We began by finding our way to our hostel, where we woke the hostel owner (it was only 6:30am). In a daze, he accepted out payment, and issued us our keys, but we could not check in yet, as the previous night’s occupants had yet to check out (it was morning!). Our hostel here in this city was a small place with only 4 rooms – really cosy.

Again, breakfast was at MacDonalds’. Here, we had breakfast, and planned our route for the rest of the day. It was also here that we observed that Italian people are very fierce-looking. Frightening!

Being in the birthplace of the Renaissance, how was it that we not visit some art galleries? Our first stop of the day, arriving in the queue before it even opened, was the Accademia. (Admission was free on this day as it happened to be the European Cultural Week! Lucky us!)

This famous gallery houses the most famous work of Michelangelo, the colossus statue of David. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the museum for reasons related to copyright. In any case, the picture of David cannot be uploaded onto photobucket.com (they deem it an obscenity). So, look for a picture of it online yourself!

The statue of David shows the young biblical Israelite king in the moment when he decides to fight the giant Goliath. When Michelangelo finished this work, it very quickly became a popular icon for the city of Florence, a small city state surrounded by several big-bully cities. David has an enlarged right arm, representing the hand of god by which he defeats Goliath. David, ike a Renaissance statue of liberty, represents humankind finally stepping out of medieval darkness and declaring, “I can do it”.

It is also interesting to note that in a human sense, the statue is not proportionately accurate, as it has arms and a head too big for the body. But, it is said that as the work was meant to be place on an altar, when viewed from below, it would look proportionate.

Also in this gallery, was Michelangelo’s unfinished Prisoners, meant for the tomb of Pope Julius II, today only remembered for his oversized ego.

After finishing viewing Michelangelo’s David and Prisoners, as well as the rest of the very fine collection of Renaissance art, we were ready for our next stop – a marvel of Renaissance architecture.

The dome of the Basilica Santa Maria del Fiori (a.k.a. Duomo) of Florence was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 1400s, and when built, became the largest dome in the world, and a architectural marvel. It would only be surpassed a hundred and fifty years later by Michelangelo’s dome in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican city. Today, it is the third largest Dome on the world, St Paul’s in London being number two.

Back across the river, we indulged ourselves in the famous Italian ice-cream – gelato. It was here in Florence that gelato was invented, and it is also here, where you can find the best gelato in the world!

At this point, the group split, with Daryl, Chun Yang, and Marcus going to the Uffizi Gallery, said to house the world’s best collection of Renaissance art.

Again, as it was the European Cultural Week, admission was free, and we only had to pay for the reservation (€3) which Daryl had made months beforehand and allowed us to skip the long queues.

Hak Liang, Alwyn, and Derrick, on the other hand, went exploring the rest of Florence, as well as try to find shop to fix Alwyn’s damaged camera. He ended up buying a new one…