After two full weeks in Florence, there are times that it seems like it was just yesterday since I said goodbye to family and friends and there are times where it feels like I've been living in my new city for months. All I do know is that I have officially been here long enough to fall in love with Nutella, something I don't plan on eating scarcely this semester from now on.
These past seven days have been another jam-packed week of seeing new sights and figuring out where the real best spots in this city are hiding, starting with a few day trips outside of the city itself. Our first stop last Friday was to Villa Vignamaggio in Chianti, the vineyard that has hosted Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, the wine that it's named after, and a good hundred drunk spiders covering the centuries-old walls.
These past seven days have been another jam-packed week of seeing new sights and figuring out where the real best spots in this city are hiding, starting with a few day trips outside of the city itself. Our first stop last Friday was to Villa Vignamaggio in Chianti, the vineyard that has hosted Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, the wine that it's named after, and a good hundred drunk spiders covering the centuries-old walls.
| We were given a tour of the facilities by a woman who could have been the blonde cousin of my grandmother. She showed us around the giant wine containers, the gardens outside (Which had awesome views all around even with a little bit of rain), and then led a wine tasting before and during lunch! She explained to us the whole wine examination process, quickly followed by her letting us know that swirling around your wine glass for hours at a party won't make you look sophisticated, just stupid. Noted. | |
The next day we were able to sign up for a bus trip to the nearby towns of Siena and San Gimignano. Siena, in a word, was gorgeous. In a way it almost seemed like a mini Florence with a large Duomo of its own and some more amazing Tuscan views, but it had its own special charm about it that definitely makes me want to return one day. After a quick tour of the main square, the Duomo, and the Museo Civico, five of us decided to climb massive bell tower in Palazzo Publico to try and get the best view of the city we could. It didn't disappoint.
| | After Siena we made our way over to San Gimignano, an even quieter Tuscan town about an hour away from Florence. The views there were once again amazing, and if not for the intriguing looking torture museums lining the streets, the whole scene could have been out of another century. (We ended up checking out one of the torture museums. It was interesting, but I didn't care too much to take pictures in there and remember anything too specific.) |
If there was any time where the rain really got in the way last weekend though it was in San Gimignano, but we were still able to take in the whole visual impact it had to offer. And since that it has been another crazy week going to classes and somehow still getting lost coming back to the apartment from different spots in the city.
For even more pictures, if you haven't seen them yet, please check out my Facebook page where I'll be posting the best hundreds of photos out of the thousands that I do take.
For even more pictures, if you haven't seen them yet, please check out my Facebook page where I'll be posting the best hundreds of photos out of the thousands that I do take.
To close this chapter though, I'd like to share I line given by one of my favorite professors on the trip so far, who is so far great with one-liners that can sound both randomly strange and beautifully philosophical at the same time. When asked about tips for navigating the city, he said, "For Italians, the quickest way from point A to point B is never a straight line. There is always a much prettier way."
Arrivederci for now.
Arrivederci for now.
RSS Feed