Last days in Rome

This week a group of us spent our free day outside of the city of Rome in beautiful Florence. It was a much needed break from all the hustle and bustle to wind down before ending our trip and heading home.

One of the things I was most excited to see in Florence was the statue of David in the Accademia gallery. Michaelangelo never disappoints. I was speechless when we walked into the room where the David is displayed. I have seen pictures and studied the statue, but you can't really appreciate the scale and the intricate detail until you are standing right in front of it. I must have looked at just the veins in his hand for at least 10 minutes. My only reaction was complete disbelief that something this beautiful and incredible could have been carved out of a chunk of rock. I read on one of the plaques in the museum that Michaelangelo sculpted the David from a piece of marble he found. I don't know about you, but I definitely don't think I could be inspired enough, after happening upon a giant chunk of rock, to sculpt something that beautiful and intricate.

Michaelangelo's famous "David". I have never been so intrigued by a right hand.

We spent most of the rest of our day relaxing. We shopped around the street stores, ate gelato, walked by the river and enjoyed Florence. We did get a little ambitious and decide to climb the 412 steps to the top of the bell tower at the Duomo (which we regretted for a moment around stair 346) and got an incredible view of the whole city. Of course, after climbing that many stairs, we had to take an excessive amount of pictures of the city to document what we had worked so hard for. All in all, it was an incredible day. It was a lot of fun to get out of Rome and see what other parts of Italy are like. Florence is definitely a city that I would put on my list to come back to if I ever get back to Italy.

The view from atop the bell tower at the Duomo. Florence is so beautiful!

At the Ponte Vecchio doing some shopping and enjoying the Florentine sun. 

These past 3 weeks in Rome have been beautiful and full and eye-opening. I have loved learning about the incredible history of this city and its people. I loved every moment of terrible, half english half italian, attempts at interactions with the Italian people. Rome is a vibrant city full of so much more than you would ever expect to find here. While I am excited to get home to my friends and family, and share my experiences with them, I will miss Rome terribly (especially the food and the freedom to eat gelato multiple times a day without getting weird looks). I am incredibly thankful to have been able to experience this wonderful city, and can't wait for my next adventure in Europe.

Roma, fino alla prossima volta!