Uffizi Gallerie

---

I went on an exploratory walk early on Tuesday morning, allowing the girls to sleep until later. I wanted to see the Piazalle di Michelangelo, a park on the opposite of the Arno from our hotel. Claudio, our host at the B&B, had recommended that we check it out if we wanted to see an exceptional view of Florence. I had asked the girls on Monday if they wanted to jog there, but they declined.

I was out of the hotel shortly after 7 am and walked across the Ponte di Grazie and then along the Oltre’Arno area to arrive at the park. Along the way, I passed the Ponte Vecchio and then an area where I had never been. To enter the park, I passed outside of the archway of one of the original Roman walls of the city, then walked up a long set of stairs that had the stations of the Cross at the side. Finally at the top, I found a busy road and lots of little tourist stand which were in the process of being set up for the day.

Claudio was right -- the view is beautiful. You can see the whole old Florence centro, including the Duomo, the Uffizi and countless other famous landmarks. I set up my tripod and took lots of photos. Hopefully some of them will do justice to the beauty of Florence.

I walked back to the B&B and woke up the girls. We got breakfast around the corner, just off the Piazza della Repubblica. Then we set off to explore the Duomo.

The Duomo was very, very crowded by the time we arrived at 11 am. The line to enter the Duomo stretched way past the end of the church, so we decided to skip the interior visit. Instead, we admired the Porta del Paradiso (Gates of Paradise), designed by Lorenzo Ghilberti in the early 1500’s. The bronze doors, covered with guilded gold, are at the Baptistry of the Duomo.

Then we walked around a few other areas of Florence, including an exploration of the Ponte Vecchio, Piti Palace, and various other stops. By 3 pm we were ready to eat, and we went back to the same little place we had lunched at the day before. We’ve figured out if we like a place, it’s better to eat there again rather than taking our chances at another restaurant that might be less satisfying.


We had a reservation to enter the Uffizi Gallery, one of the world’s greatest museums of art, for 3:15 pm. We spent about an hour and a half there, and saw some of the major pieces, such as the Botticelli’s, Andrea Del Sarto’s, etc. After a while, though, the girls began to complain that they could only look at so many renditions of Mary and baby Jesus...so we left, fully sated with art. It was a good experience, but perhaps the girls will appreciate it more fully when they’re older!

We then went back to the room and rested for a bit before resuming our explorations. We went once again to the Ponte Vecchio, this time seeing it in the early evening. We watched the night life on in the Piazza della Signioria, and then went to eat dinner.

As we ambled home from a very satisfactory dinner, it started to rain. We went home and packed our bags in preparation for our monring departure to Cinque Terre. We were in bed by 11 pm, listening to a huge thunderstorm that raged over Florence.

---