florence.

Duomo

The Rape of the Sabine Woman

My family and I spent an eventful two days in Florence going to any and all buildings that contained art of some kind, be it paintings, statues, or tombs. There was the Uffizi, which was well worth it just to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera and Leonardo da Vinci's Adoration of the Magi. Mary with child (Maria con bambino), on the other hand, became old quickly. Renaissance painters had quite the skill but lacked in diversity of subject. The Accademia Gallery was my favorite. It housed Michelangelo's David, which proved to be stunning. I could have stared at it for hours. The Medici Chapel, where most of the Medici family is buried, was a great example of the sheer indulgence of the ruling family. The tombs were massive rooms covered from floor to ceiling in marble, with elaborate statues and gold encrusted shrines to each dead ruler. Understandably you couldn't take pictures of anything in the museums, but the rest of the city was photogenic enough on its own.

View from Duomo

Medici Garden Statue

We of course had to climb a tower. This time it was in the form of a Dome. We trekked up the narrow stone steps of the Medici Duomo and were rewarded by more amazing views, but the most impressive part is the outside facade of the Duomo. It is made from pink, green and white marble and is one of those buildings where you can't help but stop and stare as soon as you see it.

The only downside is the graffiti that covers the inside walls and the surrounding streets. I can't imagine tagging structures that are centuries upon centuries old, but here they do it with abundance and abandonment.