Day 16-Italy, Florence

Today was a full day. I definitely didn't want to waste a single moment of what really is going to be my last day in Florence (tomorrow we're doing a day trip to Ravenna and then leaving Saturday morning at 3 am sharp).

Beginning with appreciating more of Michelangelo and Donatello's talent, I studied an emotional Pieta (the one that contains Michelangelo's self portrait which is also the one he tried to destroy before one of his assistants stopped him) and Donatello's David which I've never really enjoyed. Way to femme for my taste.

I then went to a fashion museum with some people from my group and enjoyed exquisite evening gowns from the 1800's to the late 1990's. Of particular interest were two of Mariano Fortuny's pleated creations. Apparently they're super rare and so it was really cool to see them. I realized, however, that I'd definitely rather walk through 10,000 painting or sculpture galleries than 100 fashion museums any day. It was still pretty spectacular, though.

After that museum, I felt like wandering around the streets of Florence just to take it all in. So I wandered. I wandered along the riverside, wandered past a ton of fancy jewelry boutiques, wandered inside shops, and somehow found myself wandering straight into the leather market. Again. I only bought one thing this time, and it's only because I bartered it down from 30 € to 10 €. I was so proud of myself :) In case you were wondering, I'm the new owner of a super cute leather belt that I really do need. My pants do funny things when I wear a money belt. I ended my time alone by buying the best tuna sandwich I've ever had. It was so good! The fact that it didn't have too much mayo/sauce on it and that it was served on panini bread with fresh tomatoes made it probably one of the best things I've eaten here in Italy. Definitely in the top 3.

My next trip of the day took me on a little (by little I mean it was definitely a challenge) hike up to a monastery/ church where monks chant everyday starting at 6:30. It was pretty cool :) and the view was absolutely incredible. When you're higher than the cathedral dome and set up on a gorgeous hill, something amazing is bound to happen. Check out my pictures! So worth exhausting myself over. Crossing one of the bridges coming back, I also had an excellent view of the sunset. It was a surreal evening :)

The last objective of the day was to score my final gelato and buy some cookies that were unfortunately located in a sketchy neighborhood (brought me back to Naples). It's Ok. They were satisfying and totally worth the effort :) Most everything here is. I love Florence!