Day 9 - July 8

 Friday...our first week of classes is done! It is so weird to think that because it is going by so fast! We actually got to sleep in today which was another huge plus. I woke up on my own at 11am and felt awesome. Today we had 2 museum tours in Florence. The first place we went was the Academia Galeria which is where I got to see the oh so famous David statue!! I had seen the replica and taken pictures of it outside on our Florence tour, but this was the real deal. And it really was amazingly done. There was so much detail that was put into the sculpture that it was unreal! Did you know that David's eye pupils are shaped like hearts?! Pretty cool to see it first hand...and he is huge too! I didn't realize how big the statue actually was. Also, did you know that while Michelangelo was sculpting David
he found out that other artists were trying to copy his work so he found them and completely distroyed their work!! It was so interesting!! After David, we saw a lot of other sculptures by Michelangelo and other famous artists as well and they were all so fascinating to see because the way they make them is even cooler to think about. After we left there the group got some gelato (of course) and headed on to the next museum. This one used to be a church for the Medici family, but not it is a museum basically admiring the Medici family. We learned that they were like the big family of Florence who were large and in charge...and very wealthy. It is also because of this family that all of Florence is still the way it is. Apparently the last member of the family made people sign a contract saying that what they found in Florence (or Firenze, as it is called in Italy) they would leave here. Once she
passed away the Austrian rulers that signed this contract and allowed Florence to keep all its art, way of life, and history. It was really cool to learn about. The place was basically a shrine to the whole family and the point of it was just to show off how much money they have, but it was absolutely beautifully made. Both of these museums did not allow pictures to be taken...but I sneaked a couple :) ha ha.
 When we finally got back from our tours and a late lunch a few of the girls and I decided to go to the park that was near by to just relax. I fell asleep so fast after I laid down finally. I was exhausted from all the walking around the city and the tours. We were there for a few hours reading, talking, and sleeping but it was really nice. So then some of the apartment and other girls went out for dinner, but Carrie and I stayed home and made some spaghetti with plain tomatoe sauce. And a capri salad, which is growing on me. I might come home and actually like to eat tomatoes that aren't cooked!! Or at least I'm trying to! So it was a busy day, but a lazy night. We are trying to save money by not eating out
multiple times a day so we can spend more on other things.
 Also, something funny. I found out something interesting today about what to wear in Italy. Apparently yellow is a very "LOOK AT ME" color. I wore a yellow dress today and I could not believe the attention I was getting! I was called Shakiera (a Latin singer/dancer with blonde hair), Lady Gaga (a crazy American singer with kind of blonde hair), tweety bird, and a Spice Girl. It was hilarious!! So between my blonde hair and my color choice...I figured out what Italian men are crazy about. Ha too bad they are soooooo obnoxious to the point of gross!! One guy in the market even yelled at me today saying that I dropped something...when I looked back he says "you dropped my heart!" HAHAHAHA it was too funny. So basically JJ has some serious competition...I mean how can you compete with those types of pick up lines, right?! Hee hee
 Anyway, have to be up early to go to Rome this weekend!! We are going to the Vatican city and all the good stuff! Cannot wait!!!! Probably won't have internet access while I am there so I will update when I get back!!! Caio!!