We travelled to Florence.
It is such a beautiful town. You can just feel the refinement and class walking around. It has always been a centre of culture and class and that couldnt be closer to the truth, even now. Its just a cool place to be. It is so interesting to think about all the famous families, artists and musicians who have lived here. This is where the Medici family spent almost 300 years and this is where Michelangelo sculpted (over a period of over 7 years) his famous statue of David. I just loved being here.
We were given a walking tour of the tour which was really informative and interesting. I love picking up little bits of history and stories along the way, and this place was certainly full of them. It is so interesting the way that so many architectural wonders are categorised by their style, and it can be often seen how long something took to complete by looking at the way that the style changed throughout its construction. For me, coming from a country where we dont have that sort of history, looking at and observing things like that are awesome. We spent the morning there, looking around, seeing everything that the town had to offer. We were quite lucky because the town centre itself is not that big and is easily walkable in only a couple of hours.
However the highlight of the day, and possibly the highlight of the trip came about midday. Justin and I decided to go and see the statue of David. We walked over the the Galleria Accademia, and paid our entrance (the first of many to art galleries and exhibits), and went in. The museum its in is very small but holds some incredible pieces, including a facinating exhibit about musical instruments, mainly strings and pianos, throughout the ages. This is all a hangover from the years of patronage and support by the Medici family. Its a funny thought that all that money spent, seemingly uselessly, i mean, simply to indulge themselves, has given us all these treasures today. But thoughts aside we were on a mission, to visit Dave.
We rounded the first corner and there is was, not much of a buildup. But it is as incredible as everyone makes it out to be. There is something about the way he stands, or the way it is formed, that is intriguing. It draws yours eyes to it, and doesnt let them leave. You can look at it from any angle, any viewpoint, and it is just as beautiful. It was simply incredible, no wonder it is know as one of the most important pieces of art ever. Your not allowed to take photos, but i was too excited about it, and everyone else was, so i snapped.........umm 7. We got thrown out, but we had seen what we came for. It was awesome.
Then we went to Pisa.
Pisa is not a big town and although we didnt see all of it, its not that much of an exciting place. It really is the buildings next to the leaning tower, and thats about it. Anyway, to stop me complaining, i will tell you about the day.
We arrived, and walked into the centre where the various well known buildings are. Not to be harsh, but it wasnt a very interesting walk, Pisa was not a very interesting place. But what was funny to notice was the way that as you got closer to the Tower (you can always see the big Italian flag on the top from anywhere in the town), the tourist shops and sellers became more and more.