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Published: July 24th 2008
Not the David
Copy of David in front of the Palazzo VecchioWith just a week left until I return to the states I took one last big trip to Florence. The first stop was to the Chiesa di Santa Maria Novella which was built between 1279-1360, pretty damn old! Inside is Masaccio's Trinity, which was the first paintintg to use geometric perspective, sorry wasn't allowed to take pictures! Next, I went to see who else but David in all his marble glory. I waited in line for an hour and paid 10 euro...doesn't that usually mean there's a roller coaster somewhere? Anyways, I finally made it in and was greeted by Michelangelo's four Slaves which led to the main room where David was....incredible. Pictures were also forbidden here but I misbehaved and took a few illegal shots of the David, which I won't post because I really don't know what the repurcussions would be, so you'll just have to see him for yourself...but I do have some pics of the exact replica! After my sneaky escapade I headed over to the duomo, which was breath taking. Unfortunately, I didn't go in because the line was ridiculous and I had more to see and too little time. Right across from the duomo is
the battistero with Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise... absolutely beautiful. By this time I'm starving and head to a place called Trattoria Anita which was suggested in my Let's Go Italy! book. Away from the busy, touristy streets, Trattoria Anita was an oasis. Quaint little place with great food for a great price! Nice and full now I head over to Chiesa di Santa Croce to see the Santa Croce Leather School. Leather is HUGE in Florence. Street after street were stores and vendors selling leather belts, bags, wallets, bracelets, etc. The smell got a bit nauseating after awhile :P I'm sure none of those vendors were authentic though so that's why I went to the School of Leather to see some real artisans practicing their trade! It was pretty cool but their items were quite pricey otherwise I would have bought myself a very lovely and original hand bag. Well, leather watching was exciting for about 10 minutes so I decided it was time for GELATO! My friend Dana told me about a place called Vivoli which was also mentioned in my book and they recommended the crema caffe which is a mug of vanilla gelato with a shot of
Long Lines
Line to see the real David espresso....WOW WOW. I may have to try to re-create that when I get home. Besides that I just did some more walking around through the markets until I had to catch my train back to Vicenza. I defninitely did not do Florence justice by doing a day trip, I advise a couple days to allow some time to visist the Tuscan country side and drink some wine which I unfortunately didn't get to do (euro to dollar rate sucks), I'll just have to wait until next time! Ciao!
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Shan Sultan
non-member comment
Gelato!
Everything looks so filled with Culture and Traditions, awesome! Hey, Saira and I want some Gelato when you come back man!