The David and Duomo

Day 6- Florence, Italy 

Today we kept it local in terms of not traveling far, but Leslie's old friend and tour guide, Roberto, took us on a tour of Florence on a lovely, warm day. Our tour started outside our hotel where we met and walked to the Galleria dell' Accademia -or Accademia Gallery where we saw the David, which is known for the David and Goliath biblical story. Michelangelo was only 26 years old in 1501 when he started working on the marble statue, which was made from one block of marble and stands 14.0 feet high as it was completed in 1504. The David was originally intended to be placed at the top of the Duomo, but no one realized how heavy it was going to be so they placed it in Piazza della Signoria for almost 400 years until it was moved into the Accademia by train.

.

Another marble statue created by Michelangelo.

 Once we completed our tour of the Accademia, we went into the Duomo, Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence.  The creators were inspired by the Pantheon in Rome with how they could make a dome without having wooden arches to hold it up. Since the builder wanted the church to be completed as quickly as possible, he would not allow the builders working on the dome to take bathroom or lunch breaks. He felt lifting them up and down several times a day would slow the building process-- I'm sure it was a very messy floor.

 We then walked to Dante’s house and his family's church. Dante is known for his masterpiece Divine Comedy. 

{His home was literately a tower}

After a quick lunch, Leslie went back to town while Richard, John and I climbed the massive steps to the top of Michelangelo Square, which had the best view of Florence and the Duomo. 

{Many steps to the top}

{My favorite view}

{A good shot of the wall surrounding the city}

On our way back we bought another painting and had the best slushies (I had watermelon and Richard had strawberry). However, they are technically not called slushies but granita. But the best part of the night was our dinner.  

 That night we went to da il Latini. When you first arrive the doors will be locked and all the waiters will be eating prior to any of the guests being allowed to enter, but they only do two seatings per night (7:30 and 9:30 p.m.). Since they only do two seatings the outside of the restaurant will get pretty crowded. But the best part of the dinner is that the food and drinks don't stop-- they don't even give you a menu, they just keep bringing food. Here is the link if you interested: da il Lantini 

Starter: barley marinated with tomatoes, celery, and a delicious vinaigrette, a dish of buffalo mozzarella with tomato, and another plate of prosciutto and melon. 

{below are all our family style pastas}

{Our final dish was a massive serving of several different styles of meat}

{Our dinner ended with four different desserts and a very STRONG dessert wine served with biscotti that you dip into the wine. It was a 3-4 hour dinner by the time we were done}

{The main entrance/front dinning room- we ate outside next to a flower garden}