Last weekend in Florence: time to play tourist

For a Friday without classes, I'd like to give myself a little pat on the back for being surprisingly productive and ambitious today! After eating my breakfast consisting of dipping strawberries in my Nutella jar (I'm trying to use up all my food, don't judge), I set out to conquer some of the things on my "I should do this before I leave Florence" list. So, I set off to Florence's Synagogue.

I've been to dozens of churches since coming to Europe... you have no idea. So, it was a little refreshing to go to a place of worship that doesn't display classic examples of Medieval architecture or early Renaissance frescoes. I love the part of town the Synagogue is in... next door you'll find Ruth's kosher vegetarian restaurant, and inside the grounds of the Synagogue is a preschool with construction paper cut-outs all over the windows. Inside, I actually stumbled upon a tour being led for a class from my University, so I kind of hopped in and got the scoop on the history of the building. The synagogue is the only one in Florence, which has an estimated Jewish population of about 900 people. It's an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, so the men and women are separated during services (the balcony upstairs is for women, or behind the screens downstairs).
Here are some pictures from online... you aren't allowed to take any of your own pictures inside.

http://www.museumsinflorence.com/foto/sinagoga/image/16.jpg

http://www.museumsinflorence.com/foto/sinagoga/image/1.jpg

Upstairs was the Jewish Museum of Florence, with a history of the synagogue and the Jewish community over time in Florence. I really enjoyed my visit!

After stumbling upon a market and strolling through the Santa Croce neighborhood, I set off for the Gelateria Carapina. My friend sent me a list of the top gelato places in Florence (found online) and we're trying to see how many we can get through with one week left. This gelateria was on the list and I am so disappointed I didn't know of its existance before! I had strawberry and pear and they were divine. This store is like Grom in that they use all organic/fresh ingredients, except it was 50 cents cheaper. Perfection.

I'm hoping to have an even more productive day tomorrow with all my sightseeing, we'll see how that goes!