Last note from Italia

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Milan. We'll arrive sometime early afternoon and have that time to do a little sightseeing. Thursday morning we leave around 11 a.m. and then back to the Gump around 10 p.m.

Once at home, I'll try to post a few more pictures so you can see how beautiful Assisi was today!

More pictures

Rome:
Dome @ St. Peter's Basilica
Pieta by Michaelangelo (St. Peter's)
Trevi Fountain (tossing coins)
Fashion in Rome!
Pantheon

Florence:
Giant head at the Boboli Gardens

Life is beautiful!

Instead of trying to play catch-up, I'll just hit the highlights. our time is about to come to an end here, and i wonder how i will transition back to regular life! enough of that--we still have a lot left to do, including Assisi and Milan!

Monday through Wednesday we were in Roma. that was one of the prettiest cities i've ever seen! we stayed in a lovely neighborhood full of oleanders pruned in a way you don't see at home, and they were all in bloom. i saw the SPQR everywhere! We went to Vatican City and had a tour through some of the galleries, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. that is one amazing church--Michaelangelo's Pieta was...wow. Did you know that the sculpture is actually looking inside Mary's mind? She's really holding a baby, but she's already thinking ahead to what's going to happen to her son.

We visited the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, Trajan's column, the ancient ruins, the catacombs (where early christians were buried), where paul and peter were in prison (Mammertine Prison), and ate some delicious food, including Saltimbocca! Pantheon, Spanish steps and probably other places i am forgetting at the moment. A reading of The Chronicles of Italy (aka, my journal) will be available for those thirsty for more!

The Thursday we came back we had scheduled a visit to the Uffizi (art museum), where i saw some of the most wonderful pieces i've always hoped to see! The biggies for me were Boticelli's La Primavera and the Birth of Venus. I can't even begin to write how many things i saw in there! it was pretty much heaven around every corner. That night, we went to the opera...La Traviata. it was a very intimate setting in a church. i think this was a new experience for almost everyone in our group; it was a perfect cultural event for an Italy trip!

Friday morning we left for Venice! It was like going to a resort. the hotel was actually on an island south of Venice called Lido...gorgeous! Rome was beautiful, but this was a different kind of beauty. One thing i've always wondered is whether Venice really did have that ethereal haze that artists always render in their paintings. the answer is YES! i don't understand how, but it does. We visited the Basilica of San Marcos, the Doges Palace (Duke of Venice), a museum with lots of old beautiful books and all kinds of weapons (daddy, they even had a sword that doubled as a gun! i wish you could've seen it.) And yes, we took a gondola ride which is every bit as exciting as you'd think. well, maybe i should say relaxing. Carlos didn't sing for us, but he did whistle and point out where Marco Polo was born. We took the bus out to the island of Murano to see where they make the famed Venetian glass. Alas! we ran out of time and had 10 minutes to run in a few shops, so we didn't get to see the art in action.

Today we're back in Florence. It's been a free day for the students--they are frantically studying for their Italian final tomorrow which includes memorizing the first 20 lines of Dante's Commedia. I have to say that i absolutely LOVE being in my position right now. No worries about studies or credits or pretty much anything. i can enjoy my time here completely! Remember when you were little and always wanted to be a grown up? Then you grew up and said, i want to be free like i was when i was litle. i think right now is the vision i had of being "grown up" when i was little. It's a beautiful thing!

Tomorrow is another day in Florence, Tuesday Assisi, Wednesday Milan, Thursday fly back home. I may get in another post before we leave, but if not, ciao! see you soon!

Pics: me at the col., gorgeous carved letters at the forum, Venice! our gondolier, sunset from the vaporetti (water bus in Venice) and san marcos entrance.

Siena & Ravenna

So the past two days have been day trips away from Firenze. Friday we went to Siena, which was a very quaint town. i loved all the winding, climbing streets. The city center was a huge gathering place where they also have horse races. We went into the zebra cathedral (I forget the real name) but the inside was made of black and white stones placed in horizontal stripes. The heads of all the popes went around the top (carved stone ones of course). i think it was one of the prettiest churches i've seen so far. Now, as opposed to the stone heads, the next church we went to had the FINGER and HEAD of St. Catherine. oh yes. i kept thinking "The Finger of Joe Don." i have a postcard of each. this relic biz is wild!

Lots of learning

Wow, two days pass and lots to tell you! Here are a few highlights. yesterday we went to see the infamous David at the Acadamia. Wow. i'm not even going to try to explain it...we'll have to talk later! it was amazing. We went to santa croce (pic) and saw where michaelangelo and gallileo were buried. i also saw st. francis' cowl! Dante, the man of the trip, is the statue pictured in front of santa croce (pic). they want his bones real bad, but ravenna says no dice! you exiled him, too bad now! but inside they still have a humongous shrine to him. at the duomo museo, we say the original baptistry doors, michaelangelo's pieta (pic) and donatello's mary mag (pic in front of crucifiction).

today was the very touristy pisa. i have to say it was a dream come true, right up there with meeting bob barker on the price is right. only the bob b. one will never come true. this is better though! i have been afraid from a young age that the tower would fall down before i got to see it. here i am leaning against it. it's hard work to hold this big ol' thang up. then we took the bus on up to fiesole and saw the most amazing view of the city. of course, the climb up the hill was the steepest thing i've ever walked. but it was worth it! also, i had to work off the hazelnut and mint chocolate chip gelatto we had earlier. :)

Let's talk about food

Today was definitely gelatto day! It was part of the Dante Quest assignment to try two different gelatarias (please excuse all the spelling!) and see which is best. I can't decide which one! So far i've tried chocolate, coffee, pistacio, chocolate chip, strawberry, watermelon and lemon. They are all incredible!!

We also visited the Tuesday market which had beautiful displays of fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses. Cafe latte is divine as well. isn't the candy display pretty?

Time for dinner! Ciao!

Il Duomo

Today we climed the over 400 steps to walk around the top of the Duomo! Seeing the city laid out beneath us was incredible. On the way up we were also able to see some up close views of the paintings on the dome inside. Lots of scary pics of people in Hell. A lot different from our loving messages today! We also had our first Italian lesson today which was fun. Jennifer is a great teacher.

Tomorrow we go to the San Lorenzo market to practice Italian and then run around Firenze to see the places mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy. We'll also tour his house and museum.

It's warm, but there are nice breezes. i've learned to be ok with sticky.

Michelle, i took some pics of a fruit and veggie stall--will post those asap! (Along with some other amazing views!)

Mama, tell Grandma and Papa that i saw Terry Edwards and his family at church yesterday! He is leading another group in Italy and preached for us. He asked after them and wished them good health. His son and daughter-in-law are actually workers here at Avanti. Kristen and I have had the best time chatting about good ol' HU! We have discovered a lot of mutual friends.

Wish y'all were all here--it's so beautiful and my neck is about to break from looking up in awe all the time!

Top: Ponte Vecchio
2nd: Fruit stall down a side street
3rd: view of Firenze from top of Duomo
4th: me after many, MANY steep stairs!

Like Hannibal...

We've crossed over the Alps, but not on elephants. We had a marvelous trip and arrived in Florence hot and tired. We've all had showers now and are about to go for dinner. more soon! Pics are of the group and the Swiss Alps.

ETA

The week has finally arrived! We leave this Friday, the flight route being Mongtomery to Atlanta to Milan. We should arrive in Milan 9:00 a.m. on 07-07-07! Then we have about a 3 hour train ride to Florence. Hopefully I can update by Monday. Ciao!

I've given in

Now I can communicate easily with everyone as I travel about Italy!