Every semester our program takes all of us on at least two trips, one big weekend and one day. Our big weekend was Siena back in October, and for our little one we headed to the coast to the gorgeous city of Ravenna. Ravenna is famous for its wealth of churches and mosaics, leftover from when the city was the Byzantine capital of Constantine's empire.
The first church we went to was the Basilica of San Vitale. It was like a dream for me, having studied the mosaics here for almost three years. Seeing it in person was basically the equivalent of meeting
Beyoncé. It is one of the most important churches for Byzantine art and mosaics, the apse is filled with glittering green images that tell stories of the old and new testaments. 
Next we headed across the courtyard to the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, another of the eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ravenna. Galla Placidia was the daughter of a Roman emperor, the wife of an emperor, and the mother of one. She was a great patron of the art and built this for her family's tombs. It is one of the best-preserved and beautiful monuments or the period.
After that we walked through the beautiful little town, looking into shop windows and talking to our marvelous guide Paola. She told us that this Max Mara used to be a church, and now has mannequins where the altar used to be... classic Italy. Down a little side street across town we came upon Dante's tomb, a beautiful monument, especially in the sun.
Finally we headed to Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, constructed in the 6th century by the Ostrogoth King Theodoric the Great (cool name). It's main features are the mosaics of Jesus's life and parables and the long lines of Virgins and Martyrs paying tribute to the Madonna and Christ residing closer to the altar. It is interesting to see how different their faces are, even in mosaic.
After the last church we were free to explore and eat for the rest of the day! Our first stop was a little street market, where Ari broke every expectation by actually buying on of the fur hats we tried on for fun. I know of not a single other person who could pull it off as well as she can.
We followed Ms Zhivago to a fantastic family restaurant, where we ate fresh homemade ravioli in tomato cream sauce and ragù. Then we went back to a fancy gelateria we had passed earlier, called Papilla, to share a big cup of nutella/white chocolate and burnt sugar gelato. Yum.
Sleepy and stuffed we took the train back to Bologna, getting home in time to skip dinner and watch movies until bedtime. If you have a chance, definitely head to Ravenna. It was one of my favorite cities to date and great for a day trip even if you aren't an art history maniac.
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