The epitome of Italy. When you think of Italy you probably have visions of beautiful architecture, homes with terracotta roofs, and laundry hanging on the lines to dry. This is what Florence was. One of the perks of going through the CEA Rome study abroad program is that they provide two trips for students. And this weekend it was a trip to the Tuscany region.
We took a two-hour train ride to Florence where we were dropped off and had time to explore the city before our walking tour. The Duomo is the main tourist attraction and my roommates and I decided to grab a quick pizza right outside of the giant dome. It was amazing. Even though this was an extremely touristy area, being able to look up and admire the Duomo during lunch was such a surreal thing.
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| Enjoying Florence with my friends |
After lunch we were taken on a tour of the Accademia Museum by a CEA Art History Professor who teaches in Florence. We saw the famous statue of David, plus other unique sculptures. We also were taken on a tour of the city with a twist of history and not to mention tips on the best gelato and where to you can see the best view of Florence!
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| Hanging out at the statue of David with my roommate, Emily! |
After the tour my friends and I went to try the suggested gelato place, which was so creamy and delicious! It reminded me of a place we love in Rome! We walked around Florence a little bit more and decided to take another suggestion by the CEA Professor and check out this 360 view! Not many people know about this because it’s on top of a department store. We took 5 flights of elevators to get to the top and the view was breath taking! We went right at sunset, which was perfect.
We sat there admiring the picturesque view that we felt so lucky to see. We also talked about how it’s still mind boggling that we are here in Rome. It was 6 pm on a Friday, which means for most of us it was 12 pm at home or even 9 am. Our friends were sitting in class and dealing with a typical Friday schedule while we sitting on a rooftop in Florence talking about life. It was truly perfect.
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| Enjoying the picturesque view over looking the city |
My one friend mentioned how crazy it is that we will always be apart of each other’s stories. When we go back home people are going to ask what we did and who we spent our time with and we will always be talking about one another. No matter where we go in life and what we do, we’ll always have Europe.
Lauren Healy is the Fall 2014 CEA MOJO in Rome, Italy. She is currently a senior at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.