Florence I

Sometimes people talk about spiritual experiences. The connection between God and Man, when people feel the “spirit moving through them”. Sometimes this happens during a moving song; sometimes this happens at a significant point in one’s life; and sometimes this happens when one encounters beauty.

Today, in Florence, Italy, we discovered man’s search for this connection between God and man, between the physical and metaphysical. During Classical times, people saw God and man together, simultaneous. The church was where both the physical and spiritual were united. In the Middle Ages, however, people thought man and God were separated. They saw life as a journey to get to God, and the church represented that journey. You enter and you travel to a destination, to meet God at his altar. Then, during the Renaissance, people began to go back toward the Classical idea, to rationalize God, to “bring Him down to size” in order to fit Him into a container that man could understand. Everything built was planned with a set idea, using proportion and order, instead of just building hands on without a set image in mind as in the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, man saw the world as what already was; in the Renaissance, the world was how man made it.

We began our own exploration at San Miniato, a Classical church with some aspects of the Middle Ages. It sits on top of a hill with a view over the city. The view itself seemed like an encounter with God. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like years ago when San Miniato was first built and the city below was scarcely built. It was a view of nature, of valleys and planes, of God’s precious painting. The church sat on top of it all. It was a journey just to reach the entrance. Inside, as the first church we entered, it took my breath away. The height was impressive, the ceiling ornate, the artwork so detailed and elaborate. The paintings were the textbook of its century, a magnificent teaching tool for the people. The trussed ceiling was painted elaborately in blue and gold, in tiny detail that I wished I could examine up close. It made me realize how much the people valued their faith (or perhaps how much influence the Church had) to see the gold, marble, and other precious items detailing their vessel to God.

We moved on, passing the river snaking through the colorful city and then through the winding, narrow streets lined with tiny shops beneath tall apartments. Finally, we made it to Santa Croce, whose façade took my breath away. It faced a piazza, which once again spoke to me about the importance of the church. In a city like Florence, this could be valuable building space, and yet, it was preserved for the purpose of the church. Inside, the interior moved me even more than San Miniato. The sheer height of the church was incredible. Builders were beginning to use pointed arches, which moves toward Gothic (and toward the sky), and speaks about their desire to reach Heaven. The stained glass windows were what got to me. They were so detailed, so colorful, and perfectly balanced the rest of the dimly lit building. The bays of the church were wide and, though ornate, seemed simple compared to so many other churches. They framed various sculptures and paintings above the side altars, as well as the stained glass windows. Between two of these arches at the back of the church were the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo. After examining this, we moved out to the Franciscan cloister next to the church and then into a building that housed one of the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen. It was a depiction of Jesus being taken down from the cross, with Mary beneath him with open arms. Many other figures surrounded the two, creating a very dynamic, lively scene. The colors in the painting were vibrant and myriad, and the range from dark to light was incredible. The paint was so smooth, it was as if no brush had ever touched the canvas. I could have stared at the image for hours.

But we were in a hurry to get to lunch, so we had to move on, and before I knew it, our tour was finished. We ate a fabulous meal at a restaurant in town and spent the rest of the day learning how to decipher the true authentic medieval architecture of Florence from the buildings merely made to look like it. Finally, I window shopped. We are definitely going back on Friday.

Today a dog chased me… It was an experience… An experience that divided a series of experiences. We had some time off today, and, after having lunch in Roggi’s (a restaurant in town) and walking a while with a group, I decided to wander around the town alone. Don’t worry; it’s safe. People do it all the time. Well, I decided to stop for a while in a park outside of the town walls and take a look at the wonderful view down over the lower town and surrounding landscape. I noticed a middle-aged man standing a little ways away from me, but I ignored him and continued watching the view. I was trying not to look like an American, but after a while I gave up and took out my camera. The view was too wonderful to pass up. After snapping a few pictures, I looked over at the man and noticed he had moved to a bench that was nearer to me. I decided to leave. But the man began to speak to me in Italian and motioned for me to come sit next to him. I tried to be polite and tell him I didn’t speak Italian and that I wanted to go. He continued to motion to me. Finally I just began walking down a street on which I had never walked. I walked for a while and suddenly out of nowhere a tiny, furry, gray dog began to bark at me and ran out from behind a car. I think he was protecting his territory. I thought he might bite me, so I yelped and jumped away and then turned around to run the other direction. When I did, I saw the man. He was following me. Fortunately there was a woman walking my direction with a dog on a leash, so the dog chasing me diverted his attention. I quickly crossed to the other side of the street, praying that the road would lead me to some familiar part of the town and that I would find my way back to Santa Chiara. Finally, I found some stairs I recognized and made it back to within the city walls. I walked further down the narrow street to Santa Chiara and met an Italian woman and her husband. She began to speak to me in Italian, so I tried to explain that I only knew English. I said “Santa Chiara” and she understood that I was a student. She became excited and began to point me out to her husband. I didn’t want to be rude, but I was in a hurry to get away from that man. When I looked back again, he was still following me. A pit in my stomach began to form and I continued my trek. Within a few steps of the door, I remembered that it was locked and anxiously began to fish for my keys. Luckily, when I reached the door of Santa Chiara, a few people were waiting inside and they let me in. I wasn’t sure if he saw me go in or not. It was a long time inside those safe locked doors before that pit in my stomach began to recede. I told one of the directors of the program about the incident and she calmed my fears. She told me that some men are just pests, some are even mentally ill, but most of the time they are nothing to worry about. The town people will take care of us if we just mention that someone is bothering us, and most men will leave us alone if we make it clear that we do not want their company. Though she said one should still be wary, no one has ever been physically harmed by anyone of the town. Her words calmed me quite a bit. But still, what a day.

It's 10:45pm over here :) We landed safely in Paris after an extremely long flight and then took another plane to Rome, and then took a three-hour bus trip. Over 18 hours of travel time... I am pretty exhausted, but very excited. It is incredibly beautiful over here. Green hills dotted with red, tile roofed houses and distant mountains beyond. Sheep are everywhere, and the lack of cows makes me wonder whether they eat beef :) There are lots of farmland and lots of vineyards. The streets of the town are very narrow with tall buildings pressed right up to the road, giving the sensation of being between very windy cliffs. Every building is very similar--tall, either stone or light-colored stucco rectangular buildings with rectangular windows all the same size. The center itself is amazing. It's at the very top of the hill, but it’s still built into the hillside so it has lots of different levels. The narrow doorways, endless halls, and many steps give the impression that you are in a castle and can never explore the whole building. They serve pretty darn good meals, too. Our shower is tiny though. Let me just say, you can't drop the soap (I tried it. :)). Tomorrow, we are going to Mass and then taking a tour of the town. Then school starts Monday. We'll see how that goes. But I’m excited. This semester is going to be amazing…