Yes dears, that's me snoring. The jet lag and excitement has finally caught up to me and now I am just pooped. Lots has happened in the past few days since I have posted anything and all of it has been fantastic.
Sunday:
We (meaning me and my roommates) went on a day long adventure on Sunday which was by far the best day I have had. We started off by walking to il Porto Vecchio, which is the famous bridge in Florence. Major tourist attraction, so we ended up walking a couple blocks down to the next bridge to avoid the hustle and bustle of the tons of tour groups. The view from these bridges is beautiful with the Italian style buildings on either side and what the Italians consider mountains in the back ground. First order of business was to find a gelato shop that we had been told had 1 euro gelato (which is the cheapest you can find in the area). I got a cone with a scoop of Creme de Caramele and Coffe. Mmmmm..... If I ever happen to be craving coffee I will be walking over there to get a gelato instead because that was fantastic.
Then we headed to il Giardino di Boboli, which is the main garden of Florence and was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Filled with huge bushes and cypress trees, the gardens created a maze where you could wander aimlessly and eventually you would run into a beautiful fountain or one of the many museums that are in the gardens. Sculptures and random buildings popped up around every corner and needless to say, I got a little shutter happy. We eventually end up finding this staircase that we decide to go up and see what is up there. There was an immediate gasp when we realized that this platform overlook the Toscana countryside which is every bit as magnificent as it is made out to be.
There were a bunch of over things that went on, such as there was a random rainstorm and 15 people managed to squish themselves in a ladies bathroom to escape it. We ate salad in the gardens. We came upon many stray cats that live in the gardens. We went through a costume museum (so fun). And then we walked home and rested our sore feet before making ourselves Pomodoro Caprese Salad with fresh bread from the market (which if I had to chose, would be what I would live on for the rest of my life :) ).
Monday:
Classes started for everyone and I had Batik as my only class of the day on monday. The class is held in a studio hidden away. You have to walk through an outdoor courtyard, where locals are hanging their laundry and gossiping with their neighbors. I think that I may have found a calling for myself in the textile art however because I am just so excited to start. For my first project, which I will start tomorrow, I will be working on a silk square which I plan on decorating in red with a lion door knocker that I have drawn and possibly the Firenze fleur-di-lys. Since I had the rest of the day off I wandered around the city, trying to find a place to sit and sketch. I ended up by the river, standing and sketching on of the bridges (which was fun for a while but the detail in the buildings was hard for me to stay focused on). In the evening, me and my roommates attended a gallery opening, where we all ended up sitting in the SACI garden, eating sushi and drinking our first glass of Italian wine :)
Tuesday:
I had jewelry as my only class and we started off by starting to learn how to use all the various tools and it is a mini version of the tools I used in sculpture. So we haven't done anything exciting in that class yet but we have to get through all the introductory stuff. I was exhausted so I ended up napping and reading all day until the cooking class! We didn't actually get to cook which was a shame but we ate better than we have since we got here. We ate Gnocchi in Sugo Finto, Fagiolini al Pomodoro, Crostini with Salsa Verde and Caprese, and poached peaches with chocolate sauce. Jealous?
Today I had Art History which looks like it is going to be a very interesting class and I still have Fresco to go! I miss you all <3 Ciao
oh the food sounds divine!!
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