July 6, 2009 -Florence

Duomo Bell Tower

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Today we headed to the train station again. Fortunately the instructors knew how to figure out the train system and we made our way to Florence. We are right in the main city of Florence which will be much more convenient when traveling to different sites within Florence. We have quite the quaint little hotel room with shuddered windows looking right out onto the streets of Florence, and four twin beds squeezed into a room only meant for a queen. After getting settled into our room we met with our new guide to show us around Florence. It is such a lovely city with fun colors and lots of flower boxes, and hanging laundry. We made our way across the Ponte Vecchio that is full of little gold shops. We had dinner at a pizza place and then we went to the best gelato shop in town called Grom. I tried the peach and raspberry this time and wasn’t disappointed, it was so good. The shop is right next to the Duomo down an adjoining street. We did a bit of shopping around and then made our way back to the hotel.

Ponte Vecchio



Door Knob Brancacci Chapel Ceiling

Duomo Bell Tower

July 5, 2009 -Rome

Colosseum

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This day sure did not work out as planned. This morning I went with Allie and Erica and sketched the coliseum. That part of the day worked out great but when we made our way to the train station our smooth day didn’t continue. A group of us tried to make our way to the beach and never made it. After missing two trains because we didn’t understand Italian we made our way back to the hotel swimming pool. Swimming in pool ended up being really fun and lifted the spirits of the day.

The train that ended up notbeing ours :(

Sketch of a Fountain at St. Peter's

Sketch of Arch

July 4, 2009 -Rome

St. Peter's Dome

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This morning a couple of shuttles came to pick our group up to take us to the Vatican City. We met with our guide and started on our tour through the Vatican Museum. The Museum is a long hallway with decorative ceiling and it is full of sculpture, paintings, and tapestries. Then we made our way into the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo in. Then we went into St. Peter’s Basilica. It is the largest church in the whole world. The ceilings look as if they are full of paintings but as we went up inside the dome you could see that they were all mosaics that were made with tiles as big as my fingernails. To get up in the Dome we had to walk sideways in some parts and up over 350 steps plus an elevator ride. Once on top the view was stunning. You could see all of Rome stretching into the horizon. Then a group of us headed on our way to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a huge domed building with pillars in the front. While we were inside they started a Mass service so we sat down and watched. It was all in Italian so we had no idea what was going on so after about a half hour we left. Then we made our way back to the hotel. Later a group of us got together and sang the Star Spangled Banner in remembrance of the 4th of July.

Ceiling in the Vatican Museum

View from St. Peter's Dome

Interior View of St. Peter's

Sistine Chapel

July 3, 2009 -Rome

Trevi Fountain

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Another amazing day in Rome has gone by. Today I caught the metro to go and see the Borghese museum. As I walked in my focus was immediately drawn to the ceiling. It is unfortunate that we were not allowed to take pictures. The ceiling was pink and green with touches of blue and accented in gold. The walls were painted as if they were curtains making you take a second glance to see if they were fabric. During my lunch break I tried my first cup of gelato it was strawberry and melon flavored. It was fabulous and has been the best food that I’ve tried since I’ve been here. Then after lunch I met with the big group for our guided tour of three different churches throughout Rome. We went to the Church of St. Clement (Church of St. Peter in Chains), Church of St. Maria Maggiore, and Church of St. Carline. In the first church we were able to go down to the lower levels of Rome. Romans didn’t demolish buildings they would just cover them up and build something new on top. While walking between the different churches I saw so many unique buildings and had to take picture after picture. After the churches we ended up being able to see the changing of the guard. It was a big ceremony with marching and music. Then it was off to Trevi Fountain. Trevi Fountain is a huge sculpted fountain that you can throw coins into. If you throw one coin over your shoulder you will come back to Rome someday. If you throw two you will meet an Italian man and if you throw three you’ll marry him. I threw in one coin so I’ll come back to Rome someday. For dinner we found a little pizza place that was off the beaten path. It was fun little restaurant. Pizza here is sure not like American pizza, there is not much to it.

Church


Church

Street in Rome

Borghese Museum

July 2, 2009 -Rome

View of Rome

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I found out that flying all night on a plane is not ideal, but as I ventured out in Rome today it all became worth it. The architecture and sculpture is amazing. It is all so much more than I expected. As most people say pictures do not give justice to it all. I walked out of the metro station and there was the colosseum. As I walked away the sky started to turn black and the little shops started quickly packing up their things. I didn’t think much of it, so I just kept walking and then it hit, the biggest rain storm I have ever been caught outside in. My friends I hurried and pulled out our ponchos and umbrellas and huddled near a tree. Most people were soaked and I could ring water out of my skirt once it stopped. When the rain calmed we headed on our way to a museum. It was full of many sculptures and ornate ceilings. The view from the windows at sunset where excellent, the whole city was glowing. Afterwards a group of us headed back to the hotel, but instead of finding a faster way back to the metro we got kind of lost and it took much longer to get back. It worked out though because was able to take some great pictures as the sun faded away.

Arch of Constantine

Museum

Drain

Colosseum