Dawn of the First Day- Morning

The morning started after possibly the best night of sleep in recent memory. The beds in our rooms are small and hard, but very comfortable. I am personally a fan of blackberries soft bedding, but this one in particular was very nice after a very long day of travel. Breakfast was a variety of breads and jellies. Also there was an instant coffee machine. Now, you may be thinking That this would be just like the instant coffee we get in America. It was better than most fresh coffee Could you get normally in the U.S.

We spent the morning in the Palazzo Vecchio Which, in the ITS days prior to being a museum, housed the town hall and many apartments and offices of the aristocracy. This included Pope Leo X, a descendant of the Medici line and Eleonora of Toledo, who was married to Cosimo I Medici.  

Eleanora was an intersting character in the Italian Renaissance. Married to Cosimo I, who was the Duke of Florence, she was in a position of power as the head of the grain industry, a major part of Florentine economy. In her apartments, many ceiling paintings featured influential women from history and mythology. For example, there is a depiction of the story of Esther from the Bible. In it is the scene where Esther intercedes for her people to her husband, Persian king Ahasuerus. The scenes, instead of being Placed in a time-appropriate location with appropriate dress, takes place in the Piazza della Signoria with all of the characters in Renaissance-era garb.  

Included in the museum is the Presumed death mask of Dante Alighieri, a major part of Dan Brown's novel Inferno . It was an oddly creepy experience looking at it, Particularly Since his eyes were open During the molding.

We also toured the secretary's office. One secretary longer available, for a time, was none other than Niccolo Machiavelli. In the room was a carved bust of the man as well as the famous painting by Santi di Tito.

Included in this post are pictures taken in the Palazzo Vecchio and the statues garden outside in the Piazza Signoria. I will be adding photos from yesterday as well. I apologize if any of them are exceptionally poor quality, I have not Looked through them all yet. This is just a sample of what I have taken so far.

For lunch, a few of us ate sandwiches from a counter-shop for only € 3. Literally, it was Merely to counter with a guy making the sandwiches behind it.  

Speaking of food, the ideology behind it Compared to American food is interesting in how they Both are different. In America, most of the restaurants have the idea That value comes from the quantity of food. More patties on your burger, extra cheese, double fries, That Kind of Thing. Here, it's about what is in the meal, and the quality of it. For instance, the sandwich I just got done eating is known as lamprey, a common quick meal:  http://taste.fourseasons.com/2013/06/lampredotto-sandwich-florence/. On mine, I had two pieces ofroast ham (slightly thicker than prosciutto) and mushrooms. That and bread was all that this meal was comprised of. It was the best sandwich I have had made ​​fresh for me. I am quite satisfied and Wished That I have not had a side That would normally be obligatory for an American meal.

Since the trip Has now officially started, These posts are Most Likely going to get longer and more detailed. This afternoon I will be coming to you with details about our trip to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. I will be giving a short talk about the building and the reason It has two names.