Saturday, June 1-June 4

Saturday June 1:

The day started with our final exam; we were given four hours to complete it. There were three parts: 1. Select eight out of 14 terms and define them, noting a work of art which strengthened the argument. 2. Answer two out of the four essay topics, answer all the questions, and provide several art examples. 3. In no particular order, provide the top five works of art which had an impact on the experience and explain why.

I thought that I could finish it in about an hour and a half. The terms I chose to define ended up taking way more time than I expected and the essays turned out to be more expansive than intended. To top it all off, my top five works of art were way more personal than I planned on. At the same time, I can see why this would happen; this was the most intense month I've ever spent and the fact that it was spent studying art history was even more transforming. 

After the exam, Steve took whoever wanted to the town of Fiesole. It's just a cute town with a great view. I saw a Franciscan church which had a cute fish pond in the middle. Afterward, a group of us got together with Steve and played card games. We heard that he was kind of struggling with homesickness as well as being sad that the trip was almost over. He's been doing this for over 15 years and this is his second to last year leading a study abroad. I can definitely see why he would be sad. 

Even though Steve doesn't play games at home, he had a great time. We first played Nertz; I'm pretty awful at Nertz, but that might be because it was my first time playing. Then we played a game of I Wish. I Wish is a game of Go Fish except with really hot guys. It was fun to play that with Steve. There were plenty of "Oh, gosh"s to last the rest of the trip. The games definitely helped and I am so glad they did. I've had my share of being homesick and playing games helped me.

Sunday: A handful of students hopped on a bus to go to church on the other side of town. Apparently we went to an international ward and multiple languages were being spoken. I couldn't understand any of them, so it didn't make a difference to me. Since it was fast and testimony meeting, it was a special experience to be somewhere I couldn't understand but still feel the spirit. Afterward, we got a few pictures!

In order to get another taste of home, we went to a Mexican restaurant! I was surprised that there was one in Italy, but I sure was glad it was there. Some girls ordered burritos or enchiladas, but I got some nachos.

After lunch, I went on a scavenger hunt to find some more works of art by an anonymous street artist named Blub (this is the artist who makes famous figures in paintings wear scuba masks). Once it got too hot, we went back to the hotel where a bunch of people joined us in watching Pride & Prejudice. Even Steve came! Thank goodness he did, because he brought his fan and plenty of "oh gosh"s. 

Once we finished up dinner, we all finally rode the carousel that we passed every day. Steve didn't do this one with us, though. 

That night, I went out to the terrace and took one last picture of the Florence skyline with a cool camera app some classmates showed me. I loved Florence, but it was time for a change!

Monday: Early in the morning, we took the shuttle to the train station where we found our train to Venice was delayed about three hours. With that extra time, some girls took the chance to have some McDonald's. I can't blame them! When the train finally came, it was already jam packed with people. Thank goodness we had reserved seats.

Once we got settled into our hotel with really great WiFi, we took a water shuttle to the other side of Venice. The only way people can get around here is by walking or by water. If someone passes away, you ship them out by boat. You buy a refrigerator and it gets shipped in by boat. You get the idea. Apparently there are times of the year where parts of Venice get flooded really bad. I can't believe it!

Venice sets the scene for movies like The Italian Job. I really wanted to steal something!

This is the facade of San Marco, the basilica that apparently houses the body of The Saint MarkTM, Mark of the Apostles. Okayyyyy, Venice. 

We slowly made our walk back to the hotel and stopped for gelato, courtesy of Steve. I made a quick stop by Lush for a bath bomb since our hotel room doesn't have a shower curtain and I needed to make having a bath a decent experience. I got one that was called "dark arts." It smelled pretty and had glitter. It was also black, so what's not to love?

When I got back to the hotel room, I had to bathe since the humidity was doing a number on me. It was awesome! The bath bomb definitely made a difference, except it was impossible to clean up. Afterward, I got a really cheap pizza for dinner and watched the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" with my friend Megan (pictured above).

Tuesday: Oh, my gosh, today is the second to last day of the study abroad. How did the time go so fast? 

The day started with a visit to the Basilica Dei Frari. It is a Franciscan church which turned out to be popular with famous people who wanted to be laid to rest here. This is the tomb for the 19th century artist Canova. Not very humble, with the Franciscan beliefs, but okay.

This is the big altarpiece of the church, well, kind of. The original is behind the scenes getting cleaned. This is a replica. It is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by painter Titian. 

This is the Pesaro Madonna by Titian. Now, because we didn't have class, we didn't have to take notes, but I did for YOU. So this was cleaned about two years ago, which made the colors just pop. The perspective is what makes this piece really special. It was painted to be scene from the entrance of the church, rather than straight on. Saint Francis is in this work of art and he points to the Pesaro family who are sitting in the bottom right corner. The man in the turban represents a prisoner of war. It is essentially propaganda for a Pesaro family member who played a big role in the war regarding the Muslim invasion. There is speculation that the angels above were added by one of Titian's students but who's to say. 

This is how the church looks when you first walk in. The Assumption is perfectly framed by the ancient divider. 

This is something cool we saw on the way to our next venue! It reminded everyone of Harry Potter.

Another thing we checked out was The Bridge of Sighs. Legend has it that those sent to prison would cross this bridge and that tiny window would be their last look out into the Big World. As they walked through it, they would sigh. Sounds awful.

The next church we saw had the body of Saint Zacharius, the father of John the Baptist, perfectly preserved. That's just a little too far fetched for me, but okay.

A cool thing in this church was this crypt. A portion of it was under water, and all of it smelled.

After that, we checked out the Basilica of San Marco, but the inside. It was a mosaic overload. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures yet. In order to see the altar, we had to pay two euro but my money was in my backpack that was checked. I wasn't too upset about not seeing it but Steve wouldn't have it, so he got me inside. I am so glad he did! I can't figure out how the word is supposed to be spelled but the altar looked like (kwah-see-neigh). When I got my backpack, I was able to pay Steve back.

Steve, Sierra, and I went up to the bell tower and saw the incredible view.

Sierra and I went to the Academia and saw many sketches of da Vinci's. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take photos, but I was able to take this photo from another exhibit. Same thing, right?

For dinner, I went with some friends to a nicer restaurant. They were pretty expensive. They charged a cover fee plus an extra something, which I thought was lame. The food was good, though!

The night turned out beautiful. I was hoping that by this point of the trip, I would have a better idea on where I would be going with my professional career, but I have more questions and concerns that I anticipated. At least with views like these and the memories I've made, there'll be a little bit of peace.