I must admit I was sad to leave Rome. I was sad to leave a place with so much history and so much belonging.
But, now, I’m in Florence and I don’t know why I thought it wouldn’t be just as great as Rome. It’s amazing. Technically I got here yesterday night (that’s why I haven’t blogged) but today was my first official day out in the streets.
It’s beautiful, to say the least.
We went up Brunelleschi’s Duomo and the bell tower and the view is spectacular (the climb, not so much).
View from top of the Duomo
You get a view of the entire city from both places, though Florence is extremely small…
View of the Duomo from the bell tower
Then we went on a Florence walk to get introduced to the city and saw some very important sculptures and historical landmarks (which I’ll — obviously — be taking about in my next couple posts).
I saw some statues by Donatello and stood in (probably) the same places that Michelanelo stood as he got inspired (by Donatello’s work).
Original statue by Donatello
This statue, whose name I’ve completely forgotten, was the symbol of Florence up until Michelangelo did the David.
In other words, Michelanagelo’s David is a reinterpretation of Florence through Donatello’s work. And, while I stood here, staring at this piece I wondered about Michelangelo and about how, as a kid, he would look at this work and get inspired by it.
I stood where he stood.
Sculpture by Donatello
Now, all these people and artists and important poets, politicians, kings, queens and etc. are real, living things to me. They’re real people. They aren’t just fictional characters that I’ve heard about in school for so long. Being here, seeing this, makes THEM real… It makes history real and it makes the learning worthwhile (which, if you know me, you know I’m terrible at history and don’t enjoy it because of my bad memory).
Class picture on top of the Duomo
P.S. The wifi is terrible at my apartment, so bear with me when it comes to posts & pictures! I’ll post as much as possible!
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