First taste of Italia

Day 3

After waking up from a glorious 12 hour sleep, I decided to just take the day to relax and do some reading, so I could recover from jet lag. 

Around six we all went to the professor's apartment for our on-site orientation. We sat on her terrace, which was beautiful (see pictures below).  In back of her apartment is a music school, so we constantly heard music as we sat there in the Italian sunlight =)

After eating some delicious pizza, my roommate, her friend and I headed toward the river, and stopped by the Duomo. Oh my goodness gracious. . . the Duomo is amazing. It is absolutely indescribable.  The dome is so big that the architect who designed it also had to invent the machinery to be able to build it.  The sheer size is just breathtaking and everything from the doors to the the stone are gorgeously crafted. 

The Duomo from far away 

The back of the Duomo

The side of the Duomo (see how the people are dwarfed), and part of the bell tower

Close up on a panel of a side door

The top of the front of the church

A view of the front, the baptistry, the dome and the bell tower

I can’t even image how much labor, money, and collaboration of artists and architects that went into creating such a magnificent building.  I think seeing the Duomo was the thing that really made me the most excited about being in Florence. The city is such an interesting place -- such a mix of old buildings, giant structures and a modern urban city.  It’s crazy, but awesome. 

We wandered down to the river, which I really liked -- I love pieces of nature in the middle of urban areas.  Here was our view from the Arno:

I don’t understand the traffic rules here. . . if there are any . . . but I found it really strange that there were cars parked on the bridges. Anyway, it was a nice day and I finished it off with my first real Italian Gelato!!! Nutella and chocolate chip (which has an Italian name that I can’t remember). 

Here is very tired Jen eating Gelato: