A Lot of Men in Medieval Garb

Guess who was up at 5:45am?! Nope, not me. But Rachel and Hannah actually got up on time. I did get up at 6(ish) though, and we were out the door by 6:30(ish) to head over to the bus station for our 7:30 Sulga bus to Florence. It cost 17 euro for a round-trip ticket, coming back at 6pm, and it was just about a 2 hour trip both ways. I slept basically the whole way there, so I was finally wide awake when we arrived. So much to see in so little time!


The first thing we did was walk over to the Duomo, and as soon as we approached it there were massive crowds and church music floating out from St. John's Baptistery. We didn't know what was going on, so we casually continued our touristy things, oohing and aahing over the stunning beauty of the Duomo and the cathedral and how detailed and amazing the architecture is (but like seriously, HOW IS THIS COUNTRY SO GORGEOUS?), and then when we started to head in the direction of the Galleria Accademia, our path was blocked by a very regal procession from the Baptistery into the cathedral. Everyone was cheering and photographing but all we could see from our distance in the crowd (and my lack of height) were these giant colored feathers poking out from the people's hats. Then an important figure of some sort must have walked by, because everyone really cheered and he waved to the crowds as if they were all there for him. We made a mental note to Google it later and proceeded on our way.


La Galleria d'Accademia is the museum that houses the famous statue of David by Michelangelo, so of course there was a massive line. We had read in Rachel's guidebook to Tuscany (there are endless perks to having an ever-informed roommate) that the line usually takes about an hour, and we felt like it was something you kinda have to see while you're in Florence, so we decided to wait it out even though we were literally a full block down away from the entrance when we got on line.

An hour and a gelato each later (mint chocolate chip; classics never go out of style) when we had yet to move more than ten feet forward, and we were starting to rethink that decision. So we went through that whole debating phase (do we leave now, so we can have time to go see other things? vs. do we stick it out because we're already an hour invested and we do want to see it? etc. etc.) that everyone who knows me knows I am really not good at, and eventually the group decision (it was Rachel and Hannah's decision, really, because everyone who knows me knows I cannot make decisions) was to stand strong (okay, we sat on the curb eventually) and wait. After a grand total of about 2 hours and 15 minutes, we got into the museum and got our tickets at long last. We didn't exactly know how to navigate the museum, but we followed the throngs of people and, naturally, ended up at David.


W.o.w. It was truly amazing. I was awed by the incredible detail, not to mention the size - David is *17* feet tall. To put that in perspective, over *3* of me. :O But Michelangelo was seriously, brilliantly talented. You can see every vein in David's hands (which are disproportionately large, we all agreed) and his face has so much emotion. He appears "plussed," as I so eloquently referred to it - I meant it as in the opposite of "nonplussed" because he's so alert and almost a bit alarmed; as if he was not basking in the glory of his victory but ready for any impending battle. His brow is furrowed and he's staring pointedly into the distance, as if waiting for Goliath, intimidated but ready. But while his face is so intense, his body is in a relaxed pose; the slingshot is flung almost casually over his shoulder, one arm just hangs at his side while the other holds onto the rock, his legs are positioned naturally. It's an interesting contrast. And even the cracks in the marble seem to perfectly align with the positioning of human veins.


AND it was completed in 1504. And is still not only standing, but awe-inspiring, and so anatomically accurate. I can't even wrap my head around that.


We sat and analyzed David for a while (seriously, his hands are disproportionate). Hannah had done a project on him in high school, and both she and Rachel are considering some type of concentration/secondary field in History of Art and Architecture, so they're awesome people to go to a museum with. Hannah had learned that David's hands were designed to appear proportionately sound when the viewer looks up at the statue, so by default they'd look really big from far away... but we tried that, and they were still definitely really big from that angle too. But despite my 1 academic year and approximately 3 weeks in Mepham Drawing & Painting classes, I'm not quite qualified to judge Michelangelo ;)


After seeing David, we walked around the museum for a while. Most of the exhibits were Byzantine, middle-ages Virgin and Child diptychs and the like, which isn't my favorite time period of art, but it was still interesting. Some paintings were annotated to teach specific religious symbols in the painting, which was cool, and there was an entire exhibit devoted to Lorenzo's Bartolini's sculptures of the human form. Literally you walk into the exhibition and there are tens upon tens of heads on display.


After the long wait and the long museum trip, we were tired and starving. Following the advice of the Umbra staff though, we wanted to cross the Ponte Vecchio to eat on the other side of the Arno. Ponte Vecchio was so, so pretty. All I can think all day, every day that I've been here is how impossibly beautiful EVERYTHING is. I can't even take it all in, and it's even sadder knowing that my camera will never be able to capture the spectacular views as they actually appear in front of me, so I'll never be able to show everyone at home :(


[Speaking of sharing photos with people at home, I'm working on getting the slideshow at the top of the blog to work properly... right now for some reason it's set on a show of sample photos which appear to be ranging from convertibles to beach sunsets to a scantily clad Eva Mendes... my apologies!]


After posing for pictures with the Ponte Vecchio, we headed across and began the search for something, anything, to fill our hungry tummies. Of course though, we had totally forgotten that between 1 and 4pm basically everything closes. So there were very, very few trattorias or snack bars open to find food. Fortunately, we stumbled across a cute outdoor restaurant, 4 Leoni, and before long were dining on mixed salad, Italian bread and pasta. Dad asked me earlier what the most surprising thing about being here has been so far and I didn't have an answer; now that I think about it, it's definitely the quality of the bread. I have yet to have a piece of bread that I have enjoyed in Italy (pizza excluded, of course), which is so weird because I love "Italian" bread in America. Hmm.


Anyway, after our meal, we headed back towards the Duomo, but were stopped a little before getting there by a giant mob of people gathered along the street. Curious, we pushed our way through (one of the perks of being short) toward the front and were greeted with the sight of... a lot of men in medieval garb. Including hats with the giant colored feathers like we'd seen this morning leaving the baptistery! Of course, we still had no clue what was going on, but it was just awesome so we joined in with the cheering crowd and took a ton of photos (which will eventually make it onto this blog, I promise!). The men came in swarms of different colors, all bright and complete with matching tights and clogs and large flags bearing the emblems of the city and wealthy historic Florentine families. The parade would stop every so often for flag throwing, drum beats, or when a horse or mule or other animal (draped in similar attire to the man walking it) made its way slowly through the line. The marchers were intensely organized and stared straight ahead - keep in mind they were also wearing full out medieval gear in 90 degree heat. It was so much fun just to be there to watch, even though we weren't exactly sure WHAT we were watching. I love that stuff like this happens here pretty much all the time - you just don't see this in America.


When the parade ended we headed back towards the bus station just to be safe. On the way, we stopped for cannoli (my first cannolo in Italy!) and then walked around the Congressional gardens for a bit. Soon we were headed back to Perugia. (I tried and failed yet again to find a comfortable bus-sleeping position. So sad.)


So when we got back to the room, I googled June 24th in Florence and it just so happens that it was the feast day of San Giovanni - St. John the Baptist - who just so happens to be the patron saint of Florence. There's a big medieval parade through the city and then it concludes when it reaches one of the piazzas where the men play a game of soccer - IN their medieval attire! And of all days to be in Florence, we randomly chose this one - che fortuna! And apparently there's also a fireworks show at night over the Arno. Now of course, I am still of the belief that it was really all just as a celebration of my dad's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! :)


Day's Recap:
Hours spent in transit: ~3 total
Hours spent waiting in line to see David: ~2.5
Hours actually spent in the museum: 2?
Numbers of times I said "WOW" throughout the day: approximately 238497 (keep in mind that's a conservative measure)
Flavors of gelato tasted: Biscottini and menta. (Figuring out my favorites and becoming less adventurous with my choices, sorry!)