This past weekend was very busy. I did lots of traveling and saw so many new things. To start off, Saturday we went to a chocolate factory in Perguia. It was a nice way to spend Valentine's day or Giorno di San Valentino. Italians actually celebrate it similar to the U.S., but it is not as big of a holiday as much as it is in the U.S. Couples still go out and men get their girlfriends flowers and chocolate is a big thing. So to celebrate I enjoyed sampling free chocolate and learning about how they make chocolate. We even got to walk on this platform above the factory and see them make chocolate Easter eggs. Nothing else was going on in the factory on that day, but we got to see all the equipment and the different machines.
After that we went to Assisi which is the city of Saint Francis. We went to the church of Saint Francis which is absolutely beautiful. The paintings on the wall are amazing and very detailed. The decorations were very intricate and there were many carvings and marble and iron work and mosaics. They even have a crypt where they have his body buried. There is a staircase that leads down to the crypt from the main part of the church. Not to mention this church is huge and could probably fit the whole city plus the next city over into it. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures which is so disappointing because I wanted some just for myself to remember. I did take lots of pictures around Assisi. It is the cutest little town and they even have a castle and a path inside the city that leads you to great lookout points and has lots of greenery. I want to for sure go back there and keep exploring because I didn't get enough time to look around.
On Sunday I went to Florence (aka Firenze). It was so crowded with tourists everywhere. I don't know if it was just because it was Sunday or if this was a normal thing. I didn't spend a lot of time there; only a few hours. We went to a famous market and also found this really cool indoor food market as well where vendors make high quality food in front of you with fresh ingredients and then you can sit there and eat. It was packed full, but we did stop to get a cannoli. After that we wondered over to the Duomo or the main church and also the largest most elaborate church in the city. This is also the church that Siena found out they were trying to build a bigger Duomo than them so they started to build onto their church only to not be able to finish it. We went to Ponte Vecchio which is a really old famous bridge that you always see in pictures of Firenze. After that we walked around a little bit looked in a few stores. I went to H&M Florence! That's one off the list. Finish off the day we went to the church Sanat Maria Novella which is famous because they have a famous painting of Jesus showing him as being The Way, The Truth, and The Light. Overall, the church is beautiful and was also full of murals on the walls and beautiful architecture.
We took the train to get from Siena to Florence, but it is much faster and slightly cheaper to go by bus. I am glad that we took the train because now I understand better how to use the train system and where to go. Although the train was slower, I like how the trains go compared to the bus.
-Cori
Pictures to come soon!!!
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