Well if you have not seen them, or want to again here they are.

Food

Mixed Fried Seafood

Something with layers of thin sheet pasta, cheese, and vegetables

Asparagus Risotto

Seafood Spaghetti

One of my favorite parts of this trip has been experiencing all the different types of food! These are some of the best I have tasted. The most delicious thing I have eaten since being here is the second image, but I can't remember the name of it! If anyone can identify what it is, I would greatly appreciate it!

Duomo

Of all the views I have seen throughout this trip, the view from the top of the Duomo was most meaningful to me. As I stood at the top and looked around, I was able to point out all the places I had been, and how far I had traveled to reach some of those places. Being on the outside of the dome was a little disorienting because I kept feeling like I was going to roll off the side. It was a great experience though, and I would climb up there again without hesitation.

While visiting the ancient Roman Amphitheater in Fiesole, I noticed that it was featuring a contemporary artist that had his sculptures strewn throughout the ruins. Personally I found his work to be really intriguing. It's always exciting to bump into an artist that really connects to you through his work. His name is Gunther Stilling and works mostly, from what I've seen in Bronze Casting. His sculptures focus on human form meshed with a mechanic and futuristic feel all the while reflecting ancient Roman artwork. He keeps the bronze looking old and tarnished so it fits in with the Ruins around. I think his work kind of fits in to what we are studying and focusing on: The Contemporary Italian aesthetic and how it ancient reflects modern. Perhaps he was celebrating the Roman's high class and advanced culture?

The little things

After talking to Jason today, people watching and wandering around the city I began to realize that our time here is abruptly ending. I slowed down to take pictures of the little things that cross our paths daily. Things that seems so common but are so different from back home. I think back to our first week here and remember how awkward I felt. Now, other than the language issue, i feel like I belong. As i navigate my way through the city I no longer need a map. As new Americans come to explore I can guide them. I am comfortable with my surroundings and no longer think about the little things that are different or that seem odd to me... now they seem normal.

Neglected Bikes

Wandering

I stumbled upon this church this afternoon and it was free to get in. It's a few blocks west of the carrousel and I would recommend stopping by. I guess the church itself was closed down for quite sometime and recently was brought back to life. Filled with beautiful sculpture as well as paintings it is certainly one of my favorites thus far for how small yet beautiful it is.

This was a couple days ago, but this is what Florence looks like at sunrise.

Fiesole

These are some pictures from our day trip to Fiesole. The views from this city were amazing, we could see all of Florence, and I am jealous of the people who get to live here. We also visited some pretty cool ruins that I enjoyed exploring as I imagined what the area may have once looked like.

Venice and Verona

Venice was my favorite weekend trip. We planned it really well and I couldn't imagine it going better. The city is beautiful and a good place to just wander. The streets turn every which way and dead end at canals.

In Venice we were trying to find one of the larger landmarks when we stumbled upon the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. This piece ^^ was one of the first that we viewed in the courtyard of the museum. It is Yoko Ono's "Wish Tree." This was something totally unexpected, as were other works. Inside were works of Duchamp, Pollock, Magritte, and many more. My favorite was by far the Man Ray rayographs.

Verona

In Verona the main attraction, and my favorite, was the supposed house of Juliet. The entrance to the courtyard of the house is filled with notes stuck to the wall in any way possible, even gum (below). The walls have also been written on by visitors.

Venice Adventure

Anyway we found out the 1:47 train actually left from a different station in Florence other than Santa Maria Novella. So we hoped aboard a bus that took us to Campo di Marte. Our bus ride was free because we didnt know, like the train, you have to get a ticket to ride the bus. So the bus driver was nice enough to give us a free pass and help out 7 American kids trying to figure out the train schedule.The man in the black suit with the purple button down shirt, black belt and black square toed shoes freaks me out. He keeps glaring in my direction. I cannot tell if he is drunk from the bar or leaving the office way late. The bald headed man dozed off before his stop and my worry subsided. Upon arrival we found out the next train leaves at 440am. We have decided to tough it out and wait. We are going to chill outside by the train tracks because the inside of the train station is very small and filled with sleeping people. It is also dirty and smells very badly. Europe is a dirty place because many people urinate where ever they decide to go. And after this trip i understand why. You have to pay anywhere from 0.50 to 2.00 euro to use the bathroom. There are no bathrooms that are considered "public." In order to use a free bathroom you have to buy something at a restaurant or bar. So here we sit or sleep at the Florence Campo di Marte train station, tickets in pocket and hope fading of ever getting to Venice. Now it is 3:47 and we have been at this station for a little over an hour. Now i am getting a taste of what backpacking through Europe would have been like. I am cold and my butt hurts from sitting on this concrete floor. So it is 7:30...obviously our train did not arrive at 4:40. It comes at 8:24. More waiting... It is taking forever to get to Venice.

Venice at night

After an exhausting 15 hour trip to get somewhere thats actually only 2 hours away, we took a moment to enjoy the beautiful Venice at night on our gondola ride.

Venice Adventure

technically, it is saturday June 5th. So far today Becky woke me up a little after midnight to pack and get dressed to go to venice. The weather said scattered thunderstorms but it also said high of 85 degrees and sunny. The weather reports are never right online for Italy.

The plan was that our train left at 147am and we would be in venice at 530 am just in time to watch the sun rise. We needed to be at the train station to get our tickets and McDonald's around 1 am. However i am not on a train yet. I am disappointed and a little worried. We found out the 147am train was at a different train station than santa maria novella, so we hoped on a bus. Our bus ride was free because we did not know that you had to get a ticket ahead of time to ride the bus. The driver had no problem helping us out this one time. So we our on our way to Florence Campo di Marte train station in hopes that the next train might leave there at 2 or close to it.

Beautiful Decay

When I finally arrived in Venice, I was blown away by the city's charm. I'd heard that it was beautiful, but I had no idea what kind of beauty was there. I have always loved old buildings, as I've posted about before, so Venice was Heaven to me. It is so lived in, and so homey... all the buildings are in a state of decay. From the peeling paint on shutters to the crumbling plaster facades and old boats and crooked cobblestone paths, every piece of Venice we explored was another minor heart-attack on my part. I will definitely be making a point to go back to Venice sometime in my life, hopefully for more than a weekend.

Venezia

It was so cool to see what a different world Venice is. Transportation and dead ends galore! I thought it was amazing how well the Gondolier men could maneuver those boats, and then I saw this one guy with a motor boat get around corners by playing bumper boats with every side of his boat. Pretty amusing, but it made me feel a little better about how skilled every one was in the water.