BigWeather's Blog

We awoke early, about 6a.  As I’d been curious about how the Brexit vote would turn out I immediately checked out the news on my phone and was mildly shocked by the result.  After a bit of reading and realizing that my family wouldn’t appreciate waking so early I went back to bed for a bit.  We awoke a bit later and eventually headed to breakfast about 9:30a.  While we were eating we heard drumming start out in the Piazza della Signoria.  From the windows overlooking the plaza in the sitting room adjacent to the breakfast room we saw a large group of men in early Renaissance costume waving flags and playing the drums.  It was a part of the celebration of the Feast Day of St. John (or San Giovanni) — a holiday in Florence (and likely why the taxis were on strike the day before as the only thing better than a three-day weekend is a four-day weekend!).

Finally headed out about 11:30a (entirely too late, we’re bad about that) and headed to the nearby famous art museum, the Uffizi.  Michelle and Addison stood in line while I hunted down a FirenzeCard, first (unsuccessfully) at the Museo Galileo then to the Palazzo Vecchio where I bought two.  Addison didn’t need one, being a minor.  The tickets secured, we went for lunch at a local bar.  We all had paninis — Addison a ham and mozzarella, Michelle a mozzarella, tomato, and lettuce, and myself a salami and cheese.  Addison, predictably, didn’t care for his at all.

Returned to the Uffizi and after a short wait (due to the FirenzeCard) were admitted.  Addison got in free even (technically they can charge four euros for accompanying minors but they didn’t).  The place was massive!  The first rooms were mainly Middle Ages’ church art, predominantly the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus.  It was interesting seeing the crude (and sometimes unsettling creepy) art become increasingly life-like.  The subject matter also became less and less religious and begin to incorporate portraiture of government officials, nobles, and the like and eventually culminate with truly amazing paintings and sculptures of humans, often centered around not only Christian but also Greek and Roman mythological themes.

There was also a room, the Tribuna, built in 1584 and sumptuously decorated and packed with many paintings and the gorgeous classical sculpture the Venus de’ Medici.  For hundreds of years it was one of the major stops on the Grand Tour that many aristocrats took throughout Europe.

The following rooms had increasingly secular art such as the famous portrait of the duke and duchess of Urbino.  The windows of the central hallways afforded many beautiful views of the Arno as well as the Duomo.

Beyond the early Christian art Michelangelo’s “Doni Tondo”, Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, and da Vinci’s “Annunciation” were of course stand-outs.  The colors of “Doni Tondo” really popped, whereas I thought “Birth of Venus” was a bit more muted (though bigger) than I expected.  Also check out the really odd sculpted heads that come out of the ornate frame of “Doni Tondo”.

The latter rooms were filled with later art, including much Dutch art from the 1600s — darker, a bit more depressing, a lot of still life of dead birds and animals and such.  There was also a special exhibition on painted wooden religious art — crucifixes, statues, etc.  On the way out we bought a magnet and then headed back outside where it was quite hot.

We walked around the corner to the Museo Galileo, a museum backed with loads of cool instruments, globes, telescopes, you name it.  Of particular note were Galileo’s instruments, telescopes, and his middle, index, and thumb bones (ick).  It was extraordinary that in 1609 his telescope let him see so many details of the celestial bodies.  His telescopes, and indeed most of the instruments throughout the museum, were not only functional but also works of art.  Some came in remarkable cases like one that looked like a book.

The museum contained not only instruments from Galileo’s time (the late 1500s to early 1600s) but also on into the 19th century — a time when science became en vogue and traveling exhibitions offering in-house demonstrations were common.  Finally in the basement was an exhibit about the severe flood that struck Florence in 1966, a flood that destroyed most everything on exhibit down there.

As it was approaching evening we wrapped up our visit to the museum and headed back outside where there was once again drumming.  It would be our luck to stumble upon a parade of hundreds of men in Renaissance dress — flag bearers, pikes, a small cannon team, horsemen, and government officials with black robes and books heading east from Piazza della Signoria.  It stopped traffic completely, with the exception of a tour bus loaded with a local football (soccer) team.  While I watched the parade and snapped photos Michelle and Addison brought me a yummy strawberry gelato.

We headed back to the room for a hour-and-a-half siesta then headed out later looking for some clothes.  We made a reservation at Antico Fattore, a Trattoria first opened in 1865 for 9p.  In the meantime I worked on the blog in the room for an hour or so.  The restaurant was a bit cozy, with the three of us sharing a table with three young ladies from a German-speaking country.  We didn’t bother them and likewise they didn’t bother us.  The staff was really friendly.  We had water, Cokes, and some red wine.  While the bread wasn’t great the rest was.  Michelle had tomato bread soup and grilled chicken with cheese on top.  Addison and I shared a 1.5kg bone-in steak, fries, and onion rings.  While very good (though not seasoned enough for Addison’s taste) the steak was quite expensive.  Still worth the experience as Tuscany is known for it.  Wasn’t a huge fan of the wine — I think it is time to just throw in the towel on notions that I’ll ever appreciate it.

We headed back to the room at about 10:30p, after which I blogged until bed a bit after midnight.