Finishing Florence

We are officially in Avignon, France! But its rainy and cold outside, so before we have new adventures, I thought I'd update on the last week. 

Basically, the last week of art was finishing up the last few museums and studying for our final/finishing up last projects to turn in. A bunch of people were also sick, so the week consisted of lots of sleep, vitamin C, and water! It was nice to have a chance to skype, email, and catch up with lots of friends and family back home, and because we officially completed the top 15 things to do in Florence (or so trip advisor says), so we didn't feel the pressure to be out and about all the time. It was nice to finally feel like I knew a city, but I was definitely getting restless by the end of our stay.

Our final wasn't too bad, and now were back to the races. We left at 630am this morning, and we were all doing homework for our other three classes the whole way here (except for the lucky ones who can sleep on buses...)

(*stay tuned for some awesome directions to my favorite places in florence.)

this picture does not do these sandwiches justice. on the recommendation of a fellow westmont student spending her semester in florence, we checked out this sandwich shop behind the Uffizi (down the street inbetween the plazzo vecchio and the Uffizi, on the right) our first week in the city. i think the best way to communicate how amazing it was is to say that some people went back every single day. by some people, i don't mean me, although i wasn't far behind! the bread was warm foccacia, just out of the oven, and the key was telling the guys who worked there to make you whatever they felt like. so... salami, cheese, sundried tomatoes, fresh tomoatoes, arugala, eggplant, and a bunch of spreads (olive, gorgenzola, truffle, ect.) were fair game. and they were the best food that i had in italy. hands down. 

inside the Pitti Palace

as we've traveled and missed the comforts of home, we wondered who the heck would want to live in a house like this? its pretty, but where are the cozy chairs and fireplaces? as tommy knapp so eloquently put it "can you imagine trying to find your mom in this house?" we might have gotten lost and ended up seeing a costume museum/native american tribute on the top floor. (that's right, we went to europe to learn about the indians) 

belvedere gardens

me, hayley, hayley, elizabeth, jess

me, tommy, jess

me, emily

me, hayley

view from the top of the gardens, overlooking Florence

painting by Fra Angelico that i had to do a presentation on. synopsis: this is (one of the many) "the annunciation"(s). its based off the story in luke when gabriel comes to mary. it's in the museo san marcos at the top of the staircase leading to the monks quarters and is placed there to "shock" them. no one knows why the black lines above their heads are there, other than to add perspective to the scene. perspective was just being uncovered at this point of the reniassance, and trust me... its harder than it looks. (notice how my paintings aren't pictured? watercolors are quite the challenge)

when this painting was assigned to me over the summer, i looked at it and thought it was bland. but after seeing so much elaborate art and cathedrals with reds, golds, and dramatic uses of light, i really like how simple this is. 

my super sneaky picture of michelangelo's david. there were picture cops up closer to it... they like to yell "no photo!" every time someone takes out their camera/phone (at any and every museum). we resist the urge to tell them to say "no photoS" every time. 

on a serious note: i'm not one for sculpture. it's beautiful in it's own right, but i have a lot more appreciation for paintings (something that i learned on this trip...proud mom?:)

BUT, this sculpture was amazing. it was built to stand on the top of a cathedral, not in a museum, so it's huge. but the david is gorgeous. there's this look on his face and his stance that just seems like he is so ready for what's coming. our professor said that the best sculptures "jump out" at you, and i thought he was ridiculous and repeated how thankful i was to be a bus/econ major until i saw this... we also studied donatello's david, and there is honestly no comparison. if you are ever in florence, this is on my must see list for sure. 

this is the indoor market near the leather market. think huge warehouse, with a farmer's market inside. it's very italian, with people yelling at you to sample their bread/olive oil and to take a grape. 

i wish that i would have taken more food pictures while i was here. but i figured this would do.

 i have to say... my last night jess and i got ravioli with ricotta, pears, and balsamic vinegar and that was the best meal we had in florence. (take the right before the leather market turns into the main street when you come from the Duomo. where the awkward people handing out flyers are... in case you're ever there)

a tribute to the election and the stress that it caused last week. we had a few brave souls who stayed up all night to watch the election (were 9 hours ahead), who were very sad come about 5am) 

welcome to the leather market! where aggression, strategy, and confidence will help you win big!

gelato place corrine found our last night! we went to a shop called venchi one of our

 first nights in florence and fell in love. it was around the corner from our hotel and one of the only places that makes their own gelato. aka... we went most nights. BUT, in the spirit of doing something different, corrine found the trip advisor "#1" gelato place in florence, and it was AMAZING. (it's one bridge past the ponte vecchio on the way to the park/us embassy) i'd recommend both as the two best we've had thus far. 

happy kylie!

ponte vecchio at night!

so now we move on. two last thoughts on italy. 

1. studying art in italy made the experience. honestly, i would have had no idea what i was looking at or why it mattered if it wasn't for Dr. Carlander. we had passes that got us into pretty much whatever museums/art/gardens that we wanted to see, and i was extremely thankful for how free we were to explore florence. 

2. over the course of our month in italy, i've been reading Acts. last night was the last chapter and Paul was arrested and being dragged all over the place and through ITALY. how cool is that? now when i think of what it meant for him to claim that he was a roman citizen, i think of rome, and everything we've learned about the government there. both make me super grateful for the places i've seen, and leaves me wanting to explore more :)