D169 -- Nebraskans in the house

We woke up early today (8 is early for us these days) to drive to Florence to pick up my sister Patty and her husband Dan, who were coming in on a train from Rome. It was great to be reunited with family! Once we retrieved them we set out to secure a parking spot - no easy feat with all the one-way streets, detours, and traffic. We parked right next to a food market, and took the opportunity to do a quick balsamic vinegar tasting. We tried one that had been aged for 20 years old – it was so thick it reminded me of that stuff in "Love Potion #9." (dorky Sandra Bullock film)

From there we went directly to the Galleria Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David. We'd been unable to get reservations, and the line was sooooooo long. We felt badly that my family would have to spend their limited time in Florence standing in line, so Thomas offered to wait while the three of us went to explore the cathedral, or duomo. What a nice guy!


The duomo was enormous, and the facade was very different from other churches I've seen. It was completely covered with colored marble, had a detached bell tower next to it and an old octagonal baptistery in front of it where Dante and other illustrious Italians were baptized. The inside was more sedate and traditional, but did have a cool fresco covering the inside of the dome.





Back at the Accademia Thomas hadn't moved very far in line. We ended up waiting 40 minutes together on top of the hour he'd already waited, but it wasn't so bad as we got to chat with a nice family from Mexico during the wait. When we finally got inside, we feigned interest in some of the paintings as long as we could and then made a beeline for David. Thomas, Patty, and Dan were surprised at the enormity of the statue. Though I was expecting his size, I wasn't expecting him to be so life-like. It almost looked like he could start breathing any minute. You could see David's veins, muscles, ribs, etc. Extremely impressive, but even more so when you compare him to Michaelangelo's unfinished "Prisoners" in the adjoining gallery. You can really appreciate the perfection that is David when you see a bit of the process it takes to carve marble. We walked around David a couple of times, sat and stared, and just generally enjoyed being in the presence of this great work of art. There was more to the museum but we just skimmed through the plaster models and some religious paintings. How many depictions of the annunciation can you see, after all!

After lunch we walked to Piazza della Signoria while eating the best gelatto we've had since Rome. (Venetian gelatto was nothing to write home about.) In this piazza are many statues - like this one of Neptune - and a reproduction of David in the space he used to occupy. Though it's the exact same size as the original it looks so much smaller. Funny how being outdoors in front of a big castle can do that. Patty and Dan spent their last couple of hours in Florence touring the Galeria Uffizi. Thomas and I will be returning with our friends next week so we held off and got an internet fix instead.

We all reunited in front of the Uffizi, walked over the Ponte Vecchio, and then back over the river and through a market to our car.

We took the scenic route home and it was fun to see Patty and Dan experiencing the beauty of Tuscany for the first time. We got settled in at the villa and then ate dinner at a restaurant called Leonetto in nearby Pancole. FANTASTIC! My steak was like buttah and we had great chianti from right around Pancole.

-Elva