David Mania!!! (or Firenze, Day 2)

On Saturday morning, Carey, Amanda, and I decided to hit the streets earlier to do some exploring. We stopped off at a bar to pick up a pastry for breakfast, then we just started walking to see what we could find. We came across a few piazzas lined with beautiful buildings. Eventually we stumbled across the market...apparently it's one of the best places to do your shopping for any leather goods. The market was huge, and so we spent a while strolling through and checking out what all the vendors had. (Of course, we did some shopping too.)




Oh yeah, and we saw a criminal museum...we were a little sketched out by the signs for the serial killer exhibit. *shivers*


We spent most of the day just walking the city. Just before lunch we strolled through the Duomo...it's huge! You can actually see the dome from just about anywhere in the city, which makes it very difficult to get lost. To be honest, though, I think the outside of the Duomo was way more stunning than the inside, which is very different from most of the other churches we've come across. The outside of the Duomo is absolutely stunning and so intricate, and the inside was comparatively (and surprisingly) plain. It was still neat to stroll through, though.


After lunch was probably the highlight of our day...a visit to the Accademia to see David! I have to say, it is the most stunning piece of art I have ever seen in my life. I never understood what the hype was, but when you're actually standing in front of it...it's completely different. It is so detailed and intricate, and there's so much more emotion in the statue than I have seen in any other sculpture. We sat on a bench for about 20 minutes just looking at it...it's just beautiful. Of course, the other art in the gallery just doesn't compare. As much as you may want to stroll through the whole museum, don't let anyone fool you...David is really the only thing worth seeing there.

After a nap at the hostel, we went out for pizza...I'm pretty sure it was the best pizza I've ever had. Again, it was another small restaurant where we were greeted by the owner and treated like family. Of course, for dessert we had to get gelato, but this time we went to a shop that sells gelato on waffles. It was so good (but definitely more pricey than we were expecting). But that's okay...we were on vacation, haha.

On our way back to the hotel, we were walking through the piazza and heard a street performer playing the guitar. He was singing some of his own music as well as some pretty famous songs, all in English. We stopped and sat on some steps to just take it in...it was so beautiful and relaxing. Definitely the best way to end our time in Florence. :)


Ciao for now!