Well hello! I finally have a chance to create another post! my school assignments have kept me quite busy lately. Two essays and a presentation down, two essays and a final exam to go. *Huff huff huff*
So anyway, Italy:
My second day there, I took the opportunity of going up into the Duomo. I had originally planned to go up into the dome, which opens at 8:30, and then be done and get in line to enter the main church at 10:00 when it opened. Turns out, I did the right thing in going into the dome. First of all: it was spectacular. The murals were absolutely incredible. Depictions of people being tortured in hell at the bottom, paintings of the angels in heaven near the apex. The climb was pretty intense - several hundred stairs, most very tightly spiraling, some steep enough that you were basically climbing a ladder. But when you finally made it to the top: oh, the VIEW! Yet another fantastic view over the city of Florence.
Climbing down was a bit of an emotional and psychological challenge, though. I couldn't decide whether to go down some of the staircases forwards or backwards. The church itself was fairly unremarkable. The dome and the outside are really the best parts.
And it's good I figured that out. When I got back outside, at about 9:45, the line to get into the church already crossed the piazza. I decided I had seen enough of the church from near the dome, and left.
For lunch, I walked down to this little place someone at the hostel had told me about, Acasamia, in the Mercato di Sant'Ambroggio. For 6 euros and 70 cents, I got a full bottle of water, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, and a coffee. The place was entirely full of locals. Granted, for the most part I had no idea what I was ordering - the menu was in Italian, and it was clearly a menu they change on a daily basis, because there were only three options for each category. However, the food was good, and it was in a wonderful little market square.
That afternoon, feeling exhausted from several days of intense walking, I let myself chill out a bit. I sketched a bit, had some more awesome Italian food, and then hung out with the guy at the front desk of the hostel for a bit. Then I got my stuff together and went to the train station.
All I can say for the train trip back is: thank goodness for my Eurail pass. It meant I was able to get a cheaper ticket on the high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam. Which was good because by the time I reached Paris again, I was so sick of trains.
And with that, my trip to Paris and Florence ended! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get through all these photos. The end of the semester has really been brutal so far. Ah, but I have only 2 weeks to go!
Once again, I apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. They really don't like flash cameras in churches.
So anyway, Italy:
My second day there, I took the opportunity of going up into the Duomo. I had originally planned to go up into the dome, which opens at 8:30, and then be done and get in line to enter the main church at 10:00 when it opened. Turns out, I did the right thing in going into the dome. First of all: it was spectacular. The murals were absolutely incredible. Depictions of people being tortured in hell at the bottom, paintings of the angels in heaven near the apex. The climb was pretty intense - several hundred stairs, most very tightly spiraling, some steep enough that you were basically climbing a ladder. But when you finally made it to the top: oh, the VIEW! Yet another fantastic view over the city of Florence.
Climbing down was a bit of an emotional and psychological challenge, though. I couldn't decide whether to go down some of the staircases forwards or backwards. The church itself was fairly unremarkable. The dome and the outside are really the best parts.
And it's good I figured that out. When I got back outside, at about 9:45, the line to get into the church already crossed the piazza. I decided I had seen enough of the church from near the dome, and left.
For lunch, I walked down to this little place someone at the hostel had told me about, Acasamia, in the Mercato di Sant'Ambroggio. For 6 euros and 70 cents, I got a full bottle of water, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, and a coffee. The place was entirely full of locals. Granted, for the most part I had no idea what I was ordering - the menu was in Italian, and it was clearly a menu they change on a daily basis, because there were only three options for each category. However, the food was good, and it was in a wonderful little market square.
That afternoon, feeling exhausted from several days of intense walking, I let myself chill out a bit. I sketched a bit, had some more awesome Italian food, and then hung out with the guy at the front desk of the hostel for a bit. Then I got my stuff together and went to the train station.
All I can say for the train trip back is: thank goodness for my Eurail pass. It meant I was able to get a cheaper ticket on the high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam. Which was good because by the time I reached Paris again, I was so sick of trains.
And with that, my trip to Paris and Florence ended! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get through all these photos. The end of the semester has really been brutal so far. Ah, but I have only 2 weeks to go!
Once again, I apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. They really don't like flash cameras in churches.
