MC 390
Professor: Eric Petrie
Books: Machiavelli’s Florentine Histories/Discourses on Livy and other material by Leo Strauss, Harvey Mansfield, and others.
When Professor Petrie entered class the first day, he set up for us a three-part class. First, we were to read the Florentine Histories to get an understanding of how Rome’s form of government has changed and how new ways of ruling have arisen in Florence, the major power of the Renaissance. Second, we were to review Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy (Livy being the author of Rome’s Histories that we read in MC 272). This was to get us to see Machiavelli’s new regime he proposes for the new world. Third, we were to get to know more about the European Union and see if it aligns with Machiavelli’s proposed regime. This was a very tall order, and we all knew there was no way we were going to get to everything, but it was a refreshing difference from MC 272’s plan: learn how ancient Rome is different from us.
After finishing the course, we had good discussions on how Florence’s power is different than Rome’s and we learned all about Machiavelli’s new regime (Petrie’s favorite subject). We had a lecture and some material on the EU, but we hardly covered it at all. So, this is what I learned...
First is how Rome differs from Florence. When Rome was founded by Romulus, the city was given a myth that he was found in the forest suckling on a she-wolf, as if he was chosen by the gods to found Rome and Rome was destined to be great. Rome’s citizens were given the duty to protect the city with their life, and when great deeds were shown by any citizen, the populous was quick to praise. The reverse was also true, if a man demonstrated too much ambition, the plebs quickly turned against him until his public life was destroyed. The people’s deep passion for Rome was given new meaning when it was turned into a Republic and more power was given to the plebs. Faction began to plague Rome between the elite nobles and the plebs. The nobles felt that they had the right to rule because of their knowledge beyond the common man and their family blood line. The plebs thought that this was ridiculous and that they had every right to rule as well. This led to the Tribunate (kind of like our modern version of the House of Representatives -- it represents the people while the Senate is supposed to represent the elites). The only thing that could hold back the plebs was war, and the ability to rally all of Rome against a common enemy. Political leaders had to find ways to give to the public in order to gain power, but this often turned against them as their deeds were seen as mischievous. Over time, the people used their position in government to take more and more power from the nobles until they had a Caesar, one man that most liked to rule the entire kingdom. As dictators by blood line are never as good over time as a republic where the pool for talented rulers is larger, Rome began to fall because of its rulers’ inability to continue expansion and unite its people.
The power of Rome derived from its political system and the people’s ties to it. Rome decided to go to war because their state was under attack. If a Roman wanted to to gain power, he had to give to the people what they wanted: a monument to their god or some power in their government. Rome had an armed citizenry and a standing army at all times. It was able to dominate because it had its own physical power that it controlled. This armed citizenry also fought for honor, and if they returned victorious, they would be a hero and could gain political power.
Florence is a completely different beast. Machiavelli writes that Florence, having extreme factions beyond that of Rome, could have become the greatest power known to man. It could not unite these factions under one ruling order, and thus failed at becoming as great or greater than Rome. What is immediately interesting about this is the idea of greater factions leading to more power in the state. We often see faction between Democrats and Republicans as demonstrations of weakness -- America’s inability to get its act together and get something done. Machiavelli believes that these factions are what gives a republic strength. Instead of having a uniting political power, however, Florence had ruling merchants and guilds that became famously wealthy. The competing families often competed with each other and built huge cathedrals to demonstrate its wealth.
One family in particular was the Medici family. Think The Godfather on steroids. Here we have Giovanni Medici. He grew up with little but was able to start gaining wealth through banking. He was known for being extremely prudent and benevolent. These traits led his business to grow as more trusted members joined his bank. When people owed him money, he did not demand it, but instead had The Godfather speech: “there may be a time that I will ask you for help, that time may never come, but I expect you to help.” Giovanni’s son, Cosimo Medici, took all of Giovanni’s strengths and added a lot of ambition. The other wealthy families of Florence turned against him, but Cosimo began making deals with the political leaders and Cosimo turned the Medici family into the de facto rulers of Florence where his bank became the greatest in all of Italy. Today you see the Medici coat of arms everywhere in Florence. Even when you travel to Pisa, Venice, and Rome, you see the Medici’s “balls,” their coat of arms.
[picture]
Machiavelli is ultimately disappointed in the Medici what is assumed to be because they didn’t turn Florence into a Republic that could have rulers beyond their blood line. The Medici rule did not last long, and it did not unite Florence into a large power. Reasons for this go beyond the lack of a Republic. Florence did not hold its own army; it relied on other armies and mercenaries to battle for it. These armies were very weak, not because of their size or weaponry, but because they held no attachment to Florence and were not willing to die for it. Florence’s power was ultimately money and its ability to commission anything it wanted. The lack of political unity meant there lacked political power, so all power was through the merchants and guilds who could attract talent. One last reason why Florence was not able to become powerful is Christianity.
Machiavelli was fascinated with Christianity and its ability to become stronger when attacked. Christianity had no army and yet the Pope could walk into a state and declare it tyrannical, and the armed king would do nothing to resist and give up his power. In fact, the King’s guards would turn against him and side with the Pope. If a Christian leader was killed, he would often become a martyr and praised. Killing Christians only strengthened Christianity. This power was completely new and propelled Machiavelli to propose a new regime that could act like Christianity: Modern Western Republics.
Machiavelli’s idea starts with the assumption that the plebs will win. You must give all political power to the people and find other ways of controlling society, otherwise you risk creating a dictator like Rome. The easiest way to establish this republic is to “kill the sons of Brutus,” or “cut the nobles to pieces.” You must destroy every power in your way like Cosimo did, but then do it in the name of the people, and give all power to the people. From here, faction will automatically arise amongst the people fighting over who will rule granting the republic power -- a tie to the state. In Machiavelli’s “The Prince,” he write that when a prince confronts a republic, the only thing that you can do to ensure your rule is to kill every person in that republic. This is because they have tasted liberty and will die defending it. The people thus have their tie to the state and are willing to fight for it, even to die for their freedom (sound familiar?). Now, because elites will always be contending for power, the only way they can gain power is to appeal to the people. This regime must be created in a way where everyone’s efforts add to the whole. Instead of Florence where everyone gained for their own ambition, the new regime must have citizens that gain to benefit the state. Thus enters our modern liberal society where everyone’s efforts pool together to strengthen the state.
This new regime dreamt by Machiavelli came out of his frustrations with Florence and its inability to unite its factions, and his love of Rome. Rome didn’t quite do it right, however, as it needed to assume the people would win, and give them all power. It was the beginning to ideas like the modern corporation, the liberal society, and the United States of America. My next class, MC 371 will discuss the modern problems/fears of the liberal society. So we will see how far Machiavelli took us and where we can go from here. We are living in Machiavelli’s world.
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Rest of Florence -- Weeks 2 and 3 @_@
Our second week in Florence was, in general, much more quiet and relaxing. Our first week had been so hectic that we needed time to recover. The week’s activities included two lectures from another guest, Professor Lombardo. He is an Italian historian that focuses on the European Union. His first lecture was about Machiavelli and the second about the EU. Neither were terribly fascinating and it was difficult to understand what he was saying. He did, however, share an interesting story about Machiavelli arguing with friends over a few cents that he was owed while playing cards. His arguments were apparently incredibly intense and over very small subjects.
We also had another tour from Rocky Ruggiero on the Borgello Museum. In it, Rocky showed us his favorite room for sculpture in the world where we learned about the creation of The Gates of Paradise and saw two masterpiece sculptures by Donatello, his David and St. [name]. There was also a sculpture by Michelangelo depicting Bacchus. Rocky said that Michelangelo to make money as a teenager would sculpt statues in the Roman style, pour dirt on it, and then sell it as a Roman original. One buyer found out that it was not a Roman original when he went to clean the statue. Instead of punishing Michelangelo, he realized that he had a master with him and let him sculpt him a Bacchus, the god of wine. Michelangelo’s Bacchus was rejected when completed, however, because he depicted Bacchus as drunk with a wild face and teeth showing.
That friday, our professor canceled class because it was a holiday in Florence to celebrate St. John the Baptist. We spent the day relaxing, but that night we invited our professor over for dinner (I should say he invited himself when he found out that we liked the food we cooked). Dylan and I went all out cooking and Joe bought some fine Italian wine for the celebration. I made my version of bruchetta, grilled and buttered bread with melted mozzarella, tomato, and bell pepper on top. Dylan made his famous seasoned pasta where he puts a lot of spices, oils, and butter in the water before adding the pasta. He also made a red sauce to go along with it. We then bought a gelato cake for desert. It was a great time. After dinner, we all made our way toward the bridge in the middle of Florence to watch the amazing fireworks display. It was very crowded, but fantastic to be apart of a city as it celebrates.
The next day Joe, Dylan, and I got up early to go to Venice. Dylan had a friend that had been living there for a week and she met us at the train station to show us around. Venice is famous for being a city on water, and that means that all transportation is by water... slow moving, docking at every stop, water travel. This was great though as Venice could possibly be the most beautiful city I have seen. The water adds a polish to the characteristically worn buildings and bridges found in Italy. We took an hour-long bus ride that went around half of the city; a great introduction. We then went to St. Marco’s square where we climbed a tower there and saw the entire city. Afterward we went to the St. Marco Cathedral where, according to my dad, held the first dual choir loft on opposite sides of the church introducing music that echos itself from one loft to the other.
The rest of our day was spent visiting art museums that Rocky had recommended. In one we found one painting that gave us endless enjoyment. In the center was an old bearded man that was looking intensely at his spoon as if convincing himself that there really “is no spoon.” The other figure was at the left of the painting. He is holding an arrow and is about to strike a cat and dog as they fight. His arrow, however, looks like a Harry Potter wand, and his face is contorted and looks like he is yelling “AVADA KEDAVA!!” Dylan and I laughed for days about him. That night when we returned to Florence was White Night, where you can walk around with a 5 euro glass that you purchase from a restaurant, and then every other restaurant that you visit fills it with their house wine. There are also plenty of deals in the shops.
Sunday was spent recuperating from Saturday.
Our last week in Florence, this was it. We had to finish everything we had slacked off! We started with another lecture from Rocky Ruggiero (tired of him yet? IMPOSSIBLE!). He lectured on art history and gave us plenty to think about stylistically about pre-to-post Renaissance art. A group of us then asked if we could pay him for tours, and he said that he only had one spot open, and hour and a half on Tuesday. We took it and paid the money for him to guide us at Florence’s Academia where Michelangelo’s real david stands. The building was designed around the David, and it stands in a domed room that is built stylistically large, but structurally small to make David look larger than he actually is (17 feet tall).
Rocky told us more than I could ever remember about the David: about how the contract for it started before Michelangelo was born, and when he took it on it was already “badly sketched out” in the marble according to the patrons. Michelangelo took this started David and completed it for the top of a cathedral. When he was finished, the patrons decided that it was too good to be put far away, so they held a meeting with Italy’s greatest artists to decide where to put it. Leonardo da Vinci is recorded as saying that it should be put in some dark corner. It was decided, however, to place it outside Florence’s town hall where it stood for hundreds of years until finally moved to the museum to keep it from further damage. There is a large debate whether Michelangelo’s David depicts him before or after he killed David. The museum’s literature on the statue says that it is after he kills David. Rocky gave us this argument, and then told us why he thinks it is wrong. Between David’s sold stance to his face to the lack of Goliath’s head to several other features, Rocky gave a solid argument for why this David is looking straight at the giant for the first time, measuring up his opponent and getting ready to strike. I thought this before he said anything, and I think it’s true even more now. This David is looking at Goliath for the first time, I’m convinced. We also learned a lot about the tools Michelangelo used when sculpting, his obsession with the male body, and that he hated to waste marble, so some of his figures are giants that used all the edges of the blocks of marble he used. Phenomenal time at the Academia.
On Wednesday, we had a day trip to Sienna and St. Jimmy Johns (look up real name). Early in the morning, our class met at the train station and took an hour-long bus to Sienna. When we got there our tour guide brought us to a church dedicated to St. Catherine, the one who brought the pope back to Rome. We had our first introduction to relics here. This church had St. Catherine’s scull inside a golden display. This church also had one of John the Baptist’s fingers inside another golden display. I had already seen these types of golden displays on our trip, but I never made the connection that inside all of them were dead people’s body parts. The church with the most body parts is often the most decked-out in gold.
We soon left this church and began to travel around the inside of Sienna. The city is built on 3 tall hills and looks a lot bigger than it actually is because of them. It is also surrounded by walls that used to serve as protection, but Sienna hasn’t expanded much beyond 60,000 people, so there has been no need to destroy the walls. While we were there, Sienna was celebrating a horse race that they hold every year. The city is divided into districts and each district has a rider. The first district we entered was the goose district. Children decked out in green (the goose color) were running about the small streets in excitement, something was going on. Our tour guide explained how each child is born in a district and baptized there to become a goose, a snail, an elephant/tower, a unicorn, dragon, caterpillar, forest rhino thing, etc. These districts have allies and enemies. The goose are allies with the snail and they are enemies with the elephant. Deals are made between allies to take down their enemies in the horse race. If they fail to complete their deals, the rider shamed by the communities, and loses honor. If enemy districts get into a fight, if you get hurt or hurt an enemy, you are praised as a hero and gain honor. One time, however, a child was killed in a fight, and the entire city came to his funeral, lifted his casket toward the goose district so he could see it one more time, and buried honorably.
Sienna is an example of times lost in government, when people held a connection to where they lived beyond economic reasons or even familial reasons. These people were born in a district and they fought for their district. This is what Professor Craig in Rome was trying to get his students to understand about ancient Rome. Without a tie to where you live, what makes you act in its favor? What makes you care to help your community and stop trying to gain individual wealth? The answer lies in Machiavelli, the author we are reading for our Florence Class.
Our time in Sienna was short, and after a quick lunch we hopped on the bus and headed for St. Jimmy Johns. We dubbed it St. Jimmy Johns because we couldn’t figure out how to pronounce its real name. This city was built in the medieval period and when you walk into it, it’s as if you have traveled back hundreds of years to another land now lost. There were once 76 towers in the city, each for families wealthy enough to afford them. There remain only 13 towers, and I climbed the tallest. 200-some steps later, we were looking over the small city. Tuscany was the background full of fields and hills that reminded me a lot of Kansas. The city is tightly packed, each building with its own unique roof giving a wonderfully textured look. Ivy climbs up the walls of the stone buildings and streets branch off in every direction. The city is beautiful, and perhaps my favorite one I saw on my trip to Italy. The downside is that it’s very touristy, unless you go off the main rode. Overall, our last day-trip was our best.
Our last class was on Thursday and so we spent the rest of the day sleeping. Friday, Elli, Caryn, Dylan, Joe and I went to Pisa to visit its Duomo and Leaning Tower. We got some pretty amazing pictures, some of which will never see the light of facebook. Everything else is what you imagine, we saw the tower of Pisa, and it is leaning. It is really cool, but it is sad that an entire city is reduced to a very small section of tourism.
Dylan, Joe and I continued this trip to Carrara where (you guessed it) Rocky told us is where the marble mountains are that have been excavated for thousands of years. As a result, sides of the mountain are missing and snow-like marble shines through, giving the look of marble mountains. The government decided that they didn’t want to destroy the look of the mountain anymore, so they now hollow it out instead. To hold it up they place giant pillars all over the cave. Imagine something like the Mines of Moria from The Lord of the Rings. Sadly, Dylan, Joe and I couldn’t get to the mountains, so we spent the day in Carrara -- probably the most “average” Italian city we have been to with little to no tourism. We walked around the city enjoying our spotting of marble here and there and guess as to why the entire city isn’t steeped in marble everywhere. It was a great day.
The rest of my time in Florence was spent mostly with Dylan as we traveled around the city finishing our check list of “Things To Do In Florence.” I’ll have to ask him what we did Saturday, because I can’t remember. I know we went to the Florence Duomo museum and then bought chocolate at the Lyndt super store.
Sunday, however, was a day for the history books. Dylan and I walked through the two most expansive museums in Florence: The Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. Both were places of residence for the Medici family at different points of their rule, and both exhibit some of the most expansive collections of Renaissance art in the world. After both of those, we then walked across the city and up a huge hill to a Vespers gorgorian chant that happens every night at 5:30 right before mass. We then headed to Piazza Michelangelo to get a last view of the entire city. On our way home we visited the town hall Signoria, the Duomo, and ended the day with gelato at the park next to our apartment. What a day! That night, Joe and I packed up and left for our all-night train to Paris. Florence was over, and we were on to our next adventure!
We also had another tour from Rocky Ruggiero on the Borgello Museum. In it, Rocky showed us his favorite room for sculpture in the world where we learned about the creation of The Gates of Paradise and saw two masterpiece sculptures by Donatello, his David and St. [name]. There was also a sculpture by Michelangelo depicting Bacchus. Rocky said that Michelangelo to make money as a teenager would sculpt statues in the Roman style, pour dirt on it, and then sell it as a Roman original. One buyer found out that it was not a Roman original when he went to clean the statue. Instead of punishing Michelangelo, he realized that he had a master with him and let him sculpt him a Bacchus, the god of wine. Michelangelo’s Bacchus was rejected when completed, however, because he depicted Bacchus as drunk with a wild face and teeth showing.
That friday, our professor canceled class because it was a holiday in Florence to celebrate St. John the Baptist. We spent the day relaxing, but that night we invited our professor over for dinner (I should say he invited himself when he found out that we liked the food we cooked). Dylan and I went all out cooking and Joe bought some fine Italian wine for the celebration. I made my version of bruchetta, grilled and buttered bread with melted mozzarella, tomato, and bell pepper on top. Dylan made his famous seasoned pasta where he puts a lot of spices, oils, and butter in the water before adding the pasta. He also made a red sauce to go along with it. We then bought a gelato cake for desert. It was a great time. After dinner, we all made our way toward the bridge in the middle of Florence to watch the amazing fireworks display. It was very crowded, but fantastic to be apart of a city as it celebrates.
The next day Joe, Dylan, and I got up early to go to Venice. Dylan had a friend that had been living there for a week and she met us at the train station to show us around. Venice is famous for being a city on water, and that means that all transportation is by water... slow moving, docking at every stop, water travel. This was great though as Venice could possibly be the most beautiful city I have seen. The water adds a polish to the characteristically worn buildings and bridges found in Italy. We took an hour-long bus ride that went around half of the city; a great introduction. We then went to St. Marco’s square where we climbed a tower there and saw the entire city. Afterward we went to the St. Marco Cathedral where, according to my dad, held the first dual choir loft on opposite sides of the church introducing music that echos itself from one loft to the other.
The rest of our day was spent visiting art museums that Rocky had recommended. In one we found one painting that gave us endless enjoyment. In the center was an old bearded man that was looking intensely at his spoon as if convincing himself that there really “is no spoon.” The other figure was at the left of the painting. He is holding an arrow and is about to strike a cat and dog as they fight. His arrow, however, looks like a Harry Potter wand, and his face is contorted and looks like he is yelling “AVADA KEDAVA!!” Dylan and I laughed for days about him. That night when we returned to Florence was White Night, where you can walk around with a 5 euro glass that you purchase from a restaurant, and then every other restaurant that you visit fills it with their house wine. There are also plenty of deals in the shops.
Sunday was spent recuperating from Saturday.
Our last week in Florence, this was it. We had to finish everything we had slacked off! We started with another lecture from Rocky Ruggiero (tired of him yet? IMPOSSIBLE!). He lectured on art history and gave us plenty to think about stylistically about pre-to-post Renaissance art. A group of us then asked if we could pay him for tours, and he said that he only had one spot open, and hour and a half on Tuesday. We took it and paid the money for him to guide us at Florence’s Academia where Michelangelo’s real david stands. The building was designed around the David, and it stands in a domed room that is built stylistically large, but structurally small to make David look larger than he actually is (17 feet tall).
Rocky told us more than I could ever remember about the David: about how the contract for it started before Michelangelo was born, and when he took it on it was already “badly sketched out” in the marble according to the patrons. Michelangelo took this started David and completed it for the top of a cathedral. When he was finished, the patrons decided that it was too good to be put far away, so they held a meeting with Italy’s greatest artists to decide where to put it. Leonardo da Vinci is recorded as saying that it should be put in some dark corner. It was decided, however, to place it outside Florence’s town hall where it stood for hundreds of years until finally moved to the museum to keep it from further damage. There is a large debate whether Michelangelo’s David depicts him before or after he killed David. The museum’s literature on the statue says that it is after he kills David. Rocky gave us this argument, and then told us why he thinks it is wrong. Between David’s sold stance to his face to the lack of Goliath’s head to several other features, Rocky gave a solid argument for why this David is looking straight at the giant for the first time, measuring up his opponent and getting ready to strike. I thought this before he said anything, and I think it’s true even more now. This David is looking at Goliath for the first time, I’m convinced. We also learned a lot about the tools Michelangelo used when sculpting, his obsession with the male body, and that he hated to waste marble, so some of his figures are giants that used all the edges of the blocks of marble he used. Phenomenal time at the Academia.
On Wednesday, we had a day trip to Sienna and St. Jimmy Johns (look up real name). Early in the morning, our class met at the train station and took an hour-long bus to Sienna. When we got there our tour guide brought us to a church dedicated to St. Catherine, the one who brought the pope back to Rome. We had our first introduction to relics here. This church had St. Catherine’s scull inside a golden display. This church also had one of John the Baptist’s fingers inside another golden display. I had already seen these types of golden displays on our trip, but I never made the connection that inside all of them were dead people’s body parts. The church with the most body parts is often the most decked-out in gold.
We soon left this church and began to travel around the inside of Sienna. The city is built on 3 tall hills and looks a lot bigger than it actually is because of them. It is also surrounded by walls that used to serve as protection, but Sienna hasn’t expanded much beyond 60,000 people, so there has been no need to destroy the walls. While we were there, Sienna was celebrating a horse race that they hold every year. The city is divided into districts and each district has a rider. The first district we entered was the goose district. Children decked out in green (the goose color) were running about the small streets in excitement, something was going on. Our tour guide explained how each child is born in a district and baptized there to become a goose, a snail, an elephant/tower, a unicorn, dragon, caterpillar, forest rhino thing, etc. These districts have allies and enemies. The goose are allies with the snail and they are enemies with the elephant. Deals are made between allies to take down their enemies in the horse race. If they fail to complete their deals, the rider shamed by the communities, and loses honor. If enemy districts get into a fight, if you get hurt or hurt an enemy, you are praised as a hero and gain honor. One time, however, a child was killed in a fight, and the entire city came to his funeral, lifted his casket toward the goose district so he could see it one more time, and buried honorably.
Sienna is an example of times lost in government, when people held a connection to where they lived beyond economic reasons or even familial reasons. These people were born in a district and they fought for their district. This is what Professor Craig in Rome was trying to get his students to understand about ancient Rome. Without a tie to where you live, what makes you act in its favor? What makes you care to help your community and stop trying to gain individual wealth? The answer lies in Machiavelli, the author we are reading for our Florence Class.
Our time in Sienna was short, and after a quick lunch we hopped on the bus and headed for St. Jimmy Johns. We dubbed it St. Jimmy Johns because we couldn’t figure out how to pronounce its real name. This city was built in the medieval period and when you walk into it, it’s as if you have traveled back hundreds of years to another land now lost. There were once 76 towers in the city, each for families wealthy enough to afford them. There remain only 13 towers, and I climbed the tallest. 200-some steps later, we were looking over the small city. Tuscany was the background full of fields and hills that reminded me a lot of Kansas. The city is tightly packed, each building with its own unique roof giving a wonderfully textured look. Ivy climbs up the walls of the stone buildings and streets branch off in every direction. The city is beautiful, and perhaps my favorite one I saw on my trip to Italy. The downside is that it’s very touristy, unless you go off the main rode. Overall, our last day-trip was our best.
Our last class was on Thursday and so we spent the rest of the day sleeping. Friday, Elli, Caryn, Dylan, Joe and I went to Pisa to visit its Duomo and Leaning Tower. We got some pretty amazing pictures, some of which will never see the light of facebook. Everything else is what you imagine, we saw the tower of Pisa, and it is leaning. It is really cool, but it is sad that an entire city is reduced to a very small section of tourism.
Dylan, Joe and I continued this trip to Carrara where (you guessed it) Rocky told us is where the marble mountains are that have been excavated for thousands of years. As a result, sides of the mountain are missing and snow-like marble shines through, giving the look of marble mountains. The government decided that they didn’t want to destroy the look of the mountain anymore, so they now hollow it out instead. To hold it up they place giant pillars all over the cave. Imagine something like the Mines of Moria from The Lord of the Rings. Sadly, Dylan, Joe and I couldn’t get to the mountains, so we spent the day in Carrara -- probably the most “average” Italian city we have been to with little to no tourism. We walked around the city enjoying our spotting of marble here and there and guess as to why the entire city isn’t steeped in marble everywhere. It was a great day.
The rest of my time in Florence was spent mostly with Dylan as we traveled around the city finishing our check list of “Things To Do In Florence.” I’ll have to ask him what we did Saturday, because I can’t remember. I know we went to the Florence Duomo museum and then bought chocolate at the Lyndt super store.
Sunday, however, was a day for the history books. Dylan and I walked through the two most expansive museums in Florence: The Uffizi and the Pitti Palace. Both were places of residence for the Medici family at different points of their rule, and both exhibit some of the most expansive collections of Renaissance art in the world. After both of those, we then walked across the city and up a huge hill to a Vespers gorgorian chant that happens every night at 5:30 right before mass. We then headed to Piazza Michelangelo to get a last view of the entire city. On our way home we visited the town hall Signoria, the Duomo, and ended the day with gelato at the park next to our apartment. What a day! That night, Joe and I packed up and left for our all-night train to Paris. Florence was over, and we were on to our next adventure!
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