Firenze!

I had the opportunity of going to Florence yesterday. The drive was about 1 hour long, so about the distance from Salt Lake to Provo. It wasn’t bad at all.

I got to Florence and right as I got off the bus, I knew I was going to like it. There were stores EVERY WHERE. This city is very busy. There are tons of cars, people, shops, and smokers…unfortunately.

Anyways, we walked from the bus station to a little market. Since I have been in Italy, I haven’t had any run-ins with creepy Italian men…until Florence. They were everywhere. Luckily, I do not have blonde hair and blue eyes. They love those girls.

After the shops we headed to the Florence Cathedral. It was amazing. Simply amazing! I couldn’t believe how big it was. The colors were so vivid and the decorations were so elaborate. We walked to the south side of the Duomo and started our decent up the 414 stairs of the bell tower. I don’t think any of us expected there to be that many stairs. It was quite the workout…but we kept telling each other there would be gelato waiting at the bottom!! The view from the top of the Bell Tower was breathtaking. You could see all of Florence.

 

Climbing the 414 stairs

View from the top of the Bell tower

The remainder of the afternoon we went to the Baptistery to see the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti, and the Dome by Brunelleschi. It was so neat to see these things in person. I have only read about them in my art books. Although, the gates of paradise on the baptistery are not the originals...they were still beautiful. The originals are in a museum a little bit away.

In front of the Gates of Paradise

It was a wonderful day in Florence. I am excited to go back…there is a lot of shopping that needs to be done! J