Only the Beginning

So yesterday we ventured in to down town Florence for the first time! We began the day by boarding a bus and driving up to the hills above the city to take in the panoramic views from the church San Miniato del Monte. Our tour guide, who also happens to be our program's art history professor, pointed out many of the intricacies in and outside the church. I was most fascinated by the lack of stained glass in this church- Far more fresco, arch, and tiling. Also interesting was the signs of the zodiac which tiled the church floor- doubtful that would fly in a church being built today!

After the tour of the church, we continued to walk down in to the city, through the old medieval walls that were built to protect Florence and in to the narrow cobble stone streets. It really is a marvelous sight to walk through the wall- makes you feel like you're entering an entirely new world.

Our tour continued with stops in front of all of Florence's big landmarks- the Uffizi, the Medici Palace, Santa Maria Novella, il Duomo, etc. Following several hours of walking, the tour wrapped up and us students were abandoned in downtown Florence (with no map and no ability to speak Italian!)

The afternoon was an adventure- had pizza at a local pizzeria (Italian sausage = Pepperoni. Pepperoni = a very thick sausage. They're reversed),