Thursday: Part 2 - An adventure to see Sunset over Florence

On Thursday night my goal was to see the Sunset on Piazzale Michaelangelo. I tried to do it on Sunday,  but could not get bus tickets.. I was intent on making it happen. I invited grad students and Emma to go with including Bridgette who is the Residential Life GA here. We invited here to come as a friend, but its hard not to make her work.. (she was born to be an RA).

Fortress was late, so late getting to the train.. made it with 5 minutes to spare to catch a faster train at 5:47.

Got tickets from the Tobacco place to for the bus (number 13 and 12 go to Piazzale Michaelangelo) and began waiting for the bus.. (2.20 EURO for round trip tickets).

Got on the bus, about 10 minutes in people started yelling to stop the bus. An 18 year old boy was having a serious seizure an it went on for at least 10 minutes. I did not not watch the seizure but from the sounds it was awful..  people were holding thej

Eventually, they called an ambulance and took him off the bus, and then they had all of us move to another bus that was 30 minutes behind ours..

It was quite scary and many of the people on the bus did not speak Italian (because this is a well known tourist destination bus)..   so it was upsetting to not be able to communicate or help.


We arrived on Piazzale Michaelangelo just as the sun was setting..   so here are some great pictures.. My little cameras not great with the sunlight, but it was truly beautiful.

Also there was an a guy playing American music on guitar and we all sat listening to popular music and having a beer.. it was wonderful. lots of people watching and people from all over the world.  

After the sun was down, we took the bus back to the train station, and Bridgette knew of a restaurant to go to called ZaZa.  

It was over in front of the central market. It was crazy because during the day this market is filled with stalls with purses and souvenirs, but at night, its just streets full of trash..  it blew my mind..  

Finally got my polenta at ZaZa - this was either coated in cheese and mushroom or liver.  

This was  trial of three kinds of Soups of Tuscany.. I did not like most of them.. and the service speaks to "presentation is everything"

So getting the check in Italy is easier said than done, and we had not seen our waiter in a quite a while. So we stood up, knowing that we needed to catch a train. The manager came over an escorted us to where we would pay.. and I figured out the bill quickly. (we were being a little American with this, but glad we did).

As we began to leisurely walk, Brigitte started to look at trains on her phone and realized the last train was in 10 minutes .. so we we began to run.. Brigitte and Emma went ahead to buy the tickets and Christi Patsy and I kept working.. Good thing about Florence at 11:15 not much traffic..  we made it there in like 8 minutes..  and were able to jump on the last train right before it was leaving.

Adrenaline Rush for sure..

Bridgette said the last transport was a bus to Arezzo in an hour and a half.. and it had a star, and we did not know what that meant or how much that would cost or if it even ran each night.. We almost had to stay until the 4am train.  The train we caught was 1 1/2 hours. it stopped in such odd places.

The windows phone saved the day, the city signs were not lighted, and so I was able to use the Maps feature to see where we were but Arezzo was the last stop.. walking through Arezzo at almost 1 am on a Thursday night was odd.

a few people running around, but very very quiet.  I was quite tired and happy to make it home..

Ahhh what a day.. 

Thursday: Class, Tour of the Fortress (part 1)

A few uneventful days were made up for it today.. Wowzers.

First, I taught class and the Wifi guy came.. so IT people can be IT people in any language.. He was totally dismissive of me, until I showed him that of 18 students only 8 could connect in either room at once.. HA!  It was a good opportunity to talk about networking with my students and problem solving but pretty disruptive to class.

 After class, I stopped at bar Stefano and ordered my own salad.. the waiter would not let Bridgette help! .. which was good i had miste ensalada tonno y mozzarella.  It was delicious with fresh fennel and cucumbers and great olives.

Then we were supposed to meet for the tour of the Medici Fortress.   

This was a little comedy of errors. First, so many of my students were leaving for the long weekend, that this became optional.. and so only 6 of us showed up.  We were supposed to meet Luccho at 2:30 and walk over, but then Bridgette was assigned to do it instead. 

At 3 when we were supposed to meet our guide,  he did not show up. There was some sort of mix up, and he did not arrive until almost 4.  When he did arrive,  he did not speak English and he spoke crazy fast Italian.  Bridgette tried really hard to explain what he was saying, but it was very difficult.  Eventually she called the office and Charlotte came over to help.  

It was interesting but a one hour tour at 3:00 did not end until 5:30 

So the basics .. this Fortress sat on the highest point in Arezzo over by Proti Park.  It was built by the Medici when they took over parts of Tuscany to show their power.   it was damaged in many revolts in the early 1500's..  and also was partially taken apart by the French in the 1800's. 

entrance to the fortress. 

the hallway inside (all under construction filled with sand) 

some is original and much is reproduction. 

the Fortress it the highest point in Arezzo..so amazing views. 

This is the cemetery. Due to space, they only get a 40 year lease, then a note is put on their grave and they are removed to make room for others. 

This is the Medici mark on the building (the first coat of arm is the sign for Florence)

This is one of the holes where the cannons would go out. 

I found this video online with some decent pictures.   http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5jbgf_arezzo-the-medici-fortress-and-the_creation

Wednesday June 4th..

Pretty uneventful day. I taught my class.. we are in project time now so its much less stressful and I am consulting with groups.

I was not feeling well..  something did not agree with me.. so I went home and laid down.. JIm and Amy went to pasta making and I was asked to visit with the Sooner Travel Trip of Italy..

It was a nice short visit with some JRCoE Alums.. and they were treated to Appertivo at the new Marianos bar downstairs.

They left after 30 minutes, and several of us stayed around and chatted with Mariano and each other.. It was a lot of fun.. We snacked enough on appertivo, I went home..  did some work..

A good day but quite uneventful.

Tuesday, June 3rd

Today is a quiet day in some regards but i was going all day..

I taught and on the way, I started a new habit.

I stopped at the little produce stand by my house and bought a banana from the old lady for .50 Euro.  She does not get around well, and we are not supposed to touch the fruit, so you have to let her grab it..  but she and her husband can be seen delivering produce up and the down the street all night.   Its more expensive than the grocery store but its important to support the local business and also interact with my neighbors.

I also found that there is a vending station down the street (Corso Italia) that has .50 Euro water and .40 Euro coffees.. so I am starting the habit at veering off and finding a little pick me up before class.

Class was fine, I had students a written letter to parents to prepare for the OPTE exam.. something I have been thinking of adding to the Norman class.. I liked it.. (they may not have).

I went with a group of 12 students to Futurible which is a site for helping students with disabilities.. it was a clean and cheery facility but there was not a whole lot to see..  the woman was very forthcoming and answered lots of our questions.

after that I stayed with a few students and had cappuccinos while Charlotte took one group back and then picked us up.. So that was great. We had this crazy dessert that was a frozen cream puff coated in chocolate mousse.. three of us shared it.. but it was too rich. but nice to try.

Then I stopped at the grocery and got some cheeses and crostinis so I could have a crostini lunch. the other night I had a cheese plate for dinner and assorted cheese and some apricot jam is awesome.  Cheese here i

At 6:00 jim and Amy stopped by with their own groceries and then we went to Bar Stefano for appertivo.  I had limoncello again.. Yum!! We were joined by a chemistry professor who went to a rival college of Jim and Amy and they had fun talking a little alma mater trash.

I then met Bridgette and her friend for dinner at 7:30.  Bridgette is the GA here, and she is a student of Elon Dancy and Penny Pasque.  We had a great dinner and talked about all kinds of things, careers,  academic goals, the book Lean In and diversity issues.

She decided to join Christi Patsy and I and our plan to watch the sunset over Florence on Thursday.. and I am definitely looking forward to it..

Uneventful Monday no more..

So today was a catch up day and I thought.. wow.. I have nothing to report until I went ot dinner with Jim and Amy.. and then realized I could not find my phone.. (Which I thought I had left at home during dinner).. So I called it, and someone answered in Italian.

Oh Crap.. I can;t communicate. then I texted using google translate - I think I lost my phone, where are you? can I come get it?

but before I looked to see the response, I went to retrace my steps.. and found it at Tortella Divino..(in my coat I also left).. Oops..

Pretty exciting.. thank goodness for google translate.

Sunday in Pisa..

So I spent  Sunday in Pisa.. I thought about going to Assisi but I will do that next week.   

When I arrived in Pisa and it was about noon (I left just before 9 from Arezzo).. 

I first came to a piazza with a statue of the founder of Pisa and it had a handmade craft fair below it which was fun. 

First Piazza in Pisa - to the founder of Pisa with a craft fair below. 

around the corner, there was a small Piazza that had an original Keith Haring print from 1989.

Original Keith Haring Print in a small piazza. 

I continued to walk along a residential street until i found the Blu Palazzo (Blue Palace) that held the exhibit I came to see..  IT was right on the arno river.

The Blu Palazzo art center that had the Galileo exhibit. 

I am going to totally bore you with my love of science.. but the exhibit was call Balle de Scienza, or Science Baloney and it was about the history science and scientific thought and false ideas that lead to advance in science. It was FANTASTIC.. It really helped to display a lot of the of the nature or science (personal characteristics of scientists, observation and inference, and that fact that science change as more information, instrumentation, and interpretation is available. )   They covered physics, astronomy, alchemy, and even human evolution.. it was so well done..   I share with you a few of my favorite quotes.

Great quotes on the wall

one of my favorite statements. 

They had a lot of hands on exhibits.. This one let you choose different planets and see if they were the center of the universe how they would rotate. It reminded me of the Minds of their Own Video and the ptolemy view of planetary motion..

this was an interactive exhibit where you could choose to make each planet the center of the universe. 

such great views of observation, inference and subjectivity.. 

They showed how science is reported in popular culture and talked about a lot hoaxes that were started by a misunderstanding of scientific data.  

Radiation was sold as a great additive to skin cream.. (an example of every day public not understanding science)

 One of my favorites were these holograms of scientists that began explaining content when you walked up to them.  

these holograms explained science concepts. 

THere were many  more interactive exhibits.. it blew me away..  

Next I began my walk to the Campus of Miracles where the leaning tower, cathedral and bapistry is.. I went on city streets, not the common way to walk as a tourist so I enjoyed it more. On the way I saw this church as I crossed the arno river.

a church near the arno river.. really caught my eye. 

look how lifelike the sculptures on the wall are. 

the arno river in Pixa

 I stopped at a local restaurant to have a pizza.. IT was great, I wish I could have eaten more of it.

Lunch.. a cappiocola pizza at a local diner. 

A big win at lunch, a table next to me that spoke english, but not Italian, had trouble ordering, and I was able to help them.  It was a such a big deal for me.. I was able to explain the courses of an italian mean and help them understand how it worked. 

Then I kept walking to the Leaning tower.. but here is the deal..  the tower is cool. but the cathedral and bapistry is far more striking.  The great thing is everyone was so into "straightening out" the tower,  that there were no lines at the other exhibits. 

the cathedral

the leaning tower

the center of a current art exhibit at the attached museum. 

the bapistry.

 Inside the cathedral - wow!

Galileo's light - they said he came up his ideas of motion from watching this sway. 

the top of the church. 

the ceiling of the church

Inside the bapistry. .This is the first time I have been able to be in a bapistry.. (the one at the duomo in Florence is closed for renovation).    I expected it to be more ornate inside..  it was quite plane.

the ceiling and second floor of the bapistry. 

the baptismal font

The museum with the other buildings featured the art on the lawn,  and also some rescued frescos.   (I think they may have inspired Star wars 2)

was Star Wars 2 inspired here? 

Cathedral and tower. 

no I did not straighten it. 

one of the many frescos they are trying to restore off of the cemetery. 

one of the tombs in the cemetery.. 

I twisted my ankle so I grabbed a cab back to the train station, and hoped a train back to Florence arriving about 5 pm..   I went looking for an appertivo.  (pre dinner snacks). I did not find them, but I did make it to the Piazza San Lorenzo.. the church was about to hold mass so I went looking for the Medici burial site, but instead ended up at the central market. This is a small market that has lots of little restaurants in it to try different things. So i had some Lemoncello and a pastry.

dinner in Florence

the inside of the central market where I had dinner. 

after dinner I made it back to the train station.. I had a hard time figuring out how to buy a bus ticket to go to Piazza Michaelangelo to see the sun set, I took it as a sign, and went home to Arezzo..   I hope to go back for the sunset this Thursday.