Villa La Petraia was owned by the Medici family (a family of bankers) which was one of the richest families that lived in Florence. The Medici crest is all over Florence which symbolizes that they owned that building. The Medici family used Villa La Petraia as a summer home.
Walking up to the Villa... I had no idea we were going to be doing so much walking!
Villa La Petraia with the gardens in the front yard.
A fountain in the gardens.
It was a gorgeous day out and made some awesome shadows from this stair rail.
The door into the house... the Medici crest is above the entrance.
Oh you know... just hanging out at Villa La Petraia :)
Unfortunately, pictures aren't allowed inside the house (mansion would be a better descriptor) since the walls were either painted murals or fabric both of which would be deteriorated by the flash of a camera. Each of the rooms had a color... my favorite was the dark blue room which was used as a 'work' room where the King's Mistress would work on her knitting. The King collected clocks which were displayed in every room of the house. He was also fond of hunting to deer heads were displayed in many of the rooms as well. The house also has secret passageways that the servants would use or that could be used by the King when he didn't feel like being seen. The rooms we got to see were a dining room, multiple work rooms, a guest bedroom, the Mistress's bedroom, the Queen's bedroom, the Queen's powder room, the King's bedroom, the chapel, the game room, an informal dining room, a room with the original Venus sculpture done by Michelangelo, and the beauiful courtyard finished by the Mistress for the King's son's wedding. It was well worth all the walking to get up to the Villa!
In the afternoon I met up two of my friends, Katie and Lauren, that go to Minnesota and are in Florence studying interior design through a different program. They live in an apartment with 5 people total so their apartment is more spacious than mine but equally as nice. Since it was such a nice day, we decided go on the other side of the Arno because there is a platform you can walk up to and see the whole city of Florence. I wasn't exactly sure how to get up to the platform but I had an idea. I ended up leading us up the wrong hill...
This is the wall that used to enclose Florence... the very steep road we walked down runs along the wall.
Katie and Lauren were troopers... they did all the walking in heels!
After we walked down from the wrong hill we found the steps that would lead us up to the platform.
Gym memberships really aren't necessary in Florence, these stairs are a great subsitute for a thigh master. Again, the walking was well worth it when we finally reached the top.
The view of the city of Florence was breathtaking!
I swear I'm not photoshopped in :)
Looking down the Arno river.
Lauren, Katie, and myself
A close up of the Duomo. It is such a large building!
After all the walking of the day I came back to my apartment I relaxed for a while and then made italian sausage with peppers and onions for dinner. We decided to go out since we hadn't seen the night life yet. We went to a little pub called The Old Stove for a drink.
Megan and I decided to call it a night around 1:00am which is early for Florence nightlife since the pubs and discotecas (dance clubs) are open at 11:00pm and don't close until 6:00am!
Such a busy day led to a great night of sleep. Today I need to work on my homework for studio and maybe do some exploring in the city because it is another beautiful day out.
Ciao,
Hannah
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