Italy: Day X (Florence)

Thursday, July 28^th:

The Duomo:

            Today Max and I decided to really take in the glory that is Italian Renaissance art. The weather was finally beautiful today so we spent the first part of the day walking around the southern part of Florence where we had not previously visited. We spent time in another major site in the city, Piazza Della Republica and the adjacent Piazza Della Signoria. These piazzas are great meeting places and are filled with restaurants, a few carnival-style rides, and marble statues. One of the “fake” David statues remains here, as this was the original location of Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Piazza Della Signoria is also overlooked by the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio, which we did not visit in favor of the neighboring Uffizi Museum.

Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Museum, and Piazza Della Signoria:

            The Uffizi Museum is one of the oldest and most recognized art museums known to the western world. The museum is quite large and daunting, and houses artwork collected mostly by the Medici family when they ruled Florence and Tuscany. With works from Botticelli, da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt, this museum could be confused with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode; is an art lover’s dream. Max and I spent hours wandering around the halls, and my favorite painting had to be Botticelli’s Birth of Venus known across the world. We had a coffee at a café on the roof of the museum before wandering across the Ponte Vecchio to the Medici Palace known as Palazzo Pitti.

Palazzo Pitti:

            We stopped and had lunch at an unnamed café near the Ponte Vecchio first. I had a Caprese salad and Parmesan Risotto with cold beef for a quick meal before we were again on our way. The Palazzo Pitti stands as the most massive building across the Arno in Florence. The palace stood as one of the main homes for the powerful banking family known as the Medici. The Medici produced four popes, and managed to hold power over Tuscany and a vast portion of Italy from the late 14^th century until 1737. The palace is rather large and impressive, and also holds the family’s private art collection. Must be nice to wake up and get dressed next to your own personal Raphael portrait…

The Duomo from Piazza Michelangelo:

            Following our palace visit, we walked over to the famous Piazza Michelangelo which overlooks the entire city of Florence. Many of you have probably seen this spot in pictures of friend’s travels, as it truly is the most spectacular sight in the city. There is also one of the “fake” David statues, made of bronze, in the center of this piazza. We spent a while admiring the city and the Tuscan landscape that stretched in all directions before heading back towards the hotel for a bit of rest and to get ready for dinner.

Myself at Piazza Michelangelo:

            For dinner, we made our way across the Arno again to a place called Trattoria Sabatino. This restaurant was unique as it was basically a large family kitchen and they cooked whatever they felt like for that day! We talked to a few British guys while we ate a form of Gnocchi with potatoes, and salami, as well as Tuscan Roast Beef in a light garlic gravy sauce and drank a few Italian beers. After dinner we met up with our friend Drew Morgan from Rome near the Santa Maria Novella church but not before having a hilarious and bizarre interaction with a drunken Italian fellow who was trying to make some new friends. We headed to the Birrificio Artigianale Mostodolce pub from the night before where we sampled just about everything they have to offer. We also got into a hilarious argument with a Canadian traveler regarding the treatment of Native Americans/Canadians. Weird what you can get yourself into! Tomorrow we will hang out in Florence for a bit before heading to the floating city of Venice!