Florence Day 18!

After a very hard walk yesterday, we were happy to see that our itinerary read "Galleria dell'Accademia". For those of you who don't know, what has been called the most beautiful statue in the world is at the Accademia,..the statue of DAVID. We've waited quite a while for just a glimpse of Michelangelo's undisputed masterpiece and today, we finally got to see it.

As we waited in line to enter the museum, we were anticipating a large collection of work. Once we entered, we realized that there was a lot to see, but the museum itself is pretty insignificant when compared to the palaces that we've been too. The outside of the museum as well, wa covered with graffiti and stupid phrases like "So and so was here in such a year from such a place". We've noticed that people, mainly tourists, have little if any respect for the historical and in some cases ancient.

Inside the museum, Cindy was impressed by the plaster cast of the Rape of the Sabine Women. This marvelous sculpture was constructed in a vortex-type-shape, without a front or a back. Every angle of it allows the viewer to see a different aspect and as discribed in the audioguide, it has no "privileged views". After a few minutes there, Pox snuck a few photos of it. (We were upset that we wouldn't be able to photograph the David)

Passing into the next room, Pox immediately starting shooting his camera shutter in complete disregard for any rules. It was pretty easy to sneak some photos of the David with his trusty zoom lens. The majority of the tourists were bunched up right in front of it and the museum docents were all focused on them. Later on, we moved closer and were amazed by the detail that Michelangelo put into his capolavoro (masterpiece). On David's hand's you can even see veins running down and the wrinkles on his knuckles. After admiring the statue for a bit, we moved along the rest of the museum and passed throught the bookshop to find that little something to bring back home.

We took time to enjoy our lunch of tuna sandwiches, tea and grapes in front of the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. As we sat there and enjoyed the nice breeze we were straddled by the Piazza on one side and a view of the Duomo on the other side. We walked around after our lunch and bought a few more knick-knacks.

When we got home, we watched some television and had a nice dinner of ravioli stuffed with riccota cheese and spinach. It was delicious. We're starting to get sad knowing that we only have five days left in our adventure. So far these 5 and a half weeks have been amazing, let's hope that the last five days will send us off with a bang.