lucky to have been where I have been, lucky to be coming home again.

BASTA! Took my Italian final yesterday, art history final this morning, and packed this afternoon. Tomorrow is my last day in Firenze, and Saturday morning I embark on my journey back to JFK! A couple final shots of campus:

So, I suppose some sort of conclusion would be appropriate, after all:

″A traveler without observation is a bird without wings."

- Moslih Eddin Saadi

Throughout this summer, I've been thrown theory after theory about art and culture - especially in art history, it's a constant game of categorizing - what does red mean? what does blue mean? What does that really small hand gesture that you can't really see mean? I've learned that although we can theorize all we want, not everything can be put into neat, definite categories. Sometimes, something is wonderful simply because it makes you smile, and that's all the sense that needs to be made out of it.

Italians do what makes them happy - they take long siestas at the most inconvenient times, they organize their day around eating, they drive terribly because they gain no pleasure from traffic rules, buses are late because the driver felt like sleeping in for five more minutes, guidos whistle at girls because it makes them feel macho, the little old man in Bar Lidia takes ten minutes to put a ball of mozzarella on a plate because that's how he wants to do it, and there are saldi throughout the country in the summer so that everyone can afford to look fabulous. Because in a world of anxiety and chaos and deception and heartache and worry, sometimes only what makes us happy can be trusted. Sometimes, only the beauty in our lives, no matter how it is categorized, is real. In Italy, the goal is to live, however obnoxiously, in beauty - to please one's self in whichever manner desired, simply because life is too short not to enjoy it.

Allora, ciao amori. See you in the apple :)

Laura

"The matrix of Italian art is Italy itself, a land whose physical beauty has attracted visitors from time immemorial." -Hartt

Buona sera! I have returned from an escapade through Cinque Terre with Erica, which was full of unbelievable natural beauty, quaint towns on the water, an absurd amount of hiking, some transportation malfunctions, sunbathing on rocks in the middle of the ocean, and lots of seafood and vino bianco.

On Saturday we hiked from Riomaggiore to Manarola, then from Manarola to Corniglia. Once we arrived in Corniglia (after climbing over 400 steps to get up there. The thought of a town on a cliff is nice, but when you actually have to get there, it's a serious pain in the butt. Literally...) we realized its motto is "la dolce di fare niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing - typical) so we had lunch and descended back down the staircase. After Corniglia we hopped the train to Vernazza because we were too full to think about hiking the 4 km between the towns.

From Vernazza, we hiked the hardest hike of them all - a two hour, 3 km journey to Monterosso. We completely ignored the advisory to NOT hike in the early afternoon and proceeded to climb and shuffle through the mountains until we arrived in Monterosso after 90 minutes. Yea, we may live in New York and like to wear high heels and sip cocktails, but our outdoorsy-ness is not to be underestimated. After sweating profusely and nearly passing out, we arrived in Monterosso and immediately threw our stuff onto rocks and went into the ocean. A very, very rewarding experience to say the least.

On Sunday we successfully missed ALL of the morning buses (and got yelled at by the hostel man to get out of the hostel so he could clean). We halfheartedly attempted to hitchhike from Biassa (population: 40), which was, obviously, unsuccessful (and probably a terrible idea anyways). We managed to get to Manarola for lunch and gelato, then went to lay on the rocks in Riomaggiore for the afternoon before dinner, appertivo and calling it a night. Yet another successful journey of the Mals. Le mie foto of this gorgeous place:

(Riomaggiore)

(Via dell'Amore, between Riomaggiore and Manarola)

(trying to be happy after climbing up to and down from Corniglia)

(Vernazza)

(View of Vernazza from the mountain top - yeah, we climbed up there, that's right)

(hiking to Monterosso)

(beach in Monterosso! photoshooting. Hi Mal!)

(see that struggling figure in the middle being attacked by a wave and a spontaneous swarm of children at the same time? that's Erica)

(channeling Little Mermaid)

(amazing)

(Sunday "hitchhiking" aka wandering through Biassa and whining)

(Erica's trademark picture)

Allora, today was the beginning of the last week of classes! Class tomorrow, Italian final Wednesday and art history final Thursday, then basta! Back to the apple I go! In the meantime I'll be enjoying my last few days in this beautiful place, and taking some more pictures when I can to share with you all. A presto.

Ciao Amori!

Laura

"We don't see any colour in its purity, as it really is, but all mixed with others. And even when they're not mixed with another color, they are at least with rays of light and shadows; they thus appear different and not as they are in reality."

-Pseudo-Artistotle

Ah yes, the Ferragamo color wheel. After running from the Uffizi to Ognisanti to Santa Maria Novella, then meeting Jenna for lunch (hadn't seen her since December!), I found myself in the Ferragamo museum, sitting on the carpet of a secluded room with a color wheel of ballerine on one of the walls, philosophical quotes about color on all of the other walls, tranquil music in the background, and lights above my head constantly changing colors. Oh Italian class, the places you take us. One day, torture, the next day, therapy. After admiring le scarpe, we continued to frolic up and down Via Tornabuoni "learning" vocabulario revolving around clothing - aka going into shi-shi stores, commenting on how expensive but pretty everything was, and meeting Gao an hour later without having completed much of anything. We all declared "basta," Gao admitted that he was tired, and we got ourselves out of Italian an hour early. After our successful finagling, Cat, Audrey and I frolicked down some narrow streets before I met Erica for la cena.

"I love you because of the way you smell in the morning..." we liked this one

Met Erica by the Duomo to people watch and shoo some gypsies for a bit, then went off to La Giostra for dinner, where we received complementary vino spumante as a greeting and limoncello as a farewell, so that was delightful. Domani Erica and I are off to Cinque Terre! Allora, many pictures of gorgeous cliffside towns and tales of hiking and seafood will be here on Monday. Off to my last weekend in Florence!

Ciao Amori!

Laura

"The painter ought to keep his own company and reflect upon that which he sees. He should debate with himself and choose the most excellent parts of the kinds of things he sees. He should be like a mirror which is transformed into as many colours as are placed before it, and, doing this, he will seem to be a second nature." - Da Vinci

Buona sera! Spent this morning dancing around, then showed Erica La Pietra and frolicked for a bit before Italiano. Pictures from the gardens:

Ciao Mal!

Not much else today. Domani I'll be in Firenze ALL day long - first at the Uffizi and such for art history, then to meet Jenna (!) for lunch, then to the Ferragamo museum for Italian! With that: a domani!

Ciao Amori!

Laura

Banane in Fiamme.

So, for Italian class today we went on a culinary escapade beginning at La Carraia (gelato) and ending at Gao's apartment. After shopping for gelato, banane, burro and, of course, cognac, we were ready to cook our banane fritte on Gao's authentic Italian stove (meaning you turn it on, the gas comes out, you need a lighter to make it a working stove...). Bananas were peeled, cut, and fried in a pan with burro, sprinkled with zucchero, splashed with cognac, then put over gelato (once we had literally almost burned Gao's apartment down a number of times). It was quite a delightful diversion from the usual 3 and a half hours sitting (slash melting) in a classroom in Villa Ullivi. After dolce at Gao's, I took a stroll by the Arno to meet Erica for dinner.

Quote of the day for a little philosophy:

"Although nature commences with reason and ends in experience it is necessary for us to do the opposite, that is to commence with experience and from this to proceed to investigate the reason."-Leonardo da Vinci

Experience before reason - flames before wonderful banane fritte, chaos before order. Such is life...basta. A presto.

Ciao Amori!

Laura

Domenica: dance, mozarella, and meditation sul monte

Buona sera! Began today by dancing around in the fitness room (so not the same as real dance class) and taking a lunch trip up to Bar Lidia with Erica (today I was greeted with a "Ciao bebe! sandwich? sandwich? two sandwich?" to which I always have to respond "no no, io vorrei in un piatto...").

This evening, Audrey, Erica and I went up to San Miniato al Monte - the church above Piazza Michelangelo known for its gorgeous views and the daily "Gregorian Chant." We went in freely (no snobbiness in this church, just an open doorway), and sat ourselves in the crypt to listen. Religion in Italy is so different than religion in the states - it's not hard to understand why religion was, and still is, such a large component of culture here in Firenze. In San Miniato, we were surrounded by artwork, sheltered in a dark, cool building overlooking all of Firenze, listening to the enchanting harmony of the monks. No wonder why religion affects people so much - it was the perfect environment for meditation and spiritual awakening and all that jazz. I wish I could have recorded it, but I found a clip on youtube of the same chant in the same church - it's not the same as actually being there, but this gives you an idea. It was a very zen experience.

(San Miniato al Monte)

(this one's for you, Marc!)

(Hi Audrey!)

That's all for today. Shout out to the Aunts (that was for you, Baba. No more complaining now). Tomorrow Erica and I are taking a trip to the mall for a final round of finding cheap Italian couture, then another week of classes (my eighth week of class here in Italy, isn't that crazy?).

Ciao Amori!

Laura