The Italian Adventures Continue...

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Ciao ciao ciao

The end of week one...how has it gone by so quickly?! I came on this trip not knowing what to expect (and not being able to tell my mom anything about it other than I was going...sorry mom!). With that being said, this week has given me more of a daily schedule expectation and shown me a small part of how wonderful and unique Florence really is.

Touring the Uffizi with Antonio as our guide was eye-opening to the different ways there are to interpret art. I have never been someone who can pick a piece of art apart and find all of the hidden meanings, I just like to look at it because it is pretty! Antonio showed me that art is so much more than what you see by just glancing at it and taking a picture to post on Facebook later. My favorite art piece that I would LOVE to have in my home that we talked about was “La Primavera” by Sandro Bottichelli. Greek mythology has always been something that I find interesting so hearing all of the underlying meanings was really interesting to me. It will be something that I tell my family about when we talk next. Antonio looks at art like it’s a story or a movie, it makes me want to look at it that way too! I have found myself taking more time to really look at the art in order to see if I can find the symbolism in them. This tour definitely changed my outlook on art, it’s not just meant to be something to look at because it is pretty...it is truly a story that the artist wanted to tell captured by a picture or sculpture.

My absolute favorite place that we have been so far would have to be the Innocenti museum. This was the very first orphanage in the world and I believe it set the basis for the modern foster care system that we use now. Being there was very emotional for me, children hold such a large place in my heart and hearing about what those children went through was heartbreaking. Parents who decided that they could not or did not want to raise the child that they had made would just put the child into a wheel and ring a bell in order to be “unburdened” by their child. The saddest and most interesting thing that we saw - in my opinion - was the archives about children who had passed through there, along with the artifacts that their parents left them. These artifacts ranged from ornate necklaces to rusted nails on a piece of string. I had tears in my eyes thinking of the children who held onto these things hoping that they would eventually find their parents. Hearing about all of the babies that died because of the less than ideal conditions of moving a newborn to multiple places broke my heart too. I think that the creation of this safe space for children without parents showed the generosity and love that the patrons of Florence had for their children. I was really interested to hear about how they decided to educate and train these children in things like art, music, and poetry in order to help them succeed in the future. I think that this goes to show that early childhood education was looked at as extremely important, hundreds of years ago. I hope to go back to this museum before we go home and learn even more!

Finally, the Pitti fashion events! I had no idea what to expect from the networking event that we got the opportunity to attend but it was very interesting. Initially we walked into the event and it was extremely overwhelming but being greeted with Prosecco definitely helped overcome the apprehension! I was confused about why there were Styrofoam and men in Carhartt’s with pantyhose over their faces but we realized that they were making the art while also making a fashion statement about the Carhartt brand. The fashion show was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! I had no idea what to expect other than what I have seen in magazines and videos of fashion week. The atmosphere was unlike anything I have ever experienced with the flashlights and the siren-like music. With that being said, I was nothing short of impressed when the show was finished and we trecked through the dirt to see the final collection (so cool!). I think I will talk about that fashion show for the rest of my life, I was truly so lucky to have this once in a lifetime opportunity.



I’m really looking forward to going to Venice tomorrow and riding a gondola! More to come…ciao for now!

Xoxo, Jaci



Step Count:

1/10 : 16,971 (8.49 miles)

1/11: 10,872 (5.36 miles)

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