Beautiful Florence- Part 2 of 3

The next two posts are going to be long...but I want to be thorough because the past week was spectacular!

The hotel we stayed at in Florence had a very strange smell. The other girls didn't notice a smell so we were thinking it was just the drain in our room or something. It wasn't too bad, but it did make all of our clothes smell afterwards. It was part of the experience of staying in a low cost hotel! Wednesday afternoon shortly after arriving we had a walking tour. Our guide took us through Basilica del Carmine and then through many parts of the city. The basilica was beautiful but our tour guide was perhaps a little too enthusiastic in her explanations of the artwork. I'm not sure if she thought we were art students but it was still enjoyable because she was so enthusiastic about it. Her tour through the city was fun because we saw many of the main sites of Florence in a short period of time. I think the Duomo is overwhelmingly beautiful and loved passing it so many times during our time in Florence. After our walking tour ended, Emily, Lane, Lee and I prepared for a night at the Frescobaldi restaurant and wine bar. We are doing a project on influential Italian families in history and we chose the Frescobaldi family based on the recommendation of our TA.

Our experience at the restaurant was exceptional. The restaurant is highly recommended by American guide books of Italy, and three of the couples we chatted with throughout dinner were American. The service was slow but the manager explained his chef was overwhelmed and sent over a plate of bread with patte. We ordered a bottle of wine for the four of us, made at one of the many frescobaldi vineyards. The restaurant was pricey, especially for a college student's budget, so we only ordered one course. I had homemade linguine with truffle sauce and savored every bite by eating it extra slowly. We told our waiter that we were at the restaurant for a class project and soon after the owner sat down at our table and asked, "What can I tell you about the Frescobaldi restaurant?" We told him, "Everything!" He began a long tale of a family that has been present in Florence for nearly 1000 years. His story was passionate and intertwined with a respect for a family that has produced such a successful business. The owner, though not a member of the family, has close ties with them: he opened the Frescobaldi restaurant a decade ago when the family recognized the need to pair their wine with excellent food. Since then they have expanded throughout Italy and even have a restaurant in Miami, Florida. He was so kind to us and spent what felt like hours sharing stories. The Frescobaldi family owns thousands of acres and many vineyards throughout Italy and are in the top 5 of wine producers on the country. We enjoyed our wine, but I was most impressed by the owner's willingness to educate us. We spent about 3.5 hours at the restaurant, chatting not only with the owner but also with couples eager to hear about our project. Our meal ended with fabulous homemade desserts and a steep bill, but the four of us didn't care about the prices, we were too impressed by the atmosphere and dining experience offered at the restaurant.

The next morning was another favorite memory of my trip to Florence. Our group visited the school for the innocent, a preschool in Florence with about 100 students ages 3-5. A teacher met us at the entrance and our Pantheon Institute guide translated the teacher's Italian as she told us about the education provided at the school. She explained that every classroom integrates all age ranges and learning ability. Some activities are age-based but the classroom relies on the different-aged children learning from each other. We walked though all 4 classrooms and each time we entered the teacher in that room would instruct the children to say some form of hello. We then sat outside as the teacher told us about the annual project completed by the students. This year the school encouraged their students to appreciate art collectors, so the students visited several art museums in Florence and recreated the work with their own style. She passed around examples of their recreations and they were adorable!

We then watched as some of the 5 year olds learned about bubbles. The school is fortunate to have ample space outdoors for the children to play; space in both Italy and the urban environment is limited. The teacher explained they make good use of this space by allowing the children to play outside many times during the day. Shortly after the teacher brought a group of 5 year olds over to play with us. First we showed them the hokey pokey and then played London bridge. They were very shy at first but most of them warmed up to us in just a few minutes. After our games the children showed us one of their games which was basically red light green light but they shouted, "Stella!" Next we tried to teach them tag but it turned in to a chasing game. We were sad to have to say goodbye. My morning at the Florence preschool allowed me to draw comparisons between Italian early education and American early education, such as the integrative classrooms and emphasis on outside play. Also important in the Florence preschool is art curriculum, as the teacher explained, the children live in a prominent city of renowned artistic work that must be appreciated.

After our morning at the school, Emily, Lane, Lee and I ventured to the leather market. I had a blast buying presents for family and friends and even found a leather bag for myself. Many of the Italians we encountered in Florence were very welcoming to Americans. Later that afternoon we went to the Academia to see the David. I saw this in high school as part of a guided tour and we were on our own for this museum and I'm not sure which I liked better. Either way the David is an incredible sight to see. The four of us went out to dinner at a restaurant across the street from our hotel and I ordered my first salad so far on my trip! They messed our order and it took at least 30 minutes to get our new salads while Lane and Emily had to eat their pasta before it got cold. In a way, slow service is part of going out to eat in Italy because taking an extra long meal time means you are enjoying yourself. We were a dinner pretty late, so I went to bed shortly after getting back to the hotel. The next morning we went to a museum of a Florentine tower house. This tied in nicely with the information given by our guide on our walking tour the first day in Florence. We learned about how medieval families lived in Florence. The museum was the end of our organized field trip for class. The 14 girls in the program were eventually all going to Cinque Terre for the weekend but we didn't all travel together. Half of us left Florence on Friday morning and headed for one of the most beautiful places in the world- Cinque Terre (5 Lands).