Ponte Veechio

The Uffizi and other Adventures
Our mission for Day 2 of Florence was to conquer the Uffizi, a mammoth art museum that houses thousands of famous artworks. It was mind-boggling – halls the length of football fields and what seemed like hundreds of connecting rooms.  There was so much to see that we needed to take a coffee break in the middle of our visit. The Uffizi has a great rooftop café and terrace. The sparrows there are very aggressive. I was holding a sandwich in one hand and turned my attention to my coffee cup and this sparrow fly right up snatched a tiny bite of my sandwich. Amy yelled out, otherwise I might not have noticed at all. These would never be so bold when you were looking right at them. They lined up on the ground – waiting till you looked away – smart birds!

We also walked around to see more sights, such as the Loggia dei  Lanzi, which is a fabulous front porch with a load of great sculptures, including Perseus with the(severed) Head of Medusa by Cellini. David no# 2 is right next door in front of the Palazzo Veechio. The Ponte Veechio is a famous bridge with a built-in shopping district which undoubtedly inspired the American strip mall. We crossed the Arno River and walked past the Palazzo Pitti but decided not to go in.

After the sensory overload of Uffizi, intoxicating though it was, I felt I needed a break from all the culture. I suggested we hike up into the hills, which can be done in about twenty minutes in a small town like Florence – it was great! Once we got up into the hills, we could see all the red tiled roofs of Florence down below us, it was the perfect antidote for the tourist jitters.

After communing with nature, we came back down from the hills on a different twisting road than we had ventured up on. We crossed the river again, this time on Ponte Amerigo Vespucci – that’s right! The same Amerigo Vespucci that drew a map of the New World and got several continents named after him so long ago. It turns out he was a Florentine too – the talent that comes out of this town – unbelievable!

I hope you’re not reading this anticipating the part where I talk about all the lavish Italian restaurants we ate at. We were very being frugal and happy with a sandwich to go here, a gelato there. We only spent big piles of money to contemplate the brushstrokes of the masters. We did have some great cheap food from take away counters, like the grilled paninis stuffed with spinach that we had that evening.

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Click Here if you must see more statues
(Some with pants on and some, unfortunately, without)

Statue of Giotto at the Uffizi


Cupid impersonator at the Uffizi

Whole gangs of tourists terrorizing the city

A good shot of Amy's nose with the Florentine countryside in the background

This is what happens when I let Amy hold the camera