Firenze

So despite the horrendous experince to get here, Firenze is incredible. Hot, very hot, but incredible. My hostel is on the outskirts of town but in an old villa so the view into the Tuscan hills I think I can deal with. My first afternoon/evening here I went to the Duomo and around the old town. As I was getting ready to leave the hostel there were some thunderclouds above. I figured it could hold off for a while. A nice girl from Israel is staying in the same room as I am and we ended up on the bus at the same time so we thought it would be good to walk around together since we've both been alone for a while now. Getting to the Duomo it kinda takes your breath away how incredible it is. Unlike all the other churches that Ive been to thus far, its probably more extravagent on the outside than on the inside its self. While around the Duomo it started to rain so what a perfect time to go inside and get some gelato :). This stuff is even better here in Italy than it was in Paris. Once the rain stopped it was like no one lived in Firenze and we walked right into the Cathedral. Its very simple inside yet incredibly beautiful.

Across from the Cathedral is the small Bapistry which is said to be the oldest building in Firenze, built in 1050. The most incredible part about it are the Ghiberti Bronze doors. These doors are constructed of 8 bronze 3D panels that explain various bible stories. Its incredible that these were carved from only inches thick Bronze and have such a outstanding effect. Walking away from the Duomo we found Palazzo Vecchio. This is where the hold city hall is located and where Michaelangelo's "David" stood for 350 years protecting the building. I was exhausted from my trip the night before so after the Plazzo and some pizza I went back to the hostel and fell asleep for 12 hours.

Today I woke up and my only goal was to see "David" @ Accedemia. Got in line and thought it was going to take hours, but surprisingly it only took about 45 minutes. Getting in right after your ticket you turn left and the hallway leading to it helps with the magnificence of the statue. Walking up to it you really get an idea of how big it is. He sits under a dome which creates and angelic like halo around him and the fact that hes 14 ft tall, well thats just amazing. Unlike many other David statues, this one is from before he slayed Goliath, as he's sizing up his competition. The detail on the statue is really what makes it incredible. In his right hand he's holding the rock that he uses to slay Goliath and you can see the raise veins in his hand as he clenches the stone. Even in his eyes you can see he scowl yet in true renaissance style his eyes are hearts. I snuck in a picture without getting caught too :) The rest of the gallery has some unfinished "Prisoners" of Michaelangelo that are almost as cool.

After I left Accademia I just chose to walk around for a while just see the city. There are so many cool small streets that you can walk down and just get lost for days. I chose to go into one other museum and that was the Bargello Museum. This old prison and police station is a very cool building and uncrowded so it was nice to get away from that aspect of Firenze. There are 3 other David statues within this musuem along with some other Michaelangelos and Donatello statues. My lunch today consisted of the best salami and mozerella sandwich followed this afternoon with some delicious mango and mixed berry (my new favorite combo) gelatto.

Tonight is wine and dinner then off to Lucca early in the morning.