Now that we secured those (mine with the name Honey Pisano-Beaulieu teeheehee), we were off to get our bellies full of some deliciousness since it was about 1:00 (or 13:00, the Italians use what we consider military time) and we hadn’t eaten anything yet. We didn’t have any plan for where to go, as usual, and we were afraid of all the restaurants right around the Uffizi. So we picked a few random streets leading away from the Plaza and just when we were about to go feral cannibal on each other from hunger we came across this little restaurant with a cool buffalo on the front. In we go and the first thing they have up front is a wood stove for pizzas. A good sign, right? We pick a secluded little table and get the menu and it is buffalo centric Italian food. We ended up getting nothing with buffalo even though we were stoked about the idea. I got the gnocchi with tomato basil sauce and Dan got the margharita pizza. Both good and filling. Dan was getting laughed at by some Italians for cutting his pizza into wedges and picking it up and eating it. Here, they eat pizza in bites with a fork and knife. Actully, they don't really touch pretty much any of their food with their bare hands. It's always in a piece of paper or a napkin or eaten with utensils. After eating our fill, off to the museum!
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When you go in they have security like at the airport. No biggie though, you go through the metal detector and if it beeps they just wave you through. Up some stone stairs we go, and then up some more stone stairs and then up some more and you are in a hallway of windows filled with gorgeous statues and busts and the top is lined with portraits. We saw a statue of a man that we are POSITIVE is a relative of Ryan Stephenelli. For real – it looked JUST like him with a beard and in robes. Eerie. Anyway, you can look out over Florence through the windows and it’s beautiful. There are rooms off of the one side of the hall that are filled with art and from what I could tell it starts with older art and as you progress moves forward in time. It is, of course, mostly religious themes. I’d say about half of the art we saw was the Madonna with the baby Jesus. One of the rooms we would have loved to have seen (with Rembrandt and his contemporaries) was closed off for the day. Boooooo. I think the most powerful piece, for me, was one of The Slaughter of the Innocents. You walked into the dark room it was in and it immediately commands your attention and as beautiful as the painting technique is, it is truly horrifying and affects you emotionally. You are pulled into the moment.
After a few hours we finished up and went to look for the exit. Of course, we had the same flights of stairs down and then they did a few funny things. You were forced to walk through a tapestries exhibit that was pretty long. I mean, they were impressive if you think about what it takes in man hours to produce a tapestry that is about 12’ x 12’ at minimum but they stank and we were tired out from the last few hours and just wanted to get out of there. After you finally get through that display you go into the bookstore. After the bookstore, a museum gift store, after that it looks like you are free but you go through a Salvatore Ferragamo store (weirdest thing of all), then a children’s museum bookstore and then another museum gift store. Disney’s got nothing on these guys on the sales department! And then we were free!
It was nice out so we wandered around and over to the Ponte Vecchio. I wasn’t sure what to expect here but it is literally lined with ALL gold and jewelry shops and it was packed! We didn’t really stop into any shops because I figured there were no deals to be had for sure in such a tourist trap. Not that I’m in the market for gold jewelry anyway. We decided that instead of taking our chances on another crap place for dinner that we would go back to the first place we ate, Chingale Bianche since it was so good. We showed up at about 6:30 and they weren’t open yet but we were invited to sit and look at the menu while the staff all finished up their meals before getting to work. Dan decided that he loved the dish he had the first time so much that he wanted it again. I think that he has secretly been craving it this whole time. I ordered the Baccala Livorno in a tomato sauce with white beans. Neither of us are disappointed, another stellar meal from this restaurant. Highly recommended should you find yourself in Florence near the Ponte Vecchio.
After that we were walking back to the apartment and got to a meat market. There was a man outside cutting off little slices of porchetta and handing out samples to people and of course we stopped. I’m a porchetta FREAK now! If you have never had the real deal, get on a plane and get your ass to Italy and have some immediately. So this adorable older gentleman who didn’t speak any English pulled me behind his little counter and signaled to Dan to stay on the other side and take a picture. He put his arm around me, raised his gigantic knife into the air and yelled “Bansai!!!” So funny!!! We left there and decided once again to explore an area we hadn’t been to yet and found the public square that I accidentally drove through and terrorized the other night. A beautiful square with giant trees, a big fountain in the center and a plain but gorgeous church with a long expanse of stairs that the locals would sit and drink beer and wine and chat with their friends. There was some amazing smelling food there and we swore to come back the next night and get some pizza from a place called Gusto Pizzaria that was jammed full of Italians.
All Day 5 photos here http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzBnJk5
All Day 5 photos here http://flic.kr/s/aHsjzBnJk5
Tomorrow…The Big D!
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