It was 27 degrees this morning, Saturday, way below my agreed upon travel temperature, but want can you do. I put on another layer, my fifth, and we headed out to the Accademia Gallery, famous for Michelangelo’s David.
It is a relatively small museum for 12 euros, which I would have gladly paid just to see David. At 17 feet tall, he is the centerpiece of the museum.
Everyone just stands there. People take selfies. Mike overheard an American yesterday on the Ponte Vecchio bridge, “It’s like surreal we are here, bro.” Indeed. And Michelangelo is the same guy who painted the Sistine Ceiling……….whaaaaat????
Like in any life, Michelangelo’s had disruptions also. There was a collection of unfinished statues commissioned by the Pope. Michelangelo moved to Rome and they never were completed. You can see the incomplete statue’s brother, David, at the end of the hall.
Luckily Mike noticed a small sign that said Musical Instrument Museum with an arrow. Well……turns out that was incredible. A collector had over 1,000 renaissance period instruments and later his daughter donated them to various museums. The Stradivarius viola and cello below belonged to the Medici Family in 1690.
Just as at the Uffizi Museum yesterday, the stunningly vivid colors are shocking on paintings from the 1400s..
Sometimes the features are so real you are certain you met that person 600 years ago.
There was a video of how they made the casts which served as forms or models for the marble statues. I watched the whole thing but still don’t understand. I saw a man yesterday at the Uffizi reach out and secretly run his finger along a marble statue, wondering like I was, how how how did they get the marble so smooth centuries before power tools??
We stopped for pastry and coffee near the museum. It was starting to get very crowded in the area. We came home to drop off a few things. I kept hearing loud noises and finally realized there were military sounding jets flying over, back and forth, back and forth. We stepped out onto our terrace and there they were, two planes flying verrrrry low and very fast.
We started to walk to another area, Santa Croce. Again and again, very loud low-flying jets continually flying over. I checked my plane app–nothing. Maybe is was the cold, or our recent incident, maybe it was the nearby war in Ukraine or the earthquake, but I wasn’t in the mood for loud low flying jets. I kept watching people and no one seemed alarmed, but no one knew why they were there either.
Mike found an adorable small store with vintage albums, books, and toys. The clerk there said these types of stores are really disappearing in Florence, and in fact it was one of the few I had seen.
We found like a farmer’s market I remembered from when Katie was here. It was big and busy and we picked up some lunch to have on the terrace. For under $20 we got lasagna, a white cheesy pasta, olives, pecorino cheese, salami, and picked up a $6 bottle of wine. As we walked back it was reeeally good we got lunch because every square, restaurant, and cafe was packed. Like 30 people in line for every single restaurant or stand that sold a sandwich. It took a long time to get back because it was just so busy! Like holiday busy and maybe low-flying jets busy, but we cannot find anything listed.
Katie had told Mike he must go to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sunset because everyone does. So at 4 p.m. We started our 30 minute walk to the piazza on the other side of the Arno and waaaaay up on a hill overlooking the city. People had lined up in all the good spots like at a Disney parade. The sun on the Duomo was in fact beautiful, as you can see from the top photo. And atop the hill over looking city is a bronze copy of David, also made by Michelangelo.
Mike is ready to be out of the city and away from the crowds, like we had planned in Sicily. So tomorrow we rent a car, a Fiat Panda, and head to the Tuscan countryside. WOW.
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