Florence

You know you're extremely lucky and kind of ungrateful when...

...you hate leaving Italy to go back to France.

After a two hour wait in the train station on Thursday night (thank you delayed trains), Kara and Carleigh and I finally boarded the night train bound for Italy. We made the occupants of beds 61-66, Car 85 rather angry, as we knocked on their door mulitple times confused as to why they wouldn't let us in, only to realize that we should have been bothering the occupants of beds 61-66 in Car 86 instead. Finding the right compartment, we settled in for the night. The three people who were already there had rather rudely taken our blankets and pillows. So, I passed a rather sleepless night (thank you, IPod) using my Northface and a sweater as blankets and my back pack as a pillow.

We arrived in Florence around 10:30 the next morning. Famished, we found a little hole in the wall pizza place and with lots of hand signals and laughing ordered pizzas and scarfed them down. We also left our mark on the restaurant.

After lunch, we headed to Il Duomo. Only the most recognizable symbol of Florence, this amazing church that had me dancing around in joy because I was finally seeing it with my own eyes. I took an early Italian Renaissance Art course my freshman year, and we talked about Florence almost more than we talked about paintings.



After seeing the Duomo and the museum right beside it (housing Michaelangelo's Pieta and Donatello's Mary Magdelene), we met up with Tyler, a friend from Wake who is studying in Florence. He took us to get our first gelato and see Santa Maria Novella, another famous church in Florence.

The gelato was oustanding. And after consuming the calories, we decided to climb the Duomo...all 463 stairs! It was quite the hike, but the view of the city was unbelievably worth the climb and the 8 euro price tag.

After meeting up with more kids from Wake, we ate dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant. I had two courses...first, "pasta with sauce like your grandmother would make" was the translation, and then roasted chicken. We went and got gelato again...and it was even better than the first gelato we ate.

Saturday morning, Kara, Carleigh, and I strolled through the streets of Florence on our way to meet Tyler. We cross the famed Ponte Vecchio, which couldn't have been more beautiful in the morning.

We then climbed up one of the hillsides to visit San Miniato al Monte, a church and monastery. The monks chant every morning at 4:30, but we defintely did not get up that early. We did sit in on part of a mass though, and I don't think I will ever ceased to be amazed by the power and might of attending worship in a centuries old church and just appreciating the magnitude that is God.

After lunch and more gelato, we went to see Michaelangelo's David. Sadly photos were forbidden, but this was my reaction:

KJAHOISUFOIEUF:L":ANFLKUSADHANM:L""?>">AJA:LDK}P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looked that that perfectly scuplted marble man was breathing. Truly and completely and totally amazing.

We also went to the Uffizi that afternoon, where we saw Botticelli's Birth of Venus, along with other famous works by classic Renaissance artists. It was particularly nice for me to see works Giotto and Lippi as well.

After a nap at the hostel, we headed off to meet our friends Matt and Thomas for dinner at the best pizza place in the world. Legitimately. The pizza I ate was the Campione del Monde 2002 (Champion of the World).

Three different kinds of pizza on one: tomatoes and basil; mushrooms, truffle oil, and gorgonzola cheese; and cabbage and something else delicious. Sounds odd, but legit was the best pizza I've ever had. That dinner was one of the highlights; not only did we get to spend time with Matt and Thomas, but they brought two of their friends Natalie and Anna, who were so much fun and it was great to get to know them.

On Sunday morning, we had a delicious breakfast of real Italian cappucino and pastries and then spent more money than we should have at the morning markets. I bought a sweater and cameo earrings, which according to the couple who sold them to me, are real cameos. Even if they aren't, they're still gorgeous.

The Bargello, famous museum with famous sculptures, was sadly closed because it was the third Sunday of the month. Random? Since we missed out on that, we decided to stroll through the Boboli Gardens at the Palazzo Pitti, which were gorgeous.

That afternoon, after gelato #4, we visited Santa Croce, where greats like Michaelangelo, Dante, and Machiavelli are buried. Sadly, so much restoration was being done inside that we didn't get to see everything we wanted. It was still gorgeous though.

After walking around a bit more and grabbing a dinner of BigMacs and beer at McDonald's, we finally boarded the train to head back to Dijon.

I'm sitting here in my room after week number two of classes and realizing that I have less than 7 weeks left in France. I can't hardly believe it. It literally astounds me. Where has my time gone? I remember being nervous about coming here, thinking how long 3 and half months sounded, which I think rounded out around 15 weeks. I thought 15 weeks sounded so long then...but here I am now thinking how short 7 weeks sounds.

My first 8 weeks here have been an unbelievable blessing, and if I learn even half as much about myself, life, and the Lord in the rest of my time here as I have already, I can only hope to imagine the kind of young woman I'll be when I return home.