What to do when it's 39* in Florence...

Get out! Head to the gardens (Bardini....Bobili is too crowded) and have a glass of proseco looking over the top of the city!  

That's Santa Croce church you see through my glass!

6 Davids a Day...will make me STAY!

Everyone knows about Michelangelo's Statue of David, and the copies of the original, but did you know there are 3 more statues of David in Florence (and I don't mean all the ones for sell)!

We will start with most famous...

1-Michelangelo's Statue if David locate in the Accademia, carved in 1501-1504.

2-A copy of Michelangelo's David that stands where the original stood, outside Palazzo Vecchio from around 1910.

3-Piazzale Michelangelo is a bronze copy, set with other figures around it, that looks over the city.

4-Donatello's Marble David (located in the Bargello Museum), is a very youthful sculpture.  The age of this figure probably approximates the correct biblical age of the boy whose older brothers were off fighting while he was excluded. 

5-Donatello's Bronze David (also located in the Bargello Museum), becomes a rather sexy in this version that may date to the 1440s. He is wearing a warrior-like helmet and boots, and he stands on a large winged helmet attached to the head of Goliath. Think back to the biblical story – Saul offers David armour, but David takes it off, prefering his shepherd’s garb.

6-Verrocchio's Bronze David (located in the Bargello Museum), the cocky young David from 1475.  The choice of clothing here is a Roman tunic, but it seems to be made up of only borders, so that his defined chest shows through.  The figure holds a short sword (remember it’s supposed to be the sword that belonged to the 9-foot tall Golaith) in order to extend the direction of his jutting-out hip, creating a rather more open composition than the closed.

Athens, Greece

Ok so we've all heard about Athens and the Olympics and all that jazz but man was it so cool!  Athens is where democracy was born, knowledge was pondered and Western civilization came into being.  In 5th century BC, Athens developed many architectural, literature, math, science, philosophy and medical achievements.

The first place we visited was the Acropolis with the awe inspiring Parthenon and Temple of Athena Nike.  Just think, I walked on stones that are from BC....the first traces of people occupying this area go back to the Neolithic period.  After 11th BC it became home to Athena, the patron goddess of the city and other gods. Pericles had the Parthenon, the propylaea, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheiom built between 447 ans 406 BC.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (changing of the guards was taking place).  The guards wear traditional uniforms of short kilts and pom-pom shoes is based on the attire worn by the klephts (the mountain fighters of the War of Independence).

The first modern day Olympics stadium from 1896.

The Olympic Village from the 1896 Olympics.

Ruins discovered while developing the underground metro system preparing for the 2004 Olympic Games.  

The University of Athens and the National Library.

The public market area, Platka.  This area is filled with locals purchasing, spices, fish, housewares items and much more.  Also great food places in this area with traditional Greek salads, mamuska and more!

Haidrian's Arch which separates the old and new Roman towns.

Tomato Sandwich

Don't get me wrong, I like tomato sandwiches with good ole white bread, Duke's mayonnaise, salt and pepper but...this was amazing!

 Fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil!

Aida-the opera in Verona

Went to the opera in Verona, in a open air Roman theater during the 100th year celebration.

The opera was in italian, but I bought a program so I would know what was going on throughout.  Aida takes place in Egypt and is basically a love story with all the hype...war, romance, someone being the hero, etc. etc. (atleast that's what I got).  I was not overly impressed with the props I would think it would be much more spectacular but I did read that they were doing a different set for that night and the rest of the shows during festival so who knows.  

These are pictures from the evening, the setting and the performance.

 Candles!

 Fire!

 Between scenes.

 Performers moving through the crowd...even in the cheap seats!

 Those are people making the animals in the shadow!

 Grays being used as chariots

 3 hours in...12:15 am!

 Check out the moon overhead!

 The fake moon they rose for the final act!