My last post detailed my amazing weekend with my grandparents, but this post will highlight my amazing, slightly younger, friends. Because abroad students have so many other friends studying in Europe and because travelling is so easy and relatively inexpensive, very few weekends are actually spent in one's "home city" while abroad. This weekend, James and Sam came to us and we indulged in some of the finest tourist attractions that Florence has to offer. All weekends start early because we don't have classes on Friday (and I don't on Thursday!) but I spent my Thursday pacing for my boyfriend to arrive. We had our first experience with RyanAir, a lowcost and nearly always delayed airline which I will be flying more than once this semester. The boys' flight got delayed by 3 hours after they had made the 40 min trek to the airport, making them approximately 6 hours early for their flight (you could say he was as excited to see me as I was him :). The Florence crew had planned a true Italian welcome dinner, including chicken caccitori, bruchetta, caprese salad, garlic bread, and vino. We planned the meal for when they were supposed to arrive around 9 pm, making it truly an Italian timed meal, but their new 12:30 arrival was not conducive for our grumbling stomachs, so we ate without them. James has not felt the need to buy a European cell phone, so I left him with descriptive instructions on how to navigate from the train station to my apartment since I had no clue what time they'd arrive. I sat, accompanied by two very good friends, hardly able to contain my excitement. They finally made it to Florence a little after midnight for a reheated bowl of chicken caccitori.
Saturday, James and I tried a cute little panini place for lunch and then reunited with Dugan, Caroline, JD, and Sam at the Duomo. We had passed the impressive cathedral multiple times everyday for the last month, yet not made it inside. What better way to get a view of Florence and the cathedral than from the top of it? So, we set out to climb the 461 stairs through the double-layered dome, to one of the highest points of the city. We had several breaks to admire the painted ceilings which made the climb much more manageable. Afterward, we headed to Santa Croce, another massive church in Florence, home to the resting place of Michelangelo and other famous Florentinians. Once again, Caroline and I were forced to wear our "modesty kimotos" (new name this time). Its a tough task to dress that modestly when its still 90 degrees at the end of September. I have learned to appreciate every detail of a piece of art, art of all kinds, in only 3 meetings of my art history class. Churches, and Florence in general, make this tough. James made a point that it's difficult to take in and fully analyze the intricacies of an entire renaissance building. You'd need days in a place like Santa Croce. I haven't even attempted the Uffizi or Academia yet. That night, we had a nice family dinner out and then a relatively wild evening out. It tends to happen when you get a few Davidson kids reunited.
Saturday, James and I had decided on having a date-day of sorts. James suggested visiting the Pitti Palace and the Boboli gardens while the weather remained nice and with a stroke of luck, admission for the entire grounds was free on that particular day. We strolled through the palace (massive collection of art once again) and through the gravel paved paths of the gardens. We didn't see as many flowers as we were expecting, so we kind of had enough of the shrubbery and decided to climb yet another hill to Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato Church. This peak offers a Southwest view of the city, spectacular on a clear day, and a great spot to take a seat, especially if you've got a cute boy by your side. We climbed the gazillion steps to San Miniato Church, the oldest church in Florence named after a martyr from the 3rd Century AD who lived as a hermit on the hillside where the church now sits. He was beheaded for his beliefs and, as legend has it, he flew back to his home, carrying his head. The Church served as a model for many of the later churches of Florence and the cemetery out back is something INCREDIBLE.
We wrapped up the day with a nice dinner at Acqua al Due. Highly recommeneded by all travelers to and through Florence. Afterwards, James and I sat amongst the statues in Piazza della Signoia where he told me the story of Perseus and Medusa -- full of knowledge, that boy. We then moved to the bridge next to the Ponte Vecchio, took a seat and enjoyed the view. Its easier to appreciate the Ponte Vecchio at night when you can't see how nasty the Arno really is.
Today, we had an almost-eventful morning getting James and Sam on a train to the Pisa Airport. Electronic ticketing machines are a great idea, until someone holds up the line in confusion. The boys made their train... running. Afterwards, we set out to Impruenta for their annual Grape Festival. Nice idea, but not what I was expecting. I envisioned an Italian version of the Lincolnton Apple Festival: Farmers bringing their harvest, local artists selling their products, and churches making bbq. While there were a few vendors (one where I found pollo fritte... YES, fried chicken!!), most of the afternoon revolved around the central square where each section of the village put on a performance to compete for top prize. I've never seen more elaborate costumes and floats with beautiful green and purple grapes as decoration. However, I don't handle crowds all that well (must be something about growing up in a small town) and having thousands of on-lookers crowded into one small square all shoving to see the same thing is not my idea of a good time. So, we watched for about the first 30 minutes or so and gave up to checkout the free samples. After each performance is over, anyone is welcome to take as many grapes from the floats as desired. Needless to say, if you leave it to 5 girls on a college budget, you'll have a kitchen stocked of grapes for a while.
In all, I had a great weekend. We go to class each week living for the weekends and my weekends have a lot in store for the remainder of the semester. I posted plenty of new pictures. Enjoy and ciao!
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