After our amazing stay in Venice, we headed to Florence on Sunday by train. When we first got to Florence I didn't think I would like it because it was cold and cloudy and all the buildings looked brown and dull. Not long after the city shortly grew on me due to the liveliness of the city, all the stuff to do there, the walkable distance to everything, the food, the prices, the surroundings... pretty much everything. Because it was Easter Sunday and Monday, a lot of the attractions were closed so we just did some exploring. The surrounding area around Florence is beautiful with the mountains as a backdrop.
The next morning we took a quick trip to Pisa by train in the morning. There isn't much to do in Pisa besides the leaning tower of Pisa and the cathedral near by. I was expecting The Leaning Tower to be much bigger than it was. We were searching for it then rounded a corner and up there it was! When we first walked up there were hundreds of people all with their hands out acting if they were pushing it and that gave me a good laugh. Not long after we joined in the fun. 
The following day we took a walking tour of the city. I always find walking tours extremely helpful to point out the big sites and get my bearings. Some of the big sites in Florence are the Dummo (4th largest cathedral in the world), Pointe Vecchio (a really really old bridge that has shops along the whole bridge), Academia/Uffizi Galleries where many famous paintings and sculptures are held, the government building, and some other squares and churches. Here are some pictures from the tour!
Duomo Clock Tower
The Pointe Vecchio
That evening, Cody and I took a Pizza and Gelato making class!! It was a lot of fun taught by an Italian chef. Better watch out when I come back to America I might open my own pizza shop!
The next morning we went to see the Academia which included Michelangelo's famous statue of David. Michelangelo sculpted the statue to represent the story of David and Goliath from the Bible. At the time, Florence was a relatively small city surrounded by a bunch of bigger cities that were "bullying" Florence. David represented Florence defeating the giants around it. The people loved the sculpture and became a strong symbol for Florence. Speaking of symbols, Florence means flower or flowering and the symbol for Florence is the Fleur-de-lis and is found throughout the city. It was really cool to see that because my sorority's (KKG) symbol is the Fleur-de-lis. Go Kappa!
As a side note, Florence had the best pizza and gelato I've ever had in my life. The best pizza in Florence is Gusta pizza, cooked in a brick oven and tastes like a cloud. Not only was it amazinggg,but it was also a huge pizza for a cheap price and really fast! We left our mark on our number like many others and actually my friend from Clemson found it the next week! I also ran into another girl from Clemson while in Florence AND met up with my suitemate from last semester who is also studying abroad there. What a small world.
Florence's night life is also fun and lively. I went to the Lion's Fountain bar and it was covered in shirts from colleges in America! Naturally I had to sign the Clemson shirt and there also was a terrible towel! Got to represent all my allegiances.
No comments:
Post a Comment