We are not in Berlin anymore

On 22/9/11 we started our day super early to go see il Duomo! The church is officially called Santa Maria del Fiore but everyone just calls it the Duomo. It is actually the third largest church in the world behind St. Peters and St. Pauls. Last time I was in Firenze I didn't actually go up to the top, I just stared in awe! So I was super excited this time. While waiting for the dome to open Ashley walked over and got us some croissants and she got her expresso. Then with only about 10 people in front of us, they opened the doors and we climbed the four hundred and something stairs! At first we just thought that we were going up to the edge of the dome to view the inside of the church and look up at the paintings, but we soon realized you kept going! We were so excited! Some of those stairs are so steep and the climb is not for the feign-hearted, but it is so worth it! Part of the time you realize that you are climbing alongside the dome itself! Brunelleschi's brilliance is unbelievable and the view is incredible once you get to the top. Luckily since it was so early there was hardly anyone up there and it was cool. Imagine climbing those stairs in the heat! People were so friendly and everyone got wonderful pictures. After 15 or so minutes we soon lost the peace as hordes of people made their way up. We decided to start heading down but until you get to a certain point there isn't a separate exit so another couple and us had an interesting time running down the stairs during a gap and then moving to the side haha. Once we got down, we went over to the baptistry and took pictures with the door. It's so amazing! Then we headed over to the Academia Galleria to the David! I also had never seen Michelangelo's real work, only the two copies in the city. The gallery was designed for it and besides the Rape of the Sabine Woman there was just some Florentine art and unfinished Michelangelo statues. Everyone pretty much just stares at the statue until their neck aches. Luckily when we went to the museum it was still early so our line was pretty short. I love the way Michelangelo captured his eyes and how you can see the human in David, like his veins! So incredible. We went for a dinner that night in front of the Duomo! It was great, I had the best lasagna ever! Ashley got the smallest beer for 4 euros! Hence we are not in Berlin anymore. Our waiter also told me that my name is Italian which makes sense because Maris is Latin for "of the sea". However this waiter and the owner told us we should come back for drinks "on the house" at ten. Naturally we did not take them up on their offer.. Haha Ashley and I have had interesting experiences this trip. We went back to our hostel and were able to skype with our parents before we passes out from exhaustion.