Friday, May 29 Venize

 Friday, May 29 

Today we took a visit to the city of Venice. Probably the second best city I’ve visited so far.  The main objective for the day was to get on a Gondola ride. This city reminded me of back home in Monterrey where every weekend as a young boy we would go on boat rides with the family. The Cathedral in this city had many paintings with a lot of gold similar to what we had seen in the St. Miniato church.  A lot of restaurants offered seafood, which I’m not a big fan off it. This city was full with tourist. This city is not very large it could somewhat be said its like an island surrounded by the water.  The Gondola ride was just the greatest thing I’ve done in Italy so far. We enjoyed about thirty minutes worth of a ride and had some drinks along with my roommate’s. My roommate’s also mentioned that the area where the cathedral is located is a place use on a video game called Assassin Creed.

Thursday, May28 Lamborghini Tour and Class Tour

Thursday, May28

Today was a very significant day in my life. Today we took a visit to a facility any kid or just about anyone would wish they could attend. We took a tour inside the Lamborghini Production facility. Who would of expected that the owner of this facility would name its company after the bull fighting in Spain and make it very significant to its identity. The owner Ferrucio Lamborghini was a Taurus for his zodiac sign and based on that he decided to adopt a raging bull as the emblem for his facility and for the other cars he continue to name them after bulls like the Gallardo, Hurricane and so on. 

After the tour in the city of Bologna we returned to Florence to attend class. For class we did a walking tour around the city was we went around to talk about some of the statues that are located around the city. Based on some of the statues we know Donatello was an artist who had lots of variety.  We came across a statue of St. George where we get the impression that something is about to happen or as if he was waiting for action. We also attended the St. Lorenzo church, which has a marble with gothic architecture to honor a painting of Virgin Marie. Inside the church is a painting where Virgin Marie is carrying Jesus and he’s holding a bird that indicated an illusion of death. The church was dedicated to Arcangel Michael. The St. Lorenzo church was also famous for the Medici chapel. This church was one of the oldest in Florence and was redesign at the beginning of the fifteen-century. Donatello was buried next to Cosimo the first. He was one of Cosimo’s favorite artists. Inside all the Medici are buried and the reason its not build with marble is because they ran out of money. We also came around to Plaza Republica which was the place were the Jewish community was force to leave and this was also the place for the old central market.

Saturday, May 30 Expo 2015

Saturday, May 30

Today we attended the 2015 world Expo. I enjoyed going to some of the different countries exhibitions and see what they had to offer for future inventions for the near future. We were only at the Expo for about six hours, which wasn’t enough to visit much of the exhibitions.  I wish we would of spent more time at the Expo just so we could experience more the great creations. This was also a great experience because it shows large diversity all in one place. I might of not been familiar with a lot of the creations other countries were considering on creating but now that I am I could see that a lot of the creations could be very similar but other countries go their own way to just be better and finding better resources or the least expensive way to create it.

Sunday, May 31 Milano

Sunday, May 31

Today we continued to explore the city of Milan. We got a tour around the city where we got to explore some memorable monuments. We went to Castello Sforzesco, and Milan’s Cathedral along with a tour around the city.  Inside of this Castello we came across a very sculpture that was built by Michelangelo named the Pieta. The Pieta is the moment where Jesus is off the cross and the mother is sustaining him. This sculpture was his first version of the Pieta and it has an arm that doesn’t belong to the sculpture. Also in the head of Maria there is another eye and another nose. This represented the contradiction of Michelangelo as an artist and that he was never satisfied with his work. Many times he would start work then set aside and then return to it to finish it at a later time. Michelangelo was a very jealous artist and he was always worried that they would steal ideas from his work. Inside of a museum they also has a sculpture of Michelangelo head where he had a scar on his nose from getting punched. The Pieta was left by Michelangelo as a gift to one of his servants. I had no idea that Leonardo da Vinci organized parties for the Duke.  Inside the Castello we came across the Alfa Romeo on one of the barracks. Our guide also mentioned that the stairs on this monument weren’t large because in there they would take their horses up the stairs all the way to their room.

After two weeks being in Italy we have heard in every the Duomo’s are located in the heart of the city. In Milan our guide told us that a church becomes a cathedral until it has enough bishops. Around the Castello she mentioned that there was a wall build by the Spanish and then knocked down in order to continue expanding the city of Milan. Out of all the work Leonardo had done in the city of Milan there is not much left because a lot of it has been restored.  We also came across a Black Room, which was also known as the Sala Negra where the Duke would go inside to cry. Milano is a very modern city. In Milano they mentioned that people were more serious and for the most part they don’t smile. People in this city are usually working all the time.  I had no idea Leonardo was the Duke’s military engineer and after hearing this about him it just makes me continue wanting to learn more about the history of these famous artist.  I wouldn’t have guessed that in the city of Milano about 80 percent of the buildings got damaged due to bombing.

Wednesday, May 27 Food and Wine

Wednesday, May 27

After being in Italy for a little over a week I’ve noticed that in the Italian culture with most meals everyone enjoys a glass of wine whether it may be Chianti, Amarone, Barolo, red or white. In every restaurant we have been to for the most parts you may start with an appetizer, first course, second course, vegetables, desert, and then end up with a nice and hot espresso or café. In most cities here in Italy when you go to each town there is a lot of completion of competition of which town has the best in Tuscany. No one will develop its secret. When they come up with something what’s there is there and they are not going to share the creation. A very unique thing I’ve notice that at restaurants when there are families or couples dining in, they don’t really talk to each other while they enjoy there meal there are just sitting there quietly, and with us Americans for the most part we are having conversations while we eat. Something that has come to my attention over the days I’ve been here in Italy has been the fact how a lot of people here in Italy just walk in grocery store and other stores with their dogs. Back in the U.S the only people that ever go in a store with a good are those who may either be blind or some disability problem.  In Italy most Italian skip there breakfast for the most part they just have a café or espresso. Also an interesting fact was that in most places in Florence they don’t use salt in their bread due to the fact that back in the day they had to get their salt from Pisa and it was just a pride thing and they chose not to want to get it from them.

I’m not a person who drinks a lot of wine, however in this trip I have drank wine just about any day just for the simple fact its less expensive to purchase a bottle of wine then it is buying a can of coke. Imported beers are also really expensive here in Italy. Several days back I was at a bar and bought me a couple of Corona’s which back in the U.S I would buy them for about 4 dollars here in Italy I was paying 10 euros for a corona just about twice as much. I have ate lasagna, spaghetti, wild boar, horse, salads, grilled chicken, rooster, vegetables, gelato along with other meals and each restaurant whether I purchase the same meal once it comes to the table it has a different presentation at each restaurant on the plate none look the same or taste the same.  The first difference I experience was when I tried past for the first time I notice that the pasta here in Italy wasn’t as soft as it is back at home then once I had it here I was able to determine that even though back at home it may be authentic they are over cooking the pasta.  Also here in Italy when you go to a pizzeria some have pre cooked slices and once you go to order they just put it in the oven other places just serve the regular pizza’s but they are much thinner than what we are used to.

Tuesday, May 26 Comparison between the Italian Mafia and Mexican Drug Cartels

Tuesday, May 26

Italy is a very young nation that was unified in 1861. In order to have a nation they needed to have a dialect and army. In Italy they had the dialect before the army, which usually it was the other way around.  Italians didn’t have a great civic sense, and in the Roman law they believed that what was your was yours. What was not strictly yours was the property of no one. In every city of Italy they had a strong identity. I was shocked and surprised that Italy has the highest unemployment rate in Europe. However what surprised me even more today was after learning about the Italian Mafia because it is very similar to what many families experience in my hometown in Mexico.  In Italy the mafia started in the city of Sicily with four different mafias. In my culture the difference was that it didn’t really started in one place it was all spread out. All the different drug cartels had there men working for their boss and they just get orders and go do what they are told. In the Italian culture and in my culture the cartels or the mafias maintain a secret they each did their own thing and it was something pretty much that even though you may be seeing what is occurring your better off not saying a thing otherwise you will be facing some severe circumstances.  Also the Mafia in Italy had the mafia ten commandments and in a way could be somewhat compare to what the United States has which is known as the Bill of Rights. These men got paid to protect others and to follow orders, and many times made money from taxing small and large business. If businesses disobey owners could pretty much end up dead. This comparison between the Italian Mafia and the Mexican Drug Cartels from my point of view is an observation I came across.