good talk

From Athens I flew to Rome using an inexpensive-ticket I bought the day before, try that in the States.  I had just been in Rome 2 years before, and took the train to Termini where I bought a ticket for Florence (Firenze).  I arrived at the main train station of Santa Maria Novella, and sought and found a nice-room in the surrounding area, with a good nearby supermarket full of tasty Eats.  Hadn't been in Florence for 11 years, easy-walking to the Duomo, from 1436, the Cathedral's red-bricked dome by Brunelleschi is staggering, before completion it wasn't thought to be possible.  Firenze is very-luxurious especially around here.  The day was half-shot before I began, on the way-back I went to the Santa Maria Novella Basilica complex across from the station, Dominican, from 1420, nothing in Florence is less than fab.  If you get to the Uffizi when it opens you can just walk-in, later in the day stand in-line for 2 hrs.  From 1580, in 1743 the Medicis bequeathed their great collection to the Public on the condition that it remains in Florence.  There's Botticelli, da Vinci, della Francesca, Caravaggio (who died at "39), see Michelangelo's only small painting "Doni Tondo," and much more.  Saw the Palazzo Bargello, from 1290, Tuscan Renaissance Sculpture of Michelangelo, Donatello, and others.  To the Palazzo Pitti, from 1458, residence of the Medicis, with paintings by Raphael, Titian, Rubens, and more, donated to the Public by King Victor Emmanuel 11 in 1919.  When I got to the Accademia, it was about 2, and there was a long-line and it was hot.  There was an old guy across the street playing the violin for donations, I gave a passing-girl a few Euros to give to him, saying, he's the only thing that's keeping me from collapsing in the hot sun.  This was regarded as extremely humorous, with what I had said translated into other languages, and people exploding with laughter--I was the life of the line.  Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 to 1564) sculpted the 17 ft. tall "David" in 1504, and you should see it before you buy the farm.  There's other of Mich's sculptures, what he called freeing them from the stone, everything is beyond great. See My Blog for Oct. 17, 2014. To be in Florence is very exciting