I woke up to the sun shining, and a little chill in the air...greetings Fall! I was forced to throw a sweatshirt on and made myself a cup of french pressed coffee. What part of that sentence isn't excellent sounding? Nada!
I went to my one class of the day-Literature of the Grand Tour of Italy- which was cool & ironic because we talked about Pompeii, where I just came back from visiting. That's one thing I like about all of the classes I signed up for, they all relate to my experiences here and everything I am learning can be applied.
Furthermore, last week in my Food, Culture, and Society class we made a delicious zuppa di farro (farro & vegetable soup). Today, I decided to head to the San Lorenzo market to get all of the ingredients to make some for myself since it is finally getting chilly. I stocked up on vegetables, fruit, bread, and wine- all under 10 euros. Yeah buddy!
I returned back to the apartment where my domestic self and I whipped up some fresh vegetable stock, and assembled everything together. The finished product?
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| Not too shabby |
I then set out for a run around the river, where I saw some pretty picture-worthy things
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| Green pants, linen shirt, and a very large helmet |
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| View of Florence! |
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| Santa Maria Novella |
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| Some sweaty girl, GROSS |
This is by far one of my favorite spots to escape to. I had previously been here with my History of Christianity class to tour the Church. As soon as the lecture was over, the rest of the class bolted out of the door. I decided to stay and got a one-on-one lesson from my professor, who is also a nun. We walked side by side through the Church while she explained each and every fresco with such enthusiasm. I would ask her questions and she would eagerly respond with her British accent and soft tone- her hearing is severely damaged from the bombs during WW II.
When we were done, we walked outside to the most breathtaking view of the city of Florence and the rolling hills of Tuscany. As we made our way back to the other side of the river, we talked about everything from her background/how she became a nun, to her time spent teaching at Princeton, to her eight children (and grandchildren) who live throughout the United States. She returns to the U.S. once a year to visit them, and travels by Grey Hound bus because she doesn’t like the idea of being searched at the airport.
I told her about my great interest in Art History which is why I greatly appreciated her guidance through the Church. She agreed with a smile, and told me that Art History was her favorite class when she was my age.
Deciding to stay was the best decision. That extra 45 minutes learning and talking with her, with the most gorgeous backdrop imaginable, was truly incredible.
I returned to the same spot yesterday to simply get away from the chaos of the city, take a step back, and observe everything from afar- accompanied by the sunset, as well as Coldplay's Strawberry Swing & Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall playing on my iPod. I sat down for a good thirty minutes and just...thought.
I think I'll be coming here a lot throughout this Fall/Winter to unwind because God only knows how much we have going on in our busy lives and minds. We all need time to ourself, and hey- if it's in a spot where the Tuscany vineyards are in the background, you can't beat it. ;)
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| Sunset over Tuscany |
Random thought of the day? I could really go for a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee right about now. Wah!
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