We spent all day outside, exploring. It’s 8:14 in the evening and I’m happy but a little tired. We leave each arly in the morning to catch a train to Venice so I’m mostly going to post photos of the day. First stop was the Academia to see Michelangelo’s David. What can I say other than he looks better in person than in a photo.

He’s naked. He just is, nothing I can do about that. If you don’t want to look, scroll past quickly, or squint.

You may not have seen his backside. What was new to me was the strap across his back that is part of the sling. And the rocks that he is holding in his hand.

His toes are a little gnarly but that might be because of the years spent outside in the weather.

The Academia houses many, many statues…

There was a room full of plaster models that sculptors worked from. I watched a video that explained the how the plaster casts were made and how small models were used to make the larger sculptures. I suspect you can find that information if you google it.

Then there was the madonna with glass eyes. Unusual, and better in a photo than it was in person.

I have decided that I like paintings and sculptures of reclining women, nude or clothed. I don’t actually recline much… it must be the idea of reclining that sounds nice.

We walked a lot.

I liked some of the graffiti with faces…

We went to Santa Croce. If you come to Florence, be sure to go around to the back of this church to the School of leather. Students learn to make leather goods, and there are wonderful pieces for sale. I bought a lovely, large black leather purse. As I explained to Steve, it may have cost of lot but it would have been a whole lot more in elsewhere. I’ll ask Karen to take a photo of me carrying it tomorrow.

This is the back of the church, the School of Leather is nearby.

The inside of this church is prettier than many other churches. Our Segway tour guide, Andrea, told us to be sure to visit it and he was right. There are many famous people buried here… Machiavelli, Fermi, Galileo, maybe da Vinci…

Some of the floor tomb covers (there’s bound to be a better name for that but I can’t think of it now) were deeply carved and had obviously been walked on in the past.

This is where Michelangelo is buried.

We went to a street market…

I climbed the dome of the Duomo. Lots of stairs, narrow in some places…

The view of the inside of the dome is nice. There’s not a whole lot to see in the church below.

The view of the city from the top of the outside of the dome is amazing!

And then you walk back down with is easier on the lungs but harder on the knees.

We did a little more shopping… I regret not buying the Fabriano colored pencils but maybe I’ll find them in Venice. We had hot chocolate at a famous place, dinner, and now we are chillin’ and getting ready for tomorrow!

I hope there’s a tower to climb in Venice :-).