Day 27: Wednesday
Once again I fell asleep right away last night, and we got to sleep in about an hour, but it didn’t really help much. We met at 10am at the Medici Chapels for our tour with the same professor from yesterday, Professor Ruggeiro, but we like to call him Rocky. The tour was excellent and we learned a ton about art and architecture. First, we entered the crypt where we learned that the Medici family died out in the 1700s. For those who don’t know their Western European history, the Medici family members were major political players from the late 1400s until the 1700s when they began to lose power and die out. Our tour guide told us the story of the family’s coming to power. The patriarch of the family, Giovanni, established the Medici bank, which made the family rich and famous. Then, his son, Cosimo, propelled the family into prominence. First he was condemned to death for treason by his business rivals, but he was able to pay people off to reduce the punishment to banishment. He was only banished in Venice for a year before the newly-elected rulers of the Republic of Florence brought him back. From then on the family rose to power, until eventually they became royalty. The family produced two popes, a queen of France, and many dukes and grand dukes. We learned all this as we walked through our tour, looking at the burial places of the men Rocky was referring to. After the crypt we entered the Chapel of Princes, where the Medicis who became grand dukes are buried. Rocky told us an interesting fact that the material called porphyry, which is purple in color and extremely valuable and rare because it comes from Egypt, is only used for structures for royalty. The Medicis had porphyry on their graves, putting them on the level of kings and empowers. Next we entered the New Sacristy, designed by Michelangelo, where four more Medicis are buried. We spent a lot of time there discussing what Michelangelo was trying to do with the room. It is the first room where Michelangelo tried his hands at architecture, and at first it looked completely unremarkable, until Rocky told us everything that was going on inside. There was so much contrast and conflict within the room that it’s impossible to explain, especially when you’re not looking at it, but basically everything in the room is opposite, and the design of the alter implies that Michelangelo found his artwork far more important than the Medici family which it was designed to house (Michelangelo loved the Republic). Another interesting fact is Michelangelo did not finish the room because he voluntarily exiled himself from Florence when the Medici took over as royalty and the Republic ended. He literally left his sculptures piled in the middle of the room, three of them unfinished. Another artist later on came in and assembled the sculptures, but no one is sure if he did it correctly or not, and the entire theory of the theme of the room is thrown out the window if this is true. The favorite fun fact I learned about Michelangelo is that he never sculpted women's bodies, but instead sculpted a man's body, then placed breasts over it. I never knew so much information could be taken from such a small and relatively unimpressive room. Finally, we entered the church of San Lorenzo. We entered the Old Sacristy which also housed buried Medicis, then finally the basilica of the church, where in the middle Cosimo is buried under a giant symbol of the Medici family, a shield with balls on it. At this point the tour was over and it was already noon, although it didn’t seem like a two hour tour, and I went home to get ready to go to lunch with my family. Mike decided to come with, and we crossed the river to find a place to eat, and ended up eating right next to Accent.
After lunch Mike and I walked along Pont Vecchio back to Accent, then it was time for class. I was so tired I could barely stay awake during class, but that’s what happens when you’re sick and don’t get a siesta! We’ve been so busy everyday for over a week that I need a day to sleep, but I don’t get one! Thankfully class was only two hours, and I wanted to nap after, but I was meeting my family for dinner, so shortly after we got home, Elli and I headed over to the hotel to meet up with them. We decided to go to the restaurant we ate at the first night because I didn’t want anymore pasta or pizza, so I got calamari and fries. After dinner we got gelato, then my family came back and picked up a bag of my stuff that I decided to get rid of, as well as the souvenirs I bought for them, and then they headed out. It sucks that I only got to see them for a little bit and all we did was eat because I was so busy with class stuff everyday, but I’ll be home soon enough. They are headed to Rome, so I showed them all the places to go on the map. After they left I wanted to go straight to bed, but pretty much everyone else left, so I decided to go over to the boys’ and steal their internet so I could post and actually use the internet. I’ll be going to sleep soon though, probably without reading for class again, because I need to sleep in order to recover from this sickness. I felt slightly better today though, and I can finally breathe, so I’m hoping by tomorrow night I will be well enough to go out on the town in Florence. We’re having a hard time figuring out what to do this weekend since Milan is too expensive and all the hostels in Venice are booked, and we have no internet to look things up except during class. We’ll figure something out I guess. Tomorrow we have class and then another tour of the Uffizi, but we should be done by 4pm so I can finally siesta. Then Friday we only have class, thankfully! It’s been a busy week, but I’m in love with Florence. So many beautiful people everywhere! Can’t wait to explore more of the city when I’m not sick and we actually have time.
Once again I fell asleep right away last night, and we got to sleep in about an hour, but it didn’t really help much. We met at 10am at the Medici Chapels for our tour with the same professor from yesterday, Professor Ruggeiro, but we like to call him Rocky. The tour was excellent and we learned a ton about art and architecture. First, we entered the crypt where we learned that the Medici family died out in the 1700s. For those who don’t know their Western European history, the Medici family members were major political players from the late 1400s until the 1700s when they began to lose power and die out. Our tour guide told us the story of the family’s coming to power. The patriarch of the family, Giovanni, established the Medici bank, which made the family rich and famous. Then, his son, Cosimo, propelled the family into prominence. First he was condemned to death for treason by his business rivals, but he was able to pay people off to reduce the punishment to banishment. He was only banished in Venice for a year before the newly-elected rulers of the Republic of Florence brought him back. From then on the family rose to power, until eventually they became royalty. The family produced two popes, a queen of France, and many dukes and grand dukes. We learned all this as we walked through our tour, looking at the burial places of the men Rocky was referring to. After the crypt we entered the Chapel of Princes, where the Medicis who became grand dukes are buried. Rocky told us an interesting fact that the material called porphyry, which is purple in color and extremely valuable and rare because it comes from Egypt, is only used for structures for royalty. The Medicis had porphyry on their graves, putting them on the level of kings and empowers. Next we entered the New Sacristy, designed by Michelangelo, where four more Medicis are buried. We spent a lot of time there discussing what Michelangelo was trying to do with the room. It is the first room where Michelangelo tried his hands at architecture, and at first it looked completely unremarkable, until Rocky told us everything that was going on inside. There was so much contrast and conflict within the room that it’s impossible to explain, especially when you’re not looking at it, but basically everything in the room is opposite, and the design of the alter implies that Michelangelo found his artwork far more important than the Medici family which it was designed to house (Michelangelo loved the Republic). Another interesting fact is Michelangelo did not finish the room because he voluntarily exiled himself from Florence when the Medici took over as royalty and the Republic ended. He literally left his sculptures piled in the middle of the room, three of them unfinished. Another artist later on came in and assembled the sculptures, but no one is sure if he did it correctly or not, and the entire theory of the theme of the room is thrown out the window if this is true. The favorite fun fact I learned about Michelangelo is that he never sculpted women's bodies, but instead sculpted a man's body, then placed breasts over it. I never knew so much information could be taken from such a small and relatively unimpressive room. Finally, we entered the church of San Lorenzo. We entered the Old Sacristy which also housed buried Medicis, then finally the basilica of the church, where in the middle Cosimo is buried under a giant symbol of the Medici family, a shield with balls on it. At this point the tour was over and it was already noon, although it didn’t seem like a two hour tour, and I went home to get ready to go to lunch with my family. Mike decided to come with, and we crossed the river to find a place to eat, and ended up eating right next to Accent.
After lunch Mike and I walked along Pont Vecchio back to Accent, then it was time for class. I was so tired I could barely stay awake during class, but that’s what happens when you’re sick and don’t get a siesta! We’ve been so busy everyday for over a week that I need a day to sleep, but I don’t get one! Thankfully class was only two hours, and I wanted to nap after, but I was meeting my family for dinner, so shortly after we got home, Elli and I headed over to the hotel to meet up with them. We decided to go to the restaurant we ate at the first night because I didn’t want anymore pasta or pizza, so I got calamari and fries. After dinner we got gelato, then my family came back and picked up a bag of my stuff that I decided to get rid of, as well as the souvenirs I bought for them, and then they headed out. It sucks that I only got to see them for a little bit and all we did was eat because I was so busy with class stuff everyday, but I’ll be home soon enough. They are headed to Rome, so I showed them all the places to go on the map. After they left I wanted to go straight to bed, but pretty much everyone else left, so I decided to go over to the boys’ and steal their internet so I could post and actually use the internet. I’ll be going to sleep soon though, probably without reading for class again, because I need to sleep in order to recover from this sickness. I felt slightly better today though, and I can finally breathe, so I’m hoping by tomorrow night I will be well enough to go out on the town in Florence. We’re having a hard time figuring out what to do this weekend since Milan is too expensive and all the hostels in Venice are booked, and we have no internet to look things up except during class. We’ll figure something out I guess. Tomorrow we have class and then another tour of the Uffizi, but we should be done by 4pm so I can finally siesta. Then Friday we only have class, thankfully! It’s been a busy week, but I’m in love with Florence. So many beautiful people everywhere! Can’t wait to explore more of the city when I’m not sick and we actually have time.
