The Medici were here

I've finished my second week of classes and it already feels as if I've been at it for weeks. I'm supposed to submit a proposal for a midterm on monday. I have NO CLUE what I want to write about. The main academic thing I've learned is present in the title of this blog. When it comes to Renaissance Italy the Medici were everywhere. Coming in to the program I thought I already knew that. They were after all the richest family, later the Dukes of Tuscany, and famous as artistic patrons. However the Medici, and from what I can gather most other wealthy and noble families took it a bit more literally. If you look around the buildings of Tuscany, on statues, or church decorations you'll see family crests. And you see the Medici crest twice as often as any other. It makes me think of a cross between graffiti tags and dogs peeing to mark their territory. My friend and I were picturing rogue Medici stone masons wandering Florence in the dark of night and affixing the Medici crest to the side of buildings.

Unfortunately you can't see it that well but the Medici crest is below the bust.

I realize that while I find the near constant presence of the Medici crest both hilarious and fascinating, most people probably don't share that opinion. So I'll move on to things found universally fascinating: eating, drinking, and shopping.

The food remains fantastic and since it's Carnival season delicious pastry abounds. Which is wonderful because I have a HUGE weakness for baked goods. I LOVE PASTRY. I recently tried a Carnival desert called Cenci. It is essentially thin sheets of fried dough and covered with powdered sugar. It was heaven. I went to the central market for lunch today and spent some quality time with my favorite food group... the pig. I had porchetta! It was served thinly sliced and in oil. It was pungent and salty in a way that was so wrong... that it was perfect! Our homestay mother, Sandra, made sole for dinner tonight and I loved every bight.

As for the drinking... I can order a hot chocolate in perfect Italian. Which is good since it is my signature beverage back in the states. As for other kinds of drinking... I went out with my roommate and some friends last night. Thankfully there were not as many creepy men of a certain age as last week. I consider that an improvement. However the club we went to for a while seemed to be the favorite place of the dreadlocked emo/punks of Florence. I was definitely too happy and had showered too recently to fit in at that club. Otherwise it was unremarkable and confirmed my preference for bars. We did go to a bar as well called Fish Pub. This one didn't have Strongbow but it did have a much younger clientele. There were also a lot more Americans there. I admit a part of me would go back there, nurse a beer and watch some of the shit-shows happen. I suppose it's bad that I would so indulge my Schadenfreude and watch other people make poor life decisions but there you have it.

On to the shopping. My bank account probably doesn't appreciate this week very much. On the other hand I'm not planning on buying anything else for a while. I got a beautiful pair of black leather gloves with a pink embroidered stitching that's really subtle and elegant. They're lined with cashmere so my hands should stay nice and toasty. I also indulged myself at the Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella. There is nothing like a beautiful smelling beauty product to brighten up your day. I also bought a beautiful leather bound notebook. Which I can carry around everywhere and record all of the wonderful and ridiculous life stories that seem to occur. Quite a few of which I am sure will find their way onto this blog. But right now a gelato is calling my name and it is quite persistent.

No one said we'd be off-roading...

On Friday I had a field study trip with my Medici Patronage class. It was a lot of fun but freezing cold because we went to a bunch of hill towns. Our trip started with the Medici villa in Fiesole. Fiesole is a beautiful town outside of Florence. The views from the villa were phenomenal. It's a private home, so people unrelated to the Medici currently live there. We didn't get to go inside we just walked around the grounds. I wish I lived there, you could spend years looking out the window and never get tired of what you see.

Out next stop was a Carthusian abbey in Certosa. The abbey is now run by Cistercian monks. The difference between the two orders has to do with the amount of contact they have with the outside world. The Carthusians don't want anything to do with it and the Cistercian's have cell phones. I'm serious about the cell phones.

On our tour of the abbey a cell phone began ringing, everyone looked around guiltily, sure that the

monk giving the tour would be offended. Instead the Cistercian monk whipped a cell phone out of his habit and began talking. I have photographing evidence to prove it. W

hile I was unfortunately unable to capture the monk with the cell phone next to his ear you can see him looking at his cell phone.

Next we went to Poppi and had lunch before visiting two Medieval castles owned by the Guidi family. Once again lunch w

as fantastic. I love being in Italy and having every meal range from good to unbelievable, I could get used to it very quickly. I had pasta in a rabbit sauce, yummy! Thumper is delicious. I also had a side of fried artichokes and split a bottle of wine with 3 other girls. Having fortified myself with a good meal and some lovely wine I felt ready to face the rest of the afternoon. This was long before I realized that part of my afternoon would consist of hiking on "trail" in order to reach a church on the main road. The first castle we went to was fully intact and had everything you expect from an old castle except the tapestries. The second castle was more of a ruin, and that's where our off-road adventure began. The bus cou

ldn't get all the way up to the castle so our professor told the driver to meet us back on the main road next to an old church. We would follow a path from the castle to the church that took us past an old spring. Unfortunately my professor couldn't find the proper path. We found a path with a chain across it and a sign on it that said "don't go this way." Naturally we went that way.

After hopping another fence their was barely any path to speak of but my professor is determined so he tells us to wait while he explores. The "path" was pretty much impassible after a few yards so we had to turn around and go back to the castle. Eventually thanks to one of the students in the class with sharp eyes we did find the correct path. This one, mercifully, did not require fighting with bushes to get anywhere.

The rest of the weekend was eventful in other ways and involved a lot of exploring, none of it off-road thank god! On saturday I went to Santa Croce and had lunch in a restaurant near the square. I had polenta with sausage and black truffles. It was wonderful. The sausage had a nice element of spice that cut the creaminess of the polenta and it was all enhanced by the richness of the truffles. In case you haven't noticed yet good food is a priority in my life. Saturday night I went out to a bar with some friends. We went to an Irish pub and I know you're thinking wtf? an Irish pub in Florence???? I ask myself the same thing but I guess an Irish pub has become a universal institution. It was also a lot more laid back than a lot of the bars we passed on the way. The other advantage of the Irish pub was the presence of Strongbow on tap. I LOVE Strongbow and it's presence will compensate for a great deal. However even Strongbow was not enough to keep my from feeling as if my night had taken a bizarre turn. It began as we were walking to the bar. My friend Claire is a redhead and as we were walking some guys on the street just began shouting "Ginger ginger ginger" really loud and really fast. It was kinda creepy but also hilarious. The Irish pub is clearly the frequent and preferred hangout of a group of regulars age 35 and up. One of them took a liking to me and kept trying to flirt with me. I kept trying to ignore him, with limited success. When he finally decided to leave he shook my hand and said "Very nice to meet you." After quickly shaking his hand I was quite ready to end all physical contact but he wouldn't just let my hand go. So as I tried to pull my hand away he held on and caressed my hand in one of the more uncomfortable moments of my life. It was blatantly obvious I wanted no further physical contact. Even the guys an the next table could see that. Unfortunately they were not so astute about the fact that one of my friends who they liked was completely uninterested. They called my group of friends over and started to chat with us about the type of person we're attracted to and making awkward sex jokes. Then they challenged the one guy of our group to arm wrestling matches. I'm glad to say he won them all. The conversation alternated between the hysterical and the really uncomfortable.

Today I wandered around in search of bookstores with my friend Peter. We didn't care if they had any books in English or not. We just liked looking at the variety and options. There is something comforting and familiar about a book no matter the language of the words. Some element of it is universal. We also enjoyed looking at the comic books in Italian. Comic books and children's books seem like a great way to help learn the language. We walked all over the center of the city in search of bookstores. Unfortunately Sunday was probably not the best day to search for books as most stores in Italy are still closed on Sunday. Still it was an adventure and a chance to explore a beautiful city with a friend. The more I wander semi-aimlessly the more I enjoy it.

Back to School

My first week of classes is over and I've already learned some very valuable information. The most important of which is that in winter all field studies and site visits involve freezing your ass off. I'll elaborate on this point later.

I'm taking 4 classes while I'm abroad. Italian (of course), Medici Patronage of Art, 16th Century Art and Identity, and Italian and European Theatre. My professors are all really nice but unfortunately they all assign a lot of reading. Thank god I read quickly. Last year I took a political theory class and read Machiavelli's The Prince and Discourses. This week I read his History of Florence and Mandragola for various classes. I've now read most of the complete works of Machiavelli, like the Complete Works of Shakespeare but Machiavellian. I'm not sure why I thought reading the rest of Machiavelli in 1 week was a good idea. It must be some bizarre lingering effect of the jet-lag. My Italian class is just as insane. We have it 4 days a week and it meets for 2 hours at time. At the end of Italian I feel so dazed. The only thing that gets me through that class is my 10 minute hot chocolate break between the 1st and 2nd hour. Hot chocolate gets me through most issues in life.

On the bright side I've eaten a lot of really good food this week, which is a priority in life. Sandra, my home stay mother, served us the traditional Tuscan soup made with white beans, black cabbage, and garlic bread. It's amazing, especially in the cold weather. It makes you feel warm and full and happy. I also had my first porchetta of this trip. Porchetta is a slow roasted big that is heavily seasoned with herbs and spices. I had it in a sandwich. I was walking back from the bookstore and looking for a place to eat. I went into a cafe and was staring at the sandwich counter, when I saw the porchetta on top of the meat counter. I pointed at it and said "Porchetta?" the woman said yes, then I asked if it could be in a sandwich. She pointed at the breads and told me to choose which one I wanted, then she made me a porchetta sandwich. It was happiness in sandwich form and gave me the strength to get though all that Machiavelli. Sandra also gave us chicken liver for dinner bruschetta one night. She served it as a spread on toast. So far I haven't eaten anything that I've really disliked. I have my preferences and I liked somethings better than others but I will eat everything I've had a second time.

Back to lessons learned on site visits. Thursday morning my Medici Patronage class looked at sites around Florence. We discussed the relationship between architecture and power. What does a particular building say about the people who built it and why did they choose to build in that particular style? The lecture was really interesting but it was also freezing. The problem with standing out doors in 40 degree weather is that it doesn't feel cold at first. But as you stand still for long amounts of time in the shade (because in Florence very little sunlight reaches the streets) you slowly start to freeze. First your fingers go numb, then your toes, and finally your brain. By the end of class all I could think of was the school cafe and a cup of hot chocolate. The feeling did not return to my toes for another 4 hours. At least it wasn't raining. On Thursday night Glee premiered in Italy. They dub it all into Italian except for the songs. The beauty of watching the first season of Glee in Italian (besides the obvious fact that it's Glee) is that by watching it I'm "studying" Italian. Glee is also just as good in Italian as it was in English. I'm now obsessed with the same show in two languages. Perhaps this is something I should be worried about but I'm just not.

A Weekend in Chianti

I actually only spent a day in Chianti but I wanted to paraphrase "A Weekend in the Country" anyway. Yesterday my roommate Tracey and I wandered all over Florence. We walked around for 3 1/2 hours and it was so much fun. We had lunch in a cute little restaurant owned by a husband and wife. The food was really nice (of course), very simple, and the pasta was perfectly al dente. After that we tried to find the building where Tracey has her first class of the semester and failed MISERABLY. You would think that during orientation the university would take you to all the buildings especially the ones farther away from the main campus. After all isn't the point of orientation to help the students become familiar with their new environment? Not according to SU Florence. I didn't really mind searching for the building, but for Tracey's sake I wish we had found it. However, in searching we went to Piazza Santa Maria Novella (where the convent is), the Mercato Centrale (central market), the Ponte Vecchio, and the Duomo.

I plan to go inside the convent at Santa Maria Novella. The exterior was beautiful and the interior is supposed to be as well. Of course I loved wandering through the central market. There were tons of stalls filled with meat, cheese, pasta, produce, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, fish, and of course proscuitto hanging from the ceiling. There was also a little restaurant inside the market. I'll eat there sometime for sure. Wandering around the market made my mouth water. All the food looked so fresh and beautiful.

Tracey and I walked along the Arno to the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge filled with jewelry shops. It was a moment of visual gluttony. So much gold, silver, and beautiful jewels. We stopped for a snack at a cafe next to the bridge. It was terribly over-priced, extremely touristy but so much fun. Being a tourist is fun every now and then. I had a cup of hot chocolate that once again brought out my inner child. I LOVED it. Finally we walked past the Duomo and went home.

Today was amazing. Sandra and Cosimo took us outside of Florence into the Chianti region to visit their close family friends. It was cold and wet today but the countryside was still beautiful. They have a beautiful house and tons of pets. 6 cats, 1 dog, 2 birds, and a chinchilla. We had a huge lunch of polenta and chicken and some wine that the family makes themselves. The wine was spectacular. I wish I had my own vineyard in Chianti, perhaps in another life time. After lunch we drove to the local town and walked around. The clock tower in town leans slightly, it's not as dramatic as in Pisa but it's noticeable. In the central Piazza was a market. One of the stalls was selling porchetta, if I hadn't just had lunch I would have gotten some and eaten it on the spot. It's something to look forward to in the future. Going outside the city was a lot of fun. I'm sad I didn't get any pictures but hopefully I'll be back when the weather is nicer.

Orientation

Today was the last day of Orientation, it was like CI only without the singing or the organization. I registered for classes this afternoon and moved into my homestay last night. I'm living 3 blocks from the main University building. Which is great because I'm NOT a morning person. I'm living with a roommate, Tracey, and a mother and son named Sandra and Cosimo. They seem really nice. Sandra does not speak much English but she's an amazing cook. For our first dinner she made a pasta bolognese and a chicken with mushrooms in a white wine sauce. It was absolutely delicious. If I eat that much and that well every night I'll be gaining alot of weight. Cosimo is only a few years older than I am and speaks fluent English. Living at home after school seems so odd to me. I know it's common in Italy but I like the idea of independence.

I'm taking four classes while I'm in Florence. (Italian of course), two art history classes: Medici Patronage of Art and 16th Century Art and Identity, and Italian and European theatre 1500-1700. That class should be a lot of fun. I met all of the professors, except for the Italian professor, and they all seem really nice. My English professor is directing a production of Romeo and Juliet which is open to the entire program but is extra credit for students taking his class. I volunteered to stage manage the production. I figured it would be a fun challenge after co-producing The Nutcracker. My classes all have site visits. The English class stays in Florence but my Art and Identity class goes to Rome and Venice. My Medici class goes to Fiesole, Poggio a Caino, Rome, and Paris. I'm really excited to begin classes.

My English professor also told me that our health and wellness director used to dance and knows a lot about dance in Florence. When I wasn't doing anything at orientation, which was about half the time, I went and talked to her. She recommended a studio where I could take ballet or modern class. Once classes start next week I'm going to go and check it out. It's nice to know where I can go to dance even if I don't make it to classes

that often.

Yesterday afternoon I had nothing to do from 2-5pm when I got to meet Sandra and Cosimo. I went to a cafe and had a glass of hot chocolate (my signature beverage). It was the drinking chocolate, which is common in Europe. No Swiss Miss in Italy. The hot chocolate was amazing, it also had the cutest presentation. Instead of marshmallows it was served with small chunks of crystalized sugar and star shaped sprinkles.

It also came with cookies! After I left the cafe I walked to the Duomo. I'm being a major tourist this week and I'm ok with that. I want to enjoy how amazing Florence is before the ennui sets in and I find myself overcome with a desperate and inexplicable desire for Gelman Library and McDonalds.

This afternoon my roommate and I went back to the Duomo. We wandered around and window shopped for a few hours. When the weather gets warm I'm going to climb to the top of the Duomo and take pictures of the city. I plan to explore the city more during my free time this weekend. For the most part we are spending the weekend with our host family, getting to know them, our neighborhood, ect. It should be lots of fun.

In Firenze

I'm spending the semester in Florence studying the Renaissance. As an Early Modern European Studies major Florence is really the perfect place to be. I wanted to keep this blog as a way to share my stories while I'm abroad. The title of my blog comes from the musical The Light in the Piazza. I have a feeling this blog will contain quite a lot of theater references, so please bear with me. I hope I can keep my posts interesting and that you'll want to read this thing.

The main school building for Syracuse University in Florence is a Renaissance villa. I'm obsessed with the building and plan to take lots of pictures of it over the next few days. This week is orientation. We're just setting up our phones and internet, registering for classes, and figuring out housing. I really wish I already knew where I was living and what classes I was taking. I have learned that one of the professors will be doing a production of Romeo and Juliet. Obviously I want to be part of it. Unfortunately I don't have many exciting stories just yet as I spent all of yesterday in a jet-lagged stupor. I wanted to get this started so that I can just keep writing over the next few days. I can't wait to get out and explore the city. Last night I ate dinner at the hotel because I wanted to get to know people. I'm in Italy and eating at the Hotel buffet is just not acceptable. I want to get out there and eat well enough to make my dad jealous and Anthony Bourdain proud.