Saturday

Refreshed after a very good night's sleep, I was more than ready to tackle Ravenna on Saturday. Ravenna was the capital of the western parts of the Eastern Roman empire (I know, confusing) after the sack of Rome and again after the fall of the western portions of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E.. It's weird and I don't remember the exact history so I won't go around spreading false facts. Anyways, the important things about Ravenna and its port city, Classe, are that as the beacon of light during the so-called 'Dark Ages' post the fall of Rome, they are wondefully well-preserved examples of Byzantine mosaics from the time of Constantine and beyond. The church of Sant'Apollinaire in Classe has the Mystic Meadow mosaic while the Basilica of San Vitale has the really, really, really famous mosaics of emperor Justinian and empress Theodora. Basically, it was everything I studied and was obsessed with in Humanities.
Here are some (poorly photographed) examples of the mosaics at Sant'Apollinaire, San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neonian Baptistery, and Sant'Apollinaire Nuovo:

Sant'Apollinaire in Classe:


The courtyard of San Vitale:


Mosaic of Emperor Justinian at San Vitale:

St. Lawrence rushing to his own martyrdom (...) at the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia:

Baptism of Christ at the Neonian Baptistery:


The Three Wise Men at Sant'Apollinaire Nuovo:


Dante's Tomb:


In Ravenna, we had the best tour guide/grad student lecturer ever. For starters, his name is Rocky. Yes, Rocky. He was the cutest, too. As I said to my friend Francesca, I simply want to marry Rocky and iron his impeccable linen blazers for him. Also, our bus had several of the Syracuse grad students on it, and being the creeper that I am, I sort of kind of eavesdropped on their conversation. This otherwise super creepy act ultimately made me feel a lot better about myself and my future because they only talked about procrastinating on their symposium and other research, the ethical implications of using Wikipedia, and the difficulties in accessing JSTOR off-campus. They are just like me, and I can be just like them one day!!!!! This is such good news.

Much like Rachel in Ravenna, I ate magnificently yesterday, but only one course. My friend Katie and I got lunch at this little cantina that was attached to a much-more expensive ristorante proper. There, she had raviolini with gorgonzola and I ate tagliatelle with ricotta salata, tomatoes, and broccoli. I really should start taking pictures of what I eat like an obnoxious food blogger, because I want a record of all these delicious meals!

Getting back from Ravenna was the smoothest of all the site visits thus far. I should mention (if I haven't already?) that Syracuse University in Florence has no David Leach-esque character to reinforce the notion of "To be late is unforgivable." Thus, we never leave anywhere on time (but otherwise I in no way miss such priceless little epigrams, I promise). Miraculously though, the buses left only five minutes later than they were supposed to from Ravenna, and we were back at the school by six. Katie and I, not knowing what to do with ourselves for the rest of the night, decided the obvious next step was to go grocery shopping. We also obviously didn't realize how hungry we were, because we left Esselunga with finocchiano (fennel salami), meringues, salt and vinegar Kettle chips, a bar of dark chocolate, a package of hazelnut wafers, and a tin of cocktail nuts. But we spent less than ten euro on the whole lot...? A feast in the Piazza Savonarola followed, with a welcome interlude by some friends from the Syracuse program, and then a late-night walk to Sant'Ambroglio, after which I began the long trek home to bed.