Day 65

Day 65- Friday March 12^th 2010

Today I woke up around 10 and headed over to my parents hotel to spend the day in Florence with them. We’ve decided that we are going to go to Rome tomorrow instead of today and spend one night in Rome. First we headed over to the train station to check the prices for departing for Rome tomorrow. It was around 40 euros for a one way ticket second class. Then we walked through San Lorenzo and bought dad a brown hat for 4 euors. I showed them inside the San Lorenzo market- which was actually open (most of the time I try to go there it is closed). The market is full of produce and meat mostly, but it also has an extensive collection of wine, sweets, and restaurants. After we visited the outdoor market I took them to the Duomo- or the Santa Maria del Fiore- by far the most spectacular monument in the city. We went inside the Cathedral and spent a good 20 minutes looking at the splendid architecture by Arnolfo di Cambio and Brunnelleschis dome. After the duomo we went to Palazzo Signoria- which is the old town hall of Florence, and to Museo Accademia where we saw the original Statue of David- the most famous statue in the world! The statue stood some 11 feet tall and is the masterpiece of Michelangelo himself- it is truly a brilliant work of art. And one can see it for only 6 euros. We walked around the museum for almost 2 hours looking at all the artwork- it was a rather small museum. Really, the only thing I found interesting about it was the statue of David. After we grabbed a bite to eat at a rather expensive sit-down restaurante- 20 euros for tea and a fruit dish for my mom!- we went to Ponte Vecchio. Meaning “Old Bridge,” Ponte Vecchio is a very popular tourist location. The bridge is packed with over-priced jewelry lit up in small shops packed next to each other. The view from the bridge out over the river is amazing though! I took them to Palazzo Pitti- but we didn’t go inside because it was 7 euros. We tried to get into the gardens behind the Palace but found out that they closed at 4:30 and so we couldn’t get in. We found a park that we were able to walk through- but soon got kicked out of when we found out that that was closing as well. C’mon its only 5:00!! I really wanted to show my parents Piazza Michelangelo- it has an amazing view of the city and plus, ive never been there before. I really wasn’t sure how to get there as a matter of fact… so we spent a good 2 hours walking uphill hoping we were going the right way. I figured as long as we were going uphill we had to be going the right way right?! Haha well after stopping once to grab a pizza to eat and confronting a lady for directions, we managed to get to Piazza Michelangelo right when it got dark out- and wow was it an amazing view!! The duomo and Palazzo Signoria were lit up- and the bronze statue of David was awesome as well. So today we were able to see the 3 most famous statues of David in Florence: The Statue of David in the Museo Accademia, The Statue of David at Piazza Signoria, and the Statue of David at Piazza Michelangelo. Not a bad way to spend a day if you ask me. On our way back to my parents hotel we stopped at the yellow bar for dinner. We had some red wine and I got spaghetti with meat sauce. My dad got pizza- which he didn’t like too much. He likes the pizza from home with the thicker crust and all the toppings. Most of the Italian pizza served here has thin crust and chunks of mozzarella (rather than it sprinkled evenly on the entire pizza). I took them back to their room after dinner and went back to my apartment around 10 to relax before I went to sleep. Rome Tomorrow bright and early!!!