San Miniato-Mercato Centrale

September 10:
This afternoon I decided that I wanted to go see San Miniato al Monte, a Romanesque church on top of—you guessed it—a mountain. Justine also liked the idea so we set off at around 4:00 for the Oltrarno region of Florence. To be honest, I had hardly even set foot across the river until then. We found our way through the winding streets until we got to a never-ending staircase (recalled Cirith Ungol, actually). At the top of this and a few more feet towards the church was the most spectacular view of Florence and the surrounding mountains! Climbing still more stairs, we finally made it to the entrance (free admission!) and walked inside. It was beautiful! A man was playing the huge pipe organ magnificently and all of the light was natural. Justine and I wandered around, open-mouthed and snapping pictures. I’m afraid I was enjoying myself so much that many of mine were blurry. Perhaps one of the most interesting features was the crypt, supported by groin vault after groin vault.
Eventually, I just sat down and listened to the organ music while I enjoyed watching the light change and highlight different features of the interior. At around 5:30, a number of priests gathered in the crypt and chanted vespers. It was mesmerizing. I definitely plan on going back many times.
Justine and I got separated and, I learned later, she left probably 10 minutes before me. I took my time down the mountain, crossing the river this time at Ponte Vecchio. All of the jewelry shops were open and the display windows scintillated. I spent a long time wondering if I could afford a number of different things. It certainly gave me something to think about as I have not yet purchased any souvenirs at all!

September 11, 2007
I had my first lithography class today. My teacher is Italian so she is a little difficult to understand. I think she scared a number of the people in my class because she emphasized that you must have a very strong base in drawing in order to be any good at lithography. Well, that is true of any printmaking medium if you aren’t just interested in making splotches of things. Besides, I have 9 credits in drawing. I know I’m ok.
Oh, yes, before class I got signed up for the Early Renaissance field trip to Ravenna this weekend! I can’t wait for Saturday! I’m also thinking about going on the walk to San Miniato since I might be able to learn some insider things about it. That is taking place on Friday afternoon.
After class I finally hauled myself over to the Mercato Centrale. Why didn’t I do that sooner?! They had much more selection than the supermarket at much better prices and everything is locally grown. The market has two floors. The first contains things like cheese, bread, and meats. The second is devoted to produce. Everything is sold in stalls by independent vendors. I looked around the first floor for only a short while as I just wanted to buy some fruit and tomatoes. After wandering around the second floor, a vendor greeted me and I decided I would get my things from her. Besides, her apples looked the best. When you go to this market, you are not allowed to touch the products yourself. You must tell the vendor what you want and they will choose the best ones for you. Even at the supermarkets you have to wear gloves to get your produce. Anyway, I did the entire transaction in Italian! I didn’t even think it was broken at all—hesitant, perhaps, but not broken. And I got 6 tomatoes and 4 apples for 1.60 euros (€ 1,60). I have to admit, I was pretty pleased. Pleased enough that I allowed myself a nap when I got home (I have been a bit under the weather recently).
When I woke up, I worked on cleaning up the apartment in order to take some pictures of it. This is a losing battle as I am the only one interested in keeping it from toppling over the edge of chaos. It just doesn’t bother the others. Anyway, you should be able to look at those pictures above.
After I cleared my memory card, I went to pay for my Assitalia insurance at the main post office. It’s off the Piazza della Republicà, which is an unusually large, open space dominated by a sort of arc de triomphe. It was built during the brief time when Florence was the capital of Italy. I think it is to Florentines what the glass pyramid at the Louvre is to the Parisians. They hate it. Anyway, when I walked in I had to choose a description of my business in Italian, push a button under that option, and take a number. Italians seem to use this system often and I like it quite a lot because it doesn’t require you to actually stand in line. Well, I picked the right one and got another chance to use my Italian.
I then walked to an art supply store and bought some items for lithography. Unfortunately, they didn’t have some of the things I need so I’m going to have to scavenge for another supply store. It’s so hard to find anything everyday here! Their products didn’t seem much different from American ones and I actually saw a lot of the same brands. I did see something I may have to go back for: a silverpoint. Come on, I’m in the city of the Renaissance—wouldn’t it be great to do some silverpoint-and-chalk drawings while I’m here?

September 13:
Yesterday I had my first weaving class. I only have it once a week but it is for 6 hours. It was definitely long but it really only felt like 4 hours. I was extremely tired when I got home. We had all been planning on going out to eat for our neighbor’s birthday but she decided she wasn’t hungry. My roommates and I went anyway and then had some gelato off Piazza della Signoria while some guy played and sang Simon and Garfunkel songs. It was really expensive ice cream but also very good (Mom: I thought of you because I got nutella flavor!).
Today every non-EU student had to be at the school at 8 to be identified with their passport by the police for the Permesso di Sogiorno registration. The “police” turned out not to be the incredibly good-looking carabinieri that patrol the city but a nice lady who looked like someone’s grandmother. That should be the last government-type registration I have to do while here.
Well, family members, you knew it was coming soon. I got my first stupid injury of the trip. While I was levigating my litho stone, I smashed my finger between my and another girl’s stone. Since my skin was wet a lot of it came off in the process and I started bleeding. Well, it got thinned out with the water and looked a lot worse than it was. I felt pretty silly asking for a band-aid. (By the way, Italian band-aids are nearly impossible to open!)