Off to the South of Italy... cranking the Jimmy Buffett the whole way there!

With another Thursday morning came another art history sight visit. This morning, we visited Palazzo Medici. Exactly as it sounds, this building was the home to the Medici family from 1440 until they... (haven't gotten that far yet). The design of the building is very interesting. Designed by the famous Renaissance architect Michelozzo, the building had three floors and three layers. The ground floor has rough, thick stones and high thin windows- resembling medieval palaces just around the corner. Clearly, this was designed to keep rival families away- especially that sketchy Paolo Strozzi character. The second and third floors get progressively smoother as the Medici needed a beautiful space to carry out all their "work." Which, after they abandoned banking in the early 1500s, was mostly paying artists, throwing parties, and chilling with their numerous mistresses. It was a hard life.



The interior of the building featured a beautiful chapel, depicting the procession of the magi to the Nativity. Cleverly, the "magi" are actually the Medici family. They don't even try to disguise this fact- the magi are clearly wearing the same clothing that the Medici wore on a daily basis. Painted by Benozzo Gozzoli, the frescoes are perfectly intact today, since the chapel is cut off from the air and pollution of the outside world.



Following a visit to the palace (which is also the current home of the provincial government of Florence), we walked through the market to San Lorenzo, the grand church commissioned by the Medici family. Designed by the architect Brunelleschi, the church is noted for its architectural purity and perfect geometric ratios. All of these concepts, of course, I am a master in because of my freshman year in high school gemoetry teacher, Karen K. (never could pronounce or spell her last name, but in all fairness none of her students could). The church is the burial place of all the Medici family, including a nice quaint tomb for Cosimo right in front of the church's altar. That song- "hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way"- fits this family quite well.




This afternoon, following a lunch that featured Bruno's famous zuppa pomodoro (tomato soup), I went for my daily run in the hills. However, I was slowed by massive stomach cramps, most likely because I ate three bowls of tomato soup for lunch. It's hard, living in a Renaissance villa and having a private gourmet chef!

Italian class was spent watching a film called "Bread and Tulips." A comedy from the 90s, this movie is the Italian version of Lampoon's European Vacation. I will most certainly be making my family watch this movie when they arrive in FIFTEEN DAYS!

Tomorrow, it's off to Pompeii (followed by visits to Sorrento and Positano with hikes on the coast and at Mt. Vesuvius!) Should make for an epic weekend!

Finally, I'd like to apologize to my viewers, er readers, for all these google image pictures. Many of these places don't allow cameras (or none of them do). To help my memory when I'm at the old and senile age of 28, I included these pictures.

Arrivederci tutti!