Florence Day 2

We were up bright and early, and not only because the fabulous Florentine sunshine was already beginning to peek through our curtains. Today we were planning on going to the Uffizi, the large museum which is basically Florence's version of the Louvre. All the guidebooks speak about the endless queues, suggesting a two hour wait should not be unexpected. So Fiona booked ahead, reserving us an 8:30am timeslot to get in. In the end I'm not sure how much time the reservation saved us, as the regular queues were only about half an hour at the time, but it was nice to be able to just walk right in and get the museum-going experience underway.

We were quite excited about the Uffizi because of its emphasis on sculpture and the classic masters of painting. In that sense we were not let down. The museum essentially consists of a series of long corridors, with sculptures lined up at intervals along the wall as well as the occasional painting. All the Roman emperors are represented in bust form, with many larger full form pieces as well. Off the corridor were a myriad of interconnected rooms that held collections of paintings. Unfortunately the Uffizi has a no pictures policy, or we would definitely be showing you all of our favorites. The best would have to be the Botticellis - the Birth of Venus and the less well-known Primavera. I think they vie for trip-wide highlights. There were also several dark and extremely violent Carvaggios that drew the eye. Some of the rooms were closed for restoration - including the map room and hall of miniatures, which would have been extremely cool to see. The museum itself also had exquisitely painted ceiling panels that would have kept you busy all day, had you decided to try and take in all the detail. It also had a great view out over the Arno and looking down at the Ponte Vecchio. After a couple of hours we took a break on the outdoor patio, refreshing ourselves before heading back in for more. All in all I would have to say that there are a lot of things to like about the Uffizi. Unlike the Louvre, you don't get intimidated by the size - it works out to a nice morning of museum-ing and you're not all art-ed out by the time your done (I apologize to the English language for that last sentence).

Our next stop was the Baptistry, a Medici chapel in front of the Duomo. Standing next to the cathedral it looked small, but inside it was still quite substantial. Significant Florentine figures had been baptized here in the past, including the poet Dante. The outside is covered in the same green and white marble as the Duomo, although the three sets of doors are even more elaborate - covered in carved or molded copper showing various religious scenes. Inside the decor is rather sparing, until you look up at the roof, which is covered in a beautiful golden mosaic. It really is staggering in its beauty.

Post-Baptistry we had a quick panini and walked over to the Capelle de Medici, next to San Lorenzo church. When you walk in, the entrance is like a basement warehouse and entirely unimpressive. But when you turn the corner into the actual chapel, your socks are nearly blown clear off. The only comparison I can make is to Napoleon's tomb in Paris. It is an enormous, gorgeous, marble inlaid temple to the vanity of the Medicis, of which all the majors are buried here. The layout and craftsmanship is un-paralleled. Even though half of it was covered in scaffold, it was still well worth the visit. The little Michelangelo designed side-chapel has a couple of gorgeous sculptures and a really cool unfinished nave where his ideas for the final design are still scribbled on the wall. Again - no pictures, which was truly a shame.

We next went down to the Galleria dell'Academia, the home of David. Having had some success with a museum reservation and seeing the extremely long queue, we booked some tickets for the following day (2pm this time!) and grabbed ourselves a quick gelato for the cross-town walk to Santa Croce.

In what seems like a recurring theme with Florentine churches, Santa Croce had an elaborate facade covering a somewhat older, plainer main building. Perhaps they all got a group discount when the marble salesman came to town? Santa Croce's main claim to fame are the myriad of important and famous Italians buried within - Gallileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Enrico Fermi, Machiavelli, Dante and Marconi (inventor of the wireless, not the pasta). We even got to see a beautiful statue commemorating our favorite sculptor - Lorenzo Bartolini. By the time we got through it all we were completely bushed and headed back to our hotel for a nice two-hour mid-day nap.

That evening we got all dressed up and walked across the Arno to a restaurant the hotel recommended for my birthday meal. It was quite a treat. If you chose to eat seafood, you would have to walk into the restaurant (we were seated on the patio), where they had an extensive seafood counter like you would have in any good grocery store. There you would pick out what you wanted to eat and let them know how you wanted it done. Fiona and I were overwhelmed and not feeling very creative so we let our waiter make some suggestions. We ended up having a pasta dish with scampi and langoustines followed by a fabulous grilled Mediterranean lobster. Delish! It was an amazing evening with good wine, good food and great company. I'll remember birthday number 35 for quite some time.