The Arkansas Traveler: Ugly villa, Cappuccinos, and the gallery of selfies...Part Due (two).

Hey gang, sorry I haven't posted in a while it's been a fast-paced week. So let me try to bring y'all up to speed. On tuesday after classes, the Dean of the HUF program, Robbie Shackleford, took us on a tour of Scandicci. We visited places like the library, the town square and the shopping district. After the tour the class split up into to groups the men went with Robby and the Girls went with Emily ,one of the student assistants, to eat at one of the many restaurants. The restaurant we tried out was called "Friggi Friggi," it specialized in Fried foods. Some of the items on the menu included calamari, zucchini, and Cornbread. Next we went to another restaurant to get dessert, I had an amazing, made from scratch, chocolate chip muffin. To top off the meal the whole class met up to get Cappuccinos at a coffee shop called "Bar Mario". The coffee shop has been a favorite for HUF students for years. The Next day some of us had the opportunity, to tour the Uffizi Gallery which holds some of the worlds most priceless works such as Botticelli's "Birth of Venus", Giotto's "Ognissanti Madonna", and Leonardo's "The Annunciation." This gallery was primarily from the Art Collection of the Medici family. However, after the family line started to fade away. The Collection along with the building it was housed in was given to the City of Florence so that these pieces of art would be enjoyed by the people of Florence and the world. The Museum was amazing, however the tour did not end at the gallery. Our group was taken to a secret wing of the museum that few visitors know about let alone get a chance to see. This section is housed in a passageway that connects the Uffizi to the Pitti Palace, the home of the Medici family. This passageway, known as the Vasari Corridor, is raised above the city streets, which allowed the Medici's to go from the government offices in the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti to the Pitti Palace without having to mingle with the common man. Now the corridor, is home to the world's largest collection of famous artist's portraits. Friday the class had a onsite lecture at the Brancacci chapel and the Pitti Palace. The Chapel itself contains some frescos that are early examples of renaissance art. In fact one the artist that created the frescos, Masolino inspired the great Michelangelo. The next stop on the tour was the Pitti Palace, which contained many famous works such as paintings by Raphael as well as impressive statues and frescoes. Finally on Sunday evening the group went to the Opera. We got to watch Giacomo Puccini's famous "Madama Butterfly." It was amazing, the performances were awe-inspiring. I was pleasantly surprised by it. Well I'll update ASAP, until then Ciao!!!!