Florence

Another week, another field trip: the architects and the artists together embark on a great adventure to Florence, Siena, and Montepulciano/Pienza for a long weekend. After an early morning and a long train ride we get off at the Florence station and the long trail of us and our rolly bags line the streets as we pass through the beutiful city as we make our way to our hotel. Once we are at the hotel we layer up (as living in Rome the past few months has left us unaccustomed to any weather below 70C), and leave our things to go off and explore the most significant churches of Florence.

First we tackle the Duomo: we climb the dome, visit its museum, explore the baptistry and finally visit the cathedral itself. While climbing between the two layers of domed masonry was a little claustrophobic and tiring, it was more than worth the picturesque views we achieved at the top. Before the wind could blow us all away, we descended the dome and went into the museum where we stood in awe admiring the original doors to the baptistry as well as the wooden models for Brunelleschi’s dome.

Jeffery directs our gaze atop the Duomo. Photo by Abram Collette.
Abram finds himself vertically challenged in the walk through the dome. Photo by Claire Oster.

After visiting all of the Duomo, we headed to Santa Croce and its complex. On the way we saw the fountain of Neptune and the replica of David in its original outdoor standing. Santa Croce was breathtaking and we all throughly enjoyed seeing the final resting place of Michelangelo, whose work we have been learning about for years and recently visiting, inside the church. After, we enjoyed the famous gelato at Vivoli and Gelateria de Neri! 

Jerry and Jeffery, our guides and the lights of our lives admiring Michelangelo’s masterpiece in Santa Croce complex. Photo by Claire Oster.
Delicious! Photo by Johnathan Plass.

The next day we got up early and visited the piazza of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, a place Jerry described as “one of the few places that pretty much every famous architect every has stood in.” After soaking in the great architecture and the early morning sun, we walked to San Lorenzo and to the Medici Chapel where we visited the famous sacristies of Brunelleschi and Michelangelo. We also visited the Laurentian Library which we were all super excited to see as it was a Michelangelo building that Jerry had lectured about it multiple times before the trip, and we wanted to experience for ourselves the famous staircase!

Looking down at fellow architects (and professors) from the top of the Michelangelo’s Laurentian stairs! Photo by Claire Oster

After seeing even more great works we took a lunch break where many of us enjoyed the classic Etruscan panini from the famous All’antico Vinaio, which were well worth the long line we waited to get them! After lunch we crossed the Ponte Vecchio to the other side of the river where we quickly visited a few of the notable places before going back to the Uffizi.

Students resting (but still tuning in to Jeffery) outside the Piazza Pitti. Photos by Abram Collette.
Jonnie, seriously in need of rest. Photo by Claire Oster.

We spent the last several hours of our day in the Uffizi admiring the huge collection of famous paintings, many of which we have learned about in various theory classes, like Botticelli’s the Birth of Venus, Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation, and (Jerry’s favorite) the Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca. That evening many of us enjoyed many classic Florentine and Etruscan meals, like bread soup, steak, or the interesting salt-less bread.

Claire Oster