October 23 - Day 4 – Florence

October 23, 2008 - Day 4 – Florence - Pictures

• Awoke at 0800


• Arrived at the Uffizi at about 0950.


• Wandered around for 10 minutes to find the correct gate, since we had purchased our tickets ahead of time at the hotel. Had to go from Gate 1, to Gate 3, which was across the street to get our tickets back to Gate 1. A bit of a hassle, but at least we got to jump the queue (at Gate 2) and not stand in line waiting to get into this museum.


• Rented the audio player with two speakers, so we had some idea of what we were looking at and attempt to understand something. Often times Nancy would walk ahead with the player forcing me to follow like a dog on a leash


• Spent 2.5 hours roaming 43 rooms with works of art and sculptures laid out essentially in chronological order, running from the 14^th century through the 19^th century. Although it was primarily Italian artist, there were also representation from the Flemish, Dutch, Belgium and other northern European countries. Although the overwhelming majority of the pieces are related to the birth of Jesus and the virgin mother, the annunciation of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, etc.


• The style of the renaissance is simply outstanding in my opinion. I know Nancy felt after a bit that they all began to the look the same, but to watch how the same stories being depicted over the course of time and the methods they used, whether the golden background on wood of the 14^th century or the amazing use of colors in the 16^th century or the detail of all the objects portrayed in the 17^th century are pretty amazing.


• The fact that someone would take years to paint a single 10’x15’ painting truly shows their artistic ability. I understand the times are different and we don’t have popes and dukes and other aristocrats paying to have these types of works commissioned these days, but is modern art really comparable to what these masters produced? I don’t think so, but as you know I am not an art expert by any stretch of the imagination.


• After the Uffizi we walked to Ponte Vecchio, a bridge over the Arno River that has retail shops lining both sides that hang out off the bridge over the water. It is quite a spectacular sight. I read that during WWII, the Allies were extremely careful not to hit this bridge with their bombers, because of the historical value. Even as the Germans were retreated, they blew up all other bridges crossing the river, but only mined this one, and never actually detonated it. It is one of the most unique structures we have ever seen.




• At what may you ask are the shops like on the Ponte Vecchio? Almost nothing but jewelry stores lining both sides of the bridge with a break in the middle for tourist to see that this is actually a bridge. So our plan of action was to window shop up on side, then have lunch and wander around the other side of the Arno for a bit, then we could window shop down the other side.


• Nancy said she wanted to find a little something that we could take home that will always remind us of this trip, and since I have purchased no jewelry since our wedding rings and her engagement ring (10 years ago), then she could look at the jewelry and see if she found something she liked.


• Nancy (luckily for me) has never been a big jewelry person. Her ears are pierced (and her maiden name is Pearce), but she almost never wears earrings. The only necklaces she wears are those she makes at her store Art and Soul in New Canaan (shameless plug, if you are reading this, go paint or bead, it makes a nice holiday gift). So to get her a little piece of bling seemed like a reasonable price to pay for the woman who asks for almost nothing in this department.




• Nothing caught her eye on the left side of the bridge


• We then walked up the street directly straight off the bridge (there are at least 4-5 roads that connect at the bridge), we starting looking at the leather goods and other shops that line the streets there.


• After not being impressed by any of the shops, we realized that it was now pushing 1400; we were getting a bit hungry and should look for a place to eat.


• We found a little covered restaurant (it looked like it might rain) that was in an alley between two streets. I got a pepperoni pizza with a beer and Nancy got pasta Bolognese with a coca-cola Light. The pizza was much different than the one from the day before, made on a thicker crust and with fresher mozzarella cheese. Nancy asked which I like better and I said they were both different and could not decide. Needless to say her pasta was also very good.


• After lunch we continued to explore the south side of the Arno.


• We walked up to the Palace Pitti,


• Then we walked down to the Piazza San Spirito.


• We walked up street parallel to the river, enjoying the afternoon and getting a little more exercise after our lunch.




• We finally made it back to the Ponte Vecchio and walked down the other side of the bridge. Nothing caught Nancy’s eye until the very last shop (here I thought we were going to make it out scot-free). It was a beautiful ring with diamonds and it shined like a star in the sky. It also made Nancy light up like a Christmas tree. We went in to have a look. The Irish saleswoman told us it was a classical Italian design and it would be difficult to find a similar ring style in the US. Nancy tried it on and it was a bit big. Because it was big decision, we decided to think about it before we committed.


• We left Ponte Vecchio for the day and headed back to our hotel for a little rest. It was now almost 1600 and we both needed a little rest and relaxation before we would go out again


• Around 1800 we left the hotel with the idea to stroll through the San Lorenz Leather market to see the shops before they closed. I had purchased a leather jacket here when I came as a student studying abroad (not a broad, though I took every chance to study those too at the time) in 1990. It was stolen in a bar in NYC around 1996, so I was looking for the opportunity to finally replace it. Nancy kept asking me what kind of jacket I wanted, brown or black, elastic at the bottom, zipper or button, and I honestly had no idea. I had not given this purchase any thought; I just figured I would know what I wanted when I saw it. We stopped at the first booth and tried on a few jackets, none of which impressed Nancy or me. We continued on a bit, passing a few other shops with jackets, when another jacket caught my eye, and I was caught by the vendor. I tried on about 6 coats in various sizes, colors and styles until Nancy (really her primarily) and I settled on one final jacket. We then did the negotiation dance, even got up to leave once, but finally agreed upon, what seems like a reasonable price, which we both agreed. I was now the proud new owner of an Italian leather coat again. I hoping, since I don’t hang out in grungy bars anymore that this one will not be stolen.


• We then walked through the rest of the market, to see if there was anything else we could not live without. We looked at almost everything they had to offer there, and were not blown away enough to make any other purchases. It was now approaching 1930 or so and all the shops were again closing for the night and that meant supper time for us.


• On our walk to the Uffizi that morning, Nancy had spotted a few restaurants off the beaten path, down a few side streets, that she wanted to try, so we decided what better time than the present to give this a whirl.


• We found one called Le Antiche Carrozze on Borgo Apostoli, 66. We had Buffalo 250, which was essentially a caprese salad with a huge piece of fine fresh whole mozzarella with a large tomato, Ravioli with Spinach with a bolognaise sauce. Nancy had swordfish and I had the whole sea bass with olives and capers. I had wanted a bowl of mussels, but they had run out of the dish earlier.


• The night concluded with another small walk around town before heading back to the hotel, tired but still ready for another days adventure tomorrow.