| A Trip To Tuscany - Day Two |
Our second day in Tuscany started off with a
guided tour of Florence. The two main sites on
this tour was a medieval church that was paid
for by the Medici family and the second site
would be the Uffizi Art Gallery, which is one of
the most famous art gallery’s in the world. In
between the two attractions, we stopped for
lunch at a great little restaurant in the Uffizi
Square across from this large medieval building
with a giant clock tower.
All around Italy, you really struggle to see a
portly Italian person. In fact, I think I may
have only seen one or two the entire trip. One
reason why is that so many of them walk
everywhere they go, but at lunchtime, the
second reason became crystal clear to me. At
our little restaurant I ordered some penne pasta
with pesto sauce and freshly grated Parmesan
cheese. When the waiter brought out my meal,
a tiny bowl filled to the top with pasta, I found
myself asking, “Can I super-size this?” I’m
afraid my request fell on deaf ears, but it was
apparent to me, Italians don’t eat the giant
meal portions that us heavy Americans do.
Before we left to go to Italy, I was told by my
mother-in-law how to dress so as not to stand
out as a tourist. I listened to her advice, but
knowing that with a camera hanging around my
neck the whole time and an obvious look of
bewilderment everywhere I went, I was going to
stick out anyway. One thing she said is that
they don’t wear white tennis shoes or shorts.
Um, it was hot and the streets were old
cobblestones or brick, so I wore my white tennis
shoes and shorts. The Italian women were easy
to pick out from amongst the entire tourists and
believe me, at times, it seemed like there were
more of us tourists in Florence than natives.
The Italian women were well dressed and
navigated the uneven streets with the greatest
of ease in high heel shoes. The tourist women
had their customary flip-flops on. That of
course would include my wife!
The Medici church was under a lot of
construction but was still magnificent to see.
Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take
pictures inside the church or the Uffizi gallery,
but I managed to fire off two pictures inside the
church before I was told not to. In the art
gallery we were treated to many of Michael
Angelo’s work among many other greats. Most
paintings were of a religious origin with the
Virgin Mary seemingly the hot topic in most of
them. The highlight was the twenty-foot tall
statue of David, who was well hung. The
Italians had to move and hide this statue in
World War II for fear that the Nazi’s would
destroy it in one of their bombing raids.
Later that night, we got to pick out of five
different restaurants in Florence to eat dinner
at. I can’t remember the name of the one we
chose, but supposedly they had a really great
wine list. In truth, I don’t really remember for
certain if they did or not, I had finished a bottle
of Brunello di Montalcino in our room before
we even left for dinner and at that point, I
thought everything was wonderful! After dinner
we walked back to the hotel at night. The city
is every bit as beautiful at night as it is during
the day.
guided tour of Florence. The two main sites on
this tour was a medieval church that was paid
for by the Medici family and the second site
would be the Uffizi Art Gallery, which is one of
the most famous art gallery’s in the world. In
between the two attractions, we stopped for
lunch at a great little restaurant in the Uffizi
Square across from this large medieval building
with a giant clock tower.
All around Italy, you really struggle to see a
portly Italian person. In fact, I think I may
have only seen one or two the entire trip. One
reason why is that so many of them walk
everywhere they go, but at lunchtime, the
second reason became crystal clear to me. At
our little restaurant I ordered some penne pasta
with pesto sauce and freshly grated Parmesan
cheese. When the waiter brought out my meal,
a tiny bowl filled to the top with pasta, I found
myself asking, “Can I super-size this?” I’m
afraid my request fell on deaf ears, but it was
apparent to me, Italians don’t eat the giant
meal portions that us heavy Americans do.
Before we left to go to Italy, I was told by my
mother-in-law how to dress so as not to stand
out as a tourist. I listened to her advice, but
knowing that with a camera hanging around my
neck the whole time and an obvious look of
bewilderment everywhere I went, I was going to
stick out anyway. One thing she said is that
they don’t wear white tennis shoes or shorts.
Um, it was hot and the streets were old
cobblestones or brick, so I wore my white tennis
shoes and shorts. The Italian women were easy
to pick out from amongst the entire tourists and
believe me, at times, it seemed like there were
more of us tourists in Florence than natives.
The Italian women were well dressed and
navigated the uneven streets with the greatest
of ease in high heel shoes. The tourist women
had their customary flip-flops on. That of
course would include my wife!
The Medici church was under a lot of
construction but was still magnificent to see.
Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take
pictures inside the church or the Uffizi gallery,
but I managed to fire off two pictures inside the
church before I was told not to. In the art
gallery we were treated to many of Michael
Angelo’s work among many other greats. Most
paintings were of a religious origin with the
Virgin Mary seemingly the hot topic in most of
them. The highlight was the twenty-foot tall
statue of David, who was well hung. The
Italians had to move and hide this statue in
World War II for fear that the Nazi’s would
destroy it in one of their bombing raids.
Later that night, we got to pick out of five
different restaurants in Florence to eat dinner
at. I can’t remember the name of the one we
chose, but supposedly they had a really great
wine list. In truth, I don’t really remember for
certain if they did or not, I had finished a bottle
of Brunello di Montalcino in our room before
we even left for dinner and at that point, I
thought everything was wonderful! After dinner
we walked back to the hotel at night. The city
is every bit as beautiful at night as it is during
the day.
| The Medici Church |
| The Uffizi Square |
| The Duomo Church |
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