Italia! Florence

"Just remember, you are enough for anyone." - T-shirt seen on a man at an Autogrill on way to Florence.

Our 5th day is spent in Florence. (6th day for you Contiki people, I'm not counting my travel day.) This was one of my favorite days on the tour.

We skipped the morning included activities (a leather demonstration & walking tour) to do laundry and go see "The David". We had pre-bought tickets to the Uffizi Gallery, so we had to go to a ticket booth to pre-buy tickets for The Accademia. We got to walk the streets of Florence, we even went to the post office. We had some coffee at a tiny cafe near the museum. Then it was off to see David. There was no photography allowed inside, unfortunately. We turned the corner & there he was! I've seen a replica in person before, but seeing the real thing is a completely different experience. It really is an amazing sculpture. And I learned something - David's pupils are shaped like hearts, and his hands & feet are purposely proportioned bigger b/c he was originally displayed high up. We sat for a while & stared at him.

We went to the Uffizi Gallery and saw the painting of "Venus on a Half Shell", where there was no photography allowed either. We looked at lots & lots of religious art. That has never been my favorite & boy do they have lots of it. We went outside to Piazza Della Signoria & took photos with the fake David. There are lots of fountains in Florence - I LOVE fountains, so I was happy to photograph some along the way. We stopped for lunch (more mediocre pizza) & had overpriced gelato. Gelato is still really good, no matter what the price! I am noticing the graffiti gets creative here. Everywhere else has been only tags. I hate tagging. It's really ugly.

We walked over The Ponte Vecchio (The Old Bridge). I noticed along the street leading up to the bridge there are tons of locks with people's names & dates on them. Symbols of people's love. It was near here an old Italian man says to me, Oh, Jennifer Lopez, mmm, (kissy noises). I couldn't help but laugh & wonder - what the hell? Turns out vendors try to lure women in by calling out names like Jennifer Lopez or Lady Gaga. I don't know who that works on.

We also visited Opera di Santa Croce to see the tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo & Dante. Although, I read Dante's tomb is empty here as he was exiled from the city & buried elsewhere. Florence wants him back now, but the place he's buried in won't give him up. Drama!

That night we got dressed up and went out for a Tuscan dinner with the group. We stopped for a photo and saw a gorgeous view of Florence. The meal was delicious - even if I had eggplant again! We had some bread, salad, pasta, vegetables and our main dish. Lots of wine, though none for me. The dinner was a lot of fun. Fantastic night out.

www.firenzemusei.it
www.uffizi.com
www.santacroce.firenze.it