Our first week in Italy has been a whirlwind. So far, we have seen Castiglion Fiorentino, Arezzo, and Florence.
We arrived in Castiglion Fiorentino after a 12-hour flight from Houston to Frankfurt, a 3-hour flight from Frankfurt to Rome, and then a 3-hour bus ride from Rome to Castiglion Fiorentino. We made it to our hotel at about 9pm local time. To say we were exhausted would be an understatement - I believe I slept about 20 minutes for the whole night. After a somewhat full night's rest, we began the festivities the next day with a walking tour of our town, Castiglion.
Castiglion Fiorentino
Castiglion is small, but it is gorgeous and there is so much to see. I feel so grateful that we get to stay in this beautiful city with some of the friendliest locals. I can't help but continue wondering to myself, "Am I even here right now? Is this real life?" On our first day, we went on a walking tour with a very eccentric man named Giovanni (he will be leading our tours all around Italy for the rest of the semester). We learned that Castiglion is surrounded by a wall that was constructed in the late 12th century. Around the middle of the 13th century, the Perugians (who owned the town at the time) reconstructed the walls. There have been very few reconstructions since then. There are three ports of entry on this wall, but the most common is called Porta Fiorentina, because it faces Florence. On the outside, there is an anti-gate which is adorned with the Medici coat of arms, and the inside of the gate has a statue of S. Michele at the top, who is the patron saint of the town. It is so beautiful and so full and rich of history, I touch it every single time I walk through it. Which great minds touched it before me? It's fun to wonder and I cannot believe I am now a piece of such a vast history of this city.
With Giovanni, we toured the Church of San Francesco, which has a courtyard and is still an active church; the Collegiate Church of San Giuliano, a sacred building located in Piazza della Collegiata; and ate lunch at a local pizza shop called Drago.
Arezzo
On day 2, we toured Arezzo, which is only about a 10 minute train ride over to the next city. This city has been my favorite so far, and I think it is going to be really hard to beat it. We met Giovanni in the square to take us on another walking tour. I feel like SUCH a tourist on these tours because he speaks into a microphone and we listen on these little headsets, walking very slowly and taking pictures of the dumbest things, like windowsills and Amanda grabbing the butts of statues. Anyways, we started our tour just walking down the main street of Arezzo, looking at all of the gorgeous architecture and statues along the way. It absolutely blows my mind that people just live among this art and walk by it everyday. I know that if I lived here, I would eventually grow used to it, but I can't help but feel like I would also just ogle at it all the time.
Most of the walk was uphill, and I was kind of annoyed because I was tired, but the view at the top was worth it x 1,000,000. Multiple times on this trip, I've thought "I wish my pictures would reflect what my eyes are really seeing," and this was one of those moments. When we got to this overlook, there were two other things I wished: 1) I wish I dressed cuter, I had no idea Arezzo would be so beautiful, and 2) I wish Giovanni would slow DOWN. We literally lost his signal and he was onto the next sight before we were finished taking pictures!
From there, we went on to tour more of the city, and we saw more beautiful sights, like the Church of Santa Maria. We even got to go inside while they were having mass and listen for a few minutes. Their Italian singing was gorgeous, and I felt like I was transported back into time. Then, Giovanni: "Come, we move!"
After lunch, we got to do my favorite thing ever: antique shop. I truly cannot describe in words how special this felt. There were scarfs made by Italian grandmothers years ago out for sale. Rings that were centuries old adorned the stands, and books that were centuries and centuries old - pages and pages decorated with ancient globes and flowers from a quill pen, protecting by a plastic casing. The artwork was my favorite, and of course the most expensive. This was the first time I truly felt immersed in the culture, and I got to share the history of Italians who lived long before me, even if for a brief moment of trying on a ring, or feeling a soft scarf.
We walked around the antique fair and bought a few things that our suitcases definitely cannot fit, and then we headed back to Castiglion.
Florence
Ah, Firenze. A city of bustling people with places to go and pickpockets on the standby. This is a town that you have to be self-aware and very conscious of your surroundings. Honestly, I didn't mind it. In a weird way, it felt still like just a part of the culture. In Florence, you get pick-pocketed. In America, you get mugged.
This was the first day that we toured without Giovanni. We toured with a woman named Laura who was pretty much the exact opposite of Giovanni. She was soft-spoken, slow, and careful. She told us we were not allowed to take pictures until after she had taught us the history of whatever we were seeing, so we could really know what the picture was of. I really appreciated that, actually, even if we didn't get to see as much as we would have been able to with Giovanni.
Though Arezzo is my favorite city so far, the history and sights of Florence are far too extravagant and mind-boggling to write in just a simple blog post. I feel like I took a picture of every building we passed, because in Florence, even houses and grocery stores look like an important building that came from the 14th century... and that's because they are. It's amazing. We saw the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, and this was a top contender for my favorite sight of the day. It was the first Medici Palace, home of Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent, and was the workplace of artists such as Donatello, Michelangelo, Paolo Uccello, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Boticelli. Laura told us that this building was essentially where the renaissance all began. The Courtyard Of Michelozzo was an important aspect to the Medicis, who were fond of art, and responsible for much of the Florentine art we find now. There were pieces of art from ancient Rome, Greece, etc., that the Medicis found were important to preserve. It was a clash of time periods, and an astounding sight to see. I stood in the middle of the courtyard and took it in, "here I am, standing in the middle of thousands and thousands of years of art history that were touched by the hands of people like Michelangelo." It was incredible.
Then: Santa Croche. At first, it seemed like it was just the most beautiful cathedral I had ever seen; then, we learned it was more. This cathedral was actually a sacred burial ground, and housed the remains and tombs of people like Galileo and Michelangelo. I was in the same building as so many other great artists and mathematicians and politicians and minds and I think I could have stayed in there for the rest of the trip, just thinking about how lucky I am to even be here.
We continued on our walk through the city streets and broke for lunch at a really fancy restaurant that was way too expensive but had the most incredible wine I have ever tasted. I may or may not have had 4 glasses with my chicken (sorry, mom)! After lunch, we toured the Museum of Galileo. We saw his instruments that he used, his ideas written out, and even three fingers and a tooth of his. This was another surreal moment for me: "THIS IS GALILEO'S ACTUAL FINGER. THIS FINGER MAPPED OUT THE STARS." To say I was excited about some old bones is an understatement, but also I had a lot of wine.
"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." - Galileo
Tomorrow, we head to Civita di Bagnoregio, and this is just one of many trips on the horizon. I know we have only been here for a week but it feels like a lifetime of history and culture we have already experienced. I love this country and I love this city and tonight, I am full of gratitude and love.
Ciao for now.
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