Florence - on a couple of hundred Euros a day

"Architecture" sculpture

Jason with the Golden fleece

Stewart was feeling ill when we woke up this morning, so I went to the Bargello Museum without him, after purchasing anti-nausea medicine and some Vicks - for about 20.00 Euro! I enjoyed the Bargello very much - there were lots of statues from well known sculptors such as Donatello and Michelangelo.  There was an awful lot of vanquishing - images of muscular men and women wrenching their opponent into impossible poses and chaining them up or bashing them on the head.  Bacchus was another favourite.  I am always interested in the relative sizes of hands and feet compared to the body size, because my impression is that they are usually not in proportion to the body (too large).  I read today that in the case of  Michelangelo's David, the right hand is intentionally oversized, to represent the hand of God as David slew Goliath.  In general, however, I wonder if there is a rule of proportion that sculptors use for emphasis of the hands and feet.

Small fountain in the courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio

After getting lost again (I thought I knew which street I had come out on exiting the museum - apparently not), I came back to the hotel to eat lunch with Stewart.  He was feeling well enough to try to see the science museum, which has a collection of old clocks and various scientific equipment from Galileo's time, right through to the 18th century.  We could have gone through the museum faster if we had run, but not by much.  Stewart dragged me through at an accelerated pace - there was little interactivity (except at the end) and he wasn't as impressed as he had been with the da Vinci exhibit.  We then took a look at the Duomo museum and the Palazzo Vecchio.  Stewart allowed me to go a bit slower, but he was getting tired and thirsty after the first half hour or so.
Coming out of the Duomo museum, we tried to find a slushie type drink, and when we did, we ordered two large, without checking the price - bad mistake.  Two large frozen lemonades, smaller than a regular sized McDonald's drink, cost us 10.00 Euros.  I was not impressed.  We check all prices first, from now on!

Views from balcony of Palazzo Vecchio