Firenze

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Sorry I haven't updated in a while...oops its been almost a month. ANYWAY, Italy has been absolutely amazing obviously. Since I last updated, I have gotten myself a boyfriend named Lorenzo... who is actually my 17 year old (ALMOST 18 i SWEAR) host cousin that lives in the house upstairs. We havent really told the family yet because his older sister Sara is getting married at the end of the month and it might be a better idea to...keep these things to ourselves for now. lHe speaks...very little english so when we hang out our conversations are mostly in Italian. Luckily though, he speaks just enough to help me when I can't think of a word. But hes really nice, really attentive, and ill post a couple pictures of him in this entry.

Anyway, back to the real reason I'm posting, I was in Florence for the past 4 days with my class (Firenze in Italiano). We visited so many amazing places I feel incredibly "culturally/historically enlightened?" The train to Florence, which is in the Tuscan region of Italy, from Parma took about 2 hours... Wasnt soo bad. We got settled in our hotel and then it was off for the day's tour with our instructors. Just to add, our instructors speak english but they give us our lectures in English AND Italian. Its truly surprising how much I am able to understand. Italian has almost become second nature to me.

Of the places we visited we saw: The famous duomo (santa maria del fiore), the baptistry, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo, la Academia (where DAVID is), and much much more.. I'll post pictures because thats obviously more interesting than hearing me rant.

The food in Florence was...actually kind of disappointing. All of my friends were raving about how great it was but honestly I have had better food here in Parma. Because Italian regions are each known for their specific cuisine, you might find it interesting to know that the typical bread from Tuscany is made without salt....I have no idea why but in my opinion it is pretty disgusting... The WINE however was another story. No where else in the world can you feel completely confident when ordering a restaurant's house chianti. The wine was leggero (light) and secco (dry) which made for a very nice flavor. Don't get me wrong the food still met Italian food standards, just in comparison to the other experiences I've had, I was not completely blown away.

Lets see...what else...The weather is warming up, thank god. There are still random days where it is cold and dreary but the sunny weather is starting to make a come back. Again sorry I haven't updated but here are enough pictures to tide you over until next time.

Baci & Abbracci (Kisses and Hugs)
Michelle

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Photos

Duomo
Change of weather, finally some sun

the Duomo
Gorgeous shot of the front of the Duomo. Architechture was only finished in the 1800s.

Lorenzo
Yes...his hair is very long.. but here he is!

Lorenzo with my host brothers
Here is lorenzo (middle) with my host brothers Giacomo (left) and Giorgio (right). What a gorgeous family

Last one
Here is is (pink shirt). I think this one might be a bit older tho because he looks a lot younger in this picture.

Inside the Baptistry
Theyre big fans of Jesus. This whole roof is done in Medieval style mosaics

WE WANT YOU!
This reminds me of a nightmare I once had... Just an idea of how the Catholic church has been so successfully powerful here in italy. This was on the facade of the Duomo.

Ponte Vecchio
Here is Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge in Florence that crosses the Arno River. This bridge is lined with jewlery shops

Cuppola (sp?) of the Duomo
Here is the underside of the big dome in the famous Duomo. It was absolutely amazing.

View from the Top
After waiting 45 minutes in line behind about 3023409234 asian tourists, we finally were able to climb the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo. Completely worth it

yay!
Were so happy to have finally gotten to the top! Both feeling the burn in our legs

Campanile Tower
Here I am with the Campanile Tower behind me.. partially designed by Giotto, finished by Brunelleschi

Tourist Shot
Again posing with the Campanile Tower... you can never get enough photos... Thanks for hammering that idea into my head mom.

David!
I wasn't technically allowed to take this picture, but how can you just see one of the most amazing free-standing sculptures of the Renaissance without snapping a photo. I was very....inconspicuous

Piazza San Lorenzo
Here we are standing outside the church made especially for the Medici family. This family dominated florence for about 100 years.

Lauren, Nikki, and I
Look how cute we are in our sun glasses

Nikki and I
ahhh what a long day!