(that's my friend, Molly, right in front of the Duomo)
Right across from the cathedral are the Gates of Paradise, a name coined by Michaelangelo. These doors are the doors to the Baptistry and are absolutely incredible. I know I use that term a lot in the scope of this blog, but seriously, this was probably my favorite thing to see in Florence. The story that my art-history-major friend told us about the doors made them even more fascinating (sources have been fact-checked and she was 100% right):
Originally, the chance to complete the doors was determined by a contest between all of the famous sculptors of the time. Ultimately, two sculptors, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, won and they were supposed to make the doors as a team. However, Brunelleschi was so insulted by this proposition that he moved to Rome for years with the goal of studying architecture so that he might become a better artist than Ghiberti, leaving Ghiberti to complete the doors solo. When Brunelleschi finally returned to Florence in the 1460s, he got revenge on Ghiberti by going ahead and completing the entire dome of the cathedral all by himself, an intentional slap-in-the-face to his rival.
Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise" from the early 1400's. It took him over 20 years to complete. Each panel depicts a different story from the Bible.
Afterwards, we went to the Uffizi Gallery. We could've wandered around for hours, but we narrowed it down to some of the most famous works, like Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus." The museum is massive, though, and pretty much every single piece of art was Jesus-centric (shocker).
Then, we crossed the Ponte Vecchio and the weather finally began to clear up. The shops on the Ponte Vecchio are all really expensive and beautiful jewelry stores so we had fun looking at the amazing pieces of jewelry.
The Ponte Vecchio
One of my friend's mothers had visited Florence 20 years ago and specifically remembered one restaurant called Ristorante Mamma Gina's and said it was her favorite restaurant in the world. It's right off the Ponte Vecchio and that's where we ate for lunch. It definitely lived up to the hype and everyone who is reading this NEEDS to go to this place. The website is: http://www.mammagina.it/ and it was actually one of the best meals I have ever had. Get the Panzerotti pasta dish!
We walked around the high fashion district in an attempt to walk off our huge meal, but of course we got sidetracked by the gelato. The gelato in Florence is allegedly the best gelato in the world, but I really could not tell the difference...all of the gelato that I've had in Italy has been superb!
Later on, we went to a friend of a friend's apartment and got ready to go out. We went to a club called Yab and although it was so fun, had great music, and I got to see my friends from home, it was a complete rip-off and every single American student who goes to that place should beware that the place charges as you're leaving, not when you enter. WITHOUT a drink, I had to pay 20 euro! As each American student was leaving, one by one, they all were so shocked when they were asked to pay. The girl who I stayed with told us that because of situations like these, her greatest expenses have not ended up being food, travel, clothing, etc.. .... but the nightlife! I'm very grateful that Siena is not such a tourist trap.
In the morning, we went to see Michaelangelo's sculpture of David at the Accademia Gallery and then headed home. Now I'm back in Siena getting ready for my first day of classes!
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