The Perfect Day!!

Ciao Tutti!

A couple of Sundays ago, I had a pretty good day in Florence, the best day! haha

Started out with a nice little breakfast at home, cereal with a banana, tangerines, and a carrot. Go me! Then met up with my friends Irene and "tall Alex" (as we call him - there are four other guys named Alex in the program).

Any ways, we went to one of the best known museums in Italy: Galleria dell'Accademia. A lot of Michelangelo's work is housed there, some unfinished pieces, but the most famous is "Il Davide" (The David) Carved like a Roman Demi-God, this figure depicts the famous David, Slayer of Goliath, holding his slingshot. When you walk in you are completely taken by surprise by the sheer height of the figure... It is probably the most powerful piece I've ever seen. I'm not a real art-driven human being, but this really made you understand how incredible it is. Everything was carved and shaped so perfectly.

Here are some pictures (photos are not allowed and they are pretty on the ball about that - so thanks Google):

Pretty spectacular. Recently I just read in an Italian newspaper about a concern over local underground train station construction, actually might endanger Il Davide, due to the massive amounts of vibrations which will eventually cause the artwork to shatter.

The Galleria dell'Accademia had a bunch of cool displays, and I plan to visit it many more times to get the true feel and understanding.

After the Galleria, we passed a bunch of street vendors, and some had a few cool posters. We stopped and looked at them, and I noticed a copy of this:

The "Vitruvian Man" by Leonardi da Vinci! It was a really neat poster, and the seller noticed I wanted it, and offered it for 25 euros. I knew that was way too much, so I declined and kept walking. Well, he wanted to sell, so he rolled it up and chased after us. This happens a lot in Italy, so I was a little annoyed, and just said, "I only have 5 euros, I can't afford it."

"20 Euros!"

"No, no thanks."

We kept walking, tall-Alex said something about finding it cheaper on the south-side of Florence.

"For you, 15 Euros!"

"I only have five, sorry."

"10 Euros" We were pretty far now, and he'd have to return to his sidewalk with his friends, so he said, "Fine, Five Euros. Take it, I don't want it."

I was ready to take the deal, because the poster was quite awesome, but I said, "I don't really want to spend all five euros, I'm pretty hungry."

He dropped it to 3 euro, and I took the deal. So this is the lesson of street vendors. Never take their first offer, threaten to buy elsewhere, and haggle it down even further.

So after I scored an awesome poster, we left for the southern side of the city, and ate on the otherside of the Ponte Vecchio (the old bridge over the Arno River). It's much more Italian on that side and with a lot less tourists, so prices are cheaper... plus the food is amazing.

We walked around some more and discovered a nice little spot right on the river.

Tall Alex

Irene!

So as the pictures can tell, the day ended well!