Day 6 - Florence

Hey everyone!
I'm BAAACCKKKK!! This is Andy. After a slow start this morning (still feeling a little green) I started feeling back to my old self this afternoon.

Today, we started to search Firenze (Florence). First, we went to the Duomo and tried to go into the church, but the line was very long. We found out that there was a mass going on and no one could enter the church for almost an hour. So we then decided to come back to the church later and instead headed off to see David (Michelangelo).

After another short walk, we got into a long line to enter the Academia (where the sculpture is housed). There were actually two lines - one with reservations and one without (unfortunately, we were in the one without). So we were able to do a little 'shopping' from the street vendors (Jacob bought a VERY interesting postcard of David - and if his parents are reading this, his Uncle Andy and Aunt Amy did NOT give him permission to buy it). Anyway - the wait was definitely worth it. What an awesome piece of art. I didn't expect it to be as large has he was. I also didn't realize that he was commissioned to be the 'mascot' of the city of Florence.

From there, we found ourselves walking again. Ed pointed out the Innocenti. It was a place where children could be dropped off if they were not wanted. The nuns would raise the children. Ed explained that there was this wheel where a mother could place their child. The mother would then spin the wheel around and this is how the mother would stay unknown. This is why some italian families have the last name of Innocenti.

By now, I was feeling almost 100% better. We stopped for lunch at a place that was right across the street from the Duomo. I ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce and everyone else got a pizza. I don't think i've ever tasted spaghetti like this before. It was almost as good as Amy's. It felt good to get some food. Twenty-four hours is a long time to go without something to eat. At least for me.

After lunch, we were able to get into the Duomo. What a massive building. I really wish I could go into each of these large churches one after another. Can't remember the name, but the one in London, St. Peters in Rome and now the Duomo, its hard to gauge the size when you don't really have anything to compare it to. We also made our way into the Baptistry. It's a separate building from the Duomo. Long time ago, you wouldn't be allowed into the church unless you were baptized.

Lastly, we finally made our way over the Ponte Vecchio towards our final destination, dinner. This is the place to shop for jewelry if you've got the euros. Borgo Antico was the name of the place. We figured that it means no americans welcome in italian. To make a long story short, it took forever to order. Our appetizers came out with our main courses. Two of the main courses came after everyone finished eating. And finally, my mixed fried fish were actually whole fried fish (with heads and all). They were only about 4-5 inches long. Luckily, the appetizers were enough to fill me up.

More tomorrow...

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