Days 2-3 of the Florentine Renaissance!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I wasn't able to post last night. Actually, I could've easily posted but decided to go to bed instead as I was exhausted from walking around the entire city yesterday. As such, this post will be a blend of the last two days.

Yesterday morning, we walked around the oldest part of Florence, which is home to some important figures, such as Dante. The area now is quite residential with little hidden churches all around. Afterwords, we had a delicious lunch at a ristorante not far from the hotel. Boar is frequently hunted around here this time of year and is a delicacy in the restaurants. Naturally, Dad had to order it as soon as he heard that information. I tried a little bite and it was delicious but I enjoyed my spaghetti with clams and garlic just as much :)

In the afternoon, we visited the Uffizi Gallery, which is home to a number of famous paintings including Botechelli's Birth of Venus. No photos were allowed in the Uffizi, so the one at the bottom is something I copied from Google. Botechelli's work literally took my breath away and gave me chills. The Birth of Venus was by far the highlight, but the rest of museum was incredible as well.

For dinner, we just had pizza and gelato:) Not too shabby a meal.

Sidenote from Day 2: interesting factoid:  our guide said the height of renaissance beauty according to Florentine standards was a strawberry blondish hair color, similar to Patty Abell's hair color.  She's riding pretty high after this comment.

Day 3
This morning, we went to the Conventto San Marco and the Pallazo Medici Chapel. The convent was ok and did show though distinction of the religion, but the Medici Chapel was incredible. It appears that the Italians were not too different from other societies. They used their art as propaganda and painted themselves with leaders and religious figures.

In the afternoon, went to the Church of Santa Croce, which is famous for housing the tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and has a shrine to Dante.

Interesting fact about Dante, he was exiled to Ravenna and wanted to return to Florence all his life. After his exile, he wrote the Divine Comedy, which is composed of three books: The Purgatorio, the Inferno and the Paradisio. He declared before his death that his body should not be returned to Florence. If the Florentines did not want him in life, they should not get him in death.

For lunch, I had a delicious plate of carpaccio and then ravioli. Delicious:)

Dinner was proscuitto w/ melon and then pizza pizza pizza followed by gelato! The food here is insane so it must be consumed.

Tomorrow, we are going to the Church of Santa Maria Novella. The evening is being occupied by New Years Dinner and then ringing in the New Year in the Palazzo Vecchio. So excited!

House of Dante

Prosciutto con melone

Me and Lil SRA at the Ponte Vecchio

Spaghetti w/ clams and garlic:)

Duomo

Church de Santa Croce

Carpoccio con arugala y mozarella

Florence at night!

The most delicious GELATO!

Check back tomorrow!

Annalee

Arrival In Florence

Hi everyone!

After a long day of traveling, I have arrived in Florence!

We had a connection through Paris this morning and got to Florence around noon. Our hotel is extremely centrally located and is one block from the Piazza Republica and 2-3 blocks from the Duomo. Fantastic spot! There are so many shops, restaurants and gelato hot spots that are to die for.

Today, we arrived at our hotel and then went out to lunch at a local spot. Dad and I split a cheese ravioli w/ ricotta and spinach filling as well as a eggplant cucumber carpaccio. I went for the lasagna as my main dish, while Sara had pork, Dad had lamb stuffed with artichokes and Mom had a white fish with vegetables. A great first meal in Florence!

Later this evening, we gathered with our academic group for a welcome drink to Florence. Tomorrow, we are going to take a walking tour of Dante's Florence and visit the Uffizi Galleria in the afternoon. The Uffizi is one of the best art museums in the entire world and I can't wait to learn from Dr. Ambrosio. Botticelli's Birth of Venus is arguably the most famous painting in the museum so that is the one that I am most excited to see.

Tonight, we are back in the hotel to get a little extra sleep so we can be fresh for Italian adventures in the morning.

Check back tomorrow!

Annalee

Another Year...Another Trip!

Hi everyone!

After a short discussion with some family members, I have decided to resurrect my blog for my upcoming trip to Florence, Italy!

This will be my second trip to Florence but this one will contain an academic perspective. I am lucky enough to still be studying at Georgetown University but am now in the Liberal Studies Graduate Department. Dr. Ambrosio, who teaches Dante to undergraduates and graduate students is leading a tour focusing on Dante and the Florentine Renaissance. The tour goes for about ten days through several museums and Florentine landmarks. At the end, I have to write a 25 page paper to get credit for the class. My parents and little sister are also coming on the trip but do not have to write the paper, obviously.

The last time I was in Florence was about a year and a half ago with some of my friends. As some of you know, I went on a tour with EF College Break and met some great people as we toured through Turkey, Greece and Italy and Florence was one of our stops. Cera, Tara, Michelle and I wandered around the streets of Florence until the wee hours of our last night there after a lovely dinner. I miss those girls quite a bit and returning to the city will bring back fond memories that we had there.

Either way, I am excited to return to Florence and to be there for New Years Eve! I am also hoping that the academic side of the trip will also prove to enlightening.

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to great food, wine, gelato, learning and Italian culture.

                                  Michelle, I guess the pig does work. I am returning to Florence!

The last time I was in Florence...the last meal!

Tara at the Ponte Vecchio Bridge

Nice and Monaco

Hey everyone!

Shalom from Nice, France. This was the last stop on my European tour and I couldn't have picked a better place to end. Nice is chic, yet down-to-earth at the same time. I have stayed the last night in a hostel with a bunch of college students and have really enjoyed it. I have met people from all over the world including Germany, Australia and Canada. There are also plenty of Americans as well. It has been so much fun to talk with them and hear their travel stories. The guy who runs the hostel, Valerio, is a 24 year old Italian man who happens to be stuck in France. It's hilarious because he neither speaks French nor knows anything about France in general. However , the hostel is well run and Valerio is great to talk with.

Yesterday, I arrived in Nice around 9 am and found the hostel easily. I left my bags and went to explore parts of Nice. I ended up back at the train station and went to Monaco for half the day. On this trip, I have been to the two smallest countries in the world, the Vatican City and Monaco. Monaco has stunning scenery and is full of rich people. When I say rich people, I mean people that carry around black credit cards. I explored Monaco and saw some of the major sites. I actually ended up playing some solid beach volleyball with some French guys who didn't speak a lick of English, but they were good volleyball players.   When I returned, I went to dinner with my roommates. One girl is from California and attends school at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Another is from Canada that attends McGill. Pretty interesting!

After seeing the gorgeous beaches that Monaco has yesterday, I decided to return today. I spent the whole day at the beach and it couldn't have been a more relaxing way to end my trip.

Europe has been so great for me. I have learned so much since being here about history and myself. It will be hard to determine the highlights of my trip but here are a few in no particular order.

1.       Istanbul: Touring the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia

2.       Greece: Our day in Santorini and Greek Salad

3.       Italy: The Coliseum and Gladiator Pictures

4.       Florence: Meeting Australian guys

5.       VENICE! Enough Said

6.       Switzerland: Seeing the Matterhorn

7.       France: Staying in a hostel in Nice and Monaco

Europe is such a great place and I am so happy I decided to take a trip over here. I hope I can return to some of these places again someday.

I hope you all have enjoyed following me on trip. In about four hours, I will head to the Nice Airport where I will get on a flight to Amsterdam and then eventually fly to Washington, DC. I should be back in DC around 3 pm tomorrow, Eastern time. I will depart with fond memories of Europe.

Ciao, until next summer (hopefully!)

Monaco

Home base

Nice

AL

Antibes, France

Hey everyone!

The last two days have been stressful and relaxing. I had my first bit of bad luck on this amazing trip yesterday. My train from Avignon to Antibes was delayed by a half hour. Up until this point, all of my trains have been on time down to the last second. To make matters more interesting, the train broke down about half way to Antibes. A three hour train ride became almost a five hour train ride.

When I got to my hotel in Antibes, the hotel moved me to their partner hotel to make room for a tour group. However, have no fear! I finally made it to my other hotel and it is nicer than the other one even if it is further from the beach. Once I got settled, I went out to explore. Antibes is such a cute little resort town filled with rich people and rich stores. The beaches are so nice and even have sand, which isn't normal for a lot of the Riviera. I ended up eating bread and strawberries that I bought at the supermarket for dinner. Cheap and easy.

Today, I spent the entire time at the beach. I was surrounded by many families. It was nice to spend the entire day just relaxing. I don't get to do that very often.

Tomorrow, I will travel the 20 minutes by train to Nice, which is the last stop on this amazing trip.

I will spend tomorrow at the beach and then go to Monaco on Friday.

Saturday, I come back to the United States with fond memories of Europe.

Until next time,

AL

Avignon & the Pont du Gard

Hey everyone!

I am just coming back from the one of the best days I've had. Provence is such a cute little part of France. However, it is a shame that the lavender isn't in bloom this time of year.

This morning, I slept in a bit and then had breakfast. I had forgotten how small the French breakfast is, but I made do with a croissant and some coffee.

After that, I went and toured the Palace of the Popes. I'll give you a little background history on the place so you know what I learned today.

In 1309, a French pope was elected for the first time. After deliberation, he decided that Italy was no place for the Catholic church. As a result, he brought the Catholic church to Avignon, where the French king was supportive. For nearly a hundred years, the Catholic Church was run from Avignon instead of the Vatican City. The popes lived in the Palace in Avignon until 1408. In 1378, the Italians demanded an Italian pope as well, so for about thirty years, there were two popes.

The structure of the Palace is incredible with Gothic style architecture. There isn't much inside the palace anymore, but the tour was interesting nonetheless. I also went on the St. Benezet bridge to get a good view of Avignon from there. The weather was great today so I got some good pictures.

Around noon, I took a bus to the Pont du Gard, which is a famous Roman aqueduct. Most people come to the site just to see the aqueduct. I came to swim! The Pont du Gard is the final stop on my Roman ruins tour, which I have embarked on these last 23 days. After this, I'm all about the beach at the French Rivera. However, aqueducts are a signature aspect of Roman architecture and life. The Pont du Gard is absolutely stunning and I had a great day tanning and swimming near the site. I spent about five hours there and then took a bus back to Avignon. I got myself some dinner and then decided to purchase some lavender, which is famous in Provence.

Tomorrow, I leave Provence and head for the Riviera! Antibes and Nice are coming my way. After all the travel I have done, it will be nice to just relax on the beach, while attaining bronze goddess status. I hope Liz Riggins and Emmie Derback read this. They will understand the "status" comment.

Can't wait!

The Palace

Pont du Gard

The view from my swim spot

AL

Zermatt and Avignon

Hey everyone!

As of now I am in France! However, I wanted to tell you all about my day yesterday in Switzerland. I decided to be nature girl yesterday and went hiking. If you're going to go hiking, you might as well do it in the most spectacular mountains imaginable. After doing a little research, I went up to the Sunnega mountain range in Zermatt. It has good areas for hiking and a great view of the Matterhorn. I basically just explored the area up there and took some great pictures. There are people who live up on the mountains and I expect they live a modest kind of lifestyle. After I was done exploring, I just sat and looked at the Matterhorn for a few hours. It has been a long time since I have had the opportunity or time to marvel at something, but that is what I did. The Matterhorn is such a great sight and I am happy that I got the chance to see it.

Today, I spent about twelve hours over three trains traveling to Avignon, France. Finally, I arrived at my hotel and spent the evening exploring parts of the city. It’s a nice little town with a couple huge sights, including the Palace of the Popes and the Pont St. Benezet. Tomorrow, I am planning on seeing the Pont du Gard, which is an aqueduct leftover from Roman times. It is supposed to be quite a sight. After that, I will probably tour the Palace of the Popes and browse the shops. Should be great day!

Matterhorn

Palace of the Popes

AL