Florence - I'm BAAAAAAAACK!

When I left northern Italy in 2018, I never thought I'd be lucky enough to be back. Well, study abroad brought me back to Florence and Venice and it was magical and wonderful, especially to share it with Melia. We took the train from Paris to Milan, then to Florence. We left Paris the day before a scheduled rail strike (another miracle). The train ride is through the alps. I'll be honest, I didn't see much scenery because I was either grading or sleeping. It was a great train ride. 

Thank you, Emily Burdette, for taking this picture. You noticed how great my outfit looked against the yellow wall and I love it.

First of all, I had been told we stayed in "apartments" in Florence. The place is called Residence la Contessina and it's just a few minute walk from the train station. It's a hotel with breakfast, but students stay in lodgings that are more like apartments. Wow, they weren't kidding. I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the door and saw an entryway, steps to a main level with a kitchen and living area, and more stairs to a loft with a king bed and a twin bed. There was a bathroom on the main level. I immediately texted friends and told them to come quickly - I had room for guests. It was incredible. I also had a fridge in which to put my last bottle of Dr. Pepper Zero. The hotel has a courtyard with tables and umbrellas for shade. Mel was in the room next to me. I told her she could come over anytime to get a break from roommates or to use the bathroom. She did use my bathroom most mornings to shower. Natalie, Maile, and I went exploring and got some pasta at the "food court" in the market. 

The view as I opened my door

the loft

photo of living and eating area from loft

Kitchen, fridge is on far left

Bathroom

Look at this dreamy courtyard where we relaxed and graded and played games

First dinner

Our first full day in Florence started with a visit to the Ferragamo Museum. I had no idea that Salvatore's wife was much younger than him and that, when he unexpectedly passed away in his 50's, she took over the business. She grew that empire while raising 6 kids and remained very dedicated to home and family. It was a very impactful visit. Then we went to the Uffizi and saw some great art. A few of us participated in a pasta making class in the afternoon. Natalie, Michaela, Thomas, Emily Burdette, Ella, Eliza, Emily Napierski, Ashley Berges, Maile, and I had a great time. We learned the most simple recipe and how to use a pasta guitar to cut pasta. It was a bit of a runaround to find the place. They told me the wrong address. When we arrived, a women tried to give me directions to where we needed to go. I wasn't following what she was saying, so Thomas came up and helped me. Then she leaned out the 2nd story window and gave directions to our whole group. We did make it, a bit late, but we made it. I plan to use this recipe in 215 and we've ordered some pasta guitars. 

Wanda Ferragamo

The museum highlights the balance of work and family - fashion and home and children

Items that belonged to Wanda

Found a great pizza snack 

some pieces in the Uffizi

Always look up

Birth of Venus

This view never gets old

Ok, just art that makes me laugh

Woo Pig Sooie - the wild boar is a symbol of Florence. Wild boar is in some traditional foods

I made these

and this

Sitting down to our yummy creations

We took the train to Prato to go to a fashion museum that had a Kimono exhibit. A guide took us on a tour and taught us about fibers, weaves, textiles, and the history of manufacturing in Italy. There were historical pieces of clothing, which I always love seeing and admiring. At one point, we all sat on the ground while she told us about WWII and how it affected the clothing industry in Italy. I loved the story time aspect and students seemed to really enjoy it. During WWII, all imports were banned, so clothing manufacturers weren't able to procure fabric. Clothing manufacturing stopped. People started gathering up old clothing and running it through something like a paper shredder. That created fibers that could be used to make new yarns and fabrics. The town of Prato has a large Japanese population and I can only imagine how impactful the beautiful Kimono exhibit is for them. There were so many colorful pieces, displayed in an absolutely beautiful manner. We grabbed gelato before we had to get on the train back to Florence. 

Embroidery from the 1700's

I'm fascinated by gathers and pleats that were done by hand

Bustle

Story time

Kimonos

This print resembles the kimono below

Look at how beautiful Prato is

We had class time that afternoon and one student could barely sit. She had been sick earlier in the trip. She had fainted (or almost fainted) twice on the trip, one time earlier that day. She came to class time anyway to participate. She didn't look good. We had a good discussion about what students have seen and learned in Florence. After class time, we sent students in pairs to navigate their way to a local pizza place to get dinner for the group. The sick student could hardly get up. She said she'd be fine. Natalie helped her to her apartment for a minute while I sent groups off. Once all groups were on their way to pizza, I went to see what was up. The student really wanted to go get pizza. Natalie was almost convinced, but I put my foot down. I told her that we were not equipped to deal with a medical emergency if she were to faint on the walk there. I gave her some snacks from my apartment and Natalie and I left, promising to bring her pizza. The pizza place, with which we had previously arranged for this dinner, was prepared with yummy pizzas for us. We took the pizza slices and cookies to some nearby church steps and enjoyed a dinner in the shade. Within an hour and a half, I was back with pizza for the student, who said she'd been fine all along. Well, later that day Natalie and I got texts from her parents and had to arrange to take a phone call from them that evening (with their daughter's permission). We explained what we saw, how she seemed, her fainting, etc. They were grateful we had watched out for her. They also told us that she faints often and is fine afterwards. She was supposed to be wearing a medical bracelet, but we'd never seen that. Things went well after that. 

Mel and I had some quality shopping time. I had been wanting to buy a dress. I'd looked and looked. Mel and I went into a lot of stores that we'd walked past. I tried on a very expensive one-of-a-kind silk/cotton blend dress with smocking and embroidery. Sadly, it was too big. If they had it in my size, I think I would have dropped almost $800 on a dress. I joked that I would have been married and buried in it. It was so adorable. Mel helped me realize it was too big and encouraged me to keep looking. No regrets. 

On Thursday, we went to see the David. I was excited to see Mel's reaction when she saw it. She said that she'd already seen it. There is a replica in London. That makes me laugh. There's nothing like the real thing. After seeing the David, I decided to explore the rest of the museum. I walked into other rooms to see beautiful artwork. I even discovered another floor, where there was beautiful gilded work from the 1300's. I was so glad I explored. I especially loved a piece that showed the judgement day with the rich and influential being ignored and the poor, children, and widows getting attention. We walked up the steps to the top of the Duomo. I was really proud of one student who is afraid of heights and did it. A couple of students chose to not climb it. It's hot and has tight spaces. Great views, though. We also walked around the baptistry and escaped the heat in other museums in the square. Went shopping with Natalie to a leather shop that she remembered from last time she went there. I got a really nice green leather bag. That evening, a few of us walked together to see the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo. I understand that most of our group, if not all of them were up there, but I only saw the few people that were with me. On our walk back, there was a man creating huge bubbles for kids to play in. I couldn't help myself and joined the kids chasing bubbles. 

Look at the details on this sculpture. How do they do this?

Jesus and Mary

Judgement day

Duomo 

The dome on the Duomo stands because of some miraculous, never-done-before engineering with bricklaying

Tile floors in the baptistry

Me and Natalie with Chad and Patsy Gibbs

Sunset with Emily Burdette, Natalie, Maile, Bruce, Michaela, and Thomas

We found the BEST gelato place. It's called Gelateria La Carraia and it has the best flavors. We also walked around and found a very nice men's shoe maker. That was cool to see. We all went on a tour of a leather school that is housed in an old monastery. It was such a beautiful setting - very serene and inspiring. We saw some very expensive and exotic leathers and learned about the family-owned and run business. Then we went to the Piti Palace and it's adjacent Boboli Gardens. The weather in Florence was hot. I had forgotten to bring my fan, but bought one in Paris, as did many of us. We used our fans a lot in Italy. We didn't get rained on, though. I was very grateful for the great weather we enjoyed the whole time. 

Courtyard of the leather school

Watching artisans at work

Piti Palace

Such a delicate fairy

Probably my favorite in Piti Palace

Symmetry in the Boboli Gardens

Symmetry in a bathroom

Bathroom tiles in Piti Palace

A break from the heat with umbrellas, fans, and shade

Natalie, Michaela, Thomas, Ashley Berges, Lauren, Eliza, Bruce, Sierra, and Cami

THE gelato

Stefano Beamer shoes

I thought I loved 3 days and 2 nights in Florence. Almost 5 days is GREAT. We were starting to get a little tired of museums and palaces and churches, though. 

Top of the Duomo

Natalie, Maile, and me around Florence

Fan girlies - me, Ashley Berges, and Natalie

This is what 25 people getting ready to board a train to Venice looks like