Florence

Florence this weekend was pretty dang awesome. There were some sweeter parts than others, so I'll give you the low-down on the good stuff:

-I Fratellini, the best restaurant in town. They only serve panini and wine, and they also don't have any tables, but the three (of four) meals I ate here this weekend were well worth the curb. Actually, the curb enhanced it. My favorite panino that I tried here would have to be the "18" or the Salami and Carciofi with added capers... YUM. It was heavenly. And this place was cheap, to boot: panino and medio glass of wine for 3.80. Not bad, not bad at all.

-Grom, the best gelateria in the world. Since this place holds the local title (unofficially) of best gelato in Florence, and Florence holds the official title of best gelato city in the world, my deduction is that this place takes the cake. Its fairly new, caters to mostly locals, and is extremely hard to find. It uses all organic, local, in-season ingredients. I had pear and cinnamon. Delicious.

-The Academia, home to Michelangelo's David. This museum was interesting, but I didn't have enough time to spend here. My favorite part was walking through the corridor with the semi-finished Michelangelo's. Dr. Nicholson told us about this. Apparently Michelangelo's approach to sculpture derived from his belief that figures lived inside these blocks of marble, trying to escape, and it was his job to help them out. Looking at these unfinished pieces really looks like the bodies are trying to release themselves from the block of stone. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

-The Uffizi, one of the sweetest museums in the world. This pretty much doesn't need much explanation. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Springtime both hang here, and they are much more impressive in person.

-The Pitti Palace, the old castle of a chain of Florence's ruling families, including the Medici's. This place was insane. I saw only three galleries, but they were beautiful, and not very well attended, at least when I was there.

Yay Florence! I didn't see everything I would have liked to here... if I have the opportunity I will definitely return!