Uffizi Gallery- Florence

March 1, 2009
FLORENCE
Today I went to the Uffizi Gallery. It houses many masterpieces. Florence truly is the ‘birthplace of the Renaissance’. It was wonderful to see all these paintings. But man, that lineup is sure to discourage the weak. I wasn’t even going to line-up but Heather convinced me that I had to, then she left. Haha I hate waiting. I don’t think I have ever waited in line for two hours. Luckily I had brought snacks. There was nowhere to sit either. It was cloudy and rainy too!! But it was all worth it in the end.
I saw the masterpieces of Botticelli and a few of Leonardo’s as well. There were a bunch of statues and busts lining the hallways but I don’t know who did them. The Gallery has quite the wide array of pieces. Many different styles and mediums. I saw the ‘Adoration of the Magi’ by Leonardo da Vinci but I think my favorites were the two most famous Botticelli’s: ‘Spring’ and ‘Birth of Venus. I also stumbled across Caravaggio’s ‘Bacchus’ and ‘Medusa’ in the basement. I remember seeing that one in elementary school when I studied the Renaissance. I think Caravaggio is very talented but all his paintings are so dark. Not a fan of the darkness. I also saw the classic ‘Piero della Francesca’ which is the guy in the red with the wife with Princess Leia hair? The Tuscan countryside in the background? It is a very famous painting of the Renaissance.
I left the museum after about two hours and after wandering through the giftshop FULL of wonderful books!! It was definitely a test of my restraint to not buy everything. I just picked up a couple postcards before heading out into the rain. I walked back to the hostel through the lovely Florentine market full of leather, knickknacks, Murano glass, Florentine paper products etc. I couldn’t resist a pretty magenta leather wallet for €15.
For dinner Heather and I got some pasta with pesto (another cheap dinner- €1 each). We ended up going to bed very early because we are going to hike Cinque Terre in the morning!

EMBLEM OF THE DAY
Seeing the gorgeous Botticelli paintings that I have seen countless time in books,
in person.