So i know
that it's been a while since I've blogged but I promise that this one should
satisfy everyone's hunger for an update. It will be nice and long with lots of
pictures!
So Friday October
14th, early early in the morning we meet at the bus station to take our LDS
history tour of Italy. You may be asking yourself, what significant history
does the church have in Italy. Well I am still asking myself that very same
question. We started our tour in Genoa which is a pretty cool city, and went to
visit the cathedral there. We met up with another BYU professor who flew out
especially for this trip which is kind of funny. Anyway he talked to us
about how Lorenzo Snow came to Italy in the 1800's and viewed the Cathedral in
Genoa and he read us this little passage that Lorenzo Snow had said. Anyway it
was kind of cool and the church was beautiful. We then headed up to this little
place called Piedmont, or foot of the mountains. We were right at the base of
the Alps and it was incredibly beautiful! We stayed in this adorable little
hotel which was warm, and clean and delightful. This area is extremely small
and actually not very catholic, which is why we visited. This area is known commonly
as the Waldensian Valley. The Waldensian people are a protestant group that
branched off from the Catholic church and were exiled to the mountains for
years! in 1850 Lorenzo Snow and his companion decided to go to this area
because they believed that the Catholics were impossbile to teach and that they
were never going to make any progress with them. Anyway this is the area where
the mission of Italy was officially dedicated and opened. We were able to see
the peak that they climbed up to where they offered the dedicatory prayer. In
this area they really did have very limited success with only about 170 people
joining the church in about 10 years. About half of that number apostatized but
the other half immigrated to America and many of them became important leaders
in the church, especially in Italy. So there's a little Italian church history
for you :) probably more than you ever really wanted to know haha. It was fun
being up in the mountains and it made me miss home. It was pretty chilly up
there but the crisp air and the smells of the trees made me a little
homesick.
The next day we
hiked a little up in the mountains to see some Waldensian historic sights like
caves they held church in when they were being persecuted. It was pretty
interesting actually. Then we hoped on the bus and headed to Torino, or Turin.
We got there later in the afternoon and took a tour of their Duomo and the
royal apartments that are attached. We all knew that we were going to be
staying in a monastery that night but much to our surprise and delight the
monastery was in the Duomo complex. The actual rooms that we stayed in were in
the basement and were classic hostel style but the monastery was completely
open to us. I mean all doors unlocked and opened. So we kind of did some
exploring which was a little creepy but really fun. It was just so interesting
to be there. We were in the complex of this huge church and all these royal
apartments and it was crazy. Stef and I went exploring when everyone was down
in the rooms and the old man that seemed to be the coordinator of it all walked
passed us. We tried to look super innocent because we weren't a hundred percent
sure we were supposed to be where we were and he just walked by us and
whispered "whoooo" like a ghost haha it was such a funny moment.
The next weekend
was also busy but a really incredible experience:
We went to Florence
yesterday and I absolutely love that city! I like it more than Rome I think as
far as cities go. It just feels smaller but still immense. I don't know it's
hard to explain haha. We went to the Uffizi and saw some incredible things! We
saw things like Botticelli's Primavera, Leonardo Da Vinci's Annunciation and
many others. It was absolutely incredible. I remembering walking into the room
specifically for Botticelli's work and gasping audibly as I spun around myself
and saw some of the most beautiful works of art. I don't know why the Uffizi,
and the museo Accademia where the David is touched me so much more than all the
places we went in Rome but it did. The people of Siena say that Florence is a
very masculine city, and perhaps the layout is in comparison to Siena but I
just can't agree. There's something about Florence that is just….how can I say
it best, refined. I don't know it's a wonderful place and I think you would
love it! We went to an opera that night in a church and that was incredible as
well. We saw the Marriage of Figaro and it was so fun. Not going to lie, opera
has never been my favorite. Listening to it on CD's or what have you has always
made me cringe a bit with how intense it is but this was absolutely wonderful.
The two men who played the protagonist and antagonist were absolutely
incredible! It was a really amazing day. That night was sort of another story.
So the opera was sort of a last minute thing and our professor needed to find
us a hostel. Well for some reason the school and she decided that we should all
stay at a campground, in OCTOBER! There were three of us to a tent with a
wooden floor and there were some actual beds. The only problem is that it was
freezing! So we pushed two beds together, got probably 10-12 blankets and all
piled under and snuggled close to keep the heat in. Oh my goodness it was an
adventure haha. The good news is that because we all just cuddled on one big
bed we stayed fairly warm haha. Florence is incredible but I wouldn't recommend
Michelangelo's Campground past August.
Well there
you go there's your update, now I'm all caught up :) Italy is amazing and I am
so incredibly glad to be here!
