HEY BIG GUY! OUR MEETING WITH DAVE

It would be criminal to even think about going to Florence without spending some quality time with the most famous statue in the world: "David" by Michelangelo.

Once again, we had the foresight to book our tickets in advance and were able cut way ahead of the poor saps who chose to spend hours in the rain waiting outside the Galleria dell'Accademia for the chance to see this bona fide masterpiece.

Once inside we were again greeted with a sign whose message was growing all too familiar:


I'm not sure why the museum wants to discourage photos of this fantastic work of art. I can understand not wanting to use flash in front of a painting that's hundreds of years old, but this is a sculpture and one that survived the elements outside for over three hundred years! It can't be for commercial reasons either, because there have to be millions of pictures of "David" in the world (they even sell underwear on the Florence streets with Dave's privates emblazoned on the front). I just don't get it. People come here to see this statue and they want their own personal picture of it. It's very simple. I personally had waited most of my conscious life for this moment and was not going to let it slip away unrecorded.

So I was determined to take some shots and it was really very easy. Since EVERYONE else wanted to do the same thing, I just waited for them to start snapping away and when they got yelled at by the limited security staff I would proceed to take my own pictures.

Despite how familiar you think you may be with this statue, you really haven't experienced it until you see it in person. The copies I've seen in Japan and at the Piazza just don't do it justice. It truly is a breathtaking experience and we spent over 45 minutes looking at it over and over.

For me, the magic of this statue is how one extraordinarily talented creative genius was able to take one huge, cold, solid piece of marble and transform it into something that seems so alive.


No matter what angle you are looking at it, "David" (all 17 feet of him) seems alive and ready to jump off of his pedestal. You can almost see the blood coursing through his veins. I am not being over-dramatic about this either. It is truly incredible.

Even more amazing when you consider it is that this statue is over 500 years old! What kind of tools did Michelangelo have at his disposal way back then to create the ultimate testament to strength and human beauty? I'm sure I can read about that somewhere, but just to consider that question boggles the mind. The world has seen many creative geniuses over history, but Michelangelo has to rank up there with the best of them.

There were many other amazing works of art at the Galleria (including more statues by Michelangelo, several of them unfinished) and they were all worthwhile to see, but nothing measured up to the experience of seeing "David" in person.