Busy busy busy

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There's SO much in Florence, and I end up doing a ton every day because it's all really compact and close together.

The first thing I did on Saturday was get a ticket to the Uffizi. I had ordered one before I left for Italy, but my intelligent self got a train ticket for the same time. So I got a new ticket for Wednesday. Then I visited the Bargello Museum, which someone said is "the Uffizi of sculpture." I'm not so sure I'd go that far, but it was pretty cool. They had a few things by Donatello, and stuff by Bruneshelli (however he spells his name) and other Florentine people that I can't think of at the moment. It was a really neat museum, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who comes here! Then I headed towards Santa Croce and went to that basilica. This was possibly my favorite basilica I've been to in Italy. In no way is it an elaborate church; it was built by a bunch of poor monks before Florence was even really settled. But now it has the tombs of Galileo, Michelangelo, and Niccolo Machiavelli which I thought was really cool. Then I didn't know what to do, but I saw signs for "Casa di Dante," so I went there, and it was the house of Dante Aligheri! They've turned it into a museum honoring him. It was a little overpriced, but interesting nonetheless. I met Ruth for dinner that night, and had a DELICIOUS Tuscan soup, chicken, and roasted potatoes. It might have been the best food I've had here! We walked around and watched some street performers for awhile, got some ice cream and ate it on the steps of the Duomo, and then we both went home for the night.

Oh! Crazy story! After dinner, we had just walked away from our table when someone walked in front of me. It was my communications professor from my first semester at ISU!! What are the odds of that? I called his name and he turned around, we talked for a few minutes, took a picture, and parted ways. I saw him yesterday too, but I didn't say anything to him then. Seriously though, what are the odds?

Yesterday I went to Accademia and saw the famous David. That was amazing--I never knew just how large that statue was! But the museum itself was kind of disappointing. The only reason to go to it is really just to see David. From there, I went to Casa Buonarroti, which was a house Michelangelo bought for his nephew, and then the nephew's son turned it into a museum honoring Michelangelo. That was really cool; it had all of Michelangelo's diplomas and talked about his family and had portraits other people have done of him and works he did when he was really young (my favorite, Madonna of the Stairs, was done when he was only 16!). I also went to the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. In one room, they replicated the ceiling artwork onto the floor so you could look at it really closely, which was pretty cool. I decided to head back to the hotel after that and take it easy the rest of the day.

Today I slept in and then had breakfast with this Australian couple. I was debating between taking the day off or venturing downtown. Venturing into downtown went. I only went to the Instituto e Museo de Scienza though, but I loved it. The nerd in me came out in full force. It was just cool to see the things I've read about in my math, computer, and science classes, like the first dividing machine. They had a bunch of early globes and solar system stuff too which were really interesting too.

A lot of places are closed today, so I think I'm just going to relax this afternoon. I'm meeting Ruth for dinner again tonight, and tomorrow I'm going to go to Siena. I go to the Uffizi the day after that, and I want to go to Pisa the day after that. Friday, I might go to Lucca, and on Saturday I take the train back to Rome. And then Sunday? I come home!!

I'll post more pictures Saturday night when I'm in Rome. I'm staying in the same hotel I was at the first two nights there, so I know I can use my own computer on the Internet again.

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Comments

[Aunt Deanna]

Howdy!
I'm glad you love Florence. I did, too. It's been really hot here, almost too hot to ride. But only "almost". Looking forward to seeing you when you get home.