ITALY - DAY 15

We headed into Florence today to see Michelangelo's "David" among other fabulous works. It was amazing. To think that he was able to carve it from marble in 18 months without a model was incredible. The man was an absolute genius, even if he wasn't a very nice man. The statue is still perfect even after spending over 200 years outside exposed to the weather. The statue has been the target for several vandals. One person managed to carve their initials into his right calf, while another fanatic smashed David's left toes. They were so badly damaged they were not able to be put back together so he has concrete toes on his left foot.

After taking in all the wonder and awe of David we walked through the city marveling at all the statues, monuments Florence had to offer. We walked over Ponte Vecchio, the medieval bridge which has gold shops on both sides (no luck getting Pasqual to purchase a trinket for me though) before heading back for a leather demonstration. This entailed a man heating up a roller and pressing gold left onto the leather. I got to try on some leather jackets. Was hoping that there might be something worthwhile, but the quality was not as good as had hoped. Personally we thought that Australia's leather products are just as good if not better.

Next it was off to a gold store where we got to see what types of bling people like. We got to try items on etc. I saw a rose gold scarf, for want of a better word, but it was too expensive and was only plated so I missed out on a nice piece of bling.

We headed back to the hotel and was suppose to go out for a evening up in the Tuscan hills but we were just too hot and exhausted so we for went a swim in the hotel pool.