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Day 2 blogs - July 18, 2016

Caffè del mattino (morning coffee)

Blogger:  2L Michele Moss
Italy-Santa-Chiara-panoramic

I never get up early, and given the choice, I usually would choose to sleep-in over just about anything in the world. However, today I decided to get up about an hour earlier than required so that I could spend my first morning in Castiglion Fiorentino drinking a cappuccino and looking over the beautiful Tuscan hills. Thus, while my roommates still slept, I forced myself up and then proceeded to hike up the steep hill to the café.

I was not disappointed in my choice. The view from the archway is one of the most breathtaking landscapes I have ever seen, and there was something almost magical about the experience that I cannot really put into words. After finishing my drink, I headed back to the study center, where we proceeded to receive a full tour of the town. It was amazing, and almost everywhere I looked there was beauty.

Tonight was also very enjoyable. After an amazing dinner, we all sat in the courtyard and talked for hours over a bottle of wine. It was a great ending to a great day in Italy.

Italy Santa Chiara groupTexas A&M Law CLIP students and faculty in Italy. Left to right: Neal Galloway, Sarah Pierce, Michele Moss (standing), Lacy McKinney, Prof. Megan Carpenter (standing), Jordan Hartsell, Daniela Clark, Preston Morgan

Exploring Castiglion Fiorentino

Blogger:  2L Preston Morgan

Our town is on this great big hill with great big hills surrounding it. The alleyways are as close to straight up and down as they could be, no steps. Everything is built accordingly. Is there a better way to construct the city? Sure, but they would never do it. Everything here has its own history, its own story that would be forgotten if torn down. There is a building that is in the middle of the square that was built during some of the darkest days of the city. It would be easy to take it down and expand the view of the square or make room for another quintessential Italian café, but they don't. Good or bad, the building is part of the town. It shows where they've been and what they had to overcome to get to where they are. ​It is such a stark difference from what we see back home. We want new, fast, convenient, shiny, and stuffy stuff. Maybe the town of Castiglion Fiorentino no longer needs a good defensive position for war ​and doesn't need slopes for animals to easily maneuver anymore, but they definitely don't need more stuff instead.