Opera & Ballet / Pisa & Lucca

June 7th, 2012

Sorry for not posting these past couple of days, I’ve been extremely busy with midterms!

Two days ago I went to the opera and ballet and saw my first performance in one of the oldest opera houses in Florence. It was beautiful and was about being careful for what you ask for.  I could understand what was going on by the actions, while catching some Italian words here and there. I can’t wait to go to my next one! I also went to hear the Mayor of Florence speak about some issues going on in the city.  He held the conference right in front of the Duomo which was really neat to see.

Yesterday, everyone from USF took the train into Pisa and Lucca.  Lucca is what I imagined when I thought of an Italian town.  It was rich in history with tons of quaint shops.  They have a wall which completely encloses it and is one of only three towns left in Italy that way.  The wall is probably a good 12 feet high and almost 5 feet wide to protect them from cannonball damage back in the day.  Next, Pisa was extremely empty! I can’t believe it houses such a great and distinct Italian landmark when the place looks like a small town you would find on the side of I-75. After taking some pictures we left and were very excited to get back to Florence and go to Ganzo to meet the newbies.  This past week about 100 students arrived to start taking classes and will be here until the end of June too.  The food was great and we met a bunch of new people who are going out to dinner with us tonight.

Random side note, but I’ve been obsessed with the work of Dante Alighieri.  There is a massive statue in Santa Croce and I noticed we have a book full of his poems in our apartment so I started to read them. They are amazing. I love is work and now everyday before I get ready for school, I read one of his poems. It definitely should be something you guys look into!

For tonight, it’s all about packing and Gusta Pizza. Tomorrow we leave for Rome and won’t return until late Sunday. Fingers crossed on seeing the Pope!

First day

May 13th, 2012

Wow, I don’t know even where to begin – I feel like I’ve done so much already.  After endless hours of flying and camping out at the airport, we finally made it to Florence and discovered that not only is it crazy cold, but it also is really windy/rainy here.  Seeing Italy for the first time was surreal, it was beautiful and looked like a place from a painting.  With the red roofs, cobblestone roads, and rolling hills you couldn’t ask for a better view.

At around 9am we met up with the rest of our roommates from the program and managed to find our way to our apartment. It’s 2 blocks away from Duomo, (see picture below).  First off, our apartment is a massive 3 bedrooms/3 bath place for 6 people.  We have archways, a private garden area, murals on the ceilings – it’s ridiculous. I love it here! Here’s just a few pictures from today but there will be more to come! You can click the pictures to enlarge them, so enjoy :)