Florence

Florence

Florence is a city unlike any others which I have visited. Instead of being outwardly beautiful like so many others in Italy and other places in Europe, I felt that it had an almost dirty feel to it, and its buildings obstructed views of just about everything unless you are right next to the structure. However, it is where the renaissance started which is my favorite architecture and art style. It housed works by Michelangelo, Rafael, and Leonardo. It contains some of the worlds finest treasures.

In no particular order, the I visited the duomo, the first large dome since the construction of the pantheon, which I saw in rome, the tombs of many famous persons including Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Rafael, and many others. The Uffizi, which rivals the lourve as the most important museum in Europe, the galleria, which houses David and not much else, the tomb of the medicis in san Lorenzo’s basilica, which houses more statues by Michelangelo, and probably more.

This was outstanding. The art was simply the best that I had seen to date. On top of that, there are outdoor areas with great replicas of david and more. I saw Michelangelo’s only portrait style painting, exhibits on the genius of Leonardo, and more. It is simply impossible to talk about all of it suffice to say that my favorite artists are Caravaggio, and Michelangelo, which coincidentally is Caravaggio’s first name. The David must be seen to be believed.

We nailed down a couple of good things and some bad. First, the hostel, which I had booked, was full so a 3 star hotel was able to MATCH the price of it for us for 3 nights. This was great because it was very very hot in Italia. I mean hot too. I didn’t know the actual temperature, but since the time I had gotten used to nearly 100 degree weather, which would make one wilt in Seattle. This was awesome because it allowed me to stay in AC comfort without worry of money loss or anything for 3 nights and it made for easy resting during the heat of the day or siesta, when everything closes for 2 hours just like in spain. On top of that, I was with Brandon and Greg dudder, a friend of mine from college. Their companionship was nice after that long period spent with only Italian speaking folks.

However, the reservations and museum fees here were considerably more than anywhere else in Europe and really added to the expenses. Lines were long, but we got to david first thing in the morning and got in with no crowd. Funny thing was, in line the girl in front of us was in Brandon’s Girlfriend’s sorority. Small world. We also treated him to a 3 course Italian meal, which was great as well, if not necessarily on the wallet. It was his 23rd birthday. That means he is cut off from his insurance! I guess birthdays do get less exciting with age… Greg is an interesting guy when he talks to girls, as we discovered. To nobody’s surprise, the Australians seemed to find us here as well. They are really everywhere you look. Greg liked museums and art as much as me, but Brandon really wasn’t as cut out for this type of trip as much and didn’t seem to enjoy himself as much. It was as if he was here because he should but didn’t have his heart in it. I truly hope he had a good time, because his constant talk was about finding the internet and making calls home. Those are important, but you only come here once really so… To each his own.

Funny incidents:
-The hotel breakfast was only 1 croissant. I had 2 one morning and they threw a fit. The night dude later told me that the kitchen worker was nuts and don’t worry about it, but I was concerned due to the generosity of the place.
-We experienced the first problems of not having money. Luckily it was resolved quickly.
-The waiter made fun of greg when he was drunk
-The heavy set individual infront of me going up the duomo dome was the smelliest person I had seen thus far
-We experienced 2 monstrous thunder storms and got completely soaked once
-Florence wasn’t really filled with funny incidents
Florence, Rome, and Turkey

Florence is a city unlike any others which I have visited. Instead of being outwardly beautiful like so many others in Italy and other places in Europe, I felt that it had an almost dirty feel to it, and its buildings obstructed views of just about everything unless you are right next to the structure. However, it is where the renaissance started which is my favorite architecture and art style. It housed works by Michelangelo, Rafael, and Leonardo. It contains some of the worlds finest treasures.

In no particular order, the I visited the duomo, the first large dome since the construction of the pantheon, which I saw in rome, the tombs of many famous persons including Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Rafael, and many others. The Uffizi, which rivals the lourve as the most important museum in Europe, the galleria, which houses David and not much else, the tomb of the medicis in san Lorenzo’s basilica, which houses more statues by Michelangelo, and probably more.

This was outstanding. The art was simply the best that I had seen to date. On top of that, there are outdoor areas with great replicas of david and more. I saw Michelangelo’s only portrait style painting, exhibits on the genius of Leonardo, and more. It is simply impossible to talk about all of it suffice to say that my favorite artists are Caravaggio, and Michelangelo, which coincidentally is Caravaggio’s first name. The David must be seen to be believed.

We nailed down a couple of good things and some bad. First, the hostel, which I had booked, was full so a 3 star hotel was able to MATCH the price of it for us for 3 nights. This was great because it was very very hot in Italia. I mean hot too. I didn’t know the actual temperature, but since the time I had gotten used to nearly 100 degree weather, which would make one wilt in Seattle. This was awesome because it allowed me to stay in AC comfort without worry of money loss or anything for 3 nights and it made for easy resting during the heat of the day or siesta, when everything closes for 2 hours just like in spain. On top of that, I was with Brandon and Greg dudder, a friend of mine from college. Their companionship was nice after that long period spent with only Italian speaking folks.

However, the reservations and museum fees here were considerably more than anywhere else in Europe and really added to the expenses. Lines were long, but we got to david first thing in the morning and got in with no crowd. Funny thing was, in line the girl in front of us was in Brandon’s Girlfriend’s sorority. Small world. We also treated him to a 3 course Italian meal, which was great as well, if not necessarily on the wallet. It was his 23rd birthday. That means he is cut off from his insurance! I guess birthdays do get less exciting with age… Greg is an interesting guy when he talks to girls, as we discovered. To nobody’s surprise, the Australians seemed to find us here as well. They are really everywhere you look. Greg liked museums and art as much as me, but Brandon really wasn’t as cut out for this type of trip as much and didn’t seem to enjoy himself as much. It was as if he was here because he should but didn’t have his heart in it. I truly hope he had a good time, because his constant talk was about finding the internet and making calls home. Those are important, but you only come here once really so… To each his own.

Funny incidents:
-The hotel breakfast was only 1 croissant. I had 2 one morning and they threw a fit. The night dude later told me that the kitchen worker was nuts and don’t worry about it, but I was concerned due to the generosity of the place.
-We experienced the first problems of not having money. Luckily it was resolved quickly.
-The waiter made fun of greg when he was drunk
-The heavy set individual infront of me going up the duomo dome was the smelliest person I had seen thus far
-We experienced 2 monstrous thunder storms and got completely soaked once
-Florence wasn’t really filled with funny incidents