ahhh, firenze

i woke up at 7:00 am, but the girls were still sound asleep. i wake up again about an hour and a half later, but, again, the girls were still sound asleep. at 11:00 am, i decide it's time to start the day, so i wake them up. erika hops up at the whisper of her name, but kelli took a little louder jolt. they take their, whatever it was, hour of getting ready, and we're off. in a conversation later, we discovered that we were all doing the same thing - waking up, looking around to see how everyone else was doing, and then sleeping 'cause we figgered that everyone could use the sleep...

being lunchtime, food is first on the horizon. i ask the front desk girl (very nice!) of a great restaurant along the way to the galleria accademia (you know, where david stands?), and she says that there are some decent eateries by the market. one with which i was familiar: za za. ooooh, za za!

after about 15 minutes of limping (i fell in a drunken and disorderly moment about five weeks ago and got a contusion...it hasn't fully healed), we get to the market and make our way through the quaint streets of florence to za za. as i look over the menu, my eyes land on the same thing i had two years ago: sample of italian meats, lamb, pork, beef, and sausage, served with potatoes. the girls share some goat cheese (that came with an orange marmalade - delicious!) and were going to share a salad with their order of ravioli in a truffle sauce, but the bread (dipped in oil and balsamic, of course) was so filling for them that they axed the salad from the order. my meal was...just as delicious as i remember it! kelli and i split a liter of house wine, and we had some water.

next, we go to the galleria accademia to wait to see david. my pal, david. we hung out a little while ago...we couldn't score any reservations (they're an extra 10 euro, but there's no line), so we had to wait in line for about an hour (hey, we're american - we want it now, damnit! why does the world hate us so much?) and then they let us in.

there are two statues/monuments that i get really thrilled to see: the lincoln memorial and the david. i get a chill every time i see him. last time, i took the half-hour or whatever, to take small steps and gaze at him as i walked around him, seeing him from every angle. this time, i let the girls mill around the museum part while i did a briefer tour of him, sitting and watching.

behind david, at david's behind (bum, if you're english), were two girls chatting about going to pisa tomorrow, so i interrupt, as i intend to go to pisa tomorrow, and met lindsay and allie (y'all can correct your spelling if you actually come to this blog like you said you would). these two lovely ladies were enjoying a trip with their family through rome, florence, barcelona, and paris. lindsay had just graduated from texas a&m, so she duped her folks into making them take her on a trip. lindsay's really smart.

around 4:30, i tell the girls that it's time to leave the shop at the accademia to head to il duomo. we make our way to the door, pay the 6 euro and start the climb up the 463 steps. we have a brief stop at the cupola, or dome on the inside to see the beauty of dante's inferno as painted by brunelleschi (sp?). then we get to the top and are rewarded for our time in the narrow corridors (someone bonked his head five times).

this is why i love florence. my favorite city. the green of the tuscan hills, and the quaint intimate streets below. i remember falling in love the first time i saw it, and i intend to see it many times in the future.

ahhh...firenze...