We've settled in here in Florence, and the apartments are great! Tonight we had our first dinner at the residence, and it turned out nicely. Each room was assigned a course and had €20 to buy ingredients at the grocery store. In our room, we had to make a vegetarian main course, so we made orzo pasta and sautéed vegetables, and the other ...
Yesterday was our last day in Rome, and one of our most interesting yet. We departed early in the morning for Vatican City, where we explored the accompanying museum. Many exhibits were closed, but the ones that were open were stunning. We toured rooms containing authentic ancient tapestries, woven with vibrant blues and reds. We also were able ...
Saturday, we were given a free day to recuperate and rest. I mostly hung out in our apartments which are four apartments of around eight people each set up in a residential building. In the evening we went to dinner as a group to this place that you get an all you can eat type of buffet when you buy a drink. The food was surprisingly good for ...
Today in art history we visited the museum of contemporary art. Our counselor had a friend who worked there and gave us a tour which was fascinating. He explained the meanings behind these rooms that together made a sort of sculpture. After the museum, I took a long nap because of all the full days we've had. Tonight was a master chef, each ...
On Tuesday in art history, we traveled across the Ponte Vecchio a bridge in Florence and visited a modern art exhibit. Our teacher taught us the timeline of the different stages of art starting at the medieval time up to today with contemporary art. In addition, he taught us different art movements in-between. After history, for a few hours, I ...
On Wednesday evening we went to a ceramics studio to learn about the history of ceramics in Italy. The artist, Enzo, taught us how to paint a traditional Florentine design on our plates. It was quite stressful to try and get it right but in the end, our plates looked almost professional. For Art History class on Thursday, we had a private ...
I admit, when I signed up to go to the opera, I had no idea what I was in for. I didn’t even know the name of the opera we were seeing, not that the name would have helped me. It was only afterward that I learned that Madama Butterfly is apparently a very famous opera. The Opera was not exactly what I was expecting. For one thing, the ...
On Saturday morning we took a bus to San Gimignano to climb the old medieval towers left in the city. It was a beautiful quaint town and the view from the top of the tower was breathtaking. We had time for lunch and before we left we stopped to get gelato at an award-winning gelateria, which was delicious. Then we traveled a short bit to ...
15 July, Wednesday An eventful Florentine day, filled with history. During my afternoon art history course, we went to the Academia. Michelangelo’s David has to been seen to be believed and I could have happily spent the entire class looking at it. It’s amazing to think that we are looking at an object that has lasted for hundreds of years ...
It was nice to go back to our classes from our busy weekend. I learned more about the amazing art that covers this unique city. Even though it is small and contained it is impossible to get bored of it. For afternoon classes today, Luna, our Italian culture teacher taught us some of the common gestures people use in Italy. It was really fun, ...