Florence

     Yesterday, I went to Florence with a group of my friends from my program.  We had a really good time, even though it was rainy, cold, and miserable outdoors.  We spent as much of the day as possible indoors visiting cathedrals, the Uffizi Gallery, and having a long lunch in a well-recommended restaurant called "Mama Gina's" where our waiter (who was like 60) kept remarking on how young and beautiful we were and then didn't charge us for our wine!
     We took the bus there from Siena's Piazza Gramsci and it dropped us off at the bus station in Florence which was only about a 10 minute walk away from the Duomo.  I got very excited when I saw the Duomo; it was so magnificent and large!  The baptistry, which displays the Gates of Paradise, is right next to the Duomo, so we saw that first.  You had to pay to go inside the baptistry, but both sets of the Gates of Paradise are kept outside on public display, so we didn't go inside.

  

We did go inside the Duomo Cathedral because it is free, and were among some of the first people to get inside when it opened at 10am (we arrived at about 9:25am).

The inside of the Duomo Cathedral was plain compared to the exterior, but it had its own quiet, Gothic beauty.

    

 I lit a candle inside the Duomo Cathedral for my Dad, as I have done in other famous places of worship, such as Westminster Abbey.

We then went to the Piazza della Signoria where the Palazzo Vecchio is (Palazzo is the Italian word for Palace), as well as the entrance to the Uffizi Gallery.  Next to the Palazzo Vecchio are several large reproductions of the David.  We entered the Uffizi and spent a solid 3 hours there marveling at all of the Renaissance masterpieces that are housed there, especially "The Birth of Venus"and "Primavera".

    

    You aren't supposed to take any photos in the Uffizi Gallery (apparently because the flash hurts the paintings), so I turned off my flash and covertly took a picture of "Primavera" by Botticelli (above).  I also tried to take a picture of "The Birth of Venus", also by Botticelli, but one of the museum personnel walked right by me as I was bringing my camera out and she almost saw me!  When she turned and glanced at me, I tried my best to look completely innocent, but I think that she may have suspected!

     After we found the exit (we walked to the completely wrong end of the Gallery, thinking that it was the exit, but the guy there turned us around and we had to entirely retrace our steps!), we walked along the River Arno toward the Ponte Vecchio, which is a very famous bridge that is lined with brightly-lit jewelry stores and private residences on-top of the stores.  At this point, the weather had started to clear up and the sun came out.

     

    Walking down the Ponte Vecchio, you wish that you had a lot of money to burn or an attractive, sensitive, and incredibly wealthy Italian boyfriend (just kidding) because the streets are lined with displays upon displays of sparkly necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and other trinkets made with diamonds, rubies, gold, silver, filagree, lapis, amethyst, and every other gemstone or precious metal that you could imagine.  After tearing ourselves away from all of the baubles on the Ponte Vecchio, we searched for a nearby restaurant called "Mama Gina's" that comes highly recommended from one of my friends' mother, who considers it her favorite restaurant in the whole world.  It was a quaint little place filled with locals, and the food was amazing.  I got Penne con Bolognese alla Fiorentia, which is penne pasta with meat sauce florentine, and it was good, but I wish I would've gotten the Mushroom & Ricotta Ravioli that one of my friends ordered because it was unbelievable!!  If I ever go back to that restaurant, I'm definitely getting that Ravioli dish!  As I said above, our waiter was quite enamored with us and seemed a little drunk while he took our orders!  Right before we started to order, he rested his head on top of one of my friends head and then kissed it!!  Nevertheless, he gave us excellent service, gave us a map for free, and then didn't charge us for our wine (it is customary to drink a glass with lunch).

     The rest of the day we spent walking around Florence looking for a good gelato place.  Florence is supposed to have the best gelato in the world and we were determined to find it!!  We ended up going to a cute, but small gelateria, and the gelato was good, but I think that I've had even better gelato in Siena!!!     

     Alas, as I tell you about what's going on in my life here, I know nothing about what's going on at home in your life!!  So, please email me and keep me in the loop, even if you don't think that everyday life is very email-worthy!  Even though my trip has been amazing thus far, I have been prone to feeling pangs of homesickness every now and then!  I miss you all and love you!!

          

Gaiole in Chianti

     This evening as part of orientation, I got to go to Rocca di Castagnoli, a winery located in Gaiole in Chianti.  It took about 40 minutes to get there from Siena, and everyone (including me) got very car-sick because the roads were so windy.  It was worth the nausea because once I got off the bus, I was greeted by a breath of fresh Tuscan air and a gorgeous view of the surrounding vineyards and countryside from the hill that the winery was situated on.

     We then all gathered around a lookout point and took in the view as our guide talked to us about the Chianti wine region, the winery's philosophy about making wine, and an explanation of how they make wine there.  The staple wine that is produced in the Chianti wine region is, of course, Chianti Classico.  The general formula for Chianti Classico is 80% Sangiovese grapes (the main grape of this region) and 20% of other grapes, usually local.  In order to be classified as "Indicazione Geografica Tipica" or typical of the geographic region, Chianti Classico must be made from grapes only grown and fermented in the Chianti wine region.  Chianti that is classified as "table wine" has no restrictions on what is in it.  True Chianti Classico has a rooster on the neck of the wine bottle.  He then took us on a tour of the winery, showing us the different fermenting rooms and explaining the different fermenting processes for each wine.

     After the tour, we got to taste 3 of the wines that they produce at Rocca Castagnoli Winery.  All of them were very good (although I don't know enough about wine to know for sure), and I had such a good time there.  The winery was very beautiful and it was obvious that they put a lot of passion and experience into their wine-making.

     Check out the winery's website if you want to learn more: http://www.roccadicastagnoli.it/sito/frontend/2eng/index.php