Field Study Part 2: Florence and Sienna

October 5th:
Today was dedicated to exploring Firenze (Florence). We started at the Uffizi Museum. The Uffizi is a huge museum that displays the Midici family’s art collection. After about 25seconds all the art blended together. It could be all the museums and churches we go to, but I would be happy if I never went to another museum or church ever! Haha! The one thing I did enjoy in the Uffizi was the paining Venus by Sandro Botticelli. I had seen the painting everywhere and always thought it was beautiful. For me, it was the highlight of the Uffizi. After the museum we made our way to the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge in Firenze.

(Top of the Uffizi Museum)

(Statue near the Uffizi)

(Statue near the Uffizi)

(Ponte Vecchio)

(Ponte Vecchio)

(Ponte Vecchio)

The Ponte Vecchio was pretty cool, but VERY crowded! We took our pictures and continued on our adventure. We decided to try and find the botanical gardens! Our walk took us up and down hills and all over Firenze. When we finally found the gardens we had to pay 8EU to enter... so we turned around and went to explore some more!

Later that day we decided to get a group together and climb to the top of the Duomo. The hike to the top was pretty difficult, but the 436 stairs were totally worth the view at the top!

(Climbing the stairs)

(View from one of the windows climbing the Duomo)

(Top of the Duomo!)

(Top of the Duomo!) (Photo by Stefano)

(Top of the Duomo! Me, Stefano, Lauren)

(Headed back down the Duomo) (Photo by Stefano)

After the climbed the Duomo we decided to reward ourselves with.... THE HARD ROCK CAFE!!! Where naturally I got.. NACHOS!!! It was a fun night.

October 6th:
Today we woke up early to go to the Academia Museum to see the David by Michelangelo. Now I know there is a Michelangelo in Las Vegas, BUT it definitely does no justice to the real thing! It was so exact and perfect in every way! It was also much bigger than I originally thought. It was truly a masterpiece! After the David we the Santa Croce Church. On our way we stopped at an amzing gelato spot. Stefano (the USAC cordinatior in Viterbo) swears its the best gelato in all of Firenze. After trying it I would have to agree.. might even go far enough to say the best in Italy!

The Santa Croce church was.. well another church. HOWEVER the tombs of both Michelangelo and Galileo are here. Fun fact: Michelangelo died the same year that Galileo was born. In the church they are buried across from each other to symbolize the continuation of a genius. Other than the the church looked the same as every one before it! After we toured the church we had the rest of the day to explore and shop. Since it was our last night in Firenze we didn't have trouble deciding what was for dinner... MEXICAN FOOD!!! That's right people.. I went to Florence, Italy for 3 nights and had Mexican food every night and I am PROUD of it! :)

October 7th:
Today we got up early, packed our things and headed to Sienna before breaking from the group and going Venice!

Sienna was a really cool town. First thing we did was check out a famous church! Like all the rest it was interesting. The one cool thing about this church was the floors, which are only uncovered for 2 months out of the year. Lucky, those months are September and October so we got to see the amazing marble floors that depict pictures of religious events. I will say it was pretty cool.

(Cathedral)

(Floor)

(Ceiling)

(Ceiling)

After the church we went to the Piazzo del Campo, where the famous Palio races are held every year. This was by far my favorite part. The horse race is between ten of the seventeen districts of Siena. The ten lucky districts are chosen by a lottery every year. This race is a HUGE big deal in Siena. Apparently there are a lot of behind the scenes bribery and other shady deals. There are also NO RULES during the race, and all cops and government officials leave the city walls during the race.. so basically anything can happen! However when the races are over celebrations last for 2 months and the winning horse is praised more than the jockey!

(Pouring rain!)

(Piazzo del Campo)

(Piazzo del Campo)

Naturally I had to plank the Piazzo del Campo. However, this time a guy saw me and came up and asked (in English) if I did yoga.. He was amazing I could jump high enough to get on top the the column! Then he asked if I could do it again, so I did and he and his wife took a ton of pictures posing with me planking! Haha it was pretty awesome!

(Pre-plank!)

(Planking!)

After the tour we had free time which we spent taking pictures, exploring, and checking out the Piazza del Campo. At 2pm a few of us headed back to the bus to get our stuff and get to the train station for our weekend in VENICE!

(Off to Venice!!)