Ciao from Italia. I'm on my 2nd day here in Firenze (Florence), it's quite impressive. Barcelona was definitely all about the food, Firenze is a city of art and history. Michealangelo everywhere, ancient piazzas and statues abound. I did a hike up to Piazza di Michealangelo (sandals were a bad call, but alas, I'm working on my wicked neopolitan sock tan. At the top of the hundreds of stairs, there is an incredible view of the entire city of Firenze. The Duomo easily dominates the skyline. Unfortunately, there's some renovation going on, so I wasn't able to get to the top of the Duomo.
Probably the most stunning thing I saw today was the Statue of David (by MikeyA). Granted, I've seen the replica of him at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, but seeing him live is quite awe inspiring. For those of you who don't know, Big D was carved from a single bigass hunk of marble. If you see how big he is, think about the logistics of carving a perfectly proportioned human being that is scaled to almost 3 stories tall. The details of the musculature and veins are incredible. BTW - Mikey carved David when he was 26 years old. Geez, do I feel like a slacker.
On to the food! Food here is quite good no matter where you go. Assuming you avoid the touristy spots, there's good stuff to be had everywhere. I had a paparadelle w\ wild boar meat sauce. Basically a rustic bolognese over wide paparedelle pasta. Simple, but damn good.
I'll do a giant recap at the end of my trip with all the pictures so you guys can see it all. I want to tell you all about the best lunch I've ever had in my life, that was in Barcelona and it deserves its own spot. You can imagine some of the looks I've been getting as I take pictures of my food everywhere I go (keep those comments about the strange looks I get back home to yourselves).
All for now... 'Derci!
TC
Posted by tc at August 29, 2004 07:19 PM