Florence, the 'Flower' of Italy

So, Florence! A beautiful city, and as hoped, much more relaxed than Venice. The apartment we

stayed in was very --tastefully - girly; pink walls and flowered wallpaper and curtains, white

furniture, and best of all a circular bed covered in cushions (my parents slept on the couch). It

was in central Florence, in an apartment whose shutters overlooked the street, caked with layers

of paint covered with the newest dark green layer. The apartment was in central Florence, a short

walk to everywhere we wanted to go, and close enough to the Duomo, the huge central cathedral,

that we kept stumbling over it, catching it out of the corners of our eyes down winding cobbled

streets. Also the mostlaidback place that we stayed, doinng only the most imperative museums, the

Accademia to see the David and the Offizi (sp?) to see everything else. It must be said, the

David is a beautiful piece of sculpture; huge, and intensely detailed. It muse be one of the most

beautiful sculptures in the world, deserving of all the hype. My question, though, is why

photograph it only from that one angle? It seems that every time it is reproduced is always from

the front. But walking around the statue, and looking into David's eyes from different angles,

you experience the range of emotion that you can imagine would have filled the eyes of a real

David. Confidence of the young, calculation, anxiety, fear, hopelessness. The biggest advantage

to sculpture must be its 3D nature, because every I felt like I discovered something in every

inch of that sculpture as I walked around David.

The rest of Florence melted into cafe and dulce in the mornings at our neighborhood cafe, a long

afternoon bikeride around and through the city and its surrounding hills (the feel of real

Italian countryside), walks, the gorgeous food market and slightly sketchy souvenir market,

watching the World Cup, being very warm since the apartment had not air conditioning, gelato, and

one of the best meals I have ever had in my life at a little restaurant called Aquacella, family

-owned and with a waitress married to the chef, who joked, served us extra olive oil, and

convinced us into a dessert that we didn't mean to get. It was a truly fantastic meal.

The bicycle riding was perhaps my favorite part, because I miss my bike terribly. And may I say,

Italian drivers may be crazy, but it is a cool and calculated craziness that actually made me

feel safer than biking in Texas. Because Italian drivers - get this - RESPECT bikes as vehicles

of transportation. I know, crazy. So even if you're going through a round about and you're

convinced that any second you will be smooshed, if you claim a spot in a land and follow it

around, Italian drivers will give you that space and respect it, even if you are going slower

than they are. If you can take the space, you have it! Wonderful.

But wait, did I just throughtlessly skip over the GELATO??? Florence claims to have invented

gelato, and the gelato we had in that city was certainly the best that I have ever had in my

life. Especially the grapefruit gelato from a little place around our corner. Imagine the most

juicy, delicious grapefruit you have ever had, take its essence, make it icy and three times as

refreshing, and you have that gelato. My god, it was good.

Essentially, Florence entirely made up for anything we were missing from Venice that we had been

expecting from Italy. Art, gelato and great food, beauty, and a certain measure of serenity. The

perfect rest before a visit to the Eternal City.