Another week gone...

6.18 PM

Florence, Italy

I have no idea how I keep losing all these days. I guess time is just going by really quickly, or I'm really tired, or a combination of both. In any case, a quick recap of the past week.

Last Wednesday I went with one of my classes on a site visit to Santa Croce, which is a Franciscan church in downtown Florence that houses the tombs of Machiavelli, Michelangelo and Galileo, among other important Italian personalities. It has a tomb for Dante as well, but Dante's body is actually in Ravenna. The church itself was gorgeous, as everything here is; high, vaulted ceilings, beautiful and moving frescoes, rich color everywhere you look. After class ended I spent some time just walking around by myself and taking pictures of everything. Except, being the idiot that I am, I didn't realize Michelangelo's tomb was Michelangelo's tomb and therefore didn't take any pictures because I didn't like the decoration. Ah, well. Wikipedia "Santa Croce" if you really want to see it.

Last Friday I went on an all-school trip to Assisi, which is one of the more beautiful places I've been. "Assisi is built on a hill," said our tour guide. WRONG. Assisi is built on a mountain. For people familiar with Lord of the Rings, I give you this metaphor: walking around in Assisi is like walking around in the White City. Everything is steep.

We spent several hours inside the Franciscan church and monastery that was buried to honor St. Francis just a few years after his death. The walls there are painted with beautiful frescoes that are still intact, for the most part. I got anxious when our tour guide told us that Assisi was hit by a huge earthquake in 1997 which knocked some of the vaults down from the ceiling and killed four people, while a group from SUF was touring in the lower basilica. Scary, no? But Assisi was incredibly beautiful and I made a few new friends, which is always a plus.

On Saturday I went on a day trip to Pisa and Lucca, and I have to say, it wasn't one of my more favorite places I've been. Pisa was interesting and beautiful, but we only saw the cathedral complex (which includes the bell tower/Leaning Tower), but I suppose I didn't miss much since people who have been there before said that the whole place was a tourist draw. Lucca is supposed to be one of the more beautiful Italian cities but in all honesty I didn't think it was anything special. The mediocrity of this day trip could also have been influenced by the fact that it was raining on and off all day and I had no coat.

That's really about it! Last night was the last night of Carnevale so I went out and saw everyone walking around in costume. It was fantastic. I wish America had traditions like that. Mardi Gras doesn't count because it's vulgar.

And now I have three chapters of a history book to read! I'll still try and be better, but it looks like the blog might go in fits and starts.