Firenze

Florence

Pisa and Florence

Last weekend was a spur of the moment decision. I hadn't planned on going to Florence, but my friends convinced me to come along.

We left JFRC at 4:30am to catch our 6:15 train. It was a little over three hours to Pisa. There are really only three things to see in Pisa: the leaning tower, the duomo, and the baptistry. We took pictures in front of the tower, but you have to pay to get into everything. The baptistery is the largest in Italy. Galileo is said to have developed his theory of the movement of the pendulum here by swinging it from the naves of the Church. Sadly, I don't know too much more of the history of everything that we saw.

The ten of us in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

We only were in Pisa for a few hours before catching the train to Florence. Brigid, Rachel, and I didn't plan on spending the night, so we walked around for a bit while everyone else checked into their hotel. Once everyone was settled, we headed straight for the Duomo. It is marvelous. Nothing can describe the outside of it, so I'll just put up some pictures. I never imagined it to be so massive. The size is overwhelming.

The Duomo in Florence

The inside is (please excuse the repetitive adjectives)wonderful. The paintings in the dome are just absolutely gorgeous.

Looking up at the ceiling (inside of the dome)

Then we went to see David. David is huge. I think he stands almost 20feet tall. (I doubt he was that muscular in real life...if he was I don't even want to think about Goliath....it would take giant to a whole new level. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but there is a replica in one of the plazzas.

This is the replica of David.  (the high vis rowing shirt has been traveling around with me throughout Europe.  It started out as a way to enter the winter break high vis challenge, but I never sent the pictures in so now I just bring it with me everywhere to take a picture with as sort of a joke.  It will be very cultured)  I also am technologically challenged and can't flip pictures.

We stayed in the museum that David was in for a little bit. I really enjoyed the music room inside the museum. The room housed old pianos, guitars, violins, and instruments I had never seen before. It's interesting to see how much music has evolved throughout the years, and to think about the music they were able to produce on such different instruments.

Dinner that night was absolutely delicious. We went out for a family style dinner at a cute little restaurant. They brought out many delicious appetizers and 3 different kinds of Pasta and of course wine. My favorite was the tortilini, but the ravioli and gnochii were excellent also. I was especially fond of the roasted peppers.

Well, the three of us decided to sneak into their hotel, and we thought we'd leave in the morning. But there was still so much to do, so we ended up staying until 7pm. Note: This explains why I am in the same clothing in all my pictures, because I hadn't packed a bag. Most of the churches cost money to go into, so we really only saw the outsides.

There was a chocolate festival going on outside...and then some crazy parade came by. I didn't get any chocolate, but some of it looked delicious. The parade had people of all ages dressed in medieval costumes.

Rachel and I went to Dante's house and his church. It was previously called Santa Margarita, but now it's really known as the church of Dante. His house was pretty neat, but again we didn't go inside. It's weird to stand somewhere where an actual person walked daily.

We also wandered into a church that played haunting music in it. It was called Chiesa degli ricci, or Church of the Rich. That struck me funny, but I guess the rich need prayers too. Really though, it was a very dramatic atmosphere. The music played can best be compared to the beginning of an old scary movie where the organ is playing itself.

We walked around a lot, just noticing different buildings and markets. I'm a wanderer, so I really enjoyed it. Except for the thousands of bats that stormed the sky. It really looked like a scene right out of Birds.

For having planned absolutely nothing for this weekend, it really turned out to be a blast. We made it back to campus by midnight, just in time for a good night sleep.

Things I've Noticed

1. The Catholics here take advantage of tourists and charge ridiculous amounts of money to enter. I'm starting a protest: "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY TO PRAY".

2. Things I'm missing out on back home in Milwaukee: armed robberies on campus. Do I really ever have to go back?

3. cutest old man I have ever seen.

This is one of the cutest old men I have ever seen.  I tried to make it seem like I was taking a picture of the replicas, but I'm pretty sure it was obvious that my camera was pointing straight at him.