Florence Festivities, Day 1

     The first city we spent a significant chunk of time in was Florence. Florence is probably the most beautiful place I will ever be; every street has a palace-turned-museum, art gallery, or fantastic cathedral.  We bought the very helpful FirenzeCard, which let us into every museum "for free" but actually cost 50 euros. (Buy and save, buy and save, as my daddy always says!)  Really, though, it was a great investment, because I probably visited 100 euros worth of museums.
    The unfortunate theme of Florence museums, and Italian museums in general, is "don't take pictures, or the mean guards will grunt at you in Italian." I learned this the hard way.  Thus I have stolen some internet pictures of my favorite sights.

The Statue of David, by Michaelangelo.

     My absolute favorite was Michaelangelo's statue of David.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it was huge--so much taller than I imagined! Every detail is so painstakingly carved in place, even the veins in the feet.   I loved it.  (Side note: my first memory of the statue of David was in second grade, when the little boys in my class found the entry in the encyclopedia, complete with a picture, and proceeded to bring all the girls over one by one to show us. After the teacher found out, the page mysteriously disappeared from the book...)
     The original statue of David was actually placed in one of the main squares (Piazzas) in Florence, but was removed in the 1800s to preserve the statue.  A very good replica was put there instead, along with dozens of other famous statues that once resided there.

   What follows is a smattering of pictures from some of the many beautiful places I visited.

The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery.

The ceiling of the Baptisterie.

The enormous cathedral that towers over everything else in the city.  Although impressive on the outside, the inside is quite plain to symbolize that Florence citizens, although wealthy and grand, are really humble and meek in their hearts.  Really, it's just kind of a letdown after the grand exterior.

One of the statues in the courtyard with the David replica.

The Arno River that cuts through the heart of the city.

One of the courtyards in a Basilica.

The ceilings were the most beautifully decorated parts of any room.  This one was in the Michaelangelo House, I  believe.

The view from the top of the tower in the Palazzo Vecchio. 284 steps, but every one was worth it.

Stained glass!

The ceiling in the large room of the Palazzo Vecchio.  Like I said, the ceilings were the most impressive part of any room.

A funky-looking aperture in the Michaelangelo House ceiling.

Blue skies! Also a cathedral.

   After visiting some of the museums, we got gelato for dinner (the first of many times).  Out of all the things I love about Italy, gelato has got to be in the top 3.  It's amazing.  Creamy, delicious, and not that terrible for you!  Compared to traditional ice cream, that is.  It's actually terrible for you, but I prefer the comparison.
     I would write about the next day, in which we visited the US Consulate to get a replacement passport and climbed very tall towers to get amazing views of Florence, but I'm too tired right now.  Until tomorrow!