So far I have had a few days to explore and discover Firenze. I have yet to actually go into any exhibits or museums; however, as time goes by I probably will pop in and out of several if not most of the famous museums here in Florence. I have passed by the Duomo and every time I pass it I am amazed and breath taken. It’s colossal size and marble/granite façade is utterly breaktaking. The central plaza where the Duomo is, is constantly filled with hundreds of tourists and vendors trying to sell their goods. I have seen the gates of paradise doors (replicas) on the baptistery of the Duomo. I have passed by the Academia and have seen from the exit the magnificent David standing tall and proud over the hundreds of spectators awing at him from below.On Friday all 130 to 140 Gonzaga students walked up to Plaza Michelangelo, a nice vista point across the Arno river on top of one of the surrounding hillsides. This view was amazing and we all gathered together for a group photo. The photographer kept on yelling (piccolo) “little one” to those who were short but in the back rows. I will post a view of what I could see of Firenze from this vantage point.
Yesterday I took a long walk with a few friends. We crossed the Pointe Vecchio and walked a few miles south of the Arno (the river) to a neighborhood where there were hundreds of tre
es lining the streets and a beautiful park where it seemed only the locals knew of. We walked past the local romantics who were busy staring at each other with glossy eyes and blowing kisses to each other. 
Before reaching the top we walked down a small little street searching for a Bar or restaurant for something to eat. We stumbled upon this small family run restaurant which was full of locals and not a single foreigner. We came in and they quickly set a table up for the 7 of us. They were extremely friendly and kept feeding us multiple types of pane (bread). I ordered something that looked good on the menu, since no one knew what they were ordering since everything was in Italian. I ended up ordering Tortelli (a type of pasta) which was filled with some type of formaggio (cheese), ground beef and mixed in with some funghi (mushrooms). It was fantastic and decently priced for a large lunch that included the house wine and bottled water all for 10 euro.
We continued for 20 to 30 minutes up through this magnificent park and came a top a hill that overlooked the entire city. We proceeded to walk down a cobble stoned road with little presence of vespas or cars and rarely did we stumble upon a person at all. We came to Forte Belvadere which unfortunately was closed. It was one of several forts surrounding the city of Florence to protect the city from invading enemies.
We continued down too narrow of streets for cars; however, the skilled drivers always seemed to make it work and squeeze through. We walked along the wall that enclosed the entire city and walked through several city gates and ended above the plaza of Michelangelo at the Monastery Church of St. San Miniato al Monte. It was a beautiful point again just as majestic as plaza de Michelangelo.
After visiting the Church we finished our walk and day tour of the Florentine hillside with a Crushed ice slushy. I came back content and was happy to see something that was less touristy than where our school is located.
Supposedly the tourist season ends in October, and I am hoping that once it’s over it will be less crowded and maybe the prices will decrease. Who knows…..
Today, Sunday has been a lazy day for me. I slept in and was able to catch up on some much needed sleep. I was able to walk to the grocery store and purchase enough food for lunch and dinner, plus some snacks for the coming week. I find this much more affordable than eating out for every meal that is not provided.
The rest of the day I plan to lazily watch it go by, by doing a little bit of studying and researching how to purchase tickets for the next football game.
