Well, I thought for sure I would be well wrapped up on all these Italy vacation posts by now, but have really been pummeled with work in the last week and half. I would guess this was perhaps the busiest I had been work-wise in well over a year, so while it is frustrating to have lost momentum on these posts (as well as my picture posting), I have to say it is a good thing to be busy with work ... as that is what makes these kind of trips possible!
So, Day 6 of our trip was our second and last full day in Florence. We had contemplated taking a Tuscany side trip during our stay in Florence. Originally we were thinking Pisa but had switched to Bologna on the solid advice of my friend Jen... but alas, our time seemed so short in Florence and with a scheduled time to visit the Accademia Gallery to see Michelangelo's David in the afternoon... and really loving the city, there was no reason for us to leave Florence. Next time!
This is perhaps the hardest day for me to have had to recreate in my head as there were so few pictures of it. I had done a good job of photographing most of the city in the first day and half, that I think I shot less than a dozen shots the entire day... and given I shot close to 1,000 over the course of the entire vacation, you can see how strange a day this way. But I have to remind myself sometimes, that I need to "see"... experience!... these places for myself and not soley through a camera lens.
After yet another high-carb, protein challenged breakfast we walked over to the Palazzo Pitti. A Medici palace, but now of course a museum! Knowing we really didn't have time to do the museum, I thought we'd at least get to walk around it and check out another panoramic view of the city, but alas that did not happen. The gardens were closed, so I don't know if that is what would have provided us "free" access but again just didn't happen. Would probably go inside... next time! And ditto, I guess for the Uffuzi... if you haven't figure it out, museums tend not to be high on my to-do list.
We walked back towards the duomo and picked up our tickets for the weekend gelato festival. I have kind of lost track what I have and have not mentioned... but Italy is just gelato crazy. I really don't know how all the shops survive, but given the number of folks eating it maybe it is not such a stretch (just wonder what happens when it's cold and/or rainy?). Anyhow, we each got a combo ticket that allowed us 6 gelato tastings for 4 Euros, not a bad deal... though I thought there would be more sampling booths all around the city than there were, but we did just fine at the booths around the centrally located duomo.
So while the gelato samples contributed to the best 24 hours of food we had on our vacation, it was really dinner the previous night and then a trip over to the Mercato Centrale for lunch. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out this was the Central Market and just a great collection of stalls (indoors) with every type of meat, fish, vegetable, etc. you can imagine... and definitely a (pardon the pun) taste of local life, though certainly there were plenty of foodie-gift type shops trying to lure tourists as well.
Our primary reason to go there was to go to Nerbone for bagnato, a boiled beef sandwich. It was kind of intimidating... just a walk-up counter that had the bustle and attitude of a NYC deli.. you needed to know what you wanted and move right along from some very serious old school Italian guys. Fortunately, "beef sandwich" is universal and we were on our way to wait for it to be prepared right before our eyes. I opted to get both the green (pesto-y) and spicy red sauce... and let me tell you, it was a little bit of heaven. It may not have looked like anything special .. but a perfect roll to soak up all the juices , tender beef that just melted in your mouth with a nice kick from the flavorful sauces... and 2 sandwiches for under 10 Euros, which likely made it probably the most inexpensive meal of the entire trip. It's only too bad that we "found" it (another Jen recommendation, plus highlighted in our guide book) a bit late as we would have likely had it everyday for lunch... or we even joked that we would have gone back the same day for dinner!
Then it was off to the Accademia Gallery to see David. While I didn't seem like the same-day, walk-up ticket line was too bad, it did save some time to buy the tickets in advance via the Internet and we walked right in just before our assigned time. It is in fact a "gallery" vs. a museum, so not a whole lot there... but what is there is pretty amazing, The Rape of the Sabine Woman, Michelangelo's unfinished Slaves... and then, David. Now we had seen plenty of David recreations in Florence... and certainly seen the Vegas versions of it, but let me say the original was simply stunning!
Now, photography was not allowed inside the gallery... I knew that going in... and they have many staff members around the David statue to prevent the photos... though in our short visit, there were a handful of folks who got a couple of photos off with either their phone or small camera. While I was usually respectful of the "no photography" rules in places, I just had to try and get something... so I snuck behind a pillar and managed to get this shot off with my iPhone:
Not bad, huh?!! I felt a little guilty, but got over it.
Okay, given how long it took me just to get this entry out I think I will stop it here and do the dinner wrap-up (another good one) and our farewell to Florence in the next post (but can't/won't promise when that'll be)!
Comments