Today was the iconic visits to the must see art of Florence. We started at Uffitzi Gallery and the Academy Gallery. Starting with Uffitzi was a very historical view of where art has come from. Seeing the stark Saint paintings, with little perspective then seeing the beautiful Renaissance work, in which they perfected the perspective. One of my favorite to see in person was The Primavera and Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, incredible depth and color to everything. The Renaissance truly was a high in the history of art. The building alone was a sight to see, and had a beautiful view of the River Arno and the amazing Porte Vecchio. Next was over to the Academy Gallery, home of the David and many magnificent works of Michelangelo. One of the highlights for me were his unfinished works, to see the characters come right out of the stone, he often described it as setting them free out of the stone. The David was jaw dropping, even more exquisite than I expected…it’s so cliché here, you see it plastered on every tourist knick-knack around, but really, it’s amazing. The expression on David’s face is meaning full…question, is he going into battle or has he conquered. The look in his eyes to me was facing the giant. I thought it so satirical that David would be huge like a giant…massive! The detail in the hands, the veins up the arms, the flex of the leg…all incredible.
After a trip to…you guessed it Gelato…this one owned by a Sicilian family famous for using their own nuts in the flavoring. I had the almond and hazelnut, oh… my yummy! We then met up as a group to tour the inside of the Duomo and Baptistery. The most exquisite mosaics yet seen, vibrant, shinny, tiny gold tiles. It was so interesting to pick out the familiar stories from the bible, my favorite Noah’s arch. Then inside the Duomo, with amazing pillars and arches framing the ceiling, and beautiful stone inlayed floors. Florence is a refreshing style after the heavy baroque of Rome, there’s a bit of sibling rivalry when it comes to regions of Italy and their claim to fame. Florence is very proud of there history and the work that came out of there.
Together as a group we sat on a bridge across from Porte Vecchio and sketched, I felt like a stuffed creature from Disney Land with all the Japanese snapping my picture, I had no idea we were such an attraction. We then did a few really helpful breakout sketching tutorials with Brady and Laura as our teachers.
Now for me the highlight of Florence, climbing the hill/mountain…it was really big…and seeing the view atop. We also got to hear the chanting of the monks and saw the outskirts of the Tuscan Valley. To pick out the vibrant red dome of the Duomo and see the sea of building was beautiful.
We headed to my favorite restaurant yet, the way I had imagined it to be, Whit and I split some amazing spaghetti, I know sound plain, but done the right was, masterpiece and this really great mozzarella chicken smothered…dripping with a creamy sauce and fresh melted mozzarella cheese. It was such a great night. As we were there enjoying our meal the Japanese group next to us recruited there buddy to sing…who would have thought, another Michael Hung I thought, wrong-o! He was amazing singing an Italian opera powerfully and beautifully, It’s going to be the next big thing on You Tube, just you wait. This was a sweet find to finish up a fantastic day. But, oh were not finished yet…we decided to strap on our laundry outfits…just imagine something like homeless people-minus the shopping cart-but garbage bag in toe and that was us wondering the streets of Florence trying to find a laundry mat…winner we found one at like 10 p.m. my first laundry mat experience, I miss my whirlpool! But a funny night with my fav traveling buddies Mal and Whit. We were excited to plan our adventures for our free day in Florence!
After a trip to…you guessed it Gelato…this one owned by a Sicilian family famous for using their own nuts in the flavoring. I had the almond and hazelnut, oh… my yummy! We then met up as a group to tour the inside of the Duomo and Baptistery. The most exquisite mosaics yet seen, vibrant, shinny, tiny gold tiles. It was so interesting to pick out the familiar stories from the bible, my favorite Noah’s arch. Then inside the Duomo, with amazing pillars and arches framing the ceiling, and beautiful stone inlayed floors. Florence is a refreshing style after the heavy baroque of Rome, there’s a bit of sibling rivalry when it comes to regions of Italy and their claim to fame. Florence is very proud of there history and the work that came out of there.
Together as a group we sat on a bridge across from Porte Vecchio and sketched, I felt like a stuffed creature from Disney Land with all the Japanese snapping my picture, I had no idea we were such an attraction. We then did a few really helpful breakout sketching tutorials with Brady and Laura as our teachers.
Now for me the highlight of Florence, climbing the hill/mountain…it was really big…and seeing the view atop. We also got to hear the chanting of the monks and saw the outskirts of the Tuscan Valley. To pick out the vibrant red dome of the Duomo and see the sea of building was beautiful.
We headed to my favorite restaurant yet, the way I had imagined it to be, Whit and I split some amazing spaghetti, I know sound plain, but done the right was, masterpiece and this really great mozzarella chicken smothered…dripping with a creamy sauce and fresh melted mozzarella cheese. It was such a great night. As we were there enjoying our meal the Japanese group next to us recruited there buddy to sing…who would have thought, another Michael Hung I thought, wrong-o! He was amazing singing an Italian opera powerfully and beautifully, It’s going to be the next big thing on You Tube, just you wait. This was a sweet find to finish up a fantastic day. But, oh were not finished yet…we decided to strap on our laundry outfits…just imagine something like homeless people-minus the shopping cart-but garbage bag in toe and that was us wondering the streets of Florence trying to find a laundry mat…winner we found one at like 10 p.m. my first laundry mat experience, I miss my whirlpool! But a funny night with my fav traveling buddies Mal and Whit. We were excited to plan our adventures for our free day in Florence!
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