MSS student report from Italy: "Experiencing the Land"

Buildings in Italy are dispersed throughout the countryside like how a lazy farmer scatters seeds: mixed together and thrown to the wind. Our four-hour bus ride to Florence gave us plenty of time to observe this pattern, or lack there of, but at the same time this arrangement has a sort of organic order like everything else in Italy. More of this order, which can only truly be found in a civilisation as old as Italy is seen in the landscape. The sharp contrast between the rolling Appennines Mountains and their vallies is beautiful and their smooth peaks trap the clouds, keeping them low to the earth casting an ethereal mood on the land. The trees also all seem to grow to the same height and in neat rows-but manage to look natural and almost as if they have never come in contact with humans.
Entering the modern walls of the city, the trend of shutters--both the traditional and modern styles continued. The bustling city is home to great art, diverse peoples, and bold pigeons. Engaged in a walking tour of the city, we learned about traditional city planning and how it has been modernised or preserved through the centuries. Our tour took us to see Michelangelo's "David," a sculpture more breathtaking than I could have imagined. Our guide described Michelangelo's belief that sculpture was the only true art form: in sculpture, the work is already trapped inside the marble, and the artist has the vision to release it from it's confines, while in painting, the artist adds to a canvas until they are personally satisfied. Outside the museum we saw street artists portraying famous sculptures bringing the art into the current century. Turning the corner we were floored to see the magnitude of the Florence Cathedral. Requiring three architects for the main cathedral and an additional architect for the grande dome, the building is ornate and mystifying. Painted with greens, reds, browns, and white the building is anything but ordinary. Another interesting fact we learned about the cathedral of Santa Croce is that it is the resting place of many famous artists including Michelangelo and Machiovelli. We then split, the visual artists visiting Uffizi and the rest of the group exploring the shopping options of the city ending in a fine leather store where we were given a demonstration on leather gilding with Italian 18 karat gold concluding the tour.
My favourite aspect of the city though was the graffiti. Here in Italy, we have seen a variety of grafitti: tagging, calls for social change, declarations of love, and street art. Unlike in the States, the graffiti is let be on city walls, sidewalks, and streets and adds great character to the cities and towns. Long sentences are written neatly across the road in Italian and English and world-renowned street artist's work marks street corners and traffic signs. My favorite wall in the city though, was the one outside The Academia, where the "David" resides, that was marked with names of visitors from all over the world in many different languages and one drawing of a sloth. I really enjoy Italian graffiti, because it is a clear depiction of the voice of the Italian people--their love, their loyalties, and their anger and gives us a more intimate glimpse of Italian culture.
Ciao!
Tori xx