Florence - Briefly

Good morning all! (well, I suppose it's the middle of the night there - hope you're sleeping well!)

I don't have time at the moment to talk much about Florence, I need to get breakfast still and then head out with Dr. Gavriluk's class to "where Rome began" (Palatine hill and Colosseum)...

Firenze (Florence) was amazing! I stayed at a wonderful guesthouse run by the Sisters of St. Elizabeth, just outside of the city center (but easily accessible though the bus system) - highly recommended if anyone else is inclined to go to Florence. (And only 35 euro a night!) I quickly realized that I had only one night in Florence and I had to make a decision - there are some major museums in Florence, as you probably know, but they usually have long entrance lines and are very expensive (15+ euro entrance fee, no reduction for non-EU students)... I decided to forego the major museums (gasp - yes, I skipped the Uffizi and the Galleria with David!) and concentrate on the religous aspects of the city and art history. It worked out wonderfully I think, 2 days is just about right to see almost all of the major churches and historical areas of the town.

I saw too much to get into at the moment, but I can tell you that my absolute favorite place was definitely San Marco convent - with Fra Angelico! A close second was the awesome gelato to be found in Florence. Yum! :)

I will try to post a few pictures later, along with other photos I might have missed from last week (oops) - but there is a slight snag, my trusty camera ceased to function late Saturday and I have a feeling that it is dead for good (as in, it will cost more to repair than to just buy a new one)... I did some checking and my camera, being so old, now has a few more models in its series that still use the same batteries and everything, but are a lot nicer (and not too expensive!) -- so I count this as an opportunity and will check around Rome for a new camera...

Of course, that means that there will be no new pictures for the present time, apart from the ones from my first day in Florence. Sorry!

I hope everyone is doing ok, I will write again soon!