Day 47
Usually I help teach English on Tuesdays, but the school had a field trip to London (why can't American schools have field trips like that??!). I had a gap in my schedule between Medieval Literature and Analyzing and Exploring the Global City, so we went to the Uffizi! (With our museum passes that our school gave us, it's free... We should really take better advantage of this) It was such a nice day out on our walk there. As we passed through Piazza della Signoria, I couldn't help but take a few pictures of the Neptune fountain.
Inside one of the most famous art museums in the world, we saw all the original paintings we've been studying in Renaissance Art History. It was so different from the little art history I'd been exposed to in high school which was just pictures in a textbook. The coolest part was that a lot of the art was covered in gold leaf and so the only way to appreciate how it catches the light is to walk in front of it. No picture can capture that (a video might be able to though). I was a little bit surprised because two of the crucifix-shaped painted crosses we studied were there and maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but Jesus doesn't look like he was painted by a master in either of them. I don't get it.
Anyway, we moved onto Botticelli and then I got it. The Birth of Venus was impressive to say the least. Primavera was equally detailed and I could see the skill it took, especially in painting their transparent flowing dresses.
Next, we saw the Tribune. I hadn't known about its existence before, so stumbling across it was like finding buried treasure. It's easier for me to get excited about sculpture, and I love a good use of space, both of which the Tribune capitalizes on. At first, I was about to walk past this little gate where a few people were huddled because I didn't want to wait for them to move and I figured I could just see it when I come back or something. But when I peeked over their heads, the familiar color of statues piqued my interest. I waited patiently for my turn to look in. I wasn't disappointed, and the second gate only got better.
After some googling, I found I was really lucky at least one thing was open while I'm here! Apparently a few years ago, the Tribune closed for restoration. You used to be able to go into the room, but I actually don't feel like I'm missing out because I'm sure it doesn't look any cooler when you're too close to the statues to appreciate the overall layout of the room, and this way there aren't a bunch of tourists ruining your pictures. Worth it.
Although I think the Tribune may have been my favorite thing, the gold leaf-covered paintings were also pretty gorgeous. I spent maybe a little too long slightly moving and tilting my head in front of the Adoration of the Magi and the ones with relief.
In class later, we went on a multicultural tour of the city. We especially focused on the religious minorities.
First, we visited the synagogue which turned out to have incredibly high security. We had to leave everything in lockers at the door, including cell phones and cameras so I couldn't take any pictures except the outside. It was a shame too because I've never been inside a synagogue before. Also this one was probably a special case because it was heavily influenced by the high ceilings and dome-shaped architecture of all the churches in Italy. It even had an organ and a pulpit. Our guide explained that at the time it was built, people wanted to be Italian first and Jewish second. But it still adhered to the rules, so I learned a few fun facts about all Jewish temples:
1) they face Jerusalem
2) they never have religious art/imagery to protect against idolatry
3) there are stairs up to the Torah
4) the Torah is the first 5 books of the Bible
And most interestingly, but more commonly known, 5) men are supposed to cover their heads with a yarmulke (which you say like "yamaka" or kippah)
We also visited a Muslim prayer house on our multicultural tour. I'm not sure why we didn't go to an actual mosque. It was cool, but nothing compared to the elaborate and luxurious mosques of the Middle East that I've seen on Pinterest and am dying to see in person one day. It was a little slow to listen to our guide because he didn't speak English so everything he said had to be translated. All I learned was that people from 20 different countries come to this prayer house and there are 5 prayer houses in Florence. And then we left to go eat free Jewish food.
I still needed to get my computer back from the Apple Store at the mall and I got really lucky because my friend offered to take me!! She and her friend picked me up in their car and saved me all the time and stress of taking public transportation to get there. This was awesome because I'd gotten back to Florence late Monday night and would be leaving straight after class on Wednesday for Greece, leaving me no time to deal with transferring buses and potentially getting lost. I also got to listen to a lot of Italian, which was good for my non-existent speaking ability. (I'm only slightly better at reading though, my Italian overall is coming along really slowly :( ) I waltzed into the Apple Store and asked for my computer. They gave it back to me with this
and it was the greatest moment in my Apple experience. Finally they got something right!
Then we shopped for a little bit and got Chinese food which didn't seem anything like American Chinese food.
I got home and found out my brand new phone charger just spontaneously stopped working and went right back to hating Apple. Eventually, I made it into bed and fell asleep immediately. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind adventure and it wasn't over yet!
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