DAY 2: FLORENCE (FIRENZE)

Florence is in central Italy and the capital of the region of Tuscany. Italians refer to the city as Firenze. We take the name Florence from the Latin/French version "Florencia" which means "city of flowers". It is full of churches, palaces, museums, bridges and other amazing arquitectural structures. It is considered to be the original center of the Renaissance because of the presence of many famous and influential artists, but it also became an important economic and political powerhouse as well, as Europe made its way out of the Middle Ages. We did our best to see and hear about as much of all this as possible:

As soon as we arrived, we dropped our stuff at the hotel and took off walking to one of the (if not the) most important buildings, Il Duomo. We hear more about this structure the next day during our guided walking tour, but this plaza (in between the cathedral and baptistry) serves as our meeting point at many times. 

(this aerial view is off the internet!)

We also visited the Galleria dell ’Accademia, where we saw many paintings and sculptures including works by Botticelli, as well as Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines:

Michelangelo's Slaves (in the Hall of Prisoners):

As well as...

his famous David:

We were told (and could read) a lot about this statue by various people; about how it is not perfect, but was made out of one piece of marble and how difficult that was then. About how it is a symbol of the Renaissance and Europe's rebirth out of the Middle Ages. He's obviously naked (not common then...) and was one of the first pieces about people instead of religious figures (although he might be viewed as a religious figure by some...). It's one of the first examples of psychological realism since he is thinking about killing the giant (whether the sculpture represents before or after the battle with Goliath - we got conflicting reports on that one). 

In short, I will let the History and Art teachers wrestle with this piece and it's importance and interpretations with students when we return! ;)

There were also many other statues and paintings to be admired such as in this room:

Back at the Duomo we continued our introductory tour into the evening:

The Palazo Vecchio (Old Palace)... more on that tomorrow, but curiously there is one of two replicas of David here:

and more on this fountain tomorrow:

The Fontana del Porcellino (in the center of the group) - legend has it that if you rub the boar's nose you will have good luck, so hundreds of people show up daily to do so:

And finally to the Basilica of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, along with  Rossini, Machiavelli, and Galileo.

And then we headed to a pizzeria where we had dinner:

with tiramisu for dessert:

And then there is this gem taken at some point today between the Duomo Cathedral/Bell Tower and the Baptistry:

And another...