Blog Updates + Lots of Photos

Ciao!

This is my second post this week because I wanted to share a few more things with you all:

1. I have now added labels to my blog.  On the right hand side there should be a list of all the topics I have covered.  If you want to see what I wrote about churches, click on the label "church" and you will get a list of all relevant posts.  This makes it easier if you are trying to search for a previous post.
2. Orientation finished about three weeks ago and I wanted to share some photos from my weekend trips with you all.  Enjoy!

I live far from il centro (the center of town) but close to a small town called Fiesole.  Fiesole was an Etruscan town originally and is full of Roman ruins....which are noticeably absent from Firenze and which this Classical Studies major really wanted to see.  It also has splendid views of Florence!  The first time I didn't get to go into the archaeological site but I recently went again last week during "culture week" so we got a reduced entrance fee which made us very happy.  It is a beautifully maintained site.

Fiesole: Street View

View towards Florence on a cloudy day

The Roman theater

Tuscan countryside view from the archaeological site (looking away from Florence)

 The next weekend my friend and I went to the Expo Rurale on the opposite side of town.  There was lots of food, plants, and animals to be petted and photographed. :)  It was a fun Saturday afternoon activity that also let us explore another side of town.

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selling salame

Having fun with Pinocchio

Another Friday after class we went to Settignano, which is another small town that is easily accessabile by bus.  There wasn't as much to do there as in Fiesole but we admired the view and enjoyed being away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  There seem to be good hiking trails here...when the weather cools down I need to convince my friends to go with me! ;)

A picture my friend took of me taking a picture :)

 The next weekend we took a trip to Viareggio beach, which was very relaxing.  To get there we had to take the train from centro at the Santa Maria Novella station.  It was the perfect time go to as it wasn't crowed with summer vacationers but it was still sunny and warm enjoy to enjoy the beach.

Santa Maria Novella train station (www.florence-on-line.com)

Viareggio beach with mountains in the background

Our final weekend was full of studying for our language and art history finals and spending quality time with Bubu:

Surprised Bubu

Lazy Bubu

Napping Bubu

So that's about it for orientation!  I am definitely more confident with navigating around the city and speaking Italian most of the time.  From now on we have class trips about twice a month and I will be posting about those.  Last week we went to Ravenna -- I'll tell you all about it in my next post!

Ciao!