My Trip to France and Italy, Day 8

This is the line for the the Galeria dell'Academia, where Michelangelo's David is located. It's just a simple looking building, the only real thing setting it apart is the computer printoff taped to one of the windows that says [in English] "Michelangelo. David -->". We found out soon after this picture was taken that we were in the "Reservations Line", so we had to get into a different line.

So now we're in the normal line, that was a little longer, but moving much slower.

We met up with Jacqui, Sara, and Trish, who had gotten us all reservations, so we got back into the other line, and were soon inside. This is a picture just inside the museum, before we've bought tickets. You're not allowed to take pictures in there at all, and I got yelled at for taking this shot. Jacqui and I were trying to get pictures of each other when the other wasn't noticing, and I was far more successful.

Like I said, you're not allowed to take pictures inside there at all. So I found this picture of the David, just so you could get a good shot of it.

This is my attempt to get a video of the David. The lady that's making sure no one is taking pictures is about 2 feet to my right at this point. I managed to get him, but the video itself looks like I was drunk or falling or something.

Just outside the Academia, we're now headed towards the Duomo. There was a tour group that just got out near us.

Here's a look around just outside of the Academia.

Here we catch our first glimpse of the Duomo.

Here's a clip of the Duomo as we approach it.

And here's a clip of the duomo once we'd reached it. This building is so big, and so incredibly detailed that it doesn't even seem real. No wonder it took 6 centuries to complete.

Here's the dome of the duomo. As you can see, parts of it were under reconstruction/repair as well.

That blond was the prettiest stranger I saw on the entire trip. She wasn't with that guy, she was just a fast walker.

And here we see the front of the duomo. Every square inch was covered with something ornate.

There were two giant paintings, one on either side of the main doors. This is the on on the right.

And here's the painting on the left.

Here's another clip of the front of the duomo, and then the belltower.

Here's a video of the statues that stood along the face of the duomo.

Just passed the duomo there was an open square, and on one side were a number of statues of mythological beings.

On first glance, it looks like this guy is taking a piss. But closer study reveals he's just kinda standing there, and there's some kid or nymph behind him... not sure what the fountain has to do with any of that.

Here's a statue that I'm pretty sure is Perseus, with the head of Medusa.

And here's a replica of Michelangelo's David. This was placed where the original once stood, I believe, and the other replica was placed on top of the hill overlooking the city, right next to where we camped.

My brother, Jeff, told me to take pictures of Latin inscriptions, and up until this time, I had seen very few. By the end, I had seen far too many (The Catholic Church loves their Latin...) So I'm expecting him to see these, and tell me what they all say, and then I can add that to these descriptions.

More Latin. Now, granted, I took a few (4) years of Latin in High School, but... turns out I totally suck at it now. Unless it's written on money, or used commonly on court TV, I probably can't translate it.

Nearby, these guys (and there were a fair number of them) were dressed up as statues, and if you threw in some money, you could pose with them, and get your picture taken. The 2 guys dressed as the white marble statues looked quite convincing when they stood still.

This guy was less convincing, but he was pretty funny. Funny in that "I wonder what he tells other people he does for a living" kinda way. [My guess: he says he's an architect.]

Here's Jacqui getting her picture taken with the 2 living statue guys. It was funny, in a "you had to be there" kinda way.

Here's some more Latin for you, Jeff. This one is a bit easier to figure out. I did alright in the vatican especially, cause many of the words were ones I was already familiar with.

Here we've reached the river, and the views were just perfect.

Here's Sara and Jacqui by the river. They're looking at some guy down by the water that I was forced to instantly hate.

Here's a look the other way down the river. our camp is up on the hill towards the right.

We're now headed back to the square, with the girls a ways ahead of me.

All along the square, and the path we had been walking along, there were statues to famous Italians. Here's Donatello. [I had it in mind to take a shot of all the Ninja Turtles, but I never found Raphael.]

We went into the museum along that square, and photography was strictly forbidden, and they had people in every room enforcing it. The art was amazing. I went online to grab pictures of a couple of paintings that stood out in my mind. This one is Primavera by Sandro Botticelli. I listened in on a tour group as the guide explained the painting (it wasn't too hard to figure out, if you knew your mythology, though).

This one was my favorite, however. Sure it's really famous and all, but it's also just incredibly impressive to see up close. The painting itself is quite large, and behind some pretty thick protective glass.

While we were inside, Trish was waving her portrait done. Jacqui and I met up with her when we left the museum.

Here's how it looked shortly after we arrived.

Here it is after a few more minutes. Jacqui and I both thought it looked a bit like Minnie Driver.

Here it is, the finished product.

Here's a quote from Dante, on the side of a hotel near where we ate. It's from the Divine Comedy - Paradise -> Canto XVI lines 124-126: The gateway, named from those of Pera, led into the narrow circuit of your wells.

While we were sitting, Becky and I noticed the soccer jerseys across the street. I took a liking to #9.

Here we are at Happy Rent in Florence. Becky and I sat around, while Mindy and Maryrose tried to figure out what we were going to do. At this point, I'm planning on taking the train, with Sara, to Rome. The other girls were all going to take the bikes.

Here's the map hanging in happy rent. Turns out we were planning on covering quite a long stretch of land on those bikes.

Here's me sitting in Happy Rent. I desire a shower, and some ice cubes.

There are the bikes.. We're leaving them behind. Turns out Maryrose and I dorked up our bike pretty good, and it would take a while (and $) to repair it. We decided to just rent a car instead, and take that to Rome, and then eventually return it back here, in Florence. We'd pick up the car Monday. [It was currently Saturday, I believe] I was pleased to be leaving the bikes behind forever.

Here's Becky and me hanging out at a cafe.

We were walking along, and we came across this tire, locked to a pipe. Either this was one amazing tire, the rest of the bike got stolen, or Italians are weird.

Here we are, out to dinner to celebrate Trish's birthday.

This was by far the best meal of the trip. We started with waters, then we were given champagne, then each of us was given a plate like this. In the states, I don't think I would have eaten this. (especially considering I saw them all lines up along the windowsill just inside the building, and you could see the guy just grab a pile of them with his bare hands and toss them onto plates just before they arrived at our table...)

Sara ordered spaghetti and lobster, and she was quite skeptical when the whole lobster showed up just sitting there on her plate. But as the meal went on, she showed that lobster who was boss (and that lobster tasted so amazingly good, you would not believe.) I think towards the end, she was enjoying cracking that thing apart as well.

Here we all out, with our meals. Sara with her spaghetti and lobster, Trish with swordfish, I believe, Jacqui had sea bass, becky and Mindy had Salads, Maryrose had spaghetti with all sorts of shellfish, and I had speghetti with clams. Like I said, it was by far the best meal I had while I was out there.

Here's a close-up of my meal. it's just speghetti, with clam shells sitting right in there. You grabbed the meat out of the shells, then ditched the shells in the bowl they gave you. It was so good, and so filling, and really quite cheap, compared to prices out in the states. (well.. I bet in Maine the price might be closer... but not Michigan, certainly)

The place was "Lobs Fish Restaurant". And just below this sign is where all the seafood (crabs, shrimp, lobster, etc.) was just sitting out. I think this might have been the only place in Italy [sit down restaurant, anyway] that didn't call itseld a pizzeria.

After dinner, we met up with a girl that Sara, Jacqui, and Trish had met at the hostel, and the 8 of us headed off to this club.

We made it to the place, and they was a band playing Italian? music on stage, and a ton of (packed) tables everywhere, then some bleacher seats along the side. We found a spot along the bleachers and hung out there for a while.

We're now headed back to our campsite, and the moon is full.

I'm proud of this shot. I'm stuck outside, and I dropped a euro coin. I had no flashlight, and it was pitch-black out. So I took a flash picture, then looked on the camera's display, zooming in on different areas until I found where it was, then reached out, and found the coin. Do you see it? If you follow the orange stripe of my towel straight down, it's just underneatht the slanted wood post of the fence.

This is my foot. It's swollen quite a bit, and starting to bruise a bit, but it still isn't that bad.