First of all, the museums. I went to the Academia a few weeks ago, the home of Michaelangelo's David. David was every bit the hype around him. The moment you walked into his domed gallery and see him, you are immediately struck by the realization that one gifted man created him from a block of marble. I also loved Michaelangelo's Prisoners, figures who look like they're trying to break free of the marble that surrounds them. Michaelangelo believed a sculptor was like the hand of God; sculptures were created by God and already existed in marble - it was up to the sculptor to release them.
I also went to the Uffizi, Florence's breathtaking art museum. My favorite room was the Botticelli room. Birth of Venus and La Primavera were awesome in person - especially because Botticelli was one of the first artists of his time to break free of the restrictions of flat religious art and paint something beautiful for the sake of celebrating things that are beautiful. The ancient statue of Venus de Medici (from the first century BC) was similarly striking for her beauty.
In the Palazzo Pitti, or Pitti Palace, I saw many rooms that belonged to grand people, including the Medicis and even Napoleon at one point. We also walked behind the Palace to the large Boboli Gardens, which rewarded us with a beautiful view of Tuscan hillside.
At Piazzale Michaelangelo, we climbed flights of outdoor stairs until we reached one of the most incredible views. The city of Florence sprawls out below you. You can see the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, and in the distance, the mountains under which Florence is tucked. We could even see it snowing up in the mountain peaks, despite the fair weather in Florence. The sun was setting as we arrived, and I don't think I could have ever stood there long enough to drink in that view.
I went inside Santa Croce church and saw the graves and memorials of such notable Florentines as Galileo (once excommunicated from the church, his remains were later moved to Santa Croce), Dante, Fermi, Michaelangelo, and LEAD 101's own - Niccolò Macchiavelli! (His ends justified his means).
I also got a tour of Florence's Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore, from my school. The style was Tuscan and simple, but the painting inside the dome itself - a scene of the last judgment - could give you neck pain from titling your head back for hours to look at it. My friends and I went to a Catholic mass in the Duomo. The entire time, I sat in the pews and thought about how people had been sitting in the same pews, listening to (relatively) the same mass, for literally hundreds of years. I realized how the cathedral reflected the Medieval and Renaissance concept of God - large, imposing, beautiful, and powerful beyond what we can imagine, but also cold and hard at times like the marble.
My school in Florence also provided for students a number of cultural events. We went to a shop associated with an organic farm in the Tuscan countryside and learned how fresh pasta is made - and got to take home a sample of fresh pappardelle, which is noticeably better than dried pasta. I saw how Florentine paper, with its beautiful marbled patterns, is made, and tried my hand at a pattern of my own. And we also did a mini course on fresco making, and I produced a fresco of my own of the Medici crest, which will last hundreds of years.
Florence is a city in which I felt surrounded by centuries of history everywhere I went, and I will certainly be back. What I loved best about Florence was the culture of Toscana that I had the chance to experience. Socializing and people-watching at the cafe and the market helped me understand why Florentines are so proud of their city and their region. They seem to have a relaxed, sociable way of life, chock-full of interesting traditions and norms that seemed overwhelming at first, but now seem beautiful because of how unique they are.
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