Last Friday our class traveled to Florence for the third time. This time we went with our Music History teacher, Mossimo, to the Academia. The Academia was a very small museum in comparison to museums we've been visiting. We spent most of our time studying Stradivari instruments (violas and violins) and we also got to see the first (and one and only) vertical piano. The Academia is also home to Michelangelo's David, technically no pictures were allowed, but I was able to sneak a few.
After the Academia I traveled up to the highest point in Florence (the Michelangelo Piazza) to see the stunning view (see pictures.)
Saturday I took a day trip to the small town of Assisi. It took two hours to get there and since only two buses travel between Siena and Assisi each day I only had four hours in the town. Assisi is known for St. Francis who started the Franciscan Monastery. The town was beautiful, but the streets were very confusing so I spent about 2 hours of my trip lost and just wondering, but I got to see the real Assisi! After I finally got situated I spent my remaining two hours
in the St. Francis Basilica. This was by far the most beautiful church I've seen since I've been in Italy. Actually, it's two churches built on top of each other. The bottom level, of course being the oldest housed the tomb of St. Francis and mostly Byzantine artwork. The top level was covered in frescos by Giotto.
On Sunday the weather in Siena was beautiful, so Ada, Lucas, and I spent the afternoon by a small fishing lake about a mile hike from our house. (see pictures)
Italy's Flag
Map of Italy