Florence 18th and 19th of July

So the over night stay outside of Venice was restless but it was amazing nonetheless. I did not end up falling asleep until 3am and then we woke up around 8am to eat the breakfast. We ate toast with preserves, ham, and some juice and cappucino. After checking out around 9:30, we hopped back on the number 5 bus to take back to the Train station so head to Florence.

The trip from Venice to Florence took a little over two hours. I feel asleep on the train ride there. When we got off the train in Florence, our hostel was only a minute away from the station (compared to 20 minutes the night before) and they were really nice. Brad and I actually got upgraded to stay in a hotel since they ran out of rooms in their own hostel. AC was enjoyable HOWEVER when we left from Venice and arrived in Florence, it was quite chilly. Chilly as in no higher than 80 degrees!. It was a relief to travel around in cooler weather.

Time for another self portrait!


I kinda wished thought i brought a pair of pants. I miss wearing those haha.

Our group decided to keep it easy the first day. It was nice to not be on the move every minute of the day and relax. I took a short nap in the hotel/hostel and then all of us went out to shop - mostly for the italian leather which i felt not desire to get but i did snag a couple tshirts and a pair of sunglasses that actually fit me. I did see a 69 belt buckle...but didn't have enough cash on me to get it...darn!


Later all of us went out for dinner to celebrate Anna's 21st birthday. The restaurant gave free champaigne for all of us and a dessert for Anna which she gracefully shared with the group.

Then there was the after party - going out for drinks. On the way there we passed by Piazza san Croce. They were filming some movie there-presuming something in relation to Marilyn Monroe because the actress could definitely pass of as her.


anyways

We went into this bar/nightclub area where I definitely got 2 drinks for 18 euros...yeah its bad. my mojito was 10 euro and my long island (not that strong btw) was 8 euros. So because i was so depressed about these prices, I thought it would at least be beneificial to just finish those 2 drinks in 30 minutes...

and now most of you are probably shaking your heads in disappointment, or laughing becuase you would do the same...whatever works

Anna, Brad, and I walked back, Brad being the only sober one, and we got lost around 2:30 am...i'll leave it at that for that night.


The following day is when we did all of the sight seeing and the pictures that you will now see.

I saw Michaelangelo's ORIGINAL David statue. It was truely epic and amazing to see such fine art on display as well as for my photographer colleauges...ROBERT MAPPLETHROPE'S work. Don't worry none of the really grotesque ones. Of course I was the only one to really appreciated this while I was there. I felt like I was in photo history 2 all over again. The body of work that was displayed by Mapplethrope was related to Michaelangelo's David Statue which i never thought of before.

PICTURES WERE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE THE MUSEUM...I TRIED, AND I FAILED

so if you want to see the statue you can go online. or see a copy of it like this one

I took this picture on one of the highest points in Florence. From here I can see all of Florence and its beauty. So along with the great view I decided to take some jumping photos- for Jerry

Brad could have jumped a little higher at least!!! haha

After lunch, and walking around, we met up with the group to see Piazza Duomo, I took some photos inside and will post those when I am finished editing.

Then we went up to the Uffizi Gallery to check out Sandro Botticelli's work - most famous work is The Birth of Venus

*the image aboe was NOT taken by me*

The painting was at least 7 ft long by 8-9 feet tall. It was really the only reason I wanted to go in, and it was worth it. I did manage to appreciate the other arts there as well (sculptures, paintings, sketches, etc).

After all of this, it was time to go home. I spent about an hour in line to see David, and another hour for Duomo and another for the Uffizi Gallery. and a few hours worth of walking.

Great location, great experience... I'm glad I got to see what I saw and be around new people. It's now sunday and I leave to go back to the US in 2 weeks...


NEXT MAJOR TRIP

LONDON!