Epilogue?
All right, I've been back in the States for almost a week now, but this needs to be done (and Christina yelled at me to do it, so I have motivation!).
Last Friday we had our finals, and a couple of us who had bought Ciao Bella shirts decided we would all wear them and take a picture. I thought it was neat how Sarah, Christine, and I all had the same pink lettering even though the shirts themselves were different colors.
I was working on something, but I don't remember what, and Amanda (aka 'Schnookums') decided to curl up next to me.
This is another shot of our whiteboard, with people signing in their Italian textbooks. I thought it was funny. n.n (guess which graffiti is mine)
That night, I went to the Joshua Tree, an English-style pub near the station, with the Ripon kids and the Heidis. Heidi O'Connor bought me a birthday Jack-and-Coke, and overall we just had a nice time hanging out once more.
When I moved to the hostel the next morning, I was struck by the cool view I got.
And here are my pictures from the archaeological site in Fiesole, which I broke down and paid to get into because it's awesome:
Most of this is the remains of a Roman bath.
But this part is Etruscan! It was a temple.
Here's the theatre, which is actually still in use, I believe.
The Emergency Exit leads to a railing with a sheer drop. I had to commemorate this.
Here's the view from the hostel bedroom:
And the room itself (the top right bunk was mine):
On Sunday I went up to Piazzale Michelangelo, where they have a copy of the David, and the weather was threatening to be stormy again.
How weird is it that I have a picture of a TRL thing from my last trip too? I think that one was in Rome, maybe. I just keep running into them.
My mountains~
If you look past the Palazzo Vecchio tower you can still see them.
I actually don't know what this was, but it had flowers growing all over it and was beautiful so I took a picture!
At some point on my walk back through town from the hill I realized I've never actually shown you a picture of Santa Maria Novella, which is the church around which pretty much all of our locations have been based. It's what the train station is named after, and it's where the kids met in The Decameron.
I spent a good part of the early afternoon just hanging out, but then the time came to say my farewells. I walked into centro and hit Piazza della Signoria.
My statue, once more:
On a side note, it's "The Rape of Polyxena". I don't know who that is. And Lizzi, I wasn't far off on the Iliad-themed one: it's actually Menelaus and Patroclos. I just think it's funny that I got Patroclos right on a wild guess, not really knowing it was about The Iliad.
As evening furthered I went over to the Pitti Palace again.
Then I made my way back towards the Duomo and the hostel, stopping on the Ponte Vecchio to watch the sun set.
I walked beyond it, because there's a bridge further down that gives a better view of-- yes-- the mountains.
Florence at dusk.
Duke Cosimo's androne:
Goodnight, mountains~
Back to the Piazza della Signoria for my final goodbye.
There was some kind of opera recital going on in the marketplace near Piazza della Repubblica, so I stopped and watched them for a while. I'm pretty sure they were professionals, probably doing some kind of fundraiser, because they were amazing.
Piazza della Repubblica, all lit up and carrying on its festivities as per usual:
And goodbye to you, my friend.
("GOODBYE, CAMI")
Finally, many hours and some scary turbulence later, I touched down on American soil just in time to watch the sun go down in Washington D.C.
And that, as far as I can tell you, is the end of the line.
Last Friday we had our finals, and a couple of us who had bought Ciao Bella shirts decided we would all wear them and take a picture. I thought it was neat how Sarah, Christine, and I all had the same pink lettering even though the shirts themselves were different colors.
I was working on something, but I don't remember what, and Amanda (aka 'Schnookums') decided to curl up next to me.
This is another shot of our whiteboard, with people signing in their Italian textbooks. I thought it was funny. n.n (guess which graffiti is mine)
That night, I went to the Joshua Tree, an English-style pub near the station, with the Ripon kids and the Heidis. Heidi O'Connor bought me a birthday Jack-and-Coke, and overall we just had a nice time hanging out once more.
When I moved to the hostel the next morning, I was struck by the cool view I got.
And here are my pictures from the archaeological site in Fiesole, which I broke down and paid to get into because it's awesome:
Most of this is the remains of a Roman bath.
But this part is Etruscan! It was a temple.
Here's the theatre, which is actually still in use, I believe.
The Emergency Exit leads to a railing with a sheer drop. I had to commemorate this.
Here's the view from the hostel bedroom:
And the room itself (the top right bunk was mine):
On Sunday I went up to Piazzale Michelangelo, where they have a copy of the David, and the weather was threatening to be stormy again.
How weird is it that I have a picture of a TRL thing from my last trip too? I think that one was in Rome, maybe. I just keep running into them.
My mountains~
If you look past the Palazzo Vecchio tower you can still see them.
I actually don't know what this was, but it had flowers growing all over it and was beautiful so I took a picture!
At some point on my walk back through town from the hill I realized I've never actually shown you a picture of Santa Maria Novella, which is the church around which pretty much all of our locations have been based. It's what the train station is named after, and it's where the kids met in The Decameron.
I spent a good part of the early afternoon just hanging out, but then the time came to say my farewells. I walked into centro and hit Piazza della Signoria.
My statue, once more:
On a side note, it's "The Rape of Polyxena". I don't know who that is. And Lizzi, I wasn't far off on the Iliad-themed one: it's actually Menelaus and Patroclos. I just think it's funny that I got Patroclos right on a wild guess, not really knowing it was about The Iliad.
As evening furthered I went over to the Pitti Palace again.
Then I made my way back towards the Duomo and the hostel, stopping on the Ponte Vecchio to watch the sun set.
I walked beyond it, because there's a bridge further down that gives a better view of-- yes-- the mountains.
Florence at dusk.
Duke Cosimo's androne:
Goodnight, mountains~
Back to the Piazza della Signoria for my final goodbye.
There was some kind of opera recital going on in the marketplace near Piazza della Repubblica, so I stopped and watched them for a while. I'm pretty sure they were professionals, probably doing some kind of fundraiser, because they were amazing.
Piazza della Repubblica, all lit up and carrying on its festivities as per usual:
And goodbye to you, my friend.
("GOODBYE, CAMI")
Finally, many hours and some scary turbulence later, I touched down on American soil just in time to watch the sun go down in Washington D.C.
And that, as far as I can tell you, is the end of the line.