Thursday, November 25, 2021: The Smell of Florence
By Cristina Cai
CCI students spent their second overnight trip in the great city of Renaissance in the North-East Italy, Florence. The first day of the trip was full of sleepyheads slipping in and out of consciousness during the day’s journey, the weather forecast reported two days of heavy rain, but once Fabio, our bus driver, dropped us off for our first scenic view of the ancient city—it was all worth it. Suddenly, the grey clouds parted, just for a moment, and sunlight bathed the landscape of Florence with its orange clay tiled roofs. When it began to rain again it was gentle and tender and of course the city itself inspired calm and tranquility. In out first afternoon CCI students had a tour in the Piazza del Duomo and the Accademia where Michelangelo’s David waited for us. The Gothic styled Basilic of Santa Maria del Fiore left me speechless, and every façade, every arch and every cobbled-stoned street was fulfilled by the scent of the Renaissance. Students and staff soaked in the beauty of the city and the romance for life it inspired. On the second day, we felt more like ourselves, and our real journey into the past began. It was a day full of sweet memories; we spent the whole morning in the magnificent Uffizi Gallery where the world’s most famous canvases hang. When the teachers told us that we were supposed to spend about two hours there I was shocked at first, but when I looked at Cupid’s statue, I told myself that the teachers were right. Then I began to worry that maybe two hours was not enough. The Uffizi smelled like oil paints and horsehair brushes, and it looked like it would shape into one of CCI’s best memories. In the afternoon we had several different destinations to visit, one group went to the Galileo Museum and the other small group went on the Duomo while a third group went to Santa Croce Church. Most students selected the Galileo Museum, apart from the academic assignments attached to it, it was a real home for the scientifically-inclined. When Mr. Knapp explained to us that the armillary sphere could really rotate everyone’s eyes said, “Yes, I want to see it!” However, sadly, it is rotated only once a year to check its functionality. This is the other side of science, the more you explore, the funnier it gets. Meanwhile, some wonderful pictures from the Duomo group were delivered to our phones. We saw the sunny smiles of Daniil, Maria and Ms. Carriere from the top of the Duomo. It must have taken much resolve to climb all those stairs all the way to the top of the basilica. Our Florence trip was capped by a set of cheerful dinners at the Locanda Fiorentina, a restaurant situated in the shadow of the Duomo.
