When class started up again last Saturday (*groan*), we hiked halfway up the side of a mountain to see San Miniato church and its awesome graveyards. The church was and still is a Dominican church that houses monks. The church itself was beautiful inside with a mix of Romanesque and Gothic features. The altar, if you can picture this in your head, was a split level. The upper level was the altar and directly below it was the crypt, so cool! We also explored the vast and exquisite graveyard around the church. The graveyard kind of creeped me out a bit walking around it, but it was so interesting to see the different and ornate tombs from what we have in America. Sunday we explored the Santa Maria Novella train station, which I have seen multiple times before, but we actually learned about its history and architecture. Turns out, the train station is pretty cool! And afterwards on that rainy Sunday afternoon, I tried some good old Italian hot chocolate! Very delicious, but too rich for me! Basically was like eating melted chocolate. This past Monday was our day trip to Pisa! Pisa is a typical Italian city; cute and quaint, but houses THE most visited monument in all of Europe: the leaning tower! The leaning tower is a must-see sight if you are ever in Italy. What I never knew was that the tower is part of a larger architectural experience with Il Duomo de Pisa and the Baptistry. The leaning tower itself is actually the bell tower for the church. Another very interesting fact I discovered while exploring the Piazza de Miracoli, or the Piazza of Miracles which houses these three buildings, is that all three buildings are sinking/leaning as well! The front part of the church is no longer straight nor is the front of the Baptistry! The soil conditions in Pisa are very soft and made of sedimentary rock. Did you also know that Pisa rivaled Venice as a port city but now is almost 6 miles inland! Crazy! We were lucky enough to go up to the top of the Leaning Tower, and boy what a climb that was! Not only were there tons of stairs, but when you got to the leaning side, even though you were climbing stairs you felt like you were walking down a hill! Such a weird sensation. The view from the top was of course gorgeous, but the slippery marble from the ongoing rain that day made me pretty nervous! Moving on to last Wednesday, we went up the hillside from Florence to Villa Gamberaia, one of the best preserved Renaissance Villas. We explored the Renaissance and the Mannerist gardens on the property along with meeting the cutest little Yorkie named Chicho! Chicho was wearing a Zebra dress as well! I pretty much wanted to take her home. The bus ride and winding walk to the villa wasn't so great but the view from the top is always worth it! Today we just got back from a day exploring the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The Uffizi is famous for its Italian paintings such as Boticelli's Birth of Venus and Leonardo da Vinci's The Annunciation along with many more outstanding works. Now I am on a 3-day weekend...I know life is rough! But I actually have a bit of homework to do this time along with getting to see and explore the things in Florence I have been putting off! We leave for Rome a week from tomorrow and then only a week in Rome and then....I'm home! Crazy to think this trip has gone by so fast! Next week we are going to Sienna and we are also going to have a group 'Thanksgiving' dinner...I will be interested to see what that will entail. Ciao!
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