Thursday, January 31, 2008

Day 7 - Florence, Italy (Uffizi)

We decided to visit the Uffizi Gallery today, and since it's not high-season, we didn't need reservations. The Uffizi is one of the oldest museums in the world with a HUGE collection of Italian and Renaissance art.

It contains famous works from Cimabue, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Caravaggio and of course, Botticelli. How incredible to stand in front of all this artwork I studied for so long...and I've forgotten so much! Slides do none of this justice. I literally have to consciously think to close my hanging-open mouth when standing in from of the Birth of Venus in the Botticelli room.

After we're art-ed out...we decided to return to lunch at Coquinarius. We meet a student from California who is living in Florence for 8 months to go to language school. I'm ridiculously excited for her, and dream of having the guts to do that in my life (again!).

For the afternoon, we head across town to the Leonardo DaVinci Museum. They have built actual examples of DaVinci's drawings, including his bicycle, a small tank, and gear shift. It's amazing to see what he designed so many years ago...that we still use today, like a differential.

We return to the Mercato Nuovo to shop the leather markets and generally enjoy wandering around Florence. (Sometimes, it's hard to believe we're actually in ITALY!!!)
For dinner we head to Il Grilio near Piazza Santa Maria Novella for pizza. Great pizza, typical Italian service. Afterward, we cross the Arno to check out the only craft-brewery in Florence at Il Bavaro Brewery.
It's pretty cool to see the old city walls and gates, and Florence is just as beautiful at night as during the day.

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