Florence & Pisa

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On June 10, we started our adventure in Florence (or Firenze, as it is known in Italy). We first visited the gallery of the Academy, where we saw many wonderful works of art - but none more impressive than the original of Michaelangelo's David. This piece is incredibly beautiful and HUGE! I never realized from the many pictures I've seen of this piece how large it actually is. We also saw his "prisoners", unfinished sculptures of men who are still imprisoned in the marble. After seeing these pieces along with the sculptures we saw in Rome, there is no denying Michaelangelo's genius!

Next, we visited the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as Il Duomo (the dome) because of its massive and impressive dome, designed by Brunelleschi. This church was impressive in so many ways! The massive structure was built using the multi-colored marble of the different regions of Italy - white, green, and red. In the style of Tuscan churches, it consists of three separate structures: the basilica itself, a baptistery, and a bell tower. We went into the baptistry and saw the beautiful frescoes on the roof, in addition to the burial place of one of the "anti-popes". Afterwards, we walked up the street passing many shops, markets, and churches until we reached the central political square, Piazza della Signoria. Here, our guide departed and we were left on our own for lunch and free time.

After lunch, I walked alone up the street to find the Basilica di Santa Croce because our guide had told us that many famous people were buried there. It took me a while (it was hard to find someone who could understand what I was looking for), but I did find it. I was, unfortunately, running out of time so I had to go in and quickly find the funeral monuments for the specific people in whom I was interested. I was NOT disappointed! I found and photographed the monuments to Michaelangelo (artist), Galileo (scientist), Machiavelli (political philosopher), and Rossini (composer). It took me a while to find Rossini, however, and by the time I did find him and left the basilica, I was very afraid that I would be late to meet the rest of the group. I walked just about as fast as my legs could carry me without actually breaking into a run. It took me a good 15 minutes even at that pace to get back to our original meeting spot. Though I was the last person to arrive, I did not miss the bus or hold everyone up, so I was relieved.

We then took the bus to Pisa, home of the famous Leaning Tower. This was truly an impressive sight. You aren't really prepared for it, and then you turn a corner and there it is! I never realized that the tower is part of another cathedral complex, consisting again of a cathedral, baptistery, and bell tower. That is what the Leaning Tower of Pisa is - a cathedral's bell tower! Everything was beautiful! While we toured the baptistery, one of the men who work there walked to the center of the room and began to sing a series of long sustained notes aimed at different areas of the room. The room had a reverberation time of approximately 10 seconds, so it ended up sounding like complete 3-part chords all produced by this one voice. I was amazed! It was truly impressive.

We rode the bus back to Florence for the night. We encountered our first traffic jam of the trip on this ride, so I decided to call mom and dad to check in. They had attended Uncle Ed's memorial in New York the previous day and were now in the car with Aunt Judy and Aunt Gogi driving to Ohio for the funeral. We had a nice talk. When we got back to Florence, we rode to a restaurant that our driver, Massimo, had recommended. We ate a wonderful meal outside at dusk. A jam-packed, but memorable day!

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