Tuscany Day 5

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We saved the big day for last, Florence (Firenze). We had three goals when we reached Florence, the David, Uffizi museum and shopping. The day before we had booked times and tickets to see the David and the Uffizi museum. By booking a time we were able to line jump. It cost a little extra but when you see the line that stretches around the block in the heat it’s worth it.

The David, at the Accademia, was our first stop. Without a good map this place would be easy to miss. Unlike many of the other sites we have visited the Accademia was non-descript and looked like a regular building on the street. Once inside we toured until we came across Michel Angelo’s David. All I can say is pictures do not do it justice. You can’t help but stand there in awe at the details of this sculpture. Truly amazing.

From here we were all roasting so we found a pizza joint with air conditioning. We stuffed ourselves with pizza and beer and went off shopping. I was smart this time because we all had different shopping goals so I had maps for everyone so we could split up and meet later at the Uffizi museum at 4:30. The shopping consists of street vendors in tents haggling prices with you for anything from leather to ceramics. Certainly not what I expected but fun all the same. We did a little shopping and then met everyone one at the museum.

If you like museums the Uffizi is very impressive. By now we were a little toured-out. We wandered through the museum for about an hour and half. We then wandered back to the car via the river and then back to the villa.

We were pretty beat by now so we wanted to find someplace close for dinner. Niccoletta recommended a small restaurant in the town about a mile to west of Monterrigioni, I don’t even know if it had a name. This was our first chance to spend time in a little town and relax. We sat outside so we could watch the fireworks over Monterrigioni. We stayed and ate pasta and drank wine and had a great final night.

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