June 4 Day 5

Today was a day to check out Florence. We started the day late after sleeping in until about 10:30 and didn’t leave the hotel until nearly noon. Having no idea what artifacts were in Florence, we turned to our friendly hotel manager for route suggestions. It turns out that there are so many historic sites on the maps here that we generally take pictures and ask questions later. The first big sight of the day was the Santa Maria Novella just next door (that’s the church we mentioned yesterday). After that we encountered the grand Piazza Duomo (Dome). This building is quite the sight which can be seen from many places in the city. Next came the Piazza della Signoria and the Piazzale Degli Uffizi. After leaving these sites we made our way to our first medieval castle of the trip (Palazzo Vecchio)! Next to the castle there were sculptures of characters from mythology and even David’s replica was there. After pulling our eyes away from these sculptures, we walked down a street that has to be the ancient version of Hollywood Boulevard , The “Stars” included Michelangiolo, Leonardo, Donatello, Dante, Amerigo Vespucci, and my personal favorite Niccolo Macchiavelli. The next features of the city required crossing the river. It was here that we found a chain with probably a hundred or so different locks on it which apparently were placed here by couples hoping to secure or “lock” their love in place. After this we began climbing stairs and hills which brought us to the beautiful Piazzale Michelangiolo (this is where the 2nd David replicia was but this one was made of broze). Here, there was a beautiful view of the city, a cemetery, a church designed by Michelangelo and more. This has probably been my most favorite view so far on the trip. Apparently climbing hills is worth it. After this we went to Forte di Belvedere and ended up at Palazzo Pitti. Here there was a huge garden which looked beautiful, but I am sorry to say (especially to Nate’s parents) that we did not find it worth the fee. Instead we went back to the hotel to recoup and decided that going to the museum that held the original David. This museum was full of sculptures, paintings, and frescoes. The highlight however was the sculptor of David and Michelangiolo’s other unfinished works (6 in total). These show the intricate process that took place, especially with blocks of marble so huge! On the way back home we saw the Palazzo Medici and the Fortezza da Basso. Then we enjoyed a very nice dinner and gelato.
In the next few days we will visit the coastal towns of La Spezia, Verona, Venice, and end up in Milan to fly home for RAAM.
Mo