SIENA!

Siena is a wonderful little tuscan HILL town.  What wasn't so wonderful was the 8:30 meeting time which meant that I had to wake up bright and early at 7:12.  For those of you who don't know how weird I am yet, I do not wake up on 0's of 5's because I feel like that starts your day off too structured.  So, at 7:15 in the freezing cold of my apartment (since the heat broke AGAIN) I very slowly rolled out of bed so I could explore this little town.

After a quick trip to Mama's Bakery, which is an American run bakery that is delish (the man is from San Francisco- aka my favorite place in the whole US of A) we ran to the Palazzo Republica to get on the bus. When we got to Siena, it was foggy and much colder than Florence.  Luckily, I was wearing my BRIGHT  coat which helps me stand out from the hoards of black coat wearing Europeans to keep me nice and toasty.

First on the agenda was a museum that housed all the original marble statues from the Cattedrale de Santa Maria Assunta.  Since the marble used was soft, it was easily deteriorated by the elements.  Despite the no picture sign, we were all taking pictures (with the flash off of course).  Hey- I have to be somewhat rebellious!
Most of the statues were made by Pissano in the late 1200's.  Just think to yourself for a moment how long ago that was and how he chiseled it from a huge hunk of marble BY HAND!
.....
Crazy, isn't it?

This gorgeous Mary and Baby Jesus is by Donatello. It also was carved by hand in 1457.

The church we went to was the Cattedrale de Santa Maria Assunta. It was PINK!!! Which gives it bonus points in my book.

 

Yay for pink, gorgeous churches! 

The inside was characteristic of Byzantine churches at that time because of the stripped marble.  There was also really pretty fresco's inside and in the library. The church was built in the 1200's and the fresco's were painted shortly thereafter.

 This is the ceiling of the library.

This church is the only one in the WORLD with inlaid marble floors seen in this here picture.

We also went to the baptistry. Way back when, you were not allowed in a church unless you were baptized so it is very common to have a baptistry located right next to a church.  The tall white thing towards the right of the picture is the top of the baptismal font.  Once again, the ceilings and walls were covered in frescos.





After lunch (I think I will have to do a post all about food soon) we walked around the hilly city.  The piazza is home to a famous horse race that is held twice a summer.  They race around the outside of the piazza and it is supposed to be very exciting.

So enjoy the pictures of beautiful Siena.

 Oh, and incase you wanted to know (not that you do or probably did) I just had to wash my hair in the sink since our hot water has been broken for the ENTIRE weekend. I heated up some water on the stove and then burnt my head.  I am going to take some advil because it really hurts and go to sleep.  Enjoy your nights- end of my pity party.

Oooooperaaaaaaa

I went to the OPERA!!! And I can cross that off my bucket list because I don't plan on going back.
It was a great cultural event but BORING.

But I figured, what the heck, I am in Italia and I should go to an Italian opera right? Wrong.  I don't really speak Italian so I didn't know what was going on despite the cheat sheet we had to read before.  I could understand/read a few words but not nearly enough to understand what in the world was going on.  Oh, by the way I went to see Don Pasquale. It's supposed to be a comedy about an old man who tries to find a wife so there's some sort of fake arranged marriage thing that goes on.  In the end, the fake wife is caught cheating on the old man but he's okay with it because she was spending all his money.  Ya, not really sure what the writers of this were thinking.

So I really wanted to go because I could get all dressed up and let's be real- what girl doesn't like to get all dressed up ESPECIALLY when you bought a gorgeous little black dress on sale from White House Black Market after Christmas.  FUN, Fun, fun!!!  We all looked so pretty and some random guy apparently thought so too because he took a group picture of all of us also.  Weird.   But this is a picture of part of my study abroad group!  Yes, I am standing awkwardly to the side but whatev's, I love being awkward sometimes.


Back to the opera.  The set was pretty darn amazing.  It was like a huge dollhouse like thing because it had two big doors on hinges on the front and then it opened to show nine rooms.  Very neat.  Thank goodness for the interesting set because that was the best part. There were also other actors/actresses in the opera that wouldn't be singing.  They would just be acting funny so that was the most interesting thing to watch.

And for those of you who haven't seen an opera before or if you are like me and don't know what in the world an opera is really about, people don't just stand and sing. They actually move around the set and sing.  Larissa, if you read this, you would absolutely hate it.  Beth, you would probably like it if it was in English since it's all singing.

All in all, I am glad I attended this cultural, Italian event.  I felt like a rich, sophisticated Italian woman saying that I was going to the opera.  That being said, if I stay Florence but do become rich and obviously sophisticated, I do not think I will attend another opera.

The end of this rant.
Be excited for Siena info tomorrow!

Arno River

Everyday I am blessed to be able to have a 25 minute walk across the Arno River and through the heart of Florence to get to class.  Not only is it beautiful, but it is a great way to get a little exercise.  The mornings are especially great since not all the tourists are up yet and shop keepers are just opening their shops.  Although it gets progressively busier as I cross from our house on the residential side to the study center, I love taking this time just to reflect on how lucky I am to be in Florence and have this amazing opportunity to study abroad.  I am living in another country for 4 months! How crazy is that?

When I am not talking to all my new friends, I also try to squeeze in some quite time when I can let my mind wonder and talk with God.  Let me tell you, it's pretty neat the Jesus is everywhere over here.  There are little frescos like this one all over the city.  You just look up and BAM- there's baby Jesus and Mary just watching everyone.  When I see the amazing works of art and the architecture that is hundreds of years old, I cannot help but realize how amazing He is.  Oh, and don't even get me started on the scenery.  Drop dead gorgeous.

Okay, now back to the Arno River.  Specifically, I walk over the Ponte Vecchio bridge every morning.  This is the bridge that is famous for selling gold because literally every vendor on the bridge sells different types of gold jewelry.  Here's a little tid-bit of nifty info to impress your friends with one day.  The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence that Hitler didn't bomb during World War II because he thought is was too historically important.


   

The other day I was able to capture some beautiful pictures of the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio.  Isn't it splendid?

Time to get ready for the Opera.  I feel so Italian and grown-up saying that.  We shall see how it goes.