Florence - a long day

I've spent the past 12 hours roaming Florence and its many museums, churches, and squares. I spent over €40 on admission tickets today. I'll leave it up to you to figure out the conversion. I'd rather not think about that right now.

Some stuff I really liked:
The hike and view of Florence from Brunelleschi's Dome on top of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Mercury by Giambologna in The Bargello.

The tombs of famous Florentines at Santa Croce. Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo, Machiavelli. And Cimabue's Crucifixion. I was told to see this and it turned out to be really impressive.

The Uffizi. Too much to name.

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo - The panels from the Baptistry East doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

At the end of a long day I stopped at a small chapel and listened to the organist play. It was refreshing. Then I went for a wonderful Italian dinner. I think if I had to choose one type of food to live on for the rest of my life, it would be Italian.




Stuff I didn't like:
All the graffiti on the stairs and outter dome at Santa Maria del Fiore. I didn't come to Florence, pay €6, and hike 463 stairs, to find out that Mike loves Jenny and that Robert was there in 2005. Funny story: Almost as soon as I arrived at the top of the dome, I saw some punk about to add his mark to the Duomo. Without much thought I sternly said "hey, hey, this is a church" while shaking my head. He stopped, but probably proceeded once I was gone. It takes a certain disrespect to write on such a building.

David by Donatello in The Bargello was being cleaned today. It was being done in the room he normally stands in. However, all I got to see was his back side. I'll just have to come back to Florence I guess.

I rushed Santa Croce in an effort to make my appointment at the Uffizi.

Too much to see at the Uffizi.

San Lorenzo was cool, but one ticket didn't cover the whole building. It was several different ticket and many Euros to see the whole place. I think this is because the state owns some of the building and the church the other. I often found myself frustrated with the touristification of churches. One woman actually said to me when I asked about getting to another part of the church, "That is the religious part." I thought, "what part of the church is supposed to be the non-religious part?"

Another long day tomorrow, but I hope to be more laid back and just see what I can rather than force myself into a laborious tour of Florence. I know now that I can't see it all on this trip, so I'd rather enjoy what can be seen.