by: Bret Lott
Creative Writing Professor Bret Lott is leading the summer, 2017, study abroad program in Spoleto, Italy.
Salve—
We take it easy on the second full day of the Florence trip. Every year before this one, the day begins with the more intrepid of our students climbing up 466 steps to the cupola of the Duomo, but since we were here last, the city has begun a reservation system in order to regulate the number of visitors—a good idea, but, well, we didn’t know about that until we got here, and the first reservation we could have made would have been for Monday. So students did the next best thing: they climbed the 414 steps to the top of Giotto’s Campanile, the belltower beside the Duomo. But after that they were on their own to see the city, to visit museums, to walk and eat and take pictures—that is, to gain an education by their own explorations rather than in a programmed fashion. Below are a few photos from a day spent exploring. We all had fun.
Ciao—
Giotto’s Campanile. Four hundred and eleven steps.
Down a side alley between the Arno and Palazzo Vecchio.
Coffee art made by hand at News Café. Only €1.50.
Marbling paper at Il Papiro.