We went to Florence, or Firenze, as it is known locally, for the weekend. Very interesting experience. We had an option to stay overnight and come back before Monday morning or we could ride the bus back to Montepulciano at the end of the trip. Surprisingly enough, about half the class decided to go back on the bus. I was pretty shocked, I thought everyone would be aching to get out and cause mayhem in a bigger town. I guess most of us are watching the pursestrings though. It was strange to discover that Firenze is not the cleanest city. There is actually graffiti everywhere you look. Some of it is pretty artistic, but most of it is trash and makes everything look awful.
We went to the Uffizi museum and had a guided tour through the whole gallery. Well, maybe not the whole museum; we looked at selected pieces, but it was pretty amazing. We saw Cimabue, Giotta, Fillipo Lippi, Michaelangelo, Raphael, and a lot of others. The most exciting part of the exhibit was the fact that I was able to see Artemisia Gentileschi's work. She's my favorite artist from this time and I never thought I would be able to see it in person. Most exciting part of the trip! We had a lot of fun and had a very relaxing night. We ate dinner at a cute little ristorante and walked around some and took pictures off the Ponte Vecchio. We had gelato for dessert and met some strange street performers. I passed out probably by 10:30 and woke up around 9. In the morning, we went through the market and haggled some but I didn't buy anything. I think we're going back in October and maybe I'll buy something then. We'll see what my money looks like and if I can find something I absolutely need to have. Once we got back to Montepulciano I was exhausted. I had a very relaxing Sunday and got some reading done for classes. Now it's time for the new week!
