The annual trip to Florence is in many ways the highlight of the year for Art History students as they begin to see how what they have studied in the classroom finally makes sense within the geographic context of what is still, essentially, a medieval city. There is no substitute for seeing these extraordinary Renaissance paintings, sculptures and architecture in this timeless Tuscan city up close and it brought everything the students had been learning vividly to life. We also had a wonderful bunch of interested English students with us as well who took the full days in their stride. It did not take long for the restrictions of the classroom to disappear and for the art, culture and history (not to mention the food!) of the Florentine world to surround us literally and figuratively.

A delayed flight from City Airport meant it was a bit of a rush to finish our orientation walk before dinner which was, as ever, at the famous ‘ZaZa’ and gave the students a chance to make new friends. Tuesday was our first, and very busy, big day which began just after breakfast with the climb up 463 steps to the top of the dome. After a quick coffee it was on to the beautiful San Marco monastery whose walls are decorated with Fra Angelico’s serene frescoes depicting religious scenes, painted with great sensitivity and still as fresh as when they were painted over five hundred years ago.

After lunch we were able to marvel at the scale of Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia and then after taking in some buildings by Michelozzo and Brunelleschi, some very tired students headed back to the hotel Perseo to get ready for the second group dinner.

An early night was needed as Wednesday morning was given over to the refurbished Uffizi and we were there for five hours! What troopers they were; they did not flag! Botticelli’s paintings in the Uffizi, were a highlight in particular the famous Birth of Venus and La Primavera as well as works by Lippi, Piero, Leonardo and Michelangelo. Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi again astounded all with its decorative detail. The rest of the day was spent looking at sculpture at Orsanmichele and in the beautiful Museo del Opera del Duomo where Donatello’s Mary Magdalene never fails to disappoint.

Thursday was dominated by visits to the Bargello and to Santa Croce before heading over the river to Santo Spirito and a spirited climb up to San Miniato al Monte. No sooner had we arrived than it was our last day (Friday), where we visited the Medici Palace, and for the second year in a row were able to see Masaccio’s magnificent ‘Trinity’ from the restorer’s viewing platform. After a brief shopping detour at the Pharmacia (so famous now that you have to queue), it was on to San Lorenzo to take in the magnificent collection of paintings as well as Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy.

On average we did 15-20 thousand steps a day so that is a total of about 400,000 steps a day collectively and about 2 million steps during our stay! The generous proportions consumed by the students helped fuel them for the challenge!

After a quick breakfast on Saturday morning, it was back on to the tram to catch our flight home with 19 happy but exhausted students. We had packed in a huge amount during a relatively short space of time, though students still had time to wander around the city to visit the markets, eat ice cream and enjoy the language and wider culture of this beautiful city.