2014-03-30 Florence

 Sunday was another quiet day for us as we didn't have any fixed plans.  We walked to Kara's and took a few more photos of the Arno River.  There were many people using the river, some kayaking, and some crewing.


We decided to visit Boboli Gardens, which was a home to the Medici family as they ruled Florence. It is a very large garden area (about 11 acres) full of statues, ponds and gardens.  The gardens were only used by the family and never brought in outsiders.  The views of Florence are breathtaking.

After spending time in the garden we rewarded ourselves with more gelato.  Each store has such a variety of flavors, it is hard to decide what to try.

One of the museums we wanted to go to while we were here was the Accademia Gallery, where the statue of David is housed.  This was not the first home of the statue, as it originally was on the Palazzo della Signoria until 1873.  We did not have reservation tickets, so we waited in the walk up line for about 45 minutes before we were let in.  You had to pass through metal detectors and x-ray your bags before you could get in.  we had to leave our olive pate at the desk and reclaim it later.  A few years ago, someone brought in a hammer and started to destroy the statue and broke off some toes from one foot before he was subdued.  The statue is much larger than I expected, over 15' tall, and since it is housed indoors, seems even larger.  Inside the gallery, there were another 4 unfinished statues that Michelangelo had started for the tomb of Pope Julius II.  The size and time for each sculpture made me wonder how much help and support he had for the rough and finish carving as there must have been a very large team he was guiding.

For dinner, we went to a Greek restaurant for a little variety.  On the way there, we stopped at the merry-go-round in Piazz
a della Repubblica, which is the government center.  A little closer to the restaurant, we saw a building with what looked like a bunch of post it notes on it.  What they ended up being was a bunch of photos copies of dollar bills on blue paper adhered to an old abandoned building.  Another piece of modern art in this city of ancient and modern art.

We did find the restaurant, although it didn't open until 7:30 (and it was only 6:30), so we stopped at little sidewalk cafe and had a glass of wine before dinner.  The wait was worth it, as with almost all the food we had, it was very good and fresh.