Inhale, Exhale.

Today is a day I've been looking forward to since we got here. Our cultural activity took us to Fiesole, a small hill town just north of Florence. Built by the Etruscans before Florence was built, this small city is enchanting and exactly what I expected out of Italy. Don't get me wrong, I adore Florence. But you have to remember we are in a city with quite a bit of pollution and noise-- it's not a quaint village! Today we boarded the city bus for the first time with Sylvia, an LDM professor. She had gotten tickets for all of us, but I was surprised by how easy the bus system of the area is to navigate! 

The bus was crowded since the 7 bus is the only one that goes to Fiesole but as we ascended into the hills in our 20 minute trip I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. So many fields and trees and mansions on hills-- everything I love that you can't find in the city! Getting off the bus and taking in the fresh air was so refreshing and Sylvia took us around the town (she lives there) which was void of tourists this chilly time of year. 

We got to see the famous Roman amphitheater through a fence--the museum is closed in the afternoons in the winter but I plan to go back! Walking around the streets of Fiesole was so relaxing--such a great place to take a deep breath away from the hustle of the city. 

Here are the Roman baths we could see over the wall. Is it weird that we admire where the Romans used to work out and bathe?

 Then she took us to see the Etruscan walls, still standing since before the common era. 

I know it's just a wall, but it's really really old so give it some credit!

We walked through the Cathedral of Saint Romulus (the main cathedral of Fiesole) and then headed up the hill to the San Francesco church and monastery. The building was beautiful and it was interesting to see the old monks' cells. They also have a mini museum full of gifts the monks had received when evangelizing in China and Egypt--there was a mummy there, quite a gift! 

Just one of the many hills we had to climb...

but the view of Fiesole down below was worth it!

San Francesco Monastary

 The highlight for sure though was turning at the monastery and seeing the incredible view over Florence. I could have sat there for hours staring at the view. How lucky am I to live in such a pretty place?

After snapping tons of pictures we made a last stop at a bakery where obviously I got some delicious treats. I don't remember what they were called, but one was criossant-like with apricot jam filling, and the others were fried balls of dough with some sort of rice pudding batter that makes the insides very soft. Delicious!

How could I write a blog post without a picture of food?

It was a great adventure but now my final adventure of our two week pre-session begins with studying for our final exam... I can't wait to be done with this class and start my real classes Monday!