Florence Part II

Someone asked me the other day if I could live in Florence for a year would I?

In a heartbeat .....

There was so much to see in that city and even though we walked all day everyday I feel as if we only scratched the surface.

John and Sierah spent time every morning going over the map ... I'm totally confused when it comes to maps so I stayed out of it.  Judging by the beer at the table I'd say it was early afternoon... we are not known to be consuming vast amounts of alcohol at breakfast....

The second day there we managed to get tickets to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David.  There is a variety of art within the Accademia from various time periods which we took in but when you feast your eyes upon David it is jaw dropping.  I don't think I've ever been as moved by an artwork as I was by him.  17 feet tall and so unbelievably detailed down to the veins in his arms.  There are no words to describe his beauty.  He is situated in such a place that you are able to walk totally around him to take it all in.  I spent the most time there just marvelling at how something this extraordinary could come from the vision of one man and be scultpted out of one piece of marble.  A masterpiece....
You can view a short video here from you tube...

We ate a lot..mostly pizza which I'm not generally a bit fan of but Italian pizza is a whole other ball game.  So fresh and so simpe it just screams to be consumed and consume I did..

Here we are continuing to photograph almost everything we ate ...tsk..tsk... what tourists!

We also visited The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens which were stunning.. you can read more about them here.

On our walk  there we saw a variety of artists selling their work which was mostly watercolour.  John bought a small piece for his office.

We also came upon this fabulous wall in which people had hung frames around their artwork.

So cool

I knew I wanted to purchase something in Italy but I wanted it to be something that totally symbolized what being in Italy meant to me.  Something that resonated and was special.  I had set aside a dollar amount and wasn't willing to go over that.  One day we were walking back from the hotel and we found this amazing little shop complete with a big old dog sleeping on the floor.  It was called Alberto Cozzi and it was a book binding shop.  I spoke with the lady there for quite some time and then I met Alberto who was busy working.  He told me this shop has been in his family since 1908 and they still run it today.  I saw a beautiful leather journal cover and was informed that they would emboss it for me while I waited.  In that moment I knew that was my "one thing"  I journal everyday as well as sketch so it fit me to a tee...perfect in everyway.  I watched as he lit the flame and heated up the letters that make up my name and voila .... like I said perfect in everyway.

Florence was the dream trip of a lifetime for me.  

Art, food and family

Doesn't get any better