Alexandria's first impressions :)

So I've been in Florence how for exactly two weeks and everything is overwhelming, I think that is the best word. I had never been to Italy and I really had no expectations of the city, apartment, food and overall culture. I still don't feel quite settled in and during that first week especially, and still a little now, I was pretty homesick.

I love being able to walk everywhere because you can see much more and notice new things. When I first arrived I couldn't really believe how close I was living next to the Duomo, the San Lorenzo market and church and then I realized that that is how the whole city is, every one kind of coexists with all this amazing history, art, and architecture and goes about their daily lives. That sort of brings me to what I said in class about all the amazing details and embellishments with hidden symbolism and years and years of history behind them that are present everywhere you look. I also really enjoyed the hike to Fiesole and decided to spend the rest of the day there just exploring. Me and Laura were trying to get to the Roman and estruscan ruins but ended up walking all the way up to a cemetery and completely around the entire archeological site until we found it and realized the entrance was right near where we ate lunch.... But that walk was very interesting the back streets were so quiet until a car or scooter would zoom by. There were also amazing views across the hills and the ruins, so it was worth it. The ruins were also really amazing. They are so ancient that I can't even imagine who stood here before me and what happened and there is this really weird feeling of time just all compressed into one moment, its difficult to explain in words I guess.

I'm ready for classes to start on some kind of normal schedule and as I am looking forward to all of them. All of a sudden I have a renewed interest in the art of the renaissance and before and after and the history, so art history I am very excited for. I am also excited for having class on site! I'm not going to want to sit in a classroom when I go back to wash u. I'm also really excited for the small trips around Italy that we will be taking throughout the semester and the Bologna trip this weekend was a good first one.

So, here are some pictures from these first weeks. Some from Fiesole and I included a few from the Bologna Art Fair.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34681266@N02/sets/