Florence Visit #1

Our group spent Sunday in Florence. The students loaded the bus at 7:15 a.m. to make it into Arezzo for an 8:06 train that got us into Florence about 9:30 (obviously not an express). We had a moment of consternation when we discovered the bus routes had been changed; we had to walk a few blocks more than we had counted on, but finally found the bus that would take us to the neighborhood of the church of Christ in Florence. We got there shortly after 10:00; the service did not start until after 10:30, and it went longer than usual because of all the translating and bilingual singing. Several students commented on how much they enjoyed the experience. It was probably 12:30 before we left to get the bus back to the train station.

Once we made it back to the station, Jonathan led the way to the Uffizi Gallery, where we had group reservations for 1:45 and 2:15. Unfortunately, we lost Vickie and the baby on the way; Vickie had thought we were eating lunch in the station, and she started looking at some merchants' wares while everyone else left. When I realized she was missing, I retraced our route looking for her, but she asked for directions and got to the museum via another route, so I never found her, but I got a lot of exercise.

I have never seen Florence so crowded . . .

We had to go through the museum in two groups; I led the second group, so we had a bit of time to get lunch in the Piazza della Signoria before going in. I had not been in the Uffizi since 1998, but I suppose I fumbled my way through pointing out masterpieces adequately. Our group dispersed after we left the museum. Sarah Chowning and Leah Moss accompanied my family to Santa Croce, which now costs 5 euros to enter! However, seeing Giotto frescoes, Donatello paintings, a Brunelleschi chapel, and the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli were worth the cost.

Our group reassembled at the train station to catch a 6:08 train back to Arezzo, and no one got left behind. It took a couple of trips to shuttle everyone back to the hotel in Citerna, but by 9:00 we were all eating pizza from the local pizzeria.