Day 5: Florence

When we initially planned this day, we were surprised to learn that Rick Steves'experience is that tourists rarely spend more than two hours in the Uffizi gallery, Italy's premiere museum for Renaissance painting. Rick is trustworthy and we tend to have good luck when we follow his suggestions, so we planned for two hours to tour the gallery. Instead we spent almost five hours there. The paintings were stunning. Two of John's favorites were The Scullery Maid and a painting by Federico Della Francesca. Adam liked Caravaggio's Medusa and the paintings of crosses.


The Scullery Maid


Painting by Federico Della Francesca


Caravaggio's Medusa


Painting of the Cross

We had a quick lunch at the Central market, a kind of permanent farmer's market, then it was off to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. Not only does the Accademia house the David, but it also holds a series of intentionally unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo collectively titled The Prisoners. You feel as though the figures are pulling themselves free of the plain stone before your eyes. Incredible!

A walking tour after the Accademia led to a delicious Aperol Spritz, dinner at a pasta house, and gelato on the Arno... This trip is going by too fast!


The Duomo


The Palazzo Vecchio

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