Florence

Sunday 6/21/09
Today started with rain, which was good and bad. It was good because we planned on spending the morning at the Uffizi, bad because everyone else in Florence seemed to change their plans to go to a museum on a rainy day as well. We got to the museum 10 minutes before it opened, and still managed to wait in line for an hour. I think it was still better then it might have been, as we were leaving the line was more then 4 times what it was at 8am. We went through every inch of that gallery, but towards the end of it, the rooms were getting crowded enough that it wasn’t as much fun to linger over paintings to read the full descriptions. After the museum in the morning we grabbed sandwiches for lunch and then headed back to the room for a quick nap. The nap was much needed, as both of us had tossed and turned last night. We’ve decided that the bed sags in the middle, which explains why both of us have woken up with back aches (we both like to sleep on our stomachs). After the nap we went out again feeling much refreshed. We stopped for gelato and listened to a fantastic opera singer in one of the piazzas. Then we went to Santa Croix. After that we went across the river and walked for a long ways up the hill to find out that Boboli Gardens was closed. That was frustrating; we were both looking forward to that. So we went to our next item on the schedule, which was having a picnic dinner at Piazza Michelangelo and to see a sunset over looking the city. We were a little early, so we admired the view from multiple angles, then settled down to write some post cards and read a book in the sun. We got up to get a panini and a small pizza from a local shop, along with a bottle of Chianti wine to split. The wine was very good, and the sunset was stunning. The sunset may have been more stunning because of the wine, but I’ll know when I look at the pictures tomorrow. We stayed around a little after sunset to watch the lights come on, and attempt a few night photos of the city. The walk home was pleasantly uneventful. Tomorrow is our last day in Florence. This city has been wonderful to us. Despite the car traffic that was initially off putting, Florence has proved itself to be a highly accessible pedestrian city which is full of hidden wonders.