Up the Dome

       Our first day in Florence was a busy one! After the night of the 7 Plagues of Egypt when we couldn't keep the window closed and were attacked by yelling, lots of noise and mosquitoes, I was a little tired! It was also rainy all day long which just doesn't seem right in Florence--I always expect that beaming tuscan sun here! We started by looking at the Florentine Baptistery doors, then went to several museums seeming among the highlights Donatello's David (super weird) and his St. George, the original Baptistery doors, and Michelangelo's Bacchus (a personal favorite) and an unfinished Pieta by him that I don't like near as much as the one in St Peter's.

         When we broke for lunch, Stevens gave all of us a ticket to climb Bruneleschi's dome, which was quite an experience, especially in the pouring rain! It is a long way up, over 400 steps, many of them steep and narrow, with one flight that literally scales the dome from the inside at a ridiculous angle! Still, it was amazing how high we ended up, and looking out over Florence in the rain was really rewarding, though wet and VERY high.

           In the afternoon we visited Bruneleschi's Hospital of the Innocents, credited with being the first truly Renaissance building, then headed to the nearby Academia which is home to Michelangelo's Prigiones (his unfinished statues originally begun for Pope Julius II's tomb but never totally freed from the marble, thus their name, which means prisoners) and of course, the David!

 

            My evenings have mostly been spent trying to catch up on my journal, but Alex and I took a break to say hi to Sally who had just arrived (yay!!) and get some gelato :)