Florence: Day in the Life... Birthday Edition!

A few days ago, I was lucky enough to wake up on my 20th birthday in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy ― a whole gift in itself. Though the second “gift” of the morning happened to be a midterm exam, I am all the most grateful for being able to experience this day along with the rest!

After our exam, we walked over to the Museo di San Marco, one of the many captivating museums we have visited so far during this program. Something that stood out to me at this museum was the display of choir books which were used during the 15th century. I believe what may fascinate me the most about all the art I have seen is the date in which they had been created. Seeing these books, for example, accompanied by a description stating that they were produced in the 1400’s is astonishing to me. This work was created 600 or so years ago and continues to be preserved in very good condition.  

We grabbed a quick lunch at a café around the corner, and then were on to our next stop, the Galleria dell’Accademia. This art museum is home to Michelangelo's David.  Walking up to this extraordinary piece was breathtaking. Given its fame, I have learned about this sculpture in art and history classes, and through media, but nothing compares to seeing the figure with your own eyes. Michelangelo’s extreme attention to detail made the David so lifelike which is impressive especially given the fact that it was created in 1502-1504.

Afterwards, a few of my classmates and I walked to a rooftop café called La Terrazza which is located at the top of a department store called La Rinascente. I relaxed with my cappuccino and a view overlooking the city, eye level with the top of the Duomo. After finishing up, I attended our class discussion for about an hour where we reflected on our reading and where we found importance. 

At about 7:00pm, the group of us headed over to a restaurant for a wonderful three course family style meal. We had bruschetta, two types of pasta, and salad with chicken followed by a birthday cake brought out that had cannoli filling ― one of my favorites! After dinner, my classmates and I walked on the bridge across from the Ponte Vecchio and absorbed our surroundings as we admired the beauty of the city lit up at night. 

An exciting end of the night consisted of Italy winning the EURO 2020 semifinal game against Spain, and they are now set to play England in the final this upcoming Sunday. Seeing everyone come together and hearing all of the excitement was incredible.