We were out the door by 9:00am ready to make the most of the day. The Duomo opened at 10:00am so we decided to head first to the Galleria dell 'Accademia to see Michelangelo's "David," the world's most famous sculpture.
After a few rooms with sculptures, we came to a large open room where David was commanding the open hall. 5.16 meters tall and 19 tons of marble, David was an impressive sight. I admired the detail a different angles that could be viewed on the face and body. We played with a a cool digital lighting machine designed by Standford and talked to an art teacher from California. After looking at the the statue for a long time, we walked through a cast room of many famous sculptures and then left to visit the Duomo.
The exact opposite of its lush exterior, the interior of the Duomo was strikingly stark and bare. Still beautiful with stained glass windows but surprisingly undecorated. We paid the 6 euros to climb the 463 steps to the top of the dome. Like the top of St. Peter's Bsiclia, we were given an incredible sight. With Florence and the river spreading out below. A beautiful city. The large bell tower looked small form the top and gave a good measurement of how high up we were. We spent a while at the top and then took the narrow stairs back down. Looking back at the Duomo, I felt it was one of the most beautiful buildings that I had ever seen.
We knew everything would be closed tomorrow for Christmas, so we went to the supermarket with the intentions of stocking up for the entire next day. We bought breakfast and lunch food and loaded up the mini fridge at the hostel.
After a lunch at the hostel, we headed back over Ponte Vecchio and in the direction of the Palazzo Pitti where we wanted to see the Giardino de Boboli, or Boboli Gardens.
The gardens were fantastic and beautiful with an incredible view of city. We spent an hour and a half walking around looking a the sculptures and gardens. My favorite part was at the end; a grotto with sculptures and hundreds of sea shells. We then went upstairs in the palace to tour the museum of "Modern Art." Modern Art referring to 18th century and on.
Back at the hostel we had a relaxing early evening as we listened to Stephen Colbert's Christmas album and Reggae Hanukkah.
For dinner we decided to walk around the city not sure what restaurants would be open. After passing a few, we stopped in a pizzeria that appeared to be good. We had to wait a while to be seated but the pizza was excellent and we were the only non-Europeans.
That night, we stopped in the Duomo for the midnight mass service. We didn't stay the whole time, but it was very nice to hear the voices of the choir and be in a completely new city.
No comments:
Post a Comment