Italia: land of pasta, gelato, and David

The latest addition to my non-stop itinerary of travelling was a wonderful 5 day trip to Italy.  It truly was love at first sight as I flew over the Italian alps descending into the Milano airport.  Beautiful snow capped mountains surrounded us and the sun was shining (currently a rare phenomenon in Prague).  Upon arriving in the city center, our first stop was, of course, pizza, of which there was much to come.  The center of Milan is very upscale with gorgeous buildings ornately covered and more designer labels than one can count.  The city was a lot larger than I had imagined and finding our bearings was slightly difficult.  But, we were able to oggle at the main church and soak up the class.  The next day we toured San Siro, the local football (soccer) stadium where AC Milan and Inter Milan play.  I could feel the intensity of Italians jeering at each other rampantly.  We got to visit the locker rooms and sit in the chair where David Beckham once laced up his cleats.  He, by the way, is coincidentally not the David the title refers to.  Next was a visit to a museum all about Michelangelo and his inventions.  Quite an intellectual, that one was.  Then, it was off to Florence!  We stayed right near the duomo, possibly the largest and in many ways most magnificent church I've ever seen.  Then it was pasta, vino, gelato, and more pasta.  We went to visit the David (yes, the one the title refers to). Having seen a number of pictures of this monumental statue, I thought it would be just another statue among a long line I have seen thus far during my travels.  But David was far and away the most impressive statue of them all.  Each of us stood under it somewhat bewildered by its presence.  Touche, Michelangelo, touche.  With this, we headed over the river on the famous ponte vechio to the other side of the city.  With no metro station and sort of limited public transportation, we were able to walk a good deal of the city and see things off the beaten path.  We hiked up a hill dubbed Michelangelo Hill and were able to see the entire city of Florence and surrounding bits of Tuscany.  It was absolutely amazing...note to self: someday when I'm rich, buy a house in the hills of Tuscany.  We were quite surprised by the number of Americans we met in Florence, especially around our age.  It was a pleasant surprise to hear English again, but made me thankful for the true immersion we get in Prague.  Quite the successful trip of sightseeing, wandering, eating, and taking in the gorgeous Italian culture.