fourteen

I woke up at 10 AM, showered, ate a pear (oh man, so delicious) and headed towards the Duomo. I went a new route, which seemed to be pretty fast. I examined the map before leaving my apartment so I cut through some streets like I've lived in Florence my entire life. I even heard some Italians say, "Man, he must have lived here his entire life."

Okay, I made it up.



I got to the Duomo and met up with my art history class. We were given head sets to wear so that we could hear Helen speak while we were inside. We got to see the main Nave and the art/architecture that makes it up. We also got to go underneath the floor, which was my favorite part. Underneath you can see the remains of some Roman houses that existed long before a church even claimed the site. You could also see two floors to churches that existed before the current Florence church. There existed an Early Christian floor as well as a Romanesque. It is so intriguing seeing all of the different eras of architecture at once.



After the hour and forty-five minute personal tour, class was dismissed. I went to an art store called Salvini to try and find some decorative paper for Book Arts. They had none and so I headed home to pick up some other paper that I needed and to grab a quick sandwich. Book Arts began at 1:30 today (usually, it begins at 1) and we learned how to create an accordion book. It was really fun and takes an extreme level of craft to make. I love this kind of stuff, though, as craftsmanship is always something that I devote a lot of time to. After the accordion book, I made my sketchbook for the class. I will show you pictures of both as soon as I can.

After class, I went home. I had a pretty bad headache since art history, I assume from trying to focus on the top of the dome at all the art. I normally wear glasses, but I became so used to them that when I took them off, I would get headaches. So, since I've gotten to Florence, I haven't worn them once. It's been nice to not have to rely on them so much. The weather was pretty chilly today, which may have had something to do with the headache also.

I called mom today because Tony mentioned that a lot of power had gone out in Ohio. She said ours has too, and went out yesterday at 2:30 EST. She told me that in some places the power will be out for an entire week. She also mentioned that my grandpa and uncles house is out of power too. After speaking with her, I relaxed and watched a movie. I then made dinner and began thinking of some ideas for my design project. I have to make three collages. I'm contemplating whether or not to make three separate pieces, or to make a series of three.

Now, due to popular request, I present 10 Italian words/phrases:

Good Morning = Buon Giorno
What's your name? = Come ti chiami?
How are you? = Come stai?
Fine, thank you = Bene, grazie
How old are you? = Quanti anni hai?
Where are you from? = Da dove vieni?
What's your job? = Qualè il tuo lavoro?
Can I have a coffee? = Posso avere uno caffè
How much does it cost? = Quanto costa?
I speak a little Italian = Parlo poco Italiano