Since spring break we have taken 2 more field trips, and
they have been so much more enjoyable for 2 reasons, 1) we no longer have that
terrible woman Laura giving us tours in Florence and 2) our new professor Peter
Lang is so legit. He had lived in Italy for 8 years, speaks fluent Italian, and
actually knows the history and architecture behind most of the tours we go on.
It makes me had that we had our first professor for so long b/c she was useless
compared to him, but I am glad we have him now and get to finish the semester
with him. He has also made our studio work so much more legit, and I’m probably
going to get a really good project out of it.
We went
to Florence with Peter the Wednesday after everyone got back from spring break,
and we went to visit the Marino Marini museum, which none of us knew anything
about, but Peter did, and we learned a lot that day about how old architectural
structures can be preserved but the interiors can be built modern and react to
the building. This may make me a nerd, but it was really nice to learn
something architecturally instead of just history on our weekly field trip.
That
weekend it was absolutely gorgeous outside, so half the day Saturday was spent
outside lounging in the courtyard, and Sunday a big group of us went to a town
close by, Castiglion del Lago to lay out by the lake. It was nice to have a
relaxing weekend after all the travelling the 2 weeks before.
This
past week we went to the towns of Pienza and Montepulciano. We spent most of the
day in Pienza, touring Palazzo Piccolomini and actually exploring the town; its
another breath taking hill town. We also got a cheese lesson from Peter that
day because Pienza is famous for its pecorino. We had some cheese tastings in
some of the shops and it was a really enjoyable day.
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| View from Pienza on the Italian countryside |
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| View to the garden |
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| Inside the courtyard of the palazzo |
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| view of the gardens |
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| The loggia |
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| Our professor, Peter Lang |
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| oh, hey Pope. |
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| cheese? or bricks? |
After Pienza we went to a close town Montepulciano. We went inside the church there to see it because of its square plan and amazing acoustics. Our professor wanted a demonstration of it, so he made someone sing, and one of the guys from Colorado started belting out "I will follow you in to the dark" by Death Cab for Cutie- it was one of those moments like "Yes! Now I can cross off "sing death cab in an Italian church" off my bucket list!" ha ha.
After we got a lecture in the church we were allowed to explore, so we walked up the hill to the main part of the town. I needed to buy some postcards (as I always do when I visit another town) and saw that there were Twilight postcards...the Tabacchi owner informed me that Montepulciano was the town that Twilight: New Moon was filmed in. And then I freaked out a little! Below is piazza where Edward tries to expose himself, for those fans out you, and for those non-fans, yes, you may continue to laugh at me.
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| Piazza from the movie "Twilight: New Moon" |
Last week was the start of the Easter processions (which start the Tuesday before Easter) and…well…that was an experience. The town gathers together and parades through the streets carrying life-sized crucifixes and are dressed in religious garb…which was adopted by the KKK. Yes…people were roaming the streets in the white robes and pointed hats. They were also wearing the same outfit in black and blue. All I can say is that it was an experience, and you have to see the pictures to believe it!
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| I promise these are Italian Catholics, not KKK members |
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