A short blog today…it has been a long week. On Thursday we took a walking tour of Florence starting with Chiesa di San Miniato al Monte. It is one of the biggest churches right outside of the old city walls of Florence on mountain. It overlooks the entire city—one of the most beautiful views in all of Florence. The church itself has so much history that will be very exciting to learn about as our classes begin. There are murals all over the walls, mosaics, an extraordinarily painted ceiling and a beautiful organ that I wish someone had played while we were there. From the church we walked down through the Porta San Miniato (through the old city walls) along the Fiume Arno and over the Ponte Vecchio then back through downtown to the Stazione Santa Maria Novella. A very long walk but entirely worth it! I would like to make that walk again several times before I leave Italy. We also walked by a little olive orchard—hopefully we will see more of those and maybe actually see the olive-oil-making process.
On Friday we had our first Italian quiz (here I brag—I aced it!) and then visited the public library (biblioteca publica) by the Duomo. It’s a beautiful three-story library with international newspapers, free wi-fi and a beautiful outdoor café. Here I remembered that later in the term I will need to start researching some costuming (I’m designing Twelfth Night when I return to school) and realized that this library will be extremely helpful in that research (especially when I can understand Italian a little better). From there, Kari, Willi and I walked to the Boboli Gardens. They are breathtaking and I know I haven’t even scratched the surface. I walked around the first fountain for half an hour noticing all of the detail in the sculpture. It was a hot day at the end of a long week, though and the exhaustion was starting to wear on me so we walked back and grabbed some gelato on the way (not the best idea for the lactose intolerant, but delicious at the moment).
Now to sleep in preparation for Pisa tomorrow!
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