After our walk around Florence yesterday, and seeing the crowds around the Duomo, we were glad we paid for the ‘skip the line’ tours for David and the Duomo.
We started early with another easy bus ride down into Florence from Fiesole. Since we had already scoped out our meeting spot yesterday, we had an easy stroll window shopping and came across a little cafe, Recordi, where we met Ida (E-da).
She was so happy and bubbly, just what you need to get your day going. She said all of the pastries were made in-house every day! OMG.
After coffee, we met up with our guide, Giada, for our first stop, the David.
The David was moved indoors to the Accademia Gallery in 1873 to protect it from weathering and vandalism (he’s actually had his hand knocked off and some looney took a hammer to his toes!).
The walk-up lines were already huge and even our tour was backed up by almost 30min. Might be because the Gallery only has 4 rooms. It’s also the only gallery that has 5 statutes by Michelangelo.
After going through security and having our bags x-ray’d, we went straight to the room with the David. But, before we got to him, we were introduced to a couple of Michelangelo’s other works. A couple were unfinished, some say because the Vatican ordered him back to Rome for other projects and he left them that way as a sort of protest.
Michaelangelo was only in his early 20’s when he made the David, from 1501 to 1504, from a single block of Carrara marble that had been abandoned by previous artists due to imperfections. He stands 17ft tall and weighs over 6 tonnes.
In his later years when speaking of his early works (like the David), he contended that he was merely liberating figures that were already existent in the stone, and that he could see them in his mind’s eye.
We were soon whisked away to the Duomo (also known as the Florence Cathedral) where, again, we got to cut the line. Outside the cathedral the mass of people was amazing.
Inside the Duomo, we were stunned by its massive size, especially the dome itself. But there was plenty to see besides that.
It’s the largest fully painted dome in the world. Work on the cathedral commenced in 1296 and it was completed in 1436.
Whew, by now we were hot, sweaty and hungry! :). We decided to head back to our breakfast spot for lunch and did a little shopping and picture taking along the way. I’m really amazed by the size of the doors on the buildings and their decorative door knockers. Of course there are always little things to see if you’re looking.
I’ve been having fun ‘learning’ Italian. It started back in Sorrento when I tried to say goodby (arrivederci) and it came out as ‘Avicii derci’. I’m pretty sure the singer Avicii wouldn’t see the same amount of humor as I do if he were still alive. That has led to other humorous shall we say ‘adaptations’ of Italian. My current favorite is Lui Cognato Pedoni. Lui means him, and Cognato means brother-in-law.
I kept hearing Lui when Sally was speaking Italian and introducing Ellen and I. I took that and, when I learned that Pedoni means pedestrian, naturally I put them together and started referring to myself as Lui Pedoni. It turns out Italian is full of great ‘names’, like Franco Bolli (postage stamp), and Joe Cardi (go play). I’m sure there are still more to learn 😂
Ok, back to the serious stuff. After a great Li ch of risotto with shrimp and saffron, we were treated to this!
We leave for Venice in the morning, so it’s time to pack up again. I might still walk into town and check out the old Roman amphitheatre at sunset. Thanks for coming along with us. Stay tuned 🙂
