12 May-Venice to Florence

   We left Venice and though we were happy to come here and see this unique place we have no desire to return.  Seeing San Marcos (St. Mark's) Basilica was and is very worth the trip here.  Many in our group went to other place and did a lot of shopping, there are tons of places to shop.  As we leave Venice we take a return walk to the boat "boat bus" and ride back to one of the few docks that connect with the mainland and meet our coach for the ride to Florence.  The countryside was agricultural in nature and one would think of home except it was greener than we usually see.  In addition we see a lot of the red poppies along the way filling fields with such lovely color I only expected to see in Provence.   Soon we came to the "Appodine" (sp?) mountain range where the highest peaks are 8-9K ft.  Of course we passed through a much lower pass but there were lovely views to be seen.  We stopped for lunch at a road side auto stop, one which was built over the freeway.  Lunches served in these places are pretty good and very reasonably priced. 

   Upon our arrival to Florence our coach had to pay E$330. for the privilege of entering the city, cars pay no fee.  Another walk to our hotel and check in, this one has an elevator and we are on the 2nd floor.  In Europe the 2nd floor is really the third floor as they start with the "ground" floor, then 1st, 2nd, and so on.  The name of our hotel today is the "Hotel California" and it is such a maze inside that we can see how we might check in and never check out!  We drop our bags and meet on the street at 4:30 pm heading to the Accademia where we will see the statue of David.  How amazing and breathtaking these statues created by Michelangelo are.  The pictures we have seen do not really make the impression one feels when standing before these magnificent works of art.  It is really so amazing it makes one weep.  Unlike sculptors of his time Michelangelo did not use models.  What he sculpted came from within him or as he said, it was within the marble and he simply revealed what was hidden there.  He was an interesting man and even went to mortuaries to dissect bodies to see how the muscle and tendons were intricately connected under the skin noting bone structure and such to make his work so remarkable.  The first works we see are what some call unfinished, it is really unknown if they are actually unfinished or if they were meant to remain this way.  These particular works are quite interesting and set a perfect stage in the hallway leading to the original statue of David.  As I said photos do not show the magnificence and we are not even allowed to take photos here anyway.  The photo I have posted here is of the replica of David standing near the city public offices near in a town square. 

   As we leave the Accademia we have our orientation walk of the city for over two hours.  We saw the Ponte Vecchio, Michelangelo's house, Pitti Palace, Medici Palace, Giotto's Tower, Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore), Baptistery, Plazza della Repubblica, Mercato Nuovo, Uffizi Gallery, and more all from the outside.  It is interesting and informative but we are tired and getting hungry for our dinner to come, scheduled at 7:30 pm.  On the coach we also had some history and orientation about the Renaissance.  I did not realize that the plague in the 1400's killed two-thirds of the population and then things actually became better for the people because there were fewer people and this brought on the Renaissance.  One doesn't think about the plague and death of so many as being a positive thing but the strong survived and the power at that time was here in Florence, later moving to Rome.  

  Now we have arrived to dinner at La Spada Ristorante-Rosticceria.  A fabulous four course dinner awaits us; starter of 3 types of bruchetta, antipasti of 3 types of pasta, main course of beef, pork, and chicken with rosemary roasted potatoes, and last but not least Panna cotta with berries for dessert. Everything was absolutely delicious.  We had the house red wine, which was also delicious.  Interestingly enough there was another group, teens from an American School in Milan, sharing the big room with us.  Since they were having a birthday celebration it was a very festive evening.  Of the thousands of hotels and restaurants in Florence, they are also staying at our same hotel!  After this long and filling dinner it was quite challenging to walk back to the hotel but we did so before collapsing on the bed in exhaustion.  I was unable to even write this blog so I am catching up on this the following day.