We are home safe and sound (and both back to work)! I have posted a lot of the pictures on Facebook and have the links to all the albums below. They are organized into each port of call. :)
Florence is still the beautiful city that I remembered. We took a walking tour of the city starting with the Accademia which housed Michelangelo's slaves (unfortunately we couldn't take pictures of any of this). The reason they call them by that name is because Mike set the figures free from each (hand picked) block of marble. I could literally see the way he "found" each person in the stone. Genius. No other word for it. You could see the chisel marks, the work still in progress, and the smooth parts where the body had already been realized. Then, there was the David. He was huge! I didn't realize how big 17 feet actually was. In the right hand, holding the stone, you can see the veins. Not because he's holding the stone, but because his right hand is below his heart. Alternately, the left hand holding the sling has no veins. You can tell by the muscular structure that he was very in tune with anatomy and learned a lot from the cadavers that he studied.
After the museum we walked to the Piazza del Duomo where we saw the dome designed by Brunelleschi on the Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto's Bell Tower, and the Baptistry of St. John. The Cathedral is immense and since the buildings are so close together you don't really see it until it's looking down on you. The Gates of Paradise are right across from it, which I don't really think is a coincidence. :)
After looking at the Cathedral we journeyed on to the Piazza della Signoria. This Plaza is the center of Florentine politics and houses some of the most beautiful outdoor statues: the fountain of Neptune, Judith and Holofernes by Donatello, the Rape of the Sabine Women, and Perseus with the Head of Medusa.
We got a little bit of free time after that… so we found a small (warm) cafe (that had gelato) and sat for a while. I had the best Tiramisu gelato in the whole world and Ron had a glass of Chianti. Then, we were off to Santa Croce, which is like the Westminster Abbey of Florence. Everyone that was anybody is buried (or memorialized) in that church.
The cruise was amazing and I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to go. 10 days was the perfect amount of time. Now it's just getting use to California time again. We have been waking up super early and falling asleep early (which isn't bad, we will get back on schedule soon).
Thank you all for helping us and contributing to this amazing adventure!
LOVE,
R+A
Here are some photos to enjoy, I tried to round it down to the best out of the plethora taken.
Barcelona:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100255646110140.2280204.19907510&type=1&l=bffa177920
Palma de Mallorca:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100256046677400.2280242.19907510&type=1&l=f236c09676
Malta:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100256068573520.2280245.19907510&type=1&l=7f9f554212
Sicily:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100256072869910.2280246.19907510&type=1&l=02a465d5ef
Naples:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100256808939820.2280297.19907510&type=1&l=7f354df0fa
Rome:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100257105585340.2280316.19907510&type=1&l=57d5663ce9
Orvieto:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100257635463460.2280366.19907510&type=1&l=9c7b153fa6
Florence:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100257655932440.2280371.19907510&type=1&l=22d764e355
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