Ciaowdy!
Today’s blog is brought to you by Ben Hartwiger and Wejdan Alsanadi! Having Florence the day before, we knew Cortona had some big shoes to fill, but our group started strong by waking up on time and taking a twenty-minute bus ride to the city. We were greeted by our tour guide, Giovanni, in the city’s center and went on our last tour with him. We visited the town hall and a few churches, all rich with history. All of us have grown a little attached to Giovanni’s unique style and humor, and we’ll miss his outlandish jokes and informative tours.
At this point, we split into groups for lunch and sightseeing. Everybody was required to visit a museum of their choice, and the top three highlights were the Etruscan Museum, the Diocesan Museum, and the Fortress of Girifalco.
The Etruscan museum contained many historical artifacts from the history of Cortona, but it also housed the history of many other cultures from across Europe and even into Egypt.
The Diocesan Museum was filled with beautiful frescos and also contained the famous Fra Angelico’s Annunciation. The students who visited this museum were also surprised to find the presence of art from World War II.
The Fortress of Girifalco was a twenty-minute hike from the city, all uphill, but the view of the city and the surrounding country from the top was well worth the effort. The fortress also housed a unique collection of photography from places around the world.
We returned to Castiglion Fiorentino in the afternoon, where we had our last Italian lesson. We are happy to report that we can hold small conversations, order our own food, and make our way around the city.
Shortly after our dinner, we heard from Dr. Sullins about all 19 of the MSC committees, which helped us all think about what organizations we may want to join in the fall. It’s starting to set in for many of us how quickly the end of this trip is approaching. These opportunities are going to be right in front of us in less than three weeks, which is a little bit mind-blowing when we consider how fast the days are moving by.
Following tradition, we were going to get gelato at night; however, there was a fair amount of rain outside. That didn’t stop the true gelato fans from putting on rain gear and walking to a gelateria near a park. It definitely was a different experience under the late-night showers, but it was still enjoyable, fun, and tasty.
Overall, it was a relaxing day compared to the hustle and bustle of Florence, but we still got in our fair share of walking and exploring. We can’t wait for our last day in CF and our last few days in Italy!
-Ben Hartwiger and Wejdan Alsanadi
