U-ffizi, I-ffizi, We All-ffizi

We awoke this morning to overcast skies and the weather report said a cold front was moving through Northern Europe. Ok, Florence isn't probably Northern Europe, but it was a little colder than usual and we still hadn't figured out the heating system to our apartment.

The bells rang at 7:00 AM as usual. Then they rang after that whenever they wanted. We have tried to count the tolls, but to no avail. In Minori you could set your watch by the bell ringing but in Florence, they ring 27 times at 7:00, and then a full minute at the half hour, then a few times maybe 15 minutes later. You get the picture. Then somedays they ring at 4:00 pm and on other days later. I sometimes wonder if the city has only one bellringer and he/she just runs from church tower to church tower ringing the bells whenever he or she feels like it.

We did our laundry today and are getting pretty good at figuring out these foreign machines. Since it was a cold day we decided to take the clothes to the Lavarapido to dry. This place was not as easy to understand as our wash & dry in Sorrento and luckily another English couple was there too. We finally figured out we needed tokens so we let them put in their 10 Euro first into the machine before we deposited ours. It only took one hour to dry 2 loads and it is such a treat to have machine dried clothes.
We got back to the apartment before it rained and Jim made a great tortellini soup for lunch. We haven't found a good soup yet here so we are sticking with making our own.

Our reservation for the Uffizi was at 3:30 today so we headed out early hoping they would let us in early. They did and we spent the next 2 hours in what is considered one of the world's greatest art galleries of Italian renaissance painting.

The reason I am writing this today is the fact that Jim probably wouldn't be too complementary about the Uffizi. He felt that it isn't all that it is made out to be. PLUS, there are sooooooo many people. And since school kids get in free, the schools are there in full force with the kids.
I just don't see how these school children appreciate any of this art. What is frustrating for us is that there are so many of them, they don't really care about the art, but they cram the already narrow rooms. I wish there was one day when school kids can go to all the museums and we will stay away.

No pictures are allowed at all but Jim did get a picture of the view from the top floor overlooking the Ponte Vecchio. The Medici family donated most of this artwork and it is totally amazing to realize the wealth that this one ruling family owned. Many of the famous art pieces were being restored and rumor has it that the Uffizi is being expanded in the next few years.
We are glad we got into it, we are glad we saw it and if you want to know what is in the Uffizi I suggest going online. There is an excellent virtual tour that actually shows you the artwork and you don't have to stumble over thousands of people in the meantime.

Our walk home was amazing. November 1st and the streets are packed with people! We couldn't believe how many people were out on the streets. I don't think they are all tourists either. What makes it even more difficult is that there are illegal street merchants with their goods spread out on the streets. So you already have a narrow, cobblestone street and thousands of people trying to move in opposite directions, and you have to maneuver your way around the fake sunglasses, purses, and pictures.

We picked up some food from the caffeteria (Florence's answer to fast food) and retired to our nice, warm, cozy apartment for the evening (Jim finally figured out the radiator). Print this post