Italy - Day 12 (Florence)

Our entire morning was spent in a guided tour through the very large Uffizi Gallery. If I had to pick only one, I'd say my favorite piece was Raphael's Portrait of Pope Julius II (the photos don't do it justice, the satin is so life-like when seen in person). I didn't know it at the time, but I've since discovered that I wasn't even looking at the original. There are 3 of the same portrait attributed to Raphael; the original being in the National Gallery of London.

Photos are not allowed in the Uffizi, with the exception of this one vantage point overlooking the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio....
After the Uffizi, we split from the tour group and immediately headed out in search of gelato. This was to be the moment of our gelato awakening. It was at this gelateria that we first tasted Yogurt Gelato! We went from getting gelato once per day to getting it twice and sometimes even three time per day. For everyday in the remainder of the trip, I would always get yogurt as one of my flavor selections. Brooke would go even further by foregoing all other flavors and getting only yogurt....Next we visited the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (the Florence Duomo Museum). We really liked this museum. It was small, but densely packed with notable works of art. Pictured below is Michelangelo's Pieta and Donatello's Mary Magdalene.....One of my goals for this trip was to visit 4 statues of David, one by Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Bernini. We were on our way to see Donatello and Verrocchio's David at the Bargello Musuem, and just before we entered, we ran into a couple of our tour members who told us both Davids were closed for repair or cleaning. We decided to skip the Bargello. Sad :(

Fortunately, we remembered that other tour members told us about the great views from Piazza Michelangelo (Michelangelo's Palace). We walked across the Arno River and hiked up the hill to the palace. We spent about an hour just enjoying the view and taking photos, but didn't enter the palace (I'm not even sure we could have entered).
A replica of David at Piazza Michelangelo....View of central Florence from the piazza....I stole this photo from Wikipedia. This was one of those times where we experience a great view, but could never capture it with a camera. (If anybody reading this post needs ideas, a wide angle lens makes the perfect Christmas gift.) This shot was taken from Piazzi Michelangelo, facing west. You can see the beautiful green hills of southern Florence and the red tiled roofs in the north.
In the late afternoon, we met back up with the tour group to visit the Accademia Gallery. Once inside the museum, we make a right turn, and immediately we see Michelangelo's David at the back of the long corridor. Again, no photos were allowed in the museum, so all these photos were taken from the web....
David was amazing. It was beautifully displayed on a 6-ft tall pedistal, with access to be viewed from 360 degrees. The expression on David's face is more ambiguous than I had previously thought. At different viewing angles, he can have expressions ranging from stoic to afraid, and maybe even anger.After seeing David, all the other exhibits were expectedly less astonishing. The only memorable pieces were Michelangelo's unfinished pieta (below) and the 4 Prisoner statues.

That night we ate with all the tour members at Rosticceria La Spada. We had a very large family-style dinner with 3 types of pasta, roasted beef, chicken and pork. For dessert, we had vino santo with an almond biscotti. This classic Tuscan treat is not for us. The sweet alcohol tastes like cough syrup and and did nothing to help the flavor of the biscotti. But to be fair, we don't like dessert wines. Overall, the food was really good. Brooke still dreams about the mushroom ravioli.

Italy - Day 11 (Florence)

Our day began with a trip the Central Market, located only 1 block away from our hotel. It was pretty early, so many of the stalls weren't open yet. I like this stand for its interesting food. Look...a whole, raw loin wrapped in a baguette, topped with bacon and rosemary! And what is that next to it? I needed to Google it when I got home. Fegatelli, I now know, is pork liver. Yummm....
We then met our local guide, Simone, for a long walk through Florence.The first stop was at Piazza della Signoria, a large square in the center of Florence. The square is filled with statues of notable Renaissance artists and surrounded by the Palazzo Vecchio (the city hall) and the Uffizi Gallery (which we'd visit the following day).

Palazzo Vecchio....Under all the scaffolding is a replica of Michelangelo's David. The real one stood in this same spot over 300 years until it moved indoors for safer keeping....One of many violent sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria...
A beautiful street market pedalling the typical Florentine wares: leather goods and wool scarves....The second stop of our walk was the Palazzo Davanzati, a former home of a wealthy merchant in the Renaissance period. This place gave a good glimpse of the struggles of life in that time. Highlighting one of the struggles were the holes in the ceiling above the entryway, which made it possible to attack intruders.... We crossed the Arno River via the Ponte Vecchio, the bridge famous for being lined with jewelry shops. The Oltrarno, literally meaning "across the Arno", is the more residential and quieter side of Florence . The gift shops from the main part of town are replaced with small, not-for-tourist artisan workshops where people are still hand-carving wood furniture and making chandeliers. Due to time constraints, we chose to skip the largest sight in this area: the Palazzo Pitti, former home of the Medici family. Instead, we just strolled the streets until we met up with our regular tour guide, Cecilia, near San Spirito Church. There she surprised us with canoles! ...and we're told they were as authentic as they come because they were made by Sicilians!After canoles, the tour group disbanded, and Brooke and I headed back to the Florence Duomo. We climbed the 375-ft tall dome for great views of the city....For a majority of our climb, we zig-zagged up staircases in relative darkness. At the midway point, we got a break from climbing as the path led us to a vantage point giving great views of the cathedral below and an up-close view of the paintings above.....Views from the Duomo dome.....The Gates of Paradise, bastistery doors by Ghiberti....The main doors of the duomo....
Interior of the duomo....The painted ceiling of the dome.....At the San Lorenzo street market, Brooke considered buying a leather purse, but with prices ranging anywhere from 20 to over 200 Euros, we couldn't be sure of the quality. She passed on buying a purse, but got a nice cashmere/silk scarf for only 6 Euros. Our next stop was to San Lorenzo Basilica & Medici Chapel. Architecturally, the basilica and chapel are unexceptional, but the tombs by Michelangelo for the Medici family made the quick visit worthwhile. The security check at the entrance was intense; however, once inside we were allowed to get extremely close to all the statues. No photos were allowed, so I'm borrowing this photo from Britannica.com. This oddly masculine female nude is Michelangelo's Night made for Giuliano Medici's tomb....Knowing we couldn't make it to Napoli (the birthplace of pizza!), we got recommendations to a pizzeria run by Neapolitans, Il Pizzaiuola. The pizza was great! At about 8 Euros per pizza and 15 Euros for a bottle of wine, the price was right too! (if only they had a Hawaiian-style pizza. Pineapple...yumm)

Italy - Day 10 (Florence)

Day 10 in Italy (4th day with the tour group):
We take a vaporetto to the north end of Venice where we catch our tour bus to Florence....Maybe it was to accommodate the older members of the tour, but within 2 hours of our bus ride, we make a stop at an Autogrill. The Autogrill is pretty cool. It's essentially a roadside diner (with a large espresso bar and minimart) that straddles over the highway. Go out the wrong exit and you're on the wrong side of the highway.

For being a diner along the highway, the food is really good. On the top-floor restaurant area, we had some pasta, risotto, and a Parmeggiano-Reggiano and proscuitto plate. It was definitely a better roadside dining experience than in the US, although it set us back about $27 US Dollars...Then on the lower floor espresso bar, Brooke ordered a hot chocolate. This is what she received, hot chocolate pudding with a spoon....When we arrived in Florence, we dropped off our luggage and headed straight out by ourselves to the Church of Santa Maria Novella. We went to see Masaccio's "Holy Trinity". In the late afternoon, we met back up with the tour group for a "Renaissance Walk". The walk took us past the Florence Duomo, Piazza San Lorenzo, Piazza della Repubblica, Orsanmichele Church, and the Piazza della Signoria. From the walk, we got a nice overview of the city and the sights, but we didn't actually go inside any of them until the next couple of days. Along the walk, we also learned about Renaissance life, including the power and influence of the Medici family.

San Lorenzo Basilica....Florence Duomo, baptistery, and campanile....Orsanmichele Church....Brooke at Piazza della Signoria....Again, walking past the Florence Duomo....We finished our night with a group dinner at Ristorante Giglio Rosso. This was one of the best meals we had in Italy. Brooke's favorite dish was the ribollita, a hearty Tuscan soup.