Our European Adventure

Day 31: Thursday 19/11

Not a spectacular day. Florence didn’t take our breath away like Venice, and we struggled to find something decent to eat. So far in Italy we haven’t found amazing food for breakfast or lunch. Dinner is pizza, pasta and meat dishes (all yum but very rich), and we’ve started craving plates of boiled vegies or a good stir fry. Maybe Rome will deliver.

Day 32: Fri 20/11

Our day started late and we were glad for the warm sun after the cool foggyness of Venice. We hopped onto yet another open top bus tour (they’re dumb, but they do help you get acquainted with a place pretty cheaply and easily). The drivers in Europe still shock us. They are bold and ballsy and not afraid to break the rules and take risks like cutting in front of a huge double-decker bus without warning, or speeding diagonally across 5 lanes of heavy traffic just in time to make their exit. And that’s just the cars! Scooters are even scarier! We had the luxury of watching all this crazyness from the front seat atop the bus. The commentary had the usual loud classical music accompaniment and was slightly out of time with the actual tour, but I’m not complaining, it kind of made it more fun, laughing at the stupidness of it all.

We got off at the Piazza del Michelangelo where a replica of Michelangelo’s David stands (it’s original position, apparently) and there are gorgeous views over Florence. We had lunch their and sat on the steps gazing at the view (and watching the hilarious tourists and merchants around. Oh, I haven’t mentioned that in Florence there are penises everywhere!! I think it’s something to do with David, or maybe it’s just that Italian men love their willies, but you can buy pretty much anything from a market stall with a doodle on it. There are boxer shorts, aprons, t-shirts, magnets… they all have David’s donger on them! Ew! Not loving that at all. Saphira hated “Dave” (as she calls him) but later decided that he was alright, because he had a nice bum.

We came off the mountain and tried our luck at Galleria del’Accademia where we got to see the real Dave up close and personal and a whole stack of other Renaissance paintings and sculptures. All the religious themes and symbolism got a bit much for us and to be honest we didn’t spend a particularly long time there. Saphira was not too impressed with all the paintings of Jesus on the cross with cherubs holding out bowls to catch the blood from his hands and skulls catching the blood from his feet. Not her cup of tea. Mel’s or mine neither.