We turned in for a relaxing night of internet binging and then came to realize why the room was relatively cheap. Florence must be the city of bells. Multiple times an hour the nearby churches (of which there are many) ring their bells and it feels loud enough to be in our room. Similarly, the walls are thin and our neighbors proved to not be very considerate. Finally, the neighboring hotel does its dishes right outside our window, so each morning without fail we hear the clang of numerous dishes. There are two public restrooms, one with a toilet that doesn't flush, both with shower or bath without any curtains. The wifi also has a problem with overload, and if you try to run too much at once, the wifi shuts down completely. All these things are minor complaints. At least we have a roof over our heads and we do get the benefit of being close to everything.
After a late start the next morning, we set out to examine the Duomo (which we had seen the first day from afar). As it was a Saturday, the streets and area were packed. There were lines for hours to get to the part of the Duomo where you could climb to the top, and to the Duomo tower, which would similarly give a nice view of central Florence. We did examine the inside of the Duomo which was quite a sight, but the inside had a gutted feeling. Half of the Church was empty and there was a sensation that a lot of the chandeliers and other pieces of art had been removed. Realizing that we didn't want to wait in the line, we decided to hold off until Monday when we presumed the crowds to be less. So our next task was to find Michelangelo's David. A quick google search informed us that it was at the Museum de Academia and so we went in search of it. There was a line, but fortunately it took only about 30 minutes before we could get in. The most annoying part of the museum was the price. There were reduced student tickets but only for EU students. Our Oxford student cards weren't going to get us anywhere. We sucked in our guts and paid full price, knowing that this would be one of the few opportunities to see such a masterful piece of art.
The museum itself was very beautiful, with many of the art pieces that had been removed from churches on display. There was also a section to the museum devoted to an instrument collection of the Medicci family. Once again, Sara got to see some famous and one of a kind violins and violas. They also had quite an extensive collection of pianos and other woodwind and brass instruments. There was a part to the exhibit which had texts and coins from early Florentine history. Most of the artwork on exhibit was religious in nature, reflecting scenes from the bible such as the Madonna and Child, the annunciation and other important scenes. The piece de resistance was of course Michelangelo's David which stood towering in the hall. I would say it was a unique opportunity though by the end of our wandering, I did begin to feel a certain claustrophobia that I have been known to get when surrounded by Religious paraphernalia.
We wandered around for a bit longer that day before turning in for an evening of skyping our families and watching comedy specials. None of us got much sleep due to a group of young women in the neighboring room, but we made up for it by sleeping in a little later than normal. Sara also tried her hand at putting my hair up into a complex braided style that was worn by Daenerys in Game of Thrones. It turned out quite well.
As we stepped outside the next morning, we were immediately greeted by the sun. I know a lot of the midwest back home is fighting a blizzard, but Florence was a comfortable 50+ degrees Farenheit and there was even a point when I took off my jacket. We had a goal of checking out the Porta Vecchio and then the other side of the river, but were perfectly content to get strategically lost. It was a good thing we did too, because we got to see some magnificent views of Florence from atop a Tuscan hill side. The views brought smiles to all our faces, despite the work. We even stumbled upon a choir concert at one of the churches along the way. We turned in a bit exhausted and had a nice evening of games and shows to cool down.
The last full day in Venice was a far less exciting one. Despite having a Eurorail pass, Italy forces everyone to make a reservation for the train trips they want to use (This is not a free service costing around 10€. Sara, Ben and I needed to make reservations for Rome. We also planned to try and do the things at the Duomo that we had skipped on Saturday due to the lines. Much to our surprise, the Duomo and the tower were closed for business today, and there was now a living manger scene outside the front. Something was clearly going on, but there were absolutely no signs. A little frustrated we wandered back over the river in an effort at least initially to find a place to stay for Ben (due to a complicated set of circumstances this turned out to be unnecessary). Sara and I stopped to buy postcards near the Porta Vecchio and when we turned around, much to our surprise, there was a crowd and the beginnings of a parade. We had come to a conclusion earlier in the day that the city must be doing something for the last of the 12 days of Christmas and from our memory, we thought it had to do with the Magi. It turned out our intuitions were correct. The city had a parade, led by the 3 magi to visit the baby Jesus at the living manger by the Duomo. The parade consisted of representatives of the royal and noble families of Florence as well as other nations. There were many people dressed in traditional garb from any time period between early hundreds to the Renaissance. There were also groups of drummers and trumpeters which played as the parade processed. One of the cooler sights were series of people with flags which they twirled and threw up into the air.
We completed the remainder of our errands and then turned in for yet another night of relaxing. We look forward to our continued travels to Rome. Expect a post from me in less than a week.
KH
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