And so on day ten of my Italy trip our tour group assembled in front of our hotel, ready for a big morning of art. Since yesterday's holiday forced a change in plans, our visit to the Accademia Gallery got moved from the previous afternoon to later this morning. But first the plan was to visit the Uffizi Gallery, home to some of the most famous artwork in history. Two large galleries in one morning! I readied myself for an art marathon.
Our group reassembled in a huge courtyard in front of the Uffizi. We again split into two groups, and were introduced to our local guides, a handsome young man and an older woman. Our group was assigned the woman as our guide.
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Paintings of famous men
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Welcome to the Uffizi Gallery! I was surrounded by beautiful marble statues, breathtaking portraits, and intricately painted ceilings. It was a sensory overload - but in a good way.
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The ceilings were stunning!
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The Medici family was a powerful banking and political dynasty that ruled over Florence and Tuscany during the 14th through the 18th centuries. They sponsored many artists to produce great works of art and architecture, not for religious reasons, but for personal enjoyment. It is said this family was the catalyst for the Renaissance. Many famous paintings and sculptures were created during this period. The Uffizi Gallery was constructed between 1560 and 1580 per orders from Cosimo de' Medici, the first Gran Duque of Tuscany. This gallery became the place that displayed Medici artwork from the family's collection.
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Virgin and Child Enthroned, surrounded by angels (Rucellai Madonna)
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From past tours with this company, we'd always had excellent local guides. Sadly today's was a total dud. I discovered our local guide didn't speak English well. Not only that, her voice was a boring, monotone drone. At first I tried hard to understand what she was trying to explain to our group. But it didn't take long before I threw in the towel, and started roaming around, focusing on getting photographs of the amazing artwork displayed in this gallery.
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| Ognissanti Madonna, (left) Giotto |
Since I didn't get much out of our local guide, after some post-trip research I've been able to provide a concise description of the artwork I got to experience in the Uffizi Gallery. As an unexpected bonus, this legwork gave me a much deeper appreciation of everything I saw.
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St. Cecilia and stories from her life
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The first room our group entered displayed artwork produced pre-Renaissance, mostly before the 14th century. During these early times, art was nearly always religious in nature and created exclusively for the churches. Most paintings depicted Bible stories, Jesus, Virgin Mary, or the saints, to teach a holy message. Portraits were characterized by flat, stiff figures without realistic depth or shadows. Also, bright gold leaf backgrounds were commonly used to depict a holy place, and most important religious figures were portrayed with gold halos around their heads.
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Coronation of the Virgin, Monaco
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Photography was a bit of a challenge. Harsh overhead lights shining on the paintings created lots of glare, forcing me to position myself at an angle to avoid bright spots on my images. The other issue - lots and lots of people. Crowds were thick in this very popular attraction, and if you wanted a photo of a specific painting, you had to bully your way up to the front. (Our main guide suggested we use "polite elbows" to reach desired viewing positions.)
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| Closer details |
In this pre-Renaissance room, there were quite a few paintings depicting the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. Mary seemed to be a very important figure in the early church. It was interesting to see these paintings that were hundreds of years old, restored and on display. A few were inset into large, ornate, gold frames which I'm told acted as altarpieces for a church.
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| I couldn't find a title for this one, but liked it |
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| Adoration of the Magi, Fabriano |
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| No title, but very colorful |
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Love all the little details in the painting margins
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After spending a good amount of time looking at several pre-Renaissance paintings, our guide led us into another room displaying Renaissance art. The Renaissance was a cultural movement ("rebirth") in Europe, spanning the 14th to the 17th centuries, where artists rediscovered the classical Greek and Roman art. Italy takes credit for the origin of the Renaissance, with many naming Florence as the epicenter. Renaissance paintings differ in a few key areas - people are depicted as more human looking and less flat, subjects are not just religious figures, and light and shadows are included to show depth and perspective.
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Birth of Venus, by Botticelli
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Inside this room was one of the most famous Renaissance paintings, familiar to most people, even art-illiterate folks like myself - the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. I'd seen this painting in textbooks several times, but there was nothing like being in front of the real thing in person. I stared at its beautiful subject, Venus herself, and the realism was stunning. The mixture of different paint colors and strokes were also fascinating. A gorgeous masterpiece!
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| Lots of photos being taken of this painting! |
Of course a large crowd had gathered around Birth of Venus, nearly all of them holding cell phone cameras high to capture this great work of art. Feeling a bit more confident now, I expertly wormed my way through the horde until I was front and center with Venus. After snapping a few quick images, I beat a hasty retreat, allowing others to get their photographs.
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| Spring (or Primavera), by Botticelli |
On the wall opposite Birth of Venus, was another of Botticelli's famous paintings, this one called simply Spring (or Primavera in Italian.) This painting was one I wasn't aware of, and probably wouldn't have known its importance if our assistant guide hadn't told me. (No thanks to our local guide, I still hadn't the faintest idea what she was saying.)
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| The painting drew quite a crowd |
Like
Venus, this painting had also drawn a crowd, necessitating another round of "polite elbows" as I slunk through the crowd to get a photograph. This painting was just as stunning as
Venus - the colors, the details, the realism of the people. I especially liked the colorful flower petals scattered about the ground.
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| Hallway artwork |
After viewing two of Botticelli's greatest masterpieces, our group was led back into the main corridor. There appeared to be many other rooms, but we didn't go into any of them. One room had a long line of people waiting to get inside. I never did find out what was in there - our guide may have told us and I missed it.
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| Beautiful ceiling paintings |
The corridors in the Uffizi Gallery were beautiful. The ceilings were painted in colorful, intricate designs. Sculptures and more framed paintings lined the walls. So much to see!
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| Busy corridor |
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| People lining up to see something....? |
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| Ornately decorated room |
Down at the end of this corridor was a room with red walls full of paintings. Lovely marble columns divided the wall panels and the floor was an equally decorative pattern of many colored marble. Oh - and the ceiling was also beautifully painted.
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| Couldn't find the name of this painting, but liked the blue hues |
One of the many paintings that caught my eye was of a regal woman in a lovely blue dress. I never did find the title of this work, so I don't know who she was. But I love anything blue, and the hue of her dress was quite stunning.
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| Lots of detailed busts |
The walls were lined with a considerable amount of sculptures. Many of them were busts of just the head and shoulders, while others displayed an entire body. Nearly all of them were marble, and I marveled at the details the artists were able to carve out of such solid stone. They all looked so human!
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| Fantastic view of Brunelleschi's dome |
Another pleasant surprise - from the end of this corridor were a row of windows. Peering through them I was delighted to discover a grand view of Brunelleschi's dome.
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Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) over the Arno River
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Another window gave fantastic views of of the Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") over the nearby Arno River. Ponte Vecchio featured stone arches, a covered roof, and several brightly-colored small buildings hanging off its sides. This medieval stone bridge was built in 1345 and survived the destruction of World War II. In an effort to keep these undesirable, smelly businesses away from the city center, the closed span initially housed butcher shops. Later in 1593, commerce on the bridge changed over to jewelry and goldsmith shops, and it has been this way ever since. Although I had hoped to visit this bridge while I was in Florence, there wasn't enough time - so it's on my list for when I return.
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The Torment of Marsyas
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After walking the length of one corridor, our group turned the corner and continued down another, parallel corridor. At the beginning of this second hallway was a distinct reddish-colored marble sculpture. It depicted an ancient myth about a man named Marsyas who found a flute and challenged the music god Apollo to a competition. After being defeated, Marsyas learned his punishment was to be skinned alive. This sculpture depicted the man hanging by his wrists, awaiting his fate. Quite a gruesome subject!
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| Sculpture filled corridor |
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The Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Francesca
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From this second corridor, our guide directed us into a room with several paintings on display. The first were gold-framed portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. An important pair of paintings from the Renaissance, the subjects are shown in profile with very lifelike facial details. I thought it was a very interesting way to paint someone's portrait.
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The Baptism of Christ, Verrocchio and da Vinci
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Not far from the Duke and Duchess was another important work of art, a masterpiece depicting the baptism of Jesus. Painted by Verrocchio and his pupil, Leonardo da Vinci, it is said to be da Vinci's first painting.
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| Difficult to get photos with the crowds |
Naturally, there were hordes of people surrounding this painting. Some walked right up to the very front with their phones to get a photograph. (Frustrating for the rest of us - no one wants a random person in their image!)
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Annunciation, da Vinci
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Another famous da Vinci painting was nearby, Annunciation, which depicted the moment the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she was to bear the son of God.
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| Portrait of Pope Leo X with Cardinals Guilio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi |
On the same wall was a portrait of Pope Leo X, painted in 1518 by the high Renaissance artist Raphael. The Pope was flanked by two of his cousins, one who happened to be a Medici. This painting was famous for depicting the Pope and his cousins' realism instead of artificially beautifying them (as artists had done in the past.)
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| Madonna of the Goldfinch, Raphael |
Another well-known painting by Raphael was Madonna of the Goldfinch, a beautiful work of art depicting the Virgin Mary with Jesus and John the Baptist as children. Originally created around 1505, this painting was severely damaged in 1547 when the building where it was located collapsed in a landslide. Meticulously restored in 2008, the painting looked no worse for wear. I really liked the soft tones and serene expressions of the people depicted.
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| Holy Family (Tondo Doni), Michelangelo |
Adjacent to Madonna of the Goldfinch, I passed by an unusually-shaped round painting in an ornate golden frame. This artwork was named Holy Family (or Tondo Doni) and was painted by Michelangelo himself. This painting was notable for being the only finished panel painting by Michelangelo that has survived.
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| This painting drew a crowd |
In this photograph you can see that Michelangelo's painting also drew a crowd.
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| Kim taking a break |
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A gallery of family portraits
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In another room was a large gallery full of gold-framed portraits. There were many very interesting subjects, but I was too busy taking pictures to read any of them.
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| All the paintings were fantastic! |
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Painting of a small child with her dog
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The paintings were all fantastic, but I included the one above because this portrait of a small child standing proudly with her beloved pet dog was really sweet.
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| Gorgeous marble vase |
Back out into the main corridor again, we passed by this fabulous large marble vase with detailed figures carved into its side.
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| Venus of Urbino, Titian |
Into yet another art-filled room containing several well-known works (at least that's what I discovered doing the research for this blog post.) One such famous painting was called Venus of Urbino, depicting a young bride about to be dressed to take part in a celebration to express her consent to be married. I loved how the painter captured such realistic details of this young woman.
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| Medusa, Caravaggio |
Around the corner was a less-serene image, a painting on a round piece of wood depicting the moment Medusa is killed. This gruesome work of art showed her bloody, severed head, face locked in a permanent scream.
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| The red room |
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| Adoration of the Child, Van Honthorst |
On to more happy subjects, the next painting I really enjoyed was a beautiful depiction of two young shepherd boys arriving to see the newborn baby Jesus. I loved how the baby radiated light onto the faces of both the shepherds and Virgin Mary. This work of art looked so much like a photograph. It was one of my favorite paintings.
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| Portrait of a Young Man, Rembrandt |
The final famous painting I'm including in my Uffizi Gallery recap is Portrait of a Young Man by none other than Rembrandt. The rosy-cheeked youngster in the painting looks so lifelike you almost think it's real.
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| Sculpture in Piazza della Signoria |
After about three hours and dozens of paintings later, our local guide led us past the restrooms and gift shop and back outside into the plaza. Then our main guide (MG) took us to a nearby cafe for a quick break with refreshments. The break was welcome after being on our feet most of the morning thus far. However, I really wished I could've spent more time in the Uffizi Gallery. There was so much more to see, and I felt that our rushed morning tour didn't even begin to scratch the surface of the immense art collection contained within. I was a bit disappointed that because of yesterday's holiday, our visits to both the Uffizi and Accademia were being compressed into one morning, instead of occurring on separate days. I felt this didn't give us adequate time to really see each gallery.
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| Compared to yesterday, this plaza was a much calmer place |
While relaxing in the cafe, our MG made a quick trip over to the Accademia to purchase our admission tickets. I was kind of surprised the MG had waited until the morning of our visit to buy the tickets. Why hadn't these been bought in advance? It had been common knowledge at least a month before the tour that our group would be visiting the Accademia on this particular day. It seemed to me this was just another example of how disorganized our MG was.
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| A nice view of Brunelleschi's dome |
Regrouping again after our snack break, our two groups reunited with their guides and began a walk around the streets of Florence. Apparently our timed entry tickets to the Accademia were for 12:30 and it was only 11:30, so we had some time to kill. (Another sore point - instead of walking around Florence I would've rather used this extra time to see more of the Uffizi Gallery.)
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| Cathedral exterior details |
So we wandered around Florence once again, our local guide pointing out the Duomo, which we'd already seen the day before. And her narration was just as hard to understand as it had been inside the Uffizi.
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Loved the windows
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Throughout the tour everyone carried a small box with an attached earphone. Called Vox boxes, these little transmitters enabled us to hear our guide while walking through the often noisy, crowded spaces. To avoid confusion, each of our local guides chose a specific channel unique to their narration, and we tuned our boxes to our assigned guide's channel. Debbie and Kim, tired of listening to our useless guide, changed the channel on their Vox boxes to the other local guide, whose group was right in front of ours. After listening for a few minutes, they told me he was so much better. Encouraged by their experiment, I ended up changing channels too, and not only did the other guide speak perfect English, he also was quite a bit more interesting. Wow - why didn't we think to do this sooner?
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| The dome rises prominently at the end of this street |
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| Surprises at the end of every street |
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| Walking around Florence to kill some time |
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| Line of Vespas |
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| Piazza Santissima Annunziata |
Towards the end of our aimless ramble, our guides led us into another large plaza, surrounded by arched doorways. This was the Piazza Santissima Annunziata, a beautiful area showcasing buildings designed in the Renaissance style. A large statue of a man astride a horse was a monument to Ferdinando I de' Medici (another member of the Medici family.) From listening to the other guide I learned this plaza was mostly known as the place of Europe's first orphanage, founded in the 15th century.
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| Beautiful fountain in the piazza |
Towards one edge of the plaza was an interesting fountain, full of many green-tarnished figures - the dragons squirting water out of their mouths.
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| Huge line waiting to get into the Accademia |
Near the Piazza Santissima Annunziata our local guides led us around a corner and down a few blocks, and we were finally at the Accademia. A low gold-colored building, it didn't look like much from the outside. We took our place at the back of a very long line, stretching the length of the building. Although our entrance time was 12:30, after shuffling through this monstrous line, it was nearly 1 pm by the time we actually set foot inside the museum. More security checks, metal detectors, and bag x-rays later, everyone finally entered the first room of the Accademia.
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| Rape of the Sabines, Giambologna |
Smaller than the Uffizi, the Accademia Gallery housed a collection of 15th and 16th century paintings, numerous sculptures, and the most famous statue of them all - Michelangelo's David. Founded in 1784, it was home to the world's most extensive collection of Michelangelo sculptures.
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| Descent from the Cross, Lippi and Perugino |
As our group entered this famous gallery, before us was a tall marble sculpture featuring three intertwined human figures. Called the Rape of the Sabines, this famous work was created by the artist Giamblolgna.
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| There he is! |
From the first massive sculpture, we passed a few paintings, turned a corner and found ourselves in a dimly lit corridor lined by several large rudimentary carvings. This hallway was called
Gallery of the Prisoners and it featured four marble blocks with partially finished sculptures in various stages of completion.
All four sculptures were started by Michelangelo and were meant to adorn the tomb of Pope Julius II della Rovere. However after the Pope's death, plans for his tomb were greatly scaled down, and as a result the sculptures were never quite finished.
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Michelangelo's David in all his glory
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The Gallery of the Prisoners hallway was absolutely packed with people. Looking towards its opposite end I immediately understood why. There at the corridor's far side I could see the famous statue Kim and I had journeyed halfway around the world to see - David.
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| Rear view |
Rising over a sea of visitors, David's white marble body stood prominently. Both our tour groups wound their way through the crowded hall until everyone stood at the base of this most famous sculpture. And oh what an impressive sight it was! |
| A rare shot without too many people |
The details of David's body were astonishing. I could see every muscle, every skin ripple, even the outline of his ribcage. To think these details were carved out of solid marble so many centuries ago was quite staggering. Although I'd seen many photographs of Michelangelo's David over the years, nothing was quite like the experience of viewing it in person.
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| The detail is incredible! |
This masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture was created by Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504. At seventeen feet in height, David was the first marble statue made in the High Renaissance, setting a precedent for the 16th century and beyond. It was originally placed in the square in front of the Piazza della Signoria, and unveiled on September 8, 1504. In 1873, the statue was moved into the Accademia and a replica installed at the original site.
It is said Michelangelo personally picked out the block of Carrara marble that was to become his most famous work. This great artist believed a sculptor was only an instrument of God. Michelangelo said his role was merely to uncover the form lurking within the marble, by cutting away the overlying rock.
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| Bucket list item for Kim come true |
Waiting patiently for a break in the crowd surrounding David, Kim and I snapped a selfie of our beaming faces beneath this impressive work of art. A bucket list item for Kim fulfilled!
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| Deposition of Christ, Bronzino |
After experiencing David, our tour was now finished for the day. We were free to explore the rest of the Accademia as long as we liked. Kim, Debbie and I wandered past the crowded sculpture, walking by an hallway full of religious paintings, many of them depicting the crucifixion of Christ.
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| Walking through the Gipsoteca Bartolini |
At the end of this hallway was another room. Venturing inside, my friends and I discovered another long corridor full of sculptures. Called the Gipsoteca Bartolini, this narrow room was converted into a gallery full of 19th century plaster casts by the artist Lorenzo Bartolini. It was created for the benefit of a nearby fine arts academy so that its students could study the greatest works of past artists.
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The clothing fold details are amazing!
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The sheer volume of artwork inside this gallery was quite stunning. The walls were full of shelves containing a large number of busts. The floor was packed with larger sculptures, all of them intricately detailed. And several giant paintings took up wall space in between the busts. So much to see!
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| This hall was full of sculptures |
Unfortunately for my friends and I, we couldn't linger long. The time was nearing 2 pm and we had tickets to climb the Duomo dome at 3 o'clock. And we still needed to grab a bite of lunch. So Kim, Debbie and I quite reluctantly made our way out of the Accademia and headed towards the Duomo cathedral area, hoping to find a nearby cafe.
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| A few paintings hung on the back wall |
Lucky for us, the Duomo wasn't very far away. The streets surrounding this cathedral had lots of restaurant choices, all with outdoor cafes. After looking at several, my friends and I finally chose one that didn't appear to be very busy, and had a menu we all three liked. Wishing to avoid the heat of the midday sun, we all agreed to sit inside. The place had a huge number of charming Chianti bottles on a nearby shelf, and Lotti couldn't resist posing for photo beside the display.
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Lotti hanging out with some bottles of Chianti
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Our waiter, a friendly middle-aged Italian man, was really pushing my friends and I to order a glass of wine with lunch. Since we had to climb a tower of 463 steps in the next hour, all three of us declined. As Debbie put it, she needed all of her faculties to climb that dome, and didn't want to be hampered by alcohol.
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| Climbing to the Duomo dome! |
When you're in a hurry time seems to slow down, and that's exactly what happened at our restaurant. It seemed to take forever to get our food. All three of us kept nervously glancing at our watches every other minute. We didn't want to be late for our scheduled dome climb!
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| Narrow stairways |
Fortunately, our food arrived with plenty of time to consume it. When we finished, the waiter, now not as friendly since we didn't order any of his wine, was slow to bring the check. With time fast running out I finally walked up to the cash register, asked for the bill, and paid it on the spot. We had a dome to climb!
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| Taking a rest break |
The entrance line for the Duomo tours wasn't far from our restaurant. My friends and I located the end of the line and not-so-patiently waited for it to move. While in line we struck up a conversation with a group from the US who also had planned to climb the dome. Then, at promptly 3 pm, the line began moving towards the entrance.
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| Midway viewing platform |
After being directed through yet another security checkpoint, my friends and I were inside. We followed the rest of the crowd towards a doorway leading to a narrow staircase. No elevator here, if you wanted to reach the top of the dome, you had to do it under your own power. My friends and I all took a deep breath and began slowly ascending the first stairway.
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| Selfie in motion |
After the first series of stairs, there was a wide landing with a few statues. Debbie took advantage of this pull out area to catch her breath. Then, after waiting for a few people to pass by, we resumed our climb. The stairway area was small, airless, and the stairs themselves made of stone. The passage was sandwiched in between the outer and inner walls of the dome. As we ascended, the stairs become steeper and more winding, the space even smaller. Not for the claustrophobic!
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| Getting close now |
About halfway up, the climbers were directed onto a narrow catwalk perched inside the dome. One could walk around the dome's inside perimeter, allowing visitors to get a look at the artwork on the ceiling, high above. We also had a dizzying view of the building's floor, several feet below. A welcome break from all that stair climbing - but it was only temporary. After circling the dome, my friends and I entered back into the stairwell for the next round.
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| The last climb was up an extremely steep stairway |
Despite the unending line of people trekking up the stairs, we found the crowd to be quite friendly and very encouraging of one another. When someone pulled aside to let others pass, everyone greeted each other and lots of supportive dialog was exchanged. My friends and I leapfrogged with a couple of different groups and the conversation was always very cordial.
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| We are here! |
After what seemed an eternity climbing endless sets of stairs, my friends and I came to the final flight. These stairs were super steep and narrow and the ceiling low. But we'd gone so far, we couldn't stop now! We huffed and puffed, holding on to the handrails for dear life, but after a short burst of energy all three of us ladies arrived at the dome's very top. Hip, hip, hooray!
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| View of the bell tower |
The top of the dome had a walkway around the entire circumference, allowing visitors to see the city of Florence from all directions. With my first glimpse, I was amazed by how large and spread out it was. The valley was a sea of red roofs as far as you looked, bookended by green, rolling hills.
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| Lots of red roofs |
One direction gave nice views of the bell tower and top of the cathedral itself. In other directions I tried to pick out prominent landmarks, domes, church buildings, or other bell towers. It was fun to move around the dome's perimeter and photograph the scenery.
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| I had no idea Florence was so hilly |
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| Another view of the city |
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| Another red dome (but not as big) |
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| View over top of the Duomo |
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| White church that looks like the one near our hotel |
My friends and I lingered on top of the dome for a good 20 minutes, taking photographs and gazing at the faraway views. I was so busy trying to capture it all, I didn't pay attention to what my friends were up to. Suddenly, I didn't see them on top. It was then I noticed that everyone was lining up at the exit, preparing to descend.
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| We made it! |
So I placed myself at the back of the line, and slowly started down the incredibly steep and narrow staircase, which was even more treacherous on the descent. I met up with Kim and Debbie at the first landing, and they said someone on top had told them it was time to leave. We later learned that every hour, the Duomo staff let a specific number of people up to the dome, and then after a certain amount of time had elapsed, they herded them back downstairs so the stairway was clear for the next group to climb up. It made sense - there was only one set of stairs, and there was no room to fit people both climbing and descending in the same area.
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| Dome interior artwork |
Arriving at the dome interior walkway once again, my friends and I took some time to get a few good photographs of the ceiling paintings. I later read that this ceiling artwork was a masterpiece called The Last Judgement, a 3,600 square meter fresco started by Vasari in 1572 and finished by Zuccari in 1579.
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| Looking down to the dome's bottom |
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| More artwork |
This fresco was certainly mighty impressive!
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| Duomo basement |
The descent was long but thankfully not near as strenuous. In no time my friends and I were back out on the street adjacent to the Duomo, blinking our eyes in the bright sunlight. But what was this other line forming at a cathedral side door? We went over to check it out.
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| Tombs in the basement |
Our tickets were also good to enter the cathedral and tour both the first floor and basement. After going through yet another security check (this particular security guard loved Lotti) my friends and I emerged into the main church area, all set up for a mass that was to happen very soon. Because of the impending service, we weren't allowed to wander through the cathedral itself, and instead were directed to the basement area.
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| Checking out the basement |
Down in the basement, my friends and I walked past a small altar, with benches for people to sit and pray. There were also a large number of tombs, and although nearby plaques named the people interned within, it was all in Italian. Other than that, the place wasn't that interesting, so we climbed back up to the first floor.
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| The Duomo's interior was spartan |
For having such an ornate exterior, the Duomo's interior was quite disappointing. It was quite spartan - no grandiose decorations, no marble pillars, no fantastic statues.
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| Not a very interesting church inside |
So my friends and I went back outside and took a few final images of the Duomo's beautiful facade.
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Statue on Duomo's exterior
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| Last look at the fabulous facade |
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| Group photo to prove we were there |
By now it was close to 5 o'clock and my friends and I were all ready for a cold drink and some munchies. So we started walking back to our hotel, checking out restaurants as we went. Finally, passing by an establishment that looked good to everyone, we three ladies settled at a nearby table.
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| Time for some sustenance! |
Kim and I each ordered a beer (we were becoming fond of Moretti, the national brand) while Debbie chose her usual Aperol spritz. We ordered a plate of bruschetta, and I swear it was the best I had in all of Italy. The tomatoes were plump and juicy, the bread crisp, sprinkled with just the right amount of garlic and olive oil.
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| Bruschetta for the win! |
After a wonderful happy hour, while walking back to our hotel, I spied one of the many wine windows that are scattered throughout Florence, and just had to get a photo of Lotti inside.
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| Lotti finds a wine window |
Back at the hotel, my friends and I debated where we should go for dinner. There were lots of good restaurants, but nobody wanted to walk very far. In the end, we ended up choosing a place that was just a block down the street. We found the food to be good, and the service exceptional. A very suave young Italian man was our waiter, and I think he took a shine to us three older ladies. He even offered to take our picture, and gave me a small shot glass of limoncello when we were finished with our meals.
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| Dinner al fresco |
Although night was fast approaching there was still one thing I wanted to do while in Florence - visit a wine window. Kim and Debbie agreed to accompany me, and after consulting Google maps, I found one not too far from the hotel. Off we went again, through the crowded streets of Florence.
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| After dinner we went in search of a wine window |
As mentioned in my previous post, wine windows were small portals carved into walls around Florence, created by 16th century nobles, enabling them to sell their excess wine tax-free. Although most have been decommissioned, a few are still in operation, serving as quaint tourist attractions while selling alcoholic libations through their tiny openings.
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| Debbie placing her order |
Luckily, the wine window didn't take long to find, and it was fairly close by. Debbie walked up to the tiny wooden door on the window and knocked. Someone opened the door, took her order, and accepted payment. The window then closed, and we waited a few minutes for Debbie's drink to appear.
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| Debbie is excited to get her drink! |
After a brief wait, the window opened again, and the person on the other side handed Debbie her Aperol spritz. It was all an efficient operation, and Debbie was quite thrilled. Then it was my turn. I ordered a glass of wine, and in no time had a cup of white in my possession. What a fun and novel way to get a drink!
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| What a fun experience! |
My friends and I ended our evening in the hotel's bar, chatting with some of our tour-mates. Tom and Val had opened yet another bottle of wine, and were graciously sharing with those sitting around them. But although my cold was much improved (I actually had my voice back!) I thought it prudent to get to bed at a decent hour. There was still a lot of tour left, and I wanted to be in the best health I could.
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I ordered a glass of wine too
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After a shaky introduction, I found I really liked Florence. The art in this city was quite remarkable - and I'd only scratched the surface of the many places you could visit. I so wished our tour could spend another day here. (I guess this just means I need to plan a future return trip!) But tomorrow it was time to move on yet again - this time to a nearby Tuscan hill town before ending up at the breathtaking coastal resort area known as the Cinque Terre. To be continued in my next post!
