Our final day in Florence was spent touring the city as a group for one last time before we split up to spend our weekend in different towns before returning to Rome. We met for the last time across the street from Hotel Giada on the steps of San Lorenzo to learn more about the families and popes that held the greatest power and influence in Florence. Throughout our stay in Florence, Lisa kept us all interested in the art and history of the town with stories of intrigue, conspiracies and murder that involved the most influential figures of Florentine history, including Lorenzo de Medici and Savonarola. I was surprised at how many well-known artists and popes originated from Florence and often returned there to contribute their talents to the churches there.
After our final meeting in Florence that morning, we were divided into two groups so that the smaller groups could each tour the Palazzo Vecchio and participate in an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. My group, led by Lisa, quickly headed to the Mercato Centrale near San Lorenzo so that we would not be late for our olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting with Stefano. I was not sure what to expect at the tasting because drinking olive oil and vinegar did not seem appealing to me at all since my experience with these two substances is usually limited to cooking or salad dressing. After arriving at Stefano’s stall in the market, I was amazed by the array of different olive oils and vinegars. Bottles of different shapes and sizes lined the walls, each containing olive oil or balsamic vinegar from towns throughout Italy with their own unique flavors. We were instructed to line up in front of the counter at the stall and we were each given a small plastic spoon with which to taste each of the samples. To begin, we were given a few drops of an eight-year-old balsamic vinegar. The vinegar was pleasantly sweet a
nd surprisingly thicker than I expected. Next, we tried a ten-year-old vinegar that tasted even sweeter and stronger than the previous sample. I was almost startled by the flavor of this balsamic vinegar because I did not expect to taste a difference between the first and second samples, but there truly is a subtle difference in taste between the various types of balsamic vinegar that can be attributed to difference in ages and the type of barrels in which they are kept. We were also allowed to taste an intensely flavored 12-year-old balsamic vinegar, balsamic vinegar cream flavored with chocolate, two types of olive oil, paté and biscotti with figs. The whole experience was both fun and culturally educational because we all left the market with a greater appreciation for the uniquely Italian art of cultivating the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Next, we headed to the Piazza della Signoria for our tour of Palazzo Vecchio. This Palazzo was one of the three palaces owned by the Medici family, arguably the most influential family in Florentine history. We were met at the entrance by our tour guide, Dominizia, who led us through the winding hidden staircases and secret rooms of the palace. First, we climbed our way through a dark, narro
w stairwell that led us into the entry of the Studiolo. The Studiolo was a room built for and used exclusively by Francesco de Medici, the son of Cosimo I. The small, treasure chest-shaped room is decorated with paintings of well-known mythological stories and two portraits of Francesco’s parents. Dominizia explained to us that this room was used to store all of Francesco’s most prized possessions. It was also used as his private space to practice alchemy, his favorite science. This was my favorite room in the palace because the paintings on the walls ingeniously disguised the cabinets that held his precious objects. Each painting of a mythological scene held clues to what valuable items were held inside. For example, one painting entitled “Allegory of a dream” was used to hold Francesco’s supply of opium and other drugs. Historians have used these paintings to speculate what was hidden inside the cabinets since the contents of the hidden storage areas have been missing for centuries. Next, we traveled through another hidden staircase into more lavishly decorated rooms that were used as the private refuges of several of the Medicis. Dominizia then led us through the room that seats 500 that was used for government meetings and is decorated with paintings depicting the victory of Florence over Siena and Pisa. We were finally led through one last dark stairwell into an area between the ceiling and roof to see the wooden frames that alternately hold up the room and pull up the ceiling so that they are each supported independently. We were then escorted downstairs and our group wandered through the remaining rooms in the palace to view the art on display throughout the palace.
The tour through Palazzo Vecchio concluded our classes for the day, so our group headed back in the direction of Hotel Giada to have a quick lunch and then to finish our quest assignments. Later that afternoon, our class split up to go our separate ways; I traveled to Venice with six other students as another group left for Siena and two people preferred to travel independently to Pisa and Cortona. My group of seven students traveled by train to Venice and then by bus to our hotel in a residential area in the outskirts of town. After our hectic week in beautiful Florence, we were all ready for a free weekend of exploring a new town on our own!
After our final meeting in Florence that morning, we were divided into two groups so that the smaller groups could each tour the Palazzo Vecchio and participate in an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. My group, led by Lisa, quickly headed to the Mercato Centrale near San Lorenzo so that we would not be late for our olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting with Stefano. I was not sure what to expect at the tasting because drinking olive oil and vinegar did not seem appealing to me at all since my experience with these two substances is usually limited to cooking or salad dressing. After arriving at Stefano’s stall in the market, I was amazed by the array of different olive oils and vinegars. Bottles of different shapes and sizes lined the walls, each containing olive oil or balsamic vinegar from towns throughout Italy with their own unique flavors. We were instructed to line up in front of the counter at the stall and we were each given a small plastic spoon with which to taste each of the samples. To begin, we were given a few drops of an eight-year-old balsamic vinegar. The vinegar was pleasantly sweet a
nd surprisingly thicker than I expected. Next, we tried a ten-year-old vinegar that tasted even sweeter and stronger than the previous sample. I was almost startled by the flavor of this balsamic vinegar because I did not expect to taste a difference between the first and second samples, but there truly is a subtle difference in taste between the various types of balsamic vinegar that can be attributed to difference in ages and the type of barrels in which they are kept. We were also allowed to taste an intensely flavored 12-year-old balsamic vinegar, balsamic vinegar cream flavored with chocolate, two types of olive oil, paté and biscotti with figs. The whole experience was both fun and culturally educational because we all left the market with a greater appreciation for the uniquely Italian art of cultivating the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar.Next, we headed to the Piazza della Signoria for our tour of Palazzo Vecchio. This Palazzo was one of the three palaces owned by the Medici family, arguably the most influential family in Florentine history. We were met at the entrance by our tour guide, Dominizia, who led us through the winding hidden staircases and secret rooms of the palace. First, we climbed our way through a dark, narro
w stairwell that led us into the entry of the Studiolo. The Studiolo was a room built for and used exclusively by Francesco de Medici, the son of Cosimo I. The small, treasure chest-shaped room is decorated with paintings of well-known mythological stories and two portraits of Francesco’s parents. Dominizia explained to us that this room was used to store all of Francesco’s most prized possessions. It was also used as his private space to practice alchemy, his favorite science. This was my favorite room in the palace because the paintings on the walls ingeniously disguised the cabinets that held his precious objects. Each painting of a mythological scene held clues to what valuable items were held inside. For example, one painting entitled “Allegory of a dream” was used to hold Francesco’s supply of opium and other drugs. Historians have used these paintings to speculate what was hidden inside the cabinets since the contents of the hidden storage areas have been missing for centuries. Next, we traveled through another hidden staircase into more lavishly decorated rooms that were used as the private refuges of several of the Medicis. Dominizia then led us through the room that seats 500 that was used for government meetings and is decorated with paintings depicting the victory of Florence over Siena and Pisa. We were finally led through one last dark stairwell into an area between the ceiling and roof to see the wooden frames that alternately hold up the room and pull up the ceiling so that they are each supported independently. We were then escorted downstairs and our group wandered through the remaining rooms in the palace to view the art on display throughout the palace.The tour through Palazzo Vecchio concluded our classes for the day, so our group headed back in the direction of Hotel Giada to have a quick lunch and then to finish our quest assignments. Later that afternoon, our class split up to go our separate ways; I traveled to Venice with six other students as another group left for Siena and two people preferred to travel independently to Pisa and Cortona. My group of seven students traveled by train to Venice and then by bus to our hotel in a residential area in the outskirts of town. After our hectic week in beautiful Florence, we were all ready for a free weekend of exploring a new town on our own!
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