Entry # 24, Europe Journal

Hotel, Florence 8:30 PM 5 August, 2011
Yes, I know, I didn't write yesterday. Honestly, the only things I remember are that I thought Florence was a lot like New York (old buildings, very moving energy, lots of graffiti, lots of museums, drivers who will run you over if you're still in the road when they get to the intersection), that there were so many paintings of Jesus and Madonna in the Uffizi that they all started to look the same (same with all the sculptures we say), that I liked our hotel, and that the hostess at the restaurant we went to liked my Bernese trousers (the multi-colored patchwork ones that are really, REALLY nice for Italy weather). And that a random guy in the Uffizi gave me his map to write on instead of taking notes on my hand of people to look up (Ariadne and someone else). *I had forgotten my notebook*. And I got a book of DaVinci's notebooks. I'm jumping around and reading bits and pieces of it, since most of it is... well, typed-up notes that DaVinci did.
Anyway, notes of today:
- woke up
- changed
- ate
- continued getting ready
- made us all late to L'Accademia
- I didn't have my watch with me for most of the changing time
- Also, NOBODY TOLD ME we had to be there at nine fifteen. HAD I KNOWN, I would have RUSHED MORE.
- L'Accademia = really cool (museum)
- saw Michelangelo's "David"
- three times my height AT LEAST
- since he is HUGE and I am a TEENAGER and he is a CLASSICAL STATUE, "David" caused me to inquire into the accuracy of the proportions of David's anatomy
- I'M SORRY I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE.
- Afterwards, I saw even MORE paintings of Madonna and Jesus
- if there are any such paintings in Rome, I shall begin to boycott Italian Museums.
- I LOVE Jesus and I LOVE Mary, but I really do NOT like seeing fair too many paintings of them in the space of half an hour
- after museum, we went to lunch at the hotel
- went to market
- saw cool stuff
- didn't buy anything
- didn't really want to
- went to gardens south of river
- very boring
- passed by Athena/ Minerva
- no plaque saying it was her
- giveaway - the owl on her shield (that's her symbol)
- went to dinner
- ate pizza
- had good food
- returned to the hotel
- began journaling
- wrote some letters
- did some reading
- took a shower
- went to bed
- not exactly in that order
- whatever
- space-killing now
- goodnight
- will (maybe) write tomorrow