After that painful hour I went to see Donatello's David at the Bargello and walked around mercato nuovo, Piazza Republica and Piazza Strozzi. Per Kevin's suggestion I decided to go see the Medici Chapels and grabbed a panini (from my favorite place) on the way. The bigger chapel, Chapel of the Princes, had really stunning colored marble -- I don't think I've ever seen anything like it -- and I really enjoyed the smaller chapel, the 'New Sacristy,' which was designed by Michelangelo. I was totally exhausted after all of this so around 2:00 I went back to my hostel and slept for a bit. At 3:00, feeling much better, I went to the Uffizi. Fortunately, I had a reservation so I really only had to wait in line for about ten minutes. And though it was crowded inside, it wasn't half as bad as the Vatican Museums. I was totally stunned by the museum's impressive collection. In every room there was something thrilling to see up close. It's crazy how unbelievably different Giotto's Madonna and Child looks in real life as opposed to on the art history projector. I particularly enjoyed the Boticelli and Titian rooms to name a couple highlights. I'm not sure if I remembered to mention this yesterday but The Pitti Palace and the Uffizi are doing a joint exhibition on Caravaggio. It includes several important Caravaggio paintings as well as rooms and rooms full of paintings by his school of followers. I kind of sped through those at the palace, but at the Uffizi, the exhibition included a wonderful room of Artemesia Gentileschi paintings which I spent about 20 minutes admiring. Overall, it was a really great museum experience.
After exploring the impressive Uffizi collection for about three hours I decided to search for a leather wallet and purse store called 'High Class' that was supposed to be nearby. My mom bought a wallet at their store in Milan (six years ago?) and liked it because it had an 'H' (for Harris) on the front. Anyway, I planned on buying her another one here since they also supposedly had a store in Florence. I looked up the address online before leaving and wandered around the block searching for it for about 15 minutes. Finally, I decided to ask someone who worked in another shop on the street and she had never heard of it. She directed me to this old shoe-repair store where the owner was an old man who spoke only Italian but somehow recognized the words 'High Class.' He took me down the street to this shop I had passed many times and introduced me to the owner there. That man spoke perfect english and had been the owner of 'High Class' before it closed about five years ago. Apparently, they were sued by Hermes (for using the 'H') for 35,000 dollars and had to go out of business. So unfortunately, I couldn't replace the wallet, but I had a good time talking to the guy whose company totally collapsed. (Mom, he told me to say hi and apologize about the wallet.) Apparently the carabinieri confiscated everything and then denied it. Who knows...
After that whole ordeal I found the strength to cross the river and climb the Piazzale Michelangelo (per Eric's recommendation) which was a bit of a hike but provided a perfect, uninterrupted view of the city. I meant to see it at sunset but unfortunately, my timing was a little off and I was too tired to wait around for another hour. After enjoying another of the city's copies of David, I took the bus back to the city center. I came back and hung out with people from the hostel on our lovely porch and will probably relax for the rest of the night. Tomorrow I'm starting the day at the Academia so I'll finally get to see the real David.
Glad you had such an exciting time at the Uffizi. (Next time, take me with you, OK? I haven't been there since 1988!)Sorry the tour of the Palazzo vecchio was so puerile.
ReplyDeleteAnd give my best to David!
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Jenny, what a time you are having! I finally [think] I've figured out how to post a comment. I have a series of comments: 1) I always encourage audio tours because they let you look at the art instead of reading. But you can become obsessive about listening to everything they have to say. But they help you pause and contemplate a single piece when sometimes you would not. 2) I so remember the Carravagio impact. So many in so many unlikely spots. You'll find the same thing happening in other cities. Sudden clusters of people you have never noticed or taken seriously before. In Venice I remember Bellini and Vivarini as discoveries. 3) I'm SO glad you loved Trastevere. I hope you got to see the Cavallini [?] mosaics there. I loved the square, filled with people eating, but with kids playing by the fountain. 4) I'm impressed by how happy you have been with your food. Eating cheap is a fact of life on "student" trips to Europe. I remember spending way too much time trying to save 100 lira on a cheaper "menu turistico." Often you remember the setting and the people as much as the food. But you've been lucky with the food as well. 5) Don't worry too much about quirky lectures. It may seem like you're wasting time as it's happening, but it's already made a great story. 6) And speaking of stories, the stories about the man who helped to retrieve your "left behind" box and the talk with the leather goods man were both wonderful. You can't plan those things [and as you know, I try to plan way too much]. But those sort of encounters are often what you remember most. On our Russia trip, encounters--both positive and negative--with the docents in the many "house museums" are some of our best memories.
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