benvenuto a firenze!

Our first real cappuccino, purchased at the cute cafe right below our apartment. I think he's slightly overwhelmed when eight girls storm in ordering "cappuccini" but he's very friendly nonetheless. And it's nice that you're forced to drink it at the cafe--certainly no take-away here--so hopefully we'll have some more extensive conversations with the owner in the future.

The Duomo is a mere two blocks away from our apartment--you can see the tri-colored marble if you look to the left once you've stepped outside the apartment. This is the baptistero which lies opposite from the front of the main church, and has beautiful gold doors (called the "Gates of Paradise") with scenes from the New Testament. My roomates and I are hoping to go inside the Duomo in the next few days, although unfortunately it's a separate cost to enter the baptistero and the campanile.

Here's a corner of the front of the Duomo; the engravings and the colors are absolutely beautiful, and I love how it looks next to the yellow and reds of the surrounding buildings. It's interesting how there is so much experimentation with color in architecture here (that quintessentially Tuscan mustard yellow being particularly popular), whereas back home people seem more comfortable sticking with neutrals. But color adds such energy and interest to this city and the culture, an artistic power I had never really previously realized.

An old-fashioned carousel in the middle of Piazza della Repubblica, a large square with a huge arch on the western side. Apparently it's only a euro or so to ride it, so i've definitely added this to my list of things to do before I leave!