Tuesday June 1--FLORENCE!

Tuesday morning we (Lyle, JaNae, Scott and I--the awesome foursome) headed out for Florence. It was a little over an hour away from where we were staying in Tuscany. It was such a fun, fun day. We saw beautiful works from Michelangelo and other sculptures and paintings. Florence was just so full of culture, art, shopping, food, fashion, people and life! The population of Florence is about 420,000.

We got smarter the longer we traveled, we took a picture of our parking lot so we could remember where in the crap we left the car!:)


The intricacies of the chiseled marble was incredible. I have no idea how in the world someone could carve such delicate, ornate specifics with rough tools and a huge slab of marble.


I loved this arch way. Aside from it being orange, I love the columns and the importance of Italian architecture in creating the arch and then sharing that architecture with the world.

Everyone rode their bicycles or little moped/scooters. It was such fun to watch and it's so good and healthy for your heart!

I'm holding a roll of prints we purchased. We have them framed and in the house now and they are really neat!

While we stood in line at the Galleria dell' Accademia for 2 1/2 hours, we found some fun things to do. We vandalized the wall...OK, OK, it's kind of what you do while waiting, like a rite of passage. I had a silver sharpie in my Mary Poppins bag so we left our mark forever on the walls of the Academia that houses the David in Florence, Italy! We also met some nice people from Quebec who were in front of us in line. We purchased some beautiful prints while standing in line as well as some awesome Italian leather belts. Man I love the smell of fine leather. Scott purchased 3 belt buckles along with his belts. It was so funny! He got a longhorn, a Superman "S" (for Scott of course) and a set of playing cards outlined by a lovely set of brass knuckles with a Yankee logo. You just gotta see 'em to understand what I'm talking about! I had a hard time deciding which belt I liked best so Scott said he would run and get JaNae to help me decide, and I said, "No, get Lyle!" Lyle is openly gay and openly awesome! He was the greatest help when it came to fashion, he also helped with some make up ideas for the rehearsal dinner...but then that's tomorrow.

Inside the first room of the Accademia. It was beautiful. I was lucky to get into the building because when they security screened my purse, they found a lovely set of brass knuckles that they questioned and barely let me keep...hmmm.

The birth of Christ. Not all of the works were Michelangelo. They were all, however, fantacular!

Resurrection of the Savior.

Interesting status of two men and one woman intertwined...hmmm...

This was one of my three favorite pieces. Usually when there are depictions of the Savior on the cross, he is all alone. I love this painting in that he was surrounded by little angels and God was there with him as well. He was not alone.

HERE HE IS! You turned the corner to head down this next hallway and there was the David at the end of the walkway in that rotunda surrounded by natural sunlight through windows. ONCE AGAIN NO PHOTOS WERE ALLOWED...AND THERE WAS SECURITY TO ENSURE THAT--Scott was incredible and got these awesome pictures. I didn't know when he was snapping photos, but this expression on my face is exactly how I felt throughout the whole Accademia--shock and awe!

This was the second of my 3 favorites. It was entitled "Man of Sorrows" by Andrea Sarta. Both Scott and I at separate times mentioned this painting to each other. It is Christ surrounded by the things that killed him. You would think it would be depressing, but it was very moving.

Another statue by Michelangelo.

I don't know how Scott got these pictures, but they are amazing. the statue itself was spectacular, but the feeling there was indescribable. This was probably one the highlights of the whole trip (except for the wedding of course, Nan). It exceeded any of my expectations!

This was the third of my favorites. It's entitled "Mary With Her Dead Son." Kind of a depressing and non-creative title, but it was a beautiful piece. Mary's face was so full of expression--once again, no idea how someone could create that with a chisel and marble.

I just could not get over the fact that I was standing in Florence looking at a piece of work by Florentine Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is documented that "he would work tirelessly through the night, believing that he was a tool of God, responsible only for chipping away at the stone until God's intended sculpture emerged."

This helped create an entirely different image in my mind of the biblical shepherd boy ready to take on Goliath, the giant. His sling is in his left hand and slung over his shoulder, while his right hand holds a single stone.

I wish I could describe the look on David's face. We were all speculating if Michelangelo showed David before he slayed Goliath or if this sculpture was of David after.

You can see the sling over his back and the stone in his hand. It's a piece of a tree he is standing next to on his right leg. I know it's art, but I would have loved for him to be wearing a loin cloth! LOL! As I was showing these pictures to Melinda, Ethan asked why we were looking at pictures of a naked man's YOU KNOW! LOLOLOL

The David stands about 35 feet tall including the base.

The next room housed some other sculptures that were really nice. No photos were allowed, but boy did Scott do a good job of getting some of our favorites.

Of course, a girl with her dog--presh!

I loved this one and her face explains so much to me, personally.

Once last shot of the masterpiece.

At the little gift shop in the Accademia. You can see Scott's longhorn belt buckle in this photo!

Again, the gift shop.

Just walking the lovely streets of Florence!

This was yet another Duomo...man they know how to do them right in Italy!

This picture cracks me up. The Duomo is beautiful, but JanNae and I are walking there in front and clearly she is telling me some secret because she has her hand in front of her mouth and I'm all leaning in....hello we're surrounded by strangers...what was so "secret" that people who didn't even speak our language couldn't hear...LOLOLOL!

I liked how this one focused on us and made the background blurry...too bad I'm not wearing a stitch of make up! Yikes!

You better enjoy this sign and get all your information from it, because it'll be the last sign you see for the next 100 km!

I love this picture too. In the pageant world when they say "T it up" it means to place your foot in front--kind of like a ballet position and lift your heal. Lyle told us to "T it up" and Scott was confused, so Lyle was trying to tell Scott how to do it. I was clearly laughing my head off. Scott is a GOOD SPORT! I am glad he is my manly man and doesn't know how to "T it up!" LOL

Once again, Scott's eye for composition I think is uncanny. Here he got three different Duomos in one shot!

THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE THE ITALIAN PIZZA--FLORENCE WAS OUR FAVORITE PLACE FOR PIZZA AND HAD THE BEST GILATTO WE COULD FIND AND WE TRIED EVERY CAFE WE SAW!!!

Scott is just so handsome...but here is more of our pizza and we were given a complimentary bottle of wine that looks like the one behind Scott.

I hate being the one in the front of the picture and having to lean back and then getting a double chin.

Florence was all circular and you could get lost for weeks!

People could see the city by horse buggy too.

These were apparently two female cops (we called them bobbys). Lyle asked to take a picture with them and they about bit his head off saying no! It was very entertaining to watch!

This picture is for SHELLIE...check out this tour guide with her HUGE sunflower! Nothing was as good as that guy at Ceasar's Palace with the ginormous feather duster! Favorite trip to Vegas, EVER! I miss you!

I had so much fun with JaNae, who is the bride's younger sister (same age as my baby sister, Melinda).

We took a ton of shots with one of us lying on the ground and shooting up! They turned out awesome though!

Could not get enough of the unique streets!

Leaving Florence in our car and crossing the River Arno.

Lyle broke his sunglasses and thought it was great because he looked like Lady Gaga. Scott said he looked more like Robo Cop, so he decided he was Robo Gaga. It was so entertaining!

We got a little lost again, trying to find our way back. We did however, have our homing pigeon, Scott who drove straight to the restaurant we were supposed to be to. So we just called and told the wedding party to not wait for us, that we had already arrived! We found it by total accident and Scott was driving like Charlize Theron in the Italian Job. I was afraid for our lives--but he got us to exactly where we needed to be! This is a picture of the lake again from the restaurant owned by Marco (who also owned the castle) called Cioa! Cioa!

We could not have planned for better traveling buddies!

This guy is pretty great!

FINALLY a picture with the bride-to-be. This is me with Lyle and Nanette (and Jill in the background). We didn't get enough time with Nan for obvious reasons, but the time we had was pure enjoyment!

OK, this post took me forever because I have a ton of pictures and a ton of memories and had to document them all! I'll get to work on the next one...tomorrow Siena and the rehearsal dinner!