Florence (May 17-18 2005)

Florence was probably the most random stop on our trip. Being completely ignorant, we assumed Michelangelo's David was in Rome. It's not. But we only figured that out after receiving an invitation to visit from a interesting Egyptian/Italian/Norwegian character we met on the train from Prague to Rome.
Paul and I were settling into our cabin when a guy breathlessly runs in, checks the seat number, and then announces:

I have a disgusting surprise for you,

and then runs off.

At this point, Paul's thinking he's bringing on fish or something smelly, and I'm worried this guys is going to just drop trou and leave a mess on the floor. Turns out it was none of the above. As we helped him with his 11th bag, the disgusting surprise was just a cabin full of bags.

Anyhoo, we get to talking and he tells us about the things to do in Florence (where he's settled down now) and combined with the train delays, we decide to jump off before Rome.

One of the many duomos in Italy.




I'm not a big "art" aficionado, but out of all the artsy things I saw in Europe, the David was probably my favourite. I don't know what it was exactly, but it was incredible. The detail, down to the veins on the feet, just jumped out at you. And I suppose to enhance the effect, there was a modern art piece nearby that really struck home how crappy modern art is. This is a replica of the David.

about Italy, from Canada