Florence

Note: the Internet is once again being a bit spotty. I'll put some pictures up as soon as I can.

We have reached Florence! We got here yesterday after a three hour bus ride from Rome. Our last few days in Rome were great, and quite busy.

On Saturday, we visited the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Square. The students particularly enjoyed seeing the Pieta and many took the opportunity to send a postcard from the Vatican post office (something that many savvy Romans do because the Vatican's postal service is much faster than their Italian counterpart).

On Sunday, the students had a (mostly) free day, giving them the chance for exploration of the city and some shopping time. We all headed up as a group to the Castle of the Knights of Malta for a picnic lunch and to enjoy the magnificent view of St. Peter's Basilica through a keyhole.

On Sunday night, we visited the Spanish steps, where we ate delicious pizza and had a great time people watching.

Now that we're in Florence, we move our gaze from the Romans to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Florence is the perfect place to study these topics, and we've already begun to take advantage of the city, visiting Santa Croce, the world's largest Franciscan church, which is filled with fantastic examples of the Renaissance period.

Our living situation has changed drastically as well, and we are now staying in the Contessina Residence. The place is amazing, and we're all staying in spacious apartments with kitchens and common spaces and sleeping areas. We've got a wonderful central patio (the site of a delicious catered group dinner last night) and we are very centrally located in Florence. It's great.

This week will be another busy one (the all are, really). We've got tons planned here in Florence, and tomorrow we head out to Siena and San Gimignano, both beautiful towns in the Tuscan countryside. We'll keep you posted.

Some other activities we've got planned for the upcoming week include:

Cooking Class
Visit to see Michaelangelo's David
Visit to the Uffizi Gallery
Vespers at San Miniato al Monte
Checking out the view from Piazzale di Michaelangelo
And much more!

See you soon!