For the last two nights, we have heard a lady on the corner singing opera favorites on the street to make mo
ney. She has a beautiful voice, but since she is right under our hotel window, it is really loud. Even with the windows shut. After she left around 10, we were then serendaded by a group that played modern music with a strong beat that went boom boom POW. They played until after 1 am. It was very hard to fall asleep. We got up this morning and ate breakfast fast because we had to be at a meeting point for a bus tour at 9:30am. The tour took us to Michangelo Square which is up in the hills of the Southern side of Florence across the Arno river. We passed through the Roman gates to the city that had the original wooden doors from the 13th century. They were at least 30 feet tall and very thick. When we arrived at Michaelangelo Square, we could see the city skyline of Florence. It put a huge perspective on how large the Duomo really is. It was fantastic. We also saw a bronze version of Michaelangelo's "David". From the view we could see a castle that was constructed during Medieval times. 
You can tell fron the difference in the architecture. The castle is now the town hall of Florence. At the time of construction for th Duomo, Bubonic plague hit the city and killed half of its people. During this time, Florence was the most populated city in the World. We got back on the bus and came down to Florence to go to the Academie which is where the original statue of David is kept. The statue is very tall and made of a single piece of marble. The piece is weak at the point where the left ankle is which causes this point to be very fragile. This is part of the reason why it was moved. There are many features that are incorrect such as the right hand, head and feet are slightly out of proportion. There are a lot of theories why this might be so, but nobody knows for sure. It was moved in the 1700's because the people of Florence began to recognize it's imporance as a work of art from Michaelangelo and its importance as a piece of history. They also realized it was not protected at all out in the open in front of the town hall, as well as it was beginning to deteriorate from centuries of being outside. We could not take a photo since it is in a museum, but have a photo of the replica that was put in the original's place. 
After the tour, we had some lunch. My mom and I were supposed to go on the Segway tour but the reservation was signed up for the wrong date and they did not have any guides available. As we were leaving the Segway office, we noticed some people with TV filiming equipment at a small Pizzaria just a few doors down. As we stopped to see what was happening, my mom found out the cast of Jersey Shore would be having lunch there. We waited for only one or two minutes and they waklked right passed us. We took several pictures. From there we went to get a gelato and I was disappointed that we were not on our Segway tour. While we were getting gelato, and I had my usual, of course, we decided it would be funny to take a picture of every dog we saw until the end of our trip. I have seen a lot of them. After doing some homework in the hotel, it was finally time to go to dinner. My grandma and I decided to let my mom choose the restaurant and we found a great place that had delicious food. I had a grilled sirloin steak and a nutella cake thing for dessert. Both were very good. It seemed like a slow day since I did not really do very much. My mom and grandma loved seeing the David. I thought it was interesting that it was only one single piece of marble. We cannot figgure out how they moved such a piece of marble from the square to the museum, in the 1700's, which is about a mile away.
Tomorrow we leave for Venice. I am very excited to see the city on water. None of us have been there before, but we are all looking forward to it. 
ney. She has a beautiful voice, but since she is right under our hotel window, it is really loud. Even with the windows shut. After she left around 10, we were then serendaded by a group that played modern music with a strong beat that went boom boom POW. They played until after 1 am. It was very hard to fall asleep. We got up this morning and ate breakfast fast because we had to be at a meeting point for a bus tour at 9:30am. The tour took us to Michangelo Square which is up in the hills of the Southern side of Florence across the Arno river. We passed through the Roman gates to the city that had the original wooden doors from the 13th century. They were at least 30 feet tall and very thick. When we arrived at Michaelangelo Square, we could see the city skyline of Florence. It put a huge perspective on how large the Duomo really is. It was fantastic. We also saw a bronze version of Michaelangelo's "David". From the view we could see a castle that was constructed during Medieval times. 
You can tell fron the difference in the architecture. The castle is now the town hall of Florence. At the time of construction for th Duomo, Bubonic plague hit the city and killed half of its people. During this time, Florence was the most populated city in the World. We got back on the bus and came down to Florence to go to the Academie which is where the original statue of David is kept. The statue is very tall and made of a single piece of marble. The piece is weak at the point where the left ankle is which causes this point to be very fragile. This is part of the reason why it was moved. There are many features that are incorrect such as the right hand, head and feet are slightly out of proportion. There are a lot of theories why this might be so, but nobody knows for sure. It was moved in the 1700's because the people of Florence began to recognize it's imporance as a work of art from Michaelangelo and its importance as a piece of history. They also realized it was not protected at all out in the open in front of the town hall, as well as it was beginning to deteriorate from centuries of being outside. We could not take a photo since it is in a museum, but have a photo of the replica that was put in the original's place. 
After the tour, we had some lunch. My mom and I were supposed to go on the Segway tour but the reservation was signed up for the wrong date and they did not have any guides available. As we were leaving the Segway office, we noticed some people with TV filiming equipment at a small Pizzaria just a few doors down. As we stopped to see what was happening, my mom found out the cast of Jersey Shore would be having lunch there. We waited for only one or two minutes and they waklked right passed us. We took several pictures. From there we went to get a gelato and I was disappointed that we were not on our Segway tour. While we were getting gelato, and I had my usual, of course, we decided it would be funny to take a picture of every dog we saw until the end of our trip. I have seen a lot of them. After doing some homework in the hotel, it was finally time to go to dinner. My grandma and I decided to let my mom choose the restaurant and we found a great place that had delicious food. I had a grilled sirloin steak and a nutella cake thing for dessert. Both were very good. It seemed like a slow day since I did not really do very much. My mom and grandma loved seeing the David. I thought it was interesting that it was only one single piece of marble. We cannot figgure out how they moved such a piece of marble from the square to the museum, in the 1700's, which is about a mile away.
Tomorrow we leave for Venice. I am very excited to see the city on water. None of us have been there before, but we are all looking forward to it. 
aww you couldnt sleep? well at least you were seduced by the boom boom POW of the band
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