La Piazza Michelangelo

Ciao amici!

It is now my fifth day in Firenze, and it's crazy how much Italian you can remember when you have to. It's also very cool to go to class in the morning, then go out and use what you learned in the afternoon, just by walking down the street, going to eat, or asking for directions.

Before I get started with what I've been up to, here is a picture of my school:


It is located in the Piazza San Spirito, which has a cool little market in the morning, and usually some entertainment in the afternoon, like these jugglers:


As an update on what I've done the past few days:

Yesterday I walked up the hills of Firenze with some of my fellow study abroad-ers to la Piazza Michelangelo, which provides an incredible panoramic view of the city. Here are some pictures:



I took the opportunity on the way down, as it was getting pretty dark, to take some night shots of the city, here:


In the above picture you can see the Duomo (the dome toward the right), which I believe I posted a picture of yesterday.



Below is the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Firenze. On the left side of the bridge is the Uffizi Galleria, one of the most revered galleries in Italy. And to the right of the bridge is the Palazzio Piti, which is where the Medici family lived. (The Medicis basically ruled Florence before there was a united Italy.) The way it used to go was that the rich families in Italy, like the Medicis, used to sponsor artists, meaning that they would feed and house artists who would then paint for them. Thus, the Medicis basically supplied the paintings in the Uffizi. My Italian teacher last semester told us that there is a secret passage underneath the Ponte Vecchio where the Medicis used to keep the prized paintings so no one could steal them. And one day, when the River Arno flooded, they ran around frantically trying to get all the paintings out before they were ruined. So I'm pretty sure they don't keep anything valuable down there anymore.


Lastly, this is what I've been doing when I get home at night after dinner (which, since Italians eat so late, is usually between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.):


That's right. That's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In Italian. I'm only on about page 10, but it's awesome. :o)

My itinerary for the next several days includes trying to get tickets for Madama Butterfly, the opera that is showing here on Friday, and taking a bus to Siena to check out the Tuscan countryside on Saturday. Then on Sunday, I am registered for a bike tour of Tuscany, where I should bike from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the hills, with a stop for lunch and, of course, wine tasting.

But of course, the most important item on my agenda, is staying away from the giant river rats. Seriously, these things look just like rats, they're about two-feet long, and they swim in the river. I found a picture online, here, that describes them as Coypu. Gross.

Anyway, check back, because there are more pictures to come!