The Accademia began as a guild for the working artists of Florence, and also a boy’s club for the superstar artists of Cosimo I de’Medici’s court.

Members included ninja turtle Michelangelo Buonarotti, who sculpted the Accademia’s claim to fame David, and they even let a girl join in the talented Artemesia Gentileschi.

The Medicis were a political and financial powerhouse in Italy and basically ran the whole show. As such, they paid artists to paint religious stuff for the churches they built (so many Jesuses), and flattering portraits of nobles lucky enough to be born or marry into the fam.  Cosimo I became the Duke of Florence, and later the even more pretentious sounding Grand Duke of Tuscany, when he was only 17. He was a major patron for the arts and is responsible for the creation of the Uffizi, which started out as a boring office but now holds the Medicis' killer art collection, with perennial favorites like Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.

This place is pretty well known for having an insanely long line. If you show up on a crowded summer day, it literally wraps around the huge building. While you can bide your time people watching and getting hassled to buy tourist trinkets you don’t want, it’s better to reserve your ticket online beforehand, even though it’s a bit more expensive. 

Most people only go to see our friend David, so there’s often a mob around the partitions that rope off the base of the statue. Luckily, it’s freaking huge, so you can get a good look no matter where in the dome-ceilinged room you stand. After waiting in the hot sun, the cool marble hall he resides in seems especially beautiful. There’s some choice Botticelli paintings to see, and they come as a nice surprise after roaming through endless hallways of paintings of Jesus.  You should plan ahead to do a “best of” tour if hours of studying the crucifixion doesn't float your boat. (My mom and I got so desperate for entertainment we began comparing and contrasting Jesus toes.)

Afterwards, treat yourself to an espresso and gelato at any of the delicious, if gouge-y cafés that line the city’s scenic streets. Molto bene.