Day 15 - Florence

Following sage advice, we pre-purchased tickets to the Uffizi Gallery to avoid lines. It appears several people were given that advice; the line for pre-purchased tickets was the longest. It moved quickly, but there were a number of hurdles -- one place to pick up tickets, one place to check vaccinations, one to take our tickets, and one to check our temperatures. Then there was the hike up the stairs to get to the top floor, where the experience started. It was three flights, but they had enormous rooms so we were walking over 20 feet per flight. 

After I regained normal breathing, we started in a hall of marble carvings. Nearly every one was a case of mistaken identity. Scholars thought it was someone for centuries, then they realized it was someone else. The vast majority of busts of people were like that. Basically the only ones they got right were Julius Caesar and any mythical figures. My favorite case of mistaken identity was the bust of "Socrates." They even etched his name in the side. It is actually just some random guy. I wonder how many ancient people stopped this guy and said, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Socrates?"

The Uffizi has a dizzying array of classical artwork. Renaissance, Baroque, other styles I should remember from art history, but don't. We saw all of the highlights in the museum and then some we saw works by DaVinci, Rafael, and Botticelli. I learned I am a fan of the works of Filippo Lippi, often finding myself drawn to his work. We both found ourselves drawn to a name, Boccaccio Boccaccino. What a joyfully alliterative name! We liked the painting as well. The sign said it's sentimental overtones were "typical of the Boccaccinesque style." Boccaccinesque might be my favorite word.

The whole collection was basically owned by one family, the Medici family. They were obscenely powerful in Florence centuries ago and their name is still everywhere. The vast majority of the collection was religious, as art of that time often was. There was a hall with portraits of the Medici family. My favorite was baby Giovanni who posed while smothering a bird.

And there isn't a dull ceiling in Florence. Every room had interest, be it bedazzled or a more "traditional" fresco, they were as interesting as the pieces at eye level.

There was so much to take in, and we left exhausted. Lunch was next. We had seen a video of amazing panini in Florence, then Anna also recommended the same place, so we had to go. We waited in a little line at All'Antica Vinaio, but it was worth it. Tony got The Boss (prosciutto, pecorino cheese, and truffle sauce). I got L'Inferno (porchetta, arugula, and a spicy sauce). These may have been the best sandwiches we have ever eaten. We sat on the ledge around the Uffizi and tried to shoo away the pigeons. We were able to finish only half because, in addition to their perfection, they were extremely large.

Rested and fed, we made our way to the Duomo. Unlike the Uffizi, we did not buy tickets in advance and the line stretched around a large part of the sizable building. I don't have a comparison of it's size. It is so massive, there is no way to get all of it in one picture. It would easily take up a full city block. We walked around and admired it from the outside. I also had my first, I can't believe I am going to say this, bad gelato. It might have been because Tony didn't join me in the partaking.

At this point, our legs were jelly from all of the walking. We went back to our hotel, worked on the blog, and I might have napped a wee bit. I love vacation. We then enjoyed a bottle of Lambrusco on our balcony overlooking the Arno river. Not too shabby. The hotel had a champagne sabering event, every night at 7, so we checked that out and headed to Buca Lapi for dinner. Buca means cellar, so we headed downstairs to a barrel shaped room. The ceiling was covered with travel posters pasted all over each other like wallpaper. They were advertising places from all over the world and represented styles from the 60s through the 90s. There was not an open spot on the ceiling. The lamps at each table had paper shades where people staked their claims to a date and time. This place had character. 

I really enjoyed my meal, spinach and garbanzo bean soup and veal meatballs, but Tony thought the ribollita was not as good as the others and he was disappointed with his wild boar ragu on tagliatelle. Ambling through a piazza, we followed the sound of live music and stumbled upon an accordion player who was attached to an amp. He played old and new songs, but we finally pulled ourselves away. As a consolation prize for Tony's dinner, we sought out gelato. Now, I know this is going to be unbelievable, but we had a second gelato in a day that wasn't good. We didn't even finish it. We strolled back to the hotel and contemplated how painfully short our time in Florence has been.