Malaki-Milton:

Today after our class session on intercultural learning goals and engineering, the engineers set off to go on their own adventures for the day. A group of ‘warriors’ went on a hike with Dr. Deb Besser to Piazzale Michealangelo to get a dope view of the city of Florence. We saw a second statue of David by Michealangelo overlooking the city as well. After taking a few photos, we headed over to Cimitero delle Porta Sante where there were cypress trees planted with the names of fallen heroes who laid their lives during WWI and WWII. Once we finished our short exploration, the warriors headed back into the Florence streets to find good leather for Dr. Besser and eat some good food at Mesopotamia Kebab.

Cecelia:

Today I embarked on more adventures as my roommate, and I went shopping for the 4th time this week! We went shopping near the Duomo and found some great souvenirs for our family, and maybe a few for ourselves. While on this “adventure” we surprisingly learned about Italian culture. For instance, the love of leather and how to tell if it’s faux (hold a lighter on it and faux leather burns). To end the day, I went to a rooftop bar with a stunning view of the Duomo. Aside from the much-needed shopping I had a great time in class learning about the connection between American and Italian engineering. It’s amazing thinking about what can be learned by both countries to improve engineering.

Paige:

Some of todays adventures included some of the girls venturing into the city. In Florence we shopped for thoughtful souvenirs for our loved ones at home. We also browsed in the high end designer stores such as Prada and Micheal Kors to window shop. We also got our daily gelato of course. During our exploring we also happened upon a rooftop bar with the view of the Duomo. There was a bunch of birds the flew over us and it sparked the thought about how birds don’t land on the buildings near us. This is because the rooftops on certain buildings have small thin spikes that keep the birds from landing on them. This is a form of engineering that makes for a more comfortable environment for people.

Joel R:

As today was a less structured day with no set plans after class in the morning, there was some opportunity to look around Florence and do things that we wouldn’t have a chance to do otherwise. For example, I (Joel) took the opportunity to do some shopping and sightseeing, taking time to go to the Santa Croce neighborhood and seeing the Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze (pictured). Around here, I did some shopping at local leather stores recommended by our guide Claudio (Piero Tucci, Leonardo Gold and Leather, and Peruzzi), and got a sandwich from All’Antico Vinaio, which is a famous and beloved sandwich shop that has locations in both Rome and Florence.