David and Florence

A lot of people say that when they see the Mona Lisa in real life, they're surprised how small it is. You definitely wouldn't say the same thing about Michaelangelo's David. David is seventeen feet in height, and he's brilliant. You can see the veins running up his arms, the tendons on his neck and the ripples on his stomach. To someone with my level of knowledge about sculptures (fuck all), David does what the Wire does to other TV shows. It makes everything else seem a bit shit. Photos were not allowed in the room, so you may need to take my word on this...


That was one highlight of the three days we spent in Florence. The city itself is somehow even more stunning than Rome. There's incredibly detailed, huge buildings everywhere, and a really relaxed vibe about the place. The centrepiece of the city is the Duomo, a giant cathedral that took something like 200 years to build. You can climb to the top of about 3 different parts of it, but we chose the highest one - the dome. The dome is the reason why the Duomo took so long to build. It was the first unsupported dome of it's size when it was created. Structurally, they managed this by creating a false dome within the outside dome (there's a reason I'm telling you this - it'll come into play further down).


We started the climb, and about half way up the steps suddenly stopped. We then came out on the inside of the dome on a walkway. The path hugged the inside of the dome, which was painted with these incredible images of heaven and hell. It wasn't an experience for people with a fear of heights though - the path appears to be unsupported from below. Once you get past this, the rest of the steps are climbed in cramped conditions between the outer and inner shells. At this point the stairs seemed to go on forever, but eventually I came out to a view of the whole city. I counted 466 steps from top to bottom - it was a hell of an adventure.


The hostel we've stayed in has been a bit more lively too. We've made a few friends here, and there's a much more cheery atmosphere. Friday and Saturday nights were free sangria nights! As you can imagine, the results of the sangria were mixed at best. Baldie did pretty well, as he got invited on a group picnic. I, on the other hand, had someone tell me in a very kind tone of voice that they were planning on stealing my organs. Another person simply pointed at my throat and told me they could kill me. I think they were joking, but if you don't see another post here in the next few days, could someone tell my family?