Day 7

This was our last full day in Florence.  I was determined to see as much of Florence as I possibly could, because I knew we would be really rushed the next day.  We started out touring the Accademia Museum, which houses the celebrity statue, Michelangelo’s David.  Like the Sistine Chapel, I was tingly all over when I was walking toward it.  The security at this museum was very heavy because apparently a long time ago, a crazy art student threw a hammer at the David and broke off one of his toes.  The David was the main attraction by far at this museum.  Everything else was a lot of intense religious art.  After the museum, a group of us went with our Italian professor, Marco on a walking tour to view several churches and then to go across the river and up really high to view Florence from an amazing high perspective.  Breathtaking is the word to describe this experience.  And extremely windy.  I was worried the gusts of wind would grab my camera right out of my hands.  Nonetheless, it was so wonderful to see Florence from so high up.  The view was just what one would imagine: the matching terracotta rough tops, the dome of the duomo in the distance, various bell towers peaking up among the buildings, sublime mountain tops looming over the entire scene in the distance.  The full effect is definitely something that everyone should experience in their lifetime.  When we got too cold from the crazy winds, we decided to get some quality lunch.  We found a tiny pizza parlor in the neighborhood below (we had to climb done the millions of steps to get there).  Because the restaurant was so tiny, we felt very cramped at our table.  I was especially confused because there was only one young guy working the restaurant by himself.  After he took our order, we could watch him in the kitchen whip up each of our pizzas from scratch in record time.  I actually ordered a vegetable calzone.  Within fifteen minutes he head single handedly made five different pizza-like dishes from scratch.  I was amazed, considering that it takes me at least an hour to make one pizza, let alone five. 

            That afternoon, I decided it was time for my first run of Italy.  I was a little nervous, because the streets of Florence were especially crowded that day.  And also because I had not run in over two months because of a stress fracture.  Despite this, I decided to give it a shot because the day was one of the most beautiful days we had seen so far; there was not a cloud in the sky.  Even though it was challenging at first, my run ended up being a wonderful success.  I made it to the river and run along it and then deep into the side of Florence on the other side of the river, which I had not yet explored.  My run was basically a new form of wandering and exploring the city.  After I recovered from the shock of running, I went and visited a book store.  My goal was to find some sort of Italian cookbook with beautiful photographs.  I ended up finding a cookbook about gelato and sorbet.  Trust me, the pictures will make you hungry instantly.