Day 81 Uffizi Gallery - Firenze
Thursday, September 20, 2018.
Today was a special day: Andrea had spoken to his friend on the art protection division of the Carabinieri (state police), who works at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. He was working today and would be happy to escort us into the museum! This would save us at least $50 and hours in line.
We were set to meet at the Palazzo Vecchio at 11:00am. We decided to leave some extra time, so we took the 9:56 train, which normally takes 12 minutes. What could go wrong? Well, at least today the train arrived on time. But then it sat at the station for another 15 minutes. Finally, the conductor said we were waiting for another train to pass. A few minutes later, the train began to roll. We made it to the only stop between Caldine and Florence, another almost-empty station, where we sat, again, for 15 minutes, this time without any announcements. 40 minutes after the ride began, we finally pulled into the station!
I wondered out loud how people can live like this. I mean, you have to plan for things to go wrong, and to leave early, or get there late -- imagine if we had a meeting at 10:30? We would have missed it! But Italians expect to be late, or expect things not to work. It's part of their culture, which I think is another thing the immigrants will be good for -- changing that attitude. Things can be on time, and they can work the way they are supposed to. Just because it's always been that way doesn't mean it can't (or shouldn't) change! But when we tell Italians that, they look at us like we are crazy gringos.
We arrived at the Palazzo Vecchio with about 5 minutes to spare. Andrea met us, introduced us to his friend, who took us in through an employee entrance, up the back elevator, and through the line past the ticket taker. Awesome!
We spent about 4 hours in the museum, which was blessedly free of crowds. I mean, it wasn't empty, but there was plenty of room, and you could see the paintings you wanted to see from inches away, even the most famous like Botticelli's Birth of Venus or Leonardo's Annunciation. This was a real treat, but the kids were getting tired.
At the end of the second floor (where we started), there is an indoor/outdoor cafeteria. You can also go out on the terrace for stunning views of the Palazzo Vecchio next door and the Duomo. After we took some pictures, we sat on the bench and ate our snack. Daniel, our personal police force, pointed out the sign that said, No Picnic/No Smoking. We pointed out to him that we weren't having a picnic, just a piece of fruit. Everyone else was ignoring both of those signs, anyway. Like traffic lights in Italy, it was merely a suggestion.
We walked downstairs to see more paintings by Titian and Caravaggio, among others. I asked the guard and finally found the painting of Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman admitted to the Accademia in Florence, the one I had read about! It is one of the only paintings of this biblical story where Judith is seen killing Holofernes, not just calmly holding his head afterwards, and, as a woman, Artemisia caught the female emotion of the moment and even shows Judith and her maid, which makes more sense than a man helping her.
Next, we found the Rembrandt section. The kids sat on a bench while we spent several minutes face to face with Rembrandt and his characters. The darkened room was almost empty, so we could spend as much time as we needed, examining the canvas and the brushstrokes. We even found a few Flemish paintings that Sunshine and Daniel had read about before we left, which perked them up a little.
We left after that, and Gregory found another kebab shop, which was good because it was after 3:00 so all self-respecting Italian restaurants were closed! The wraps were enormous, we shared 3 and were stuffed.
What a difference between the Uffizi and the Vatican! At the Uffizi, we got to see some of the most famous paintings in the world, up close, and spend as much or as little time as we wanted. No mobs, no pressure to move on. While the adult ticket price was 20 euros, it is free for anyone under 18, which made it cheaper than the Vatican, too (17 per adult, 8 per child). I guess at the Vatican most of the art we saw was actually part of the building.
After eating, we shopped for a while, the girls for clothes and the boys for watch repair. After that, we headed back to the train station where we caught the train back to Caldine. Wonder Woman, aka Cinzia, came to pick us up, we were too exhausted to walk up the hill!
Cinzia made polenta for dinner, which is really just cornmeal. For toppings, you could choose meat sauce (ragu'), veggies, olive oil, or Parmesan cheese. That woman never stops! We went to bed early, for a change.
Today was a special day: Andrea had spoken to his friend on the art protection division of the Carabinieri (state police), who works at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. He was working today and would be happy to escort us into the museum! This would save us at least $50 and hours in line.
We were set to meet at the Palazzo Vecchio at 11:00am. We decided to leave some extra time, so we took the 9:56 train, which normally takes 12 minutes. What could go wrong? Well, at least today the train arrived on time. But then it sat at the station for another 15 minutes. Finally, the conductor said we were waiting for another train to pass. A few minutes later, the train began to roll. We made it to the only stop between Caldine and Florence, another almost-empty station, where we sat, again, for 15 minutes, this time without any announcements. 40 minutes after the ride began, we finally pulled into the station!
I wondered out loud how people can live like this. I mean, you have to plan for things to go wrong, and to leave early, or get there late -- imagine if we had a meeting at 10:30? We would have missed it! But Italians expect to be late, or expect things not to work. It's part of their culture, which I think is another thing the immigrants will be good for -- changing that attitude. Things can be on time, and they can work the way they are supposed to. Just because it's always been that way doesn't mean it can't (or shouldn't) change! But when we tell Italians that, they look at us like we are crazy gringos.
We arrived at the Palazzo Vecchio with about 5 minutes to spare. Andrea met us, introduced us to his friend, who took us in through an employee entrance, up the back elevator, and through the line past the ticket taker. Awesome!
We spent about 4 hours in the museum, which was blessedly free of crowds. I mean, it wasn't empty, but there was plenty of room, and you could see the paintings you wanted to see from inches away, even the most famous like Botticelli's Birth of Venus or Leonardo's Annunciation. This was a real treat, but the kids were getting tired.
At the end of the second floor (where we started), there is an indoor/outdoor cafeteria. You can also go out on the terrace for stunning views of the Palazzo Vecchio next door and the Duomo. After we took some pictures, we sat on the bench and ate our snack. Daniel, our personal police force, pointed out the sign that said, No Picnic/No Smoking. We pointed out to him that we weren't having a picnic, just a piece of fruit. Everyone else was ignoring both of those signs, anyway. Like traffic lights in Italy, it was merely a suggestion.
We walked downstairs to see more paintings by Titian and Caravaggio, among others. I asked the guard and finally found the painting of Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman admitted to the Accademia in Florence, the one I had read about! It is one of the only paintings of this biblical story where Judith is seen killing Holofernes, not just calmly holding his head afterwards, and, as a woman, Artemisia caught the female emotion of the moment and even shows Judith and her maid, which makes more sense than a man helping her.
Next, we found the Rembrandt section. The kids sat on a bench while we spent several minutes face to face with Rembrandt and his characters. The darkened room was almost empty, so we could spend as much time as we needed, examining the canvas and the brushstrokes. We even found a few Flemish paintings that Sunshine and Daniel had read about before we left, which perked them up a little.
We left after that, and Gregory found another kebab shop, which was good because it was after 3:00 so all self-respecting Italian restaurants were closed! The wraps were enormous, we shared 3 and were stuffed.
What a difference between the Uffizi and the Vatican! At the Uffizi, we got to see some of the most famous paintings in the world, up close, and spend as much or as little time as we wanted. No mobs, no pressure to move on. While the adult ticket price was 20 euros, it is free for anyone under 18, which made it cheaper than the Vatican, too (17 per adult, 8 per child). I guess at the Vatican most of the art we saw was actually part of the building.
After eating, we shopped for a while, the girls for clothes and the boys for watch repair. After that, we headed back to the train station where we caught the train back to Caldine. Wonder Woman, aka Cinzia, came to pick us up, we were too exhausted to walk up the hill!
Cinzia made polenta for dinner, which is really just cornmeal. For toppings, you could choose meat sauce (ragu'), veggies, olive oil, or Parmesan cheese. That woman never stops! We went to bed early, for a change.
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| Boticelli |
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| One of my mom's favorite paintings by Botticelli |
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| The Birth of Venus by Botticelli |
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| I love this face by Boticelli |
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| Botticelli |
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| Beautiful ceiling, we could just sat and admire it! |
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| Tired kids |
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| Leonardo de Vinci (unfinished) |
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| Portrait of Leonardo di Vinci from painting above |
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| Holy family by Rafael |
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| Adoration of the Magi by Albrecht Durer. Daniel loved this painting because of the bugs. |
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| Know as Madona of the long neck by Il Parmigianino |
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| Tiziano |
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| I read the life of this amazing woman painter and looked for her painting. Judith Beheading Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi |
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| Gregory admiring a Rembrandt |
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