The David and other amazing sights

Before we spent any time in Florence, we went to the top of a nearby hill to a village called Fiesole. It is a small town that features a gorgeous view of Florence and the surrounding valleys. It also has a Roman theater and a museum full of artifacts from ancient times, everything from tiny figures to large pots and burial chambers. The craftsmanship, even for the most simple looking figure, is impressive.

The actual city of Florence is much smaller than Rome, and much cleaner than Naples. It is much more manageable than the larger cities, making it easy to get around in just a small group without getting lost. We visited another beautiful church, Santa Maria del Fiore, that has a baptistery with a ceiling covered in paintings with a golden background. The church also features a large dome that gives a panoramic view of the city, if you can make it up the 400 steps. All around the town, there are the most quaint shops full of finely made Italian leather and silk goods. There were also small cafes, wine shops, and of course, tourist stores with a rainbow assortment of Ciao Bella t-shirts and other trinkets.

Our second day in Florence was probably my favorite day of the entire trip. We had nearly the whole day free, so my group bought a map and decided to see the city in our own way. We began at the Academy to see the art of Michelangelo, particularly the David. I loved the statues here. Before getting to the David, we passed the stone prisoners, unfinished statues of Michelangelo. These figures look like they are struggling to break free of the stone but they are trapped forever. Just down the hall is the David. He looks so ordinary in books, but in reality, most of the people in the gallery were not even taller than the pedestal he stood on. If he were standing on the ground, I am sure most people would barely reach his thigh. It was definitely not what I expected, but he was perfect. You could see so much detail, like the veins in his arms and legs, and the striations of the muscles. It would not be a day in Italy if we did not see any churches. We went to Santa Maria Maggiore and Santa Maria Novella, that had the famous map of heaven and hell on the walls.

After fulfilling our educational, cultural, and artistic requirements for the day, we did some serious shopping. (Everything seemed so much cheaper when we forgot to convert euros to dollars.) I could not resist buying some of the famous handmade Italian leather, silk ties, and scarves. That night we also splurged and went out for a nice dinner. That was a fun experience, the whole process is so different than dinner here. You order your meal by plate, the first plate being a pasta dish, and the second your main entrée or meat. Rather than arriving at the same time, they come separately, and the whole meal took over two hours. But maybe we were just slow eaters. Also, if you are ever in the area and have a chance to try spinach and cheese ravioli with a walnut cream sauce, do it. It was the most delicious thing I ate the entire trip.

The next morning, we had only a few hours to spend in Florence before heading out to Ravenna and then Venice. With the little time we had, we went back to the heart of the city for one last walk around the major blocks. We also purchased our quota of wine to bring home for friends, family, and special occasions from a cute little shop run by a woman who first went to Italy for a semester abroad in college. When we loaded back onto the bus, we headed north to Venice with a stop at Ravenna to see two churches with the most exquisite mosaics ever. One church was completely covered in the small decorative tiles from floor to ceiling. The precision and patience require to create something is, once again, incredible.