The Usual

Florence is starting to feel like home, and I think part of that has to do with the fact that there are still everyday things that need to be done. For example:

Grocery shopping! I went to Essalunga on Thursday to get enough food to last me through the weekend. (Our pensione only serves us meals during the week.) It was a fun filled adventure of me attempting to read labels figure out what exactly I was buying. I've discovered two new snacks that are going to serve me well for the next few months.

-Rice crackers with pesto and spreadable cheese (I honestly have no idea what kind of cheese it is, but it says something about yogurt on the package)
-cookies with Nutella. yum.

I also bought (what I believe to be) laundry detergent because I am working up the courage to go to the laundromat. Let's hope that doesn't turn out to be a complete disaster.

I also decided that I could use an extra blanket, so after a failed attempt at finding the bus to Ikea, I went to Coin (similar to Nordstrom) and found a nice green bed spread that was on sale! I'm still reaping the benefits of Saldi.

There was also a handmade chocolate fair at Piazza di Santa Croce, so I stopped by and picked up a few items.

In addition to all of these errands, I managed to make it to the Uffizi Gallery and to the Accademia.The Uffizi is the art gallery where much of the art commissioned by the Medici family is kept. Some of the more famous renaissance paintings are here like Botticelli's Birth of Venus and La Primavera. The Accademia is famous for housing the statue of David, but it also has an impressive collection of medieval paintings.

Now, normally I wouldn't consider viewing pieces of priceless art as "the usual", but here it sort of is. Everything is so close here (the David is a five minute walk from my pensione) and I have a Museum pass that gets me into a majority of the museums for free, so it makes it really easy to see all of these places. Don't worry though I won't take it for granted.

Also, sorry about the lack of pictures; both the Uffizi and the Accademia don't allow cameras. So if you want to see David, Venus, or countless interpretations of Jesus, you'll have to come and check them out for yourself.

Rome: the city of sensory overload

This weekend all of the spring students went to Rome for our opening tour. It was 3 days of monuments and fun. I took a ton of pictures, but these are probably the best/most important ones.

We arrived Thursday night and some of us went on a walking tour. The first thing we saw the Trevi Fountain. On Friday we went on a tour of the Capitoline Museum, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum.
These ruins are about a block away from our hotel. This is a good example of how it is common to be in a very modern part of Rome and still be near ruins that are from 500BC.

These ruins are inside the Capitoline Museum, and they are what is left of the Shrine built to Jupiter. They are approximately 2600 years old.
A statue of a river god outside of the capitoline museum.

This is one of the ruins in the roman forum. It is an ancient basilica that was used as inspiration for St Peter's Basilica.

Here's a good view of the Roman forum.

Then, we went to the Colosseum.
... and me inside the Colosseum.

In the afternoon there was an optional tour, but a few of us decided to go out and explore on our own. We managed to find the Pantheon
Inside the Pantheon is where the first and second emperors of Rome are entombed.
Then we walked a bit more and came across the Spanish Steps.

After climbing to the top we found a spot and decided to sit, relax, and people watch. Here's everyone else enjoying the view.


The next day was Vatican City day. We went to the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican Museum is huge and overwhelming so here are a few of my favorites:
one of the many interpretations of Venus
An interpretation of the Garden of Eden
the hall of heads The entrance to the Sistine Chapel is in the Vatican Museum, and takes about a half hour to get there because there are so many other hallways that you have to walk through. Here is some the trek to the Sistine Chapel.
Pictures aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so I honored that rule, but I don't think pictures would have done it justice anyways.

After the Vatican Museum we made our way over to St. Peter's Basilica. This was probably my favorite place in Rome.

I think it helped that it was a sunny day, because the basilica looked so pretty with all of the natural light coming through the windows.

In the afternoon we walked around on our own again, and at the suggestion of our
tour guide we went to St Ignatius Church. It isn't as well known, but it is absolutely breathtaking.
As part of our Roman experience, our tour guides had us take the public buses to dinner, so all 33 of us crammed on with the rest of Rome. That was an interesting experience. Luckily no pick-pocketers chose me as a target (although some of the others in our group were not so lucky).
On the last day we walked around and window shopped before taking the train back to Florence. Here I am with a gelato in front of the Trevi Fountain.

Siena

Today we took a day trip to Siena, which is in Tuscany just south of Florence. We took the train there (don't take the train), then a bus (and didn't get off at the right stop), and then finally backtracked and got to downtown Siena.

When we first got to Siena we saw this.
The statue in the upper left hand corner is a mother wolf with Remus and Romulus below her. It's the symbol of Siena (Remus' son is Senius, the founder of Siena) and is a common sight throughout the city.

This is Piazza Del Campo.
Every year The Palio is held here in July and August when horses race around the outside while locals cheer them on. It's a big deal; around 60-70K people spectate.

The Piazza up close


Emma and Kate in the Piazza
Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Republica
Random note: Everyone in Italy thinks it's really cold right now
(even though it's in the mid forties)
so all of the old women walk around wearing their furs.

There are some classy ladies in Italy.

Siena also has a Duomo and it is just as impressive (if not more so) than the Duomo in Florence.
I like how you can see the reflection of the clouds in the stained glass.


I also had to get a self portrait.

And now, the inside of the Duomo.
Feel free to marvel at the intricacy and pick up some decorating tips to try at home.

Another reoccurence of the mother wolf with Romulus and Remus.
One of the many scenes depicted on the walls.
Now THATS a pulpit.


A ceiling in one of the other rooms.

I will leave you with a great view.

Saldi

Italians celebrate the end of the holiday season by having massive sales in all of the stores. So everywhere you go it says Saldi! and things that are ridiculously expensive become only moderately expensive. It's great.
I've spent the last few days doing a little reconnaissance, but today I dove in head first.
I spent the day with my friends Emily and Courtney shopping and eating.

Here I am eating an amazing kabob for lunch. It hit the spot.
Kababji, definitely the place to go for Kababs
I found a dress for Joe's formal, and figured this was the time to buy it with all of the sales going on.

Ok, so it's not that one and it isn't Valentino, but that would have been awesome right?
Actually it's a little copper number from Promod (akin to Forever 21 or H&M) and it was a mere 20 euro! Saldi!

And then... these boots walked into my life. They called out to me, and I couldn't resist.
We don't need to talk about how much they cost. Just know that they were on sale (saldi!) and they were way less than I would have paid in the U.S.

All in all, a very productive day.

Rebecca!

Coincidentally the ISU choir that Reb is in was in Florence today while on their Italian tour. They were singing at the service today at Basilica di San Lorenzo, so I went to the mass. Today is a national holiday and the mass was in Italian, so all I could figure out was that Epiphany is something about "Nacio di bambino Gesu" (the birth of baby Jesus). After talking to Silvia (my pensione manager) I learned that it's also called Bufana, which is the day that the 3 kings brought baby Jesus his presents. I got some good covert pictures of the Basilica (which aren't allowed during mass, only during tourist times... shhh) and a creeper pic of Reb singing. We spent the afternoon eating and window shopping. It was great to see a familiar face.

This one is a little blurry, but that's because it was a covert shot.
Another covert shot. The picture doesn't do the ceiling justice.

more Basilica di San Lorenzo

The two of us on Ponte Vecchio
(Literally, the old bridge. I believe it's called that because it was the only one in Florence not ruined by bombing in WWII.)

The view from Ponte Vecchio. No big deal.
Pictures with our buddy Neptune near the Uffizi Gallery.
There is supposed to be a fake David statue outside (the real one is in another museum), but it is currently being restored.

The two of us in front of the Duomo.

Side note: The great thing about Florence is that from where I live, everything is walkable. The only other form of transportation that I've used so far is the taxi from the airport to the pensione. I would guess everything is within two miles.