Florence and Siena

Last Tuesday (the one before yesterday) was a Cantonal holiday. The equivalent of a provincial holiday.
We took advantage of the long weekend by going to Florence and Siena.
Florence was just like all the other European cities that I've been talking about (with the necessary components to make it indeed "European"), so I won't get too much into that part of it. I will mention that for some reason, I was expecting the Duomo to look like the Duomo in Milan (gothic in style), but I was a little thrown off by the fact that this one was made out of red, green and white marble (symbolic colours). It reminded me of one of those 3-D puzzles.
I was disappointed in the lack of shopping that Florence had to offer, or should I say, the lack of affordable shopping it had. Does every Italian city have it's own Via Montenapoleone district?
The famed leather market was kind of fun. Bartering is definitely an art form, and it's interesting to see different people make their deals. True personalities really come out when haggling for the best possible price that you can (or are willing to) get. The people who are shy seemed to settle more, whereas the aggressive one either got amazing deals, or just didn't get anything at all. You know how alcohol sometimes brings out ones true character, I think the same can be said for bargaining. When bargaining, sometimes I get caught up in the moment, and then don't end up buying anything because I think that I'll be able to get a better deal elsewhere, or don't want to eat my words when I tell a vendor that "I won't buy it unless you give it to me for x amount." I hate eating my words. They never taste good. I was eyeing a fabulous "monk bag". I liked the pastel purple one (think Easter egg shade). The leather was SO soft. Mmmm...baby lamb...(animal activist, don't go all crazy on me, I just say it how it is.) I liked the suede one. I just didn't want to spend the money on it. I can always go back if I really change my mind. I'm sure it'll still be there.
Ponte Vecchio was crazy. The jewelry stores were too busy with bling. Since there was so much quantity that they wanted to display in their windows, everything just looked gaudy. My taste in bags shows that I enjoy a good amount of "gaud" every so often, but this was a little extreme even for me.
Speaking of gaudy things and jewelry, I did buy one silly thing this weekend. A gaudy pink bracelet. Unfortunately it's not in the same style as my belt and bag (that would be TOO much), but it's got big pink baubles on it. It was more expensive than I would have wanted to spend on such a juvenile looking piece, but it was in a little boutique, so I wanted to support the designers...and heck, I fell in love with it, so why do I need to justify it?
Meals were crazy. I was recently going over the pictures I took from the weekend, and I'm convinced, that my face is fatter than it is now. I didn't realise that food can go to your face that fast. I was shocked. Actually, disgusted. Still, the food was worth it (for the weekend). Lunches and dinners were 4+ courses long. Man alive that food was good. I can't even describe it. It was just FAN-tastic! I did reach my food tolerance limit on the last day though. I just wasn't hungry anymore. I don't know how the Italians do it.
I'd heard about how there's random body parts in different churches, and how you could see these random parts. On our day trip to Siena, I saw two. St. Catherine's head and one of her fingers. Apparently Catholics like to have something to pray to, and that's why they've got her finger and head in this one specific church. I think I would have been more interested in seeing them if they weren't covered in wax (the skin/colouring and such). Seeing bones would have made me like the authenticity of it more. Also, the display of her head was far enough away that I couldn't see the little details of her face (or it could just be that I'm pretty much legally blind). Oh well, it was an experience in itself. I'd never seen anything like it.
The statue of David was really impressive. It was a lot bigger than I expected it to be. I also liked "The Prisoners". All of Michelangelo's works blew me away. How such a hard material could be chiseled into such beautiful shapes. How someone could understand form and dimensions SO well that models weren't necessary. It's incredible. We did go to the Uffizi and see famous things in there, but that kind of art isn't really my style.
Oh, something that really surprised me was the amount of English speaking folks there. I truly do believe that I heard more English (sans British accents) in Florence than I did Italian. Not only did it thrown me off, but it was a little bit of a disappointment. I like being surrounded by the native language when traveling. Even if I don't understand what they're saying. It's just so much more authentic.