Under The Tuscan Sun: Florence and Arezzo

On Saturday I went to Florence with some of my classmates and the NAU education teacher here with us, Dr. Barbara Veltri. We took about an hour and ten minute bus ride into Florence and right after we stepped off of the bus we stumbled across a gourmet chocolate fair! Booths were lining the streets with any kind of chocolate treat you can imagine. I got some delicious chocolate covered strawberries with homemade whipped cream on top. We then wandered around the city with thousands of other tourists. Florence was so crowded, more so than New York City I felt like. I heard the most amount of English I have my whole trip while being in Florence. There are lots of American tourists and tons of students studying there that even the shopkeepers all spoke English. It made me really appreciate being able to live in a not so touristy town where no one speaks English. We came across another food display, this time it was a farmer’s market. Farmers had booths lined up on the street with samples of their homemade olive oil, bread and cheese. We found ourselves at the Ponte Vecchio next. The river is so high right now from all of the rain Italy has gotten, but it was very beautiful, despite the light brown color of the water. It almost looked like a caramel river from Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. However, the houses and apartments lining the Ponte Vecchio are so bright and cheerful, it takes the focus off of the brown river. We enjoyed looking at the famous shops along the bridges then we sat down at the Pitti Palace steps and ate our sack lunches we had packed in an attempt to save money. People definitely looked at us; we unfortunately just look so American. After our lunches we made our way to the Galleria dell’ Accademia where we laid our eyes upon our Valentine, Michelangelo’s original David! He is so much bigger than I thought he was going to be, the statue itself is about eight or nine feet tall and he is also standing on a six foot tall pedestal. It was so cool to see such a famous piece of artwork in real life and not in the textbook for once! After the museum my friend Kara and I climbed the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo. It was exhausting, especially going up spiral stairs most of the way in a small, crowded area with people trying to exit through your same pathway. It was definitely worth it though because the view from the top was incredible! We were at the top at about 4:45pm so got to see the day winding down at dusk. In the interest of time, we went straight to the bell tower next and climbed the 414 steps to get to the top for a view of the Duomo. I do not suggest climbing both of those back to back in a half hour period. It was poor planning on our part due to the closing times being in the late afternoon. We made it though and got another amazing view of Florence! Kara and I were so exhausted after climbing a total of 877 steps that we had to stop and get some gelato before going into the baptistery and the Duomo museum. The baptistery was beautiful inside and the museum was very interesting. It showcased the gold Gates of Paradise which was magnificent! We had a long day in Florence and were able to see a lot, but didn’t even scratch the surface of it! I am thankful that a city with so much history is only an hour away from us, so I can’t wait to go back to go to such places as the Uffizi and Pitti Palace. On Sunday my friend Adam and I went to the small Tuscan town of Arezzo. It should have only taken us about 45 minutes to get there but the bus stopped in almost every town on the way, making the ride about two hours. We didn’t mind at all, it was nice to rest and it was a beautiful ride through Tuscany! We got off the bus in Arezzo, another medieval town, and were so confused. We were dropped off in a modern city and had no idea if we were in the right place. Luckily we were and realized that we were on the outskirts of the town walls. We got some pizza and were on our way for exploring. We first went into Sant’Agostino Church and looked at the beautiful pistachio and salmon ceiling. We went to the archeological museum and were told that the Casa Vasari Museum, (A place I really wanted to visit.) was closing at 1pm. It was 12:40 and we were at the opposite end of town. Once again, poor planning on our part due to closing times. We are quickly learning though that nothing in Italy is exact and that shops, museums and other notable places open and close when they feel like it. We quickly made our way to the Casa Vasari Museum and were able to see it before the workers went home at 1:30. Next we went to the Medieval and Modern Art Museum, kind of a weird combination but it was interesting. We then headed to San Francesco Basilica and to Piazza Grande. It was afternoon on Sunday when we got to Piazza Grande and we were the only people in it. We were in awe! The whole town seemed dead beforehand, but we figured people would at least be in the main plaza. Well we were wrong and had the place to ourselves to take some good pictures. After the empty piazza we headed up to a park/garden that overlooked the town of Arezzo. We were at the city wall and were actually next to the town’s medieval fortress, but it was closed. We got a beautiful view of the trimmed vineyards and olive trees. Next on our list was the Duomo of Arezzo so we peaked inside there and listened in on a snippet of a Sunday service. We made our way back to visit the archeological museum and the ancient Roman amphitheater there. When we got out of the museum, the city came alive at about 5pm and there were people everywhere! The empty streets and shops we saw a few hours earlier were now so crowded, it felt like we were in a huge city, not a little Tuscan town. We tried to get dinner, but nowhere opens up for dinner until 7:30 or 8pm, too late for us as we were trying to catch a bus. We found a café where I had tomato risotto and Adam had four cheese risotto. It was so unbelievably delicious, just what we needed after a long day! We got on our bus and headed back to Siena for school this past week. It was a great weekend exploring more of Italy!

Ciao!

-Rachel