Florence, Italy 😍

When we arrived at our Airbnb in Florence, it was quite lovely with a bottle of wine and chocolates to greet us!

We were ready to hit the streets but lunch first!

They have this tasty way of making fried potatoes which is a cross between a French fry, potato wedge and potato chip. Whatever it is, we are officially addicted 😋

Since we would only be in Florence for two days, we decided we would immediately go to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see the Statue of David.

This amazing statue was chiseled out of marble by Michelangelo from 1501-1504 AD when the artist was only 26 years old. Michelangelo was inspired by the story of David versus Goliath in the Old Testament of the Bible. If you’ve never read it, Google it. It’s worth your time. It’s a story of ingenuity versus muscle mass. (It also helps to know the story when people talk about David versus Goliath in other settings, such as a large corporation trying to take over a small business and not succeeding. That way, knowing what the hell they’re talking about😂)

Florentine historians have compiled 10 facts about this world wonder:

1) the Statue of David is 17 feet tall and weighs 12,500 lbs.

2) 30 life-size replicas of David are featured around the world, made of either plaster, imitation marble, fiberglass and bronze

3) the statue was chiseled from a rough slab of marble that two other sculptors tried to use but deemed unusable

4) the statue is disproportionate because of the previous sculptors work so Michelangelo carved the head, arms and hands much larger than the torso and legs

5) Michelangelo chose to depict David prior to defeating Goliath, breaking away from the traditional depiction of David, holding Goliath’s head after the battle 😳

6) the statue of David is slightly cross-eyed, historians guessing since the statue would be viewed from a distance from different angles as to why he purposely carved them that way

7) it took 40 men four days to move the statue of David 1/2 mile from Michelangelo’s workshop to the Piazza della Signoria, where it was originally displayed

8) the Statue of David was damaged several times when it was outdoors by earthquake, lightning strikes, and stones thrown by protesters, who were rioting against the Medici rulers

9) the statue was moved into the Galleria dell’ Accademia in 1873 to protect the statue but in 1991 an Italian artist, Piero Cannata, got near the statue to smash the toe on the statues left foot (now a plexiglass barrier is in place to prevent further damage by lunatics!)

10) the Statue of David is thought to symbolize independence and strength in the image of youthful beauty for the people of Florence

Michaelangelos own words: “ In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as if it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away at the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to other eyes as mine see it”

After taking a long time to really study the Statue of David, we moved on to look at other displays of art.

Stradivarius instruments were made in the late 1600’s by Antonio Stradivari. His instruments are considered to be some of the best in the world. There are only 512 left, as far as anyone knows.

Now it’s time to get out of the museum and head for the leather market. But first:

When you walk into the street markets, you are hit by the smell of leather. I’ve never seen so many beautiful leather purses, jackets, and shoes all in one spot.