It was raining off and on when we got to Florence. First we walked across this beautiful bridge with shops and houses perched on its rail.
The rain scared off some of the visitors and left an opening for us. Jesse asked – what was the main thing I wanted to see in Florence. Of course – David by Michelangelo. After settling in our very nice Airbnb, off we went to check out the city and find The Academia where David was housed. We waited about an hour to get in, but it was worth the wait. There was a musical instrument museum, amazing stuff.
Yes, this is a Stradivarius!
and a harpsichord.We wandered through rooms and rooms of beautiful paintings centuries old and Michelangelo’s sculptures. He was an architect and sculptor first and foremost.
Until you see David close up, you cannot really fathom what a huge statue this is. It has been moved to this museum for preservation but stood outside for many years. For a perspective, here’s another view.
So glad I got to see this in life. Thank you God for the rain, because if it had been a nice day, don’t know if we could have hung in there for the long lines that we saw waiting the next day when it was sunny! Everywhere we looked, the paintings and sculptures seemed to have a religious theme. So different from much of modern art!
So many nursing Madonnas!
We learned from our guide in the Vatican that Medieval artists depicted the Christ child with an adult face. This signified the reality that Christ came as a baby but with His sacrifice for our sins in mind the whole time. We noticed folks here don’t apologize for Christianity, and most don’t cover up the injustices that have happened in the past.
Another amazing painting from the 1200’s. Yep, it’s another nursing Madonna! I promise I won’t post all the pictures I took!
There were embroidered tapestries and banners also. Think of all the hours of stitching that women did to create this!
In between our visits we ate and let Judah chase the pigeons too.
Judah shares his beloved monkey with mama. And dinner with daddy.
.
Crazy beautiful everywhere!
And yep, this is two old people still walking in Florence!
We found a little Leonardo da Vinci museum in our wanderings.
I will never think of the Mona Lisa in the same way!
Judah loved the pigeons. Not sure how the pigeons felt about Judah!
Statues everywhere
.
One of the beautiful churches we found – under renovation because the front wall fell in during Mass!
Treasures in the side room of the church.
No we did not climb the cupola. Too many steps, too long a wait!
|
||
|
It was a fun adventure but it really started raining so back home to Vicenza! |
