Day #4 - Becoming true Florentines

Hello again all! It seems like I start every entry with "today was another relaxing day...", but every day so far that seems to be true - and that's just the way we like it. :) Today was now the third day we've spent in Florence, and so by this point it's cool because I feel like I know the city really well and no longer feel like just a tourist. We weren't even using our maps to navigate the crazy streets today because we've figured out the city layout so well. Katie and I definitely agree that we like it better this way, to take our time in each city, instead of being in a new city each day. It's so much less overwhelming that way, and less stressful! :)

Anyway, so today we got up SUPER early - at 6:45 - to eat a quick breakfast and then head off to the Uffizi Gallery, which is, according to my good buddy Rick Steves "the best collection of Italian paintings in captivity." If he says it, it must be true. :) We had heard from many sources about the looong lines there - our guidebook advised to book it a month in advance even, but since we hadn't, we knew our best option was going before it opened. We showed up at 7:45, a half hour before it opened, and still were maybe the 50th or so people in line. We ended up waiting over an hour still to get in, but it wasn't that bad. We then spent over two hours exploring the Uffizi, which had room after room of art, from the 13th to 17th centuries. The first few rooms were all Florentine art - lots of gold gilded alterpieces with the Madonna and baby, Adoration of the Magi, etc. They're cool, but start all looking the same after awhile. Then, there was the Botticelli room, with the Birth of Venus. It's always cool when I recognize a piece of art. After that, just more Italian art - some da Vincis, Caravaggios, Titian, and Michelangelo's only surviving painting. Cool, but by the end we decided we were all art-galleried-out. :)

After the museum, we left (and smiled when we saw the 2 hour long line of people waiting outside) and went to the train station to book our reservation to Venice. (We have a Eurail pass, but some trains still require an extra reservation). We're now all set to leave tomorrow, at 11:27! I'm definitely excited for a new city. :)

After lunch, we walked through most of Florence again, starting off in the market, which is dangerous every time because we always end up buying more stuff! Today I bought another t-shirt - that's now 2 more shirts I have to somehow fit in my backpack... :) It was crowded today though, so we eventually got out of there and headed across the river to the Pitti Palace, which has more art museums and some gardens. We were going to go in, but when got there we saw that the prices were a lot higher than we thought - 11.50 euro for some semi-famous paintings. So, we decided to go back to our hostel instead, for an afternoon siesta! :) Siestas are always a good idea, in my opinion. :)

Tonight, we went to dinner at a place close to our hostel, and I tried the pasta with truffle sauce. I had been SO confused yesterday because I saw the word for truffle - tartufo - is the same as what they called the amazing "death by chocolate" ice cream Christine and I had had in Rome. We were like - chocolate sauce, on pasta? But, we finally found out today that it also means truffle, as in the rare mushroom. Makes a lot more sense. :)

For dessert tonight - a requirement of every day - we found a gelateria that had waffles! So we had warm waffles, with gelato on top, and chocolate sauce on top of that - mmm mmm. :) Tonight we hung out a little bit with some friends we made at our hostel, but now I'm off to bed again - got to get the full 8 hours to be ready for another big day of travel! :)

Until next time,
Debra