Uffizi & More

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We wake up early to another fine day. We are out the door by 8:000am and we grab a quick capuccino and apricot filled croissant on our way to the Uffizi gallery. The queue to get in looks like a mile long already. But I anticipated that and got those "skip the queue" tickets back when I first planned this trip. So off to our special entrance to the gallery - let the culture begin!

I could show you over 200 pics that I took - but don't worry, I won't. Just a few select ones....


My favourite painting - Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" circa 1485. Classic Italian Renaissance art.

Sculpture by Baccio Bandinelli of Laocoon and his sons wrapped in the coils of Poseidon's sea serpent.



Painted on a shield by Caravaggio circa 1598. The Head of Medusa
(depicting the point she knows it has been severed from her body).


"Adoration of the Child" by Gherardo delle Notti - circa 1620

This last picture above is not a work that I am familiar with. But I love the light and quality of the brush work - almost like a photograph. So well preserved. Not bad for something painted over 400 years ago. 

OK - culture done. You guessed it - time for food.

Our local Bisteccheria. Brenda on the left. Door to our apartment to left of the number 1 on rear wall.

Brenda has Ravioli in truffle sauce. Gnocchi in Gorgonzola cream with walnuts for me.

Of course no trip to Florence is complete without a stroll across the Ponte Vecchio with all that glistening gold on view!



And the mandatory photo from the middle of the bridge looking down the Arno River.



So tomorrow is our last day and we plan to walk around the markets, view the Cathedral and maybe do a tour of the Boboli Gardens. Meantime.... Buona notte

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