Last night the group had a catered dinner of chicken salad, rice salad, pesto pasta, and green salad, along with some surprise Florentine cookies for Laura's birthday! "She was born on the 4th of July!"
Then we split into groups for our evening activities. Giovanna and Lindsay accompanied students to San Stefano Church to hear the Los Altos High School Orchestra play a classical program. The acoustics were perfect and the group really enjoyed seeing another American group of teenagers in Florence.
Antonio, Stefano, William and I accompanied the students to the far side of the River Arno to hang out and mix with Italian folk in Piazza Santo Spirito, a popular summertime haunt of young Italians. Students grabbed gelati and listened to a female opera vocalist and a male violinist, who were performing on a small summer stage in the center of the piazza.
The next day we arose early to take a chartered bus to San Gimignano, the "Manhattan of the medieval period" as Antonio, our guide for the day, joking referred to the many towers of the town. Once there, Stefano introduced us to the main piazzas of the town and discussed the aspects of medieval walled cities, such as San Gimignano. The optional activities for this visit included 1) visiting the infamous Torture Museum (it sounds gross, I know, but the students learned what humans beings were frequently exposed to in medieval times), 2) going to see the Cathedral's gallery of paintings, and 3) a tour of the shops that offer prodotti tipici, such as hand painted ceramics, leatherwork, cinghiale (wild boar) and pecorino cheese, and pastries.
After this, we piled back into the bus to visit Siena, where we entered into the breathtaking Duomo, and took in the ornate decorations within, including a marble pulpit with relief sculptures depicting several religious scenes created by Nicola Pisano in the 1260s. Later, we saw a parade of the victors of the Pallio, the famed bi-yearly horse race that takes place in the central square. The students then had the chance to eat lunch (Antonio led many of us to a great sandwich shop). We then broke into groups again to 1) visit a contemporary art exhibition, 2) and roam the shops with William to discover all the unique flavors of Siena.
This evening, after a lovely group dinner in a nearby pizzeria, the staff offered a Residence Night, during which Apartment 8 was kind enough to host the activities that staff offered, which were Italian facials, painting, drawing, and modeling. It was a relaxing and fun night!
More soon!
Janet
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