Day 26 & Day 27: Florence, Italy

Yesterday morning I woke up late - 8:30. Whoops. Barely made it to breakfast! That's essential you know.

Got to the Duomo around 9 and didn't wait as long as I expected, about 30min or so. The outside is WAY cooler than the inside. It's what my friend Kelly would call and "inside out" church. It's still a functioning cathedral though so that's pretty neato. Of course there are frescoes everywhere as well as marble sculptures. I have to say, I've had a lot more appreciation for sculptures since I've gotten to Italy.

After the Duomo, I stopped at the Museo D'Opera which houses all the old art they don't display at the Duomo anymore, including a huge sculpture done by Michaelangelo that was made specifically for his own tomb but he was unhappy with the grain of the marble and destroyed parts of it. Crazy artists.

Today I started out pretty early because there was still a buttload of stuff I wanted to do. I started out at the Museo di Bargello that houses a bunch of Michaelangelo's early sculptures and works. The museum also has Donatello's bronze sculpture of David which I remember seeing in my art history book. There was actually a lot of Donatello's stuff that I enjoyed. They also had an extensive ivory collection with tiny detailed carvings, so so so awesome. I know it's bad because they come from elepaunts but these are from like, the 13th century.

I headed over to Basilica di Santa Croce which I had walked by the other night. The inside is really cool although very dark. I was standing in the entrance trying to read the floor plan when all of a sudden, the circular window above the main chapel area was flooded with sun, lighting the area I was standing in. It was an extremely cool moment. Michaelangelo, Gallileo and Machiavelli are buried in the church and there is a huge monument to Dante as well. I daresay it's been my favorite church thus far. The sculptures are just amazing as well as the paintings and frescoes throughout the church. One of my favorite parts was these cloisters that lead out to a quiet, grassy area where I sat for a little while to reflect and take a moment. When you spend all day trekking around from place to place, sometimes you forget to chill out and appreciate where you are. I mean, I was sitting on a site that was built in the late 1400s!

Next up was the Plazzo Pitti where is the Medici Family lived for a long time. Definitely the most expensive site if you decide to see all of the museums. I was a bit tired out of museums so I chose to just see the main gallery and royal apartments. A lot of Raphael's paintings were there as well as a few by Carvaggio and Titian. And Peter Paul Reubens strangely enough. The Royal Apartments were intense... all frescoed and gilded from ceiling to floor! I've never seen anything like it. Can you imagine painting on a ceiling, yowzers.

After lunch (how backpacker of me, i usually pay for lunch because it's cheaper, then don't eat dinner) I decided to hit up some shopping. :X Hey man, I've already lost two sweatshirts, I could justify buying one! Plus you know I'm hella tired of my clothes already. It's so cute though, I got it from Zara and it has a weiner dog on it. I tried to find pants since it is going to be cold from Interlaken on, but it was comical. European ladies are WAY taller than I am, you should've seen how far up I had to roll the pant legs.

I slept terribly last night, probably too much caffeine before bed so I had to nap but that meant I missed the market with the cheap jewelery! Bummer, maybe I can hit it up tomorrow. There's a quiet church on the other side of the river with killer views that I want to check out, near where David originally stood. Also, I want to climb the 400+ steps to see the view from the dome of the Duomo. Plus I have to stop by the train station and maybe see if I can get something from the outdoor markets. So much to do! And the more you talk to people, the more you realize how much more there is to see. Oh well, just means I'll have to come back!

Got new roomies today too, of course they have to be cool and I meet them on my last night. They are a couple from Virginia, one of the first American peoples I've met that aren't from CA. We played some cards but mostly talked, going through the usual, "where are you from" "what do you do" "how old are you" things. For some reason, it never gets old, probably because everyone has such unique stories and places they've been. I think it takes certain people to travel long distances and for a long time so it's always great to get to know people like that.

It looks like Julie will be definitely meeting me in Switzerland! And maybe Daniel too! How fun, I'm soooooooooo excited, even more so than I was before. I'm thinking of even cutting a day out of Amsterdam and just staying there for 2 nights instead. I don't know, we shall see, the beauties of travel.

August is coming to an end. Today is officially 4 weeks since I have left the States and 2 more weeks until I return. Going back is going to be a culture shock. My last night in Florence! I can't believe it but at least I've got peeps to hang out with in Rome (hopefully I can get a train reservation) and I look forward to drinking beer at the Trevi Fountain at 2am!!