Climbing the Duomo + Boboli Gardens

With one last thing to do on our Italy checklist we headed to Florence to climb the Duomo. 414 stairs later we arrived at the top to an amazing view over the city. Going down the stairs was a bit dizzying at times with the tight spiral staircases. The Duomo is composed of two separate shells so you have to walk on a small pathway inside the Duomo looking down at the interior to get to the next portion. A little scary if you think too much about how high you are. Afterwards we visited the Boboli Gardens, also in Florence.

pathway inside looking down as we went to the next portion of stairs

at the Boboli Gardens

amphitheatre in the Boboli Gardens

Winery Visit in Castiglion Fiorentino

Wednesday, we went to take a tour of La Pevuccia Winery in Castiglion. It took about 30 minutes to walk there from the study center. We learned about the process of making wine as well as olive oil. After touring the facility and vineyards we were able to participate in a wine tasting of about 5 wines and a dessert liquor.

cheese with something similar to jelly on it--some were spicy, some were pumpkin flavored

brushetta

dipping the biscotti into the liquor

a warm custard for dipping the biscotti

ravioli for dinner at Santa Chiara

the Wizard of Oz play the TAMU Education majors did with a middle school in Castiglion