Wednesday 6.27.07

We started the day in the local open air market. There were so many vendors and it quickly became clear where “regular people” buy most of their clothes. The stores are way too expensive, so the market offers a cheaper alternative. I bought a skirt, a gift, and some fruit. Tiffany got a dress after a huge amount of deliberation.

After the market, we ran home to drop off our purchases and ran back to Piazza Gramschi to catch the bus to Florence.

Florence trip #2
This trip to Florence took us to the Accademia, a museum that houses the original sculpture of David by Michelangelo. The sculpture is 12,000 lbs and 17 feet high. We also saw some of Michelangelo’s other sculptures, most notably the sculptures that he was working on for the tomb of Pope Julius II. He didn’t finish those sculptures.

In the room dedicated to music, there were a variety of harpsichords, guitars, violins, wood wind instruments and other cool pieces. There was one guitar that was really cool. It was made out of marble (by Michele Antonio Grandi) with black and white designs. While were in the music portion, we saw some computers, but they weren’t for the internet. They had video presentations about music and instruments. At one computer, there was a woman who looked just like Deborah Kent, a music professor at HCC.

After the Accademia, we headed for the Bargello. Unfortunately, the Bargello closes at 1:30 every day. Of course we got there around 2:30. So everyone was bummed out, so I took a really funny picture of the group looking sad. It is the funniest picture ever.

After the Bargello, we decided to just walk around and try to find the pig market. We didn’t find it, so we just went home. I think everyone was exhausted anyway. We all looked like we needed naps desperately.

In the evening, we went to dinner with Stephanie and Gail as a goodbye to Gail. She is leaving on Friday for Paris. Afterwards we walked through Il Campo which is in full Palio mode. I’m going to stay clear of the Campo on Monday because I hear that it is complete and total madness during the Palio.