Forza Fiorentina!

Dear Reader,

Today, a Tuesday, was very busy, perhaps the busiest Tuesday of the program, though there have been only two Tuesdays thus far. It follows, then, that today’s itinerary was both lengthy and dense with exhibits, lectures, feedings, and a host of miscellaneous activities. To list them all in detail would be far too onerous for the likes of this college student and far too banal to interest the likes of you, reader. Hence, it is my intent in this entry to treat you to only the most excellent and thrilling scenes from this day’s epic entirety.

First, it is prudent to begin at the beginning, at the hours surrounding dawn, approximately five in the morning by conventional measurements and ungodly early by any rational reckoning. Semantics aside, the activity of choice was football, soccer to you, American reader, in honor of Gli Azzurri. A brief but rousing match was gradually interrupted by the mercantile intentions of the proprietors of the Campo di Fiori. Several attempts were made to resuscitate the game, but each was confounded by finger-wagging Carbinieri or the incessant spirit of Roman motorists.

As the sun lazily revealed itself, moral was stirred and essentials gathered in anticipation of our four-day excursion to Firenze. An uneventful sequence of busses, trains, and shortcuts led us to the steps of the Stella Mary Hotel, from where we set out to begin our introduction to the infamous Medici family (for more information, please read Florence Days 1-3 in your AH reading packet). Highlights included Orsanmichele, the bronze doors of the Battistero di San Giovanni, and the Duomo by Brunelleschi.

Our first night in Firenze concluded with a grand group dinner at a restaurant called Trattoria Za Za, featuring traditional Tuscan cuisine. Chaos was bound to ensue as our band of ruffians descended upon a single determined and resolute, but ultimately outnumbered, waitress. By night’s end, innumerable quantities of wild boar and truffle sauce had been devoured with remarkable enthusiasm. Finally, all filing up the stairs from our basement enclave and lackadaisically debating the comparative merits of sleep and gelato, we found our thoughts juggling balls, domes, and all things Medici.

So concluded this second Tuesday: with slow feet, heavy eyelids, and magnificent hopes for the coming day.

Signed,
Won