Italy

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September 27, 2012

When we left this morning we were supposed to go to Pisa and then on to Florence with a Tuscan Dinner in the evening The next day was to be The Academy of Fine Arts to see Michael Angelo's "David" and a walking tour of the city.
On the way our tour guide, Simonetta, received a call telling her that the next day the museum workers were going on strike, so we had to fllip Pisa and the Academy of Fine Arts and the walking tour, which would leave us little free time.

The walking tour consisted of Giott's Bell Tower, The Baptistry's "Gate of Paradis", the sculpture studded SignoriaSquareand and Ponet Veecchio. The on to The Academy of Fine Arts. The drive to Florence was beautiful. Our guide gave us a lesson in Italian history. There are 20 regions in Italy, each with their own language. It was Dante who invented the unified language. Their are over 400 dialects spoken in Italy. She said that Italians are not nationalists. Each region thinks of itself as it's own entitiy.

Our guide for the walking and museum tour was named Andrea, a very knowledgeable gentleman. When we finally to to the Academy of Fine Arts I was not prepared for my reaction to seeing Michael Angelo's "David". It is quite magnificant. You relly can't take your eyes off of it. As I walked around it I was awed by the beauty and detail of it. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but I did take pictures of the replica at Signoria Square, but it is not the same as seeing the "real David". Michael Angelo was only 26 when he sculpted the statue. It took him 2 years, 5 months to complete. He did not use a model and the anitomical detail had never been seen before. Michael Angelo studied and disected corpses to learn about the human body. The statue stood outside for 400 years.. Originally the statue was to be placed on a bulding in a niche 90 feet above the ground so the hands, feet and head are oversized to give it the correct perspective when looking up at it. I don't think you can every appreciate how breathtaking it is until you see in in person. Pictures just can't capture it.

Today we went to Pisa and to San Gimignano which is a medieval village on the top of a hill in Tuscany. Very hilly with georgous views. My feet and ankles are swollen so am sitting with my feet up as I type. The next couple of days should be restful as we have not signed up for any extra activities and we can be on our own at Lake Maggiore. We plan to rest and relax and try to catch our breath.
Enjoy the pictures.

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Photos

In the Square
How does he do it? I think I know ;-)

Florence 2
Fl

Comments

[Lynne]

Blog
Dear Budazz, It all looked so great - until I got to Andrea's feet. Hope they recover quickly. I loved Lake Maggiore - it will be just the place for some R&R.

[Tree]

Footwear
Are you wearing the proper footwear for walking?? Flip-flops not good. Scenery is beautiful. So how does that guy in the orange do that trick? Fishing wire? Where are you now?

[Sabrina]

Footwear
How are Dad's feet? Is it your footwear like Tree asked or is it just your feet aren't used to all the walking? Otherwise, all looks fun and beautiful! Glad you saw the original David. I missed out on that. I was in awe like that when I saw the Sistine Chapel. Enjoy the R & R and go buy some nice Italian walking shoes! :)

[Jodi]

Pisa
Showed Mom some of your pictures the other day and she said ya'll should go back to Pisa and get a picture of you both standing in front of it while leaning sideways LOL!