Day 7: Fabulous Florence

We started this morning bright and early at 6:20, even before the roosters started crowing. After a lovely train ride through the Tuscan country side (through which a majority of us slept), we arrived once again at Florence where the city was already glowing, ready for a full day.

We split into two groups. The first group started at the Uffizi museum where we learned about art through the ages, comparing and contrasting various paintings of Madonna and Child. Every painting and sculpture contributed to the rich history of art, including the ceilings of the building itself. We then split up for lunch and individual museum excursions. Several girls and I (Allison) set off for the Museum of History and Science, more commonly referred to by us as the Galileo Museum. It was a magical place, full of the history of the science most of us will study as engineers. We were mezmerized by thermometers, barometers, telescopes, microscopes, globes, and miscellaneous gadgets galore. Even the glass elevators were a sight to behold.

We then had the pleasure of crossing the beautiful Ponte Vecchio bridge. We thoroughly enjoyed taking advantage of its many photo ops and oohing and ahing over the fancy gold jewelry glittering through the windows. We then proceeded to the Boboli Gardens, the private gardens of the Pitti family, second in wealth and prestige only to the Medici. The Pitti Palace was just gigantic, so it should not have surprised us that the gardens behind it were impressive in size as well. We gazed in awe over the vast expanse of trees, shrubberies, statues, and overall gorgeousness. Our tickets to see the gardens also granted us access to the porcelain exhibit, silver exhibit, and costume exhibit. We meandered through rooms upon rooms of treasures, simply stunned by the history and beauty Italy has to offer.

Needless to say, we ended our day in Florence with shopping. The many colorful purses, bracelets, postcards, and street venders were calling our names. Loaded with purchases, we might have difficulty repacking our suitcases in the near future.

I (Alex) was in the other group, so that meant we had the pleasure of waiting until the afternoon to experience the Uffizi museum. A large group of us congregated outside the train station, ready to meander around town. With our handy dandy map of Florence in hand and with the invaluable personal tour guide, Ross Fly, at our side, we took off from the station for the Bargello (National Museum). Like the many of the other buildings in town, this building sported marvelous Gothic architectur; except this one had a slight twist: there was no roof. Once we paid the admission fee and checked in our bags, we wandered around, gawking at the beautiful statues that were scattered across the musuem. My personal favorite was the alternate version of David that was sculpted by Donatello in the Renaissance Era.

After that, we decided to head towards the Duomo Catherdral. With its ginormous dome, the Duomo is one of the most recognized sites in Florence. Once inside, we walked over underneath the dome itself to observe the painting ceilings. This was definitely one of the most beautiful sites that I have seen during my short time in Italy thus far. While it was not the Sistine Chapel, many of us were still impressed and awestruck by the fact that people in Italy so long ago were able to create such a masterpiece on the ceiling of a church.

While some other ambitious students decided to walk up the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo, we decided that this arduous task was not for us. Instead, we decided to go the Galileo Museum, which was already decribed by Allison above. After we fully explored the Galileo Museum, we decided that it was time for some lunch, so we walked to a nearby store to grab panini and/or pizza. After this light and delicious lunch, we strolled on over to the Scuola del Cucio (Leather School of Florence). As we walked into the courtyard, we spied several Italians rigorously manipulating leather downstairs to form the amazing products that were being sold at the school. In the shop, we shopped around for different types of leather goods. Belts, wallets, and journals were all purchased at this time. The best part about these products, in my opinion, was their smell. Just get one whiff of the leather, and you will be able to tell how authentic it really is. After we purchased our products, the school offered a free initialing service, which all of us happily took advantage of.

After this, we headed over to the best gelato in town. Megan and I tried the tiramisu and the plum gelato, but in my humble opinion, this place had nothing on Coco Palm. Now that we were refreshed, we decided to make a beeline for the Boboli Gardens. However, by the time we got there, the line was so long, and our feet were so tired that we decided to pass on this opportunity in favor of having some down time in the shade.

Our last major event in Florence was going to the Uffizi Museum. Our tour guide showed us famous painitings such as "The Birth of Venus". But to tell you the truth, after a long day walking back and forth around town, most of us were too tired to pay attention to the tour guide, and we were merely counting the seconds until the train ride where we could catch up on some much needed shuteye. We caught the 6:13 pm train back to Castiglion Fiorentino, but that isn't where the adventure ended for two of our students. Andrew Evans and Mouhyemen Khan were just seconds to slow getting off the train, and the magnetic doors abruptly shut on them before they were able to disboard their cart. This meant they had to head down to the next town, and buy another ticket to turn around and come back. Don't worry Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Khan; your sons made it back to the center alright; it just might have taken them a little longer than it should have.. :P

Well thats all for now!

Abbracci e Baci,
Allison and Alex