Florence day 8

Today we had our guilding workshop. We split up into 2 groups and half of us went from 9-1 and the other half went from 2:30-6:30. We got to try out several different guilding techniques for ourselves, and get first hand experience on how it's done. We made frames, and got to decorate them with 22 karat gold leaf. We also decorated the backing of the frame as well with whatever picture we wanted.

22 karat gold leaf

Day 7 in Florence

This morning we went to a Chapel. We talked about some of the artwork in the Chapel in detail, but unfortunatley we were only allowed to stay inside for 15 minutes. After the Chapel, we walked to the train station to talk about the architecture of it, and why it is so great. We had the afternoon free. At 5:30 we all met up to go inside the baptistry, where we got to enjoy the Mosaic ceiling, and talk about the artwork inside of that.

Day 6 in Florence

This morning we finally got to go on our walk with John. We stopped at a church on the way, where a lot of famous people are buried, including Michelangelo and Galileo. After the church, we then continued on our walk and walked up many hills and stairs to a place where you could see all of Florence. After we got to our destination, we had the rest of the afternoon free.

Day 4 in Florence

This morning we went to San Marco. San Marco used to be an operating monestary, but now it has been turned into a museum. You can still see all the dormitories that were used, and each one is decorated with a different painting. We spent a few hours talking about some of the paintings, and about how monestarys function. We were going to go for our walk after San Marco, but it was pouring, so the walk has been postponed again until Sunday morning. We have the rest of the day free, but its been raining on and off. Tomorrow we don't have anything planned as a group either, but the majority of us are taking a day trip to Rome.

Day Three in Florence

This morning we went to the Acadamia, where Michelangelo's David statue is. I think the David was a lot bigger than any of of us anticipated. We saw some paintings, and a lot of statues. The museum also had a section dedicated to music, and it had models of instruments from centuries ago, and it was intereseting to see how they've developed over time. We were supposed to go a mid-afternoon walk, but John wasn't feeling well, so the walk will be tomorrow.

Florence Day 2

This morning the group went to the art restoration school, where we spent a couple of hours learning how pieces of art are restored. We saw a couple of famous paintings that are in the process of being restored, a frame, among other things. After that, we all went to this market so we could buy food for cooking if we wanted. After the market, we had the afternoon free. We might still be doing something with the group tonight, but that still hasn't been decided. At the moment, we have the whole night to ourselves.

Florence!

We finally made it to Florence. Our flight left Paris at about 12:45, and we arrived at our apartments in Florence at around 4:30. We took a short walk down the street to a supermarket in case we wanted to buy food for dinner. At 8:45 we're meeting up again for a walk.