Hello Friends!
I hope this post finds everyone well and good, and that the new year has begun pleasantly for everyone. It certainly has for me. I am back in Florence. I returned about a week ago, and just started class today. Or rather, I attempted to start today! My schedule was messed up, and I was unable to attend my first day of class! It should be fixed by tomorrow, so only a minor blunder.
I have settled back into my apartment, and spent some time just relaxing before another crazy semester begins, and pulls me into chaos and sleep deprivation again :) I have also been planning my trips for the semester and I am pleased to present to you my destinations so far! Beginning this weekend with a field trip to Carrara, Pietrasanta, then I am heading to Padua to see the Arena Chapel with a friend from home! For the rest of the semester I will be going to Assisi, Rome, Orvieto, Paris, Prague, Barcelona, London, and maybe some others!
I can't tell everyone how much I am looking forward to another semester abroad! I know this was a short post, but other than settling in and walking around my adopted city I have not been doing much of anything, a bit of a vacation shall we say?
I hope you are all doing well, and it was so great to see so many of you when I was home!!
Miss you all,
Lydia
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Belated Happy New Year from the USA
Salutations!
Soooo, what a year this one will be! Or at least I hope its exciting.... So much to talk about now though. Nick is landed safely in Bolivia with his Abby, [or how I refer to her, Abby Secundo :) ]. I can't believe how much drama happened AFTER we left Florence, especially compared to how completely calm it was when we were there! Firstly, I left at 5am and got sick on the plane, again. Then I arrive home to.... one of my bags being lost AND Nick being stuck in Paris because his plane was so delayed out of Florence due to weather! If that wasn't bad enough, both of Nick's bags didn't make it the next day either. I swear air travel just is NOT fun!
However, the days that preceded these events were amazing and I have complied a list of things that Nick and I did while he visited me, just so you all don't think we lallygagged about all day.
Where We Went:
Santo Spirito (with a crazy little painting near the exit with what looks like two KKK members)
Il Duomo
Uffizi (I can not even begin to list the works...)
SS. Annunziata (first day we went exploring, very pretty church, paintings in atrium)
San Felicita (crazy Pontormo Deposition, tons of colors in the tiny chapel behind gate)
Piazza della Signoria (Loggia della Signoria, Perseus, Rape of the Sabine, Neptune)
Museo della Scienza
Accademia (David, Captives)
San Miniato (high up on the hill)
Piazzale Michelangelo
Casa di Dante (my neighbor)
Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo (called New Sacristy, by Michelangelo)
Chapel of the Princes, San Lorenzo (the totally over the top one)
Palazzo Vecchio (with my girl, Laura by Bronzino)
We never made it out of Florence, but as we rehashed the trip our last night together we realized that this was one of the first cities we had ever truly delved into together and gotten to know with a real depth. I am soo happy to say we had such a good time.
Since I have been back it has been a whirlwind of visitors, dinners, movies, and of course shopping. We start our art tours tomorrow, I understandably needed a bit of a break from that whole world for a couple days. So far I have been able to see two of my best friends, Adrienne and Emma, as well as Guy and William, who joined up for New Year's Eve! We were lucky enough to have the Riera's join us later on that night, and we had a blast! I then slept very deeply for about two days, and then we continued on with our frantic pace, hitting stores in San Francisco and Oakland, and all our favorite restaurants. Mom and I headed up to Sebastopol to see Ross and Bob, and had a very lovely, if rushed (Mom was starving), lunch. It was great to see them, and to see some of Ross's pictures from his own Florentine journey a "few" years ago. It was funny that the vista was exactly the same from a distance, but I could tell that it must have been such a different experience, and I love that Florence has the kind of history it does, and that it can be shared with equal enthusiasm and love between generations.
Well, I have to get back to figuring out what I am going to be doing this summer. This was a bit of a break from my research :) So far, I have a couple options including Madison for summer school, staying in Italy for a little longer, heading back to New York for another internship, maybe London, or even staying in the Bay. And though I know that I am lucky to have ANY of those options, the pressure that I am starting to feel to make every moment count is weighing on my decision making skills. If you have any opinions or advice for a 20 year old girl without a clue about what she really wants to do, I would be very appreciative.
Hope to hear from you all soon, about my life OR YOURS!!! I am always reachable at melamed.johnson@gmail.com.
Best, and Happy New Year!
Soooo, what a year this one will be! Or at least I hope its exciting.... So much to talk about now though. Nick is landed safely in Bolivia with his Abby, [or how I refer to her, Abby Secundo :) ]. I can't believe how much drama happened AFTER we left Florence, especially compared to how completely calm it was when we were there! Firstly, I left at 5am and got sick on the plane, again. Then I arrive home to.... one of my bags being lost AND Nick being stuck in Paris because his plane was so delayed out of Florence due to weather! If that wasn't bad enough, both of Nick's bags didn't make it the next day either. I swear air travel just is NOT fun!
However, the days that preceded these events were amazing and I have complied a list of things that Nick and I did while he visited me, just so you all don't think we lallygagged about all day.
Where We Went:
Santo Spirito (with a crazy little painting near the exit with what looks like two KKK members)
Il Duomo
Uffizi (I can not even begin to list the works...)
SS. Annunziata (first day we went exploring, very pretty church, paintings in atrium)
San Felicita (crazy Pontormo Deposition, tons of colors in the tiny chapel behind gate)
Piazza della Signoria (Loggia della Signoria, Perseus, Rape of the Sabine, Neptune)
Museo della Scienza
Accademia (David, Captives)
San Miniato (high up on the hill)
Piazzale Michelangelo
Casa di Dante (my neighbor)
Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo (called New Sacristy, by Michelangelo)
Chapel of the Princes, San Lorenzo (the totally over the top one)
Palazzo Vecchio (with my girl, Laura by Bronzino)
We never made it out of Florence, but as we rehashed the trip our last night together we realized that this was one of the first cities we had ever truly delved into together and gotten to know with a real depth. I am soo happy to say we had such a good time.
Since I have been back it has been a whirlwind of visitors, dinners, movies, and of course shopping. We start our art tours tomorrow, I understandably needed a bit of a break from that whole world for a couple days. So far I have been able to see two of my best friends, Adrienne and Emma, as well as Guy and William, who joined up for New Year's Eve! We were lucky enough to have the Riera's join us later on that night, and we had a blast! I then slept very deeply for about two days, and then we continued on with our frantic pace, hitting stores in San Francisco and Oakland, and all our favorite restaurants. Mom and I headed up to Sebastopol to see Ross and Bob, and had a very lovely, if rushed (Mom was starving), lunch. It was great to see them, and to see some of Ross's pictures from his own Florentine journey a "few" years ago. It was funny that the vista was exactly the same from a distance, but I could tell that it must have been such a different experience, and I love that Florence has the kind of history it does, and that it can be shared with equal enthusiasm and love between generations.
Well, I have to get back to figuring out what I am going to be doing this summer. This was a bit of a break from my research :) So far, I have a couple options including Madison for summer school, staying in Italy for a little longer, heading back to New York for another internship, maybe London, or even staying in the Bay. And though I know that I am lucky to have ANY of those options, the pressure that I am starting to feel to make every moment count is weighing on my decision making skills. If you have any opinions or advice for a 20 year old girl without a clue about what she really wants to do, I would be very appreciative.
Hope to hear from you all soon, about my life OR YOURS!!! I am always reachable at melamed.johnson@gmail.com.
Best, and Happy New Year!
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