The Duomo

Wednesday afternoon, we went to the top of Brunelleschi’s dome in the Duomo. I was very excited to do this, as I walk by the Duomo quite a bit and it is an enormous and intriguing structure. Our group began walking up the stairs in single file, as the path was very narrow. On and on we went, until the path opened right under the inside of the dome.

The dome is an incredible painting, not only because of the sheer size of the painting but also because of the quality craftsmanship. The artists needed to be able to paint on the curve of the dome so the pictures looked lifelike from the bottom. This is a very hard task to do, but everything looked great in the painting. The bottom portion of the painting is a representation of hell. Then, going upwards there were angels, followed by a collection of saints, Mary, Jesus, etc. and the top was the 24 Elders of Apoc. 4. I did not know what all of these levels were, but luckily for me I have a Wikipedia addiction.

After seeing this, we went up more stairs on our way to the top of the dome. From here, there was a gorgeous view of Florence that was worth every step up to the top. Unfortunately, then we had to walk down.

Trip to Fiorentina

On Tuesday, Adam, Nick, and myself took a walk out to Fiorentina’s Stadium. For those of you that don’t know, Fiorentina is the Serie A football team in Florence. It was great going out to see the stadium for a couple reasons, mainly because I am a huge soccer fan but also because we were able to see a different part of Florence.

We started walking out away from the center of town and we went underground to get past a train station. While underground, we saw some incredible graffiti. I noticed that there is a lot more graffiti in Florence than in American cities. I have come to the conclusion that it is because a very relaxed and small police presence and the easygoing culture of Italians in general. Since there is little chance of getting punished either by the police or the tenants of the graffiti-laden houses, the artists do as they wish. With that being said, the underground walls looked as though they were professionally done.

Moving on, we entered a beautiful section of Florence. The streets were lined with trees, shops, and a few small bars and clubs. This section of Florence reminded me of a downtown area in a suburban American town. There was also a beautiful church (of which there are many in Florence) that we walked past. From here, we kept walking onwards to the stadium.

The stadium was located in sports complex, along with a rugby stadium surrounded by a track, a baseball stadium (or it at least looked like a baseball stadium, a gym, a pool, and a few more athletic facilities. We walked around the stadium, hoping to find an entrance so that we could go inside (kind of like my dad does at EVERY college football or basketball venue). There was one opening which only led to the Fiorentina offices. After asking a worker where to go to get a glimpse of the stadium, they directed us to a gate that may or may not have existed. Following our disappointing walk around the circumference of the facility, we still did not give up on our mission. There was a team shop across the street that we walked into to see if the cashier could help us. She gave us the brilliant idea of ringing the doorbell of the stadium. This would never work in the United States, but somehow it works in Italy. We buzzed to the person working in the office behind the gate and he opened it for us. Finally, our journey out to the stadium was paying dividends.

The stadium seats approximately 47,000 people, and has ACF Fiorentina in bold blue lettering across the bleachers one of the sidelines. It was definitely a stadium I would enjoy watching a match in. However, for a team that is in a large city and is consistently a top level team in the biggest sport in Italy, I thought it was odd that the facility was as small as it was. Almost every NFL team has a stadium over 65,000, and Fiorentina’s is not pushing 50,000. When I found out the truly elite teams (Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, AS Roma) boast stadiums well over 70,000, I realized that there was a huge dichotomy in Serie A. The European powerhouses can afford to build these facilities and also bring in world-class talent because they have significantly more money then the rest of the teams. Despite the stadium’s small stature, I enjoyed our walk there. Hopefully the next time I’m there, the stadium will be packed with rabid Fiorentina supporters.

The Jewish Synagogue

On our first Monday, Professor Cooperman decided to cancel class in favor of taking a tour of the Jewish Synagogue and Museum. The first thing I noticed about the Synagogue was the tight security they had. There was a huge gate with two entrances on the side that had security posts. I thought this was odd due to the lack of violent crimes here, but it could have been set up for a different reason in a different time.

When we entered the Synagogue, it was unlike any other Synagogue I've ever been in. From the outside, the building sticks out like many cathedrals here do. This could be due to a couple of the architects of the Synagogue being Catholic, but from our tour we found out it was to make a statement that there was a thriving Jewish community in Florence. The inside was just as impressive. However, I couldn't fathom going to services here because it is not in an intimate setting. This place does not cater to how Jewish services are. Since the synagogue was created to make a statement, the acoustics played a distant second to the original purpose.

While we were at the Synagogue, we learned about the history of the synagogue; when it was built (19th Century), how it was financed (Levy), how the synagogue was affected by the flood of 1966. After our discussion in the sanctuary, we went into the museum on the 2nd floor and saw some of the Jewish antiques and a torah scroll that were not in use anymore. There was also a section of the museum that was dedicated towards how Jews in Italy were affected by WWII and the Holocaust.

Overall, I enjoyed seeing the Jewish Synagogue in Florence. It was a beautiful building and I was impressed with everything I saw there.

Tour of Florence

On Sunday, we went on a tour of Florence. For those that don't know, Florence was one of the most influential cities during the Renaissance, and so it is filled with amazing structures and beautifully done statues. The tour was led by Holly, another person who is working for CET Academic Studies. Randall and Professor Cooperman also added their insight on what we were seeing on the tour.

We started off between the Duomo and the Baptistery. The Duomo is a huge cathedral, taking about 150 years to build. The cathedral is in the shape of a cross, and has a giant dome on the top that was built by Brunelesschi. Across from the entrance of the Duomo are the Baptistery Doors. These bronze doors are also referred to as the "Gates of Paradise", a name made famous by Michaelangelo. On these doors are 10 panels reflecting different stories from the Torah (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, etc.).

From the Piazza Del Duomo, we went to the Piazza della Repubblica. During the Roman Empire, this was where the town's forum was. Here, we also saw where the Jewish Ghetto once stood. Then we went over to the Piazza della Signoria, Florence's political center. This is where the Uffizi Gallery is, along with varius statues. Statues include Donatello's "Judith", Michaelangelo's "David", "Fountain of Neptune", and others.

We then made our way to the Ponte Vecchio (Italian for "Old Bridge"). It was built in stone in 1345, and was the only bridge to make it through World War II. It is one of two bridges that have shops on the bridge, the other being in Bath, England (where I also visited). It is also believed to be where the concept of Bankruptcy began.

After we crossed the bridge, we walked outside the remains of the city wall up a huge hill (it puts "Big Bertha" at the old Franklin HS to shame). This led to the Piazzale Michaelangelo, which gave a breathtaking view of the city and the Tuscan hills.

That was the end of the tour. I'm glad we got to see the sites in the beginning of the trip, so I can now begin to focus on things other than what the casual tourist comes to see.

The First Days

Italy has been quite a learning experience already. I was expecting to have some problems switching from living in an area that I was born and raised in to a foreign land that I know very little about in a language that I did not know. When I arrived in Florence, I picked up my bags and there was no security whatsoever. No one checked who I was, what I am doing here, and what am I bringing in. This is very different from if someone here was visiting the US, where a series of questions would be followed by finger prints among other things. Randall, who works for CET Academic Center and is our group leader, picked me up and we took a taxi to the hotel that we stayed at for the first night went to the hotel.

Going to the hotel, I realized how different transportation is here. Everyone drives motorinos (similar to a moped) or these tiny cars (picture a VW beetle cut with the back half cut off). These vehicles are prevalent because gas is significantly more expensive then in the US and they need efficient vehicles to keep costs lower. The motorinos and cars zip around on larger roads that have no set lanes and also the narrow windy roads that go through parts of Florence. These I dropped my luggage off at the hotel, and walked over to the CET building. It’s not as I expected, but what I expected does not really matter because we will only be over there for a couple hours each day, at most. When we got to the hotel, I had problems with acclimating myself. I couldn’t figure out how the shower worked or the toilet or the lights. Everything is different here.

Later in the day, when everyone from the group arrived, we went out to dinner with Randall and Professor Cooperman. We learned how to order food here and also learned common phrases and customs we would need to know so we can try to assimilate into the culture. After dinner, a group of us bought some wine and got to know each other better, and then I went out with another group to a Japanese restaurant. I tried sushi for the first time here (I never got around to trying it in the US, but it was there so I went for it) and we split a bottle of Sake.

The next day, we went to the apartment we will be living in for the next 3 weeks. The place is incredible. All of us joke that we are on the Real World because that is how nice our set-up is. It is a communal living arrangement, with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, a common room, a dining room, and a huge terrace overlooking a gorgeous Russian Orthodox Church.

Well, I am about to leave, so I am going to wrap this up. I have a lot more to write about my first 5 days. Not only because I am required to keep this blog for the course but because I would like to give everyone the chance to feel like they are a part of the incredible experience I am partaking in. A lot more to come…