Florence

The street vendors here love it when it rains 'cause they peddle in umbrellas. And they've probably been doing pretty well lately. Luckily, I'm usually on a train when it's pouring. Took one to Florence the other day, and met up with Elaina, who I'll be traveling with for a while. This is the place the renaissance started. Lots of art. I happen to be in Italy during "culture week", so all the state-owned museums are free, so I've saved quite a bit on that, and have checked out museums I normally wouldn't have. We went to the Uffizi museum. I think statues are my favorite form of art. And we saw David at the Academia. I always thought he was standing in a strange posture, but never realized that it's because he's holding a sling (that he just used to kill Goliath). It hangs down his back, and isn't really visible in front. It surprised me.

Covering most of one of the main piazzas (piazze?) in Florence was a huge canvas that an art group had set out along with cans of paint and brushes. There was a crowd milling around the perimeter, wondering what it was all about. A few people had started to paint pictures and graffiti. I wandered out there, dodging wet paint, and drew a picture worthy of a kindergartener's fridge. Later in the day, the whole canvas was covered with layers of questionable artwork. As a whole, it was an interesting piece though. And an interesting social experiment.














Some people soaked their feet in blue paint, and walked around the canvas. There were many phrases in various languages, some cryptic messages, and some true artwork.















Florence has a great public market. No need for Walmart when you have great bakeries, butchers, and vendors selling all kinds of stuff under the same roof! I had a really good roast beef panini there.

The duomo is huge. It was near the hostel, so we used it as the main landmark when getting around the city. Here it is from a view across the river, on the biggest hill around.












And the river Arno from the hill. With the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge). It has a separate passageway that was built in the 16th century by the Medici's so they could freely walk between their palaces and offices without mixing with the locals.















Here's the mural at the end of the day.















I've never seen such a difference in the price of food at a grocery store and at a restaurant than in Italy. It's not just tourist restaurants, I think. It seems like the only option for the locals is to cook and eat at home. And for travelers on a budget. Here's a grocery store feast.