The weather was unstable..
we left Rome at the perfect time..
just before they had a tornado..
but Florence was not spared,
the river below is the
Arno.
What is normally quite calm ...
became a sea of mocha..
these were photos that I shot on the way in to town..
in the morning..
and you can still see the green river bank on the other side..
by the time we left
the brown water writhed from side to side of the block wall..
Our guide took us to
Santa Croce Square
which was lovely..
and pointed out several sights
we had some time for shopping
 |
| Santa Croce, and the square in Florence... |
and then because time was short,
we headed to the Uffizi Gallery
which had been on my list of "must sees"
from the time I was a young teenager..
two special artists
had work in the Gallery
and
 |
| Filippo Lippi, Madonna and child with two Angels, Uffizi Gallery |
oddly enough they not only knew each other but
they were teacher and student..
which was something I had not known..
Filippo Lippi
and
Sandro Botticelli
If you have time to view my
YouTube
channel and watch
An Artist in Europe,
I have stories about both of these artists..
one thing I failed to mention in the video was
that I was interested in seeing the Botticelli works
specifically the
Birth of Venus
and
Primavera
because most of Botticelli's Pagan works
were burned when he came under the spell of
Savonarola
the religious zealot of the time..
known for burning more than images on
canvas..
 |
| The halls of the Uffizi are endless and filled with statuary.. |
this amazing gallery was once the home of the
Medici family, who were
bankers..
it is an impressive building...
below, the view
of the
Ponte Vecchio
from inside the Uffizi...
This shot below, gives you a good idea of the enormity
of the museum..
which is on the left and the right
and since it was a "Free" day
all of Florence was lined up to go to the museum
as well as the tourists..
we had membership passes and
sailed past the line,
which was
really
fabulous...
But..
The lines inside the Museum were
unbelievably long...
and we did not have time to wait..
so I missed many things that I wanted
to see..
but that means I will have to see them
on the return trip...
The Fleur De Lis
or
Giglio
in Italian
is the crest of the city of
Florence..
and you will find it everywhere..
The roof top garden and cafe at the
top of the Uffizi above would have been packed if
it was not rainy and cold..
but we still enjoyed the view..
We ate pizza near the Duomo
above and had a nice lunch while the rain drenched everything and everyone..
we had a bumbersol on the ship..
but they did not allow them in the Uffizi
so we would have had to discard it..
so we bought one on the way back to
Croce Square below..
and the rain finally stopped..
but it washed everything clean and
made wonderful puddles in the
old stone square..
at this point we were headed to
Aix-En- Provence
And I will eventually show you
those photos too..
Along with Barcelona, Mallorca and the Canary Islands..
but for now..
ciao, ciao!
