Sorry for the lack of posts, folks!! I haven't had internet in the apartment for the past two weeks due to some wiring issues. And on top of that I was locked inside my apartment over the weekend. I've started classes though and if all goes according to plan, we should have internet back this week (though we were promised that last week too!) Hope all is well in the other parts of the world!

Have a picture of the Arno at night!!! That church you
can see in the distance is just across the street from
my apartment!

Il potente e grande Oz!

A quick post because I'm SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

I got to see Oz: The Great and the Powerful tonight, dubbed (fairly well I might add!) in Italian!! Thus making the night a showing of Il potente e grande Oz!! I went to a theater on the edge of Florence to see it in 3D and it was definitely worth the trek to see it. It was not subtitled so I was relying on the little bit of Italian I knew.

ALSO THE MALL WAS REALLY NEAT, it was completely open and the shops sort of circled this inside piazza that had lights every few brick, the architecture was really fun!

Not to mention the theater itself was just really really cool! The screens were big and the place was clean and felt new and going on a Monday night--non c'è nessuno!!! Oz was pretty good itself... okay, better than good, I really enjoyed it!!! I'm having a hard time doing my usual self indulgent critique of the film since I didn't pick up about half the dialogue, but from what I understood and what I followed along with in the story, it was so much fun. I'm on a bit of a Wizard of Oz kick right now, so I was plenty happy to see it, native language or not!

Molte Cose!

Woah, was the last thing I posted really from Monte Ceceri? Let's change that!

This is going to be a huge cluster of things I've done in the past week or so, I apologize for the madness in advance!

La Empoli stazione

We went to Empoli last week, a really sweet little town with a lot of cute storefronts and a large piazza that was gorgeous to hang out in. We managed to get there on the one nice day last week--blue skies! It was very warm, in fact, we continuously got strange looks for wearing short sleeves when everyone else was still bundled up like it was winter! But we ordered gelato at a little gelateria and ate it in the piazza, it was a fun trip!

There was this little shop with so many really precious bird cages in the window, it was so pretty I couldn't walk by without taking pictures. Felt like a good reference for stories in the future!!!!

I don't have much more to add about Empoli, it was a fun day trip, though there wasn't a whole lot there. I would love to hang out in that piazza and sketch, though beyond that it is very residential.

I did however, discover the Piazzale Michelangelo!!! As well as the Rose Garden just below it! Now, that area is gorgeous. It'll be so exciting to see all of the roses in bloom in the summer! There are already tons of tourists in the Piazza, though if you follow some of the lesser known trails in the area you can easily avoid the tourism and the crazy venders and see the view of Florence just as perfectly as the main attraction areas.

Right as you walk past the Rose Garden (which I'm having trouble finding the pictures I took of it... Guess I'll just have to go back!!) you walk up several flights of stairs to Piazzale Michelangelo. Before you see the views, you find a church just in front of you. San Miniato al Monte! I didn't go in, though if you follow the walking path around it you find a really tranquil area that has been overgrown by moss and grass. Right when you walk into the area you find a tomb of who I believe to be a past pope. It's much less haunting than it sounds, in fact, it's such a pretty place, it was so nice to see!

I've also noticed in my travels how attracted I've grown to the aesthetic of stairs. The stairs outside of course, the ones that have been overcome by moss and are greening from age, I think it's simply really beautiful to see! Something I'll have to add into my senior thesis somehow!

Sacred Grove of Hyrule, anyone?

There have also been many, many markets I've discovered in Florence itself, one of which is a Flower market which I kind of fell in love with! I found lavender there which I'm super excited for! I have it sitting just outside the kitchen window! (Again, I somehow managed to lose the photos I took of it, at least it's every Thursday!) There is also a wine and cheese market right in the heart of Piazza della Repubblica which although looked expensive, was really fun to see!

I'll try to keep up with this blog more now!! I'm starting classes next week I believe... Nine hours of figure drawing each week it sounds like!! Can't wait, I'll finally have some official art to post as well! Ciao!