Hi all – it’s Grace again!

This past week I got to visit San Marco and the Duomo Baptistery along with some other really awesome places! San Marco is a convent that was built in 1433 and enlarged later for Cosimo de’ Medici the Elder. In San Marco, you can see the small rooms that housed the men that lived there along with a room personally built for Cosimo de’ Medici the Elder. One of my favorite parts was the beautiful painting that is known to be the most famous Annunciation. The picture is painted beautifully and if you look hard enough you can see it shimmers in the light. The next place we visited was the Duomo Baptistery. This is separate from what you may know as the Duomo. It has the same facade and is one single room with a baptistery. This is a really beautiful place and up until recently every one of the Catholic faith in Florence got baptized in this room! It has beautiful bronze doors that face the church from across the street. These have intricate carvings on each panel that makes up the door. If you want to see the originals just hop on over to the Duomo museum. Inside the baptistery you have a beautiful mosaic ceiling. This dates back to the 13th century and is a representation of the last judgement. The baptismal font is dated at 1317 and has six marble panels covering it.

This week in my class that I am taking I have enjoyed cooking with my class. We had the chance to make actual noodles which was such a fun experience. We had to mix the egg and flour, knead the dough, flatten it and then cut it in to strips. The two sauces we had were pesto (which I was not a fan of) and then the spicy tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was delicious!

I am loving the company of the people here both in my class and in the IUE group. We have gotten to eat dinner together, cook dinner, and try lots of different gelato. My favorite gelato has been cheesecake and chocolate. This gelato is super smooth, and I wish I could take a tub of it home! We only have a few more days left here but I am looking forward to the experiences, sights and lots more gelato that we will get to eat. Here in Florence there is always something for you to do. I have enjoyed just walking around and people watching. Yesterday the group got to pet a cute dog that was only six months old and had the sweetest face. You always see lots of dogs here in Florence and they always seem to have such a happy face. I bet it is because they know how lucky they are to live in such a beautiful place.

Thanks for reading the blog and I hope you all feel like you are here with us!

Ciao,

Grace