Day 44: "FOUR"

Last day in Florence...sad story. Had the option to check out the Medici tombs by Michelangelo and I jumped on that like white on rice... 200' high ceilings with amazing stone floor inlays of jasper, quartz, lapis lazuli, alabaster, coral and mother of pearl. Absolutely beautiful tombs with even more intricate semi-precious stone designs. The Medici's were pretty much a big deal to, basically, afford their own indoor cemetery with frescoed ceilings and marble walls. I'll be lucky if my sister rubber cements river rock to a cardboard refrigerator box when I die ... hopefully people won't think my name was "This Side Up." Mikey designed the entire room and although he wasn't able to finish the sculptures that lay atop the tombs, the symbolism is more than prevalent.  Four the synonymous number concerning symbolism, particularly in Greek Mythology... the 4 seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) with supporters (Dusk, Dawn, Evening, Day), the 4 temperaments (Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Melancholy, Cruelty), the 4 elements (Earth, Water, Fire, Air) also with supporters (Hot, Warm, Dry, Cold)... Captain Planet would go nuts in this place! This might get confusing so brace yourselves... basically the sculptures represented one of each of the 4 i.e. "Dawn" the virgin sanguinely peers at her reflection in a pool below her... anyway, it was fun to figure out what the statues represented.

We met up with some of the slackers and a chunk of us were privileged enough to get a private tour through Palazzo Vecchio, the Medici's palace. Our tour guide "Elizabeta" rocked our world... I felt like I was in a Dan Brown book, climbing through all of the secret staircases leading to ridiculous studios and treasure chests, hearing about the controversies and mysteries. One was literally the shape of a treasure chest, with paintings mounted on secret doors that lining the walls. Whatever scene was depicted on the door, indicated what lay inside... some contained shelves to hold worldly treasures such as jewels, books, maps, Michelangelo's petrified feces... and others led through narrow hallways and rooms. The paintings provided exquisite Mythological scenes with each wall dedicated to an Element; Water- Venus, Apollo- Fire, etc.  The entire palace was truly unbelievable... the architecture, sculptures, wallpaper frescos, marble floors, wood carved ceilings... it sounds like I'm seeing a lot of the same thing in all of these places, but this most definitely stood out.

Jesse, Becca and I were in the mood for pizza, so we found The Yellow Bar and I ordered my standard veggie pie... and to celebrate our last day, we thought it was a good idea (why I don't know) to each order dessert and share... tiramisu- mediocre at best, chocolate cake- nothing to write home about (even though I am), but the cream filled creme with dark chocolate and berries- Holy Yum. We took turns rolling each other back to the hotel for our final Italian lesson... I had to tape my eyelids open.

After some chill out time, I rallied some troops for dinner at a highly recommended place called 4 Leoni (4 Lions- sticking with the theme of the day, I thought it was fitting.) 11 of us found ourselves in good spirits and totally entertained by "Daniel" our cute waiter that I kept calling Dennis... short term memory loss. I made him sit next to me and go through the whole menu for the group... don't want anyone accidentally ordering cow stomach! He greeted us with a bottle of prosecco and we enjoyed amazing food. We are all sharers... sharing is caring... some of the girls got tortellini stuffed with pears and asparagus, with a white sauce... Ta'Die! I anted up and took a chance with brains. And heart. Cow brains and heart. Won't know 'til you try, right? Pleasantly surprised... the texture was rubbery chicken, cooked in a red wine bouillabaisse-y, extremely rich sauce... kind of tasted like you'd think brains would taste like (whatever that means). "Dennis" brought us a dessert on the house... some sort of cream, chocolaty, cakey goodness... so much dessert today... I never ate dessert before I came to Europe, ha.

On the way back to the hotel, Kate, Becca, Jesse and I turned a corner and heard Phil Collins singing... but it wasn't Phil Collins, it was a guy that sits in front of the Uffizi with his guitar, belting it. We were his only fans for about 5 minutes until hordes of people flocked once we started making making requests and were invited up to be his back up singers... we pooled 10 Euros for his CD... not bad for covering 90's alternative rock. We pre-gamed back at the hotel with "The Harv" and headed to Club 21 to dance the night away... except they weren't open yet, so "Harvinator" (that's a group consensus nickname) took us to a fun pub with artwork all over the walls and pony kegs with pillows on them for seats. We sat around and talked about art. Literally. It refreshing to be able to strike up a conversation about something that interests me and have someone else be just as interested in discussing it (sounds like the perfect man). "Harvinator" said we are the only group that really takes the art outside of the walls... until we get to the discotecca and dance our faces off... It's a good thing I've been classically trained in booty shaking because Jesine and I, the lone rangers, looked at each other at 3 a.m. and decided it was time to go. I hadn't even fed Luigi yet... makes me yawn just thinking about get up early to catch the bus to Roma tomorrow...

I just realized this is Day 44... hmmm, ironic. Wonderful city Florence is... definitely some memorable experiences.... ciao ciao!