Day 5 - July 6

The Straw Market - Loggia del Mercato Nuovo or also known as Loggia del Porcellino was one of the first places that Sheena and I found.  It is a market area that has been around since the 16th century.  It was an area where straw was bought and turned into products like hats.  The merchant guild of the time had it made and were going to have statues in each side of the columns, but only three statues got made.  One of the notable features of the market is the Fontana del Porcellino (Fountain of the Pig).  It is a bronze statue of a pig (actually it’s a replica of the original which is in the Museo Stefano Bardini).  If you rub its nose, it is meant to bring you good luck.
So we thought that Rome was a bit of a maze, but it is nothing compared to Florence.  The streets are narrow and full of people.  You will be walking in this narrow street and moving around a street artist, when all of a sudden the street will open into a piazza with a replica of David. So the actual statue of David is in the Galleria Dell’Accademia, but there is a replica of it in front of Palazzo Vecchio.
The last picture for this post is just a night shot down the street from our hotel.  Our hotel is right in front of the Duomo – the large dome cathedral you see in all the pictures of Florence.