Week 5 and Jake's Visit!

I still cannot believe how quickly time passes here, I am almost halfway done with this semester! Everyone had warned me about that, but I never fully understood it until now. 

This past school week was pretty decent, nothing super awesome to report. I went on 2 field trips with my art history class, in Italian Renaissance art we went to Santa Maria Novella church and inside the Duomo. I loved finally seeing the fresco by Massacio, Trinity. I was shocked at how boring the Duomo was! I've heard from an art history professor at KU that the prettier the church is on the outside, the "lamer" it is on the inside, and vice versa. Very true in this case. But, now I can say that I have finally been INSIDE the Duomo after living here for weeks. In my Michelangelo class we went to the Bargello, the famous sculpture museum here in Florence. It was cool to finally see Donatello's David, Michelangelo's Bacchus, and the competition panels by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi. School is starting to get a little stressful with midterms coming up, but I am honestly not terribly worried about them.

This past Wednesday, my friends and I attended Trivia Night at our favorite Irish pub called Finnegan's. It was such a blast. My team comprised of many knowledgeable people, which made it even more fun to be actually winning. We won for Best Team Name because we made a Celtic reference (Neil and the Lemons) and overall, we got third. The prize was a bottle of wine, which we later called it "Victory Wine" and served it at the weekly family dinner on Thursday, which was amazing this week. We (well, my roommates mostly) made 3 delicious Italian styled pizzas which were out of this world. I contributed with cheap wine and a fruit salad. Family night is always a night spent in good company, lots of laughs, delicious food, and bonding.

I also finally found the secret bakery! For those of you who don't know, a secret bakery is a tiny little bakery that starts making treats and pastries anywhere from 2:30AM-4AM. They make them for cafes and restaurants for that day, and the only way you can find them is by your sense of smell. After searching for forever, my friends and I finally found it! It was the most amazing 2 chocolate croissants of my life. Definitely going again!

Random fact: Our landlord rang our doorbell on Saturday and gave us grapes from his garden! So nice of him...and they are delicious!

I didn't go anywhere this weekend, and it was honestly very nice and relaxing to stay in Florence. Jake Bauer came to visit this weekend, so I showed him the town! On Friday we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch...overpriced but a must see. We then went to the Galileo Museum, which is full of all these math and scientific instruments from the Medici family and Galileo. It definitely made me think of my math major friend, Nathan, and my nerdy science loving boyfriend, Michael. =) You could even see Galileo's tooth, middle finger, and fore finger! So gross. It started raining that day, and it was wonderful to finally feel cooler weather here. On Saturday, we saw the David (my first time since being here) and it was so incredible! Such a powerful statue, and it's huge! There's so much detail in the hands and face, it's so incredible. After that, we wondered around Florence and visited Santa Croce, a beautiful cathedral where many famous people are buried, such as Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, and others. It was such a nice day out...I actually wore jeans and a jacket for the first time! Everyone over here is very much ready for cooler weather. 

This month is very exciting for me...my best friend Nathan Riley, my momma, and my sister are all visiting me!! It will be so wonderful to see them, because I have missed them all so much. They are very excited to see my lifestyle here, and I cannot wait to show them around town!

Michelangelo's David

Amazing Armillary Sphere at Galileo Museum

Masacchio's Trinity

Pizza we made for family dinner

Me and Jake!

Our landlord gave us grapes from his garden!

Santa Croce

I miss everyone back home. Florence is starting to switch over to autumn weather, and there are no trees to see the leaves change! I really miss trees, big patches of sky, grass, Cheez-Its, Netflix, and my boyfriend. It's a bit depressing, but then I remember that I am in Florence for only a semester, so I can miss out on some of these things. =) This week I am booking my trip to IRELAND, and I am so excited!! I can't wait to explore Dublin and be in one of my favorite countries in the world.

Ciao!