So sorry for the time out of blogging! The end of our term, plus trying to get situated back into life at home, has been kind of crazy! But now, expect the last remaining posts of places in the coming weeks. So after Rome, we headed to Florence by train, which I enjoyed very much.
We stayed in a very prime location in Florence. When I think back to Florence, now after the program has ended, what stands out the most is how small yet totally Italian it was. I loved it. I mean, I loved Rome but when you move to Florence after Rome, there is a stark difference between the environment and way of life. Florence was so picturesque. Weird to say, but I climbed many things in Florence. We climbed to the top of the Duomo, which is 483 steps in a very tight, no air, staircase in the side of the church. We also climbed to the top of the Michelangelo Gardens, which was a lot of steps (I didn't count). We walked to the burial grounds of Dante and Machiavelli, plus other famous historical figures.
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| There he is: David. |
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| The famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio |
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| Inside of the Duomo. |
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| But, the view was unbelievable. |
We visited this Cathedral with lots of famous historical figures and it was just beautiful. I didn't expect so many people to be buried there.
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| Dante's grave |
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| Michelangelo |
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| "Guy who did the Statue of Liberty" |
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| Machiavelli |
The next day, 4 of us got up super early to visit the Uffizi Museum. What we found out was just how massive it was. My senses got tired from how much I was taking it. Very cool, but very much.
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| MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE THING I SAW... PROBABLY EVER. |
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| SUPER COOL TOO. |
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| Da Vinci. |
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| Great view from the museum. |
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| Michelangelo |
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| I mean, we got so tired and restless that we started to imitate them. |
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| One of my favorites |
Overall, though, the Uffizi was SO WORTH IT. Very cool memory. Now, the last prominent thing we did was climb to the top of the Michelangelo Gardens. Lots of steps and weird degree inclines but well worth it. This view was unbelievable and I probably took over a hundred photos.
What I loved about the gardens was that you could see this walled divide between the greenery of Florence and the architecture of Florence. Very cool difference!
Overall, the taste of Florence I got, with the museums, architecture, food, people, lifestyle... only further proved the belief that I would have to go back some day. I would recommend it to anyone.
Paris is next. Get ready for a doozie!
xoxo,
Halle
