Adventures and Dinosaurs

Goddamn. iPhone had a brain explosion. So here is Florence again. Probably rushed because I’m grumpy, despite listening to Revolver right now.

Florence is awesome. Touristy yes, but it damn near delivers on the promises that pop culture has been making about Italy for years. Sure, they’re impossible to reconcile with reality, but it really is a lovely city.

The first thing that shocked me was the exterior of the Duomo, a gorgeous cathedral adorned with white, green and pink. It would later provide amazing views and a great free tour that illuminated a lot of the city through the stories from within the building.

Also great on my first afternoon was the Academia gallery, which I rushed to after finding out it was shut on Mondays, the main day I had there. It houses the infamous Statue of David, and smartly paired it with an exhibition of Mapplethorpe photographs. Though it leaned moreso towards his penchant for musclebound nudes (I’m more into his portraits), it was an unlikely but awesome pairing. The gallery also had some good Renaissance paintings, though I’m sure the Uffizi would have been a better place for that… Alas it is also closed on Mondays

The streets had plenty of wonder too… Buskers played late at night to bigger crowds than most local gigs I go to (and orchestrated massive Beatles singalongs), while outside the center of town there were great views to be had and pretty parks to explore. The city is small too, and could all be easily explored on foot.

In Florence I was also joined by my friend Melissa, who made exploring the streets of Florence a whole lot more fun. Plenty of gelato, red wine and good times were had, it’s a shame she can’t be around for the rest of the trip!

Right now I’m on a train to Turin, after a brief stop in Milan. 6 or so hours til it’s Springsteen time!