Sunday May 27th

After our traveling on our own for our free days, the group met at noon outside our hotel in Florence on Sunday to begin the second half of our trip. Because check-in wasn’t until 2 we decided to drop our bags off at the hotel and begin the day’s sightseeing.

Duomo as seen walking by

Our first stop of the warm Sunday afternoon was the Uffizi Gallery. Originally constructed for the use as office space for Florentine magistrates in 1581, the Uffizi Gallery stands today as one of the most famous art museums in the world. Once we arrived at the museum and we all went our separate ways to check out as much of the art as we could. Similar to the Vatican Museum, the Uffizi Gallery simply has too much art for one to see all at once so I did my best to see all I could in the few hours we spent at the museum. Unfortunately the Gallery doesn’t allow cameras, so I don’t have any pictures of the incredible pieces of art I saw during my visit. I was most impressed with the ages of many of the pieces, as I saw original works of art more than 400 years old from various famous artists. However, seeing that much art at one time tended to make the many different works of art blend together by the time we left.

After the Uffizi Gallery, the group walked over to the Accademia Gallery. Most famous for housing Michelangelo’s original David statue, the Accademia Gallery is tiny compared to the Uffizi Gallery. However, this lack of size did not inhibit the Accademia Gallery from having some very famous and interesting works. In addition to the massive David, the Accademia also has a few other notable Michelangelo statues ranging from four meant for Pope Julius II’s tomb to a statue of Saint Matthew. Overall, I came away very impressed by the Accademia’s prominent, albeit small, collection of art.

View from Ponte Vechio

To wrap up our busy afternoon, we visited the Ponte Vechio, or Old Bridge, that spans the Arno River. When I heard that we were visiting a bridge, I envisioned the standard arching bridge crossing a river. However, the Ponte Vechio is different from most bridges because multiple stories of shops line both sides of the bridge. Most of these shops looked to be expensive jewelry and gold stores. The bridge itself actually has been rebuilt multiple times since its original construction due to the destruction from floods and World War II. I enjoyed looking out both sides of the bridge to see the Florentine buildings lining the Arno River.

To finish the day, a couple of us grabbed a cheap kabob from a market close to our hotel. While Italy has been incredible food-wise, the meals tend to be a bit expensive so I try to eat cheap a few times a week to make up for the more expensive meals. Overall, it was a great first full day in Florence.