Firenze

Going to Florence this weekend was quite an adventure, although during the entire trip I was suffering from my horrible allergies to basically the outdoors. We arrived on Friday morning and as soon as we arrived we got on a bus, got to the Hotel Bologna where we were staying, dropped our bags, and went to Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi Gallery was so much better and enjoyable than I would have expected, while taking art history this year I had never realized that by the summer I would be standing 2 feet away from the famous paintings and sculptures we learned about from the Renaissance period. I was able to see one of my favorite paintings, The Birth of Venus, and the painting that I used as inspiration for a photography assignment this year, Judith Slaying Holofernes. Seeing the Statue of David definitely was the cherry on top of this artistic exploration, seeing this statue I literally had no words, if I tried to describe it just by saying it was magnificent of amazing it would be an insult to this statue. This 17 foot tall statue was sculpted so perfectly that you just have to stare at this statue of art and take it all in, soaking in every second of where you are, what you are seeing, and how something so perfect could resemble man so much. These paintings and works of art I saw truly lifted me and made me realize why I love art so much and the reason behind me being an artist and hopefully creating something one day that can move somebody the way these works of art moved me. We also had the opportunity to meet Patricia's friend Maurizio Benicioli who is a famous photographer and I was so grateful that he took the time out of his weekend to meet with us and show us his work because it was truly great to see all his work from when he first started in photography to his most recent work, he really inspired me to shoot so much the rest of the day in Florence and was an inspiration to my final project here in Italy. After seeing all the art we also did have our fun time going to the San Lorenzo market and going shopping. I bought a new leather belt and pair of converse because these shoes were so cool that I didn't want to leave Florence without them on my feet. I love everything about Florence, the culture, architecture, the food, the shopping, and the artistic feel of the city. It was sad when we had to return to Genova, but on our way back we had to be very touristy and stop by Pisa to take a picture next to the leaning tower. It was really a great weekend and I can’t wait for more excursions through Italy.
Ciao,
Harry