out and about: Day 9: Florence

The Duomo is behind me and if my head wasn't in the way you could see the bridge too.

Hello, hello. We spent today touring Florence and had a great time. We started out by standing in a line to see the David statue. When we got in we also go to see this really cool musical instrument museum where we saw the world's oldest upright piano. It had a lot of stringed instrument history as well so I thought it was cool... haha. Then we saw the David statue which is far more impressive in real life than in text books. I had no idea that it was 5.16m tall and in such great condition for being 500 years old. When we finished with the museum we got in another line to access the Duomo. (It's free to get inside, 15 euro to go on the roof! We just went inside.) We chatted in line for a bit with a friendly couple from Tennessee. They were great. They said they were from near Nashville and I said, "oh nice, I've never been to the south but I'll be working in Savannah this summer." The wife had a real thick southern drawl, "oh you've got to come to the south. Everyone should! But drive half way to Atlanta and get off the high way and you'll find yourself in a whole new world [laughing]. Yes, some strange people out there." Oh good. haha

The inside of the Duomo was impressively large but rather cavernous, almost empty feeling. Only a couple hundred folding chairs were available for the congregation up front, there weren't many paintings, and the rest was just plain marble I guess. Quite different from the ornate churches I am familiar with. We then crossed the golden bridge (at least that's what we call it because that's what it sells haha) on our way to the Piazzale Michelangelo where we found a wonderful panorama of the city. We got lost on the way there but enjoyed the walk through the residential area. Between the train ride here, the panorama, and the areas we got lost in, Brendan and I both agree that Tuscany is a truly beautiful place!

We found our way back to the city to the markets that we had strolled through in the morning (on our way to the bridge) to get belts and then back to the hostel where we met up with Marae for dinner. Being Palm Sunday it was pretty difficult to find a supermarket that was open but we managed to get some pasta, canned mushrooms, tomato sauce, olives (accompanied by their oil), and some Tuscan red wine. We mixed these ingredients with the salt, pepper, and a few other spices from the hostel cabinet along with Brendan's bread to make a delicious meal--so much pasta! A great day if you ask me. We were hoping to do Cinque Terre tomorrow but we think it might be a bit much so tomorrow should be Pisa and laundry day... Thanks for reading!