travelingidahogirl

Uffizi (Florence 2)

After checking into our hotel, we went to find a place to eat. Just in that short walk, we heard more English spoken than anywhere else we’ve been on the Italian economy. Clearly, Florence is a tourist destination. Hubby was even stopped by a fellow Oregonian (“Is that an Oregon hat?”).

Lunch was delicious, even though we sent the pizza back the first time because the sausage barely looked cooked. When another one came out with just as raw meat, we just decided that it must be ok, and ate it. It was yummy and no sickness followed.

As we left the restaurant, Hubby and I concluded that the parking debacle was done and over, and we were going to have a great time. We also complimented ourselves on our decision to have a bottle of wine with lunch.

Originally, I had hoped to visit one place, maybe either the Duomo or the Science Museum before our reserved 3:15 time for the Uffizi, but we didn’t want to feel rushed and so we thought we’d just leisurely stroll towards the Arno River and the museum. I did want to take a good look at the Baptistry doors and Hubby did snap a few photos, but I could not enjoy them like I wanted to because it was too darn cold!

I didn’t want to stand still long enough to appreciate each panel. Thinking back, I should have endured it because there wasn’t a large crowd there, which will probably not be the case when I return in warmer weather. At the time, I thought we could come back to the doors in the morning.

Once we started walking down the narrow streets, with the buildings on both sides, the cold wasn’t as bad (less wind). We wondered through some market stalls (Florence is especially known for their leather, so lots of jackets, belts, and purses), and stopped for a carousel ride for T in the Piazza della Republica.

We walked to the Piazza della Signoria, in front of Palazzo Vecchio, where the replica of Michelangelo’s David statue is, but it was either covered or removed for some reason. This was disappointing because we d

idn’t have plans to visit the Accadamia, where the original is now at. Still, the place is not lacking in sculpture, including some quite gruesome pieces. (Check out Cellini’s Perseus with bodily innards still dripping from Medussa’s head.) T of course wanted to know why everyone had their penises out (see Neptune fountain as example), and I just explained that was part of being naked. We likely would have wondered around this square more, but, again, with nothing to block the wind, it was too cold (I KNOW—I’m from Idaho; I should be tougher. But I may have lived in the South too long. Plus, I didn’t particularly care for being cold in Idaho either.)

Once we left the square, we started coming upon some strange street art. The chalk “painting” was pretty impressive (don’t know the piece they’re copying), but the moveable statues were something new to me. For coins, they would slowly change their pose. Weird, but fun. Later, when I told T we were going to look at some statues, he was excited. Cool, I thought. But then when we were in the museum, looking at statues, he kept insisting they were NOT statues—he wanted to see the OUTSIDE statues. I couldn’t figure out where he got the notion that sculpture could only be an outdoor thing. It wasn’t until we got home and were looking at our pictures that I realized he wanted to see the MOVEABLE statues, that were—outside.

It wasn’t until I had looked at about four niche statues of famous Florentines (Dante, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo) that I realized we were in the Uffizi courtyard. After seeing the long line of people waiting to buy tickets, I was grateful for Rick Steves’ suggestion that you ask the hotel to make museum reservations.

The Uffizi is considered the best collection of Renaissance art in the world. I won’t try to even begin to list the paintings. There is a lot to take in, but I didn’t feel like it was overcrowded (I was pushing T in the stroller and had no problems, except getting close to some of the most famous pieces). Still, compared to say, the National Museum of Art or The Chicago Art Institute, I felt that Uffizi was more manageable—in other words, I wasn’t completely burned out by the time I reached the end. Of course, I also didn’t try to focus on every piece. The museum is shaped like a large U. A corridor goes all the way around and then there are rooms off to one side of the corridor. There are statues all through the corridors, but we just focused on the rooms. Hubby listened to the Rick Steves podcast guide—and I listened to a few chapters after T fell asleep. I think a guide is really a necessary thing—Hubby enjoyed having it (even though Rick Steves can’t help being cheesy at times). Pictures in the museum are not allowed, so here are some of the more famous pieces in gift-shop-magnet form.

posted by travelingidahogirl @ 4:25 PM 0 Comments