the Duomo in Florence, Ponte de Vechia, and St. Peters
Showing posts with label Florence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florence. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
A few pics too
I ment to give you a few pics in the last post so here you go.
This building is the Laurentian Library, and the other picture is a pic of me in front of the Hog Statue. In Case you have forgotten we beat Auburn 44-23 that day.
Florence
I spent this past weekend in Florence and it was a ton of fun! We left by train on Friday morning and arrived in Florence at about 10 o'clock. We got to see all the big sight including the Duomo, Santa Maria Novella, the Laurentian Library by Michael Angelo, and the brother to Drooling Hog Statue on campus.
I also spent ample time in the leather market and bought lots of really cool Christmas Gifts. The purchase I am most excited about did not come from the leather market, but from a very famous leather shop called Misuri. They are famous for their gilded leather and the purse they designed for the queen. When I was here in high school I bought a belt and have loved it ever since. I was hoping to purchase another buckle for my belt, but they were so friendly and gave me such a good deal that I ended up buying a whole new Belt. Special thanks to Dean Maness from St. Agnes for giving me directions before I left this weekend I would have never found it without her help.
This weeks classes should be pretty low key. We are going to spend a lot of time studying St. Peters, and figuring out what needs to be done to prepare for mid-terms. I probably wont be seeing much of my roommates because they have mid-semester review for studio on Thursday. I am extremely gratefull that I do not have to take studio while here. It is allowing me to enjoy my experience 10 times more than I woudld have if I were in studio.
I also spent ample time in the leather market and bought lots of really cool Christmas Gifts. The purchase I am most excited about did not come from the leather market, but from a very famous leather shop called Misuri. They are famous for their gilded leather and the purse they designed for the queen. When I was here in high school I bought a belt and have loved it ever since. I was hoping to purchase another buckle for my belt, but they were so friendly and gave me such a good deal that I ended up buying a whole new Belt. Special thanks to Dean Maness from St. Agnes for giving me directions before I left this weekend I would have never found it without her help.
This weeks classes should be pretty low key. We are going to spend a lot of time studying St. Peters, and figuring out what needs to be done to prepare for mid-terms. I probably wont be seeing much of my roommates because they have mid-semester review for studio on Thursday. I am extremely gratefull that I do not have to take studio while here. It is allowing me to enjoy my experience 10 times more than I woudld have if I were in studio.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Update
I figure it has been a few days since my last post so I better update the world on what is going world. It has been an average week here in Rome filled with class site visits, and the first day to sleep-in in about 3 weeks. That great day came today. I slept until 11:00 it was amazing. This afternoon I went to lunch with my friend Mary Beth and then went to class at 4. WE had class at 4 because we did not have class this morning. Things I have setteled into a routine here which is nice. Tomarrow is Thursday which means the worse class of the week. We are meeting out on a construcation site for a new government build wich will be pretty cool. Hopefully the professor isnt planning of also lecturing becasue the site is about an hour away from the class. But this woman is crazy so who knows.
I am looking forward to this weekend. We are headed to Florence. It should be a wonderful time! This week I have also booked my Thanksgiving trip to Athens, and my weekend trip with Catherine to Cinque Terre. Both should be amazing trips. I plan to book the trip to Salzburg next week.
I am looking forward to this weekend. We are headed to Florence. It should be a wonderful time! This week I have also booked my Thanksgiving trip to Athens, and my weekend trip with Catherine to Cinque Terre. Both should be amazing trips. I plan to book the trip to Salzburg next week.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Orvieto
Ahh! It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Orivito is a quite little town, that is allmost 100% car free. The streets are small and a joy to walk. The big must see sites are very few. There are really just 3, the large cathedral, the old cathedral amd the bell tower. It is the little side streets and beautifully average mid-evil and renissance buildings that make you feel like you are on a movie set that really make Orvieto grand. It was an amazing escape from the city! I got to sleep in full size bed which was amazing, esp. considering that my bed here in Rome is a little less than a twin. We couldnt have ordered more amazing weather. Cool and Crisp, perfect for blue jeans and a light sweater.
We also traveled to Perugea for the day. It to was a lovely destination with a movie set feel. The we visited an entruscan well and a museum that contained may regligious art pieces. The day was very enjoyable.
Sunday we visited a few small towns to tour a small museum and see a Roman Theater. Both were very interersting and we returned to Rome mid afternoon. Over all the weekend was very enjoyable and a lot of fun.
This week should be a very nice one. Today we didnt have a tour, but a very interesting lecture. Wednesday our morning class got moved to late afternoon, so I will be able to both sleep in and enjoy lunch with Mary Beth.
We are jet set (more like train set) again this weekend and off to Florence. We are all looking forward to a lot of shopping and word on the street is that there is a Taco Bell in Florence as well.
We also traveled to Perugea for the day. It to was a lovely destination with a movie set feel. The we visited an entruscan well and a museum that contained may regligious art pieces. The day was very enjoyable.
Sunday we visited a few small towns to tour a small museum and see a Roman Theater. Both were very interersting and we returned to Rome mid afternoon. Over all the weekend was very enjoyable and a lot of fun.
This week should be a very nice one. Today we didnt have a tour, but a very interesting lecture. Wednesday our morning class got moved to late afternoon, so I will be able to both sleep in and enjoy lunch with Mary Beth.
We are jet set (more like train set) again this weekend and off to Florence. We are all looking forward to a lot of shopping and word on the street is that there is a Taco Bell in Florence as well.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wonderful Weekend
So, here you go. The post you have been waiting on since Wednesday. This weekend was the best yet. My visits to Tuscany and a 12th century castle for a wine tasting were probably the most fun I have had since I got here.
On Friday we had our first regional field trip, and we went to visit the narcropolis' of two small Etruscan Towns (Tarquinia and Cerveteri). We didn’t really know what to expect. We just met at the train station at 8:40 so that we could leave at 9 as we were told to so. We had assumed that we were going to take the train since we were meeting and the train station and that is how you get places over here. Boy were we wrong! After walking half way down the train station we went out a side door and began to questions our professors sanity, we walked up to a 50 passenger charter bus and were told to get on. Now you are probably thinking to yourself "Megan, so what? Lots of people travel on charter busses when touring” Yes this is true but keep in mind there were only 12 of us on this bus including the driver and our professor. Needless to say we all spread out and it was a very comfortable way to travel.
It took about 2 hours for us to get to Tarquinia and we spent an hour or 2 touring the tombs. They were very interesting. They were rooms build in large mound type huts. They were painted with very colorful frescos; though the color had faded you could still appreciate the art work. We then boarded the buss and went into the "downtown" Tarquinia to tour the museum and eat lunch. Having our professor with us at the museums over here is very nice because, one, he knows a lot about everything in the museums, and, 2, everything is written in Italian so with out him I would have little idea what I am looking at.
After lunch we hopped back on the bus and drove an hour back towards Rome the Narcropolis of the town of Cerveteri. The tombs of Cerveteri were really cool. They were much larger and when you entered them they actually looked and felt like multi room houses. They rose from the ground like large stone huts but instead of being build up from he ground they were carved out of the ground. It was amazing to think about how people in 400-500 BC were able to create such structures.
Once we were done touring we hoped back on the bus and headed back to Rome. It took us about 2 hours to get back to the train station because of traffic. Since we were close to the train station we decided to all go to Pizza Fantasy again. It was still not a Fantasy! At least this time more peopled agreed that it was mediocre Pizza at best since they were all sober.
Saturday was another early morning. I got up at 7am so that I could be at the train station in time to board a train at 8:40. I took the train to Florence where I grabbed a quick lunch and a very large homemade chocolate chip cookie. After my lunch I met up with my tour and boarded a bus for Tuscany. The sites are absolutely beautiful. It is the beginning of grape picking season and the finest Olive Oil producers will begin picking in the next week or so. Therefore everything in full bloom!
The first stop on our trip was to the small town of St. Brigida. In St. Brigida we visited the small, beautiful and quaint church of St. Bridgida which is built on top of the grotto where she lived with a bird after her brother died. We then continued our tour on to Castello del Trebbio. At Catello Del Trebbio we learned about the history of the castle and how it was once owned by the second most powerful family in Florence until they tried to kill of the Medici Family. We toured the castle and wine cellars and learned all about wine and Olive Oil from the Chianti Region of Italy. At the end of our tour we tasted 3 wines Chianti Classico, Chianti Reserve, and a Vin Santo. The wines were accompanied by local snacks. Everything tasted wonderful. After the tasting we had time to explore the vineyard and the gift shop. It was a very fun experience and the drive back to Florence was as pretty as the drive to the castle. It was nice to get to meet new people and spend time with a large group of people who speak English.
When I returned to Florence I had about 2 hours until my train left for Rome so I walked around the city and grabbed an anti-pasta for dinner since I wasn’t very hungry. The train ride back was much nicer than the train ride there because it was on a faster a train. The faster trains tend to be a little bit nicer. The train got into Rome a bit later than schedule. After a long but wonderful day I made it back to my apartment at about midnight!
I should have showered and gone straight to bed but instead I stayed up talking on the phone and facebooking until the Razorback game started the 2:45am local time and followed the first quarter on ESPN.com. With the Razorbacks up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter I decided I should call it a night. I did however roll over several hours later just in time to follow the very disappointing end to the game on my IPhone. Although we lost I still love the Razorbacks and miss football season terribly (almost if not as much as a I miss my family and friends).
Today is going to be spent resting and recovering from my weekend so that I can hit the ground running with new adventures next week.
Here are a few pictures from Tuscany.
On Friday we had our first regional field trip, and we went to visit the narcropolis' of two small Etruscan Towns (Tarquinia and Cerveteri). We didn’t really know what to expect. We just met at the train station at 8:40 so that we could leave at 9 as we were told to so. We had assumed that we were going to take the train since we were meeting and the train station and that is how you get places over here. Boy were we wrong! After walking half way down the train station we went out a side door and began to questions our professors sanity, we walked up to a 50 passenger charter bus and were told to get on. Now you are probably thinking to yourself "Megan, so what? Lots of people travel on charter busses when touring” Yes this is true but keep in mind there were only 12 of us on this bus including the driver and our professor. Needless to say we all spread out and it was a very comfortable way to travel.
It took about 2 hours for us to get to Tarquinia and we spent an hour or 2 touring the tombs. They were very interesting. They were rooms build in large mound type huts. They were painted with very colorful frescos; though the color had faded you could still appreciate the art work. We then boarded the buss and went into the "downtown" Tarquinia to tour the museum and eat lunch. Having our professor with us at the museums over here is very nice because, one, he knows a lot about everything in the museums, and, 2, everything is written in Italian so with out him I would have little idea what I am looking at.
After lunch we hopped back on the bus and drove an hour back towards Rome the Narcropolis of the town of Cerveteri. The tombs of Cerveteri were really cool. They were much larger and when you entered them they actually looked and felt like multi room houses. They rose from the ground like large stone huts but instead of being build up from he ground they were carved out of the ground. It was amazing to think about how people in 400-500 BC were able to create such structures.
Once we were done touring we hoped back on the bus and headed back to Rome. It took us about 2 hours to get back to the train station because of traffic. Since we were close to the train station we decided to all go to Pizza Fantasy again. It was still not a Fantasy! At least this time more peopled agreed that it was mediocre Pizza at best since they were all sober.
Saturday was another early morning. I got up at 7am so that I could be at the train station in time to board a train at 8:40. I took the train to Florence where I grabbed a quick lunch and a very large homemade chocolate chip cookie. After my lunch I met up with my tour and boarded a bus for Tuscany. The sites are absolutely beautiful. It is the beginning of grape picking season and the finest Olive Oil producers will begin picking in the next week or so. Therefore everything in full bloom!
The first stop on our trip was to the small town of St. Brigida. In St. Brigida we visited the small, beautiful and quaint church of St. Bridgida which is built on top of the grotto where she lived with a bird after her brother died. We then continued our tour on to Castello del Trebbio. At Catello Del Trebbio we learned about the history of the castle and how it was once owned by the second most powerful family in Florence until they tried to kill of the Medici Family. We toured the castle and wine cellars and learned all about wine and Olive Oil from the Chianti Region of Italy. At the end of our tour we tasted 3 wines Chianti Classico, Chianti Reserve, and a Vin Santo. The wines were accompanied by local snacks. Everything tasted wonderful. After the tasting we had time to explore the vineyard and the gift shop. It was a very fun experience and the drive back to Florence was as pretty as the drive to the castle. It was nice to get to meet new people and spend time with a large group of people who speak English.
When I returned to Florence I had about 2 hours until my train left for Rome so I walked around the city and grabbed an anti-pasta for dinner since I wasn’t very hungry. The train ride back was much nicer than the train ride there because it was on a faster a train. The faster trains tend to be a little bit nicer. The train got into Rome a bit later than schedule. After a long but wonderful day I made it back to my apartment at about midnight!
I should have showered and gone straight to bed but instead I stayed up talking on the phone and facebooking until the Razorback game started the 2:45am local time and followed the first quarter on ESPN.com. With the Razorbacks up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter I decided I should call it a night. I did however roll over several hours later just in time to follow the very disappointing end to the game on my IPhone. Although we lost I still love the Razorbacks and miss football season terribly (almost if not as much as a I miss my family and friends).
Today is going to be spent resting and recovering from my weekend so that I can hit the ground running with new adventures next week.
Here are a few pictures from Tuscany.
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