SATURDAY IN FLORENCE

We started the day with breakfast in the hotel. It was such a rare treat that we were getting breakfast included seeing how we had been eating peanut butter for breakfast (and then again for lunch!) most mornings. After breakfast we got back on the bus and headed for the center of the city. We got off at the Duomo stop again and headed for the Academia Museum. We had preordered tickets for this museum as well, so we got to jump to the front of the line. The Academia Museum in Florence is home to the famous sculpture David by Michelangelo. As soon as I entered the gallery with the David I lost interest in all of the other famous paintings and sculptures in the room. All my attention was solely focused on the David and I could tell that David was having the same effect on everyone else too. It ones of those amazing works of art, that you can just stare at for hours and hours. We did not stare at David for hours, but it was an incredible sight. I read that the David is so remarkable because the marble Michelangelo worked with was nearly impossible to carve anything out of it. Other famous artists like Belinni and Da Vinci tired to work with marble but were foiled in all their attempts. The rest of the museum was filled with other famous paintings and statues, but everything seemed less significant that the large than life David.

FYI:
The David represents the David from the biblical story of David and the Goliath. In Michelangelo’s interpretation David is portrayed as a gangly teenager. David’s hands and head are out of proportion to the rest of his body. The message that Michelangelo was trying to get across was that David was a meek young man that defeated the Goliath.

We left the museum and headed straight for the infamous leather markets. It was almost too much shopping for one person, but if you give me a shopping challenge I will be victorious! The San Lorenzo Markets are famous for their Italian leather. You can buy practically any kind of leather object there. I was mesmerized by the leather jackets. Andrea and I went into several leather dealers’ shops and tried on endless coats. Some of the dealers were pretty pushy and touchy, so we left their stores. One guy in particular kept saying Mama Mia while rubbing us as we tried on the jackets. It was interesting how fast the dealers would lower their prices as you started walking away. We got really good at turning dealers down.

After browsing through the all the stands and buying a wallet for Tim, we walked Europe’s most famous food market called Mercati Centrale. This market is the largest indoor food market in the Europe. The first floor is dedicated to specialty food shops selling pastas, spices, meats, wines, cheeses, and vinegars. We got to try some of the best balsamic vinegar I will probably ever eat in my entire life. It was aged 30 years and it had this amazing bitter, sweat taste but it was not watery like typical balsamic vinegar. It was rich and creamy. I think a bottle was going for around 60 euros!

On the second floor there was fresh produce. Anything from fruits to dried chilly peppers and fresh artichokes. We walked back down to the first floor and Andrea, Jeanie, and Karen got lunch from one of the food venders. Victory and I packed sandwiches. While we were waiting at the table for the others to come back with their food, an Italian man came and sat down next to us. I started asking him how to bargain with the leather dealers. He gave me some very helpful pointers, and told me that once you reach their bottom line they will not drop the price any more. With these helpful tips in hand, I was ready to try my hand at haggling with the dealers.

After lunch we headed back to the Duomo to walk inside. The Duomo was enormous, but the best part, the giant dome, that gives the building its name, was closed off for Easter the following day. Everyone took plenty pictures in front of the Duomo. We were all wondering where we should go next when Jeanie turned to me with a conniving glint in her eyes and said, “let’s go get our bombers.” She had already worked out a plane in her hear. She said she would put them on my credit card and we could pay her later. I was thrilled with this idea because ever since I had been to the leather markets all I could think about was my future bomber. We went back to the leather markets, weaving in and out of the leather stores trying to decide upon the jacket. The hardest part was coming to terms with the price. I used the skills I had learned from the man at lunch, which seemed to help.

We had already talked to several dealers and returned back to some place to check the prices. Our favorite dealer was this guy in his twenties who was pretty cute. He had us guess where he was originally from. Sadly, none of us even came close. We were all thinking Europe, but he was from Mexico. He also told us he has a girl friend that goes to Elizabethtown University in Lancaster, Pa. What a small world! We spent over an hour in his shop trying on coats and chatting. When it finally came time to talk price, he would not budge. The lowest offer he gave us was 130 euros a coat. No way was paying that much, so I had to turn him down. Unlike other dealers, he did not start yelling lower prices as we left the store. We went back to another store and Andrea and I found the coats we wanted. We ended up paying 110 each, which is better than 130, but still really expensive. I don’t regret my purchase, it was an investment and it looks and feels amazing! Jeanie could not find her perfect coat, but Karen and Victoria were getting antsy. Some how I knew we would be back at the leather markets again before we left Florence.

With our new leather coats in hand decided we should do something fun for free since we had just spent a lot of euros. We could not find any museum or church that did not have an entrance fee so we walked to the Piazza Michelangelo, which is across the river and on top of a hill looking over the city. We did not realize how long the walk was or how high this hill was, but it felt good to be away from the crowded markets. The Piazza Michelangelo was beautiful of course. There was an incredible view of the city and the surrounding countryside and a bronze replication of Michelangelo’s David. On top of the hill there was also a famous church called St. Minometi. This church looked exactly like the facade of the Duomo, all made out of red, green and white marble. We walked around the interior of the church as well before leaving the Piazza.

We had reservations at 7 at the cute restaurant we wanted to eat at the night before, so we made our way down the hill toward the restaurant. The restaurant was amazing and the prices were incredible. I started out with a Florentine specialty called Riboletta. This is a stew made with chickpeas, spinach and bread and it was absolutely delicious. My next plate I ordered veal scaloppini in a lemon sauce. This was equally as amazing. I ended my meal with tiramisu. My belly was very happy after the meal.

Andrea, Jeanie and I started walking back toward the bus stop after dinner stopping to listen to street performers along the way