entire dome ceiling, and were able to get a closer look at the artwork. I would be lying if I said that walking the narrow path suspended around the edge of a ceiling didn't make me a little nervous. But soon we were led back into the dark staircases and continued moving upward.
The ceiling represents the ideas of Heaven and Hell, with earth sitting in the middle. At the very top of the dome sits the Risen Christ, surrounded by angels.
Looking down from the ceiling!
The term light at the end of the tunnel has never been more applicable. We were all tired, sore and sweating by the time we made it up and out of the dark staircase. But when we did, I was so glad that we had decided to go to the top. Seeing Florence from up there was incredible.
We heard people speaking English while we were up there so naturally we stopped and talked to them. We chatted for a while and then as they were leaving one girl overheard Kristin say something about Chi Omega, and the girl came back saying, "did you say Chi O?"
She's a Chi O too, so we all had to take a picture together! Such a small world.
We didn't let the rain, the sweaty walk, or the fact that all of our belongings were strapped to our backs stop us from making it up there!
After spending a considerable amount of time taking in the view and getting way too many pictures, we walked all the way back down. This time, we circled the ceiling again but were even higher up, and I could have practically touch the painted ceiling if I hadn't been too scared to take my hand off the railing.
After the duomo we decided to indulge in other treasure of Florence: leather. Florence is a large producer of leather, and the leather market is a must-see if you visit there.
The market made up of streets filled with vendors selling all sorts of goods - all made out of real Italian leather. It was pouring rain by the time we got there and we were shivering from the cold but we walked throughout the entire market, haggled, and made some good purchases! I couldn't resist buying a leather purse for myself.
Once we were done with the leather market we warmed up with some tea, redeemed our offer for the discounted sandwiches, and headed for the train station. It was a whirlwind of a day but we saw so many amazing things. Florence is beautiful and has even more to offer than we were able to see, and I would love to go back there someday!
No comments:
Post a Comment