Europe 2007 – Day Twenty-Five
September 1st, 2007 - 11:16pm - 1 Comment »
Day Twenty-Five
Rome
1 September 2007 – 23:16
This morning was the earliest we’ve gotten up so far, 6am. We got ready and left our apartment around 7am with plenty of time to get lost on the way to the train station. Justine lead the way by following “Alla Ferrovia” signs while I tried to take photos as the sun rose and then catch up to Justine.
We caught a train one stop off the island, sat around a bit and grabbed breakfast from a food court; the McDonald’s there had Nastro Azzuro beer on tap! At 8:50am we boarded the train to Florence, as we’d decided a few days earlier to pop in and see Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia.
At the station, the line to buy a map was far too long so we just started walking. Justine went to the toilet at what is apparently the most disgusting McDonald’s bathroom ever. Luckily though, they had free maps of Florence, so her sacrifice was sort of justified.
We headed the wrong way as usual but were able to correct it before it posed a problem. A short while later we found the Accademia but there was no line, and it was a Saturday! A sign said “reservations only” and I asked a security guard there who told us just to go in. So much for the lines!
As we rounded the corner past the “unfinished statues”, I saw David in all his glory. My first thought is that is was far larger than I had ever imagined. My second, and something Justine pointed out, is that the hands are vastly oversized.
We got a close-up look and though the signs said “no photos” and a few guards were asking people to stop, I managed to snap a couple of wide-angle shots from the hip.
Around the corner is a large room filled with plaster casts used as “practices” for bronzes or marble statues. Tours through there run once an hour and were were lucky enough to get an almost private tour with us and another girl. The tour guide showed us through and explained the statues and paintings. I asked (for Justine) about David’s hands and the thought about the size is that they are meant to display strength (the hand on the side) and intelligence (the hand near his head). Either that or it was due to the statue having a higher position originally (i.e. perspective).
We rushed back to the train station and just caught the next train to Pisa.
At Pisa, we left the station, when Justine was soiled by an inconsiderate pigeon. After cleaning up we walked to the famed tower. It’s actually a lot smaller than I expected. Lines to climb it (they run every 30 minutes) were over 2 hours long so we snapped the obligatory silly shots and grabbed the next train to Rome.
Our train had six seats in a room but we ended with just the two of us in the room. Nice. In Rome we took the Metro and easily found our hotel for once. We went out but change our minges and instead settled in for the night.
