Finally Florence

I finally made it out and actually did some sightseeing in Florence! After yesterday's post, I went for my free dinner. I sat with one of my roommates and two other Canadian girls. Umm, are there any Canadians left in Canada? Everyone seems to be over the big pond!

The free dinner was tasty! Well, when you haven't eaten in nearly 10 hours, hunger sauce makes everything tasty. :) HOnestly the food wasn't bad, but it was kinda greasy too. Like, oil left on my plate greasy. I think tonight I'll try one of the pizzas. The breakfast today was good too - I got a ham and cheese omelette. It wasn't anything to write home about (well, apparently it is since I AM typing about it!) but again, anything free is usually good. :)

After dinner I wandered around again WITHOUT getting lost. I made my way down to the Arno River and watched the sunset from the bridge. I also bought some gelato on the way home... Wow! I finally get what all the fuss is about! I got crema and niccolata (or however you spell it). So so tasty! The creama was a plain vanilla creamy flavour, and the niccolata was kinda walnut-y. I had to force myself not to go out and buy some more this afternoon because I already have cookies, etc.

Other than that, the rest of my evening was fairly uneventful. I chilled back in my hostel room, chatted with some of my roomies and went to bed early. Am I the only person whose earplugs fall out in the middle of the night? I've lost 2 so far and it's only been 5 days!

This morning I ventured out bright and early to make up for the time lost yesterday. Except apparently I was a bit too excited to go. My first stop was to visit the Duomo... But it didn't open until 10am and I was there at 9:10! LOL. Fail. I ended up waiting in line with an American family. We amused ourselves by watching merchants who obviously didn't have permits to set up stalls run away from the police whenever they came by.

My guide book described the Duomo as being rather bleak instead because all the art has been moved to the museum next door (which they charge admission for)... Well, they were right. The outside of the building is so amazing to see, but the inside... Well, I doubt any church will be impressive now that I've been inside St. Peter's Basilica.

Afterwards I headed towards the museum that holds the statue of David. Now, don't ask me how, but I somehow got it in my head that the location was on a certain part of my map. I followed the map trying to find the museum but couldn't see anything! I just kept circling this building that looked like some kind of mall. Finally I gave up and went inside... Only to discover that it's a fish market. I was like, "Umm, I'm pretty sure this isn't the right place." I got back outside, rechecked my guidebook and realized I was looking at the wrong spot. I have no idea how I did that.

I walked back to the museum and stood in line for an hour. An hour! Lucky for me there were 2 Australian couples in front of me that I could chat with, and an American dude behind me. They helped me pass the time. The museum itself was a bit tiny... It was mainly some random paintains and sculptures, or plasters of sculptures. However, the statue of David was very very cool. I never realized how BIG it was! The thing is like 5 feet tall! It was so amazing to see the amount of detail that went into it. One of the things that most caught my attention were the veins in his arms. Like, how much attention did Michaelangelo put into it???

Since the Duomo and David were my top priorities, I was left with time to waste. I grabbed a delicious panini sandwich from a small cafe and ventured forth to see the Uffizi Museum. (Several people had recommended it.) It's a large gallery that holds paintings and sculptures from the 15th to 19th centuries. I can't recall all the paintings that I saw, but I got to see some works by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Botticelli, etc. I also saw The Birth of Venus. (Mind you, I nearly walked by the damned thing because I didn't see it!)

By then I was pretty tired, so I retired back to the hostel. I did take time to find the bus station though and make my reservation for Milan.

I must admit that by this point my mind has been thoroughly saturated with religious art. I'm trying to appreciate it all, but my mind is glazing over. I might try to venture out again tonight but I may also just flake out again.

While I was chatting with a friend on the net just now, they asked me which city I preferred: Rome or Florence? I had to think about it for a few moments, but I can honestly reply that Rome is more interesting to me. This is because of its ancient buildings - I love the medieval flare of Florence, but when compared to the acient ruins of Rome, it can't compare.