Firenze, Italia: Days 1 and 2

Florence, Italy

Day 1: Thursday, 12/2

On Thursday I headed to the Ruzyne airport after having class from 12-3 for my 5:30 flight. I was there with plenty of time to spare... but inconveniently enough, the plane ended up being delayed by an hour. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that I was supposed to land in Munich at 6:30 to catch a connecting flight to Florence at 7:35. I landed at 7:30. Hyperventilating, elbowing suitcase toting passengers, and sprinting across the Munich airport, I made it to my next gate - with about 90 seconds to spare before the shuttle left for the plane. The flight then took off and I landed on schedule in Florence at 9:30.


I met up with Alex (my college roommate who is studying with NYU in Florence) at her apartment that is located in the city center. We spent the night hanging out, catching up, and meeting her friends!


Day 2: Friday, 12/3

We woke up on Friday to do some sight seeing. We first went to Yellow where I got my first authentic Italian meal! I went traditional with a margherita pizza. Alex then took me to the Piazza della Signoria, which is Florence's most famous square. It's in the heart of the historic center and there is a free open-air sculpture exhibit. The Loggia della Signoria holds some important statues including a copy of Michelangelo's David. The piazza has been Florence's political center since the middle ages and Florence's town hall, the medieval Palazzo Vecchio, sits on the piazza

Next up was the Galleria degli Uffizi, which holds the world's most important collection of Renaissance art. The Uffizi holds thousands of paintings from medieval to modern times and many antique sculptures, illuminations, and tapestries. Artists whose works you'll see include Michelangelo, Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, and Raphael. Most notably, I saw the Birth of Venus by Botticelli here.

 Piazza della Signoria: Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, and Loggia della Signori

After going to the museum we walked by the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), which was built in 1345 and was Florence's first bridge across the Arno River. It's is the only surviving bridge from Florence's medieval days (others were destroyed in World War II). The Ponte Vecchio is still lined with shops selling gold and silver jewelry.

 The Ponte Vecchio and Arno river

We then walked by Florence's most popular site - Duomo, the Cattedrale de Santa Maria del Fiore. The huge Gothic duomo was begun in 1296, consecrated in 1436, and holds 20,000 people. Its exterior, made of green, pink, and white marble, has several elaborate doors and interesting statues. The inside of the Duomo is a vast space and contains only a few works of art. Among these are its 44 stained glass windows, which were designed by some famous Renaissance artists, including Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, and Paolo Uccello. The Crypt contains the archeological remains of the ancient cathedral of Santa Reparata. Also in the crypt are the tombs of past bishops of Florence and the tomb of dome architect Brunelleschi

 Duomo

We then took an ice cream break and got gelato. I got the cioccolata extra noir (extra dark chocolate) and stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate chips) before boarding a bus to visit NYU in Florence's campus. For NYU in Prague, we live outside the city center and go to school in 2 buildings located right off of Old Town Square. For NYU in Florence, they live in the city center and go to school in an estate that was converted into a small campus.

Part of the campus

We spent a while there walking around and crossing the bridge where there were views of the city. We later took the bus back and had dinner at Ristorante La Grotta. We all split bruschetta, and Alex and I split a spaghetti with meat sauce and chicken with asparagus in white sauce between us. I finished off the meal with tiramisu in a cup and then it was back to the apartment for the night!