July 22nd
Ciaowdy! Welcome to day 9 of the 2023 Italy Fish blog.
We started the morning with our normal 8 am breakfast followed by a 9 am meetup with Giovanni, who served as our tour guide for the second day in a row. Giovanni brought his eccentricity and humor once again to get us excited for our visit to Florence (known as Firenze to Italians). After checking the functionality of our whisper radio systems, we all walked to the train station down the street from our hotel. The train had an authentic twenty minute delay, so we headed out of Castiglione Fiorentino around 9:45. On the hour-long train ride, most students chose to journal, talk, read, or talk with a side of reading.
Our city briefing last night informed us that Firenze was named the prettiest city in the world by Forbes in 2010 and plenty of members of our group seemed to agree. After exiting the bustling train station, Giovanni led us on a sightseeing tour through the streets of Florence. We got pictures by the Arno river, walked through the markets on the streets, and were awed by the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. We admired Brunelleschi’s dome from the street as the line to enter typically takes two hours.
We dispersed for lunch around 12:30. Student leader, Will, led a group to a marbled paper market, while some other students visited an Italian leather market. Many students visited Florence’s oldest gelato shop, giving it outstanding reviews.
We regrouped at 13:50 outside of the Uffizi art Gallery. To limit crowding, we split into three groups and began our museum tour at staggered times. All groups enjoyed a guided tour of art from multiple eras of Italian history, including many Renaissance works, works by Leonardo DaVinci, and works funded by the Medici family.
After the museum tour, we headed back on the train and had an hour of free time before dinner, which some people used to do laundry or relax. Dinner consisted of bread, nearly deadly vegetarian lasagna, chicken, potatoes, and a chocolate mousse dessert. After scraping together a group to complete the Arezzo city briefing, the gang headed down the street for our nightly gelato. Some students attended a classical concert in the city square, while others threw yet another porch party.
After a busy day today, we are looking forward to a good night’s rest and leisurely morning tomorrow.
-Carter Poore and Rebecca Rhodes
