Day 3: Part 2

Hello!

So the girls from the apartment on Tintori came and met us in the street outside our apartment to walk over to meet Zaho a few blocks away to walk with her to the monastery of San Marco to catch a bus to the hills for our hike. After a brisk walk through the streets of Florence, we made it to Palazza della Santissima Annunziata, the location of one of Brunelleschi's greatest architectural designs: Ospedale degli Innocenti. I'll save that history for the day we actually go to look at it in detail. Anyway, we passed through the palazzo to get to San Marco. As we were waiting for the bus to take us to meet Lorenzo, a student coordinator at Capa, other American students arrived at the bus stop. Dr. Zaho recognized them from Capa as students from Pittsburgh. The guys were wearing sleeveless fraternity shirts and the girls had flawless makeup and gym clothes on. I'm trying my best not to put myself in a bad light here, because I don't like to judge people in most situations. So I kept my thoughts at bay as we boarded the bus with this group of 5 or 6 students and I tried to amp myself up about hiking with other American students and the possibility of making friends.

The bus ride itself was an adventure. Just like the taxi that delivered us to our apartment from the airport, this ride was thrilling and scary. We took huge curves on the edge of a mountain like it was nothing. I was standing near a man with a stuffed backpack who kept pushing it into me; I told Brittany I was being reverse pick-pocketed, because it's like he was trying to get me to grab his bag.

Once we arrived at our stop, my group and the other group of Americans got off to wait for Lorenzo to begin the hike up the mountain/hill/whatever (as a Floridian, everything is a mountain to me) to watch the sunset at the top. At the bus stop was this massive metal abstract sculpture in a beautiful green grass patch with little flowers in it and one large cyprus tree. Both groups were standing separately, ours being nerdier than the other. My group all crossed the street at one point to get pictures of the gorgeous view of the city, only to turn around to see two of the frat guys sitting in the sculpture with a third guy spinning them in it. We didn't even know if the sculpture was supposed to spin, but one guy was turning it with two guys inside and he was going faster and faster and the tree was being rustled and the sculpture was tilting and making awful noises and I was ready to watch it fall and tumble down the hill. I don't know if it was Zaho shouting at them or their sense finally caught up with them, but the guys stopped and returned to their group. My group then returned to that side of the street and stood by ourselves, only to see the same guys standing on a wall on the ledge of the hill. If they fell, they would have been seriously injured. We all groaned and Zaho said, "If Lorenzo isn't here before the next bus arrives, we're getting on." Within 2 minutes another bus pulled up and we literally ran on to it.

We took the bus to the top of the hill to a town known as Fiesole. We hopped off the bus, crossed a few streets and ended up at the entrance to an Etruscan archaeological site. After a few minutes of Dr. Zaho bargaining to get us in while we took pictures together, we were in. Once we were there we all went straight for the view of the amphitheater and after taking a few pictures, we split up. Krista, Geoff, Chelsea, Ana Maria, and I went to explore the ruins while everyone else went into a small museum at the top of the hill. It was so much fun! We climbed all over the ruins of an Etruscan temple from who knows when. There were clearly marked rooms and columns and we were completely alone to wonder what purpose these places served. There were also spaces that looked like pools or basements or something. The worst (or best?) part was that there were no plaques describing anything. But the scenery, the weather, and the excitement were all beautiful. (Actually, I don't think I've described the weather very much. It's been in the 70s mostly; perfect for walking around the city all day. Not too hot, not too cold.) It felt like we had discovered these ruins ourselves. The amphitheater was very cool too. I walked into cool (literally and figuratively) grottos and backstage areas where the actors probably prepared and kept props. The five of us never made it into the apparently very interesting museum, but I have no regrets.

We left the site and made our way to a very steep, old brick paved road to take us to the highest public point of Fiesole. It was a gorgeous lookout with a lion head fountain on a wall and a large tree providing shade. We were early for the sunset, so a few of us walked up yet another hill to a church at the very top of everything. It was quiet outside, but as we approached the doors we could hear monks chanting. The front was closed, but there was a side door opened. I peeked in to see a beautiful gate with a lovely blooming garden behind it and a small staircase to the left of it. Because I was completely alone and it was quiet, I was too afraid to climb the stairs then. So I walked around where the others were, took some pictures, and returned to the lookout.

Lorenzo eventually showed up with a huge group of American students from Capa, including those guys. He took them all up to that church, waving us up when he wanted Dr. Zaho to see it, because she had never been up there before. So I climbed that hill again, this time with everyone. We all went back to that staircase I was too afraid to climb, joined by dozens of other students. It's a very narrow staircase, width wise and steps wise. So it was a hassle getting up while others were trying to get out. Once we got to the top of the staircase there was one tiny door leading to a small hallway. There were so many people in there that I said to a girl at the doorway, "Are you trying to come out?" to which she nodded, so I stopped and stood to the side. A girl behind me looked at me, pushed past me and the other girl, and went into the small crowded hallway. I just said, "Oh, okay"; the girl leaving laughed, shrugged, and came out of the doorway. I ended up letting about 7 people come out before I entered. It was a hallway with old monks' rooms. And by old, I mean 1500s. One of which was San Bernardino's, who we had seen a frescoed portrait of in the border of the Last Supper we saw earlier today. The rooms were no more than 5' x 5', equipped with a bed or bench and a desk with a chair. Each had a window and a few had religious frescoes in them. After taking a few pictures, I headed back to the lookout spot.

We sat there for a while taking a whole bunch of pictures of each other and the landscape, watched the sunset, then made our way back to the bus and back to our apartments. We each took care of our own dinner tonight. I made spinach tortellini that I bought at the grocery the other day with a red sauce that was given to us by Capa. It was delicious! I paired it with saltines and gatorade. Also notice that I didn't eat any gelato today. Big mistake, I know.

One thing that I've failed to mention is the pollen in the air here. It's tangible little tufts of white puffs that float around the city in the air. It adds a sort of sense of magic to the atmosphere. Up in the hills, especially in the grassy archaeology site, it was all over the place; you couldn't look anywhere without seeing it. It was beautiful.

Okay, time for bed! Ciao!