Siena & Cortona

I wasn't able to post this picture last time because the internet was freaking out, but here is a sample of some of the stone carving progress I've made. It was kind of scary as I was doing it b/c our teacher came up and grabbed my chisel and hammer from my hand, then slapped my hand down on the slab, and I almost kind of thought he was going to chisel around my hand, but then he drew around it. He came back around 20 minutes later, pointed at me, rubbed his hands together, then pointed at the furnace, so I went to go warm my hands. He almost reminds me of my Grandma Alli b/c we don't understand him, so we just do what he says from carving, warming up, and eating pastries that he gives us. 

The day after stone carving we had our weekly field trip to another city and we went to Siena. I have started to realize as we go to these smaller towns, how much nicer it is to visit the smaller towns as opposed to Florence or Pisa, because it feels so much safer and honestly, the churches seem to be so much prettier. Our bus ride to Siena was miserable because the bus had the heat on too high, and when we asked the bus driver to turn the air up, he thought we said we were cold, and turned the heat up even more...death! So when we got off the bus and it was snowing in Siena, no one really complained. We met our new tour guide and she quickly told us how Siena is divided into 17 different districts, each with their own colors and animals. She happened to be part of the porcupine district, which I found really funny, but apparently the rivalries between the districts is a big deal. When we first got there we got a great view of the multiple churches we would be going into. 

View of Cathedrals in Siena.

The first church we went into  first (the one on the left) was really well known because it had the head and finger relics of Saint Catherine of Seina. The city of Siena is a lot more protective of its churches and of prayer, so we weren't allowed to take a tone of pictures inside- sorry! 

Basilica Cateriniana Di San Domenico

After walking around the inside, we made our way to Piazza Salimbeni, which is a dividing piazza among multiple districts, and it also contains multiple palaces (not exactly what we would consider a palace, but they belonged to wealthy families). 

Piazza Salimbeni

Next we made our way to the hall of the town records dating back to the 1200's. I didn't realize we weren't allowed to take pictures so I sneaked y'all one! It was kind of crazy being in the huge rooms full of these documents that are almost 1000 years old, and how little security there was...it was a little mind blowing! From the terrace of the record halls we were also able to get a good view of the main Piazza in Siena which is shaped like a seashell because it belongs to the district of the seashells (yes, one of the district's "mascot" is a seashell)

Records in Siena.

Main Piazza in Siena.

After we headed to a Palazzo before our last stop to the main church at the top of the hill. Once we got into the church I was just kind of in awe...it was humongous! Literally I don't think I've ever been a church this big, and to top it, it turns out the nave, which is the long part of the church was suppose to be the trancept, which is the short part of the cross that makes the church. (Churches in this time were built like a cross- the trancept was the short part, the nave the long). On top of that, I feel like every church we go in to is more ornate than the next...I was just kind of walking around saying to everyone "I don't understand how they built this!?!??!"

Palazzo Chigi Saracini

Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta.

interior of the cathedral.

more interior.

amazing wall murals...looks like it keeps receding- "trompe l'eiol"

 Now as you all can imagine, going into all these different churches made me wonder what its like in a synagogue built around the same time...and then, what do you know, our tour guide mentioned the synagogue in Siena! It turns out it was just down the street from where we were eating lunch, and so me and my friends made the trip down there. Unfortunately, the synagogue was only open to tours on Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays and we were there on a Sunday so I didn't get to go inside, but I am determined to go in one while I am in Italy!

This way to the synagogue!

Me outside of the synagogue in Siena!!!!

Thursday was spent in class, but yesterday afternoon we took another field trip to Cortona, a small town only 40 kilometers away. All I can say is none of the pictures I took do it justice. The town is on the edge of a hill, and the drive up there was winding up and down the hillside, and I just couldn't take my eyes off the window because every turn was more beautiful than the next! We finally had our favorite tour guide Giovani back, and he took us into the museum of Cortona as well as a church, but again, we weren't allowed to take a ton of pictures. 

Town hall in Cortona.

Giovani trying to sneak us in an old house. Love him!

It will be sunflower season soon!

MAEC: Museum of Etruscan Architecture in Cortona -I translated from Italian for you :)

Church in Cortona.

Interior...very old- notice the rafters...not so straight!

Confessional booth...first one I've ever seen in real life- I had to take a picture!

Once our official tour ended in Cortona, we were allowed to roam the streets, so most of us broke of and just wandered around to look at the views, and tried to practice our Italian by buying meats and cheeses...I chose chocolate. Giovani told us about this amazing chocolate shop, so we were determined to find it! We walked in and the woman gave us free hot chocolate (which is much thicker and chocolate-ier than what we are use to. We probably spent 20 minutes just looking around at everything, and finally made our decisions...I bought some of the chocolate bars pictured below as well as a cannoli and an espresso cream in a chocolate cup! Needless to say it was all delicious!

All homemade chocolate cookies and pastries in COCAO.

ALL HOME MADE CHOCOLATE

Cortona from the edge of the hill- even better in person!

Clara and I in Cortona!

Cortona at sunset!

This Tuesday the entire center will be heading to Rome for a few days- so excited to see the Forum and Colosseum! From there, me and 7 other friends, as well as some students from CSU will be boarding a plane at 8 in the morning to go to Barcelona! I'm so excited for a high of 68 (Castiglion Fiorentino has now made it up to 45 degrees), architecture by Gaudi, Van  Der Rohe, the Salvidor Dali museum, and possibly even a chocolate museum?

Ciao! Ce Vediamo! (see you soon)