Day 62

--Mom and I shopped in a artsy, handmade craft market right outside the hotel. We then went to Piazza Republica, and found a large drum line! Mom also got to rub the nose of the boar for good luck! We walked along the Ponte Vecchio, and went to the Boboli Gardens. After sitting on the terrace at the top and writing some post cards, we went to have the delicious Gusta Pizza. 

drum line

photograph by Mom

Mom with the boar for luck

Mom and I in front of the Ponte Vecchio

Boboli Gardens

photograph by Mom

Later in the day, I took Mom up to Fiesole, which is a little town on top of a mountain that overlooks Florence. We were able to see a beautiful sunset with a crazy, orange sun. 

Fiesole sunset

Fiesole sun in the Arno River

Day 61

--In the morning, Mom and I went into the main church in San G. and saw some incredible frescoes. I am always so much more impressed with frescoes now that I have made a few myself and seen how difficult and time consuming the process is. We also went to the top of the Civic Tower in San Gimignano. 

on top of San G's tower

photograph by Mom

photograph by Mom

We made our departure from San G, saying goodbye to our adorable bed & breakfast owner, Giusepina (who didn’t speak a word of English, so I did my best!). Aaand Tuscan city part three! We made our way over to Siena, which was quite busy today as there was some sort of celebration for bicycling teams. We went into a church that was almost as big as St. Peter’s Basillica, and had a black and white striped interior. 

Siena's center

photography by Mom

black and white church (on the inside)

photography by Mom

I feel like i've never had so many photos taken of me in my life!

photography by Mom

We eventually headed back to Florence, and after much difficulty in finding the rental car return, we made it to our hotel. Four Tuscan cities in three days? What a crazy and opportunistic weekend!

Day 60

--Tuscan city: part two! Mom and I went to Lucca today, which is coincidentally another city that is surrounded by tall, stone walls. It was a wonderfully sunny day, and we able to see the beautiful and very elaborate architecture of many churches, some piazze, and the Guinigi Tower. The Guinigi Tower is a tower that has trees growing at the top, yes, trees growing at the top. What a crazy, brilliant idea! On top of this tower from the 15^th century, there are seven oak trees. I forgot the meaning of the trees, but I love the idea. We shared some tea and a pastry, and then enjoyed some more time in San Gimignano.

on top of the wall of Lucca

photograph by Mom

beautiful, detailed chiesa

photograph by Mom

another piazza!

photograph by Mom

Guinigi Tower/ tree tower

photograph by Mom

on top of the tree tower

photograph by Mom

Mom on top of the Guinigi Tower

Day 59

--Mom arrived today! I met her at the airport after class, and we made a little road trip to San Gimignano! The road trip was great with lovely scenery, but a little bumpy (Mom hasn’t driven a stick shift in 20-something years..)

San Gimignano is a little Tuscan town with a population of about 2,000 people. This medieval town has been around since the 10^th century, and is surrounded by a tall, stone wall. One of the neatest parts about San G. is that they preserve the history of their buildings. As we learned on our tour, the stones of the buildings have been reused over centuries. You can see the history of each building be seeing where a terrace used to be, the remnants of a column that are now surrounded by a solid wall, and all the old window archways. 

And just to be a little cheeseball: Belle’s opening song in Beauty and the Beast almost fits San G. perfectly. “little town, it’s a quiet village. Everyday like the one before. Little town full of little people waking up to saaay: Bonjour! Bonjour! Etc.

Now change the “bonjour’s” to “buongiorno’s”, and you’ve got yourself a deal!

(Okay, okay. That’s the end of my cheesey-ness for now, but I may catch that disease again later).

the entrance to San Gimignano (outside looking in)

photograph by Mom

the entrance to San Gimignano (inside looking out)

photograph by Mom

me in front of the cistern 

photograph by Mom

Mom & I 

Day 57

--For our third and final fresco, the assignment is to combine two images of our choice. I chose to combine a vintage french poster for cigarette paper by Alphonse Mucha with a drawing i made of the mad hatter. Below is my painting with tempera paints. Pray for me next Tuesday when I start the first giornata. Oh ambition..

Also, fun and super exciting note: Mom gets in tomorrow! and we will be venturing off to Siena and San G! So excited =)

work in progress

finished product

Day 54

--Today, Karlie, Amanda, Nikki, and Izze, I made our way towards the Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti) to go to the Boboli Gardens on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Pitti Palace was the home of the Medici family.

The Boboli Gardens are immensely huge gardens behind their palace. I only made it through about a third of the gardens, but to give you a gist of what it is like: there are small shrubs that are shin or knee high that are perfectly trimmed and create wonderful maze patterns, many statues that are scattered throughout the garden, a pond, and at the top, there is a terrace where you can overlook the Tuscan country-side. 

After wandering through and admiring the gardens, Nikki and I sat on the ground near the terrace to paint. I painted the wonderful view in front of me on a classy piece of cardboard.

Would you like to hear some good news? I am now an Italian celebrity, as Nikki and I had a handful or so of people take pictures of us painting in the gardens. Most were probably tourists, and it was a little awkward, but definitely a compliment. At one point, I had an American guy say, "Wow, that is really good!" I looked up and said, "thank you!"

His response: "Oh! English! You speak English!" haha After asking a few questions, he told me he thought I was Italian. Yesss. Successfully mistaken for a real Italian.

Painting in the gardens. What a golden afternoon =)

myself, Nikki, & Amanda

stunned by the gardens

photo taken by Izze

painting in the garden

photo taken by Nikki

painting from il giardino

Day 51 again

--Upon the stolen piece of cardboard today, I had myself a nice "canvas" and painting session tonight. The painting is roughly based off a photograph that I took of Michelley. Hopefully there will be more to come!