My Favorite Statue of All Time (And I Have Now Seen Enough to Compare!)

After the whirlwind tour of Salzburg, we hopped on a train to Venice. We arrived late at night in a shady part of town, searching for our Hotel Centrale, which contrary to its name was not central at all. We all had this beautiful picture of Venice in our head, especially Danielle since this was her main place, but it resembled inner-city Chicago more than it did Italy. We finally found our hotel, which had large beds and a fairly decent bathroom. The next day we took a bus to the picturesque part of Venice, the Venice we see on postcards and love. The only problem was that it POURED all day long. Poor Danielle still had a super attitude and exclaimed, "It's just how I pictured it! I love it!" The whole time she was still taking pictures underneath her umbrella. Haydn, before we left, gave me her raincoat just in case-- and it was a good thing! My pants and purse were soaked. Despite the freezing state I was in, I still enjoyed the sights and sounds of Venice. The boats and water taxis were so neat and everything you would normally see happening on land must work itself out via water. We saw water police, garbage men loading the town's garbage on boats and other cool sights. The bridges are elaborate and neat, my favorite being the famous Rialto bridge. When we were on a boat to see the Rialto bridge, this lady shoved Alana and broke her camera. We were so mad! Alana ended up buying a new camera in Rome. After our short tour of Venice, we got on a train to Rome. With there being 5 of us, we take turns being the oddball out when it comes to seating. This was my turn. I sat by a Japanese man with long fingernails who was eating a strange, stinky meat. It took all I had in me not to gag as he would reach his nails in, grab the meat and stick it in his mouth.

When we finally arrived, we ran errands and got reservations for our short trip into Florence the following day. Our stomachs growling, we followed the golden arches and had a taste of America. (A taste that we would find almost everywhere..I won't be able to eat McDonald's for quite some time now..) On the bus to our camping site, we luckily met an Australian couple who overheard us talking about where we were staying. They leaned over and told us they were staying there and that we should follow them. I can't tell you how many times we were blessed by God to find people like this-- or atleast have little things that guided our way. We followed them to the campsite, which was really nice. The staff was so helpful and sweet! We decided to upgrade to a bungalow because it was supposed to rain that night, but the price wasn't that much more than a tent. We stayed in this trailer park-like community with neighbors on all sides. It was fun and the beds were great! We woke up early the next morning to head to Florence to see the statue of the David. We waited for 3 hours in line, in the rain to see him. There were times when I wanted to give up. "It's just a statue!" I would tell myself. Something in me kept me in that line.

When we finally walked in the museum, I began to fumble with a map expecting to have to search for this little David statue somewhere amidst all the others. It was then that I looked up and *Ahhhhhhhh* (imagine me saying this with arms open wide as if I have seen something descend from the heavens)-- there he was. He was the highlight of the room. There is no way you could have missed him! His platform alone was as tall as me and he stood a good 8 feet or more above that! He is truly the ideal male form. Every muscle (there are some I now know exist that I need to get workin' on!) is in place and even the veins that run through his arms are showing. He has an Adam's apple, a clavicle and even his neck is realistic! For some reason, I am fascinated by hands-- I feel like they are such a display of strength, power and where you've been. His hands were so detailed and were the windows to appreciating the rest of him. He is the only statue I have ever seen that has spectator seating behind him. On a scale from 1 to 10, I don't know how wrong it is for 5 girls to sit on a bench and stare at a statue's tush for long periods of time, but put us on that list. Guilty as charged! His face is so serene, his hair so free-- he is truly at peace in whatever state he is in. I overheard a tour guide telling her group that Michaelangelo started on this when he was 17 and worked on it "in his spare time" until he was 21. IN HIS SPARE TIME?? I could spend every minute of every day for the rest of my life working on a piece of stone and never make it look as magnificent as what he created. Wow. I just wrote like a doctoral dissertation on a statue. If the whole Sound of Music obsession doesn't sign me up for the loony bin, I think this does it.

Stay tuned for tales of Rome, one of my favorite places!!