Ketchup Time

Ok, time to catch everyone up on what has been going on in my life for the past few weeks. I apologize for not writing in a while, but life has gotten extremely busy. The weekend after my last post we went to Florence for a few days. Florence was pretty darn beautiful and very different from Rome. For example, there were NO COBBLESTONES, so there was no ankle-twisting going on. It is a lot smaller than Rome, but we squeezed a lot into the few days.

We saw the major cathedral of course, and got to climb to the top of the dome which was AWESOME. 463 steps to the top, and the view was totally worth it. It was really really nice to see the entire city from the top of the tallest church in town, and you could see the entire city as well as the outlying hills. The morning we did it was cloudy, but you could see the sun occasionally through the clouds. Very pretty.

We also got to see the baptistry built adjacent to the church, as well as the church of San Lorenzo and its two famous chapels. Also....we went to the academy where the famous David sculpture is by Michelangelo. It was pretty impressive and much larger than I expected...but very beautiful nonetheless. Many other miscellaneous statues and sculptures as well as beautiful architecture.

Side note-we stayed in a convent while we were there. Felt like an orphanage because of the size of the rooms but the nuns were adorable. =) Overall, the city was great and they have cheap leather. I got a leather coat!!!!! And I'm so excited about it.



Now, the week after we returned to Rome, we had a pinup for our design class. This means that we had a lot of work to do in not too much time, so thus the reason for the lack of posts. The pinup went well, but I am scarred from cutting all my little pieces to put together my model. If I had a laser cutter, my life would have been so much easier.

And thennnn.......this past week my friend Julie came from home to visit me. She stayed for a week and brought me a bunch of stuff I needed from home and we had a great time. This past Saturday, we went to a small town an hour north of Rome called Orvieto. It was BEAUTIFUL. It is a hilltown that you can only get to from the train on an incline trolley. It was very cute. =) We could see all the vineyards surrounding the town although the vines were trimmed back because it is an off season. The coolest thing BY FAR in the town is the well designed by the architect Antonio da Sangallo for the pope's refuge during the siege of Rome in the late 19th century. It is a 175 foot deep well that is 45 feet wide with a double helix staircase. VERY COOL. Although, close to 500 steps to get back up and out. =/

Now, back to the boring stuff after those two trips. This past week, Julie left to go back home and we have just been working on schoolwork. But, not for loooonnnggg.......this Sunday is NOT ONLY Bernie's birthday, but we leave for our first long study trip. We leave to go to Southern Italy, starting with Pompei and moving South and East across to the Mediterranean Sea. After our trip is Spring Break in Barcelona and Paris, so in 2 week's time, I will have TONS of fun stuff to fill you in on. =)