Family Time in Florence

(April 5-April 6)

Kevin, Brother Tim, Me, and Ali

David

The Arno River

Piazza Vecchio

Inside the Duomo

The Medici House

Me, Kevin, and Ali inside the Irish Pub

Sunset on the Arno

Matt and I

The Duomo

Easter Dinner

Approximately 7 years ago, when I was a mere lad of the age of 14, my family and I embarked on our first ever European experience by meeting up with Marc as he traveled through Rome on his Loyola Spring break trip. Fast forward seven years, and my family once again ventured across the pond to Italy, except this time to visit me in Florence – seeking to complete the cycle on both ends of the Italian Spring break trip. Therefore, Florence played host to not only Loyola, but also to my family.

On our first day, the Loyola crew arrived in Florence in the afternoon and headed out to take a walking tour of the city. We wandered through the oldest part of town and made our way over to the Piazza Madonna, San Lorenzo Church, the San Maria Del Fiore (Duomo), Battistero, Piazza Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and the Palazzo Pitti. Florence was a beautiful city with both a small town (narrow back alleys full of colorful buildings built in the traditional Italian style) and a big city (Americans speaking english) feel to it.

The sunny weather was a warm (figuratively and literally) welcome for us – as Belgium had yet to get the memo that it was spring time – needless to say we enjoyed the orange glow of the cities under the Tuscan sun. The move to Italy was a nice one, especially at the beginning of spring. My family being in town only helped add to the experience of Florence.

After the first day, I met back up with the ‘rents at dinner – a common touch and go theme that developed during their time in Florence. However, for the most part they were able to tag along on a bunch of the trips that Loyola had planned during our visit to the Medici city.

On day 2 in Florence, we started by meeting at the Galeria Uffizi for a self guided tour of one of the most famous museums in Florence. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed over to Santa Croce – a church on the eastern part of the city that is not so much famous for the ornate designs, but rather for the Florentines buried below it. Everyone from Michelangelo to Machiavelli currently reside in the 14th century church.

After seeing the tomb of Michelangelo, we headed out to see his most famous sculpture – David – at the Accademia Belle Arti. The magnificent massive monument to the famous biblical hero was more than impressive. I know a large part of the group raged in debate over the controversy over whether or not the picture was from before the battle scene or after. In the end, our debates were inconclusive – as most are.

Though we were based in Florence for the next two days, we spent a relatively short amount of time in the city. The morning of the third day, began with our tour of Studiolo di Francesco I where we saw many impressive art works such as the original doors to the baptistery. However, following the tour of the museum, a large portion of the group divided off of the rest and set out for Siena. After we got back late, we rested in preparation for the next trip – the Tuscan wine tour. (Both Siena and the Wine Tour will be described in the next blog).