I love my lazy sundays...

I love lazy sundays and that's exactly what I had today. I went to sleep at 1:30am and slept until 11:20 in the morning! For those of you who know me, both of those are completely out of character for me. I hadn't slept so well since I've been here! It was great. When we finally left the house at about 1pm my roommate Shelly and I tried to find the gym nearby to get a membership but everytime we go, it's closed. It's the strangest thing. we're going to get an italian speaking person to help us decipher the voicemail. we just want to go to a gym! Tomorrow we're going to run on the Arno again because the weather has gotten so nice. It's definitely getting much cooler which is nice, but I love the heat and sun so I don't know how i'll feel about the weather in a month...
This afternoon we got a late lunch at a restaurant we found last week. The waiter was basically an Italian Vince Vaughn and quite the character. He constantly told us he loved us and after making fun of my 'intermediate' italian he decided to give us a discount on our two pizzas, a pasta and three glasses of wine (a total of 25 euros). It was a very enjoyable, relaxing meal. We did some planning for travel (since last night, three bottles of vino rosso did not facilitate that) and we've more or less figured out where we want to go this september.
After lunch we went to the Boboli gardens (free entry, no line...best thing ever) and 'did work'. The gardens were beautiful! Cosimo I built them for his ailing wife and that is quite the present. We only saw about 1/3rd of the actual gardens which means I'll obviously have to go back.
The rest of the day was pretty chill. I grabbed some more frozen veggies at the grocery for dinner, and got locked out so I sat across the street with a glass of red waiting for my roommates to get back. For the rest of the night I've just been doing some Italian and talking to various friends. Tomorrow is class! 1:30 Italian...I have such an incredible schedule. I love Firenze.

Siena

Siena today was amazing. I didn't realize how different it would be from Firenze until we arrived. The bus ride was about 45 mins long and we had to walk from the bus into the city because they limit the traffic in Siena. We started off with a two hour tour of the city, learning about the 'neighborhoods' (owl, wolf, forest...I couldn't decide which one I would want to belong to). Each neighborhood competes in a bi-annual horse race, the Palio and the winner gets braggin rights or something and a period of fasting. This year's winner, from the August 16th race was the owl neighborhood, so I think I'd want to be part of them...
The town itself was so quaint and unique. Unlike Firenze, every single building was old. The steep streets and twisting corners would almost inevitably lead to a view of the Duomo (not to be mistaken with the Duomo in Firenze, obviously), the Piazza del Campo or the Tuscan country side. It was breathtaking. Of course I took hundreds of photos so consult the web album to check it out. We ended our tour in the Piazza del Campo and went to find lunch. Despite the rip-roaring high prices of Europe, we managed to find a decently priced meal. Five of us went to a small ristorante, each of us got a pasta (I got penne all'arrabbiata...SO good) and we shared a litre of the vino rosso di casa (red house wine). The bill for each of us was only 6.30 euros! In my opinion, molto economico!
The next part wasn't so economico...we wanted to go inside the Duomo and we thought we would get a student discount (3 euros) but they don't like to give student discounts in Siena...so we ended up paying 10 euros for entry into the entire building (cathedral, baptistry, crypt and museum). We decided to get our money's worth so we went into everything except the museum (b/c of time). Everything was gorgeous. The facade, the marble inside, the frescoes, stained glass windows. Beautiful. I was a bit dissapointed with the crypt because it was essentially a contemporary sub-terranean space that had bits and pieces from the original crypt. I guess I was partly expecting some tombs or something...
Without sounding like a bad jewish girl, I find it a bit sad that these churches are no longer in use. They were built hundreds of years ago and managed to stay functional until someone decided to close it off as a religious location and turn it into a tourist site. Everything is roped off, people are pushing and shoving, and you have to pay a ridiculous amount to see all the beautiful art. I don't know why I was so bothered by this today. I understand the need for tourism but I feel that they could atleast have limited hours and try and maintain the original intention of the building.
Ok, rant over. Back to Siena. Following the overpriced church we wandered the tiny streets and stopped at the famous Siena Pasticceria, Nannini and bought the Sienese cookie, Ricciarelli, which is a soft, almond cookie covered in powder sugar. It was SO good. Obviously...not suprised that I like a baked good.
We left Siena around 4 and the entire ride back I attempted to capture the beauty of the Tuscan landscape using my incredible new camera but was plagued with bad timing and misplaced trees. I got a few good shots but I can honestly say that in order to see the beauty, you need to come and see it for yourself...
Tonight is trip planning night, accompanied with wine, of course...I think tomorrow I might actually try and go to a museum/church. I'm not sure if i've mentioned this but NYU gave us these AMICI cards which provided us with free, unlimited entry into almost all the museums and churches of Firenze. Meaning we can cut the line and not pay the 12+ euros to get in. INCREDIBLE...it's National Jewish Culture day so we're going to go get a free tour of the Synagogue, which is in the same neighborhood as us (Santa Croce). We'll see how that goes...

Siena Tomorrow

I think I forgot the beauty in doing nothing. When you go to a place you've never been you feel like you always need to be doing something. In Florence there's always a museum to see, a church to go to, an area to explore and a gelato flavor to try. But when I stop to think for a minute, I realize that I'm going to be here until December and that it's OK to have a day where I don't spend every minute of the day doing something. I woke up this morning to the lovely sound of two Italian men yelling back and forth from our kitchen to our bathroom, around 10am. Last night was a late night so I wasn't asleep until 4am. Our hot water was being fixed from 9-11:40 and the guys literally did not stop yelling. I stayed hidden in my room until they finally left at 11:40 and went from lying in bed on my computer to sitting at the kitchen table on my computer. Great progress.
Around 1pm two of my roommates emerged from their rooms, finally awake. Shelly and I decided that it was panino time so we threw some clothes on and went across the street. It turns out that this panino place we've been going to, Antico Noe, is considered one of the best panino places in Florence! It has rave reviews online. Now that my friends and I have befriended the people who work there, maybe we'll get a disconto?? We even hung out with Andrea last night and I think it's safe to say that we're not just being his friend for the panino. We carried our hot paninis back to our apartamento to do some work and about 30 minutes of 'doing work' we got bored and decided to go to Piazza Santa Croce to sketch/read. It was so relaxing to just sit and draw (even if it was done badly). It's definitely going to be a favorite pastime of mine. Maybe I'll go and try to sketch the duomo one day...ha.
That basically sums up my day. My beautifully simple day. I cooked dinner for myself again and despite not getting anything academic done today, I feel like it was a productive day. Tomorrow we're off to Siena for the day! Photos and stories are soon to follow...

Bringing out the Artist in Me...

This intro to painting class is going to be an awesome experience. I love art and I wish I were good, but I'm pretty sure I'm not...However, having a roommate who's good at drawing and taking a course in painting will hopefully improve any potential talent or mere ability that I have lying deep inside. The course seems very relaxed and our only homework is to sketch or paint as much as we can. So far, I have 'sketched' a lamp, an orange, a bobby pin and a still life that Nami set up for me. I tried the still life today (a bottle of wine, a mug and a peach) and Nami taught me how to do shadding. It was so much fun! I felt like a true artist. I even had pencil all over my hand when I was done. I'm going to keep practicing...Here's my first sketch that I'm not too terrified to post...

Amo Italia

It goes without saying that I love this country. Firenze is incredible and it seems that everyday I have something new and exciting happen to me and I fall more and more in love with it. This morning I got up at 7 15, took a shower and walked to class. I stopped for un espresso but it took me 40 minutes to get up to school. I walked way too fast because I was afraid I would be late but ended up being 20 minutes early and super hot from walking. It was well worth it because I love my 9am class. I'm taking Early Masters of Italian Renaissance Painting and it's so interesting. The professor is really good and he seems to know a whole lot about Firenze. I found out in class that the street we live on is one of the oldest streets in the city! For the class we're going to have a lot of site visits in the centro and in early October we're going to take a overnight to Padua, Mantua and Verona. It's going to be really fun to see different places with a Professor there to talk to us about what we're looking at. After class I had a break where I ate lunch and read for a course. Italian was right after and that went well again. My last class of the day was Introduction to Painting. I thought it was suppose to be from 3-7 but it turns out that the schedule was wrong and it's only suppose to be a 3 hour course! I was so relieved when I heard this. Plus, for today's class we didn't have any art supplies so the Professoressa got taxis for us to go downtown and buy our art supplies. I was out of class at 3:45 instead of 6. It was bellilssimo!
After class I met up with my roommate Nami and we wandered around the mercato centrale, she was looking for a purse, I was looking for shoes. Because we're in Italy and we're allowed, we bought mini bottles of vino rosso to accompany us on our shopping excursion. We were both successful! I bought a pair of handmade leather shoes from a shop near our house. The guy who worked there was so nice (like all Florentines, it seems) and he was helping us with our Italian. Everyone keeps saying that we'll be fluent by the end of the semester and I hope they're right! I love going out in the city speaking Italian to all the locals. It's really challenging but for some reason I'm not all that intimdated. Everyone is so friendly and willing to teach.
For dinner I just ate another panino from the same place as last night (another guy who works there was there tonight and his name is also Andrea...we thought he was pulling our leg but apparently there are two Andreas at this tiny panino store).Both Andreas a good panini makers....it must be an Andrea thing.
Tomorrow I only have Italian at 1:30 which will be so nice. Saturday we're going to Siena! NYU is having a day trip there for only 10 euros so my friends and I bounced on the opportunity! I can't wait to start travelling around Italy...I need to make a list of places I want to go! So many places, so little time...

Gli Miei Amici Nuovi

This morning I went for another run with my roommate Shelly. It was nice again to get out and run around the area, although it was a tad hotter today this morning than when we went in the evening, but still a nice run. After we ran we stopped at a fruit stand right outside our apartment (we live in the best location) and I bought fruit from the nicest fruttavendola (fruit vendor). She was so patient with my italian and she said she would remember us. She's going to be there all semester so I'm going to continue to buy fruit/veggies from her. I got two peaches and an orange for only 1.45 euros. I think that's cheap...who knows. My conception of prices has become so distorted being here.
I got up to school early so I could have a cheap lunch with my friends before Italian class. It was 3.00 euros for salad, bread and fruit. not too shabby. My Italian class went well again. I'm feeling very comfortable and it definitely helps that we have huge windows look out at the beautiful Tuscan landscape to distract me. It's an hour 15 min class which is nothing. My next class was my Sociology of Culture course. 2 hours and 45 min long. It's pretty brutal but the professor is this adorable italian women who completely understands that the length of the class is crazy. It seems like it will be a fun time. Hopefully I enjoy the sociology...
After class we walked back into the centro, bought some books and then grabbed dinner. Last night on our way home from gelato we decided to look at this ristorante across the street from our apartamento. This little alley, suprisingly enough, is really sketchy during the day but at night time it seems that all the crazies disappear and two cute ristorante pop up. One of those ristorante has a sandwich place with THE cutest italian boy, named Andrea, all of us have laid eyes on. He has fallen from a painting. He was very nice and, again, patient of our minimal italian knowledge. So tonight for dinner we all stopped by to get panini! They were SO good. We can make our own and I got mine with pesto, pecorino cheese, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and onions. SO good. Later my roommate Nami and I went right across the street to grab a glass of wine and talk...this little wine store has two benches outside and some snacky food if you want. We just got a small bottle of wine and sat on the benches and talked. Of course we met the guy who worked there, Fabio (yes, like the long haired large 'model'). He was so friendly, gave us un disconto on our vino and talked to us about school. It was a very relaxing end to the evening.
Today was such a great day because I feel like I'm really getting to know the Italian locals. Between the fruit vendor, the panini maker and the wine man, speaking Italian is becoming more and more comfortable. I have to get up at 7 15 for a 9am class tomorrow. I'm in class from 9-11:45 (Early Masters of Renaissance Painting), 1:30-2:45 (Italian) and 3:00-7:15 (yes, four hours, of intro to painting).
Buone notte!

First Day of Classes and Discovering the Gelato Gem

Classes started today. I was nervous for Italian and excited for History of the Italian Jews. By the end of the day I love Italian and dropped Italian Jews. I was under the impression that the class would be a bit more about religion (I'm not sure why exactly) but it's too much history and I won't be able to have it count towards my major. Plus it was a 3 hour class that was painful to get through. It seems interesting but being bored in the first class is never a good sign. When I got back to mio apartamento I looked at the available courses and found one I thought I would like. It's called Sociology and Culture and basically studies the way cultures view food in different ways. Why some like one type of food and others don't, the way people react to food...I'll get a better idea of what it's about when I start but two of my roommates are in the class so I'm so excited. Plus the focus is on food, particuarly Italian food so what's not to like???
Intermediate Italian went better than expected. I remembered more than I thought and I really like the professor. I already feel more comfortable with speaking.
To end of a pretty crappy day (with the whole lock-out thing)my roommates and I decided to get gelato. My Italian professor told us to go to this one place across the Arno called La Carraia and my friend Joci's homestay 'sister' also recommended it. We walked to try it out after dinner and it was so good!! Best AND cheapest yet. 1.30 euros! It was a very nice end to a frustrating day...tomorrow I have Italian and the culture course and my roommate shelly and I are going for a run in the morning! must balance out all the gelato! ciao!