Florence, Italy

Ahhhh, Florence.  Even though it rained the entire time I was in Florence, this city really got a hold of me.  Well, what do you do when it rains?  You hit a museum.  The Academia was first up, where I got to look into the eyes of Michelangelo's David.  Okay, I couldn't exactly look it in the eye, but you get the idea.  I had seen pictures of this sculpture before, but was utterly struck by its massive size.  I had no idea it was that large, 17 feet tall.  It looked so life like.  No wonder it is considered a masterpiece.  I just stood back in awe for some time, taking it all in.

Next up was the Duomo (the cathedral of Santa Maria), mostly to escape the rain that had started up again, but also to see the famous dome - the first Renaissance dome.  It was pretty incredible, I must say.  The next morning I took advantage of a break in the rain to wander through the area.  Kiosks lined the streets selling wraps, souvenirs, and anything leather - shoes, bags, wallet, jackets, and more.  I worked my way down to the Uffitzi Gallery filled with paintings and sculptures by Italian artists.  I found a couple of pieces by Titan that caught my eye.  I have no idea which ones they were now, because by the time I left most of the pieces were all swimming together in my head.  Botticellis was a new Italian artist for me and I found I liked his work, but Raphael's paintings just didn't appeal to me.  I don't know nearly enough about art to explain why.  Maybe I should learn some more. 

Of course, it was raining again so I stopped by Galileo's Science Museum.  It gave a chronological view of innovations in science from 1000 to 1900.  It was pretty interesting even if I had no idea what most of the contraptions were or how they worked. This museum was an interesting switch from the Uffitzi Gallery, for sure.

I rounded out my trip to Florence with a day trip to Pisa.  I couldn't be a "tourist" in Italy without seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  I pulled into town and realized there was some sort of big running race going on and the route went right by the tower.  I managed to wind my way around the barricades to the tower.  I can't believe this thing is still standing.  It looks so unstable; it's like an incredible Jenga feat, looking like it could topple over any second, but somehow managing to stay upright. 

The views from the top of the tower were Incredible!!  That is once you got used to the leaning feeling up top.  You could feel the tilt as you walked around the rim of the tower.  And the walk down the stairs was a trip! I didn't feel anything going up the stairs, but coming down I felt really off kilter and was a little disoriented by the bottom.  I was glad to get my 2 feet on level ground again.