36 Florence Day 1

Florence

Florence is a very lovely city. Our bus driver, who had never been to Florence, insisted that our hotel was just a block to the south. Dr. Kingsely who had been there several times tried to tell him it was the other direction. We walked 3 blocks to our hotel and then in shifts we packed the tiny lift with our luggage and carried it up to the third floor.

We ventured out with several students to “Tratoria Za-Za” for dinner. It was a Rick Steves recommended place and was very nice with good food.

The next day we sat out to explore the city of Florence. The area that we wanted to see (the older part of town) is very compact and not too far to walk. We made our way to the Duomo which is the central cathedral of Florence. During the time Florence was at its peak politically and monetarily they did not do anything in a small way. The buildings are “ornate.” The multicolored marble is very eye catching.

The Cathedral Museum was a great time. The church was remodeled inside and out several hundred years ago. However, they were foresighted enough to create a museum of some of the great works of art from the old church by some great artists including Michelangelo and Donatello. Many of the art works were once niche statues that were on the front of the Church. They were in most cases very high up and thus if they were still there you would not be able to see them well. Now you can look at them closely.

The other things that were abundant in the museum were relics of lots of long dead people.

Later that afternoon we went to the Science museum. That was way cool. We saw Galileo’s original telescopes. One was made of paper and the other was leather. What I found interesting was that these telescopes were made either by him or to order and they are very ornate. I guess they had more time back then.

One of the other pieces of Galileo’s equipment was a piece of experimental apparatus that he used to test and demonstrate that falling bodies accelerate as they fall. The piece of equipment consisted of a wooden incline to roll balls down. Bells were spaced at greater distances as it is farther from top. The bells ring at steady time spaces. Thus, falling bodies accelerate.

Also in the museum is Galileo’s middle finger in a glass jar display case. It was removed after his death. I think this was when he was reburied when the church finally forgave him for saying that the earth revolves around the sun.

A good day.