Day 7: David's amazing and all, but Truffle is my one true love

       On Sunday, we visited the Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David. The Accademia is also home to other original sculptures by Michelangelo, including his four unfinished Prisoners. The Gallery also has a bunch of paintings and sculptures by other Florentine artists. Seeing the statue of David was unreal. The sculpture is so large and was unlike anything else when Michelangelo sculpted it. It’s still unlike anything else, and its really remarkable to see it and know that its the original. Florinda was our guide and she knew so much about Michelangelo. When talking about David, she mentioned that 20 years ago there wasn't any security; no one checked your bags before entering the Gallery. She said that in the 1990’s, some man came in and yelled “I AM MICHELANGELO!” and threw a hammer at David, hitting his foot. You can see a small piece of marble missing from where the hammer hit. Another cool fact about the statue of David is that Michelangelo sculpted him out of a single block of white marble from Tuscany. Another artist had previously been working on this same block of marble, but claimed it was a bad piece and could not be used for sculpting. Michelangelo was asked to use this block to sculpt David, and he obviously succeeded! 

Unfinished Prisoner

        After the Accademia, Florinda brought us to this giant food court area. When I hear food court I think of a few fast food restaurants in the mall, but this was totally different. The place was packed with all kinds of Italian food, around the perimeter, and tables in the center. I was starving and craving a hamburger for some reason, and they had a vendor that served organic vegan burgers and french fries! I was way too excited about it, I had to take a picture.

         From there, we went to the leather markets. Florence is known for leather and I was told before going to Italy that I had to buy something. I hadn’t splurged on anything yet, so I decided it was about time. I ended up buying two purses for a total of 50 euros. Although I was happy with my purchases, the whole experience was irritating. The leather markets are outdoors and theres rows and rows of stands with items everywhere, and each stand has a different guy selling them. They all harass you, because naturally they want you to come to their stand rather than the guy next to them. It’s a pretty annoying shopping experience; a lot of the guys would tell you their stuff is free (as if we would believe that) or try to tell you that you looked beautiful and compare you to a celebrity to get your attention. I got called Shakira. I mean, thanks I guess. But after being there once, I really had no interest in going back. Plus, I didn't wanna be tempted to spend another 50 euros.

       Later that night, about ten of us went to a little bridge behind Ponte Vecchio to catch the sunset before going to dinner. While we were there snapping photos, two American students walked up and talked to us. They asked us about our stay and gave us some tips on what to do. One of the things they said was that we need to go up and watch the sunset on the top of Michelangelo hill, and pointed in the direction. Sure enough, we could see a bunch of people on this hill. They said its amazing, and you can take a bottle of wine and just hangout there. We decided we definitely had to do that the next day. Once the sun began to set, we started to look for a place to eat. We came  upon a restaurant with outdoor seating not too far from where we were. This meal was hands down my favorite of the trip. I got raviolis with a truffle sauce. I never had truffle before and figured why not give it a try, and it was the best decision I think I ever made. I seriously was in tears as I ate it because I was so happy and didn't want it to end. Truffle isn't found as easily in America but Im gonna make it my mission to order it whenever I see it on a menu. Although Im sure it won't ever be as good as that was. My mouth waters just looking at the photo I took!

         After dinner we went on a mission to find Gelato. We hadn't had Gelato since Rome, so we were way overdo for some. As we walked around we ended up back at the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo, which is a building in on the of the Piazza’s, and it houses a large leather market during the daytime. We visited this spot during our tour on the first day, and Florinda told us that locals would be beaten in the center of the building if they didn't pay their debts. On the side of the building stands a bronze statue/fountain of a boar. The story goes that if you rub its snout, you will have good luck! If you drop a coin into its tongue, and it falls through the grate below, you will have good luck and return to Florence one day! Since it was nighttime and less people were around, I was able to take a picture and rub his snout. I tried the coin thing, and missed, but threw the coin in the grate. So I’m coming back to Florence one day whether the boar wants me to or not!