It's a tiger, It's a lion, It's a....wolf??

Approaching the Duomo di Firenze was increasingly intimidating, and as we grew nearer I could not believe I, Megan “Mopey” Bahamonde, was actually going to climb it! I was informed by Kelsey that there were 463 stairs to climb, which is the equivalent of 200 stair masters! While waiting in line we were approached by American men in the Navy who happened to be in line behind us. After talking with them for a little, I found a climbing buddy who shared the same fear of heights as I do, then we paid for our tickets and started our climb. Kayley, the Navy boy, and I climbed up the narrow, dark stairs as fast as we could to the midpoint of the climb. At the midpoint, we were lead to a balcony of sorts that was right below the fresco, the Last Judgment, done by Giorgio Vasari. Above my head was a fantastic historical piece of artwork that not many people see in their lifetime, and of course, as a child in a toy store, my first reaction to this was to touch it. After touching the fresco I was nudged by my terrified climbing buddy to keep moving, so my hiking continued. I have to admit, the last part was a struggle for my climbing buddy and me. Every so often there are square shaped holes in the walls (which I assume are for regulating air), allowing the curious to know how far they are and the fearful to know how scared they must become. Being afraid was an understatement for my climbing buddy when we finally reached the top, but I felt quite liberated. Contrary to my expression in photographs, I was very excited and happy to reach the top. Climbing the duomo was extremely rewarding; not only did I get my exercise for the day, but was also able to see all of Firenze from where I was standing. I have now made a personal goal to go up every climbable duomo in each city I go to.
Next on my list to conquer was the Uffizi museum. The Uffizi was built by the Medici family in 1581 for offices and to hold bureaucratic meetings, but now houses some of the most important works of art in the world. We arrived at the museum around 8:30 a.m. and did not get into the museum until around 10:00 a.m. This was due to the airport-like security everyone had to pass in order to get in. Apparently very angry people decide to attack the art, or very bad people try to steal it, so now extra security is needed to protect the timeless art pieces. After getting through security there were signs pointing us to where we wanted to go; a hallway and staircase later we were on the hall with the Medici treasures. The top of the hallway’s walls were lined with portraits of wealthy merchants, bureaucrats, and others of the wealthy class. Only wealthy people appeared in these portraits because in the past, portraits were a symbol of wealth. Grecian bust sculptures also lined the hallway, adding a luring effect to the large marble sculpture at the end of the long hallway. Jess and me, being the psychology majors of the group, walked down the row of sculptures discussing the facial expressions of each statue. We would say things such as “he looks sad maybe him and that girl statue, that also looks sad, just broke up.” I can already tell that we are the future Sigmund Freud’s of psychology. After analyzing all of the statues, Jess and I went into the side rooms with the paintings in them. After going into the third, then fourth room we started to notice a trend; all of the paintings had a Christian theme. Only being able to handle so many depictions of the crucifixion and the Virgin Mary, we decided to sit and wait for the rest of the group. Shannon found us sitting on a bench, and told us she was planning on staying for a while longer. After hearing this news, Jess, Kim, and I decided to do what we do best; shop.
Bargaining is an accepted practice in Italian markets; the only problem is getting the courage to do it. The first stand I approached was a little intimidating; the shop owner was a very old, angry looking man. When I finally grew the courage, I put on my best poker face, marched up to the shop, pointed at the scarf I wanted and said quanto costo (what does it cost) in my most convincing voice. Unfortunately, I had not prepared myself for a reply, so when he spit out a number larger than I am used to, my first instinct was to just say no. To my surprise, he immediately said another number that I understood, dieci (ten), and after I repeated the word no again to see if that could get me anywhere. It did get me somewhere; down to cinque (five), so I accepted his offer, reached into my pocket, and realized I only had a fifty. With it being my first bargaining experience, I felt bad to give him a fifty after arguing the price down, so I just walked away. After some practice, my shyness went away and I was a bargaining machine. Left and right I felt as if I was tricking the merchants into lowering their prices to what I wanted to pay for them. American tourists need to realize that those merchants are there for a reason; they need tourist’s money. Once you have that knowledge, you are most likely to get the price you want to pay, not the price they offer you at first. After shopping we caught the earliest train, and returned safely home in Sansepolcro, which was a very nice feeling after a long weekend in Florence.
After returning home, we all had to get back into the swing of things. Most of us had to read the rest of Italy’s Sorrow, and do whatever chore we had for that week. I was very happy to read that I was kitchen monitor for the week. Being able to control what can be done in the kitchen by girls who are 2-3 years older than I am is loads of fun. I can take the “John Rose” approach, and hand out fake fines to people who neglect dishes, and I can also pretend to be a secret spy and track down those who leave dishes in the sink. It was very amusing for the first day, but then when people started getting mad, and more dishes started piling in the sink, it became less fun and more upsetting. I handled this stressful situation as I have handled previous situations; talked to Bekah. She told me to write a sweet rule sheet for the girls and hang it up in the kitchen. I nervously did as she told me, hung up the rule sheet, and ran away before anybody could see that I had done it. Once they all saw it, one by one they asked if I had been the one who posted the new rule sheet. I reluctantly said yes, but even after the sign there were no changes. Realizing that the nice, passive approach was not effective I decided a more aggressive approach and started yelling at people who left their dishes in the sink. Sadly, I believe this method was more successful because frankly many of the girls were sick of hearing my voice. With every success comes a downfall, and I was nick-named the “Dish Nazi”. Knowing every one of us is learning about Nazi Germany, this was not the most flattering of nicknames, but it was comical.
The week of my reign as the ‘Dish Nazi’ was quite stressful, and I was happy to find out that my Saturday was going to be spent in Sienna. The bus ride was an easy two hours, and luckily it was the nicest day Italy has had in a long time. Although I only spent about six hours in Sienna, I do not feel as if I missed anything. When we got off of the bus, we were taken to Saint Catherine’s church. The church seemed emptier than the other elaborate churches I have been to, but had two distinct characteristics; flags and Saint Catherine’s head. Honestly, the latter really spooked me, but the stories behind the flags were interesting. Sienna is divided into many different parts, each having its own name and symbol. Each part competes in the annual palio competition where they race horses, and the flags in that church are hung in the order of the victors. After that, we were taken to the Piazza del Campo where the palio is taken place. This square is the perfect place to sit and relax in the hilly city of Sienna. While the rest of the girls were in the art museum located in the piazza, I stayed behind to sun bathe with Bekah in the square. Sienna, like most cities in Italy, has a very tall tower to climb that the girls and I made plans to climb after the museum. After an hour of waiting, they were finally done with the museum, and my goal to climb every tower was one more step toward being accomplished. Although this tower was not as demanding physically, it was much more demanding psychologically. The stairs of the old building really reflected the body structure of past Italians; they were very slim and short. The whole climb was a little uncomfortable as I did not have much room to move, and I had to duck down for most of the way. Although psychologically demanding, I do believe the climb was more than worth it. The view was amazing, much better than the one in Firenze. From each side of the tower you could see the different parts of Sienna. From one side there was a lot of greenery and farmland, and from the other there were many buildings, churches, and houses. This was the perfect ending to my week, and I am very glad I had the opportunity, which also inspired a new goal: to go to an Italian soccer game!