Florence was beautiful. The city, the art, the food. The David alone is life changing.
Okay, this is not the marble David, but I was not allowed to take pictures of him. This one is a copper replica. Here is the marble.
 |
| (source) |
This one is life changing and was by far the most amazing piece of art I saw in Florence. The detail in this statue is insane. He has veins in his hands, arms and feet. It is breath taking. The David is located in the Galleria dell'Accademia and he is waiting around the first corner you turn. When you go into the museum there is a large room with paintings which we spent some time in and then you exit into a long corridor room. The space is massive, because, honestly the David is massive. He is 17 feet tall and is standing on top of a tall pedestal (which he deserves). When you enter the second room you are at the opposite end from the David. Once you turn your head and realize he is there, there is nothing you can do besides stop in your tracks and stare in awe. It is that amazing. There are no words.
Since there are no words, I will transition to telling you about all three museums we visited in Florence. All of them have amazing art work. We visited Academia, Uffizi and the Bargello. As I mentioned the Academia houses the David. The husband and I kind of felt a little sad for all the other art that is displayed there. We spent about 3 hours in the museum and most of that time we spent circling the David and viewing it from different angles. Life. Changing.
The Uffizi houses some of the most amazing paintings in the world. Including Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
 |
| (source) |
The Bargello has amazing sculptures. Most of which are carved from marble. All are mind blowing when you think about how they started as massive pieces of rock.
Like I stressed in my Venice Recap post, I HIGHLY recommend that when you are visiting places like these you buy your tickets online in advance. The husband is a planner, and I love him for that. We arrived in Italy with tickets for all these places in hand (or at least paid reservation slips that we exchanged for tickets). Doing this saves SO MUCH time. The lines for these museums were blocks and blocks long. We were able to pass those lines right up. Take some time for the planning before you go. You will not be sorry.
On to the city. Oh, the city.
Hello Gorgeous.
I miss you.
The Arno River flows through the city and it is beautiful.
The day we visited the Academia we walked back from the museum to our hotel over the course of the afternoon. The museum was not close to the hotel, but it was a great way to see the city. We ate at the restaurant on the right under the green awning over the river. Fantastic view!
We saw lots of town squares with beautiful buildings and churches.
These newlyweds were very popular on the river.
Our most amazing dining experience, for so many reasons was at Il Santo Bevitore. For one the food was amazing.
Second, one of my college roommates grew up in Florence and her friend owns and runs this amazing restaurant. I highly recommend it...call them, you will need reservations.
 |
| (source) |
The service was amazing and we were seated outside on this cute patio. We chatted with the other couple that was out there and they were very nice. It was a lovely evening.
And finally, our hotel. The Hotel David. I cannot not say enough good things about this hotel. It is no wonder it is number one on TripAdvisor.
The hotel is precious, the staff is wonderful, the price is great, breakfast is included, and they have happy hour on the patio each evening. If that was not enough...they welcome you with a hand written note and tiny cake in your room...
...there is a pretty well stocked fridge and snack bar in your room that is complimentary and they have an honor bar downstairs. When it is not happy hour you can make the drink of your choice and just write it down. This was definitely tied with one other hotel as my favorite from our trip. I loved it. The extra bonus surprise? A washer dryer...that's right, we left Florence the half way point in our journey with a suitcase full of clean clothes. Thank you Hotel David. We enjoyed our stay.
 |
| Selfie at the Uffizi. |
Ah, Florence.
Have a great day!!
