The Medicis

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.

The Family Arrives

Day 26: Tuesday

Last night I fell asleep at 10:30 without getting any reading done, but I definitely needed it. I still don’t feel better, and it sucks sitting in class having to sniffle and cough every couple seconds and be that annoying person. Thankfully Dylan brought me some tissues from the bathroom! We can sleep in longer than in Rome because the walk is so much shorter. Since barely any of us could get on the internet to get our readings we just talked a little about Machiavelli in general, but Petrie’s classes are rarely structured anyway. After class Elli, Kari, and I wandered to Pont Vecchio and saw all the beautiful and expensive jewelry. Then we  grabbed sandwiches at a café and ate them sitting outside Chanel looking at the Palazzo Vecchio and the replica David. While we were eating a gypsy lady came up asking for money, and usually if you don’t make eye contact and ignore them they go away, but she sat there forever begging at me and I just ignored her, and finally she kicked my foot to get my attention and then walked around yelling something. Apparently gypsies are more aggressive in Florence!

After lunch we walked home and I took a shower and a nap because I was still exhausted. Then we had to go back to the Accent center for a lecture on Florentine history. The lecturer was good, and he’s giving us our tour tomorrow, and he taught us some interesting things. It’s hard to pay attention when our only connection to the internet is at the center during class, but our internet at home seems to be improving. The boys’ network works better, but ours still doesn’t work at all, and Accent is completely unhelpful. All they did was give us a phone number, but they don’t speak English and just hung up on us. Accent Florence seems to be even more unhelpful than Accent Rome! After the lecture, Elli, Brandon, Joe, Dylan, and I wandered into the church that’s right off the piazza where class is (which has a market during the day!), which was cool, but not as extravagant and some Roman churches I’ve seen. Then we went home because it was time to meet my parents soon, and at 5:45pm we made our way over to the Duomo where I said I would meet them. They were waiting for me on the steps! After we said hello we decided to go somewhere to eat, but we passed right by my apartment so I showed them around, and they got to meet a bunch of people on the trip. Then we wandered back along the river toward Pont Vecchio where we found somewhere to eat, which was pretty good, especially the gelato. After dinner we wandered back over to Palazzo Vecchio where we had lunch so my family could see it, then we went back to their hotel. As we walked along the river the sun was setting and it was absolutely beautiful! Florence is the most picturesque place I’ve ever been. Their hotel room also has a beautiful view of the river. We hung out there for a while, then decided to come home to get reading done and get ready for bed. We got lost getting out of the hotel, and we found it funny we could find our way around anywhere in Rome, but couldn’t find our way through a hotel. We have all busy days this week, and I’m still exhausted all the time and I wish I could breathe normally. Hopefully the sickness passes soon!

Kari and I on Pont Vecchio

Pont Vecchio

My Family with David

Arno and Sunset

View of Florence from Hotel

Welcome to Florence

Day 25: Monday
Made it to Florence! We woke up at 6:45am in order to have enough time to get us and all our luggage to Termini by 8:50am. We left the house around 7:40am and there was a bus in no time, which we were worried about being full, but we made it on. The only struggle was lifting my bag up there. I have my huge suitcase plus a heavy duffle bag full of all my books and all our community kitchen and bathroom stuff. We made it to Termini and found the rest of the group with about a half hour to spare. I feel horrible because I'm now full-blown sick with a cough and a runny nose and congestion and a sore throat and a headache. That combined with the carrying of all my stuff to the station made me pass out on the train, and we were in Florence before I knew it. Getting off the train was much easier, and soon we found the Accent lady who took us outside and updated us about the day and our apartments. We got cabs to our apartments, and now it’s just me and Elli in one room and Sarah and Breanne in the other. Some of the boys, Mike, David, Chris, Don, Alex, and Andrew, are across the hall from us, but Kari, Kelley, and Amanda live in a building around the corner, while Brandon, Dylan, Joe, and Brian live far away. The apartments are amazing though! Not only is the location much better because there are actually people outside and we live in the shopping district about five minutes from the Duomo, but the apartments are just better than Rome. They’re huge, and we have so many more dishes! Our shower actually has a place to hang the head so we don’t have to hold it the whole time, and it’s full sized. We have a living room area which is huge with a couch and two chairs and a table and a tv. The only thing about the apartments is the internet. Ours doesn’t work at all, and the boys’ is spotty and goes in and out all the time. So that will be fun.

Living Room

Kitchen

Bedroom

 After we dropped our stuff off we decided to go eat, and we found a café right across the street where I got a mini pizza and some fruit. Then we walked over to the Duomo because we were meeting the Accent people at 1pm, and it’s amazing! It’s way bigger than I thought it would be, and the façade is gorgeous because it has color! Greens and pinks! It’s amazing, I can’t wait to see it more.

Duomo

We had a small walking tour of the area in which they showed us all things we don’t need to know about and did not show us a grocery store, which is the only thing anyone cares about. Then they took us across the river (I got to see Pont Vecchio!) to the Accent center where we had a short orientation where we learned almost nothing of importance that we didn’t already know. We got our class schedule, which really sucks because we’re going to be super busy this week and I will barely get to see my family when they’re here tomorrow and Wednesday. Thankfully Petrie decided not to hold class today though because everyone was struggling and needed a siesta. We went home and tried to figure out the internet to no avail, but I managed to send an email to my parents and a message to Jordan to let them know I made it. Then I gave up and decided to take a nap since I was tired and still not feeling well. When I woke up we were all starving so we wandered out to find a place to eat, and we didn’t go far until we found somewhere. I had four cheese risotto but it was way too cheesy and I would’ve much rather have had what Mike had, calamari and fries. After dinner we had to find groceries, so we found a grocery store near the Duomo but the selection was extremely limited, but we got enough to last us until we’re better oriented and can find a better supermarket. We stopped for some gelato on the way home, then desperately tried to get on the internet, which worked out better than before. I was able to check all my email and tweet and post a status, but it took forever. I have pretty much given in to the fact that our internet is going to be shit the entire time and I’ll just have to go on the internet at the Accent center during and after class. So pictures and blog posts may be significantly less frequent while I’m in Florence. It’s a beautiful city though and I’m already so in love with it. Since we live in the shopping district everyone is even more well-dressed than normal and it is amazing. Gucci and Louis Vuitton and Tiffany’s and many more are literally right down the street. All day there’s been balloons outside, and there’s people out there jamming to guitar now, and they let the balloons go over the city and it was beautiful. I’m not looking forward to a busy day tomorrow already and trying to figure out everything with trying to see my family, but I am so excited to see them and show them my cute apartment and introduce them to my friends. I’m going to try to get some reading done for class I guess since there’s no internet and nothing else to do, and then I’m going to try to get to bed early tonight because I’m still exhausted and sick. First day in Florence=success! (I'm able to post during class...sorry Petrie).

View out of the window of balloons

Last Day in Rome

Day 24: Sunday

Woke up around 11:30am, made sandwiches for breakfast/lunch, then got ready to go out to the market to get a couple last things. We went out with Brandon because he wanted us to help him find scarves for his mother. We didn’t make it out until about 12:30 so we knew they wouldn’t be open much longer, but I managed to find a pair of shoes for ten euro and a scarf for one euro. Elli bought two pairs of sunglasses, a new purse, and these shoes that I really wanted if they had them in my size. Brandon found a scarf for his mom and some sunglasses! Then we walked down to the river to the lemonade place, but there was some confusion about our order this time and we didn’t get the same thing we wanted, and it was more expensive. Oh well, it was still good. Then when we got home I got to talk to Jordan for a bit, then I siested until about 7:30pm. Then it was time to start packing and getting ready to move out of Rome! I finished packing in no time, but it’s going to be a struggle with my heavy bags tomorrow. Then we ate the rest of our food and did the massive pile of dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and took the trash out. I started not feeling very well, as in a sore throat and headache and feeling hot and cold at the same time, so I hope that doesn’t get worse. It’s so crazy that I’ve been living in Rome for three weeks. It feels like I haven’t been here at all, and at the same time it feels like I’ve been here for forever. When I was going through my packing stuff I found my American money and it was so weird to touch and look at! And when I tried on a t-shirt yesterday it felt weird and uncomfortable. I am glad that I got to experience Rome, but I don’t think I could stay here for a longer amount of time. I feel pretty much like I’ve done all there is to do in Rome that’s worth doing. It’s just that everything here is so beautiful but so degraded from the tourism industry. I won’t miss the morning tram, and certain things about Rome and Italians make me so angry. Of course there are the things I love and will miss though, like the fountains everywhere! I am going to miss being in Rome and I can’t wait to come back eventually, but I am also very excited to get to Florence. My family made it to Venice fine, so I’ll be seeing them on Tuesday in Florence after I figure everything out. The train leaves early in the morning and I have to get up around 6:45, and I really need to sleep. Rumor has it we don’t have wifi in our rooms in Florence, so I can’t promise that I’ll still continue to blog as much as I have been since it will be much more difficult to access internet. Time for bed! Finally!