Florence Day 3

Ciao a tutti! Today is the last day of Florence and it was pretty legit, if I do say so myself (since, you know, I had everything to do with that (….)). 

The day started out with an odd dream. It was this weird story where Helen Keller was blind and deaf in our world because she could only see and hear the spiritual world…Yeah, I don’t know where that came from either. So that’s how the day started.

Then we headed over to the Palazzo Davanzati, built during the 14^th or 15^th century, right after the guelfs (merchant class) defeated the gibellines (noble landowning class). So, though I can’t show you the cool things that were inside, you can see the difference in architecture between this palazzo and the other stronghold that I showed you on Florence Day 1.

                                                  More open, less fortress-like.

After that, we went inside the Baptistery at Santa Maria dei Fiori. More commonly known as the Duomo.

                                                    This is not the Baptistery. 

The inside of it is absolutely stunning, so feast your eyes on the ceiling of the amazingness and be…well, amazed!

                                                         Stunning ceiling!!

                                                      Amazing Altar space!!

                                                       Tesserae of Jesus!!

So next was San Lorenzo. 

                                                                     ...

Yeah, I know it doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the inside (had I pictures) shows the mathematical properties used by Brunelleschi to create an open and calming space. Just know that it is important.

For lunch, we went inside this indoor market and it was crazy cool. They had meats and vegetables and fruits and spices and breads and everything! I bought authentic Florence food and had a cookie as well. For 48 cents!

                                                        Making food!

                                                     Fruits and Veggies!

                                                              Alcohol!

Suffice to say, it was a win.

Then we went to the Galileo Museum, which had all of these old globes that showed the Ptolemaic and Eudoxus system of cosmology. 

                                                  Some of them were littler.

                                              And some of them were bigger.

                                                          A lot bigger.

We also got to see Galileo’s last two remaining telescopes that he made and used, and first editions of The Starry Messanger and The Dialogues, his two famous and controversial works.

                                                       Special stuff!

Plus, they had his relics there. His thumb, pointer and middle fingers, and tooth. 

                                                  Which is creepy, yet cool.

Dinner consisted of four cheese gnocchi and then we ended the night with gelato!

Interesting Stories of the Day:

• Our professor told us on the first day that we could buy stamps at a Tabacchi and pointed out one to us. Today, Elizabeth and I went there to buy stamps. They don’t sell them there.
• Instead, we walked into the post office to try and get stamps there. And couldn’t find anyone selling stamps. So we gave up, started walking back to our hotel, and found a Tabacchi down the street and a block over. And it sold stamps.
• The oldest sphere at the Galileo Museum was one taken from the Arab world and dates back to 1085. It had Arabic script on it, but I can’t seem to understand which letters are which. I challenge my fellow Arabic students to figure it out.

                                                                Do it.

• This is a bit embarrassing for me, but whatever. I just tried to put a stamp onto a postcard but it wouldn’t peel off the paper. This conversation followed: “Elizabeth!! Why isn’t it working?!?” “It’s not a sticker.” “Then what do I DO!?!?” “…you lick it!” “…Oh."

Domani, Venezia! A dopo!