Maddie’s European Travel Diaries: Florence Day 2

Ciao! Today is our last day in beautiful Florence, and it was filled with lots of adventure. We began our day around 8:30 with a quick breakfast before we met our local guide for a tour. Our first stop on the tour was the Michelangelo gallery, which houses the Statue of David. Unexpectedly, this statue is HUGE. We also got to see some of his other smaller works and some unfinished sculptures, as well as a few paintings throughout the gallery. Seeing the unfinished works was really cool and it helped you imagine the process of sculpting as well as the unearthing of an idea from stone. This made me appreciate the talent, imagination, and skill required to sculpt these grand statues.

After visiting the gallery, we continued our tour around Florence, learning about the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, outdoor art gallery contents and maintenance, and the basilica of Santa Croce. Santa Croce held the gravesites and memorials of many important historical figures, including Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, and Machiavelli. This basilica also holds a statue similar to Lady Liberty, which now stands in NYC. These statues are known as the “Sisters in Liberty” and America’s Lady Liberty is thought to be based on the original “Liberty of Poetry” placed on the grave of Italian Poet Niccolini in this basilica.

After our tour with the local guide, we had free time to shop and eat lunch. I had pheasant ravioli for the first time and it was so good! We went to a local leather shop, where I got a belt and got to watch them resize it and work with other leather. Leather and gold are huge industries in Italy, and it was cool to window shop in all of the local places. We also walked to the Piazzale Michelangelo, a park with the BEST views of Florence. This was absolutely gorgeous and a must-do. After exploring this park, we walked back to the hotel, rested briefly, then went out shopping for a bit before dinner. We met the group back at the hotel to walk to dinner together, where we had salad and lasagna. After dinner, we explored a bit and had some gelato, then returned to the hotel to pack for the train in the morning. Tomorrow I’ll be writing from Rome!