Florence: Another side of Italy

    Florence was like a breath of sweet, Tuscany air. It was a drastic switch from Turin. The sun was shining, The hills were full of vineyards and olive groves, and the city was bustling with people. All I can say to express what Florence is like is telling you that it exists solely for tourists and art students. Pictures will do much better. 

I was so excited to have left Turin.

Ate some real Italian food. Probably the best meal I had the whole week

The first thing we did was visit this giant cathedral made
entirely from Marbel. I didn't know it existed before, but now I do.
It was very cool. Apparently, the dome was painted by Botticelli
(another painter whose name I recognize, but of whom I know nothing)

That evening we went up to Michael Angelo Piazza and watched the sun set over the city.

   A fun little side note is that I watched a scam take place here. Italy is pretty notorious for pickpockets and scammers, and I watched a man play a game where you have three cups and a ball, and you try to figure out which cup the ball is under. Well, needless to say, it was extremely easy to keep track of the ball, but there were a couple individuals who would always try and then "lose". This made other individuals confident, and they would put money down and play. Every time the man had a decently large pile of money, the two designated people who always "lost" would miraculously find the ball, and pocket the money. So, he was never at risk of losing a large stack, and the crowd was continuously encouraged to put money down by watching people strategically lose or win. I also kept a close eye on my bag because pickpockets often use street games as a distraction. Thankfully, I bought a theft-proof bag before I came to Europe, and so far I think it's been really successful. Most people I talk to have been pickpocketed, and we even found my friend's backpack open a couple times. 

   The next day was supposed to be a day of art museums. I know I've said this before, but I need to reiterate it; I really like art. I think it's awesome, but I don't know a lot about it, so after a while, it can get very exhausting. Especially medieval art because there are about three themes total that people were painting back then. I can only look at so many paintings of a cross-eyed Mary with an overdeveloped baby Jesus on her lap before I'm bored and slightly disturbed. But, we started the day with the one piece of art I had actually come to Florence to see; The Statue of David. 

No photos of me because he needs to be appreciated on his own. :) 
He was just as gorgeous in person as in the pictures. #Wasnotdisappointed

   My friend sort of rushed through the Galleria dell'Acadamia because she wanted to reserve tickets for the Uffizi museum (Another art museum with more famous paintings I recognized but knew nothing about), which gave me a lot of time to admire some of Michael Angelo's unfinished sculptures as well as a collection of other various sculptures. I've discovered that I can appreciate sculptures a lot more than paintings, which is interesting because when we passed a sculpture museum I pointed it out to my friend and she said "Sculptures are the lowest of my priorities while we're in Florence." We then discussed our differences in taste and it was very interesting to hear her perspective. I can't remember everything she said but she felt that sculptures didn't have as much dimension since they were not as networked and detailed. On the other hand, I find sculptures to be more impactful because they feel alive. I always have the strange sensation that the statues were people once. Their 3D quality breathes life into them and allows my imagination to capture them. 

  That being said, after the Galleria dell'Acadamia, my friend wanted to go to a couple more art museums and I was finding myself worn down by the cramped spaces and thick crowds. About a year ago, I encountered a photo online of an inspiring sculpture. It inspired me so much, that I sat down and wrote a short description of it in my journal. I remembered that it was in Italy when my friend and I were planning this trip so I checked, and it happened to be in Florence. However, upon closer inspection, I realized that it was about twenty minutes outside of the city, so I had it in my head that I couldn't go. But, when my friend and I were discussing our plans I thought to myself, "Why not?. 

   There was very little else I wanted to see in the city, and there certainly wasn't any art in the museums that I was dying to see... except for this sculpture. Sculptures were not my friend's priority, but that doesn't mean they couldn't be mine. I figured it was my chance to go do something that would be especially important to me, get away from the crowds, and have my own experience. So I did it, I found a bus and I got on. Best decision I could have made! The statue was in a garden up in the hills near a tiny village. As we climbed up, I could see Florence below me and the hills tumbling out around it, villas, olive groves, and bright flowers were all that there was to break up the forest. And to top it off, I was the only guest in the garden. I spent three or four hours exploring. The garden was once part of a villa from the Middle Ages that was situated on the main highway. The owner entertained many guests and built dozens of fountains and gardens to display. Now, many of the buildings and statues are in disrepair or crumbling away, giving it a lonesome and forgotten feeling. 

  The sculpture was even more inspiring in person. Since there was no rush, and no people, I got to sit down on the gravel and write a new description of it. But this time, I was in the sculpture's shadow.

This isn't the exact picture I saw online, but close enough

   The first description I wrote: It's golden hour and the sunlight filters through the surrounding green forest, making the tips of the lush leaves glow. Muddy water laps at my feet and little lily pads push against each other and swirl around in the pond in front of me. I put my finger on one and twist it, watching the sides swoosh around like the edges of a little girl's dress. As the sun gets lower, a shadow is cast over me. It is in the shape of a man. When I look up, I see him on the other side of the pond. Although he kneels, he towers over me. On a rocky outcropping eternally bent, and as quiet and still as stone. His eyebrows are forever pulled in concern. His bear is like a growth of mossy stone that shrouds his eyes from my view. The ancient man squeezes the head of an even older sea monster, and gushing from its open screaming mouth is a fountain of water that feeds the lily pads at my feet. 

And these are the pictures I took. The water in the pond was low 
because it was already Autumn and the lilies had blossomed and opened,
but I didn't care. It was perfect!

   The second description I wrote on the back of a postcard: Under the saturated tone of a turquoise blue sky, surrounded by the overgrown foliage of a quiet garden, a man seems to tug himself free of the garden stones. Not quite nature, not quite a man, his arms and legs are defined by tense muscles as he takes a defensive posture over his pond. Lime corrodes his beard, chipping away at his lifelike form, pulling him back into the rocks, and returning him to the garden he was born from. I sit where his shadow might be if it were not midday. Just as he emerged from the rocks, I emerged from the city of Florence which now sits far beneath me. We are alone. Unlike the city, this garden is abandoned. The lotus flowers have died and left their seed pods to click and whir in the gentle breeze, a lone dragonfly zips from one overgrown stock to the next, and a duck weaves through the miniature forest their shady pads have created. All of this sits under his forlorn gaze; his strong posture. Even the great city of Florence. Even me... especially me.

   After I was finished exploring the many overgrown trails and hidden sculptures, I walked back to the bus stop and waited on the stoop of the local pharmacy for an hour while I enjoyed the sight of people coming and going. Getting out of the city and exploring on my own was the perfect opportunity for me to see a more authentic side of Italy and it was one of the highlights of my trip.

This little dude hung out with me while I wrote. 

This man-made cave was actually set up as a gazebo inside. 
There was a fountain, niches for statues, and benches inlaid with thousands of shells.
I scared a bat when I looked inside.  

Sycamore trees lining the road that left the garden

   We ended the day by visiting the Uffizi museum, which was pretty cool too, but by the end, I was just trying to find the exit because it was so big and I was so tired. 😣 Here's a photo dump from the rest of our time in Florence.

If I see a painting I recognize, I take a photo

My friend has like ten photos where all you can see are my eyes. 

Savannah (Gideon's girlfriend) recommended this gelato spot in Florence
It was fantastic! 

I think I was asked to pose for this photo because I don't recognize this painting
which means I had no reason to request a photo. 

Famous painting number ???

My other favorite part of this trip was visiting an Italian reconstruction
of a 50's American Diner. I was vibing to the beach boys and enjoying 
reading their descriptions of classic American foods like buffalo wings, pie, 
and Mountain Dew. One of their sandwiches was called, "The Bismarck" :O. Here 
I am, very excited about my milkshake.