The Medici

Today I had history class down town. We met at the Piazza della Signoria and went into the Medici Palace. For some reason it was free to tour the palace today. Luciana said something about it being because the last Medici declared in her will that the people should be able to see the paintings/sculptures that the Medici's collected. So we went into the Medici Palace.

We first had to go through security and then check our backpacks. Then we found out that the tour Luciana scheduled for us was mixed-up. We were supposed to have an English guide but because of a computer glitch there wasn't one scheduled. So we decided to take the Italian guide instead. But, before our tour was scheduled, we looked around most of the public areas of the palace.

There is a lot of really great art and history inside the palace. I was amazed at all I saw there today. When it was time to go on the tour we went back to the entrance of the palace and caught up with our guide. She took us through private passages, up narrow, twisting stairs, and into secret rooms. Even though the tour was in Italian, the guide was kind enough to speak quick summaries to us in English. I was actually able to understand some of the Italian that she spoke. She also took us above the ceiling of the Salone dei Cinquecento (‘Room of the 500’)this large meeting room and we saw how the ceiling was able to self-support itself without the use of columns.

The best part about the whole tour was when we were able to go into this secret room. Adjacent to the Salone is Francesco de’Medici’s tiny, precious, windowless studiolo (‘study’), also designed by Vasari. It is filled with secret cupboards containing glass, precious stones and coins, and the walls hold a collection of paintings and frescoes about the natural sciences, a testimony to fine Florentine Mannerist decoration (http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=2041). That was the little blurb I could find on the room, but seeing it in person was amazing. It had three secret doors, a secret window, and secret cupboards behind paintings. All the paintings/frescoes in the room had a purpose and reason for where they were and what they meant. Four paintings depict the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) while four other paintings depict cold, hot, humid, and dry. But the placement of each painting was what made it all come together. The for elements were surrounded by the four other things to make everything interconnected. I can't seem to describe it and I haven't found anything online to help me but it was the most fascinating thing that I saw today. I had such a blast.

After the private tour, finished viewing the rest of the Medici Palace. Class lasted three hours but the extra time was definitely worth it. After class, I split up from the group and walked to the Supermarket along the #7 bus route. I picked up some chocolate and then hoped the #7 bus up to Fiesole. Language class was pushed back to 4pm for some reason so I had 2 hours of down time. I just rested as my cold was not any better. I had been sneezing and sniffling all morning and it seemed to have gotten worse throughout the day.

Language class was fun. We learned some more verbs and how to conjugate them in the third person. We also played a game with the two teams we have. I'm on Team B and so far we are ahead of Team A 4-3. After class I went back to the room and lied down for a while.

Dinner was at La Reggia tonight. Adam's family was back from their trip to Rome so they joined us as well as the other Adam who came to Florence during SMU's February break. We had a great pasta dish, turkey and rosemary potatoes for the second course, and then the creme caramel for dessert. I barely ate half my dessert as it's not the greatest dessert.

Upon returning to Villa Bonelli I took a shower hoping I'd feel better afterward. I didn't, I'm actually feeling more stuffed up. I'm gonna take another allergy pill before I go to bed. Hopefully it helps. Anyway, after my shower, Jill french-braided my hair in pigtails so tomorrow my hair will be kinky. We'll see how it turns out. I'm now going to end this entry in my blog and call it a night.

Amore e perdere tutti voi! Ciao!