Siena, San Gimingano and the Boboli gardens

Sorry for the late update, but here is last weekend:

Friday I went to meet up with a girlfriend of mine because we were bored and had nothing better to do than draw sculptures in Piazza della Signoria. She really wanted someone with her because she has made some Italian friends, but didn't want to go alone to meet with them. We had gelato with some of her friends and we bought a deck of cards and played some games back at the apartment with my roommates.

Saturday we got out of bed extremely early (5:30am) to get to the bus on time to go to Siena and San Gimignano.
Both had amazing Duomos (cathedrals) and the one in Siena was supposed to rival Florence's Duomo, but because of the plauge, it was never finished. The view from the top was amazing, and I have lots of pictures, and bought some famous 'panforte' to bring home. It's sort of like fruitcake, so I think it will last until I get home.
San Gimignano is a pretty well preserved medieval town because it was hit by the plague so badly, they made no progress for many years and therefore still have a lot of the "tower houses" in place. We saw some churches and got to do some wine tasting at the end provided by our professor and the school! Also, we got to taste some cheese and wild boar sausage with pistachios in it. I bought a bottle of wine on the way out, but I think that mine is a little cheaper than that which we tasted, but it should be wonderful, none the less.

Sunday my roommates went to Venice, and some of my other buddies and I went to the Boboli gardens for the day. Beautiful, huge, and I got a bit of a tan. I found a patch of grass and immediatly was overwhelmed with joy, throwing myself onto it and rolling around in what my art history teacher would most likely describe as a holy ecstasy, maybe something like that of Saint Fina who was the anorexic saint from San Gimignano that slowly went paralyzed and allowed rats to nibble on her toes so she could experience suffering like Christ. (I guess like her, I will have to perform miracles after my death... I'll get on that right away.) Then we walked across the lawn to read the sign that said "stay off the grass."

After the gardens we went for some food, and I ate the most delicious creamy sauce in the entire world: tartufli made with truffels... yes, mushrooms! Amazing creamy sauce, and I must go get some more soon.

My batik class is going pretty well, and I have finished only one project, so I have to get busy! I am in the middle of my second, and have two more to go. I think I am getting the hang of it though, and really enjoy working 2-D again for a change of pace from the usual ceramic routine. Also, the studio is only open for those 8 hours on Monday and Wednesday, forcing me to go out and be social, which is also a nice change from the usual late nights in the studio at home.