We got into Florence around 10 at night and went to check into our hostel. It was an interesting hostel, to say the least. We then went to walk around the city a bit before hitting the sack. I got a pastry (what’s new), and we passed by the Duomo, along with a few other sites. It was then time for bed.
That morning we woke up and headed to check out the sites. We started off by going to look at a church (at this point we weren’t completely sick of them yet), but the fee to get in made us change our mind. So we ventured off to the massive Duomo, which is free. The outside is quite insane. There are all sorts of tiny pieces of marble pieced together along the entire exterior. However, Quinn’s guide book did let us in a few secrets. Apparently the original exterior of the church was never completed and during the 19th century it was torn down and replaced with the exterior that you see now. The other secret: its not actually covered in marble, but another material. Those two facts make the structure a little less impressive, but it still is beautiful. We then stepped inside, which cannot compare to the inside in any way. The marble floor is beautiful, but the walls were bar and one solid color. Yea, I’m starting to sound like a church snob, but I’ve seen enough at this point, I have developed certain standards for churches of this size. The church does have an interesting 24 hour clock in which the 1 is on the bottom and the rest of the numbers follow in a counter-clockwise rotation. At the front of the Duomo, there is the large dome that is masterly painted. That was gorgeous.
We then went to wonder around a bit, heading in the direction of the famous Florence bridge that has shops and houses practically falling off it. On the way, we ran into the old Florence town hall, now museum. Unfortunately, the tower was closed, so we couldn’t go up, but the outside looked pretty cool. Outside is a plaster mold of the David by Michelangelo which stands in the statue’s original place. There was also a little plaza next to It with some molds and originals of various statues from different times.
At this point, my camera died, which was sad because some of the things we saw during the rest of the day were pretty cool, but what can you do? We finally made our way to the bridge, which was beautiful. The only odd thing is that all the shops only sell jewelry, which I found quite unusual. We then made a spur of the decision to go to the museum which houses the David, along with other pieces of art and statues. We sat through the two hour line and got into the museum with an hour to explore. You begin by looking at a few other pieces of art and statues, some of which were unfinished pieces by Michelangelo. These unfinished pieces really help you see just how difficult it must be to chisel away at a giant piece of stone until you get a work that looks like what you had envisioned. You then approach the David, which is massive and insane. We stood there, observing it and discussing it (along with snagging a few illegal pictures) for a good twenty or so minutes. It was interesting to me how some people waited in that line for two or more hours, breezed right past all the first pieces of art, looked at the David for about two minutes, and left. It was so inspiring and…well, perfect, honestly, that we could not just take a short glance at it. It deserved a lot more than that. After that, there were a few more paintings that led into a room full of plaster copies of hundreds of statues and busts. These were all done by students when the building used to be an institute. There were nails in many of them that were used as reference points. Even though these were plaster, I still could not imagine carving them out with so much precision and detail as these students did. With only a few minutes until the museum closed, we ran through the art exhibit on the second floor, and headed out.
We grabbed some sandwiches, a bottle of wine, and headed to the Piazza di Michelangelo, which is basically on top of a giant hill. There was a hill, that led to steps, that led to more steps. When we were on the top, it made it so worth it. From there, we could see the entire city. It was one of the best views I have ever seen. As the sun set over the city, we enjoyed a nice glass of wine and remarked about how our last night in Italy could truly not get any better than this. It was a moment I know I will never forget. Truly amazing. I, unfortunately, had to head back too early to see the lights go on in the city to get back to the hostel in time for an interview. At the hostel we talked with some new people from Canada and Iran, then headed to bed to wake up early.
First thing in the morning we went to ensure we knew all we needed to about our bus and the time it left, grabbed some breakfast, and went to stand in the epically long line for the Uffizi Art Museum. A little under two hours later we were inside. Although I had been in the Uffizi before as a kid, I didn’t remember quite so much Medieval and Renaissance paintings. There were so many portraits of Jesus, Mary and other saints that it honestly got kind of old. Every once in a while there was a painting that caught my attention. There was a room full of statues that was not only architecturally beautiful, but caught my attention. The statues were all in distress as they were about to be killed because of something (which has slipped my mind) there mother did. Their mother was also there, looking guilty and attempting to save them. What intrigued me the most was, first of all, that the sculptor was able to capture the despair and distraught in the expression and eyes of the individuals without really bein g able to put expression into the eyes like a painter can. Secondly, I found it intriguing that all of the “children” looked to be adults and the only thing distinguishing them from their mother in age was their size, as they were smaller than her. After the Uffizi, we stopped a place that had 2 courses and a coffee for 10 euro. I got some good pasta and salad. It was then off to the bus station to hop onto our bus to Nice, France. Suprisingly, the 8-turned-10 hour bus ride was quite pleasant, as I was rather excited to be exploring somewhere new.
Your New Michelangelo Expert,
Jessica
