Florence Day 5

This post is strictly experimental.  If I succeed in posting it, consider it a small miracle.  If you see your computer start to shake and/or emit green smoke, it's because I blew up the internet trying to post a trillion  pictures on one post.

I know, a trillion pictures is totally unnecessary but I just couldn't narrow them down. Actually, I did narrow them down, there were just a lot.  As I scrolled through, I felt the magic of being there all over again.  Every where I looked and every corner I turned, there was a photograph to be taken.  And take them, I did.

In the morning, we ate in the hotel's quaint little dining room; our breakfast included in our stay.

And from there we were on our way to the Plaza Michelangelo, located right nearby.

We walked through the whole in the wall

and then the only thing that stood between us and some spectacular views of Florence was a few hundred, maybe thousand, steps.

  And yes, we were still tired.


But at least we were pretty fresh.  We would have loved to see the city by night and we would have loved to hear the Gregorian chants of the monks later that evening, but we knew before we even took one step, that this would be the only ascent of the trip.

We stopped along the way to rest and pet a kitty.

And then walked up a few million more stairs.

At the top, I found myself in a pinch-myself moment again.

Everywhere

I looked

there was

another

outstanding,

unreal view.

Of course this was a touristy area and there were plenty of booths and stands to buy trinkets and trash.  I restrained myself from buying boxer shorts with the strategically placed privates of 'The David' and instead spent my money on the beautiful artwork of this woman.

 She is one of only two remaining Florencians who create art with pulled (as opposed to blown) glass, which they do themselves.  Her mosaics are beautiful.

After the plaza I would soon see what my mom meant back in Paris when she said, "Just wait til you see the churches in Italy."

We walked to the Santa Croce.  

And somewhere around here, things got ugly for a minute.  

                                       

There was a small misunderstanding and some tears. Need I mention again that we were really tired?

 And bless Leah's middle child heart, she played peace maker and had us all smoothed out in no time. 

We got to Santa Croce.

And I got "it".

I took probably a hundred photos and still could not capture the amazingness of it.  And sadly the main stained glass was covered by scaffolding.

The church is the resting place for the likes of Dante, Galileo, Rossini, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo.  I can't remember what most of those guys are famous for.  Though this trip fostered my admiration for Michelangelo just a little.  

Here is his tomb.

And one of those guys did this.  

Remind you of anything?

Apparently it was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty.

The church was very large.  

So much to see inside and out.

And I saw some of the most beautiful artwork I've seen in my life.  Photographs of it (at least mine) do not even begin to do it justice.

And the ceilings.  The ceilings.  Also unjustifiable.

This is hard to see but that is all mosaic made from tiny blue and yellow tiles.

I'm surprised we didn't get permanent crooks in our necks.  

I even found the trees interesting.  I loved their wiggly branches.

When we saw everything there was to see and rested our legs on a bench in the art gallery, it was time to move on.  

We were off to the Piazza della Signoria,

which was home to some  replicas of some of Michelangelo's statues. I don't know why I didn't take a single picture of them.  I don't know why I like to watch Sister Wives.  I don't know why there is carpet in our master bathroom. For some things there is just no explanation.

Actually I got a picture of this guy pretending to be a statue.

And I took this video. I forgot to post the one from Venice, but I am so happy I thought to record these tiny little snippets.  They take me right back. 

I did take a picture of this building, also designed by good old Michelangelo.  Seriously, that guy was unreal.

 Then we were off to Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

Originally built in 1100 something, and rebuilt a couple of times along the way,

It was the only surviving bridge after World War II.

We moved on towards the Duomo and stopped along the way for some lunch and leather.  Florence is the place for leather.  New belts, all around!

We passed these street artists. 

And then the Duomo.

It's the cathedral of  Florence.

The outside walls were just amazing.

Especially the gold doors of the baptistry,

On the inside, the best parts were floor

and

ceiling.

 Seriously. Amazing.


We went on to the Accademia Gallery, home of The David.

There were no photos allowed inside, but let me tell you, that David? One amazing piece of work.  And that Michelangelo? Genius.

The difference between his sculptures and others is so great.  And the thing to note is, that those other sculptures we saw were truly beautiful in their own right.  They were done by artists.  But like I said, that Michelangelo was a phenom.  I came away with so much awe and admiration and appreciation for his talent and dedication (and I hadn't even seen the Sistine Chapel yet!).

After the Accademia, we were done.  Out on the street, we got on the wrong bus.  Or rather the right bus, in the wrong direction.

We rode that thing all the way out of town.  We knew we were messed up but we were too tired to care.  He turned around at the end of the line, and we made it safely back to our hotel, if only slightly later than anticipated.

We ate the most yummy dinner and dessert.  And then we had gelato.

Because we had to.  You know, for the contest.

And it was a delicious ending to a delicious day.

And that's all I've got to say about that.