Day Number 6+7

I woke up to men on the street literally trying there best to wake me up. Slapping pallets together and talking there language as if there wouldn’t be a tomorrow . I was annoyed, but I couldn’t really do anything about it. I guess Italy is a free country too. The apartment was cold, a result of my leaving my laundry to dry in the windows. I jump up shivering and slam the windows shut and then realize that my laundry was not any dryer than last night .

So, its seven in the morning, and, I had promised the boys that I was definitely sleeping in late today. But I was lying on the sofa bed, the wet laundry, and Michelangelo’s David a few blocks away not letting me sleep.

So, I ran out the door with a cell phone charger in my pocket and 3 percent left on my phone battery. I grabbed the nearest scooter and absolutely rattled my weary brains out on the rough cobblestone streets. Then, the sorry little laundromat didn’t take card so I had to find something open that early to exchange a credit card for a few precious euros.

Realizing it may be more relaxing for mind and body to walk instead of being bounced around, I walked the few blocks to the Gallery and lined up behind some Chinese. It was only three people long that early which was nice.

David, arguably the most famous art in the world, was sculpted by Michelangelo when he was 26. It was sculpted for the top of the cathedral, but the board on whom da Vinci himself was on, saw the magnificence of it, and put it in the city square instead.

Michelangelo spent three years of his life helping david emerge from a hunk of marble everyone thought useless. It was completed in 1504. the marble was something that had been sitting in the yard for years, multiple peoples thrown away project. To draw this out of the stone, it took precise blows of a hammer as one wrong hit could crack it. The marble was unwanted, which adds to the awe of the most wanted work in the world. Supposeddly Michelangelo believed there was soomene in each piece of marble that needed to be let out. I’m glad he rescued this one.

The head, shoulders, neck, and arms were all proportionally made bigger for the post it would stand 150’ above the ground on the cathedral wall. This makes the piece even more dramatic. The leather sling is slung around the back. The sculptor believed strength was not in the sling, but in David's focus, which shows in how he portrays the face. the pupils in his eyes are heart shaped, adding depth.

It became a symbol for Venice, they saw themselves like David, fighting against they're bigger enemies. It now has taken and will continue to take a place in people’s hearts for centuries. I myself sat and looked at it for 45 min. while my phone charged. Something I will never forget.

One of the first pianos ever made. It was made for the noble Medeci family courts. No one had ever made something that made noise by hammering strings. I’d say it became a hit.

Some of the first Stradivari violins ever made, known as the best in the world. No one has yet been able to replicate the sound they make, giving them price values of over 10 million. Obviously these are worth at least double that. There is only 600 left in circulation and are still used in high up concerts even though they are hundreds of years old.

Thrift shopping in Florence was something else. Pretty much everything in the thrift stores was more than I usually pay for new clothes. One thrift store was selling used Gucci suitcases. Since it was off season a lot of stores were 50 percent off which didn’t help our spending problem.

We have all agreed that Florence has been the favorite stop so far.

We then hit the road again. Next stop ferry, Destination Croatia.

This ferry is taking across the pond while we sleep. Or, better said, attempt to sleep. Closest thing I’ll ever get to being on a cruise.

Lights of Ancona, Italy, telling us they wish we would have stayed longer.

Split, Croatia at 7 in the morning. We hit a little cafe and then look at the original palace the emperor built in 300 AD. This city is unique in that these aren’t roman ruins, but centuries old walls that have been integrated slowly over time into the homes that stand today. Meaning that some houses people live in today have walls built by the romans over 1,700 years ago. This was the emperor’s courtyard, one ironic fact about him is that he persecuted Christians, but then his tomb was later made into a church. This island and fortress were his retirement project after he stepped down from power.

One of the 6 Sphynx cats he brought over from Egypt, which are probably now about twice as old as the palace itself.

Then we end up sleeping until our ferry to the island of Hvar at 2. Our crazy schedule catching up with us. The boys in the car, and I in a spot with a good shade tree and view. A coat on the grassy ground, my neck pillow on the rocks.

Hvar, one of the many islands around split, but the only one we have time for sadly. It was built as the roman military naval base because of its premium location for a harbor.

Calamari for supper.