Day 43 - Saturday 15 June - Florence galleries

Saturday 15 June

The other ticket that had a booked time was the Uffizi, so we were on our way early, and were inside before 9:00.  They have sculptures from Roman times, and paintings mostly from C13-18.  There were some good pieces, some by very famous artists, and others that didn't appeal. We were there for over 5 hours.

 "Adoration of the Child"  Gerrit van Honthorst, c1620

 Medusa the Gorgon, on a shield

 The Ponte Vecchio, from inside Uffizi

We'd brought sandwiches from home, and ate them just t the back door of the gallery.  Then we walked along the riverside and over the Ponte Vecchio and up to the Pitti Palace, which is another grand home owned by the Medici.  Our tickets got us straight in, no waiting, so we went upstairs to the museum - huge numbers of paintings all over every wall, and the royal apartments - not as many furnishings as I hoped. 

 

 "The Sleeping Infant St John"  Carlo Dolci  c1675

By the time we'd finished there, we were just about galleried out.  That was a shame, because our tickets also covered the Boboli Gardens which might have been nice, but you had to climb steps and go up hills.

   On our way back towards the Duomo we could hear drumming, so we cut through some back lanes towards the Uffizi, and came upon a parade of guys in fancy dress, with pikes, or flags or drums or horses, marching along.  They all looked very smart, and some were throwing their flags in the air. 

So the parade went on down the street, and the crowd shuffled through the bottleneck, and we went on to the Duomo.  But there we met another crowd, the Hare Krishnas, who were singing and playing, and pulling a big juggernaut along behind them. 

Never a dull moment in Florence.