Climbing the Duomo

Today was our main full day to complete many of the main activities in Florence. First on the agenda was to visit the Florence Duomo. We started by walking around 30 minutes to the main area where the Duomo is as well as surrounding attractions. When we arrived, we sat down close by to eat some breakfast. I had a pistachio-filled croissant and a cappuccino. We then took some photos outside before climbing the dome of the Duomo. The climb was quite tiring, consisting of around 500 steps, but it was interesting walking up the steps and imagining the many others in history who had walked this path. Personally, I found there was not much information on the history of this location, but the architecture and views of Florence at the top made this activity worthwhile for me.

Nearby Monuments and Panini Lunch

After completing the climb, we viewed some of the other nearby monuments such as the museum and the smaller dome. After that, we had a panini for lunch that was delicious. We were able to taste-test different cheeses and salami to construct a sandwich that met our tastes. The result for me was a panini with local salami, cheese, eggplant, peppers, and rocket, completed with an Aperol spritz.

After this, we also visited one of the wine windows for a glass of wine and looked around the nearby leather markets where I bought a new leather belt.

Accademia Gallery (Statue of David)

Later in the day, we visited the Accademia Gallery, which is home to the famous Statue of David. Personally, I am not too knowledgeable on Renaissance history, however the audio tour of the gallery was quite interesting – and I could appreciate the side of the statue and the effort that Michaelangelo went to carve a statue that features quite accurate proportions of muscles on the human body. I was quite surprised at how big and well-polished the statue of David was. Something else that was interesting to me in the gallery was the ancient instruments as well as what is thought to be the first-ever piano.