Medici=Mafia

1 March 2008
My final day in Rome was spent shopping. I did a little (too much) shopping. I enjoyed an amazing Italian pizza for lunch and a cappuccino to get me through the day. I went dancing that night, and boarded the bus after only 2 hours of sleep.
We stopped at Assisi. I looked at the churches there and couldn’t help but think that, if St. Francis saw all the churches in their full grandeur, he would be rolling in his grave…which was conveniently located beneath one of the aforementioned churches.
I listened to a This American Life episode of love stories and another on testosterone for the rest of the bus ride. It made me happy.
The next day, we went on a very long church tour, starting at Santa Croce. We saw Brunelleschi’s Dome, San Lorenzo and finally Santa Maria Novella. After the tour, we had some free time and I went to Happy Hour at an Irish pub called Joshua Tree with Gretchen and Fiona. We played cards as loud hard rock music played in the background. Fiona joked that we had all listened to that sort of music and kind of looked the part some time in the past, although we all looked out of place, with our sweaters, blazers, skirts, and knit hats.

2 March 2008
Early mornings and occasional worries may keep trips interesting, though I could probably do without. We began the day at the Academia, the location of Michelangelo’s famous David statue. We were there for quite a while since we couldn’t meet our guide until later that day. I sat behind the statue for some time, talking to Sarah until Clint came and suggested that we go for a walk before we met the guide. We looked at Ospedale di Innocenti and the Mosque.
The official walking tour began and we saw several old medieval structures. It was nice and informative. The Ponte Vecchio is a place I’ll need to re-visit. It is a dangerous place for men to go with their significant others because it is a street completely dedicated to jewelry. It would have been tempting, had the shops not been closed, due to it being Sunday.
After a lunch break, we went to the Uffici gallery, which was gigantic. I am ashamed to admit that the religious arts had become a little tiresome. There are only so many crucifixes and Madonna paintings you can look at in one week. However, I still loved Filippo Lippi’s Madonna and Signorelli’s Crucifixion paintings.