Ben and I spent a full 7 nights in an apartment in Florence.  It was perfect, and exactly the relaxing break that we needed. Staying put in one place (and knowing it in advance) allowed us to enjoy some things we’d been craving… examples: “Colorado Bulldog” drinks and a puzzle.
 

We spent a lot of time in this cute little apartment, so I thought I’d share some photos:
 

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Florence

The city itself is small but bustling, with major history and museums.  Florence was birthplace of the Italian Renaissance – where finally Europe came out of the dark ages and made major cultural strides in art, science, music, philosophy, etc.  Most of the main artists from this time were from or lived in Florence (Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael, Donatello, etc).

Besides hanging out at the apartment, we basically just wandered around the city.  We did have a couple must-see items on our list, which we managed to squeeze in between the puzzle and Colorado Bulldogs: Uffizi Gallery (amazing Italian art), Academia (museum with Michelangelo’s “David”), the Duomo (big beautiful cathedral that dominates the city skyline), and Piazza Michelangelo (up on a hill with great city views).  Here’s some photos:
 

 

One of the highlights for me was seeing Michelangelo’s David.  It’s very obvious why this statue is famous.  For one, it’s enormous – apparently the first giant statue since Roman times.  And I’ve been told that it perfectly embodies the “Renaissance Man” – strong, determined, and beautifully made by God.  But the key is simply that it’s very beautiful.  We’ve seen a lot of sculptures, new and old, but for me this one blows all of them out of the water. I secretly snapped this photo of David (photos not allowed). Unfortunately I think it’s impossible to show the scale in a photo. The second photo below is another cool statue I liked of Perseus with the head of Medusa.
 

A random side note – I bought a pair of jeans in Florence from H&M.  In general jeans are a big no-no for backpacking (heavy and take forever to dry), but I have to say, it feels so great to have jeans again!  I think I’ve worn them every day since I bought them.

Anyway, we just spent 2 nights in the Cinque Terre, five towns beautifully situated on the Italian Riviera.  Today we traveled to Siena, stopping for the afternoon in Pisa (where the famous leaning tower is).  Photos coming soon.