Firenze, the Birthplace of the Renaissance

Hello everyone! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving to enjoy some awesome food, some great family and an overall relaxing long weekend. We spent our holiday in the city of Florence in Italy. Chris studied abroad here and promised to go back. It is a beautiful city and we had a wonderful time. We wanted to give you a reflection of our trip from both of us. We also want to know what you want to know! Please send us questions that you have for us here. Include questions that you have about our trips, the school, or living abroad.

We spent four days in Florence exploring the ancient city that housed very modern shops and businesses but lived and worked in renaissance structures. We arrived in the city on Thursday and after a quick call home we had some dinner and explored the city at night. On Wednesday we started our city church tour. We started at Santa Croce visiting the tombs of the men who put Florence on the map. We also learned about the restoration they were conducting after a flood in 1966 (the water was over 16 ft high!) and how they are trying to prevent a similar event. We then climbed a nearby hill to get some great views of the city. Saturday we climbed to the top of the Duomo and got an amazing view, after a long climb in close quarters. We then visited Santa Maria Novella in a different quarter of town. After a quick siesta we toured the Boboli Gardens. Sunday we left with plenty of pasta, both in our stomachs and our suitcases.

• What monuments, museums or buildings stood out to you? What was your favorite thing you did?

Sam: If you know just one thing about Florence then you know that there is a large cathedral in the city with a large orange red brick dome on it. The Duomo is a spectacular building and if you know the history, it is also an engineering feat. It is spectacular to see for the first time.

Chris: For the record, officially, the cathedral is called Santa Maria del Fiore. However, yes it is more often than not referred to as simply the Duomo because of the famed dome that Sam discussed. History lesson time?

Sam: This is History Nerds abroad is it not?

Chris: I mean...yes! OK I’m excited now. History Lesson it is!

Sam: Strap in folks! You’re getting a lesson from an expert.

Chris: So the Cathedral itself (you can see above in multiple pictures) was built in three phases throughout the 14th and 15th century and was intended to be Florence’s defining symbol of prestige. First, the main part of the cathedral was erected. This included everything that you see at the main base of the cathedral today. Secondly, the bell tower to the right of the cathedral was put together. These were both finished relatively quickly and with few issues, however, no one had yet developed a way to build a dome as large as the one required for the Duomo. This frustrated and humiliated many Florentines because an unfinished cathedral was not a symbol of prestige. Coming to the rescue in the 1430s with an ingenious design. Essentially, he built two domes, and designed it in such a manner where the smaller one supports the larger and prevents it from collapsing in on itself. Consequently, by 1436 Florence finally had a finished cathedral they could be completely proud of! HISTORY LESSON OVER!

Sam: Whew! Now keep that all in mind and look at the pictures. As we were walking away the first night I turned to Chris and said, “You know this place is beautiful but I understand why Martin Luther did what he did.” If you don’t know that reference well shoot me a message. We don’t need to give you two extensive history lessons.

Chris: Fair enough...sorry everyone. Was there anything else you enjoyed about the city Sam?

Sam: Everything was awesome and it was fun to see all the beautiful churches. I think seeing the city from the top of the Duomo is amazing.

Chris: There is really nothing quite like the view, I could be up there for hours. The climb up is something else though.

Sam: And coming down isn’t that much fun either! All those winding staircases… I felt like I drank too much wine!

Chris: Speaking of wine...let’s transition to food and drink of the trip.

Sam: YUM!

• What kind of food did you eat while there? Is there anything that you absolutely loved/did not like?

Chris: Ah Italian food.

Sam: Your mistress.

Chris: ………….I don’t know what you are referring to………

Sam: And Italian wine is your other mistress.

Chris: Lies.

Sam: I don’t think we had a bad meal. I don’t think that would be possible. Between the pizza, pasta and gelato there was no such thing as a bad meal.

Chris: Absolutely. Don’t forget the spectacular bread and paninis we ate as well! Special shoutout to some of our friends here who visited earlier in the month and provided a delicious recommendation for lunch. Best. Sandwhich. Ever.

Sam: How could I forget! I am glad we could bring back some pasta and pesto!

Chris: So much pesto.

Sam: I mean we only kept two of six packages. At least we are sharing right?

Chris: Yeah! Friends and family get to share in the deliciousness of the Italian adventure as well!

• What was your impression of the tourist areas? Were they just a part of the experience or was it a little out of hand at times, in terms of crowd size and/or what shops were there?

Chris: Personally, I was shocked by the number of tourists in Florence, this late in the year. Tourist season is over for nearly a month at this point and yet there were still hundreds of people flocking through the most popular spots in the city. Now, it was nowhere near the levels of Florence in the summertime, but there were still more than expected.

Sam: That is true but I think there were less tourists than when we were in Athens. I will say also it felt like the majority of the people there were visiting students who were studying abroad in the city.

Chris: ...Something which I know nothing about...of course this is true. I agree that there were certainly less. Florence’s size probably impacted the congestion that we saw in parts.

Sam: I think also there were no specific tourists spots, the whole city was a place to tour. The tourists and the locals seemed to mix pretty well. Plus if you know what is an obvious “tourist trap” in the city you can do pretty well avoiding those things.

Chris: Especially if you’ve been to the city before for an extended period of time and know in advance where those “tourist traps” are.

Sam: That and our AirBnb host was kind enough to point things to be on the look out for too!

• Was there a language problem? Was it hard to read the signs?

Sam: I don’t think there was a language problem. I think because there are so many tourists that come to the city on a regular basis that just about everyone knows some English.

Chris: Second that point, the menu’s at every restaurant and all important signs throughout the city center are all in English. It is one of the easiest cities to move around if you are an English speaker only.

• What did you do to get around the city? Did you use public transportation?

Chris: Public transportation? Why use public transportation when you have ME? (That is significantly more boastful than it is meant to be...)

Sam: No it’s not. But in order to understand transportation in Florence, one must know that it is still a Renaissance city in that the buildings still look the same and the streets are still as wide as when the biggest thing going down the street was a horse drawn cart, not a car or bus.

Chris: Yes, Florence’s streets are very tiny, product of not rebuilding in the 20th century. This is not a bad thing, and in fact give the city it’s historical charm and legacy.

Sam: Yeah! It’s easy and more effective to walk through the city. Which gives you a great way to work off all those tasty carbs!

• What was your overall impression of the trip? Would you recommended visiting Florence?

Chris: Well, I am never going to tell anyone to not visit Florence. I think it will forever be number 1 on my list of favorite cities. The history, the culture, and the food are like no other and at every turn you are constantly seeing something different. This adventure was no different and I must say that the trip was everything that I was hoping for in a return visit.

Sam:I really enjoyed visiting Florence with a tour guide. It was an amazing city with plenty to do and so much historical relevance that I really felt like I was in my element. It was a great time with plenty of great food and a great atmosphere. I would definitely recommend it to someone who wants to get a European experience. There are churches and cafes around every corner.

Thank you for reading and please send us your questions! You can click here to send us any questions you have. We have another trip coming up soon and love sharing our experience with you. Thank you again!