Florence

I love Florence for the Uffizi Gallery. It holds some of my favorite pieces of art including Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Adoration of the Magi and The David. We had the best Art History professor in the world guiding us through the museums bringing the art to life with his stories and explanations. The first day in Florence we focused on paintings and the second day was sculptures. We learned about how art was functional and used for teaching stories. Not everyone can read the same language but everyone can look at a painting  and try to understand what it is saying.

After visiting the museum on the first day we climbed up to the top of the duomo. It didn’t look too hight to me, but the  tiny spiral staircase seemed to go on forever. Google says it is 463 steps to the top but it felt like much longer. By the time we made it up everyone was sweaty and out of breath. The view was stunning and I was sure it was worth the climb until I started going down. The steps were so steep going down. I clung to the side the entire time. I think next time I will just ask someone to show me a pic of the view but I’m glad I did it.

We also went to Florence’s famous leather market. I bought some leather bracelets but I just couldn’t get myself to buy a $250 Italian leather bag when they were selling fake ones right next to them for $30. I didn’t get either on this trip, but maybe some day. It was fun to look around and smell the leather.

Florence is a great city with some really cool art. They also have so many dreamy chocolate stores. I will definitely be back again.