Ravenna, Rome, life in Italy

we had our painting critique for mid terms. I turned in my 2 “blood” portraits and we spent most of the class talking about our paintings. After we decided to go out to pizza for the rest of class and talk about what we wanted to do with our remaining weeks in painting. I was a nice change from class in the studio to class over pizza J
we decided to miss Italian last wednesday and go to Ravenna for the day. We got up early and got on the train at 6:30 am and were in Ravenna around 10. We walked around and went to about 6 different museums and saw all the mosaics of Ravenna. We were done around 3 pm and had some tea before we were supposed to get on the train home at 5 pm. The 5 pm train never showed so we waited for the 5:45 train. At 5:40 or so we got on a train that we thought was the train to Florence, turns out there are 2 #1 platforms and the train to Florence left without us. We figured out that the next train was at 8 pm so we went and walked around some more and got more tea and then went back to the station at 8. Only to find out that there wasn’t another train to Florence that day and we could take the train to Bologna and then go to Florence but there weren’t any more trains to Florence from there and we would have to stay the night in Bologna or get a taxi the rest of the way home. We decided to stay in Ravenna for the night and paid 60 euro for a room, luckily they didn’t mind that neither of us had our passports with us. And then we laid in bed watching Scrubs in Italian and regretting not asking for help earlier. : /

We went to Rome bright and early on Saturday. The Bus ride was about 4 hours there and we had the same driver that we had on the way to Pompeii. A few of the Swedish students and another American girl who is a senior came with. And also a girl from Nigeria who was late and made us wait 30 minutes for her. We got to Rome and the first thing we did was go to the Vatican. We walked into the square and took pictures and then our teacher told us we didn’t get to go inside because the line was too long so we went to the Sistine Chapel instead. We walked through the Vatican museum and saw all the art, the museum was huge and I just really wanted to get to the Chapel so a few people and I ran ahead. Julie and I ran through out the modern exhibit trying to find the chapel which was very far away, we ended up running all the way to the basement and then back up to the top floor trying to find the Chapel. We finally found it and I was so amazed when we walked in. I stood in there under god and Adam for 30 minutes, sneaking pictures of the ceiling. I went and bought a rosary for someone (not sure for who yet) and waited for Sara and the rest of the group. After we went to the Spanish steps, took pictures of the sunset, and had an 18 euro drink at a bar at the top! My painting teacher told me it would be the best drink that I will ever have in my life so I decided to pay the money for it. It was a pretty good drink but I still don’t think it was 18 euro good! That’s about $25! For dinner went took taxis to a pizzeria and ate with one of the ladies from Arcadia in Rome. We took the subway back to the hotel and had drinks in one of the rooms before going to bed after a long day of walking. The next day we got up and went to the coliseum with the group, we got in for 3 euro instead of the usual 11 and had 30 minutes inside. We went to Imperial Rome next and walked through there. We went to the Trevi fountain and then had lunch with a few people. Then we walked back to the hotel and got on the bus back to Florence. It was a very busy 2 days but I think I managed to see all the major spots in Rome; I will defiantly be going back someday.

This week we mostly just relaxed and tried to get some homework done. In drawing we went to this part of Florence I hadn't been to yet and went into the most beautiful church I have ever been to. The whole church is decorated in gold and marble scultpure and paintings, like most churches in Italy. except with this one every single inch is covered in art. there was a man there that works for the church and quit his job in order to dedicate himself to the church in and the Virgin Mary. Sara and I are trying to get some more christmas shopping done so we made a point out of going to all the big markets this week. Friday a few other arcadia students and I went to the movie theater and saw the new Harry Potter! It was in english with italian subtitles so the whole place was filled with American students. The rest of the week I have been painting and drawing, our trip to Arezzo on saturday got canceled because not enough people wanted to go so they moved it to December 4th. Next weekend Sara and I and a few of the guys are going to Modena and Milan! Modena is where the Ferrari Factory, what better way to spend thanksgiving weekend! The countdown until I come home is in the 20s now. It's going by so quick! Im really not excited to come home, and I have so much I need to do before I leave Florence!

Packages from home, bars, and Halloween in Venice :)

I finally got my package Nick sent me from home. Sara and I had Kraft mac and cheese for dinner and I sipped on some Starbucks via. I started watching season 2 of lost and finally got to see the season 3 finale of True Blood, after waiting 2 months. It was nice to have some things from home again.

2 weeks ago I was late to photo because we had to go to the immigration office to finalize our permit to stay. The office was on the other side town and I got really lost trying to get back to the workshops after. I spent all my time in the dark room again trying to get ready for mid terms next week. That Friday one of the guys, Alex, came to the dark room with me so I could teach him how to develop. It was my last chance to finish everything for my mid term so I went a few hours before him to make sure I could get everything done. I managed to finish everything in time and then got home and painting for a bit. I decided after a few drinks to go out with the group, Sara stayed behind and painted. Alex bought me a drink for helping him in the dark room and I made a little face out of wax at the bar and then went dancing with Eliana and Britney. They played YMCA and songs from Greece and well all sang along loudly, it was so fun! That Saturday Sara and I took the bus to Fiesole, a little town 20 minutes from Florence. We couldn’t figure out how to take the bus so we just got on and pretended to have a pass. We took pictures of the view of Florence and then wandered into an empty church and then had lunch and went back to Florence, again for free on the bus, yay for free bus rides! That night Sara painted and I went out with the group to a couple bars. We went to one club and they tried to charge us 50 euro each as we were leaving, which is absolutely ridiculous. We refused to pay of course. That Sunday Tommy came over and we watched Top Gear in my room for hours, I forgot how funny that show is.

We had mid terms last week. I felt pretty good about them and I think I got ok grades, i got a B+ on my Italian mid term and then 97.5% on my art history final. After finals were over we spent the weekend in Venice for Halloween! We left Saturday morning at 4:30 am from Florence, stopped in Bologna at 6:30 am, and then got to Venice at 9:30. We figured out the ferry system and got to the Island of Lido where our hotel was. They let us leave our bags in the room early even though it was only 10 am. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Venice, went to the palace and stared at the amazing artwork, especially the ceilings. We wandered some more around Venice, bought masks for Halloween. We decided we wanted to “find the sun” meaning watch the sunset by the water. Walked though ALL of Venice for an hour looking for the water. We finally found “the sun” on a cruise ship dock in the middle of no where, no clue where we actually were. We watched the sunset from the curb, the Sky was dirty with pollution and the sun was behind the boats but it was still a pretty awesome sunset. Found dinner at a little restaurant and had some very good gnocchi with a gorgonzola sause.We went back to the hotel about 8 pm and went to bed early since we had been up all day and were tired from walking. We watched some cartoons first though, Balto and Shrek in Italian. In the morning we got up, had breakfast, and watched some Italian news. We left the hotel by 11, leaving our bags in the lobby conveniently. Went to Venice on the ferry, which was free, since we only had tickets for 24 hours and they had already expire. We went shopping and  Sara bought a couple little things and I didn’t buy anything. Went on a gondola ride in the rain! Spent 90 euro on the ride but it was still amazing! Took the ferry again (snuck on again) to the gardens between Venice and Lido, had lunch outside the gardens which was some PB & J and Pringles. Found a café at the gardens and had tea and coffee there for 2 hours trying to warm up, stay out of the rain and kill time. Went back to the hotel to get our bags and change in the bathroom into our Halloween costumes. Took the ferry to the train station and checked our bags for the rest of the day. Took the ferry back to the main part of Venice and ran to the theater for a play about Venice's history. On the ferry I put on my masquerade mask and had people take pictures of me becasue appearenty nobody wears masks in Venice on Halloween. I was the only one at the play for awhile with a mask on. we had no clue where to find a masquerade ball that night and we decided to figure things out as we went. The play was good, after we found dinner at a different little resturant. Went for another walk and took pictures. we found kids in masks trying to scare people and free drinks at a restaurant. Made our way back to the train station at 11:30 to get our bags before they closed. Found out that we had to go to a different train station outside of Venice to catch our 3:11 am train. We got on the next train out of Venice in order to get there. Got to the proper train station by midnight and we waited for 3 hours in the cold for our train. We managed to sleep a bit and it wasnt too bad, minus some homeless people and the fact that the bathroom was closed. Finally made it safely on the train only to find out it was a “Harry Potter train” with sleeping cabins and there was no room for us. Sat in the hallway until the conductor made us go into a room with an older man and a guy our age, we managed to get some sleep still during the 3 hour ride home Finally got to Florence at about 6:30 am on Monday. Walked back to our apartment and fell asleep until 2 pm, thank god it was all Saints day and there wasnt class. overall it was a very good Halloween weekend in Venice, minus a few traveling errors and some rain!