I break the rules.

Welp, there you have it folks.....Michelangelo's David!!! This is my illigal picture by the way. You are not allowed to take pictures in the Acadamia Museum that houses David. They even had ladies standing around yelling at people when they took pictures. Luckily I did not get caught....I'm just the sneaky!

I have alreaady seen three replicas of this David, but seeing the real thing was different. I hadn't been this close to it and the sculpture seemed so much bigger and more dramatic than any of the others. It is pretty sureal to see art this famous right there in front of you. Very cool experience even though David was pretty much the only thing in this museum.....but it was worth it!

Volterra and San Giminicricket?

So yesterday we took a day trip to Volterra and San Gimignano!!! Both beautiful old castle like citys, both with funny names! We still don't know how to pronounce San Gimignano! The closest pronounciation we could get is San "Gimi-ano," haha. We were supossed to take our easels and paint.....but of course 1. I didn't take my easle and 2. I didn't paint. They gave us tons of time in San G. but of course it rained for part of the time and there weren't very many good places to actually set up your stuff and paint. We mainly ate and shopped around...and sat around. We did take a bunch of pictures....maybe I will paint from one of them later. We'll see......

Why must it rain?

First off, I am a big fan of rain, and thunderstorms, lightning and what not, but when you chose to spend your summer in various countries that are not known for rain, it is not my favorite. It is currently raining here in Scandicci and it has pretty much rained in every country I have been in so far. It obviously rained in Oxford…a lot, but who would have thought that it would also rain in Paris, the day and half I was there, our first day in Florence, and on our day in Venice. Yes, it usually lets up for part of the day, but it usually down pours when we are outside walking around town or painting out in the countryside. Take today for instance. Our professors decided we would go out and paint near this church in the outskirts of Scandicci. The view of the vineyards was AMAZING, but right when we got there…..what happened? Little drops of rain started to fall. Unfortunately it stopped for a while just in time for us to get in another oil painting. It was about time for us to pack up and we started to really hear the thunder roll in. The cool thing about Italy is that you can pretty much see the storm rolling in because of all of the hills, and we were on top of one of them. Even though storms may look cool it is not fun walking or riding a crowded bus with a wet oil painted canvas in hand. My painting unfortunately did not fall in a puddle like some peoples. The rain might have done my painting some good. Oil painting is definitely not my favorite. Now, I am sitting in my room, on the computer, not going outside in Italy, because it is raining.

I am going to Spain on Thursday…..hopefully the rain will not follow us there.

Venezia

So I went to Venice a couple of days ago! Venice is amazing! It's pretty much like a different world....a world on water. It didn't hit me until I got home that night that there are no cars in Venice. I think that is why it felt so old world. We took a train from Florence to Venice, and then walked along the various canals all day. We got a little lost, but I don't think you could really go to Venice and know exactly where you are. We ended up at St. Marks Square. This is along the Grand Canal and where all the pigeons hang out. The pigeons were my favorite part of the day. Yes, it may sound a little gross, but you don't think about that when your in the moment, haha. We had some crackers leftover from lunch so we held those in our hands and the pigeons just flocked to us.....it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen or felt. It is so weird to feel birds all over you, on your arms, sholders, and even you head! The pictures were fun to take and they also turned out excellent!

Venice is also know for its glass. There was glass every where! Unfortunately I didn't get to see anybody blowing glass or anything, but one lady did have all of her glass bead making stuff out in her shop, like she was making it right then. I don't know how you would ever live in Venice because it seemed like the only thing to to there was shop. I would like to be in Venice at night after all of the tourists go home for the day. It would be so quiet and you would just see the glow from the lamps on the streets. I also would have liked to ride in a gondola....but that didn't happen either. They were really exspensive, but it would have been fun!

The Duomo and then some....

We went to the Duomo a few days ago......it was pretty much amazing! We climb all the way to the top of the dome....all 417 steps. It had an amazing very of Florence! It has been really cool to be around such time changing architecture. We walked up the very same same steps the builders and architects did to build this dome. We were there on a rainy day so I don't have many pictures of the actual Dome. Luckily it stop raining when we were on top to those pictures are great!

Gelato in Italy is amazing! Flavors so far: pinnaple, chocolate, nutella, cocoanut, and pistachio.....all have been amazing!

The Duomo
At the top of the city!!!
rainy day...
Beautiful Italia!

Bella Italia!

So I arrived in Italy today!!! The flight wasn't to long, but I am definitely sick of buses and metro systems.....I guess I will have to get used to that considering the main way we will travel in Florence is by city bus. I haven't seen much of Florence yet. Today we really just got settled into our house. The living arangements are tight and there are lots of girls crammed in to little rooms. But hey we are in Italy so I am going to make the most of it. The people at our house, who I don't know their names yet, cooked us an amazing Italian meal for dinner! It was delicious. I love pasta!

Tomorrow we are going to the Duomo, so I am pretty excited. I hope I have enough energy after traveling all day today!

Until next time!

The City of Love?

Sorry it's been so long....I have been busy traveling the world! I just got to Italy, but first I wanted to tell you quickley about my trip to paris last weekend!

Friday:
-woke up at 3:00am
-rode in a bus for about 12 hours to Paris, France
-arrive in Paris with no money
-find money
-find Hostel near the Moulin Rouge
-go to the Louvre!!!
-watch the sunset as we see our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower
-go to bed

Saturday:
-wake up
-got the the Musee d'Orsay!!! An amazing museum, my favorite so far!
-eat lunch at a parisian outdoor cafe
-walk to the Arc du Triomph
-starts to rain
-wait in long lines to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
-see Paris from the top of the Eiffel tower!!
-sit in on Saturday night mass at Notre Dame
-walk back to the Louvre to find a metro
-back to the Eiffel tower to see it sparkle on the hour!!!
-get crepes with nutella and bananas!
-crash at the hostel

Sunday:
-wake up
-get back on a bus for another 12 hours
-back to freezing cold, rainy Oxford

Enjoy my pictures!