Happy Easter

Happy Easter folks from Florence, Italy. Or Firenze, as it's called in Italian. I like Firenze a lot better, personally. Today may have been the strangest Easter ever. Besides the fact that we're deep in the clutches of Catholic Central, a rocket propelled dove lighting a giant fireworks display in front of a cathedral while a service is going on sort of gives you that impression. We headed downtown to the Duomo, which is Firenze's huge cathedral, to try and catch some sort of Easter-y service. What we found was a gigantic sea of tourists, a cable running the length of the cathedral out the front door, and a strange house shaped thing connected to the cable at the end. To the tune of intense organ playing and a couple of alterboy's with wooden crosses, a rocket propelled dove shot throught the cathedral, lit the structure (which I like to think is Jesus' empty tomb) which exploded into fireworks for about 10 minutes, then shot back. The footage on Kevin's camera looks like something out of Saving Private Ryan. Wild. So right, welcome to Easter in Italy.

We arrived in Firenze on Friday afternoon, after a day of discovering the worst the Italian train company had to offer. Compared to the sleek French TGV's we were all so used to riding on that hurtle smoothly along at nearly 200 MPH, the 30 year old diesel powered Italian trains were something of a let down. Dirty stations, dirty trains, and nasty seats equal great fun. But we made it. Upon arrival and a nerve-wracking city bus ride to find our B&B, we find that no one is there to meet us. Turns out that they never got our confirmation from Hostelworld.com. But the lady is super nice, and got us a room. It's about a 20 minute walk from the city centre.

Firenze is the birthplace of the Renaisaance. Dante, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, they all kicked it here. What does that translate into today's terms? A 4 hour queue to get into the Uffizi gallery. No joke, we waited for 4 hours under the hot Tuscan sun to get in. I think it's fair to say that it sucked. But the payoff was good, as the gallery was quite cool. I have Renaissance art imprinted on my brain and dripping out of my ears. After we finally escaped, we hit up what may be the most amazing ice cream (sorry, gelato) place on the face of the earth. Gigantic mounds of gelato as big as my torso. I got tiramisu flavored, and it made me a better person. I feel as if I can walk through walls.

We wandered around for a bit before randomly running into Emily, who's in Florence as well visiting her freshman year roommate. After chatting for a bit we left, wasted time in a sports store, and hit up the Accademia. It's a very ghetto art gallery in almost every respect except that it houses Michelangelo's David, a gigantic sculpture of David about to slay Goliath. It was amazing. I think all (myself, Hilary, and Kevin) agreed it was immensely intense and powerful. Finished off the day by going up to a park above the river and photographing Florence at night. Also, Kevin and I decided to buy some pop. On his recommendation, we got this crazy San Pellegrino energy drink crap, thinking it might be good. We were wrong. Definitely should have sprung the extra 20 cents for the Sprite or Coke.

I have sad news that I keep forgetting to post. My disgusting old Twins hat, which has been a constant travel companion throughout the year, now lives on the No. 37 bus between Avignon and Uzes. I lost it. Not so much lost as forgot it on a bus and then couldn't retrieve it. It was time though, it truly was on it's last legs. But still, thanks for the memories. I can only hope some young French kid finds it, looks up the Minnesota Twins online, and becomes a lifelong fan. On the flip side, it gives me a great excuse to buy the new improved New Era field model 59 50, which I will definitely take.

So yes, I would put Italy on another list of places to go if you can. Firenze would be a good idea. Even though I am once again experiencing the awkwardness of not being able to communicate well, Italy is great. It's different from France, it sort of lacks that sleekness and modern sheen. But in it's own way, it's very nice. And most importantly, it has rocket propelled doves and exploding tombs.