Fiesole

So yesterday I didn't post, but basically all of us students were introduced to the classroom we will be studying in for the next two weeks - it's very cozy and right next to Santa Croce and the old Florence Amphitheatre! Then, after going over some a presentation on what all our stay here will entail, we walked over to a lovely Italian restaurant where we had a delicious three course meal! The first was two types of pasta: a risotto with creamy pesto-y sauce and then a red meat sauce with penne. It was sooooooooooooo good!!! The second course was roast turkey with potatoes and a green salad, and then dessert was a melt-in-your-mouth panna cotta with caramel sauce.

Here are some pics:

...the lovely ladies above are some of my fellow classmates (including my roomie in the blue coverup!) - they're all so great!

After our meal (which left us groaning with appreciation), we met up with a local tour guide and art historian who showed us the main sites in Florence while giving us a really in-depth description of the history and development of the city from it's Roman days at Florentia to what it has become today!

Unfortunately it started to rain pretty hard so we all eventually made our ways back to our apartments. Then Sabrina and I whipped up a light but tasty dinner of bread drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinagrette, and then topped with fresh basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella! It was also amazing...

And so, that brings us to today! We started off by having our first class where our teacher (who hasn't been feeling well but toughed it through for us) lectured on the early beginnings of Italian art. She spoke of the Etruscans, who were the ancestors of the Romans, and how their art/culture was very similar to that of the Greeks and played greatly into the art of the Romans who overtook their society around the 3rd century.

We also touched on Romanesque and Gothic art/architecture and how they were approached differently in Italy compared to the rest of the European world. 

All this was very helpful for our day trip to the hill-town of Fiesole (fee-ay-soh-lay) which encompasses all three of these art traditions! We first visited the site of the old Roman amphitheater and the ruins of an old Roman temple (which were built on the foundations of an Etruscan temple), as well as those of a Roman bath complex. There was also a little museum with numerous artifacts - pottery, sculpture, a reconstructed grave, etc. - from the Etruscan and Roman eras. It was so fantastic.

Later on, we walked over to the Cathedral of Saint Romulus where we could only take pictures outside. It was a beautiful and old (year 1028) church built on old Roman temple remains. Inside it was dark and even smelled ancient with a glistening Gothic altarpiece and numerous frescoes on the walls.

Afterwards, Sabrina and I hiked up this hill: (notice the monk...)

and finally made it to the top where we saw these breath-taking views of the surrounding hillsides of Tuscany and Florence below...

We also ducked into the Monastery of San Francesco (where the monk above was coming from) and saw some more gorgeous art and their cute little garden. Unfortunately it was raining pretty hard so we decided to stop in at a little restaurant and grab a cup of hot chocolate and a slice of pizza margherita before catching the bus back home (although some of the ladies stayed in hopes the skies would clear and they might see a sunset). I and Sabrina, however, hung out with a couple girls we have become pretty chummy with and together we snacked on vanilla wafers and a cider-beer until dusk fell. Then Sabrina and I avoided the puddles and snapped some shots of the city at night. I gotta say, with wet cobblestones and cloudy skies, Florence is even more beautiful and magical. 

:)