Day 6, 7: Getting to Florence and Exploring Its Museums
Friday - Just Travel
Our total travel time by train from Monterosso to Florence was just over two hours. Somehow, due to delays, hiccups in getting to and from the train stations, and the energy required to do all of that, the day ended up feeling mostly like travel!
First Impressions on Florence
So far, being in Florence feels a lot different than our previous two cities. It's a large city that moves at a much faster pace. On top of that, though, it's also wildly popular for tourists. This combination of fast-paced and crowded creates a very different experience. We're getting used to it!
Accademia Gallery
This museum has a handful of renaissance paintings and sculptures, but it's famous for being the home of Michelangelo's David. Since this museum was booked up days in advance, we purchased passes to a group tour that included tickets.
The tour helped frame the history of the renaissance and gave nice background on Michelangelo and general Florence history.
Seeing David itself was pretty astounding. In person, its presence is imposing.
National Museum of Bargello
Next, we went to the Bargello museum. It's home to even more renaissance sculptures. While most of them are impressive, nothing stood out to us as much as David. Plus, without a tour guide, we can't tell if we missed any hidden gems.
Lunch Along the Arno
We didn't have a lot of time between our Bargello and Uffizi reservations, so we stopped at a sandwich shop along the river. A nice snack and good views.
The Uffizi Gallery
One of Italy's most prestigious museums, and perhaps world-famous for its renaissance art, the Uffizi Gallery was our final museum stop of the day. It has dozens of famous paintings, but one of the most popular might be "The Birth of Venus." It was impressive to see the scale of some of these paintings.
Some of our tour guide's comments from early in the day continued to provide helpful context, too. The transition from medieval to renaissance-styled art is pretty drastic. After seeing so much of both today, I can understand why the Renaissance holds its own chapter in history.
Here's a couple of photos that show just how ornate the museum itself is. On the left, one of four long galleries (there were many more rooms than this, but these were ornate). On the right, the ceiling of each square section of the gallery.
Quick Update on Gelato
Before leaving for Italy, we heard that there were gelato shops on almost every corner. Well, it's true. We've treated ourselves a few times now! Definitely more to come.
