Week of New Things

Confession: I like lists more than paragraphs. Plus, to be honest writing a blog with a chronological listing of every place I went, restaurant I ate at, and thing I bought is a bit daunting. So for the past week, here are the “musts” for any Italian travelling list

1. Eat foccacia bread. It’s similar to a thick crust of pizza, except it has butter and garlic on top. It is to die for. Ann brought some foccacia from the shop about a minute away to class for us to try and now I’m hooked.
2. Take a day away from the group and spend time walking around and only interacting with Italians. That has been one of my favorite parts about drawing in the city. Most of Learn Tuscany works on their art in the studio, so when I go on my excursions, I get to see Italy in the most Italian way I can.
3. Go to Lucca and ride bikes around the wall. It’s one of the only Etruscan cities that kept the entirety of their wall. On my time off last weekend, I spent two days in Lucca with Claire, Tara, and Coco. It is quiet because most people bike in the city and it’s extremely nice. We had an incredible dinner at Antica Osteria. My favorite thing we ordered was a prosciutto plate with fried dough.
4. Climb the Duomo in Florence. It is definitely worth it. I climbed it with some people from UT on our break yesterday. I am definitely sore today. First, getting to climb in between Brunelleschi’s design for the inner and outer layers was a really cool experience. Then we got to see the Dome frescos super close. Then, of course, the view was incredible.
5. Go to Orvietto. It is my favorite Duomo, with incredible frescos inside of the last judgment by Signorelli. I loved buying a pottery pitcher at L’Arpia from the sweetest couple. The husband makes the pottery and the wife paints it. They stopped working and talked to us for about 30 minutes. Orvietto is also famous for their wine and there are many stores on the main street that have wine tastings.
6. Go to a festival. The end of the Medieval Festival in Castiglion was this week. They had dancers, a sword eater, fire throwers, and ended with the most spectacular fireworks I have ever seen. The Italians get super into their celebrations.
7. Learn some Italian. Ok, admittedly I know very little but I have definitely seen that the more I say when I come into a store, the more they seem ok with helping me out with what I don’t know. Plus, I’ve gotten somewhat friendly with my regular spots.
8. Try different coffees and pizza. My favorite coffee at the moment is cafe shakerata where they shake up coffee, cream, and ice all together until the ice melts. As for pizza, I just had my first piece of nutella pizza and it is wonderful. It’s in the pizzeria that looks over all of Castiglion Fiorentino in what Americans call “the pirate bar.” I don’t know the real name.
9. I haven’t done this one and I’m not sure if I’ll get to this trip, but I’m dying to stay in a Convent. Yesterday, we saw Fra Angelico’s paintings in San Marco monastery in Florence, where the Medici family stayed and Savonarola lived. Ann then told us about when she stayed in a convent. On my life list.

I'm still loving it here and constantly seeing new things. It's crazy how much there is to experience. Also, I somehow cant find my last post. May have deleted it somehow?