Last night we made it to the Sanctuary B&B in Florence, Italy, which was about a 2-hour train ride from Venice and a few minutes walking from the train station. The B&B is actually a convent - when we arrived we saw two nuns checking guests in at the front desk. As you might imagine staying in a convent, the rooms are not fancy - sparsely decorated and rather plain - but it is very quiet and to me feels like a holy place, which is a welcome change in the evening from the busy nature of our daily itinerary. It is also nice, in my opinion, to be "unplugged" - no internet at the convent. I think we can all learn to be comfortable in a few hour time period of being awake (vs. asleep) and unplugged from the rest of the world... and know that it's ok to be ok with that unplugged feeling.
We started out our day with a traditional Italian breakfast at the convent - coffee, an assortment of breads, and fresh fruit. Random story: I talked to a Norwegian pastor at breakfast that was with a group of pastors on a retreat. He told the three MA leaders that he spoke to a few of our students after having a hunch that we were from Minnesota, and that he was so impressed with our CFE program at MA - he thought it was such a worthwhile learning experience for our students. He also said he used to work as a chaplain at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, and he can picture where Minnehaha is along the river. In addition, I told him the name of the small town off the coast of Norway that my relatives are from, and he is from the next small town over! Such a small world!
Here is a run down from the rest of our activities today:
* Museo San Marco
* Maddie's presentation on Fra Angelico and San Marco
* Duomo and Church of Santa Maria Del Fiore, including a climb to the Duomo's amazing cupola
* Carrie's presentation on Brunellischi's Duomo
* Lunch in the Florence City Center
* Free time options including Piazza del Duomo, Santa Maria, more exploring, some shopping, gelato, and more.
* Walking tour and hill climb to San Miniato al Monte and attendance at a Gregorian Vespers/Mass service
* Michelangelo's David lesson from Mr. Stromberg
* Authentic Italian dinner at Trattoria Anita
Here are some pictures from our day...
Virgin Mary statue inside the front door of the convent where we're staying.
Maddie presenting on Fra Angelico at San Marco Monastery.
Mr. Stromberg reading an excerpt from a book on Fra Angelico's life and art work. One of the quotes from this very holy and giving man of service that resounded with me is the following: True wealth is nothing but being content with little.
The Annunciation - the angel tells Mary she will bear a son and she cradles her womb. The details in these frescos were absolutely amazing and very thought provoking. The art work we saw at the monastery at San Marco is almost 600 years old, but has been restored over the last 10-20 years to brighten the colors and preserve the art.
An example of a monk's cell (room) at this monastery - a small room with a thought provoking fresco on the wall for contemplation and prayer.
Carrie presenting on Brunellischi's dome, in front of his statue. He was commissioned to build the dome and his statue is looking directly up at his classic work.
The group climbed to the top of the Duomo - quite the climb, with a narrow, sometimes winding
steep staircase. The magnificent view was well worth the work to reach the top!
Pics from the top of the Duomo: Darby, Rita, & Sophie...
Isabel and Stephanie...
Leaders: Mr. Stromberg, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. Johnson.
Sitting outside the Duomo, waiting to meet up together after our enjoyable afternoon free time.
San Minioto Al Monte church - we witnessed a traditional Vespers and Mass service with chants from the monks that live in the monastery next to the church. Very moving to see and hear.
Group shot outside the church after the service. You can see that we're very high up, overlooking Florence - it was a definite hike up to reach this area, but such a special experience. Mr. Stromberg commented on how it looks like he's wearing a Duomo hat... Pope Stromberg of Duomo! Pretty funny. :)
View of Florence at night - beautiful!
Michelangelo's David, in front of Palazo Vechio - the Medici's home in Florence.
Trattoria Anita where we ate dinner as a group. Mr. Stromberg told us that many of the businesses don't look like much when all closed up, as we saw when we stopped to check our the dinner menu in the afternoon. So above is our before picture...
...and this is the after picture, before we entered for dinner. Very cute, isn't it?
Sunday we have a big day in Medieval Tuscany - can't wait to share more tomorrow. We miss you all at home, but are having an amazing time and are very thankful for this awesome CFE experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment