Still in Florence and a full day planned for sight-seeing and shopping.

On the bus for a quick trip to the other side of the main shopping centre. Then off to the Accademia Gallery where Michelangelo's David Statue is housed.

When we entered the Gallery we saw large paintings from many of the Masters including Raphael and Michelangelo. Following the excellent paintings we moved into another room with sculptures and at the end was the huge statue of Michelangelo's 'David'. The 'wow factor' is high when first seeing the statue.

In 1873 the statue of David by Michelangelo was moved from Piazza Della Signoria to the Accademia Gallery in order to remove the statue from the external atmosphere and build an appropriate place for its exhibition. The original 'David' was later replaced at the outdoor location by a replica.

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created by Michelangelo in 1501 and 1504. It is a 5.17metre (17.0 ft) marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence. Originally commissioned as one of a series of statues of prophets to be positioned along the roofline of the east end of Florence Cathedral, the statue was instead placed in a public square, outside the Palazzo Della Signoria, the seat of civic government in Florence, where it was unveiled on 8 September 1504.

Because of the nature of the hero that it represented, it soon came to symbolize the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic, an independent city-state threatened on all sides by more powerful rival states and by the rule of the Medici family. The eyes of David, with a warning glare, were turned towards Rome.

Following the visit to see David we went on a walking tour of Florence's city centre to view the medieval buildings including:
• Piazza del Duomo: Piazza del Duomo is located in the heart of the historic centre of Florence. It is one of the most visited places in the Europe and the world. Here we found the Florence Cathedral with the Cupola del Brunelleschi, the Giotto's Campanile, the Florence Baptistry, the Loggia del Bigallo, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, and the Arcivescovile and Canonici's palace. The Cathedral is dedicated to St Mary of the Flower.
• Piazza della Repubblica: It is a square in the centre of Florence, location of the cultural cafes and bourgeois palaces. Among the square's cafes, the Giubbe Rosse cafe has long been a meeting place for famous artists and writers, notably those of Futurism.
• Piazza Santa Croce: Dominated by the Basilica of Santa Croce it is a rectangular square in the center of the city. Here the Calcio Fiorentino is played every year and one can find on this square the Palazzo della Antella, the Palazzo Cocchi-Serristori (main office of center of Florence quarter) and Dante's statue.
• Piazza della Signoria: It is the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city. The impressive 14th century Palazzo Vecchio is still preeminent with its crenellated tower
• The birthplaces of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Following the walking tour we went to Florence's biggest and oldest leather workshop for a demonstration of gold embossing on leather products and then the opportunity to purchase products from the Peruzzi label.

The remainder of the day was ours to use as we pleased so we made the most of this old and beautiful area - and have some more wine and gelato!

Our Tour Director (Gianlucca) and the Hotel in Florence were able to get Allen a dentist appointment to fix the tooth that broke last Friday. The surgery was next door to the Hotel and after a filling, and a repaired broken tooth, all is well again, although another visit to our dentist is required once we get home.

Today's insights:
• Florence is Italy's 'capital' of leather and gold.
• 'David' is modelled on the biblical story of David and Goliath, however Michelangelo made David older to make a political point about independence.
• In his right hand David holds a stone and over his shoulder is draped a sling-shot providing the linkage to the biblical story.