Florence

So yesterday we took the train to FLORENCE! Woohoo! And today we had a bit of a sleep in until 11am and had a break, so now, I'm taking a break from writing for the night. I'm handing the blogging power reigns over to mom, er, Cathy as some of you readers call her...

Santa Maria Novella Church

The Pharmecy! Run by the monks of S.M. Novellla

We got up early to find a taxi to the Rome Termini...the central train station.  The Eurostar 8:15 direct to Florence was right on time - by 9:50 we were rolling to a stop in Fierenze Santa Maria Novella Station.   The scenery through Umbria and Tuscanny was very pretty, and Lucy would have enjoyed it if she hadn't been fast asleep!  Oh well, we did have an early start! Our first purchase of the day was an umbrella from one of the hawkers at the station - it was raining pretty heavily.


We first made our way to Santa Maria Novella Church - a crazy combination of architectural styles and colors, inside and out.  It is, however, full of wonderful frescos and artwork, and a really nice introduction to Florence. After our visit to the church, we stopped at the old "pharmacy" - an elegant and ancient perfume and herbal products shop - a museum, really, and in existence for hundreds of years....too bad the prices were so 2011.

Our rambles took us to the Duomo and Baptistry piazza - full of tourists ( and I mean full) - and even on this rainy day.  We had an appointment with DAVID...at the Accademia at 12:00 - with advance tickets (highly recommended) you go to the front of the looooong line and are admitted at your appointed time.  We made our way though this very small gallery, had a nice look at David and also enjoyed the gallery dedicated to the sculptor Lorenzo Bartonlini - quite charming!

By this time we were getting hungry, and what better place to go than the nearby "Oil Shoppe" - recommended to us by our lovely Kelly Klein, who had lived in Florence as an art student and knew the best (and cheapest) places for lunch.  She didn't steer us wrong - the place was packed with students, and as we munched on our beautiful panino and sub, we were grateful for our new favorite place to eat in Florence.  After our lunch, Lucy and I wandered around the narrow streets and got a glimpse of the River Walk and the Ponte Vecchio.  The bridge is home to many jewlery shops, and many tourists - kind of too much, but also very historic and kitchy.  We found a neat homemade paper shop and found a couple of gifts to bring home.  After a little more meandering, it was time to go for our second gallery experience - the Uffizzi was waiting!  Once again, we were grateful for our advance tickets - even with the bad weather, the regular line was running two hours long!

Umbrella town

The Uffizzi is housed in an incredible complex of palace buildings - gigantic and very impressive!  I especially like the layout - with a cronological organization, with special rooms dedicated to the "biggies"  The salaon with Michaelngelos brought me to near tears, until Lu pointed out I was looking at a painting by someone else...oh well.  We both were impressed by the Botticelli's - the Birth of Venus and Primavera were amazing to see in person!  We saw many other works by all the "Ninja Turtles" and got some very funny looks from the French and Japanese tourists who did not understand our kindergarden humor!  By the way, there were an unbelievable number of Japanese visitors in tour groups in Florence, and even more people from a cruise ship -

O-lala

It was absolutely pouring as we left the gallery, which led us to one of the days best expereiences....we were forced, with many others, in the loggia near the Palazzo Vecchio (Medieval Fortress next to the Uffizzi) - this covered area housed many classical statues and provided some protection from the rain.  It was fun to watch the many folks in the Palazzo trying to cope with their umbrellas, while lucy glanced loveingly at her "boyfriend" - a funny, grotesque statue across the square.  Poor David (a copy of the original) was getting drenched, when a group of Segway tourists made a path through the square in their rain slickers - for some reason, the sight really made us both giggle.



By this time, we realized that the weather was not going to cooperate with our plans to wander aimlessly, so we pulled into a nice small bar / cafeteria and ordered up a birra to wait out the rain.  Still waiting, we had espressos to gird ourselves for the long, rainy walk to the station, and although early, waited for the 8:10 train to take us home.

Lu was awake this time...

After we got a taxi ride back to Trastevere, we decided to stop for a late dinner ( or a normal dinner for the late-eating Romans) - it was 10:30, and every restaurant we saw was packed....on a Tuesday!  We ordered up some plates of pasta and a 1/2 litter of wine from Trattoria Della Scala.  Both Lucy and I thought the food was not up to standards, and her dish , the local specialty of Pasta with black pepper and cheese, was so rich it was too much to eat - but, you takes your chances.  We walked home, awfully tired after our early start and full day - we both enjoyed Florence immensely, and felt we got a good feel for the city.  We both said we'd like to return when the crowds had thinned out.

Pathetic isn't it. 

Lu here again-- ditto what Mom said, but the statue that made us giggle? He was sooo staring at Mom, not me. Also, another thing that is prevalent in Rome and Florence, I guess, is the practice of lovers to take a lock, fashion it to a bridge, and throw away the key as a sign of their bond...or whatever. So naturally, Mom made me pose love-lorn without a lock.

But its so cute too, right?!