Florence

Buon Giorno from Firenze,

We're writing to you after a relaxing evening spent sitting in the many huge open squares, watching the passers by, admiring the great cathedrals and statues, all while eating a Gilato under streaming lights hung above. We have often looked at each other and said -- "We're in Italy." It's starting to actually set in. The people here walk by in their huge fur coats and high heel shoes without a care of the giant church over there, or over there, or the fact that the David is sitting in a nearby museum. These buildings have been here forever, and I guess they grow accustomed to it all. But for us it's been great.

Yesterday we went to the Borgello gallery and saw a couple David's by Donatello. They both looked rather feminine compared to Michelangelo's, but were still impressive. There was a large courtyard in the middle which housed some assorted sculptures. From here we journeyed down to the Uffizi, which was a much larger museum. There we saw the transformation of Renaissance painting. Some pieces included the Birth of Venus (which Melody was very happy to see), early works from Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo's only easel painting he came close to completing. There was a lot more, but we took our time as we took it all in. That night we ate at a local restaurant that has been run by the same family for two generations. A little ol' Italian man named Sergio took our order, yelled it along to his one cook (his son), and brought it all out to us. There may have been 8 tables in the whole place. But the food was excellent. As we laid down to sleep, we heard opera music from outside our window (there was a small group of people singing for money). Lovely.

Today we actually were a bit worn down from all that we've seen so far, and ended up sleeping in past the "free breakfast" time. But we were just so physically and mentally tired, that we needed the break. After that, we headed to the Accademia, which was actually quite small but had one of the most impressive works we've seen -- the David. None of these places let you take pictures, so we're left with just our memories. But this one... you turn this hallway which is filled with "unfinished" sculptures by Michelangelo called "The Prisoners" because they look as if they're trapped still in stone. These align the walls but your eyes are drawn to the end of the hallway, where a giant 14 foot David stands under a beam of light from the sky above.

Needless to say, we sat there for a while and just stared.

We made our way from there to a small supermarket, and picked out dinner and lunch for tomorrow. Salami, cheese, crackers, apples and carrots. We of course messed up and didn't notice you need to pre-weigh the vegetables before you buy them, and in doing so held up the line while the lady tried to explain in Italian to our clueless faces what we had done. Now we're home (after the Gilato) and ready to enjoy the dinner. Tomorrow is our last day in Firenze, then off to Venizia.

Will write again soon,
Love,
Dylan and Melody