Buon Giorno, Tutti!
Saturday, we headed to Florence for a day of culture, art, and pushy vendors! We all met EARLY - caught an 8 AM bus (Firenze Rapida - the diretto takes 30 minutes longer and stops in all the towns between) and wove through the countryside to Florence. Since SPI had booked reservations, we didn't even have to sweat in lines! We strolled by the Duomo of the city (BEAUTIFUL), then into the Piazza della Signoria, with the Loggia della Signoria, which has some great ancient pieces in it. The kids had some free time before we entered the Uffizi to see infamous works by artists like Lippi and Botticelli. The Uffizi is no small place - you could spend DAYS in there if you wanted to take the time with each piece of artwork!
After a lunch break and some more free time (gotta get in that shopping - at the leather market near San Lorenzo, or at other random markets throughout the city - they know how to keep tourists busy!), we met at the Accademia to visit the David and see some other great works. They also have a museum of musical instruments in there (Natalie went there to check it out), then we had time to make an easy stroll back to the bus station to return to Siena. Some students even chose to stick around and check out other parts of Florence, and return home a little later.
But everyone was happy to be back in Siena - we all agree that we like it better!
Sunday was a "free day" for everyone. The note says to hang out with your homestay, but, with our adventurous group, they were ready to see Tuscany at its finest! Several students went to the beach (Amanda, Chelsea, and Rose actually went with their homestay; others caught the bus themselves, and had a great time - I saw them all at the bus station upon their return, some ruddy from the sun, some hardly touched, Clint's face looking a little strange, with small stripes of red on the sides - a tough lesson to learn, how to apply sun block FULLY - I had the same stripes on my arms from Capri for a week!). A few of the guys went to Arezzo, to see the Roman Amphitheatre and the Antiques market. Some girls went to Volterra (with help from their wonderful homestay family) to check out the palace . . . something with "Twilight!? I'm so out of the loop), and others checked out San Gimignano, and enjoyed even some countryside strolls! I think everyone returned, happy to be back home in Siena, and receive a little rest.
Today is the beginning of our second week. The kids can't believe how the time is passing! Today, we'll go on a stroll of St. Catherine's life, and learn about pilgrimages and the idea of patron saints. We will see the Church of San Domenico, where they have a relics of hers, then we'll go to her house, where we will see the floor on which she actually walked. Her house has been turned into a sanctuary (with scenes in her life, described in Latin), with a church in the courtyard. It's the central church for the Oca (goose) contrada. We'll then stroll down to Fontebranda (familiar to Sara and Shannon!), where the largest of the four great fountains of the city is located.
The weather seems to be getting a little warmer here, but in the shade it's still comfortable, with the breeze. We'll be enjoying Siena in its normalcy, and life in normalcy. We will be dealing with even laundry or packing up, as everyone will have to be packed before we meet to have our pizza-making party at the cooking school on Thursday afternoon-evening, seeing as we catch our bus to Rome early on Friday morning!
Speaking of Rome, please feel free to contact me if you'll be in Rome (Ralph!) when we're there - I'll be calling (on Wednesday) to make reservations at the restaurant and pizzeria for Friday and Saturday nights, and would love to include any of you who will be present! And, please, you can join us for our ancient Rome stroll on Friday or our medieval-Renaissance stroll on Saturday morning (or our Vatican visit on late Saturday afternoon).
Off to the fun of the week!
Laura :)
No comments:
Post a Comment