Florence is starting to feel like home. I’ve settled into a lovely routine of afternoons at the art studio or my art history class. Mornings are spent catching up online with family and friends back home, sightseeing, visiting galleries or churches, going to the market for food, or doing whatever else catches my attention. Many evenings I go for a drink and chat with friends after class which often leads to dinner.

On weekends there are excusions to the country or other activities around Florence which I can join. The Sunday before last, some of our group travelled by bus to two wineries in the Chianti region to try a few of their offerings and to learn how they’re made. I now know that there are strict rules that apply to the famous Chianti Classico wine, produced in this region. The wine must include a minimum of 80 per cent Sangiovese grapes and the wine grower cannot use any irrigation. Instead, they must rely only on rainfall which means it can vary from year to year depending on the weather. After tasting the wines, we wandered around the gardens and enjoyed the stunning views. On another excursion we took the train to Montereggi Ristorante, located on a large property just six kilometres north of Florence where we enjoyed a fabulous three course- lunch and another enjoyable wander around a country property.  

During the week, I joined a friend from my sculpture class at the Museo del Bargello. This museum is a five-minute walk from where I’m staying and is housed in the oldest public building in Florence. It exhibits many important sculptures from the Renaissance period, including masterpieces by well-known artists such as Donatello and Michaelangelo. For much of that period the Medici family governed Florence and the Bargello was a place where interrogations and capital sentences were carried out. It also housed a prison for nearly 300 years. In 1865, the building was restored and became the first Italian national museum, when Florence was the capital of Italy. Walking around the ancient building and taking in the stunning collection of statues and other pieces, it’s hard to imagine this dark past. As well as statues, the museum holds a huge and fascinating collection of rifles and other weaponry, all beautifully designed and etched.

As I learn more about the Italian Renaissance in my art history classes and the influential artists of that period, it has been such an absolute joy and a privilege to be able to walk into a museum or church and see their work … for example, Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi, Michaelangelo’s David in the Accademia (as well as a replica in the Piazza della Signoria), Brunelleschi’s dome on the Cathedral and Giotto’s frescos in the Basilica di Santa Croce, just across the road from where I am staying. This very impressive church, the largest in Florence after the Duomo is also home to the tombs of many famous Italians … Michaelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo, to name just a few.

The Sant’Agnolo neighbourhood has become my favourite place to go when I have some free time. It’s a bit less touristy than Santa Croce and has a cute little piazza in front of the church where the locals hang out with their dogs to chat with each other. Just around the corner is the food market where you can buy top quality fruit and vegetables as well as meat, fish and deli items. Across from there are other stalls selling vintage clothes, old furniture and paintings, and other bric-a-brac. 

The larger Piazza dei Ciompi is nearby and is very popular with students, as there are many low-cost bars and restaurants.  The Loggia del Pesce, once a fish market in a different piazza, was dismantled and moved there in 1956. Designed by Giorgio Vasari, it sits at one end of Piazza dei Ciompi and has nine wide arcades. There are always people sitting under the arches.

Once a month the piazza hosts a flea market and last Sunday I went to check it out the many interesting stalls selling everything from old Levi jeans to Disney comic books, written in Italian. There were also some genuine vintage designer items for sale at a much heftier price than the other market items. The weather was perfect and I had a lot of fun poking about and looking for a bargain.  

I am very happy to report that I absolutely love my sculpture class. I’ve just finished a small statuette and will spend my final weeks learning how to sculpt the human body starting with the face. In preparation, I spent a ridiculous amount of time studying toes and fingers while at the Bargello.  The change from language to sculpture feels very serendipitous and I’m so happy that I made it. It’s going to be very hard to leave this beautiful city.