Friday

Friday
We are up at 7:38. Breakfast was the usual of coffee, yogurt, juice and croissant. Perfect. We can all be ready in 30 minutes - just like when we were kids going to school. We are off to the Galleria dell' Accademia. Again Eileen has called in advance to reserve tickets so there was no waiting. We are thankful. The building entrance is on an unassuming street. You would never know it was housing such famous old works of art.

Just when you go into this school of art, you see at the end of a long expansive corridor the famous statue of David. It stands 17 feet tall depicting David of David and Goliath. The details in the marble are especially incredible. He represents the new outlook of the Renaissance Man. Michelangelo believed his work was a work of God. He was commissioned to do the work 1501. It is made of one piece of marble.

We were not allowed to take pictures but could stay as long as you wanted. Joan





We were soon overwhelmed with all the sculptures and paintings. I am sure Margie Rangno would have liked this museum which used to be a school for art. The masters used the students to do much of the work. Lots of gold leaf painting and stenciling. And this museum has long benches so one can just sit and gaze at the works or to wait for your companions. Worth seeing.

Joan decided to go back to the room hoping to get some quiet time and Eileen and I had a cappuccino, looked at a map, trying to figure out how to catch the right bus to get a higher view of the town. Since we hadn't yet seen the Pitti Garden we walked there and realized that we could get a great view from there. In fact, when stumbled into the adjourning garden, the Boboli, we struck gold in that there was nice cafe at the top overlooking the city with a porch. We didn't get into the palace but it was great having a beautiful view with some exercise built in.









By the time we returned to our room for our "rest"and snack of wine, cheese and salami from a local shop we knew the bus ride idea was not realistic and just enjoyed some time together. Florence is a busy town with tons of tourists,shops, and cafes. I am missing my quiet place in Catalina, despite really liking this trip. We ended the evening at a local restaurant which again was quite good. Tried the tomato soup and gnocchi. A group of 50 plus high school seniors from North Carolina were also there so the octave level was up but was impressed with their group.
Judy


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