It’s H-E-L-E-N!!!!!! An emotional day, this past Saturday was our last field trip with Helen. She took us to Bologna at 7:30 in the morning, in order to see some Maniera paintings, late Italian Mannerism,before our final papers and test. We rode on the Altirini Firenze bus for a sleepy hour and a half through the foggy Appenine mountains. Several other students and professors joined us for the full-blown Helen experience one last time. Helen woke us up over the intercom upon arrival, getting right into the lecture of the history of Bologna. Often overlooked by tourists, Bologna is a transportation and scholastic hub of Italy. It houses the oldest university in the country, so we finally laid eyes on the elusive Italian college students.It’s a more relaxed, less crowded, more modern, colder Florence. It’s famous for its food and covered, arched sidewalks called porticos. I was not dressed appropriately for the day, only wearing two layers, because I normally am sweating and panting trying to keep up with Helen. Because of the unpredictable super human that she is, we didn’t end up running anywhere. Conversely, we spent more time standing outside in the cold, to which she is obviously immune.
Frozen lecture
We went into the church of St. Peter in the city square where, unfortunately, pictures were prohibited. A science professor who had joined our trip taught us about the meridian that was decoratively marked on the floor. Sunlight through a tiny hole in the ceiling falls precisely onto the time of year and time of day denoted on the marble line. Helen expounded on this by telling us an old legend that if a young woman saw the light fall on a certain spot on the columns, she would get married within the year. She promptly followed that story with, “Well there’s no hope for any of you girls today…. Because it’s too cloudy.”
We walked through more museums, churches, and painting galleries as per usual. Helen accidentally set off the alarm by touching a glass case, and promptly shrieked “Mamma mia!” As per usual. We stopped by an 19th century anatomy theatre, where live dissections of cadavers took place with a professor lecturing, students taking notes, and a pointer pointing. As I learned in my body archives class, someone’s profession was to point at the insides of the dead body as the anatomy professor described them from across the room so he wouldn’t have to be close to the dead person smell.
Cutting open dead people ~*for science*~
Helen treated us all to gelato and hot chocolate, and we walked briskly through the town back to the bus. Of course, we lost 5 people throughout the day because they couldn’t keep up, so our bus was delayed waiting for the slowpokes to meet back.
Bologna one-ups Pisa with 2 leaning towers
After an absurd Christmas party with my housemates and a necessary day of recovery, it was time to focus on finals. I wrote my ten page term paper for Helen’s class about the Florentine tradition of Last Supper frescoes in monastery refectories. I focused on the mural by Andrea Del Sarto, a completely underrated fresco hero of the High Renaissance. A lot of depictions of Judas are homely, old, darker figures. Helen says if she ever had to meet a Judas in real life, she’d pick Andrea del Sarto’s because “he’s actually really tall, dark and handsome. Quite a looker.”
Cutie on the left
Paintings are done, drawings are done and printed, paper is written and turned in. All that’s left is hanging and enjoying the exhibitions, and one more art history test. My favorite thing about this time of the semester is seeing everyone’s stunning art projects in their final state. Everyone here is so talented and unique, and it’s been so amazing to watch my friends make art. I obviously plan on thoroughly enjoying my last ten days to the fullest: visiting the favorite spots to eat, drink and sight-see, and finally making it to the places we’ve only heard about so far. Spending time with the amazing people I’ve met is the most important thing to me right now, simply celebrating the time we’ve had, are having and hope to have together in the future.
Candid at the Christmas market
Feed Me, Florence! 