Pisa and Lucca

Today was an early morning breakfast to be able to leave the hotel at 8:00 a.m. for our train to the nearby town of Pisa and see the leaning tower and Duomo.  The forecast looked bleak, but we gathered our rain gear and hopped on the train.

The morning was lightly sprinkling with rain as we walked to the Piazza del Duomo.  Most of the shops were closed since it is Sunday, but that also meant the streets were relatively free of traffic compared to the packed streets of Florence yesterday.

We first walked through the Duomo and baptistery and managed to see some of the Sunday service while it rained, and as it cleared up, we broke up into three groups to climb the 296 steps to the top of the leaning tower.  The steps had massive worn spots from the amount of people climbing the campanillie over the years and we could feel the tower leaning, which made for a difficult walk to the top.

After Pisa we headed to the small Tuscan town of Lucca.  It continued to rain but we braved the storm to explore the town and find the perfect places to eat and shop.

Something amazing that the Friends of the Arts was able to provide for YHC Sophomore Grace Patterson (winner of the 2012 student juried art exhibition), was the ability to meet her relatives while in Lucca.  Her cousins and great aunt met Grace at the train station and they were able to spend some time together that wouldn’t have been able to happen without the support from gracious donors.  Thank you.

Tomorrow brings a new adventure in the town of Sienna.

First Full Day in Firenze

                       

                                 
                                      

We had an exciting full day in Florence starting with the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, the original offices of the Duomo that now houses works by Donatello and original pieces that were in the cathedral.

We then skipped the massive line, at least 100 yards long, to enter the cathedral and headed straight for the Mercato Centrale (central market) for shopping and lunch.  The streets are lined with Italian leather belts, jackets and purses, clothes, trinkets and other (mostly) touristy merchandise.  Many of us ate fresh bread, meat, cheese, pasta and fruit from the numerous vendors inside the massive 19th century building.




                                                        
After lunch we met and walked to the Academia, which houses Michelangelo's "David" and many other famous works.  We were lucky enough to have pre-booked our tickets and bypassed a line that stretched around the museum.

The Duomo, Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore, was next on the list.  All of us read Brunelleschi's Dome this semester for our class, a book about the architect and building of the massive dome, and were eager to see the interior of the structure for the first time.
                            
Today was out also our first day for student presentations that will occur in each town we stop in.  Each student was assigned a group and the group picked a building, piazza, work of art or other significant item to talk about as if they were the tour guides on the trip.  The six students who gave their presentations today did an incredible job informing us on Piazza Republica and Santa Maria Novella, where we toured before splitting up for the evening.
                                           

We can officially use the phrase "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" after tomorrow, which will be our Trenitalia Train to Pisa and Lucca.

p.s.  If you forget your pasta, marinara, coffee or tabasco from your shopping list, yo can pick it up at the vending machine (not common, but they do exist).

Arrival into Firenze, Italia

The 26 of us made it safely to our hotel in Florence with all luggage in tact.  The Lufthansa flight was on time departing Franfurt and arriving in Florence.  We pre-booked a bus to take us from the airport to our hotel on the Piazza del Republica, which eliminated as much walking as possible after a long day(s) of traveling and very little sleep. 

Some of us did manage to sneak in a little extra sleep (and for some of us, a few extra hours) at the airport, even against all advice to adapt to the new six-hour time difference.  Others took time to read, write in their journals, play cards and share stories from their spring semesters at YHC.

After checking into our hotel, we met in the piazza for a short walking tour around central Florence, including the Duomo, Dante’s house, Sasso di Dante and our first delicious cup of GELATO, which received a unanimous standing ovation.  Flavors included coffee, coconut, Nutella, pistachio and many, many others.

We’ll meet tomorrow morning before 9:00 a.m. for a tour of the Duomo, central market and the Galleria dell'Accademia.

We've landed in Germany.

We survived our "overnight" flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt.  Dinner was served around 8:00 p.m. and then we all tried to get as much sleep as possible before breakfast at 1:00 a.m. (7:00 a.m. local time).

Many of us received our first passport stamps from the immigration counter before arriving at our gate six hours before our next flight into Florence.  We are all very happy to stretch our legs, grab a bite of German cuisine and take a nap before the next flight to our Italian destination.

Departure is nearly here!

T-Minus 8.5 hours until takeoff.  

INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL AT ATLANTA AIRPORT

When driving to the Atlanta Airport.  Be sure to go to the new International Terminal.  It opens May 16^th.  You can view directions and more information here - http://www.atlanta-airport.com/InternationalTerminal/passenger/directions.html

Q: I accidentally went to the domestic terminal to check in for my international flight. What should I do?


A: A free shuttle service will be available to the international terminal. Shuttles are available at the ground transportation center at the west end of the domestic terminal.

Do your research

Here are some links to sites and museums that we'll be visiting.

Opera del Duomo

Galleria dell'Accademia

www.uffizi.com

Basilica San Marco

Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Musei Capitolini

Galleria Borghese

        
Capuchin Monks