When You Put In For Mamma...

Buongiorno a tutti! Speriamo che stiate bene!
(Good day everyone! We hope that you are all doing well!) PS props to Katie for writing that sentence using, dun dun dun, the SUBJUNCTIVE! (which she just learned). PPS thanks to Ari for supporting Katie in such a sweet and public manner (which she just did).

Hokay. We will begin by warning you that this post is not going to be that long, because we have our final for our intensive Italian class tomorrow...which is very lame. We both need to go study A LOT. So bear with us as we attempt to cogently summarize our amazing weekend in Florence, and the surrounding events.

First off, we ended up leaving Padova a full day earlier because of that train strike that was supposed to happen last Friday. It did not end up happening because no one can plan here... for anything... except us. So we got to Florence Thursday night after a two hour train ride and quickly located our lovely palace of a hostel. We are actually not being sarcastic when we call it a palace, because it was basically a nice hotel designed for young people. For 20 Euro a night, we got: a nice room in a startlingly pink hallway with private bathroom and shower, air conditioning, flat-screen tvs in the rooms, and a balcony. In the hostel there was a restaurant, a bar, a discoteca, a swimming pool, pool table, ping pong, full-service spa, internet café, and rooftop terrace. And it was packed with fun-loving youngsters from all over the world. We couldn't believe our good luck! (slash, Katie's good internet searching). That night we stayed in to eat dinner and ended up hanging out with some of the other hostel residents. We played cards and made merry with a couple awesome Aussies who have been travelling all over Europe together.

The next morning we woke up, found a fun little café called Bar Mama! where we ate breakfast and made a serious schedule for our time in Firenze. We headed over to Chiesa San Lorenzo and got our first taste of some of the incredible Florentine artwork. San Lorenzo is the official church of the Medici family (the family that basically ran Florence, and later Tuscany, for hundreds of years). The founding father of the Medici dynasty is buried (along with Donatello) underneath the main sanctuary. After taking in some lovely frescoes, we walked outside to the Central Market to browse the massive row of stalls. We were accosted by the young Italian stall-boys, who apparently are much more aggressive the further south you go in Italy. The best pickup line that we have heard so far in Europe happened here. He shouted 'Ragazze, you dropped something!' And when we turned around, he put his hands over his chest and said 'My heart.' Awwww. Not. But we got a good laugh out of it. Amid the array of brightly colored scarves and sweet leather jackets, we found a little stall to stop and have lunch. Long story short... we had no idea what the names of the sandwiches meant, and we still have no idea what we ate. The only word we recognized was tripe. We did not eat that, but what we did try... looked like... animal chunks. But it did not taste as disgusting as it looked. We swear. And we celebrated our willingness to try the local fares, even when we didn't have any clue what it was.

Next we walked over to the Galleria dell'Accademia, where we had our first museum experience of the trip. Let us just say... for those of you who have seen pictures of the statue of David by Michelangelo (which, we are sure, is most)... when you turn the corner in the Galleria and see David in all his glory at the end of the hallway- it is breathtaking. Pictures cannot even begin to do it the justice that it deserves.. seriously awe-inspiring. We also discovered a new favorite painter at this museum, Alessandro Allori, who does some incredible detail with flowers in all of his works. We were told that it would take a half hour to get through the Galleria, but naturally, it took the two of us two hours. Afterward, we wandered the streets until we reached Ponte Vecchio, a beautiful, old bridge lined with glittering fine jewelry shops that spans the Arno River. As you can see... not a bad view. We met up with some of the boys from the program on Ponte Vecchio, had a mini photo-shoot, and then found a little jazz restaurant down the street. Walking back, we grabbed some FANTASTIC gelato, and were treated to an outdoor opera concert in an old market area. Wonderful. Then it was time to get our groove on. Impromptu dance party at the hostel discoteca with some program kiddies until 3 in the morning when we decided sleep was a better plan.

Somehow we managed to drag ourselves out of bed the next morning, to begin a very busy day of art-viewing and generally spazzing out all over the city at how much beautiful stuff there was to see and do. The first thing we did was head over to the Uffizi, where we made a reservation for later in the day. We discovered that that day, and only that day, admission was free (usually 14 Euro). We decided that when we put good energy into the universe, it comes back to us in ways like this. In the meantime, we went over to the Duomo, the most famous Florentine church. After viewing the basilica, we climbed the 404 stairs to the top of the Campanile (bell tower), for some breathtaking views of the city. While at the top, we officially lost our hearing abilities when noon arrived, and the bell started to ring. In fact, the bells continued to ring in our ears for quite a while afterwards. After struggling back down 404 stairs, we picked up some delicious focaccia and cheese to go and were admitted into the Uffizi.

There is really nothing that we can say about the Uffizi that would accurately express how unbelievable it was, so we will just say this. We spent a solid 4 hours wandering around the most awe-inspiring collection of art either of us has ever seen. Some favorites include La Primavera (Botticelli), Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi), Bacchus (Caravaggio), The Birth of Venus (Botticelli), Adoration of the Magi (unfinished, by da Vinci), Adoration of the Child (delle Notti), Amore e Psiche (Crespi)... and MANY MANY more that we can't remember. Outside of the Uffizi, there is a piazza filled with neoclassical sculptures, including Katie's all-time favorite work of art... The Rape of the Sabine Women (here pictured). It is a masterpiece of graceful, flowing marble that displays an incredible array of emotion. Truly inspiring. After that intense artistic experience, we were completely drained, so we walked back to the hostel for a much needed pre-dinner nap. For dinner, we found a tiny little family-run trattoria on a side street, where we had an amazing typical Florentine meal. This included fabulous tortellini, Florentine bistecca (think massive, juicy steak), Tuscan white beans, Tuscan wine, and tiramisù. We split all of this and were more full than either of us can remember being. Ever. True to form, we also managed to make friends with all of the tables around us and the sweet ladies that ran the restaurant gave us a discount on our meal because she liked us so much. Also possibly because she didn't speak a word of English, so we translated for the Americans around us who were having serious communication difficulties. This made us feel very cool.

On our final day, we were sad to realize that out of the many hundreds of possible things left to see in the city, we only had time for one: the palace of the Medici, Palazzo Pitti. Out of all of the palazzi that we have seen thus far (a good number), we ranked this one far above the rest. First off... ENORMOUS. Secondly, absolutely saturated with art from floor to ceiling. Our favorite thing about the art in this particular location is the incredible mix of secular/mythological with religious. A lot of the art from the time periods that we have seen is religiously based, but this palazzo has mythological figures in the frescoes of every ceiling. They also have a fascinating collection of period costumes, which was fun for the two of us, since we like to imagine ourselves dressing up and attending balls. Thirdly, another extremely lucky event was the free admission to both the Palazzo Pitti and the MILES of gorgeous gardens behind (usually a total of 20 Euro). It was free only for that day. Fourthly, the previously mentioned gardens... dotted with lovely statues and filled with a labyrinth of winding, woodland paths. Basically what our childhood (and present) dreams are made of.

We would like to stop and take this opportunity to effusively thank our parents, and all those who made it possible for us to be here, doing this. When we walk to school every morning among the charmingly crumbly old buildings, we think about how lucky we are to be here.. and want the people responsible to know that we could not be more appreciative. Thanks, responsible peoples. We loves you.
And as our grammar rapidly declines, we thinks it is time for a nap. Oh wait, we can't. We have a final tomorrow. This school is interfering with our cultural education/playtime. Silly school. Please don't judge us.

Until next time...molti baci! (many kisses)
Le Ragazze