Firenze in Flashes

Up nice and early, and hit the pavement by 8 AM. Found our way with only a minor bobble to the Piazza San Marcos, and met up with our guide, Frediana, for our trip to the Galleria de Accademia, where Michelangelo's David resides. We were definitely glad to have booked the skip the lines tour, as the crowd was already getting pretty large at 9 AM. The statue was as magnificent as imagined, and we spent a fair amount of time gazing at him and listening to details of his creation, the techniques involved, political implications of the statue, and that sort of thing.  Looked at some other sculpture while we were inside.

From there we went to the Duomo of St Mary of the Flowers and looked at the vast place of worship, caught a glimpse of the interior of the dome, and saw a unique clock inside, which doesn't operate on a 24 hour basis like most, but instead tracks the hours to sunset, for liturgical purposes. Got to visit the pig at the marketplace, stand in the Piazza del Republica, and enjoy the controversy regarding the giant golden turtle on display there, compared to the replica of David, bronze of Perseus, and other great statues for the public to see.

Our guide left us near the Uffizi for a lunch break, and M and I ducked away from the crowds down a little side street to find a neat little osteria, Osteria Vecchio Vicolo, which served us our second-most delicious pizza so far, a Quattro Staggione style, with prosciutto, artichokes, cheese and black olives, and a bit of frizzante water to wash it down. After about ten minutes, the lunch crowd began to descend, but we were able to make our escape, and wandered in the area for a while on foot.

Our next guide, Catarina, met us at the statue of Galileo Galilei within the U of the Uffizi, and we breezed past the security checkpoints and headed for the top floor of the art museum, which boast the claim of being the first of its kind, open to the public for centuries now - created to show off the Medici art collection. We met a very nice family from Atlanta while we were waiting, and we traded thoughts and tips on our Italian adventures. 

Inside the Uffizi, there are literally thousands of statues from ancient Greece and Rome, recovered during the Renaissance time frame. Didn't think archaeological digs had been going on that long, eh? In addition to the sculpture, there were several hundred years worth of paintings, showing the evolution of art techniques, including the invention of perspective. Botticelli's Venus and Primavera were on display, and the details of those paintings could absorb your attention for hours.

Our guide left us to our own devices after that, and we eventually exited the building and tried to find the San Lorenzo Mercado to do some shopping. Never got to the market, but we did stumble upon Santa Croce, make a river stroll, and so forth. M's feet were killing her, so we spent a bit of rest time back at the apartment in the afternoon; I made a trip to the local market and bought some easy ingredients for dinner - we had minestrone soup and a salad. I discovered a jar of the most tasty giardiniera I've ever had, found some monster "cocktail" onions, stocked up on Schweppe's Limone drink, picked up a fresh "baguette" and a cucumber. I've been dying to try the local artichokes, but didn't see any at this particular market.

After dinner, around sunset, we made a trip out to Gelateria d'Angelo, which is either the name of the owner, or means "of the angels", which may be appropriate, as the gelato was heavenly! Watched the night life on the square at Santa Maria Novella, and saw one of the illegal street vendors take an inordinate amount of time with a little Japanese girl who bought one of his toys, showing her how to operate it properly. The street vendors can get a little pushy sometimes, and it's easy to get irritated with them, but one has to admire their entrepeneurial spirit. 

All in all, a pleasant first whole day in Firenze.