Yesterday I headed out early to see the Galleria di Uffizi, which is THE art gallery in Florence. There`s tons of works from artists like Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Carvaggio (a new favorite), Rembrandt, Velazquez, and Botticelli. I got to see The Birth of Venus which, yes, was as amazing as they all say. In fact, all the pieces were amazing. I got there at 8:45am (the gallery opens at 8:15am) and waited in line for almost 2 hours! But it`s kinda cool because they only have 780 people inside the museum at one time, so it`s hardly crowded in the rooms, except in the beginning with all the giant tour groups. (Speaking of tour groups, man they`ve gotten fancy. They have a tour guide speaking into a mic and everyone has headsets that translates into their own language. Very UN style).
I wandered around for 2.5 hours even though the gallery itself isn`t very big. It`s just mindblowing that many of these paintings come from the 13th-17th centuries. I`m also fascinated by art restoration (I`m such a nerd, sometimes I wish I was an Art History major. Very challenging but it`s like unraveling mystery). Afterward, I headed to the gallery bookshop where I expected to throw some dough down for postcards and a book. But I noticed the postcards looked incredibly bland after having seen everything in person. Nothing had life and the reproduction disappointed me. Of course I understand it but right after seeing the works, it was a bit hard to stomach. When I get home though, I plan on ordering the gallery book which explains in detail about all the paintings in the exhibit.
As I started searching for a place to eat lunch, the downpour started. HUGE drops of raining began falling from the sky and before long, Florence was caught in the middle of a thunderstorm. In August. Most people were unprepared, including me in shorts, my long sleeve hoodie and flip flops. Luckily I had my Tilley though! Standing under the eaves of buildings, the enterprisers were already making their way around the streets. One guy selling umbrellas for 15euro, then another coming up with 11euros. Ah, capitalism at it`s best. The rest of the afternoon was a wash though, I didn`t think I was prepared enough to go back out to the sights especially since the possibility of slipping on my ass on the cobbled streets was not my preferred situation! I was by the Duomo so I stopped by a pizza joint which I didn`t expect to be that good since it`s in touristy area but it was pretty good! Plus I was the only American in the whole place, ha ha.
I came back to the hostel and started reading in the dining room (there`s no common lounge area) where some people were playing hold `em. Wish I could`ve joined in but they were in the middle of a game. Turns out they were my friend Ross`roommates so he came in awhile later and we sat and talked for awhile before heading out for some gelato. We just walked around the city because it had stopped raining, made fun of all the drunk tourists and kept walking in circles because Florence is so compact.
Came back after midnight because it was actually cold (jeans and a hoodie in August! Blasphemous anywhere), ran into some drunk Australian girls, then some English girls. They were watching Gladiator in the lounge so we sat out in the garden drinking beer and watching the end. I forgot what a great movie that is, so elegant. Curfew is 2am here but if it`s quiet, they won`t bother you. It`s not a very social place though.
I`m here for 2 more nights which is great since there is still so much to see! I really love this city, it`s beautiful and Italians have been incredibly lovely for the most part. A lot of them just start talking to you and are very interested when they hear you are American.
You know what`s difficult though? Eating out alone! Waiters don`t take to it too well even though wouldn`t it be better to get my money than none at all? One of the nicest waiters was the other night even though he wasn`t actually my waiter, ha ha. I need to find a market around here but that`s been a challenge! Apparently no one cooks at home here, ha!
Today it`s time for the Duomo. I`m exhausted but at least I know I can stand in line for 2 hours!
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