During our first week of school we quickly planned a weekend trip (Friday morning to Sunday night) to Florence, arguably the center of the Renaissance period and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. 18 of the 32 kids in my program went and stayed in one of the nicer hostels in the area. It would be safe to say the hostel was nicer than my apartment in Rome. After an early morning train ride we found the hostel and decided to explore the city. We first went to the church of San Marco, Piazza Republica and various other smaller piazzas. Next was the Santa Maria duomo, probably the most famous church in Italy outside of Rome. The inside is enormous and beautifully painted. The highlight, however, was the climb to the top of the copula where you can there are 360 degree views of the entire city.

The rest of the day consisted of Ponte Vecchio, a colorful bridge with shops built on top. The bridge used to consist mainly of butcher shops but as Florence flourished during the Renaissance and became one of the wealthiest cities in the world, all of those shops became gold shops and remains the same today.

That night we all went out to an American style bar and eventually a night club called Twice. After a late start on Saturday we all went and explored the markets of the city. After a long deliberation period, I bought a nice leather jacket. It was a bit on the expensive side, but it was a deep discount from what it normally would be and I’m sure it will last for years. Later that day we got a private tour of Palazzo Vecchio, the oldest palace in Florence. Marco, our tour guide, explained the many intricacies of the secret rooms. After a quick stop at the statue of David, we ate at a nice place called ZaZa and drank their house wine. That night we had a great time drinking and telling stories before going out. It was a blast.

The next morning we walked to Piazzella Michelangelo, a hill on the south side of the city. From their, we could see the entire area. After a long search for lunch, we found a great restaurant with equally awesome views. We ended the trip with a visit to the Uffizi museum which houses a number of recognizable paintings by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Although the trip was very expensive, it was worth every penny and then some.