FlorenceFive

FlorenceFive Stays Another Night

The past couple days have been quite busy! On Wednesday, we visited the abbey church of S. Godenzo to study its structure as a comparison to the destroyed S. Reparata. We also took a tour through gardens and the Bernard Berenson collection at The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Villa I Tatti. We were greeted graciously with tea and cookies as Professor Toker presented some materials for archive at the center.

FlorenceFive Catches the Train

Yesterday, we ran for the train and made it just in time to get to Lucca.  We explored the crypt under the Church of San Michele in Foro and the Pergamo di Giovanni Pisano in the Lucca Duomo.  Afterwards, we visited Pisa to look at the pulpit in the Duomo and to compare the Pisa Baptistery to the baptistery we examined in Florence. This photo is the front facade of the Church of San Michele in Foro.

-TheFlorenceFive

FlorenceFive Underground

Today, we went to the excavation site under the Florence Cathedral to examine and photograph the various mosaic carpet patterns. Then, we explored San Lorenzo and the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana designed by Michelangelo. We concluded the day by examining the ancient roman foundation existing beneath the baptistery in Florence as well as the foundation of what Professor Toker believes is an earlier baptistery building.

Ciao for now!!

-The FlorenceFive

FlorenceFive Has Landed

After flights from Pitt to Detroit and Detroit to Amsterdam, our venture to Florence took a slight shift, landing us in Bologna around 1:00pm today. Foggy skies, a bustling airport, and a tiny rental Fiat in which to pack our luggage tight could not hold this team back from making our dinner reservation at Acquacotta for our first traditional Italian meal in Florence. Up early tomorrow to spend the day under S. Maria del Fiore and the Baptistery!

-The FlorenceFive