With my finals now over, I can appreciate the month of winter break and share with you all a bit of variety in my experience of Italy. I am visiting three places: Florence, Zagarolo and the surrounding countryside, and Naples.
I just finished my four days in Florence, and I loved every day I spent there. Maybe it was the Christmas atmosphere or the greater Renaissance influence, but as much as I love Rome (and as much as I found myself missing the familiarity of it once in a while), it was great to visit another major city and to feel how different it was from the place I have been calling home for the past four months.
I arrived in Florence on Saturday through a bullet train from Termini station; the journey took a little under two hours, leaving me plenty of time to wander the streets and situate myself. I decided to spend my afternoon at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the primary residential palace of the Medici family when it was built between 1444 and 1484 until 1494. The Magi Chapel is probably the most famous section of the palace, and after seeing it, I’m not surprised why. For such a small and private chapel, the frescoes were unbelievably detailed, combining biblical allusions with depictions of the Medici family.
On Sunday I woke up early for my 8:30 tickets to the Uffizi Gallery and spent a long but enriching three hours there. Seeing some of the most famous works of art from the Italian Renaissance, among the rest of its extensive collection, was definitely worth exploring all 101 rooms.
When I left the Uffizi, there was about an hour before my tickets to climb the Duomo. Despite my slight fear of heights, I was the first to climb up all 463 stairs and drink in the breathtaking view. I apparently climbed up so fast that I had the top all to myself for a few minutes—thanks for the leg training, Holy Cross! Though… climbing down those steep stairs felt much more treacherous than the labor of going up them!
On Monday I spent my morning in the Boboli Gardens and enjoyed their peace and quiet. With the cold weather, there wasn’t much greenery and many of the fountains were turned off, but it was still a great place to bring my film camera and enjoy a few near-silent hours taking photographs.
I then decided to visit the Museo Galileo and its massive collection of scientific instruments ranging from the 15th to the 19th century. They not only had terrestrial and celestial globes, but various instruments for chemistry, electromagnetism, and electricity. The museum owns two of Galileo’s telescopes, as well as the objective lens he used to discover the four largest moons of Jupiter (the Galilean moons).
Unfortunately, many of the famous museums in Florence are closed on Mondays. I will just have to make another trip to visit the Galleria dell’Accademia and the Bargello. After all, who would want to miss out on Michelangelo and Donatello’s David?
Now I am taking a break from the hustle and bustle of city life to enjoy the days before Christmas in the Italian countryside. I look forward to experiencing an Italian Christmas and sharing it with you all!
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