Another Beautiful Day in Florence

My third day in Florence was one of my favorite days.  I did a lot of really amazing things, but unfortunately the majority of the things I did wouldn’t allow me to take pictures.  So, unfortunately, pictures are limited on this day.

 

My first stop of the day was Museo Galileo.  It’s right off the Arno river, and it is by far one of  my top three favorite museums I have ever been to.  It is all about the rise of science during the Renaissance.  It is absolutely amazing.  There are astrological globes, terrestrial globes, medical tools, telescopes, compasses and so many other amazing 12th-19th century artifacts.  Then there’s also an exhibit on Galileo himself, which I love.  When I went to Padua in 2007 I went to the University where Galileo taught, and I’ve always been a huge fan of his, so seeing things related to him is always amazing for me.  In this exhibit, they have two of his original books, his telescopes, some of his other belongings, his index finger, middle finger and thumb of his right hand, and some artistic representations of him.  That’s one of my favorite thing about Florence; that you get to stand here and look at the remains or the product of great thinkers and artists.

After exploring the museum I met Stacey for lunch, an then made my way back to Santa Maria Novella.  This church is another absolutely beautiful church.  (It’s pretty much impossible to find a church in Italy that isn’t stunning).  There’s a ton of beautiful art, that once again, you’re not allowed to photograph, but if you don’t trust me, google it and you’ll see it’s worth a visit.  My favorite was “Representation of Paradise, Judgment Day  and Purgatory Hell”.

Later that afternoon I went to a cooking class, which I’m saving to write about for another post, but you’ll hear more on this later.

That night Stacey, her friend and I went to the Opera at Saint Mark’s English Church.  I have never been to an opera before, so this was a really amazing cultural experience.  The opera was a small production, but still very beautiful.  We saw La Traviata, which inspired the movie Moulin Rouge (one of my favorites).  It was beautiful, and since it was in an English church, they explained the Acts to us in English.  It was a little hard to follow, and I wasn’t sure at first if I enjoyed it, but when the plot picked up, I decided that I really enjoyed it, and was actually moved at the end of the opera.

After the Opera Stacey and I met some of her friends at a little bar called Be Bop, and they had a Beatles Cover Band.  It was so much fun, the band was great and we had a couple of drinks and danced to some of the greatest music ever made, until two in the morning.  Apparently this is an every Tuesday thing, so if you’re in Florence on a Tuesday- look up Be Bop and get your dance on!

For more posts and travel articles I find interesting ‘like’ the For the Love of Wanderlust page on Facebook. Simply click HERE.

For more on my trips to Italy you can read about them here:

Italy Part One

Italy Part Two

Italy Part Three

Florence

Florence Part Two

Bologna