Florence, Italy

Hello all... it's Val. We are just leaving Florence, Italy and we stopped in an internet cafe to write to all of our loyal readers about what went on in this history filled city. We began our Florence experience by getting off a VERY hot and sweaty train and walking to our hotel. We were thrilled to find out that our hotel had AIR CONDITIONING! It is so hot in Italy! We left the AC on and our backpacks in our room and decided to make our way to the Galleria Dell'Accademia. This is where the famous David sculpture that Michelangelo created is housed. We were told that there would be about an hour and a half wait on the street outside. We lined up with happy faces and watched the street vendors try to get people to buy their items. We met some nice people from the Boston area who were on a field trip with a high school. As we chatted the police zoomed down the street and the street vendors all ran like lightning. (Street vending is illegal!) It was great entertainment! Then, after only a twenty minute wait, we were inside! We saw a three figure statue that we both enjoyed in the first room. Then we made our way around the corner and we were blown away at the statue of David. (Josh got goose bumps!) He, David, was bigger than we both imagined, and more detailed. It was magnificent. We walked around the rest of the museum and saw some casts of other sculptures and some paintings. We also saw a jewel detailed crown from a queen. Then we decided to film a little bit of us at the museum and then we went for dinner. We stopped at this little restaurant that was very Italian. It was delicious. I even tried something new and I liked it. (I know some of you are really surprised by this! Haha!) Then we called it a night, and watched the EURO Cup finals. (We were rooting for Germany and unfortunately they lost to Spain.)
The next day was Monday and most museums are closed on Mondays so we slept in! It felt really good. We went to the grocery store and got some items to make sandwiches. We found this internet cafe and did some emailing and updating. We decided not to eat out that night, because Josh found this vending machine that served hot pasta, and he HAD to try it. And surprisingly, it was good, so good that Josh got seconds. We watched some funny Italian TV station for a little while and then planned out the next day's agenda.
On Tuesday we began by getting up early and making our way to a museum that used to be a home for the Pitti Family. (A prominent family in Italian history.) Again we were told to expect an hour to two hour wait. And we got to walk right in, no line. We walked around their famous gardens, which I am sorry to say Josh and I weren't too excited about. Then we went through the porcelain and costume museums within the house. Our legs were tired, so we decided to find a place to eat lunch. We picked a small little restaurant and had some pizza. Then we made our way to another museum, this one had a long line. We waited in line for an hour and a half. We met a guy from California, and another from North Carolina. The wait was worth it. This museum housed famous paintings, sculptures, and drawings by people like Michelangelo. It was amazing. The pictures are soon to come on our picture website... http://www.stockworldtour.shutterfly.com/. So check it out, add comments! After the museum, we ate dinner at a little restaurant a few blocks away from the museum. As we are eating, we felt like locals, because we saw one of the guys we meet from the states in line at the museum. It was kind of funny! Then Josh and I walked back to the place we were staying. We made reservations at a hotel for our nights in Rome.
The next day (today) we got up and checked out by 10:00 am. We headed back to he train station. We got on the internet, and here I am typing. Well, that's all for now.