| Erin's Florence Journal #8 4-17-02 Wednesday we had reservations to go to the Uffizi, Florence's premier art gallery, at 1:15. For our morning pastime, we decided to take in the Galleria dell Accademia as well, which is the home of Michelangelo's David. We arrived at the Accademia around 10am, to find a 2-hour line already formed around the building. Rather than wait to get in only to have to leave quickly to make our other appointment, we decided to spend some time catching up on emails. We hung out at the internet cafe for a couple of hours, grabbed lunch, then walked right in to the Uffizi. This museum is HUGE! It has hundreds of works, with masters ranging from Botticelli to Raffaelo to Leonardo da Vinci. Once again, the primary subject matter was religious in nature, but the variety of styles and colors across the ages is very interesting to see. We spent almost 4 1/2 hours there, and still didn't see it all. We purchased museum guide books for Uffizi and the Accademia, in hopes of learning more about what we'd seen. After the museum, we went back to the hostel to get some food. We ordered from the hostel's cafeteria, finally, and found the bargain meals to be quite edible. The conversation is the best part of eating or spending time here, and Glenn the Social Butterfly is in his element chatting up all the other travelers for tips about our next destinations! We really are having fun. This is a wonderful, life-changing experience for both of us. Planning on catching the Accademia at opening time the next morning, we headed to bed early again. This time we made it to sleep by 10:30 - phew, early nite! |
| Bronze Perseus holding Medusa's head, outside Uffizi Gallery |
 |