Hey folks!
(I'm assuming there's more than one of you actually reading this...) As they say in Italy... Allora, I got back from Florence, and I was absolutely stunned. There was just so much, that I totally have to go back. I missed a lot of stuff, but I need an excuse go back.

Due to the sheer volume of sites and works we saw, I'm gonna switch to bullet form(a wink to Jarnah):

Sites Visited and Observations:
The Cathedral Complex-
So, this is the most easily recognizable building in Florence, as well as most visible. FYI: There is only one "cathedral" in a given city at any given moment. The cathedral is the church of the bishop of that city and comes from the latin word, cathedra, which literally refers to the throne that the bishop sits in. In recent time, the word cathedral has come to mean big church, but in actuality this is false. (New York is one of the exceptions of the one cathedral rule with St. Patrick's on 5th Ave and St. John the Divine on 110th which is Episcopalian.) This church was design by Arnolfo Di Cambio, but the construction of the dome is credited to Filippo Brunelleschi. He was directly responsible for the engineering and construction method. The interior was really impressive because of the sheer scale of the architectural elements. After we entered the actually space, we climbed the stairs and walked around the cupola to get a good view of the rest of the city which was also breathtaking.

Piazza Sinioria-
This area is directly in front of the Palazzo Vecchio (right), which has a lengthy history that I'm sure no one is interested in. This space is very significant because it used to house the ORIGINAL statue of David by Michelangelo, but now holds a copy. There is an area, however, that houses some pretty incredible sculpture pieces that are in fact originals. It also used to form the center of the Roman town that stood in the same location where the Cardo and Decumanus met (the two cardinal streets in every town. The cardo runs north-south, and you can guess how the decumanus ran-)

Santa Croce-
This church was built in a Romanesque style which is a style that predates the High Renaissance. It can be seen as the Gothic architecture of Italy in many ways as it carries some very similar features. It however is recognized as distinct because it has a different proportionality and different ways of approaching materials and organization as well as a notable lack of the features found in Gothic structures, i.e. flying buttresses, pointed arches. I was really impressed with the use of exposed/painted rafters which I have yet to see in Rome. This is also the place where Michelangelo, Dante, and Machiavelli are buried. I didn't really care about that, though. Some of the frescoes were really interesting, but in general, I was most impressed with the openness of the ceilings. The side chapels were covered with a number of gable roofs which created an impressive side profile. There was also some really beautiful door hardware on the main entrance doors.

Anyhow, that was the first day. Although I summed up a lot of it... there's a lot I don't feel like fitting into this blog. Keep in mind that I have to save some stuff to talk to you about in person! Also, no pictures to reference on the second and third day because I didn't bring my charger for the digital. Thus, only film pictures, and I don't want to leave you guys hanging on my poor verbal descriptions of some of the amazing things that happened.

Speaking of my film camera, I almost destroyed it at Palazzo Piti. I dropped it while I was shifting objects around from bag to pocket and hand to bag. While holding the multiple straps my camera and bag, I mistook the camera strap for the bag strap and dropped the camera instead of the bag. Thus the stone floor outside the baggage room in the Piti Palace completely ran into the polarization filter that rested in front of the lens. When I picked it up I noticed a nick in the glass. When tried to remove the filter, the nick turned into a full on crack. Then I realized the filter just would not come off. Luckily, I later pulled it off using my key as a kind of bottle opener and found that the camera and lens were OK. LESSON LEARNED.