florence

Day 13 – Florence

Posted on July 12, 2014

Stop looking at the walls; look out the window.

Today was the Uffizi Gallery. It’s a very large gallery with a lot to see.

We got there at about 11am and there wasn’t much of a line. We were inside in 10 minutes or so. There was however a lot of people inside, especially in the first area which made it very difficult to move and see the different artworks.

It also made taking photos very difficult as someone was always standing in the way or blocking a good angle. What follows here are the best of the many photos I took of the various artworks.

: From what looked to be a series of portraits.

: Primavera – Spring.

: Who doesn’t like a centaur?

: The Birth of Venus.

: I don’t know what this is… but I like it.

: Perhaps the only sketch I saw, though probably an outline for a painting.

: I can only assume this is Deckard Cain.

: The main corridor. The entire ceiling was painted in detail and hundreds of portraits lined the tops. Also a lot of statues ran down the length.

: A sculpture of Zeus.

: Again, don’t know, but interesting.

: I really like this painting, though it’s a little disturbing.

: Michelangelo’s only painting on canvas.

After the sensory overload of art, we went and had lunch. There was a deal for two courses, so I got to have Spaghetti Bolognese and then Roast Chicken.

Next was a couple more hours of general walking around, before heading back to the apartment. On the way though, we finally stopped at that Juice Bar and got smoothies. Quite nice, though not super amazing. I got strawberry. It tasted like banana.

Day 12 – Florence

Posted on July 11, 2014

Galileo, don’t talk to me about science. Please make me television.

Today was mostly spent at the Basilica of Santa Croce. We had walked past it a few times, but hadn’t gone inside yet. So we did.

It’s larger than I thought and had a lot to see. There was a nice Dante statue out front.

Dante Alighieri.

Inside, there were a number of tombs and shrines of such men as Galileo, Dante and Michelangelo.

: Galileo’s Tomb.

: Michelangelo’s Tomb.

: Dante’s Monument.

There were lots of other areas and artworks to see as well which were quite interesting.

: Good old ceiling art.

: Not sure what this is… some sort of tomb?

: The main shrine thing.

: Outside the church, in a nice courtyard.

: One of many modern depictions of Dante’s Inferno.

: Another nice courtyard area.

: An interesting painting.

: A very detailed sculpture.

: A big fountain at the Palazzo Vecchio.

That last photo is at the Palazzo Vecchio, which is a big square with some sculptures and things around the area. It was quite crowded, so perfect for another instalment of “Where’s Adam?”.

Where’s Adam?

We then had lunch (lasange!) and walked around a bit more. We were going to go to the Uffizi Gallery, but it started to rain, so we headed back to the apartment. It only rained lightly though and stopped shortly after, but we’ll go to the gallery tomorrow.

Day 11 = NULL

Posted on July 10, 2014

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Day 8 – Florence

Posted on July 7, 2014

And We rested on the seventh day.

Today was to be a day of rest and little adventure as a lot of things are closed on Sunday and we had a late start. We decided we would go to Ponte Vecchio (the “famous” bridge), walk around a bit and then go back to the apartment. Luckily, we were waylaid, but more on that later.

Firstly the bridge. It didn’t seem all too spectacular as we approached. It was fairly crowded with a lot of shops around. I found it had a much nicer view looking out than looking in.

The view from Ponte Vecchio.

Afterwards, we walked around a bit more, expecting to soon head back. But then the buildings parted and lo there was the Palazza Pitti (Pitti Palace). We thought we might as well see if we can go in and look around, though it seemed to require payment to enter.

I’m not sure if it was due to it being Sunday, or some other reason, but there were no staff at the entrance, so we just walked in. There are a few museums inside, but we didn’t go into them. We did go through to the Boboli Gardens though. It was quite large and had some great areas to sit and look over Florence.