Livorno, Italy for Florence

Day 44 - Livorno, Italy (for Florence)

Well for over a year all I told Randy was that I wanted to see David when we were in Florence. That's Michelangelo's David that is on display at the Accademia Galleria. When I was here 27 years ago it was being restored and not open to the public. When we were here on a cruise about 5 years ago with our dear friends Maryan and Joe, it was off to Pisa. So after calling Italy from the US months ago and booking two tickets to the Accademia Galleria I finally viewed David. It was worth the wait. It is an awe inspiring sculpture. No photos allowed, so you are seeing a photo of a photo. The photo does not do it justice it is a massive sculpture. Well I did jump ahead of our day. We took a Princess bus tour "Florence on your own" and spent 5 hours roaming around Florence. Florence means "The Flowering" and has a population of 500,000 in the city proper and another 500,000 in the suburbs. Florence was founded by the Romans and flourished in the Renaissance period when the Medici family ruled. We visited the Cathedral and Baptistry, Signoria Square. Stopped for Randy at a café to have a great Cappuccino (Randy said it was almost as good as Shirley's) then on to the Ponte Vecchio, Michelangelo Square. Then it was time for David . After Seeing David in the Accademia Galleria and visiting the other exhibits. It was a very smart move to reserve tickets as the line to purchase tickets was over 1 ½ block long for the 12:00 pm slot. It took us about 5 mins to get our tickets. Then it was off to get some Gelato it was yummy and homemade. We walked across the town center and had lunch near the Church of Santa Croce the 14 Century church, where is the final resting place of Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo. Next stop, Port Monte Carlo.