My New Boyfriend David

     Before I left for the weekend in Florence I posted on my Facebook that I was going to go meet my new boyfriend David. This caused such a frenzy. All of my family and extended family threatened to tell my parents that I have a boyfriend abroad. When I told them I was actually going to see the famed statue of David while in Florence the big "ooohhhh" and hand to face moment happened to them all. As a side note, you can actually be arrested if you take photos of this famed statue...just a random fact.
    We arrived at the museum to be pleasantly surprised to turn the first corner to be greeted by one of the world's most famous statues. I had to be the stupid American and sneak a photo of this handsome man for a free souvenir. On the other hand, it would not have been so free if I were arrested. Good thing I wasn't!  I asked Mandy to stop a moment so that I could stick my camera through her hair to snap a few shots. Natalie and I went to go sit down looking up at David's rear end. Yes, we did pinch his behind which caused a fit of laughter like we were again in elementary school. It is such an amazing piece of work. I can't believe Michelangelo would know exactly what he would carve from a single piece of marble. He believed that the statue was living within and all he had to do was unveil it. The veins of David seem to be pumping blood to sustain him under his marble exoskeleton.
      Dr. Whetstine's mom is here visiting for the week. She decided to sit down next to Natalie and I and ask us about the style of sculpture David is styled in. We were quite happy to share our knowledge because this is what we have class for every morning. We learn about art history and then see the art in person. Before we left I decided to sneak one last photo of David's Face. He is apparently looking towards Golithe. I think he is looking at so much more than just the Giant.
   So I said goodbye to my brief encounter with the world's most gorgeous man and moved on to more girlie things like shopping with Natalie, Nicole and Rachel. I took them over to the famous Porcellino Market. I found a lovely leather purse for my mother in the market but I wanted to wait until closing when you get the best deals. We then headed over to the San Lorenzo Market. Natalie wanted to try her hand at the power of bargain that Danilo was telling us about. She tried to bargain a price for a couple of cashmere scarves at the first stand we saw. They were not believing anything that was coming out of her mouth. She said no and lead the group on to the next stall. I have to laugh. She was so confident in her no response to the people at the first stand. We headed over to another stand which had a lovely display of scarves. We gave in and all bought cashmere scarves. My scarf is a lovely light purple plaid scarf. I totally love it. As we were walking around we happened upon this lovely restaurant called Ciro and Sons nestled inside an old palace of the family of Pope Clemens. http://www.ciroandsons.com/index.php It was so cute. We just were poking our noses in and a young man that was labeling the house wine with home made labels. He came out and started talking to us. Boy is he one lucky man to be that good looking. He invited us to come back tonight for dinner. We will most definitely return. We then headed over to the Ponte Vecchio bridge to buy Italian Horns. Don't shop with me because I make everyone buy more than what they want to buy. Natalie spent over 100 euros on a horn and Ali spent 90 euros on one as well. They loved their new necklaces so well that they were so mad at me for "making" them buy one.
          Later on that evening, almost everyone headed over to have dinner at  Ciro and Sons restaurant. We were yet again greeted by the handsome man from earlier today. He apologized to us that we would have to have dinner under the patio. He move plenty of the heaters near us since we were all so eager to eat at such a place. That night dinner lasted around 3 hours. It was just a table full of students, our professor and her mother. It didn't really matter how much we spent that night because the laughs that we had and the sharing of a great meal around the table was worth the entire bill. There is an art to Italian meals. The art of "tutti a tavolo a mangiare" isn't just a place to satisfy one's hunger. It is about the time that one shares with friends and family. Splitting bills is not common in Italy because having dinner together does not just consist of the meal but also the company. Everyone pitches in an even share of the bill because the bill has an invisible charge for the evening's amazing company. It is a living heritage of time shared that makes our daily lives more worth while. I don't mind paying more than my meal because I enjoy a great company of people around my table. A little secret of mine is to sit in the middle of the table so that I can be involved in everyone's conversation. That way, if I have run out of things to say on one side I can switch to another side of the table and continue talking.
      We were having great fun with our waiter Enzo and his brother Giuseppe. When he came around to ask whether we would like any dessert, Natalie got up enough courage to ask Enzo if he were on the menu. He said just wait one moment. While he was bring out our tiramisu, he handed Natalie a lovely plate painted in whipped cream the name Enzo. Yes, apparently Enzo was on the dessert menu. We just all had way too much fun. As we were leaving, we all begged, well, just us girls begged for a photo of the famed brothers for a keep sake of that wonderful dinner.

Giuseppe on the left and Enzo on the right

  

   I have been thoroughly enlightened with the many day trips Dr. Dubs has had us through and will have us through. One of the most interesting while here in Florence was a trip to a medical museum that exhibited post Renaissance wax dissection models exhibiting all sorts or ailments and diseases. Medical students thumbing through the many bibles of medicine would come and study these models for practice. These students would then be prepared to deal with the horrors of the "everyman" disorders and diseases. I found many of the these models quite frightening because they seemed so real. One of the oddest had a rendition of a pregnant mother with a breech baby.
     Studying medicine seemed to be an art for Florentines during the Renaissance. Much of Florence seems to have small moments of the Renaissance all around the city. It is like being in a museum but instead of the stark four walls surrounding you, the cobblestones and torrents of the famed Florentine city surround you. I really can't describe Florence any better than the womb of Italian art and culture. Florence was even the first capital of the unified state of Italy. I wonder what life would have been like to be apart of the history pages of Florence. It would likely be a "who's who" of Italian art and culture. We continued around the museum and came across the many animal exhibits. With Florence being one of the oldest and riches cities in Italy, we were all so interested to see the many exotic animals on display. We even came across a rare Homo Sapien called Matt. haha Many of the animals have been long since extincted. which made their viewing even more interesting.
       Florence is such a different city than Rome or even Naples. The farther one goes North of Rome, the classier everything gets. Rome is a like a pair of Levi jeans compared to Florence's high fashion label lifestyle and artistic moments. I don't really think that one can visit just one city in Italy. Italy is a completely different soul north compared to the south. I have to say that I have enjoyed Florence because it seems like the history pages seem to come to life. The words have taken a breath in front of a visitor at every waking moment. The only turn off I have from Florence is that the people get lost in all of the history, art and architecture. Maybe it would be different if I went out into the Tuscan countryside. I won't make a permanent judgement for now.
   

La Primavera

We arrived here in Florence after a long train ride. We decided to walk around the main square to find a nice restaurant. We came upon this little place that only had six tables and was about the size of the first floor in my parents house which is very small by the way. This picture<<<<<<< shows all the room that was in the place. It was so quaint. The menu was only what the kitchen was cooking for the afternoon. We all had a five layer lasagna with a glass of wine for 7 euros. It doesn't beat the group favorite of Sor Capanna but it comes so very close.

It was snowing while we we walking on the bridge

      After our amazing lunch we had a quick walking tour of the city and walked the length of the famous Ponte Vecchio. Then, we headed over to have our tour of the Uffizi museum. I am not the biggest fan but we had to use a headset for our tour. It was one of those headsets that you punch in the number of the famous painting and it tells you a story on it. I would much rather have a person tell me about certain pieces of art and the building itself. However, I stayed optimistic. I was looking forward to seeing the "Birth of Venus" and "Primavera." Both of these paintings were amazing to witness. However, I have to tell this story. I am standing back and glancing at the "Primavera." A group of Asians came by me with their crazy tour guide. She was dressed from head to toe in a baby blue suit. She painted her lips with bright red lipstick and raved in absolute craziness over the Primavera painting. She started to crouch down and then crawl around on the floor next to the wall that the painting was hung so that her tourists were able to understand something. What ever it was I feel that there is some sort of medication out there to put her excitement at ease.  This was such a strange site. She almost knocked this famous painting off the wall. I am amazed by the world and the people in it. There aren't just the black and white standardized procedures that run my Americanized life. Every spectrum of the rainbow can be reincarnated in a baby blue suit and bright red lipstick.

The palace continues to the famous bridge

      After a while I stopped listening to every room and caught up with Ali and Jenna. The Medici family had a huge complex. This whole museum used to be their palace. Ali, Jenna and I kind of did an illegal thing. We went down a handicap elevator that we had no access to and then walked into a private VIP section of the museum that we did not have access to. We received the oddest stares. Frankly, we were just trying to find our way back to the lobby. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for the experience. Museums are just exhausting. I don't prefer to be inside all day while the people pass by and life plays out.
     Later, Nicole and I decided to walk around Florence while the rest of the group went back to the hotel. We were walking towards the famous Duomo and saw the famed baptistery then we turned towards the right and saw one of the best sites. I love when these moments take my breath away. First experiences are always the best.  The church is covered in a marble that I have never seen. Nicole and I decided to walk down to the Ponte Vecchio because she was looking to buy a watch. She wanted to go into the Bulgari store because they had a lot of watches in the window. Neither of us knew of the expensive prices we were about to experience. We didn't know that Bulgari is such a high class brand. First thing is that we had to be buzzed into the store. That should have been our first sign. Nicole started looking at a 3000 euro watch. I immediately laid an egg and wanted out of the shop. They were quite upset that I left and didn't spend any money. I started calling and texting her to leave. These shops can call the police if you are not a serious buyer. They do not like browsers like in the US. She finally came bounding through the door. She told me that it took everything for the jeweler to let her go. Holy moly we almost had trouble. We ended up walking back to the shop that I bought an Italian horn at so that Nicole to look for one. Our last stop was in the Guess shop. Nicole finally settled on a 179 euro watch for her birthday. It had Swarovski crystals around the face. It was so gorgeous.