Adventure Awaits: Exploring Tuscany

In addition to lots of reading and writing assignments for our class we had two day trips planned, one to Lucca and one to Percussina. Our first trip, to Lucca, was meant to give us a better picture of Italian life outside of the large tourist-filled cities. Lucca is a charming walled city about an hour outside of Florence. It reminded me a lot of Florence, but on a much smaller scale. The streets were narrow, bright, and filled with cute little shops. It was the first big activity we did as a group (outside of class), and it was a really nice way to get to know our fellow classmates a little better. I am really grateful for the group we ended up with on this trip. Everyone is very laid-back and fun to be around.

Anyway, in Lucca we meandered through the city at a leisurely pace, stopping to visit a few churches along the way. We got lunch at a little sandwich shop, which is an incredibly difficult feat when you are traveling with a group of twenty and everyone is ordering their own specialized sandwich. After eating on a set of church steps (we were quite the sight, all twenty of us lined up side by side munching on giant sandwiches) Leonardo took us to Guinigi tower. The tower is really unique in that it has a tree garden on top. After climbing a respectable number of stairs, 230 to be exact, we were greeted with beautiful views of the terra-cotta roofed city and surrounding countryside. I have to say, I love Tuscany. I could see myself here long-term, enjoying the small-town Italian lifestyle until the day I die. Sorry mom, looks like you'll just have to ship all my things over here! ; )

Lucca was really nice though because it felt like we had the city to ourselves. It wasn't so crowded and hostile, like many of the larger cities seem to be at times. It was overall a really beautiful, comfortable day.

Guinigi Tower

There was an exhibit throughout the city featuring art made of cardboard.

This one depicts a wolf emerging from a river.

Also made of cardboard

Walking along the walls

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During the third week of our program we were reading Machiavelli's book The Prince, a very influential text about power, politics, and the realities one must face when dealing with the two in order to be an effective leader. Luke, Kelcey and I had to present on sections of the book for class discussion one day, and we really got into it. So after all the research and reading we had done it was a particularly rewarding experience to take a class trip to Percussina to visit the house and Inn where Machiavelli wrote the book during his infamous exile from Florence.

But before we went to Percussina, we started the day in Montelupo (a small town famous for ceramics) to visit the ceramics museum. The ceramics were beautiful, and it was impressive to see the progression of techniques used to create them, but my favorite part of visiting the museum was definitely when we found a room that had coloring supplies (presumably for small children). Even though we are all here to explore, learn, and grow into more well-rounded adults, it was really nice to indulge our inner-children for a while. There were pages with black and white images of different kinds of pottery and ceramic plates that we colored-in and decorated, and some people just doodled on blank pages as well. Our professor was a little confused by our behavior, and even seemed a little embarrassed by us- such strange American students we are. Hah. But we all enjoyed it so much anyway. Afterward, we walked into town, got sandwiches (we were much more organized this time!) and chatted until it was time to head to our next destination.

So much fun

Nearly all the shops in Montelupo had personalized ceramic addresses and information plates

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We arrived in Percussina after a beautiful bus ride through the picturesque Tuscan country-side. When we pulled up I was in awe. This tiny little town emulated exactly what I had pictured Tuscany to look like. It was all hills, greenery, cobblestones, and vineyards. I felt like I had fallen into a dream.

Our professor had arranged for a guided tour of the Inn and Machiavelli's house, and our guide even reminded me a bit of Machiavelli. Not only in his looks, but in his quirky Renaissance-style mannerisms too. As it turns out, he does tours at night as well; Only at night, he actually dresses up as Machiavelli and acts out scenes with others depicting his dramatic daily life. If only I had the opportunity to see that!

We saw the desk where Machiavelli actually wrote the Prince, the tavern where he often drank with locals, and the secret tunnel he used to sneak away from his wife to meet with other women. Scandalous! We also got to see the Machiavelli family winery, and did a wine and cheese tasting. The wine was fabulous; I was glad I got to finally try Chianti wines, and they served the best parmesan cheese I've ever had. It was such a wonderful trip! I am only sad that you (yeah, you!) didn't get to experience it with me. Missing you all!