I realized that I haven't posted all that much about everything I'm doing in Florence, and I've been doing and seeing a lot! Figured I've give you guys an idea of what it's been like to live here for the past month and a half.
First things first, this city is FULL of artwork and history. Florence has been a powerful city since the Roman empire and was even the capital of Italy at one point. Everywhere you go there is a church, museum, old palace or something historic and beautiful. I've had the opportunity to go to a lot of churches and museums with my art history classes and on my own. I'm kinda bummed that I don't have pictures to show you guys (pictures aren't allowed in some, and we're not allowed to take pictures while on a class visit), but if you're ever here, you HAVE to visit all of them.
The churches are gorgeous from the outside but are absolutely massive and breathtaking from the inside. They have high ceilings, beautifully decorated walls, artwork from masters of the renaissance & previous periods in art, tombs of famous artists and historical figures, and stunning altarpieces. I know it sounds like I'm pulling adjectives out of a thesaurus, but I'm not kidding. They are all incredible. So far I've been to Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, the Florence Cathedral (Duomo), San Miniato and Orsanmichele Church.. there might be a few more but it's getting hard to keep track of.
For Museums & Palaces I've been to the Academia, the Bargello, Palazzo Rucelli, Pallazo di Medici, Palazzo Pitti and a few more. Seeing the artwork that I've been learning & hearing about for years up close and in person has been an amazing experience. My favorite so far has been seeing Michelangelo's David at the Academia. It is incredibly massive in size and absolutely the most beautiful sculpture I've ever seen. I know a lot of you aren't art people, but anyone could go and appreciate it. I don't think it's possible not to... As for the palaces, those have been cool because they hold art work and well as give you an idea of renaissance living for the wealthiest families on Florence. So I still have a lot more to see while I'm here, and it's really blowing my mind that one city can hold so much art history.. it's been amazing and definitely a culture shock from good old Chelmsford & New Paltz...
I've found that a lot of the people here think that they're as beautiful and important as the works of art in their city... sorry people of Florence, but you're not that important! This has been my only problem since I've been here. Although I love the Italian idea of loving & reveling in every minute of life, I don't love how they're all in their own world while they do it. I've found that a lot of people think they're the only person on the planet, or the only one that matters. They take up the entire sidewalk while they saunter down the street at a snails pace, and yet in stores and cafes they can be extremely pushy, and if you're not agressive, you're getting trampled or pushed out of line. A lot of men are extremely agressive and touchy, and many of the women are stuck up & rude (probably to ward of the gross men). It can be really frustrating, but it's not all bad. Many of the shop, cafe & bar owners I've met have been very kind, funny and giving. If you're nice to them, they're great to you. They'll slip in something for free or at a discount, or maybe give you a little extra pasta if you're a regular (or just polite!) It's an interesting mix of people here, but it's always refreshing to meet good people in a new place.
Other than that, we've been trying out some different restaurants and trying to find places we haven't been before. I've had mexican, japanese, middle eastern, american and obviously italian food so far. There's something for everyone, just like back home which is nice because as much as I love Italian food, I don't think I could eat just that for four months. Appertivo is my favorite part of Italian food and I really don't understand why it's not in the US. You buy a drink which is usually around 5-10 euro and then there's a buffet with all you can eat! It's perfection and just about every place here has some version of it.
We also found a really beautiful park that's about a 20 minute walk from the ponte vecchio. The walk here is so beautiful.. we decided it was the rich area of Florence because one lady had a remote controlled door to her apartment, and the buildings are all just ridiculously beautiful and huge. The park goes on for forever.. or at least a couple miles. there's a running trail, bike trail, benches, fountains, trees, open grassy fields... it's my new favorite place in Florence I think. There's also a hugeeee flea/open market there on Tuesday's and every Sunday until Easter and they sell everything from dried fruit to meat & cheese, and shoes for 8 euro to babyclothes for 1 euro... There's also an American style carnival that is set up for lent. Honestly, it was really weird to see something so American in the middle of upper class Florence, but it has made me crave fried dough for the past couple days...
There's plenty more that I've done here, but I think that's enough for now. haha props if you read all the way through this, it was a long one. I'm off to finish my week of midterms and then it's spring break and the Amalfi Coast for me and Nicole!!
Ciao!
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