Firenze

On Monday of break, we went to Firenze (aka Florence). Upon arriving, we were attacked by frigid cold. Seriously, it was almost at an Ithaca level of temperatures for that time of year. So, I guess you can say our day started out less than spectacularly. After purchasing a map we made our way to the Piazza del Duomo (Church Plaza) and saw Firenze's absolutely amazing Duomo. It was gorgeous and elaborate...the details on the outside (we didn't go in) were breathtaking.

Sadly, the placement of buildings in the Piazza made it all but impossible to get a shot of the entire thing. :(

After finding the Duomo, we wanted to see the David. We followed signs (and our map) to the Academia, and even had to stop once and have Casey ask directions. When we got to the door, we couldn't believe it. Apparently, the Academia is closed on, you guessed it, Mondays. Epic. Fail.

On the plus side, there was a replica (whether an old cast or a newly sculpted copy) of David in a piazza. He was a solid 2 and a half (or 3) times taller than me.

Being our cheerful selves, however, we brushed it off and found a market. It was really cool, although most of the stalls sold touristy things, and I loved it. I bought a sweatshirt and also a carnivale mask for myself. An hour or (or two... not sure!) we had exhausted the market and went in search of gelato, and found that Andrea does in fact have a sixth sense for finding food. Something just tells her to go a specific way, or go around a corner, and voila! there you find whatever you are looking for.

Anyway, we made our way across town, to Dante's house and the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), where we took in the gorgeous views of the river in the afternoon sun. Because of the cold, we decided to return to Perugia earlier than expected, and hung out in Francesca's flat until bedtime.

this one messed up a little, but you can still see most of it. 

the Ponte Vecchio