The rest of this week was really fun. Katie left on Thursday to go to Barcelona with Euroadventures along with Melissa, Margo, and Meghan. So it was just me and Ashley here for the weekend. Gerald invited us to go to an aperitivo with him and his friend Fani, so we decided we might as well go out to eat instead of sitting at home all night. We made ourselves a salad though with chicken to hold ourselves off till we left. We met up with Fani in front of Old Stove at 9:00, a bar that I want to check out before I leave, near the Duomo, and took a bus to where Gerald lives. The aperitivo was fine, but we got there close to 9:30, so all they really had was the desserts. After "dinner" we went back to the Center, and Ashley and I got Mr. Pizza since we hadn't really eaten since our salad, and went back to our apartment where I ended up Skyping till 8:30.
The next day, Ashley and I slept in. I ended up waking up at 2, and we both decided we wanted to check out one of the parks in Florence, Cascine, so we did even though it had started to drizzle a little. The walk was about 35 minutes, and it was 4 bridges past the Ponte Vecchio. It was pretty humid and by the time we got there, the sun had come out. I wish I brought my camera because the park was really pretty. Ashley and I walked a little further and found a grassy area where we could sit by the Arno River, and we did. There were so many people running with their dogs alongside them, and it was just really nice to sit outside. We tried to bring back some flowers for our apartment but they kind of died by the time we got back. For dinner we had chicken parm with salad and garlic bread, and later on, Ashley went with Gerald to Beebop to see an Oasis coverband. I had wanted to go to Beebop for a while, but I wanted to Skype with my mom to say hi to our relatives for Passover. I was talking to my mom around midnight, and then to my grandpa for a little, but then all our relatives started showing up and I ended up talking to pretty much everyone! It was really nice and I'm glad I got to see them. I had a chance to go to a Seder because we got an email earlier in the week about how a family had room for two students, but I got too nervous about calling and going by myself, so I didn't.
On Saturday, Ashley and I decided to do my Jillian Michaels workout video that I had downloaded with the purpose of using throughout my stay in Florence. We had both thought about doing it for a while, but this time we actually did workout. I felt really good after, and I was glad we finally used it. Afterwards, we made reservations for the aperitivo Kitsch, which is where Fani said he loves to go, and indeed, it was really good. I kind of like it better than Oibo, because the food is better. Afterwards, Gerald once again invited us out to Rex, an Italian bar, and so we met up with him and his friend. The bar was really cool, and people ended up dancing. Fanny showed up eventually and after a while we all decided we wanted to go elsewhere. We headed towards Kikuya and I ended up getting a Dragoon with Fani. The rest of the night we all just hung out outside and chatted. We walked towards Mr. Pizza so Gerald could get a slice, and afterwards we went home, at about 4 am.
I had heard a lot about Easter, or Pasque, in Florence recently, and really wanted to go to the celebration on Sunday. So this morning, Ashley and I woke up at 10 and headed over to the Duomo to watch the celebration. Since we got there a little before 11, we missed the whole procession of the white oxen leading this cart to the front of the Duomo. The people leading them were dressed in Medieval costume. I had no idea what to expect, but I knew that at 11, they would re-enact the "exploding cart" by setting off fireworks and smoke. Ashley and I knew we wouldn't really be able to see outside since people had taken the good spots, and umbrellas were out because it was raining, so we went inside the Duomo where there were people standing on both sides of a closed off aisle. Suddenly, at 11, dramatic organ music started playing, and all of a sudden this wooden dove was lit up at the alter and it zoomed past us through the main doors of the Duomo on this wire which I hadn't noticed. The dove ended up setting off the fireworks on the wooden cart the string was connected to, and the dove ended up zooming back into the Duomo one last time before the cart began "exploding." The whole thing lasted for 15 minutes, but it was the coolest thing ever, and when it finally ended, this flag appeared and the crowd started cheering. I'm really glad we got ourselves up to see it, especially since we were supposed to have gone away this weekend.
I didn't take any pictures, and I also was seeing this from inside the Duomo, but Sean Vanin, who also goes to Muhlenberg did get some shots from his window, so these are some of his pictures, just to give you guys an idea of what we saw:
 |
| The oxen pulling the cart towards the Duomo |
 |
| The cart "exploding" with fireworks and smoke |
 |
| The end of the explosion. |
So here are some things coming up:
-This Tuesday is registration for the courses I plan to take as a first semester senior at Muhlenberg- too weird!
-This coming Sunday, Katie, Ashley, and I are going to Cinque Terre with Bus2Alps. We were supposed to go today, but the trip was cancelled due to the lack of people attending. This is good though because Katie had gone to Barcelona and would have missed it.
-I think this weekend we're also going to take a train to Lucca, a small city in Tuscany, where the old walls are still standing.
-Next week, my parents are visiting me from the 16-18th. And then Katie, Ashley and I will be going to Munich for Springfest that weekend.
-The last weekend in April, my friend Beth will be visiting early in the week, and then I'm going to the Almafi Coast... and then we have one weekend left in Florence before finals!
No comments:
Post a Comment