Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Firenze

Yesterday we slept in until lunch (that felt good) and went for a walk on the south side of the Arno River (most of the major sights and museums for Florence are to the north, where we stayed, but the south side is more scenic, I think - more trees, and a great view of the city once you get up the hill).
The old gates to the city, now just a random tower close to the river. There's a nice path starting at about this point that takes you up a tree covered hill to a piazza overlooking Florence.
This was a random little grotto/spring/wishing well (at least, I contributed one euro to make a wish...I'm weirdly superstitious like that) towards the base of the hill, across from the tower.


The first thing that hit us when we walked into this church was the scent of candles. It was absolutely silent, and dim and cool.


Unlike most of the cities we've visited, where they expand around the old walls so you find them randomly in commercial areas and whatnot, the city walls of Florence are still very scenic.


Florence has some gorgeous buildings, but Cheryl and I were glad to see some trees.


We were debating over whether it would be rude to take a picture of the painter, but then a group of excited Italian children in matching blue jumpsuits and red hats rushed over to him and crowded around, talking loudly and looking at his work. We decided we weren't that bad.


We eventually reached Piazza Michelangelo, which has a replica of our favorite statue - David. And when I say we, I mean me.

I'm kind of a dork (if you hadn't noticed), because I found a copy of Puccini's "La Boheme" that Baz Luhrmann directed in Australia (I saw his production in SF...what can I say, I love Baz. He made Moulin Rouge) on DVD, and I pretty much had to buy it. I'm not a big opera person, but there you go. Anyway, so we went back and watched that. Then I stayed up until midnight to register for classes. Then I stayed up until 2am, because I do that.

This morning was fun. I woke up with about 150+ bites from some nasty bedbug or something (note: the hotel is clean, but it wasn't the brightest idea to take the spare blanket out of the closet and sleep with it, no matter how cold it was). They're mostly on my neck and arms, but there are some like on my forehead and ears. It's pretty pathetic. The ones on my wrists look especially depressing - really pink spots on my poor white skin. I look diseased. Anyway, sorry if this was the "too much information" post, but my life is pretty itchy right now. Hopefully they'll disappear soon. Like tomorrow.

Anyway, we went to the Accademia and Uffizi today. The highlight of the Accademia is Michelangelo's "David." Pretty much the only reason for going, but it's worth it. Pretty sure that my sister and I both have crushes on him. Cheryl wasn't too smitten, but I think she was glad we went. And the Uffizi is full of great stuff - Leonardo's "Annunciation," Botticelli's "Primavera" and "The Birth of Venus," etc. So, all in all, a good day.


We went back to the restaurant where we ate on the first night. Cheryl said something like, "It's our last night in Florence!" and I replied "This is where I ate last time it was my last night in Florence!" Basically, this is the restaurant I eat at in Florence.

Anyway, we're headed for Rome tomorrow morning, and I don't know if I'll luck out with wireless internet again, so the next time I update I may be back in the States. We'll see. Until then, I hope you're having a great life.


PS: Best soda ever!

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