Buona Pasqua

Or, as I've said for the previous 18 years, Happy Easter. 

The Easter celebration here started a little earlier. 

On Wednesday, our resident RA bought traditional Italian Easter cake and cookies for us to try. 

Sadly, I'm allergic to chocolate, which both of these treats contained, so I couldn't try them out myself. But I was told that they were pretty good. 

On Easter morning itself (this morning), rather than sitting in a church pew for the traditional Easter sunrise service, I found myself sitting in a near empty cafeteria enjoying warm 5 cereal croissants and tea with sugar and soy milk. 

It was odd sitting and eating breakfast in a lunchroom on Easter morning rather than sitting in church desperately trying to stay awake and fantasizing about the Easter dinner to come a few hours later. 

But, I got a church experience a week or two prior when one of my professors took us on an early early morning field trip to Santa Maria Novella Church near the train station in the Florence center. 

Santa Maria Novella is both a beautiful and historic church, containing Masaccio's famous The Holy Trinity fresco (^pictured above), one of the most critically acclaimed depictions of the Holy Trinity, along with the Virgin and Saint John and donors (painted between 1427-28, a wonderful example of Early Renaissance work style).

Below are a few more of the works that can be seen in the church.

While my day today may not follow the usual structure of my Easter Sunday (which mainly includes church, sleeping. and eating) I am glad to have spent Easter in Italy, not only to see how American and Italian traditions differ, but also because it meant I got to sleep in on this wonderful Sunday morning. 

But I do wish that my mom could somehow ship me a plate from Easter dinner.