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So I didn't really sleep well last night. Since the room we were in was right on the piazza, I heard everything that was going on down there. I think I heard people singing, but I'm not sure. Thankfully we were able to sleep in before we started touring again. The 2 main things today were the Duomo and the Accademia. First we went to see the outside of the Duomo. This is a ginormous cathedral! Outside is the same green and white marble as on the Santa Maria Nuova we had seen earlier. I just couldn't believe the size of this building. It took over 100 years to build (because of funding, or lack there of) It took so long to build that the original architect had died! The next few architects couldn't figure out how to finish such a large dome! Talk about biting off more that you could chew. We would go inside later, as there was a service going on inside. So we moved on to the Accademia! I was so excited to see the actual statue of David by Michelangelo. No pictures were allowed inside again! That is such a bummer to me. The first room we entered was a hall of masterpieces for the students to copy or get inspiration from. These were nice, but not many that I recognized. The next room was the best. It started off with a bunch of statues started by Michelangelo. He was not able to finish before his death. These were so interesting in the fact that you saw how the creative process worked with him. Once we were done with seeing these, you looked up and there was the David! 3 times the size of man. We walked around it a few times. There were just so many details to take in! The expression of his face was so intense. You could see the veins in his hands. Finally we moved on. The last room we saw was a room full of plaster statues and busts. Students used these to figure out how to make statues. We finished up in the Accademia and headed back to the Duomo to see the inside. It was so huge inside! Just so open! There was a pretty cool clock on the wall that our guide had to explain. It was how many hours left of daylight. A cool idea that was very useful. After the Duomo we had a bunch of free time. Jeremy went up the bell tower to see the view of the city! He said it was amazing. The pictures he took were gorgeous. I got gelato while we waited. The we went to the awesome market. That place was dangerous for my wallet. But it was so much fun! I got most of my shopping done there. I was so proud that I made sure everything was made in Italy. I love love love my new scarf and pashminas! I also got my friends some things in here. By that time it was time to go home. I had a great time in Florence! It didn't seem as frantic as Rome. But our day was far from over. We got to the train station for our train. And we sat there. And we sat there. And SAT there! Our train was 45 minutes late. Not a big deal, but still annoying. I slept most of the way back to Rome. At least I tried. Once back we split up to drop off our luggage. We were going to meet up again for a late celebratory supper for Jordan's birthday. We went to the cute little restaurant next to the Enotecca we had our wine seminar. This was a great place! The waiters were so kind. We got the back room all to ourselves. For my antipasti I had a mixture of different bruscetta - tomato, eggplant, mushroom, and olive. So yummy! Each one had their own flavor and texture. For my pasta, I had a very yummy spaghetti, which was a little spicy. Max told me it was customary to tuck the napkin into your shirt for spaghetti. I tried, but it wouldn't stay, so I had to eat very neatly. No one felt like dessert so we were ready to. That was until the waiter told us about the homemade tirimisu! Everyone changed their minds. And, oh, was it worth it! So creamy and coffee-y! I am definitely falling in love with tirimisu. And so ended our long weekend. I think we filled our 2 days with enough for 4 days. I think a quote from Becky sums up the evening/weekend: Jeremy said, "I wish my tirimisu would never end." Becky sadly said, "Mine did."
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