The Fantastic Four JUNE 7th

After another night of raucous mixing with the locals...

We are actually the last ones to arrive at the Duomo; fashionably late of course.  Walking into the tallest building of Florence, we feel as though we are in an alternate universe.  The experience is completely surreal (as every experience has been up to this point), and the detail within each arch, each piece of marble, every fresco, and every sculpture will forever change our perspective towards the possibility of creating.  This is an experience that every person must witness for themselves, because no words could be as convincing, no sketching as intricate, and no photograph as deep.

Following the Duomo, we travel south to the Piazza della Signoria which houses the Uffizi gallery and the Palazzo Vecchio.  There we have an hour or so to sketch out the facades of the surrounding buildings and sculptures, just taking it all in.

After meeting with our class, free time begins, and for the first time since we arrived in Italy, we actually all go our separate ways. Here are each of our stories:

Amy and Tamra

After eating some delicious bruschetta we decided to explore a new side of town we had never seen for some inspiring sketchbook time.  The chosen location was a greener than ever park that had a green pond filled with ducks surrounded by many massive green trees.  Those trees were unbelievable, definitely not found in America.  We then visited our favorite Italian friend Adi who owns the only American food/drink cafe in town.  He generously shared some delectable wine from Venice.  The sun was still up so we went on a shopping walk around town with our remaining wine in plastic cups (definitely yet another experience not found in America).  Amy is running out of clothes to wear so she bought a very cute, affordable, AND comfortable pair of slouchy black pants.  Tamara finally found her one and only Canoli that tasted heavenly.  We finally arrived home to Taylor, Katelyn, and Zach.  Amy ended her night with one last outing  to join Katelyn and Zach at a pizzaria.  mm m

Katelyn (Blasiar)

I can honestly say I am one of the luckiest people I know. 

(1) I'm in Florence.

(2) I get paired (quadrupled???) with the coolest three girls I can imagine.

(3) I get to blog about the most amazing views of Florence (because I'm in Florence).

(4) Did I tell you my girls were cool?  Well, it just so happens that Zach is cool too; he meshed with our group from day one.  It also happens that on this day, he and I are just crazy enough, just sleep-deprived enough, to climb the most absurd, grueling stairs (and hills) you can imagine.

We had been talking about this for a couple of days, but none of us had had the time nor the patience to trek the 463 stairs to get to the top of the Duomo.  From this point, you can see every facet of Florence and all the beauty of Tuscany beyond.  I don't know what the convincing factor was for me to decide this was a fantastic idea.  I have no idea what provoked me to agree with such a feat-- but I will always be grateful for it.  The view was more than astounding; as mentioned before, there are no words, sketches, or photographs that even come close to describing what we see here. We can try, but nothing will ever do it justice.

With Zach's amazing camera, this is a small chunk of what we saw.

I imagine it had to be the adrenaline still pumping through our systems from that spectacular view, but Zach and I decided it would be a grand idea to travel across the city, over the Arno (River), and up a few hills to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Reason for doing this? Madness, maybe? You'd think one ridiculously beautiful view would be enough for the day, but why not...

It also turned out to be a decision that I will forever cherish. I honestly thought standing on top of the Duomo was the most captivating sight I had ever seen, but I was mistaken.  On the Piazza, you can overlook all of Florence, the Arno, and the Tuscan hills around you, but you can also see the Duomo and its sheer mass. It dwarfs the city around it, but fits perfectly.  As the sun began to get lower in the sky and light the view from a better angle, I thought about how small and insignificant I felt, and about how it was the only time in my life where I wanted so desperately to feel small and insignificant.

Another amazing picture by Zach Weihrich and his ridiculous camera.

Taylor

Unfortunately for me (and you, dear readers), I was sick today and after the Duomo visit my roomies described so well, I just went to lunch with them, had a wonderful caprese salad and then went back to the apartment to sleep the rest of the day. Luckily I have the best group ever and Amy and Tamra brought me back some pasta with veggies. It was delicious! After that, I read a little and went back to sleep again. I wish that our blog day wasn't on a day I felt so bad. I hope that the next time we're up I will have a much more interesting story to tell. I can say that walking around Florence and seeing works of art that I have only seen in text books, by artists I have been studying for years, I can feel the age of the city and it is just overwhelming. To be inside of a building, or looking at a piece of artwork that one of my favorite artists really created is just mind blowing. Today's sickness aside, I have had the most wonderful time and look forward to more exciting story telling in the future. 

Ciao! 

-Amy, Katelyn, Taylor and Tamra