Yo, I'm in Italy.: Visuals III

Alright, so this just took me a year to do. The internet has been HORRIBLE here the past week and a half which is why I haven't updated in so long. In fact, I just did this whole thing, went to post it and it wouldn't load...lost connection. I really almost cried.

Annyyywayyyy, things have been so great here. I'm still really enjoying myself and even more so now that I'm becoming more familiar with the city. On the home front, my host mama is still the cutest little thing in the world minus her love for the devil cat. This past Sunday, Sarah and I were eating dinner in the kitchen and she comes in and shows us her finger nails. Then proceeds to explain that while cleaning our room she came across my nail polish on my side table and decided to use it. Just for a good mental picture, my nail polish is such a dark navy blue that it looks black. So now my mama, 60-something years old, has navy blue nails like Sarah and I. Adorable.

In the past few weeks I've gone on day trips to Assisi and Ravenna, both were amazing. Sadly, in the St.Francis of Assisi Church they don't let you take pictures. Infact, the monks that work inside will throw out your entire group if they catch someone trying to snap one, serious business. Other than the church, Assisi was very mellow and very cold. The them of the day was "Assisi e' chiuso" which means "Assisi was closed" cause literally 75% of the town was closed and it wasn't even a Sunday. Ravenna was just gorgeous, a really cool place. The mosaics there were absolutely unbelievable. I had seen all of them in textbooks before but in person the color/technique is just awesome on a whole other level. I was really just so speechless and taking a million pictures of the same thing a million times haha. With both Assisi and Ravenna, going to all the churches, I really began to understand how one would have been a believer back then. Even for me, the images were just so powerful and awe inspiring. Don't worry though, I still retain my cynicism.

This Thursday, tomorrow, a bunch of us are going to a real Fiorentina soccer game. They're playing Ajax which I guess is Amsterdam's team. It's going to be sooooo nuts, I can't wait. Then this Friday I'm off to Arezzo, Monterchi, and San Sepulchro for the day with my 15th Century Art class. And then Sunday I'm taking a day trip with Sarah and Marah to Viareggio where they have their own little festival for Carnivale. Supposedly they work on their floats all year for each upcoming Carnivale so it should be pretty intense. I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos. Speaking of which, here are a bunch below from the trips I took to Assisi and Ravenna.

Assisi:

St.Francis of Assisi Church