Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The City of Flowers

Firenze. Florence. The word literally means blooming flowers. A name that the city most certainly deserves. As the birth place of the Renaissance it witnessed the blooming of Western Civilization and today the city is nothing short of breathtaking.

Now after that little poeticism I'll get to to the real deal. I got to go to Florence on Monday! Florence was the city I was most looking forward to Italy. It has just always seemed so beautiful to me and I was not disappointed.

We got on the bus in Siena at ten. The bus ride lasted about an hour and it was one heck of an hour. We got to drive through the Tuscan countryside! It was unbelievably incredible! The rolling hill and ancient villas are gorgeous. It's everything you see in the pictures and more.

After arriving in Florence were taking on a walking tour by the teacher of IHUM 201, Silvia. I am not in the class so a lot of the information just went in one ear and right out the other. However, Silvia knows everything about Florence. It was very impressive.

Our first stop was the Bargello museum. We didn't get to spend a whole lot of time there, but what we did see was awesome. They have an entire room dedicated to Donatello. We got to see his David. It was the first David and the first Bronze statue to be cast in one piece. I really liked it, but nothing can measure up to Bernini's. Although I have yet to see Michelangelo's... However I did get to see a whole room of Michelangelo's statues. That man was incredible! All of his work is just so incredible.

After the museum we were free to find lunch on our own. After crossing the Ponte Vecchio (no big deal...) we discovered an awesome sandwich shop. I had the best sandwich I have had in Italia. It was just tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto on a fine loaf of focaccia. Yummmmmm. This lunch also brought my first encounter with a gypsy woman. She sitting on the fountain next to us cracked out on something. She had a voice that makes Cher's seem high pitched and she kept asking for money. Sketch-a-sketch...

Enjoying our sandwiches.

Il panino ottimo!

The stunning ponte vecchia.

After lunch we headed to the Duomo. It is so ornate and beautiful on the outside, but the inside was plain and simple. Still beautiful, just different. Then came the scary part of the day, the climb to the top of Brunelleschi's dome. AH! I am afraid of height and I had to climb over 400 stairs between two domes that are hundred's of years old. I was freaking out, but I made it. The view was totally worth it.

We're on top of the world looking down on creation.

The unbelievable view!

Overall I would say that Florence was pretty dang awesome. I can't wait for our overnighter in a few weeks. Hoping to find some cheap leather!

Next Adventure: Cinque Terre!

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