Art. And then some more art.

Today was another busy day of art-viewing. It is perhaps at this point in the trip that many of you are happy not to actually be here with me. The other people in the hostel are completely dismayed at the amount of time I spend in museums -- but I'm breaking things up with two gelato stops a day, so it is the perfect week, in my opinion. This morning I went to the Palazzo Davanzati, a house-museum that has been closed to the public since 1995 (except for their ground floor, which is open on Fridays). Palazzo Davanzati happens to hold five works by Scheggia and so they were kind enough to let me in anyway. It is always so humbling and wonderful to be in a room by yourself with a work you admire, with no milling crowds to bump you or look at you - and the guards always seem almost flattered that you'd go through the effort to view their inaccessible collection. It was a great morning. I finished the day doing more Scheggia research and then headed to the Cathedral museum, where they have sculptures by Donatello and Michelangelo, as well as the original panels from the Gates of Paradise. AMAZING. After all that art, my feet hurt, but I still climbed the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sun set over Florence. Unfortunately, I sat in melted ice cream or spilled soda or something, and also got hit on by a very scruffy looking young man. These incidents nearly ruined the lovely, romantic view. But Kerri bequeathed me sink-size packets of Tide before she went home, so now I'm clean and tired and happy and looking forward to more time, and more art, in Florence. I took decent photos of the view, I hope to add them tomorrow!

PS -- It was SO HOT in India that my GLASSES MELTED. I went to the optometrist because the lenses fell out of my frames. He asked me if I'd left them on a stove or on the dashboard in the sun. When I explained that they were safely in my bag, in a case, for four weeks, but that I'd been in India, he said, "How hot WAS it?" I am super-impressed with myself for not melting or dying in the heat. You can choose to be impressed or not, at your discretion.