Firenze Frenzy
Trip Start
May 06, 2009
1
15
25
Trip End
Jun 30, 2009
Where I stayed
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
After arriving at our hotel, we took a walk down the road (the street that our hotel was on led us right into the old center of town (Piazza della Signora). We saw some very colossal and interesting statues of men in erotic poses (not what the sculptor intended?) just outside of the palace of the Medici family--once, the most powerful ruling family in Florence and surrounding Italian city-states. We then walked to the Arno, to take a few pictures of the river and caboom, someone (we won't say which of us), lost grip on the camera and it fell down on its lens. We spent some time looking for a store that would service our Canon--no luck. All of the cameras in Florence are more than double what they cost at home, so we decided to use our video camera, which also takes still pictures, until we could find a good buy. This evening, we decided to drown our sorrows in a few drinks back at our hotel room, and thought that a good ol'e McDonald's meal would help us cope even better. All in all, it could have been worse--we could have lost the camera (including the SD card). Then again, Paul has ensured that we have back up of all of our photos and videos, as he is now the master of computers and electronics.
The next morning, Paul booked our train tickets to our next destination and looked around once again for a few camera options--no luck. We returned to the scene of the unfortunate accident, and both felt the mild feelings of disgust from within as we approached the unfortunate site (one of us is going to kill the other right now, for the dramatics in this blog)! We walked along the river and found a little deli where we could grab a sandwich before heading to the Uffizi gallery for our 1:00pm reservation (a reservation is the only way you can avoid standing in line for three hours, and it must be made some time in advance). The gallery is beautiful and houses the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere (works by Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo). It is itself a historical relic, as we saw paintings that were moved to the Uffizi in 1672. The museum is nowhere near as big as it is great, but we still managed to spend over two hours inside. The courtyard outside the gallery is full of artists, performers, and souvenir stalls. After the gallery, we returned to our hotel to freshen up, have a few drinks, and watch Federer beat Del Potro in the semi-finals of the French Open . We then headed out for a mini-walk at night, and had Kebab platter for dinner (we missed it--we hadn't had one since Germany). Before bed, we watched a few epsiodes on the Chimp Channel, and tried to contain our laughter so as not to wake other guests in the rooms beside us. Aunt Mary, if you download "Chimp Channel" in google, Nonna will be in tears.
We are at our next destination, and shoud have a blog up shortly.
We see you, eh?
P & J
Comments
clutz!!
regardless of who dropped that camera (my bet's on Paul) there's nothin' like watching chimps to wash away feelings of anger. Monkeys are f-ing funny!
di
Si`, Firenze....la citta` dei masters
Ciao Paulo e Giuliana,
Prima di tutto, grazie della bella cartolina dalla Germania la quale mi arricchira`la collezione. I knew you wouldn't forget to send me a 'ricordo,' Giuliana. Sarebbe bello mandarmene una dalla nostra bell'Italia.
La cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore is what you're talking about, Giuliana. The dome was constructed by Brunaleschi in the 1440s. Before leaving for Rome to design the dome for the new St. Peter's Basilica, Michelangelo turned to the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore and said, 'Vado a Roma per fare una tua sorella, piu` grande si` ma non piu` bella' (I go to Rome to make a sister for you, bigger, yes, but not more beautiful). When you guys are in Rome, you can tell me which cupola is more beautiful: Brunaleschi's or Michelangelo's.
On a final note, finche` c'e` vita, c'e` sempre. The camera fell and broke. We say, morte sua e salute nostra. Yes, 'the monkeys are fucking funny.' lol But monkeys also are fucking horny. That's how unnecessary stress is relieved. Don't stop.... Continue on with what will surely turn out to be the sojourn of a lifetime. Arrivederci Firenze. Ciao! Calogero M.
One more piece of interesting info
Ciao again,
The cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence is the 4th biggest church in the world. The biggest is St. Peter's Basilica, naturally, then there's St. Paul's in London, then Il Duomo of Milan. Excuse the short hiatus....!Calogero M.