Firenze

Soooo..... my nexteh stoppeh was the city of Ninja Turtles, Italian Sausage, and... Decapitation! Firenze!!

Something that Florence really opens your eyes to is the beauty of the male body. The objectification of the female body in our society harms both genders, in that it (1) causes an undervaluing of women's other attributes and (2) causes a neglect of the male figure.

Men are allowed to be "rugged" or "tough," but not beautiful. Seeing Michelangelo's David in person makes one realize how absurd this double standard is. Thank you, Florence.

Another great thing that is unique to Florence is that it allows one to see all of this Renaissance art in the birthplace of the Renaissance! It makes the art feel much more real than when one sees it at Paris's Louvre or London's National Gallery.


My favorite paintings were Filippo Lippi's Madonna with the Child and two Angels...

...and Botticelli's Madonna of the Magnificat.

My favorite sculpture was Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa.

Here I am on top of the Duomo, overlooking a Tuscan sunset.

And here's a great street performance right next door.


Some other highlights:

• The Duomo's Baptistry interior
• The Brancacci chapel that houses Masaccio's famous works
• The wine and coffee (duhh)
• My hostel, Eurostudent Home. It was right in the heart of the city!

Another random piece of awesomeness was that the Palazzo Vecchio had an outdoor water fountain that had both still AND fizzy water!! SAY WHAAAT???? I don't know why that got me so excited, but it did.

I'll leave you with a couple more of Florence's decapitation depictions!














Bye bye Firenze!