More Florentine Adventures!

So, I'm trying to get all caught up. After the Milan weekend, I just hung around in Florence, which is what I've been doing for the most part. I still want to visit other parts of the country and Europe, but one thing at a time! :)

The next weekend we went to the wine festival, which was fun! It was all sorts of Italian wines: white, red, sparkling, dessert, and they even had samples of grappa, a really hard liquor. We even got to keep our glass! It was nice, and again, I felt more Italian :)

The next weekend I didn't really do much, just kind of hung around and walked around Florence. I did visit the Palazzo Medici for a presentation that I had to give there on the Chapel of the Magi Procession, by Gozzoli. That was really neat to see. To say the least, the Medici family was loaded! Their palace was fantastic, and the art was really nice. There was also a marble museum there too, which was included with the admission. I also got free gelato from a certain place. I like it there cuz the chocolate flavor is 75% chocolate!! yummy! I went to mass at the Duomo, which was cool.

As far as school goes, everything is going great. It was this week that I got to go to my first Italian opera in Italy! While I've seen it before in the USA, to see it here was even more of an experience. For our class, we got to see two operas: Rigoletto and La Traviata, both by Verdi. I got to the theater about half hour before the show started. The lady checked my ticket and told me that I brought the wrong one! I didn't want to miss the performance, so I sprinted back to my apartment, grabbed the ticket, and sprinted back. I made it in time, but was sweating bullets after all the running! :) Rigoletto was good..the costumes were modern, they did not make good use of the stage, but the performance overall was very well done!

La Traviata is my favorite opera, so I was even more excited to see that one the following day. It was INCREDIBLE. The scenery was fantastic, very Moulin Rouge like (which is not surprising, since that film is based on this opera), the singing was great, plus we had better seats. I would say it would be very hard to top that performance. The other classes are going well too, but there haven't been any excursions. I did give my presentation at the Palace, and I found out I aced it! :)

Last weekend, I tagged along with my friend from my art class and her parents to go to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David! We waited an hour to get in to the museum, but it was incredible. I did not spend enough time there! There was so much to see! The paintings, the sculptures, Michelangelo's unfinished collection, and of course David. I could seriously spend a whole day just looking at that and not be bored at all. I will definitely be back there, as it is free for me.

When we went to lunch, a German couple we were talking to said what a lovely family we were, thinking that I was their daughter! Then as we passed through the San Lorenzo market, another guy said he'd give a discount cuz of such lovely daughters we were! It was fun!

I discovered a little church and went to mass there. There was also an organ concert prior to that: such a big organ in a little church made the church practically shake! But I like it there :) It is small, but still lovely.

I also went out with a promoter for one of the tour trips, Mike. He was really nice. We went to a bar for a while and met up with some of his friends, then went to Space, a nightclub nearby. It was neat because it had 2 dancefloors, playing different music. His friend, Leo, was really nice and basically was my bodyguard throughout the night, so that was good. But, I have no way to get in contact with him, so if I see him, great, if not o well! It was still nice.

I've also enjoyed walking around with my new roommate, Adrienne. She is such a sweet girl, and we've found some new internet cafes and stuff, so it's fun. The other night last week we stayed at Moyo, one of the cafes til 1:30 in the morning! The walk back was just funny, or at least to us it was! We also tried a new cafe, Naima, where they have delicious apperitivo and wireless! plus it is closer to where we live.

I spent most of this past weekend with her. On Friday, we (also with another friend) went to a place called Harry's bar, which Mauro, our host father, recommended and had a bellini. We walked around and found a delicious place for hot chocolate! Adrienne got her debit card lost in the ATM, so we called the carabinieri (cops) to help. They couldn't do anything, but they were pretty cool, and we were talking to them later because they were in the same square. Then we walked around some more and found a little guitar bar..they play live music. We didn't stay there, but it was near Naima, which we went in there for a while. It was a fun, go-with-the flow night. Saturday I studied, and Sunday went to another church for mass! Finally now, just waiting for midterms to be over and go on break!