Today in Italian class Marco said he had a “sorpresa” for us (a surprise). Elena is always singing in class, so today he brought in a song by Gino Paoli called “La Gatta” (“The Cat”). We had the lyrics typed out for us with some blanks for us to fill in as we listened. The song included several of the vocabulary words that we’ve learned, such as parts of a house and direction words. After we’d listened to it a couple of times and filled in the blanks, he had Elena and I sing along! It was a lot of fun and we were joking with him, saying he should record us so we could post another video to our blogs!
Click this link to listen to the song "La Gatta": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWhpczgVLXg
Also in Italian class today, we had to draw a blueprint of our rooms back home and then describe them to each other. I misunderstood and started drawing our whole house, so Marco thought it was very funny when I asked him how to say “pool” in Italian… whoops!
That afternoon for our Art History class, we went to the Piccolomini Library, which is in Siena’s Cathedral. The library contains ten frescoes on its walls depicting the life of Pope Pius II, who was from Siena. The frescoes are mainly done by Pintoricchio, and they show Pius’s political and intellectual life rather than anything religious. The most famous fresco is “The Meeting Between Frederico III and Eleanor of Aragon,” whose marriage was arranged by Pius. In the background is a beautiful depiction of Siena, and Eleanor is portrayed as looking bashful upon meeting her future husband. The ceiling of the library was incredibly ornate with a lot of mythological symbols. Also in the library are pages from songbooks, which are decorated with incredible, colorful painted flowers. Lastly, the statue of The Three Graces is in the middle of the library. It’s a famous statue representing Venus’ attendants, and it shows that Pope Pius II celebrated pagan love over religious or spiritual love. After touring the library, PG took us to get gelato because he couldn’t give his lecture in the library. As we sat inside at a cute gelatario by the Cathedral, PG gave the history behind the frescoes. Too bad history class doesn’t always include gelato!
After going for a run, I was very excited for another pasta creation by Stella. Tonight for dinner, Lino came over and we all enjoyed my favorite pasta dish from Stella so far. She put tomatoes and almonds in the food processor and mixed it with pesto, lots of garlic, and crushed red pepper. She mixed bowtie pasta into this sauce and added fresh parmesan cheese on top, which melted over the hot pasta. Our meat course was a steamed white fish, followed by a mixed salad and watermelon. At dinner now, I am saying half of my sentences in Italian, which I am excited about. Lino finds it so funny, because I always try to use new words that I’ve learned that day in my conversation. Now, I am going to go pack for Venice – Ana Rose and I are leaving for Venice in the morning, spending Friday and Saturday there. On Sunday, we’re going to Florence to visit the Uffizi and Academia museums. I’m very excited because I’ve never been to Venice (Venezia), and the last time I went to Florence (Firenze), I didn’t have the art history background that I’ll have now when touring the museums. I’ll be back Sunday night but will have to study for an Italian test on Monday, so check back Monday for an update on my travels!
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