"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